Kisses

We have been trying to teach Jadyn how to "give" kisses. She knows all about recieving them, when asked if she would like a kiss she will turn her cheek up towards you. But when asked if she can give YOU a kiss, she turns the same cheek up and presses it against your own cheek. Super cute but not totally successful. So yesterday I made the kissy noises at her until she started mimicking, and then I showed her how to give McKay kisses. After watching for a while she went for it, but couldn't quite get the timing of when to smack her lips and when to bump McKay's head. She finally just pulled back and studied the problem for a minute. Her solution? A full tongue lick up the side of the poor baby's head...

The Labor and Delivery Story...

During that last month of pregnancy you really feel like it is never going to end. You are so uncomfortable and so tired and so ready to meet your new little baby! Well I was feeling all of these things as my ninth month drew to a close. We had an ultrasound at 39 weeks in which the technician told us that this was going to be "one big baby, AT LEAST 8 lbs, probably bigger though." With this news, and the fact that I had been having contractions off and on for a few days now, we were pretty sure that the kid would come early.

The next week slowly dragged by and we arrived at our due date with no baby.Two days later Joe's Mom flew in to spend the week and help out with the new baby...still no baby.

We had had a Dr.'s appointment early that morning (Monday) and our Dr. suggested waiting another week and then inducing. I responded with "How about this week?" Our Dr. really wasn't a fan of inducing but he agreed to let us schedule it with the hospital for Thursday morning. We really wanted to take advantage of having Grandma here to take care of Jadyn during the hospital stay--and frankly I was SO ready to have this baby out of me.

Well Monday night we went to bed yet again timing contractions...and Tuesday we woke up with still no baby. The fake labor was really starting to wear on us emotionally. Thursday morning could not come soon enough. Tuesday and Wednesday Jadyn and I played with Grandma, going for long walks to try and encourage the arrival of this little man. Wednesday afternoon Grandma suggested that I take a nap when Jadyn did since the days and nights of very little sleep were about to begin. I did and slept like a rock for over two hours. It was amaizing. That evening a nurse from the hospital called and asked if we would like to come in and begin our induction that evening at 7:00pm instead of waiting until morning. Yes! definitely yes! anything to make this happen sooner.

After being treated to a super yummy dinner by Grandma, we said goodbye to sweet Jadyn and headed to the Hospital. They got us settled in and gave me a pill to help my cervix soften. 45 minutes later I was having contractions every 2 mintues that were about 90 seconds long. I guess I just needed a little boost to start labor! Or maybe it would have started on its own, we'll never know. I labored until 3:00am when the nurse wanted to start Pitocin to make things move along faster...I kind of thought that they were moving along just fine but what do I know? Only that if they were going to start Pitocin then I wanted to have an epidural, so we ahead and called the anesthesiologist and got that started. Then started the Pitocin. things moved along until 7:00am when Joe needed to step out for a break (grab breakfast, check on Jadyn). The nurse checked me before he left and I was still a 5, so no need to hurry. at 7:30am The Dr. came in and broke my water. By 8:15 I was having REALLY strong contractions and felt like the baby was about to pop out at any moment. I called the nurse who checked me again to find that I was now a 9. She calmly suggested that I invite my husband to return. I texted Tawana to send Joe back but she said that he had already left. As the minutes passed I started to worry that Joe wouldn't make it in time. I was feeling an EXTREME need to push that wasn't subsiding between contractions. The Dr. came to check me and also asked where my husband was...things were going to start moving quickly. Well Joe did arrive at that point, he had stopped to pick up chocolate doughnuts for me...what a great husband to smuggle me food. Well I finally got the ok to start pushing and three contractions later baby Joseph McKay Christensen entered the world! 7 lbs 6 oz. 19 1/2 inches long. He is so perfect. He wouldn't cry, just layed there on my tummy and blinked at all of us. We are so grateful for his safe arrival!!

Abel Skievers

Joe's family makes these amazing ping-pong ball shaped pancakes for breakfast during conference weekends. You have to have a special pan to make them and plenty of good stuff to dip them in! This year Joe and I decided to try and make these delicacies for our own little family out here in Texas. They were wonderful!! Jadyn wasn't so sure about them (Mostly she just licked all of the powdered sugar off of them....oh wait, that's what I was doing!) but we had a great time cooking and eating them together while we waited for conference to start. Thanks so much Christensen fam for this great tradition!!

The Rodeo!

This year we decided to make it a priority to attend at least one rodeo. Jadyn and I have never been to one so we were quite anxious to experience it. Sadly though, Cleveland held their rodeos the weekend after we left Ohio and Alpine held their rodeo the weekend before we arrived. :(

Jadyn and I were very saddened by this awful twist of fate until we learned that Sul Ross would be hosting their own rodeo the first weekend in October. Yea! We went to the rodeo both Friday and Saturday nights and had a blast! It was so much fun. Nobody died and all of the goats/calves/steers seemed to survive being first charged, and then rudely trussed up by the cowboys and cowgirls. We even got to see the next rodeo queen crowned! Haha it was really fun and Jadyn sat/danced through all of it. (she likes to shake her stuff when the music is going).

Awesome Hamburgers!

So I had quite the hankering for hamburgers the other day and decided to take inventory of the items in my fridge/pantry to see if would be even remotely possible to create these wonderful delicacies. Hamburger? Check! Condiments? Check! pickles-tomatoes-cheese? Check! Buns? Che....Oh...no buns. Not even a loaf of bread to improvise with. :(

Now I could of just packed Jadyn into the car, driven to the grocery store, and purchased the buns necessary to fulfilling my hamburger craving. But that would have been MUCH to simple. Instead I decided to undertake the oh-so-extensive project of making my own hamburger buns from scratch. Whew! I began by locating the recipe in the Abel Family cook book. I scanned the ingredients list to check that I had everything on hand and began cheerfully mixing away...only pausing once to notice that the recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt...a bit extreme but oh well...What did I know about hamburger buns? I finally got to the last step of the process (the flour) and discovered that two tablespoons of salt would definitely be necessary to compensate for the 12 cups of flour!

1 1/2 bags of flour and two mixing bowls later, Jadyn and I were up to our elbows in wads of sticky hamburger bun dough. This delightful concoction has thus far created 24 hamburger buns, 8 scones, and a giant calzone...only 10 more lbs to go....

On the bright side, The hamburgers were AWESOME!!

Our Next Big Move...

August 2010 found us moving to Alpine, TX. We will be here for 2 1/2 years while Joe attends graduate school at Sul Ross State University. We love living in the desert so far and are getting to know some new people! Jadyn already has a great group of baby friends and is very slowly learning to not slap other kids when they borrow her toys. Kym is having a blast making hair pieces for her hair challenged child and Joe is trying to juggle his new school/work/church responsibilities.

Summer 2010...Painesville, OH?

Joe landed an awesome job working for the USDA Wildlife services this summer on their raccoon vaccination program. So we packed up our little fam and moved to a suburb outside of Cleveland Ohio and set up camp in a great little apartment. While there, Joe caught and vaccinated roughly 400 raccoons (and a few skunks!); Jadyn learned to walk, began talking, and had her first birthday; and Kym made the adjustment to life as a full-time mommy. We made some great friends in Ohio and visited several fabulous places, including: historic Kirtland, New York City, and Amish country. We loved Ohio!