Kyle and Christy's Place

Four Months Old

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Our handsome little guy had his four months check-up yesterday. He definitely remembered the last time we were there because as soon as we put him down on the table and the nurse bent over him with her stethoscope, his lips puckered up in fear and he started crying. Sad but oh so cute!

Noah is getting very big. Here are his stats:
Length- 25 3/4 in (74%)
Weight- 15 lbs 2 oz (49%)
Head Size- 16 3/4 in (52%)

At four months he:

sleeps through the night
can roll over from his stomach to his back and from his back to his stomach
grabs anything that comes near his hands and puts it in his mouth
laughs when he thinks Mom or Dad are being silly
can stand up on his feet while being held
follows Gabbie around with his eyes any time he hears her voice
kicks his feet like crazy when he is excited (whenever he does this Gabbie will scream "Noah scited')
sleeps very lightly during the day and is frequently woken up by his big sister playing
holds his head up high when he is pulled up into a sitting position
nurses almost exclusively but we have started giving him a little bit of cereal each day if he is still hungry
loves to snuggle. he grabs your hands and pulls them up close to his face so he can lean against them

We love having him in our family. He is a wonderful addition and we all adore him.

Gabbie's Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:32:00 +0000

I love looking at other blogs and getting ideas for things to do with Gabbie. Since that is one of the reasons I enjoy blogs so much, I thought I would share some of the stuff Gabbie and I do together in case it might give some of our readers ideas.

In learning the letters, we drew pictures for things that started with the letter 'A' (don't laugh at the pictures...when it came time to draw, I couldn't think of anything that started with the letter 'A').

This project was a HUGE mess because Gabbie would squirt the glue into a huge pile, put her fingers into it then grab some rice. She probably had more rice stuck to her than the paper but it was one of her favorites.

For this tree, we traced her arm then she did finger prints with stamp ink because we didn't have paint.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is one of lady's favorite books. This activity was based off the story and the lifecycle of a caterpillar. First we read the story together then we made a caterpillar with lots of colored circles. After that we painted butterflies with watercolors.

This is one example of the monsters we made. I grabbed some of the kitchen utensils and traced them on paper. Gabbie drew on them after I made their eyes.

another very messy but fun activity...finger painting with pudding.

Collages are one of my favorites. Gabbie really just likes the glue aspect but she's starting to figure out that you put the glue on then you put something on top if it.

Clouds...

The newest project...bubble painting. I added some food coloring to our bubbles and then we blew them on the paper to pop. Next time we'll use more than one color of bubbles but you get the idea.

Painting on bread... I took some milk and mixed a little bit of food coloring into it. The paintbrushes were q-tips and the paper was the bread. After painting, we toasted up the bread and Gabs enjoyed it for breakfast.

A lot of these ideas came from books I checked out at the library or information I found when searching for toddler art projects online. I love to get those books that have a bunch of activities you can do with kids because they give me ideas when I am stuck on the same stuff with Gabs. If you have any good craft/learning activity ideas, please share!!

Especially for Grandma Christensen

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:22:00 +0000

We try to call Gabbie's grandparents on Kyle's side every week through skype. This way they can see us (and when they get a camera, we can see them). Gabbie looks forward to it very much. Last night she had to wait longer than she wanted to and kept looking at the computer and pouting, saying "Granma Chrisen".

We just had to take a video and share it with you Grandma.

(The VA family should get skype accounts and webcams so we can call you too!!!)

Overview of October

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:15:00 +0000

I'm a slacker. Yes, I know. There are so many things to get done during the day that I have to pick and choose what to do. Unfortunately, I haven't chosen blogging. I will try to improve. Promise. Since I hardly posted anything about what we did this month, here is a quick recap of the month. It starts from the end of the month (Halloween) and goes to the beginning of the month in descending order.

We all dressed up for Halloween this year. Each of us were characters from the Wizard of Oz. Our Halloween was actually the week before the 31st. We dressed up and headed out to Zoo Boo at our local zoo with some friends. Gabbie loved it; everyone at the zoo loved us. We kept seeing people take pictures of our family as we were walking past them. I guess not many people get as dressed up as Kyle did.

Our handsome Lion...

Dorothy and Tin Man crawling through the tunnel of fish...

trying to get a picture of the kids and daddy but they were too interested in looking at Kyle and his weird outfit...

Another day this month we went to a volleyball game at Kyle's school where three of his students played. Noah and Gabbie got dressed up in some clothes they hadn't worn yet. Naturally I had to take some pictures of this handsome little guy...

He has the cutest smile...he'll smile at you and then when you talk to him about his cute smile, he will scrunch up his shoulders, bow his head and turn to the side like he's embarrassed. It is super cute.

whenever we tell Gabs to 'say cheese' this is the look we get...

