I Found My Toes!!

More Comparisons

Here's a picture of Nate at 3 mos next to Ashlyn at 2 mos. She's her daddy!

Crazy Babies

Holy cow, look at this picture we found of Nate and compare to my last post! Hilarious!

Siblings?

Love the Fall back

I love that it's not even 3:00 yet. It feels like it should be almost 4 and I should be starting to think about cooking dinner. I wish every day had an extra hour in it. I could get so much more done!

Perfect Moments

Having two kids is hard. Really hard. At least I think it is. So kuddos to all the Lauras and Stephanies out there with a lot more than two. I don't know how you do it. Anyway, there may even be times that I wonder if it's all worth it. But then those moments come. Those perfect moments in time where everything seems right with the world and you know 100% that you made the right decision. These moments make it all worth it. Like yesterday when I woke up to the sound of Ashlyn talking and cooing happily in her crib, and Caleb saying in that sing-song babytalk voice, "Hi Ashwyn! Are you happy? I'm your big brother. Hiiii Ashwyn." Here are some pictures of a few more of these perfect moments that we happened to catch on camera.

The best kind of nap


Going on a walk on a perfect Fall evening


Story time

Princess Ashlyn

I'll admit, Ashlyn doesn't always act like a princess. She is fussy a lot, finicky about taking naps, and likes to be held or entertained at all times. BUT, come nighttime, the princess emerges. She has been sleeping through the night for over a week now. I mean the whole night. 9pm to 7am. Woohoo! I can't even tell you how good it feels to get a full night's sleep. It's been about 11 months since that's happened. Now I'll go knock on wood in hopes that she'll keep it up!



And on a different note, here's a picture of our new toy!

Baby Brain

This having two kids thing is making me lose my mind. Tonight we accidentally had pizza for dinner. Yep, that's right, I accidentally drove to Little Caesar's and bought a $5 pizza. We were out running errands and I realized we would be getting home a little late. So I thought maybe we should just grab a pizza on the way home. But then I remembered I had already thawed some meat for spaghetti, so I decided NOT to get a pizza. So we went about our errands and at some point auto-pilot must have kicked in. It wasn't until I was driving away from Little Caesar's with my pizza that I realized what I had just done. So yes, we accidentally had pizza for dinner!

Some Conversations I Had Today

Mommy to Ashlyn: "You've got such a nice big brother, don't you?"
Caleb: "Nope. Well, sometimes I am. But just not on Mondays and Fridays because I don't like those days."

Later on when Caleb was crying:
Mommy: "Let's get you in the bath. That will make you feel better."
Caleb: "No it won't. It will make me feel better if you hold me for two hours."
Mommy: "TWO hours?!!!"
Caleb: "Or . . . I mean three."

Hehehe

When your kid walks in the room like this, do you scold him or grab the camera? I attempted not to laugh and grabbed the camera! And then tried to explain that even though I'm taking pictures, this is not behavior I want him to repeat . . .

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this girl? Soooooo much!

Smiles

Ashlyn's been smiling for a couple weeks now, but I've had a hard time catching it on camera. It's so fun when they start emerging from the vegetable newborn state!

Happy Birthday Incredible Boy!!

Caleb turned 4 on September 16th! We love him soooo much and he brightens every day. He is such a sweet boy and loves to feel helpful. Lately his imagination has just been crazy out of control. It's so entertaining to watch him play! My favorite are the names he comes up with. He has a snake named Shwopper, a doll (girl) named Frockdy, dogs named Scooter and Toby, and three imaginary friends. His best imaginary friend is Chip. The other two just visit occasionally and are named Poupon and Kwaulky. Anyway, we are so happy to have had him these four years. Oh yeah, and lately if you ask him his name, he says he's Incredible Boy. He's got all the kids in his class calling him that and the receptionist at the pediatrician's office. A couple weeks ago he spent the weekend with his cousin Kade and went to church with him. The primary president saw him sitting there and asked him his name. He said it was Incredible Boy and wouldn't tell her his real one. She asked his last name and he told her, so she introduced him to the primary as "Incredible Boy Christensen!" She never did figure out his real name until my sister told her after church. Anyway, on his birthday we took him to Chuck E Cheese and he got to play for about an hour and a half. The next day he got to wear a birthday crown at preschool and had cupcakes with his class. Then on Saturday we had a party for him at the indoor waterpark at Bodyworks. He had so much fun swimming with his friends and cousins, then had a monster truck cake, and opened presents. Happy birthday Caleb!

