Brooke's Blessing.

We had Brooke's blessing last Sunday and we were blessed enough to have family share the event with us.  Scott's parents made it from Idaho, his brother Ryan and family from Cleveland and my brother who is already here.  It's great being with family and be able to spend time together.  It makes us miss them. They all came to share this special time with us...and we feel so grateful for the efforts made to travel all the way here...especially Kara and the three kiddos who had been traveling to Idaho right before they came here. 

The cousins had a fun time.  They all get along fairly well and I hope they remember these times they get to play together.

We headed to Clemyjontri Park, one of my favorite places to take my kids here in Virginia.  There are so many toys...it's almost overwhelming at times trying to keep up with all the kids...but I think they had a good time.

I don't know how kids can stand spinning on this thing...I get dizzy just watching them...but they all loved it.

Brooke and Scottie.

Brielle and Braden enjoyed their time with Nathanial and Christopher.  I can't believe how big they all have gotten!

To finish things off at the park, the kiddos got to ride on the carrousel.  

Brielle can be such a little drama queen sometimes.  She was wanting me to be there with her, but I get too dizzy on those things...she saw me and was calling me in such a dramatic way! Then I told her to smile and she quickly changed the drama into a nice smile.  Crazy girl!:)

Brielle and Nathanial get along so well.  They love spending time together.  On the way back to the car they were holding hands! It was so cute! I'm glad they love each other!:)

Pretty darn cute kiddos.

******

On Sunday, we all headed to Church to have Brooke blessed.  It was such a beautiful autumn day.  The weather was gorgeous and our little girl wore Brielle's blessing dress. Brooke was given a name and a blessing by her daddy.  It was a wonderful and special blessing.

We are so blessed to have this little girl in our family.  She has brought nothing but joy into our lives.  Her good nature has been such a blessing to me, especially, and she has made mothering a newborn a delightful experience.  It might be that she is my third, but I find myself much more chill and calm as a mother. 

We couldn't imagine our lives without this chunky little girl!

So happy to have family share this special time with us.

Brielle was throwing a fit in this picture...as you can see...children, children...I can't even remember what was the deal...the lighting on some of these with all the shadows isn't the best...but these photos are definitely already treasured!

Little Christopher is just the cutest little boy! He is so mischievous and adorable! 

I love him! I just wanted to squeeze him the whole time he was here!:)

Tío Kemchu, Scottie, Grandpa Clay and Uncle Ryan.  

Such a blessing to have them all share this time with us.

We loved spending time with Grandma Karen too.  

Grandma and Grandpa Jensen with the grandkids.  

We are missing five more, from Scott's older brother. 

We missed you guys!:)

Christopher, Brielle, Nathanial and Mr. Braden.

...and the girlies, Emily and Brooke.

Brielle and Braden can't get enough of their little sister.

...and Mr. Braden couldn't get enough of his grandpa Jensen either.  He just thinks his grandpa is the coolest guy ever...Clay is such a fun grandpa and plays with him. 

On Monday, we headed to the NRA Museum here in Fairfax.  Clay wanted to go so we all accompanied him... and it was actually fun to see all the guns, rifles, etc.  It was so enjoyable to see Clay telling Braden all about the guns.  Braden LOVED the one-on-one with his grandpa.

We had such an enjoyable time with everyone! We miss you all so much! There really isn't anything in this world much better than spending time with the people you love the most.  Scott and I are so blessed to have such wonderful, loving families.  Thank you for loving us and our children...and thanks for making the effort to come spend time with us.  

Memories were definitely made.

Hello, October.

October snuck up on me.  It's already my favorite time of the year! I find myself happy and sad at the same time, realizing that this is our last fall here in Virginia.  It is so beautiful here around this time.  The leaves are slowly starting to change and the weather today was amazing. 

Brooke Kate is growing like a little weed.  Seriously.  She weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces at her one-month check-up...and she had grown two inches.  She is awake for longer periods of time now and is already smiling and cooing.  She is still a sweet baby, even though she has figured out that if she cries she will get held...so now, she wants to be held all the time when she's awake...and you know what? I hold her.  I really don't care if I'm spoiling her.  I put on my baby carrier and I try to do things with her around the house.  It's proven to be a little challenging...but they are this little for such a short time...