We realized during the beginning of the month that we hadn't been to the zoo in a really long time so we planned to go on Friday night right after Kyle finished with work. There were hardly any people there and all the animals were up close so we could see them really well.

We finally broke down and got a double stroller because it was too much of a hassle for me to go places while trying to keep Gabbie in the stroller and carry Noah in the Baby Bjorn. They love sitting next to each other. Noah almost always ends up with his seat laying back because Gabs likes to sprawl out with her feet and arms over on his side and accidentally hits him if he is sitting up.

The best thing we saw at the zoo was the Daddy Elephant playing with his son. They were hitting each other with their trunks (well actually I think just the son was hitting his dad).

Gabs and Noah LOVE their bath time...Sometimes they take baths together and other times Gabbie begs us to let her take a shower...

beautiful girl...

handsome guy...

Any time she gets into our bedroom, she pulls out my shoes and starts walking around the house in them.

Early in the month we made fruit loop bracelets. Gabbie was showing them off when I took this picture mid-chew...

She was talking to Jesus...

Playing with some toys...

During conference weekend for our church, the first weekend of the month, Gabbie watched a scripture video on the computer while we were listening to the prophets and apostles...

She is so brave now. Any slide she sees is one that she has to go down.

Sorry for the mammoth post. I will update more often. Things are going great in Texas. We miss our family and friends in Utah and Virginia but we are adapting well.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Our ward Halloween party was this past Saturday. They were brilliant bringing in a photographer from the ward to take pictures of the families. Thank you so much Kelli.

We dressed up this year like the Wizard of Oz cast. Gabbie was Dorothy, Noah was the Lion, Kyle was Tin Man, and I was Scarecrow. (we were nominated for best costumes but you had to be inside to win so we didn't)

Here we are:

Family Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:53:00 +0000

We have wanted to get some new family pictures since Noah was born and last weekend we took the opportunity to get them taken. A friend of ours in our church ward recommended the photographers and we were very pleased with the results. Here they are for you guys to take a look at (Grandma's and Grandpa's your pictures will be in the mail soon).

Thank you so much to Gilgen Photography for taking some wonderful pictures of our family.

Happy Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Hope you guys have a wonderful time dressing up and enjoying
each others company.

September Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:57:00 +0000

We have had a pretty uneventful September. Kyle has been very busy with work and we are trying to get into a daily routine at home. Gabbie and I have been working on doing things that are productive during the day.

She watches a couple shows in the morning, mostly "Super Why" and "Sid the Science Kid". Each show teaches her some very important reading and science concepts. We were watching an episode of "Super Why" last week and they were spelling the word 'chair'. Gabbie walked up to the tv and pointed at each letter and told me what each one was, except for the h.

Now we are investigating things that grow. Our first experiment is one I used when I taught second grade (thanks Leslie) where we sprout lima beans and watch them grow. Yay for being able to use the knowledge I have about teaching children!

Every night before we put Gabbie to bed, we sing some Primary songs and say family prayers. Gabbie loves singing the songs, especially "Popcorn Popping" and "Once There Was A Snowman" which she asks for every time we sing. However, when we get to prayers, this is what she does...

She knows that we are getting ready to put her to bed and doesn't like it. Any ideas on how to make prayers more reverent?

She is also into princesses lately. Whenever she sees the blue hair 'thing' (can't remember what these are called) she puts it on and says 'Princess Gabba'. Then she wants to make Mommy, Noah and Daddy a princess. I thought she looked like an 80's exercise guru in this picture with her big hair and sweat band.

Kyle is usually exhausted when he gets home from work but has been very good to make sure he plays with the kids so I can have a break.

Gabbie decided that Noah's bouncy seat is pretty comfortable so whenever the opportunity arises, she jumps into it and claims it as her own.

Noah is getting very big and active...

Kyle and Gabbie were doing some work together...

Another fun trip to our zoo...this time we went to the petting zoo and Gabs got to brush a goat.

Earlier in the month, we would put Noah down on his belly for some tummy time and this is what he would do...fall straight to sleep.

One final swim before we took down the pool...

We are super excited that summer is over. There have been a ton of rainstorms lately that have really cooled things off. Thank goodness. It was getting to be ridiculous with how hot it was.

Playing at the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:11:00 +0000

The kids and I have been trying to walk some every day. There is a park in the neighborhood that is connected to ours which we pass every time we go walking. Gabbie loves it so earlier this week we made a trip just to the park so we could play. Here are some of the fun pictures from our day playing...

Noah lounging in the stroller while Gabbie played...