When You're Desperate to Get Some Laundry Done . . .

It turns out the warmth and vibrations of the clothes dryer are quite soothing to a fussy newborn! (Don't worry, I was standing right there the whole time!)

I Surrender!

Ashlyn's Birthday!

Here's the story, finally! Along with trying to recover from pushing out an 8 pound baby, I've also been sick the last couple days, so sorry I've been slow to update the blog. We went in at 5:30 Monday morning (August 24th) to be induced. They started my pitocin at 7:30, and broke my water at 8:30. I felt like I did pretty good focusing and relaxing through the contractions, but gave in and got an epidural when I was dilated 7 cm. The epidural was only effective on one side for a while, but we eventually got it working on the other side too. I could still feel the pressure really well though, and was able to move my legs decently (perfect!). Anyway, I pushed for about a half-hour I think and Ashlyn Hope Christensen was born at 12:47pm, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs, 4oz, and 21 inches long!

She came out healthy, although we later found out she broke her clavicle on the way out. She also had a "true knot" in her umbilical cord, which means there was an actual knot in the cord. At any moment she could have turned a certain way and pulled that knot tight, and we could have lost her. She is a miracle! Anyway, the broken collar bone is a somewhat common birth injury and will heal on it's own in a couple weeks. We're not sure where the dark hair came from and are still in shock over it. But her face looks just like Caleb's did as a newborn, so we're pretty sure she's ours! Caleb came later that day and wore his "I'm the Big Brother" t-shirt. He is really good with her. Enjoy the pictures!

My mom was able to be there for the birth, and stayed for a week afterwards. She was so much help and I couldn't have done it without her!

Ashlyn Hope Christensen

Sorry it took so long! It's amazing how fast time goes with a new baby and a four-year-old. Things went well and here's our new little girl! I will post tons more pictures and the story later. Gotta feed the baby now!

Overdue

Yeah, you read it right. That says NEGATIVE 2 days to go. Yes I was due two days ago and am still pregnant. I know I'm not that overdue, but it feels like it. I wasn't prepared to go past my due date with this one, since I went into labor on my due date with Caleb. Anyway, even though I'm not big on elective inductions, I'm going to be induced on Monday. I'm just not patient enough to wait longer. So at least by Monday Ashlyn (or Megan, Kaitlyn, Abby, or Hailey) will be here. I was dilated to three on Tuesday, so hopefully the process won't take very long. We'll post pictures when we have them. Wish me luck!

Naughty Chip

I need help. Caleb absolutely cannot go to sleep lately. He will lay in bed for hours talking. Who is he talking to you may ask? His "friend" Chip. The other night, he was trying really hard to be quiet and go to sleep. About an hour and a half after we put him down, he just started crying a genuine, frustrated cry. I asked him what was wrong and he said his friend keeps waking him up. Last night I told him not to talk to his friend and maybe his friend would stop talking to him, but he says that doesn't work. Chip just keeps talking. Meanwhile my child is very sleep deprived. His imagination is just going wild lately, which I love to see during the day, but how do I calm it down at night? Shall I put Chip in time-out?

Oh and by the way, yes I am STILL pregnant and I wish I wasn't. Therefore I am very cranky and very sleep-deprived. I swear this baby is ready to come, she's just being stubborn. At my doctor's appointment on Tuesday I was dilated to 2 cm already (from 0 the week before), so that is exciting, but also making me even more impatient. Anyway, so there's the update.

Bless the Fly

Caleb is so cute when he prays. He insists on always saying the dinner prayer. Then, especially if we have any extra people over, he folds his arms up on his forehead and peeks underneath. He looks from person to person and blesses each one of them. Tonight, a fly landed on Daddy's arm during the prayer. So here's how it went: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for the food, please bless it. Bless Mommy and baby, bless Daddy, bless the fly. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." We actually made it through the amen before we started laughing. Too bad a couple hours later I was swinging at the fly with the kitchen towel. I did miss though . . . maybe the prayer worked!

