All About Tenley

 

She was without a doubt the biggest surprise of my life....and this is coming from the girl who 3 out of 5 of her pregnancies were a surprise! I've told this story a million times but on Logan's 3rd birthday we had a cookout/birthday party for him. I remember cleaning up at the end of the night and opening the fridge and the smell of the potato salad about knocked me over. I immediately felt nauseous. It struck me as rather odd, I couldn't possibly be pregnant, I have a 7 month old. That would be CRAZY! But I couldn't get it out of my head so I ordered a pregnancy test on amazon. A few days went by and I didn't think of it once. Lexi, the kids and I went to my Dad and Dee's house and went to the beach. When we got home the amazon box had arrived (Oh yeah, I ordered a pregnancy test?). I had to use the bathroom so I brought the box with me, didn't tell Lexi what I was doing or what was in the box and decided to take the test to rule out pregnancy. Much to my surprise it was positive! My legs went numb. I've never EVER felt that way before. I came downstairs where Lexi was feeding Kensington baby food (remember I have a 7 month old) and my legs were shaking so bad I could barely stand. Lexi looked up at me and I was as white as a ghost. Without a moments pause she said "You're pregnant!" That night Mike came home, gave me a big hug and said "Why do you look so pretty lately?" HA! "Wellllll about that...." I guess that pregnancy glow is a real thing. And we both just laughed. Here we go again! Funny thing is that day on the beach my Dad randomly turned to Dee and said "I think Kristen is pregnant." Don't worry, that glow is real for like a week and then I quickly get deathly ill. It doesn't last long!

Along came our Tenley James.....and she's kept us on our toes since!

 

Tenley is FULL OF ENERGY. I wish I could bottle it up and just take even 10% of it for myself. She hits the ground running and does not stop until her head hits the pillow. She has absolutely no fear! I keep saying we need to get her into gymnastics or something! I could just see her flipping and spinning without a care in the world. Tenley has BIG emotions. When she's excited shes off the charts excited and when she's sad shes devastated. Tenley loves BIG! She cracks me up because at dinner she sits next to Logan and pretty much every single night she will scoot closer and closer, tell him she loves him and give him a kiss on the cheek. He rolls his eyes, she's just giddy, its SO cute!

Tenley is so girly. Always wants a dress, is super opinionated on how I do her hair, is my only girl that steals make up and her favorite color is pink BUT! her two favorite things ever....dinosaurs and Godzilla! We are going on 3 years with the dino obsession and about a year with Godzilla! It won't let up! Her and Kensington share a room and her bed is covered in dinosaurs while Kensington's is covered in unicorns. It's so funny how similar yet different they are. Speaking of which, Tenley does not love ANYONE more than Kensington, or as she refers to her "my Kensie". 

Tenley is very smart and picks up on things super easy. She starts kindergarten in the fall....HOLY MOLY! And I just know she's going to do great....if they can get her to sit still long enough. I do not think Tenley has ever sat still for longer than 20 minutes! LOL! Remember, full of energy. Tenley is super friendly and outgoing. Fourth child, first to tell you it doesn't matter. Tenley loooooves being the center of attention. God bless her teacher, lets all say a prayer together now for her sweet soul. Here comes our wild one!!

I'm excited to see Tenley mature and grow in this coming year. I know kindergarten is huge. They go from being so little to growing up right before your eyes. All of the kids have turned into even better versions of themselves after kindergarten so I cannot wait to see how she does! It's going to be a big year!!

T, we love you so much and cannot wait to see you take this world by storm! 

Kristen and Mike Q & A!

 

I interrupt my posts about the kids to ask for questions!!

I asked on instagram if anyone would be interested in a Q & A with Mike and I and a bunch of you thought that was a good idea! This July we will be celebrating 10 years of marriage, which if you ask me, is pretty significant! So I thought I'd setup this blog post and if you have any questions for Mike and I (please send us some questions so we don't look stupid!! LOL!) you can leave them on this post. They can be about ANYTHING! Marriage, parenthood, our life together, specific questions for Mike, specific questions for me...ANYTHING! I won't be publishing any comments so they are all a surprise/anonymous for whenever we do that post or maybe video? Still haven't decided what we will do but this should be fun!! 

Okay! Leave your questions below! We can't wait to read them!

All About Kensington

 

For a long time she was strictly Kensie, now ever since she's gone to kindergarten and it's always Kensington. Which makes Mama happy. I tried really hard to have people always call her by her full name (I just think its so pretty) but Kensie was just easier. At school they always always call her Kensington so she now refers to herself as that. Of course, there are some who will always call her Kensie I'm sure (Tenley being one of them), but after that whole fiasco naming her (to read about that click here), I'm happy she's going by Kensington. 