Gabs had so much fun!!

Random Pictures of Noah

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:42:00 +0000

Sorry we are so bad about keeping this updated lately. We have taken pictures; its just hard to find the time to sit down and blog them. Here are a bunch of random pictures we have taken of Noah just because...

He loves our bed...

Noah is getting very big. He is on a pretty regular schedule now. He will take a bath and get ready for bed at night, usually before dinner. Then he eats and is ready to sleep at 8. We try to keep him up a little bit longer but the lavender baby shampoo really puts him out. He wakes up for a feeding around 2-2:30. We both end up falling asleep in his bedroom. Then I put him in his bed and go back to mine. If I am lucky, he sleeps until 6-6:30 then wakes up to eat again. Sometimes he wakes up when I put him back in bed and just wants to snuggle. We are staying up more during the day but when we go out for walks or play group, he just falls asleep. Anyway, things are going great, he's growing like a weed and we all love him so much, especially Gabbie.

Birthday Art

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:27:00 +0000

On my birthday this year, I introduced Gabbie to a new art medium. We decided to paint with chocolate pudding. She is always so excited to do any art project and she knows the routine. Before we even start, we have to get her art shirt on (one of my old shirts that she loves to wear) and then grab the art sheet out of the closet. We can only do art when we are on the blanket. Seeing her face as she finds out what we are going to do is another one of those moments that make me so grateful to be a stay at home mommy. It is so rewarding.

Anyway, Kyle captured these pictures when he came home.

Gabs didn't even try to taste the pudding until I stuck her finger in her mouth. She was super surprised.

I helped her write her name and draw a flower. She then proceeded to completely cover her name up with pudding (guess it looked better that way).

Umm, yummy!

Noah was just chilling in his chair. He is always so good as long as he can see us.

Too much excitement led to foot painting instead of finger painting. We had to make sure she stayed on the sheet then and had to wash her art shirt and blanket.

Before...

After...

We had so much fun painting and getting dirty. I am trying to be less obsessive about her keeping clean and instead just let her enjoy herself, whether she keeps clean or not. (not so easy for me to do but I'm working on it)

Kemah Boardwalk Again.

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:02:00 +0000

When Grandma Christensen and Grandpa Campbell were here visiting a few weeks ago, we took them down to the coast. We went to the Kemah Boardwalk and just walked around while Taylor and her friend Drew rode a couple of the rides there. Of course we had to take some pictures while there...

Both grandparents with the kids...

Daddy and Gabs walking back to everyone else after they finished exploring...

I love when they both smile like this. You can really see how much they love being together.

Noah enjoyed some sleep while we were out. We stopped on one of the benches looking out on the gulf so I could feed and change Noah.

Taylor and Drew took the opportunity during our break to go ride this. (Drew is faking like he wants to throw up)

We also stopped at the photo-op spot and took some pictures...

Grandpa Campbell holding Noah for the first time.

Thanks for going with us guys. We loved having both Grandma and Grandpa come visit us. Hope you guys liked your trip. We can't wait to see you again.

Zoo Trip with Grandma Christensen

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:27:00 +0000

When Grandma Christensen came to visit us we had to take her to our favorite place, the zoo. We had the chance to go see the aquarium and some other new places we haven't seen yet. It was awesome. Gabbie got to see a turtle and some awesome fish.

Our new favorites...the sea lions. Unfortunately the oldest. biggest one died a few weeks ago. He was barking the whole time we were there and Gabbie thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Hiding from the camera...

In the bird house...it is so peaceful and beautiful. Kyle had to show Gabbie where to look so she could see the birds.

Noah always ends up sleeping when we go to the zoo. He also sweats like crazy too.

Thanks for going to the zoo with us Grandma Christensen.

Noah's Blessing - August 9, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:58:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago we were able to give Noah a baby's blessing and a name in front of our ward. Kyle's mom and my Dad were both visiting so we figured it would be the best time to bless him so we could at least have some family members there. Kyle gave him the name Noah Nathaniel Christensen and then blessed him to continue to develop his patience, follow the Spirit in relation to education, learn to teach, and live up to the men that his name came from. It is a very special, sacred time for families in our church and we were just so glad that we had some family here to witness his blessing.

Here are some pictures from afterwards... (I apologize for the fuzzy quality)

Our family for the summer.

proud Mom and Dad...

This is super fuzzy but I thought it showed how much Gabbie loves her little brother now.

Gabbie was climbing up on the edge of the couch so she could be in the picture too.

Noah in his handsome little outfit....thank you to Sister Taylor for getting us this adorable suit.

We love this little guy!

