More Pictures

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

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

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

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

I jus lub this new haus, guys!

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)