How can I fit into one blog post all the things that make Kensington, Kensington. This girl is so incredibly special. Mike and I agree that she is just our easiest child. We were sad about her going to kindergarten but never worried. She's a rule follower and picks up on things so easily. Even with hybrid learning at the beginning of the year she excelled BIG TIME in school. As a mom who has worried about all my kids for different things, Kensington simply has not made me worry. Aside from waiting to walk until she was 18 months old. Speaking of that, if you want to understand who Kensington is just think about that. One day she woke up and started walking at 18 months old like she had been walking since she was 11 months. Kensington was not going to get up and stumble, no, she was going to wait until she was steady and wouldn't get hurt. She is EXTREMELY cautious and has been since day one. She takes her time and is so precise when doing things. She doesn't want to get anything wrong so she makes sure to do it right the first time.

Kensington is very sensitive. She gets her feelings hurt very easily and even the slightest touch/push from her siblings will end up with her in tears. She's always very quick to recover and laughing almost immediately after a hug. For the most part Kensington's world is all rainbows and unicorns. Her two favorite things. She LOOOOVES unicorns. For her 6th birthday every single gift she got had to do with unicorns. I often think what must be going on in her head. I want to be in that world where everything is so bubbly and happy all the time. Her favorite color is yellow..."like the sunshine".

So far Kensington hasn't shown any interest in any sports or activities. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but we wait until our kids show interest in something before putting them in an activity. I know its wonderful for kids to be busy and in extracurricular's but with 5 kids its not our reality to be driving little kids around to a million activities when our days are already so full. We like for them to figure out what they might want to do and then go with something that organically seems like it would work for them. I often wonder what she will choose. We talk about it often and bring up different activities to her here and there. I think she's a little too girly for sports, right now. Those don't spark her interest in the least. She's definitely too cautious for any type of gymnastics and dance has never caught her attention...although she'd be adorable in a tutu! So we'll see! I'm looking forward to seeing what her "thing" is. I'm sure it'll throw me for a loop and she'll want to play a sport of something! She does however have a deep love for video games like her big brother! Which I think is more about how she'll do anything to be close to her brother, even if that means getting excited about Minecraft and Roblox.

I watched Kensington run down the sidewalk to the bus stop today, knowing I'd be writing this post, and I couldn't help but wonder who she's going to be someday. Today she's still so sweet, little and innocent and someday she's going to be grown up. I say to Mike often that it's going to kill me when she's not the way she is today anymore. Her goofy personality makes me laugh everyday. She loves to make people smile. Kensington pays close attention to detail always coming home with these elaborate stories of what went on in school that day. She's made so many friends this year and it's so nice to see. Kensington is a lover and a hugger and if you let her, will hug you over and over and over again with the biggest smile on her face. Kensington cares so deeply for people and animals. She's like her mama in the way she loves all things baby! She is without a doubt the kid who plays with Smith the most. My biggest helper! If he's upset and I'm trying to do something, she will go and distract him without me even asking. She goes with the flow and gets excited about even the littlest things! 

Ahhhh....our Kensington. 

The first word that comes to mind when I think of her is JOY. She's full of joy and brings joy to everyone she comes in contact with.

We love you Kensington Bree! 

All About Logan

 

Logan Michael

This kid cracks me up. He is wise beyond his years. So funny without even trying and has the driest sense of humor. All day long he keeps all of us laughing and laughing. His teachers are always commenting on how hilarious he is. It makes this mama proud that Logan brings smiles to peoples faces.

Logan is super smart. He is a sponge with a wealth of knowledge he has picked up along his way. He asks me questions every single day that I have absolutely no idea how to answer. I'm beginning to think he likes to see me squirm. I keep saying I don't know and he keeps asking. He absolutely loves science and tells me daily he wants to be a scientist. We're still trying to figure out if he can be a scientist without ever having to write anything down. LOL! Logan is not a fan of writing essays.  Math comes super easy to him and if he overhears Kamryn asking for help you will often hear Logan yelling the answer from the other room. I truly do not know how he knows all of the things he knows, but he just does. Recently Logan started reading the bible all on his own and that just makes his dad and I so proud!