Family Home Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:22:00 +0000

Last week we had Family Home Evening about likening the scriptures to our lives. The best way to do this, for Gabbie, was to act them out. Kyle chose a passage from the Book of Mormon where Nephi and his older brothers are commanded by the Lord to go back to Jerusalem and get the brass plates or scriptures from the wicked Laban. Nephi's older brothers did not want to do it because they were afraid and did not think that having the scriptures with them on their journey was important.

They were unsuccessful twice and Laman and Lemuel wanted to quit. Nephi knew how important this commandment was so he went up on his own to persuade Laban to give them the plates. He was prompted by the Holy Ghost and because he listened, he was able to secure the plates for future generation.

This is such a good example of being in-tune with the Spirit so you can know what needs to be done. It also shows me what can be done with faith. Nephi did not know what was going to happen but he knew that Heavenly Father would deliver Laban into his hands because he was doing as he was commanded. I hope that I have and can develop more of that same kind of faith.

Here are some pictures from our role play...

Laban is drunk and fallen here...(He is also very fat to show his richness and laziness. Thank you Taylor for willingly playing his role)

Nephi's parents, Sariah and Lehi, were very worried about their children being away from them and going back to a dangerous Jerusalem... (I got the best role for my shyness, didn't have to move or say anything)

Gabbie loves dress-up so Kyle made her look like little orphan Annie after we finished our role play.

Thank you Kyle for planning such a wonderful FHE where we were all able to learn a little bit more about Nephi and think about what it must have been like for him to do something so hard even though he was really scared.

Random Summer Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:23:00 +0000

We have so many fun pictures that never get posted because it would take too long to do a whole blog post. Today was my first full day back to work so I decided that I would take the time during my breaks and post all those pictures that we love and think you guys would get a kick out of. They are all just random and don't really have any connection to each other. I did try to put ones from the same day together at least.

Gabbie and I playing in the office together...

Gabbie loves all things that relate to her daddy. Whenever he leaves a belt around, she grabs it and plays. This time Kyle put it on her and made her look like a Jedi...

this is so cool...

For my birthday this year, Kyle got us a down mattress cover for the bed. It came in this huge box and Gabbie converted it to her toy.

We sure are going to miss Aunt Tayyer (Taylor) when she goes back to VA next week. Gabbie has loved having her here. She is her best friend.

Whenever we go to the zoo Gabbie comes home super tired. This picture is from one of our many trips to the zoo and she refused to take a nap because she kept waking up from bad dreams. As you can see, she was so tired. I sure love moments like this with my two beautiful kids.

The zoo is so big we still haven't made it all the way around. The last time we went we saw the cat section. Gabs saw the Siberian Tiger by climbing up on the fence with Daddy and then she wanted to climb up by herself because she wasn't finished looking at the Tiger.

Oooh, that lion is so cool...

like Father, like Daughter

During my nap one day, Kyle and Gabbie decided to do some art. Normally we draw pictures on our back porch with chalk and get a minimum of it on ourselves. Daddy however had different plans. He and Gabbie did the normal pictures on the porch and some awesome body art. I woke up to a bunch of pictures on the camera and a fun story from Kyle.

For one of our Family Home Evenings we did a water balloon fight for the activity. It was supposed to be for Gabbie but Kyle and Taylor ended up doing more fighting than Gabbie. She just watched and laughed as we all ended up getting wet.

Yum...chocolate!! (treat from Daddy)

Playing in the front room during a thunderstorm...

Kyle opened the window for Gabbie to hear and watch the rain. She couldn't get close enough so she kept pushing her face into the screen, hence the black on her nose and mouth.

Another art project that turned into body art when Daddy got involved. Gabbie and I made a picture with geometric stickers. Once she showed it to Daddy, he pulled some of the stickers off and put them on her to make her look like a ball player. She couldn't stop at just one sticker; she needed one for each part of her body not covered with clothes.

Noah's first bath at home...

At the beginning of the summer we went down to the Kemah Boardwalk near Galveston and walked around. We ate dinner at this way overpriced restaurant and watched some fireworks.
The restaurant was cool because it had a huge fish tank going from the first to the third floors. Gabbie loved looking at the fish, but she couldn't do it without holding on to her colors (crayons).

posing at the photo-op spot...

Gabs loved watching this ride...

looking out at the Gulf of Mexico...(i think)

oooh...its a train...

My younger sister and I posing for Kyle...

More poses...

Cute girl!

playing in the backyard...

We have had a really fun summer. Kyle goes back to school at the end of next week so it is coming to an end. Taylor also heads back to Virginia next week. We have loved having her here with us for the summer. Gabbie is going to have an adjustment with her gone and we will probably be calling her a few times a week just so Gabbie can talk to her. We love you Tayyer!!!!

