Joshua Mats Christensen

YAY!! After what seemed like a long time of waiting, and reading into every "going into labor" sign twice we welcomed Josh into our family! He was born at 9:55 am on March 18th a whopping 6lbs 15oz! ha! A heavy hitter indeed! haha

We went into the hospital Saturday night, and after about an hour they told us to walk around the hospital for a couple hours. Great! Why wouldn't we want to walk around the hospital for a couple hours?! So instead we walked around the hospital for a half hour, and then went into Sam's classroom to kill time watching some funnies, and trying to get some sleep. He slept. I did not. Sam did make the comment "what's with you having the babies in the middle of the night, it'd be nice to have a baby at like 10 in the morning." Ha! He was pretty spot on, but probably didn't mean to be in the hospital all night and on to the next morning.

 It was a very different experience than with Kaj, and I hope I learned my lesson with comparing my pregnancies and my labors...His whole face was a bruise when he was born, and both Sam and I were a little "...yikes.."

So far he is a very sweet, quiet baby. He is not very fussy, and of course he is getting a lot of shut eye. Kaj is very indifferent towards him, but that is better than being too jealous. We're happy to be home. We were happy to have help so soon.

Dear Kaj

This may be on a bit of a sappier note today, after a great Sunday at church, and then with the fam, I began thinking of my little boy. I feel that the time is very near that will soon welcome the newest member of our family. I hope that I am somewhat prepared for the change, but really the only consolation I even have is that I have done this before... it doesn't help too much, because I also know how different it can be. The only thing that Kaj seems to understand is where the baby currently resides, not that his whole life is going to change, and that with the change he will be a brother.

My sweet Kaj Bears...what a sweet, sweet boy, a little moody at times, but mostly just a great kid. Kaj loves to dance, loves music, the outside. Kaj loves to run, and to laugh, go down the slides, and swing on the swings. He also loves his Mr. Bunny who is now sitting right beside him at meal time, even gets to sample some food, gets to wear chapstick, and even gets the tickle bug. Kaj loves his trains "chooch" and can now say: "stars" "beps" aka steps, "ball", "bear", "mom" (which luckily is interchangeable for me or Sam.) and "tickle tickle" Kaj, I love you so so much, and even though you may never remember the time that you were our only, I could not ask for better company.

Baby steps to a Big Kid

 As we close in on the final weeks that we have one kid in the house we have had to add to the items that turn Kaj into a much bigger kid...though he still seems a little too punky to me.. ( At this point the sleep test run has not been had) But much joy has come from jumping on the bed, and that test run has gone quite smoothly. 

We have the big kid carseat, the toddler bed, the room rearranged, and a bassinett all in place, and still Kaj has no idea how his life is about to change. I thought about this the other day, that even though Kaj doesn't realize anything, he'll probably always remember having a brother. Strange.

The family is doing really good. We had a bout of illness go around the whole family, and while Sam is currently in the thick of it, Kaj and I are on the way out. Sam just handles it better, while I am telling him how "I really don't think I'm getting better" he is still is making jokes in the morning.

We're very happy, and busy, and still really loving it in New York.

Christmas 2011

The Joys of Christmas

What a fun time we had while we were home for Christmas this year! All the songs that expressed their desire to be "home for Christmas" took on a whole new meaning this year. We stayed with my lovely parents, and were able to hang out with sisters, and brother in laws Kaj's aunts and uncles and cousins. We were also lucky enough to spend a little time with Sam's family also. Kaj had a great time, and really got used to dancing for Grampy and being the entertainment during tubby time.

We also welcomed home a long time coming brother/uncle Sambo. My brother is home from his mission, and it was very fun and crazy seeing him. I was glad to stick around longer to hang with him for a couple weeks, and Kaj was happy too. Before Sam even realized what being an uncle was all about Kaj was already pal-ing around with him. Not pictured was a one on one game of  basketball between them, and of course...Kaj won. It was cute and fun to watch brother Sam life Kaj up to let him dunk the ball.

We saw Brian Regan as a family to wrap up the time together, and it was very funny as usual. We are very grateful for the greatness of family.

not quite sure what to think of ole St. Nick

Guitar hero himself, ha!

sisters christmas 2011

The Slims christmas 2011

We are happy to also be back at home together with Sam. We missed him. Something about being under the same roof again... love it.

The fam

Sting rays, and no Santa Claus?

I have been on vacation for a pretty long time now, and it is still going strong. I do not have access to my own camera right now, so I inserted this last year's picture to represent the Christmas season that I'm not forgetting, but will post officially about when I have the Santa and holiday pictures that I have. I hope everyone had the best Christmas and New Years!

My sisters and I decided to go to the Aquarium with all the babies. Kaj did seem to like the "ish" and the company was lovely.

We did go ahead a touch the sting rays. And made the official decision that octopus... "i" ha! are, indeed, aliens. Look at them...they are aliens.

 

Happy Turkey Day

It was a feast of feasts! (Now, wishing we'd taken more pictures than just this one where it is as if I'm about to eat my weight in Thanksgiving food) But, nonetheless. We had a great day. It was very nice to have our first on our own Thanksgiving, we did a lot of relaxing, and a lot of time spending with the family. It has been really nice to have Sam home for the last few days. We broke out the toys that were so kindly given to us by one of this girls here, and Kaj absolutely loved them!

I am very thankful to be here in Stony Brook at this time in our lives. I am thankful that we are having this chance to grow closer as a family. I am thankful that we are developing different strengths while we are here serving in different callings that can allow us opportunities to serve, and have our testimonies strengthened. I am thankful for the girls in this ward. I am surrounded by some of the most amazing girls I have come to know, their examples of kindness, thoughtfulness, and charity are unmatched. I hope wherever I go I will recall how it felt to be welcomed  to such open arms, and strive to always be as inviting to others. I am thankful for Sam, he does so much for our family, and he is constantly adding new perspectives to my life, and I love being able to see things from different angles. I am thankful for Kaj, thankful for the little person that he is. He is so happy, and so energetic about everything. I am thankful to be able to add to the family with another little boy. I'm very excited to meet him.I am thankful for the friendships we have back home, and for their thoughtfulness. I am thankful for family. The love and support is always felt no matter how far away we are from each other. I am thankful for the gospel. Thankful for a loving Heavely Father who loves all of His children, answers prayers, and is aware of our situations. Thankful for Jesus Christ, for his atonement, for His perfect example that we may try harder every day to be more like Him.

Happy Thanksgiving!