Scott is in love with this little girl.  He's a good daddy.

Brielle and Braden are always trying to be helpful and loving.  (Brooke doesn't seem so comfy in the picture with Braden.) :)

This little baby's facial expressions are so funny! We get a kick out of her.

Can you just tell that we are all in love with our little Brooke? Even when she's crying...:)

Brielle loves to sing to her when she gets fussy.  She's becoming such a good little singer and knows the words to so many songs.  Brooke likes it when her big sister sings to her...most of the time...:)

******

My brother is back from his travels.  It's always so nice to have him back.  I'm so glad he safely made it home.  He came two weeks earlier than I had anticipated...I was home and someone knocked on my door.  I went to answer and it was him! It was a nice surprise for all of us. 

As always, my brother cultures my children.  I'm so grateful that they get to experience the world through Kem.  He brought them some chop sticks from China and taught them how to eat with chop sticks.

******

He came a few days before his birthday.  We, of course, went out to celebrate with him.  It was the big 3-0 for him.  He wanted sushi.  So we went to this super fun Japanese restaurant I had seen but we had never been before. 

It was a blast!

It's one of those restaurants where they cook your order in front of you.  The atmosphere is so much fun. You sit around this cooking area and with people you don't really know.

Brooke was mesmerized.

 Kemchu got his sushi and everyone at our table sang him 'happy birthday'.

The chef was so fun to watch and interact with...he threw a piece of meat to everyone at our table to see if we could catch it with our mouth.  Braden was so excited when his turn came...but he wasn't lucky enough to catch it!:)

They got to practice their chop stick eating skills.

It was such a fun night.  I'm glad we got to be with Kemchu for this birthday.

When we got home, the kiddos were dying to light the cake we had made for him earlier and sing to him.  Children make life so much fun.  They get so excited about birthdays. They had been waiting all day to eat the cake...and even though we were all full we had some cake.

******

A couple of Saturdays ago, I got everyone out the door on a walk.  The kids wanted to ride their bikes so, we headed to a trail.

It was a nice day and this was Brooke's first recreational family outing.

She slept the whole time but it was so nice to get out as a family, the 5 of us. 

We all had a fun time together.  The kids found tons of little grasshoppers along the trail.  Scott caught one and they had a blast holding it.  They are so brave. I'm so not fond of touching insects.

Life has been crazy, busy, tiring, fun around here lately.  Brielle has adjusted well to kindergarden and is learning so much.  She comes home exhausted and starving! I don't know if she's not eating lunch very well at school or what but she comes home ravenous.  Braden has such an amazing teacher at preschool this year and is already making friends.  The dynamics at our house have changed since Brielle is gone all day at school.  Now, Braden is asking me to play with him.  He gets bored without his big sister around.  It's amazing how much those two distract each other. 

Scott sent off his residency application two weeks ago and has been lucky enough to get a bunch of interviews already.  It took him long enough, but he finally decided to do internal medicine, which will give him a chance to specialize in gastroenterology, cardiology, pulmonology or intensive care after 3 years of the internal medicine residency. I'm excited to see where we will end up for 3 years.  The next few months he will interview all over the country and we will find out where he matches in March. 

I have mixed feelings.  I have LOVED D.C.

I will miss the fall and the cherry blossoms in the spring. 

But I can finally see the light at the end of the medical school road. 

Mr. Braden Starts Preschool.

Our Mr. Braden started preschool this week...he was thrilled!!! He was so happy that his first day of school had come.  After seeing Brielle off to the big school he felt a little lonely at home.  Those two sure know how to fight but they have missed each other so much these last few weeks since Brielle started kindergarden.

Brielle told me the other day:

"Kindergarden is too long, I don't get to fight with Braden any more!"  

I just can't believe how big they have gotten.  Once upon a time, they used to be as little as Brooke.  It makes me so happy to see what good friends Brielle and Braden are.  They are best friends.

Crazy to think that Scott and I have 3 children! man! This guy at preschool today was asking me how many kids I had...it's still a little weird to say that I have 3! THREE!!! I think the guy was a little surprised himself! ha!:) 

The other day I went to the store with all three and I have to admit I felt like everyone was staring at me!:) 

I couldn't be happier though, so glad each of these kiddos are part of our family..