Bringing Home Baby Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Sorry it has taken so long for us to post. It has been really busy at home and quite an adjustment with two kids under two. This post is about two weeks old now since Noah has been home since Sunday, July 12.

This picture was taken of Noah while he was still at the hospital. Kyle and the kids were at home so this was some of the one-on-one time I got with Noah before we went home.

This picture is for the Christensen side of the family. Kyle specifically took the picture to show everyone that Noah is the first of our kids that ended up with the 'Christensen ears'.

It took awhile for Noah to be discharged so we could actually leave. He had to have his circumcision and then we had to wait an hour and a half afterward before we were able to leave the hospital. Gabbie decided that she would check out Noah's seat and see if she could still fit into it...as you can see, she is a little bit too big.

Noah getting ready to be dressed to come home.

Daddy dressing the little guy....

Our attempt at getting the whole family in a picture together...Gabbie didn't want to be a part of it.

First time in his car seat...

We got some really great advice from moms who have multiple children. They said to make sure that we have something special for Gabbie when we bring Noah home so she feels important. She has loved computers since she was first able to stand up to the one in our office. We decided that the best thing we could get her for a special present would be her own computer.

Kyle snapped this picture of our first night at home. Noah and I slept on the couch so Kyle could get some sleep during the night (he is taking over my work shift from 4-8am so I wanted him to actually get some sleep for the first day he had to work).

We were all in the office by the computer a few days after Noah came home so we took some pictures of the kids...

Gabbie likes to be wrapped up in a blanket to look like her little brother. Kyle will wrap her up, carry her like a baby, and sit her in the c-pillow.

The family watching tv. This lasted for only about 3 seconds before Gabbie was ready to be off the couch by herself. She can't sit still for very long so we have to almost carry the camera with us at all times if we want to catch the cute shots of her with her brother.

More pictures to come, I promise (it just might be a little while).

A little overshadowed, but not forgotten... THE ZOO!

kcatch9@gmail.com (Kyle) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:32:00 +0000

Until we got distracted with more important posts, this post was going to be our next one.

We really wanted to brag about our Houston ZOO!

About a week prior to Noah being born, we decided to take a trip there.

From what we saw of the zoo (which was only about 15% of the zoo) this is one of the coolest zoos we've ever been to.
(up there with the Cleveland Zoo, the North Carolina Zoo, and the Prague Zoo)

Due to the heat, the first place we decided to visit was the indoor "rainforest" section of the zoo.

They had a ton of fish that were very exotic. While there we saw all of the fishes from Finding Nemo (clown fish, dory fish (I don't know their names), blow fish, sharks, etc.) In this tank (among others) there were Piranha.

It was interesting because the top of it was open (no glass) and there was a sign that said "Please don't put hands or fingers in the tank. These fish are known to bite."

Another cool thing in the rainforest area were the otters.

Usually when you see otters in a zoo you will see them swimming around in a pool. This time we got the chance to see them taking a nap together. I like to think that this is a Mom and her kid snuggling.

One of the things that Gabs liked the most about this trip to the Zoo was that we actually let her get out of the stroller and lead us wherever she wanted to go.

When we first took her out though, she gave us this look that was like "really, I get to do whatever I want?! Yay!"

As soon as she got out of the stroller she went running over to this huge fish.

We had no idea that she was so fond of fishies.

If any of you have ever been to a park with Gabs you will know that she has kind of a love/hate relationship with heights, tunnels, and new things... she hates them at first, but once she gets used to them, she tends to love them.

One of the other cool things about the rainforest area is that they have a fun tunnel to go through. You actually go right under the Piranhas.

Gabbie was all game going into the tunnel, but once she got there, whether out of fear, or out of excitement I'm not sure, she didn't want to move further.

I had to scoot her along as best I could while not getting claustrophobic myself. (This thing was obviously made for kids.)

I love this picture, because it shows a side of Gabbie that is rarely seen. This is her... I'm hot, and tired, but I can't stop having fun... look.

Their exibits had so many different varieties of animals than we were used to.

I think this picture is one of a toucan... I'm not sure though.

Another thing that we really like about the Houston Zoo is how many benches they have for you to just stop and sit down on. Almost every exhibit has a place where you can just sit and look at the animals.

There is also a ton of Shade... both man-made and natural.

One of Gabbie's favorite parts of our Zoo back in Utah was the wild cat area. She loved the Siberian tigers. We didn't get far enough into the Zoo to see if there were any of those tigers, but we did get far enough to see that there were cheetahs.