Baby Stuff and More

A couple of weeks ago, I got stuck in a rut. I know it was mostly pregnancy hormones, but I was feeling depressed and sorry for myself, tired of being pregnant and hurting and being tired, etc etc boo hoo. Anyway, about 10 things happened in the following week, some big, some small, to make me realize just how good I have it. It was so humbling to see all these other people having problems so much bigger than my own, and then to see how they handled their problems with such faith and optimism. Well anyways, it's sad to say that's what it took to break me out of my little phase, but I just wanted to say how very grateful I am for soooo many things. For this healthy pregnancy and beautiful baby, for my wonderful husband, my awesome sister-in-law, my healthy and happy son, Nate's job, I could keep going for a while . . .
Here's some pictures of Ashlyn's cute room (thank you Melissa for kicking my butt and making me get it done . . . or actually for doing most of it for me!) and also some pics of my belly that I thought were pretty cute (the feet one is copy-catted from Sarah - hope you don't mind!).

Monster Trucks!!

We recently went to the monster truck rally with the best of Lubbock's rednecks. Caleb loved it of course! Although with his natural concern for others, he was a little worried when one of them "broke" their truck, and also when one was spinning around in circles (left over anxiety from our little blow-out incident a couple weeks ago).

"Caleb, can you go play in the front room and give me some space?"
With an adorable, confused expression - "What's space?"
Exactly my point.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July! Friday afternoon Jason and Steph and their kids came to visit and we all went fishing at the pond. Then Saturday morning, we went to the parade. God took pity on my giant pregnant-ness and the sun was shaded by clouds a lot of the day. After the parade we had lunch and a much-needed nap, then it was off to Joyland Amusement park. It is just a little park, but turned out to be absolutely perfect for Caleb and his cousins. They had so much fun! Nate and I were bewildered by Caleb's transformation into a dare-devil. He's always been the opposite of a dare-devil until recently. Anyway, he wanted to ride all the big rides and after riding the biggest roller-coaster at the park, he said, "I want to go again by myself!" Here's some pictures. I just can't believe he's big enough to do this stuff now!
Then after the amusement park, we had a bucket of fried chicken in the park while waiting for the fireworks. And of course the kids loved the big fireworks show, then passed out on the way home!

Blow-out

Last Tuesday Caleb and I were driving to Midland for Lauren's birthday party. It was sprinkling rain and there was a fresh layer of very loose gravel on the interstate. Anyway, I went to make a very calm, careful lane-change, and before I knew it, we were spinning down the road at 70 mph. We then went across the median and finally came to a stop half-way onto the opposite side of the highway. My entire focus was to get us out of the oncoming traffic before we got hit, which meant figuring out that the engine had died, putting the car into park, restarting the engine, back into drive, and pulling back into the muddy median. Once in the median, besides hyperventilating and crying at the same time, I also promptly got stuck in the mud. Upon further inspection, we found that the front tire had blown out, and the spinning had knocked both the front and back tires on that side of the car off the rims, which were all bent up. Well the point is, it was very scary, and having both a baby in my belly and my son in the back seat made it ten times scarier. We all turned out okay (except the car . . .) and feel sooo blessed that there were no cars or other objects in our pathway to collide with. Caleb now compares me to Lightning McQueen (remember his blow-out and spin off the road?) and also frequently asks me when we're driving, "Mommy, are you being really careful so you don't pop the tire and make us spin?" Again, so grateful to have my two kiddos still safe and healthy!

Birth, According to Caleb

Today Caleb was yet again walking me through what will happen when Ashlyn is born. Here's his explanation: "Mommy, when Ashlyn's ready then you will go to the doctor and the doctor will take her out and you will cry. But don't worry Mommy, the doctor will put tape on your pieces and it will make you all better so you don't have to cry anymore." And thus is a 3-year-old's understanding of the birth process!

Wild Things

I've been slacking off on blogging, but mostly because we've been busy! I love summer-time because there are so many activities in the community to take Caleb to. We've been to a magic show at the library, jump-house activity at the library, swimming lessons, etc. Our most recent event was Critter-fest at the children's museum, where we got to see all sorts of wildlife. The giant snakes are always Caleb's favorite.


I don't know who looks more wild - Caleb or the tigers . . .

And last but not least, he got to ride an elephant!! He got the front spot and had a huge smile on his face the whole time it was walking. I didn't get a very good picture because I spent most of the time video-taping, but he absolutely loved it!