Logan loves video games. So much so that he would play them all day. Recently we've cut him down to one hour a day...he does not like this rule but its necessary. He has a giant lego and pokemon card collection and is hoping to start playing hockey this fall. Just last night he started lessons/drills and absolutely loved it! With covid restrictions I wasn't able to go. Only 2 people can come with each skater and with a family of 7, not going to happen. But its a great thing for Mike and him to do that's just their thing. Logan was smiling ear to ear when he got home and cannot wait to go back next week! I hate to continuously bring up covid, but thats life this year. Unfortunately a few activities Logan wanted to go did not happen. He usually participates in clubs after school, all did not happen this year. He had his eye on robotics and flag football. Ah well, maybe hopefully next year!

Logan likes his alone time, which doesn't happen often around here, but he's also the sweetest brother. He takes his job as a big brother very seriously and is always showing/teaching his little siblings things. I find he's the kindest when he doesn't know I'm looking, which is so great to see. He is absolutely the sweetest to Smith. The little brother he begged for, for years and years. I just love when he goes out of his way to be kind. Logan is a friend to anyone he meets and it's obvious whenever we are at the school with him. We walk down those hallways and kids of all ages are saying hi to Logan! He has no idea how liked he is by his peers. Logan is definitely full of emotions but that just goes to show us how big his heart is. He loves big, gets his feelings hurt big, gets aggravated big and snaps out of it quick. 

Logan Michael is so many things wrapped up into one boy. He's determined, polite, loving, sweet, a bit naughty, hilarious, quick witted, smart and mature. He has an old soul. I could sit and talk with him for hours. I could gush about him forever. I just love my boy so much! 

From this to this in the blink of a eye.

We love you Logan, Logi Bear, Bubba, Wogan!

I know this one will someday take the world by storm.

All About Kamryn

 

If you follow me on instagram you know I am in the processes of revamping this whole blog. Things are about to change around these parts. Today I took a big step and purchased my own domain (something I've never done in my 11.5 years of blogging) and I'm working with a graphic designer on getting my blog to look exactly how I want. All exciting stuff! 

But until the big jump I wanted to do some posts about the kids. 

Today is all about KAMRYN. 

Oh my Kamryn. We are just a month and a half away from her graduating elementary school. This mama is one gigantic ball of emotions. I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm excited, I'm nervous. Pretty much all the feelings she is feeling, her mama is feeling it too. I'm sad for her that her last year of elementary school has looked like this. What should've been the most fun year has turned into covid restriction after covid restriction. It's a bummer...no other way to describe it. Everyday my heart breaks for these kids. Our school is doing whatever they can to make the best of it but still, it stinks. Next week she goes to tour the middle school and she is SO pumped! I cannot wait to see how much she blossoms and grows in the next 3 years!

Kamryn has tried a lot of things over the years, cheer, skating, horseback riding and none really turned out to be her thing but it seems her niche is the arts. She loves anything arts and crafts and singing. This girl LOOOOVES music! (Another covid restriction is no chorus!) I'm hopeful next year Kam will be able to get on stage again and sing her heart out! She has the most beautiful voice. Kamryn really is a fabulous artist and most days I will find her drawing somewhere and blowing me away with her attention to detail. 

Kam also LOVES to read! Which is wild because if you asked me back when she was in 1st or 2nd grade if I thought she'd ever choose to read on her own someday, I'd say NO WAY! Reading did not come easy to Kam at first but now I have to ask her multiple times to turn off her reading light every night as she begs for 10 more minutes. She tells me she loves getting lost in the pages and using her imagination. Music to this mama's ears!! 

Kam loves animals. LOVE LOVE LOVES animals! Especially her kittens, Poppy and Rory. She has been so responsible with them. Always feeding them, making sure they have water, cleaning the litter box...you name it, Kamryn does it! She's a wonderful cat mommy. 

It's really cute, she's the only kid that goes around and says goodnight to both the cats and both the dogs. Could she be stalling bedtime? Absolutely! But nonetheless its really sweet! It goes without saying but she's the most incredible big sister. She loves her family FIERCE! She is super super bummed she wont be in school with Tenley next year. She's always watching out for her younger siblings and its so wonderful to see. 

I could sit here and gush about Kamryn all day long. She's kind, sweet, thoughtful, loving, friendly but shy, funny, smart, easy going, witty and very much a rule follower. Out of the 5 I currently have 2 kids I do not need to worry about and Kamryn is one of them. She's innocent yet mature at the same time. She has a lot of common sense and knows right from wrong.  Kam is just a good good kid who we are so incredibly proud of. I cannot believe we are already at the end of elementary school. I know I'm like a broken record here but how?! Where has the time gone?! Kam even looked at me last night and said "Time really does go by so fast!" Yes, my love, it sure does.