Surprisingly, Gabs wasn't too interested in them. Unsurprisingly, however, the reason was probably because she was distracted by these big dogs (you may need to enlarge the picture below to see them clearly). They were seriously monstrous. Supposedly they are a special breed that are native to the same area of the world that the cheetahs are from. The Zoo had a great sign that told a story about how getting the dogs actually helped to tame some of the cheetahs... interesting how a dog can help tame a cheetah...

If Gabbie's favorite had not been Siberian Tigers in Utah, it would definitely have been Giraffes. She just loves them.

The Houston Zoo has about 8 of them. Gabs was in heaven. She especially liked the baby one.

The funny thing was, though, that because of the extreme heat, all of the adult Giraffes were huddled up in this one little shed... it was kinda funny too, cause they had about 3 other sheds, but they all wanted to be together in this one.

Taking this picture I just imagined the mother Giraffe sitting in the shed saying "crazy kids... you're gonna get heat stroke!"

So, I have to tell a funny story about this next picture:

I told you earlier about the freedom that we decided to give Gabs while at the Zoo this time (which freedom, by the way, we will be harnessing a bit next time with her awesome new monkey leash backpack (we love second-hand stores)). Well, after we were watching the Giraffes, we turned to look at the Elephants that were next door. We were all excited, because we could tell there were a lot of them. All of the sudden, Gabs goes booking it down the pathway.

Keeping a little distance cause I was curious what made her so excited that she took off, and not wanting to curb her enthusiasm about animals, I just followed her to make sure she was safe.

It was way cute when she got to where she was going, because what had made her so excited was that she had seen a cute little baby elephant! She just stood at the fence and stared at him... (Sadly I didn't get a picture of it)

We learned on this visit that the only elephants that have tusks are the males. Thus, at the Houston Zoo (that we saw) there were 3 adult females, 1 adult male, and 1 baby male.

This picture is one of the favorite pictures I have ever seen of Gabs:

I think, with the exception of possibly Kate and Adam, Gabbie is the biggest animal lover I have ever seen. All of her favorite books are about animals. She has always preferred stuffed animals to baby dolls. Her favorite shows on TV are Winnie the Pooh and Franklin (both about animals). She is just in heaven whenever we go anywhere related to animals.

Now we're excited to go back and see the other 85% of the Zoo!

More Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Here are some more pictures as promised. These are still from day one.

Gabbie had to sit beside me on the cool bed. She was so well behaved when she first got there but having to wait over an hour to see your little brother is a hard thing to do, especially when you don't have things to play with and your mom is in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of her arm.

Kyle tried to play 'this little piggy' to distract her and speed along the time.

She was not a happy camper...

These pictures are hilarious...Kyle wanted Gabbie to see Noah and let her 'hold' him for a little bit. She really wanted nothing to do with him. She kept pushing him off her lap.

this is post push...

Kyle and Noah getting to know each other better...

Daddy and the kids...

They are both sucking on something at the same time, Noah his hand and Gabs her fish toy.

rethinking the whole brother thing...

cute little feet...

in case you can't quite see it all the way, his shirt says 'Special Delivery Ike'

I think every baby has at least one of these pictures where they look like an old person. Here is our little man looking quite old.

Aunt Taylor and Noah.

Hope you enjoy!

Our Beautiful Baby Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:55:00 +0000

As many of you know, we had our baby boy, Noah Nathaniel Christensen, yesterday July 10, 2009 at 2:03 pm. He weighed 8 pounds .08 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Sound familiar? That's because those are almost the exact same numbers for Gabbie when she was born. Anyway, here is his birth story...

I went in to my doctors appointment on Thursday July 9 and after checking me and finding out I was dilated to a 4 almost 5, my doctor said I could be induced if I wanted to be. Now this was something I was super excited to hear. I had been very swollen for the entire last month of pregnancy and nothing I did made it go down. There was extreme pressure every time I moved I shouted out in pain and it was way too hot to be so pregnant. So we called over to the hospital and they had an opening for Friday at 8am. We jumped on it.

When we got to the hospital, they hooked me up to an iv, did some blood work, asked a bunch of questions, and started me on pitocin by 8:20. My doctor got there at 8:45, checked me and broke my water. I was dilated to a 6 almost 7 at that point. I had talked about never having a baby without an epi but over the last few weeks, I had really been feeling like I wanted to try it without one. So, I did. Kyle was amazing as he sat beside me and let me squeeze his hand when a strong contraction came on. He was wonderful! I labored for 6 hours, I think. They checked me again and had me do one initial push to get Noah down in position. Kyle knows more of what happened next so ask him to explain it in more detail. My doctor came in, they transformed the bed and I was ready to push. With one hard push, Noah started to crown. This is where everything is pretty vague in my memory but he was crowning for a good ten minutes. My contractions would happen, I'd push, and then nothing...no contraction for a stretch of time, twice. I finally got the energy to keep pushing and three pushes later, he was out. He totally just slid right out because I could not stop pushing when the doctor told me to. Sorry for the long story but this way I only have to tell it once. Here are the inital pictures from the day:

getting ready...

