9 Years Old

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy, who somehow is 9 years old now. It doesn't quite seem possible that he is this old and going to 4th grade... but here we are. The life of a mom is full of so many contradictions. My dream is for him to grow up to be a wonderful, spiritual, and successful man. But at times like this, I can only think about how much I miss when he was a cute little baby. The passing of time is a huge blessing and a sentimental heartache.

Christian has always been my big helper. Even when he was little, he liked to help vacuum, make dinner, etc. I think it must be a side effect of being the oldest. Now, I ask a lot more of Christian, and most of the time, he happily does what I ask. He takes good care of Hyrum and is able to do so much by himself now. He is well on his way to being that man that I am trying to teach him to be.

All About Christian at 9

Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream
Favorite Book: Harry Potter 1-5
Favorite Free Time Activity: Read, Legos
Favorite Subject in School: Science
Favorite TV Show: Wild Kratts
Least Favorite Food: Rice
Least Favorite Subject in School: Math
Future Career Goal: Engineer

One of Christian's favorite things to do this summer was make cardboard creations in the garage with his friends. The first week we moved to our new house, Christian found two great friends that live two houses away in both directions. Andrew also made some great friends, so they all played together. Pretty much every day around 1:00 in the afternoon, we would get a knock on the door with friends who were anxious to play. They all would go into the garage and spend hours every day designing forts, armor, etc. out of cardboard. We had an endless supply of cardboard boxes from the move, so it was an inexpensive and creative activity that they loved. I was so happy to have them come to our house. It allowed me to get to know their new friends and keep an eye on them. I made sure to have a large supply of popsicles on hand so they would like coming here. Our house has been the party house for the last two months! It was a dream summer for my boys, and my mommy heart has been so happy and relieved to see them adjusting so well. Christian's cardboard costume got pretty elaborate. Here is a small part of his creations (armor, sword, and shield):

For Christian's birthday, we had a family party this year since last year was a big friend party. Christian and Hyrum were born only one day apart, so they opened presents on their individual birthdays, and then we had a party for them together. (So far, Christian has been happy to share his birthday, but if it ever becomes a problem, we will gladly celebrate 2 in a row :)  Christian woke up to  his favorite breakfast: cinnamon chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. He was so excited to open his presents, so we let him open them right after breakfast. Two of his favorite presents were a Ninjago Lego set and a kendama. He was entertained the whole day by his new treasures. Nine is going to be a great year for this awesome boy, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.