Our Epic Summer...2011

This summer the kids and I vacationed in Utah and Idaho for a total of 6 weeks. We went to two weddings (One brother, one cousin), welcomed home one missionary (my little brother Joshua), blessed one baby (McKay!), celebrated one birthday (Yeah Liz!)...and one graduation (Congrats Mom!), and ended it all with an awesome Christensen family reunion and 4th of July celebration. It has seriously been one of the most awesome summers ever, and it's only July!

Joe was able to be with us the first two weeks and the last week of our trip. In between he had to fly home to Alpine to work on his Master's project.

We had such a wonderful time visiting with both mine and Joe's families and seeing old friends from both Utah and Idaho. We also reaffirmed how much we hate being separated. Those three weeks were so difficult for me, I love my husband and have found that I worry about him so much more when we are separated by so many miles. I guess that this is an area where I need to learn to trust a little more. I do know that I'd rather miss him then not miss him though! 

Grow Baby Grow!

My sweet baby Mckay is so anxious to get moving!! This month we got him a Johnny Jumper and a baby walker and he has been thrilled with the new mobility. It has been so fun to watch him cruise around in his walker to explore a room and to spend time bobbing up and down in his Jumper. McKay is now four months old and 17.5 lbs. I think that he is working so hard to grow and get moving so that he can keep up with his big sister Jadyn. We love these kids!!

Baby Blessing

On Sunday, May 29th Joseph blessed our sweet baby boy in my parents house in Perry, Utah. It was a truly unique event for us as all of our siblings and our parents were able to attend! My brother Josh had returned from his mission a couple of days before and Joe's family drove all the way down from Idaho to be with us. It was such a special moment for our families as we were all together for the first time.

Nebraska City Conference/Family Vacation

Joe and I took the kids on a family vacation to Nebraska City in April! It was such a fun trip and miraculously the kids were sooo good! (How did we get so lucky?). Jadyn and McKay slept/played through most of our 4 ten hour travel days. We picked good places to stop and stretch our legs every few hours and it worked out really well. Joe and I are really starting to enjoy road trips together.

We planned our trip so that we could swing through Dallas TX and see our college friends, Carolyn and Mike, before stopping briefly in Tulsa OK to see Joe's cousins Grant and Maren. Then it was on to Nebraska City for four days where we experienced the novelty of rain (haha). Joe attended a conference for his career field there and the kids and I played at the library and watched movies in the hotel. Friday we got up super early and drove down to Oklahoma City to spend the weekend with Joe's Aunt, uncle, and numerous older married cousins. It was so fun getting to know more of Joe's family and being spoiled by Aunt Lucy. Jadyn loved playing with all the little cousins and cheering at their soccer game on Saturday. (she's stinking cute when she stands up and claps yelling "yeaaaa!!") We spent Saturday evening playing a really fun card came called "golf" with the adults and then got up super early Sunday morning to drive home. Deeply contemplating Easter of course. --speaking of, I love Easter! and not just because of all of the amazing candy. I love all of the reminders to think of our Savior, and what he has done for us. He lived, he died, and He lives again. And because of Him we can live too!!

Blessings

We have experienced so many blessings as a married couple! Looking back at the last year I have found it a little overwhelming to count our blessings. God's love for me and my little family is so evident! Especially when I choose to look for it. Today I was counting the blessings that we have received since moving to Alpine TX and wanted to share a few of the highlights:

-Joe received an assistantship that will help pay for his graduate degree in a big way.

-We found an apartment...when family housing (and all other apartment complexes) were already full.

-We found all of the furniture that we needed for an AWESOME deal.

-A Branch of the Church here in Alpine, with members that have been SO welcoming!

-A group of fellow mommy's who were also looking for companionship. I love meeting for story time at the library, play day at the park, and crafts at somebodies home!

-Friends who share our interests, come for games 2-3 nights a week and conveniently live next door to us for when I need to borrow eggs.

-A graduate community that BBQ's once a week and tolerates a 1 1/2 year old getting into all of their stuff.

-Both of our families coming to visit.

-A monster calf that paid for us to go home for Christmas!

-The safe arrival of baby McKay. He is such a sweet baby!

-We were finally accepted into family housing up on campus (yea for a washing machine, dish washer, and a second bedroom!)

-A new part time job babysitting (SO grateful for the extra income! and for a work opportunity that I can do while staying home with my kiddos)

-A tax return that will enable us to pay for the next year of graduate school WITHOUT taking out a student loan.

-The beautiful weather that lets me get out with both of my babies.

-Joe's flexible schedule that lets him be home when I need him (for the most part!).

-Our wonderful families, who love and support us, especially while we are so far away!

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!!