Noah getting his vitals checked.

Daddy holding his little guy for the first time. (He even cut the cord this time around!)

Every time Noah tried to open his eyes he would start wimpering because the light hurt. Kyle was trying to shield him a little bit so he could see. Noah has the cutest lip quiver when he is upset. We'll try to get it on video sometime so all you guys can see it.

Yes, I do look drugged. That's because I was! They gave me some pain meds instead of the epi and they made me super loopy. There are things Kyle said I did that I have no recollection of at all (my cheeks are super puffy because my tooth infection is back...thank goodness I can now go get that root canal finished).

I feel so blessed to have made it through another safe delivery of a baby. I did end up getting second to third degree tears but I think overall, the experience without an epi was much more enjoyable and rewarding. Hope everyone loves the pictures we will be posting over the next few weeks. We love you all and thanks for your support during my pregnancy, move, and delivery.

Willowbrook Mall

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:02:00 +0000

As my due date has gotten closer, we have done a lot of walking to try to help things along and get Noah in the right position for birth. Since it is ridiculously hot outside, we have found ourselves at many different stores and malls over the week. This time we had a fun little treat because there was a pet store that actually had animals you could pet and play with. Gabbie fell in love with the bunnies at the front of the store and the puppies at the back.

Taylor fell in love with the bunnies at the front. She kept petting them and saying that she was going to get one when she moves with Dad. When we asked what she would do if he says no, she said 'I'll just bring it home without him knowing and then I have to keep it.' (we'll see what dad thinks about that)

Gabbie was able to ride in one of those automated toys for the first time when we were at the mall. She was a little nervous when she realized that Garfield was sitting beside her but she loved driving the car!

She is so good at waiting patiently, most of the time.

Woah, who are you?

Dad I don't want to give him kisses...

Here is a short little clip of Gabs playing with the puppies at the pet store and the other one is of her driving the car.

Aunt Taylor

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:06:00 +0000

There are two things that Gabs has become super attached to since we moved here. First, is her blanket that Grandma Christensen made for her when she turned 1 and the second is her Aunt Taylor. These two are so fun to watch together. Gabbie adores her Aunt and can't believe how lucky she is that she gets to share a room with her (and wake her up between 5-7 by singing to her bears...poor Taylor no longer knows what it is like to sleep in).

One morning Gabbie was playing with her blanket when Taylor woke up for the morning. When she came to sit down in the hall, Gabs had to run over and sit beside her. Then they decided to play with the blanket (Gabs loves to put it over her head, with her legs and feet sticking out, and hide). Here are the pictures I managed to get before they realized I was doing it...

Oops. She realized Mom was taking pictures...

Her attention only lasts for about 2 seconds and then she is ready to move on to the next thing. After looking at herself in the pictures she was ready to go back and play.

Sometimes she is such a little cheeser, totally hamming it up for the camera. The next time you are around her, bring out a camera and tell her to 'say cheese' for you. It's too cute!

Update on Noah's Status

kcatch9@gmail.com (Kyle) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:22:00 +0000

I jus lub this new haus, guys!

kcatch9@gmail.com (Kyle) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Hi guys... it's me! ...Gabbie!

(sometimes my Daddy likes to talk as if he were me)

I jus wanted to tell yew all about some of the stuff I like at our neeew haus!

the first thing I wanted to tell yew.. is about my new BIG GIRL BED!

I jus love this bed.

Yew could eben sit on it...

Or lay your headdy on a big pellow.

Yew could eben lay on it.

but my most faebritest part of this big girl bed...

... is that you can GET OFF OF IT!!!!!

But, yew haf to be careful, 'caus if yewr parents catch you doin' somefing yewr not supposed to, Yewr gonna be in trouble.

Another thing I like about ower new haus...

... Is THE SPRINKALER

I try to be very careful when I get my clowse all wet.

I lub our back yard!

... Eben I also lub ... PRIMARY

... (nursury akshully)... (but they let me go to that fun primary water aktivity!)

I got to skwert some people with a spray bottle!

Eben Daddy hewped me play the sponge game.

After... I did it awww by mysewf!

I liked the swoomin pool the most!

I liked it so much... that Daddy, Momma, and Grampa got me one of my own for
OWER BACK YARD!

I lub my new swoomin pool!