Braden did so well this first week of preschool, he's making new friends and adjusting well.  It's nice to have our school routine back! 

P.S. This is totally unrelated to Braden going to preschool.  Scott got this note stuck to his window today:

So funny! Scott says that it wasn't his fault that he park badly, it was another car that made a whole bunch of cars park weird.   

City life is interesting sometimes! At least she was funny about it!:) 

Brielle Starts Kindergarden.

I am one of those mothers that sends her children to school with mixed feelings.  I can't say I'm completely sad because I'm not.  I am excited for them to grow and learn.  But I just can't help to feel sad and scared to send my little ones out to the world to fend for themselves.  One hopes the world is kind to them. 

I guess, all that is left for parents to do is to teach them to make good choices and to be kind to those around them. 

Brielle was so ready to start kindergarden! She has been talking about it all summer long and how she is going to learn how to read! She can't wait! 

When Tuesday came around she was full of excitement.  I fixed her breakfast and she ate two bites and said she couldn't finish it because she was 'too nervous'! 

Braden was excited for her and a little sad that her 'favorite sister', as he tells her, was going to be gone all day! 

Brielle was SO excited to ride the school bus! Braden, Brooke and I went to drop her off.  We were so sad that Scott couldn't be part of it all. He, of course, had to be at the hospital bright and early.

This is Brielle's excited expression when she saw that the bus was coming! 

She gave us all hugs and kisses and went off to her first day at the big school...

I followed the bus to the school to make sure she would get there safely. I know I'm such a geek.  But I just  wanted to make sure! We are so lucky to have a few ladies from our ward who work at the school, so Brielle saw a few familiar faces when she got there.  One of them (our stake president's wife) was ushering the kids from their bus to the gym.  Brielle was so happy when she saw her! 

...walking to her new classroom.  Her teacher is very nice.  Brielle has enjoyed her first week of kindergarden.  She has been complaining though, that her teacher is not teaching her how to read yet!!! ha ha! She's sooooo anxious to read! 

She comes home a little tired from a full day of kindergarden but reports to like it! 

She is a good little girl and says she wants to be good and learn so she can get a little treat from the treasure chest her teacher has.  

We are so proud of our little Bri bri!:)

Three Weeks of Brooke.

I can't hardly believe our little Brooke has been with us for almost 4 weeks!

We are all in love with her and just couldn't imagine our lives without her. She is just a sweet, sweet baby. She is easy to please and has made this transition to having three much easier than I thought it was going to be.

She doesn't like tummy time all that much, but we make sure to have it at least once a day. She does pretty well at holding her little head up for quite a few seconds.  The older kids love her too much and sometimes fight on who is going to lay next to her...they are always in her face! Poor Brooke! She gets annoyed with them when it's too much!

But for the most part they are very gentle and sweet to her. I'm amazed at how much love they have to give. 

 I heard Brielle baby-talking to Brooke this morning:

"Hi Brookie Kate. Don't you know that you're special? You're special to this family?

Everybody loves you...daddy loves you. Braden loves you. Grandpa Clay loves you. Grandma Karen loves you. Abuelita loves you. Great-grandma Jensen loves you."

She named everyone!:)

It brought tears to my eyes!

What sweet children I have.

My heart has been so full these last few weeks.

Sleepy head.

Brooke loves being swaddled. Sometimes her tiny little feet stick out!

Braden has been so cute with his little sister and he says several times a day, "what a cutie pie" or "I just want to squeeze her!". He doesn't like it when she cries and tries really hard to comfort her.

The other day, this is the conversation we had while I was changing Brooke's diaper:

Braden: she's a cutie pie.

Denisse: why is she a cutie pie Braden?

Braden: Because she's so tiny.

Denisse: Why is she so tiny?

Braden: Because she's a cutie baby. She's our baby.

She's lucky to have such a good big brother.

...and all of a sudden Braden doesn't seem so little any more now that Brooke is around.  He's been my baby for so long! Now he seems like such a big boy! 

Brielle loves to be a little mommy!

They both ask several times a day to hold her. 

I tell Scott we have a serious baby! I had forgotten how serious newborns are until they start smiling! 

I've been enjoying the time I get to cuddle and snuggle with her.  No pushing away, she just lets me hold her close to me.  Such tender moments.  

My heart has been so full.