I eben lub having water poored on my headdy!

... Another thing I lub about ower new haus...

...is that Gramma and Grampa Campbell came to visit us...

... and AUNT TAYLOR CAME TO STAY!

Aunt Taylor is so Ahsome!

(She eben wears Ahsome sunglasses!)

... Another thing I lub about our new haus,

IS THE SCIENCE MUSEUM!

... I eben saw a lizard,

And they have some ahsome movies!

My most fabritest part of our new haus,

tho,

ARE MY OWN NEW SUNGLASSES!

I even get to look like TAYLOR!
(Do you like my ahsome cute hair too!)

... Uh Oh... I better go... Mommy is coming!
(I aways get in trouble when I play on the kompewter)

Our Final Week in Utah

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Sorry we have been so absent from updating you guys lately. Things have been crazy with moving, working, family visiting, and adjusting to a new living style. I was looking through the pictures on the computer and realized there were a lot from our last week in Utah that hadn't been posted yet. We had a great time with family before we left. Kyle's sister Chelle and her family were visiting from Ohio and we were able to do a lot of things with them.

Gabs eating one of her last breakfasts in our apartment. It was a great place to live for the first year of her life.

Silly Daddy eating with her...

Discovery Park was super close to our apartment but we actually only ended up going there like three times in the entire year we lived in Pleasant Grove. We thought it would be nice to take one final trip there and let Gabbie play. She was only about 8 months the last time we went there so she wasn't able to do many things.

This time she was super excited to try all the new things. Her dad was even more excited than her because he got to help her try the new toys out.

She always gets super nervous the first time she gets on a swing but once she realizes that she won't fall, she loves it.

While Chelle was here, the family got together for a couple of picnics in the park. This evening we were able to share with them one of our favorite parks in Pleasant Grove. It has a huge walking path, a large empty grassy area, and a playground. Gabbie loved playing here every time we came. It became harder to get her to leave each time we went.

All of the family, minus myself and the babies, played a game of baseball together. It was really fun to watch the interaction between Kyle and his brothers and sisters. They love each other so much! About half way through the game, Gabbie decided that she wanted a turn as well. Kyle then tried to teach her to hit the ball for quite a while.

As you can tell, he really loves teaching her to do stuff that's silly and not so nice all the time.

Gabbie adores her cousin Gracie. She was trying to follow her around every time she went somewhere. It was a little different for her to have to 'compete' for Grandma Christensen's attention because she has always been the only grandkid around. She did wonderfully,(most of the time). We sure love our Wilde cousins!

Memorial Day we headed up to the cemetery to clean Lacey's grave. Kyle suggested that we sing 'Families Can Be Together Forever' which ended up making a ton of us cry. We are so grateful that we have eternal families and we will one day be able to see Lacey again. I can't wait to meet this sweet, special little girl that has touched so many peoples lives. Gabbie and Noah are lucky to have such an aunt.

Gabs playing with her Uncle Jake...

After leaving the cemetery, we went up to Bridal Veil Falls for another family picnic. After lunch all the little kids went to play in the falls. Gabbie liked it much better this time because she had on her shoes that could get wet. She walked all over the place, even sitting down in the cool water and getting her bum soaked. Cousin Lincoln surprised her by splashing water everywhere and getting her soaked. She loved that!

Gabs, Kyle, Aunt Chelle, Aunt Lydia, and Cousins Lincoln, Grace, and Graham.

On the walk back to the car Gabbie decided that it would be fun to put the blanket over her head and peek out the side. Not sure why she did this but she thought it was hilarious.

Gabs and I relaxing on the couch. (this was before we moved to Texas and I actually got cold, not going to happen here) She saw me under the blanket and had to come sit up beside me.

After cleaning and packing up our apartment, we went down to Grandma and Grandpa Christensens house to spend the night for two days. Gabbie loves their dog Pheobe. Every time the door would open at the house, she would book it and try to make it outside before Kyle or I could grab her just so she could play with this cute dog.

Grandma Christensen watched Gabbie for us so we could clean the apartment and this is how she looked when we came back. It was the cutest little hairdo. (she's eating a corndog in this picture)

We decided to spend some family time out on the tramp before we left. Gabbie had only been on a tampoline a couple of times before this and was usually pretty timid. After a long time and lots of encouragement, she was able to walk from Kyle to me without holding someone's hand.

It was so much fun to play with Daddy. He always does such cool things.

Mommy is pretty silly sometimes.

This is my pouty face.

Here come the kisses...

Grandma Christensen did Gabbie's hair again the next day.

How cute. Thanks Grandma.

We sure are going to miss Utah but we are really excited for the new things that we will discover here in Texas.