Drake's Arrival

On Monday, April 13th, 2015 the Christensen's welcomed the newest member to our family.

 Drake Karl Christensen.  

I was scheduled to be induced that day but Drake decided he wanted to come on his own.  He arrived at 4:01 am (two hours before I was scheduled to come in for my inducement).  He weight 7 lbs 6 oz and was 19 inches long. 

 The delivery went well, however shortly after he was born the doctor and nurses could see that he was struggling to breath. They let me hold him for a quick minute so I could see him but then rushed him back to help get him the oxygen he needed.

 They placed him under a ventilator to see if that would help.  Karl thought Drake looked like a bubble boy in the ventilator.

When that wasn't doing enough, they rushed him into NICU to get him hooked to some IVs and an oxygen tube.  They ran some test and found that he had fluid in his lungs which was making it difficult to breath.  He was only taking short little quick breaths.  Normal breathing for a baby is under/around 60 breaths per minute and Drakes was spiking at 120 breaths per minute. It seemed like every time we saw him he was hooked up to some new tube or had a new monitor on him. 

This was Drake's set up in the NICU

Drake hated having the IV in his hand and pulled it out.  They ended up having to put it in his head but he managed to keep pulling that out too.  The poor kid had four pokes to the head, and three pokes in the hands/wrist when all was said and done from not being able to get the IV in, and having the IV moved a few times. 

 While In the NICU he tested high in his Bilirubin count so they put him under the lights to help get rid of the Jaundice.

Holding Daddy's hand for support.

The heat from the lamps and the lights started to take a toll on his skin.  His poor feet were so cracked and dry.

 Since he was hooked up to everything I wasn't able to hold him for the first little while.  However, on Tuesday night, one of the nurses must have taken pity on me and I was able to hold my baby.

Drake was lookin' pretty cool in his shades while enjoying a beverage

 On Wednesday Daddy got to hold him for the first time. Karl was great through the whole thing.  He stayed by Drakes side for most of the stay.

 It was hard having to leave my baby behind when I was discharged from the hospital but the doctors were optimistic and we knew his stay wouldn't be much longer.

I'm so grateful to modern medicine and for the caring hospital staff who watched him nonstop during his stay.  The nurses couldn't get enough of him and his crazy hair, he also became known as the NICU "heavy weight" since many of the other babies there were preterm.  On Thursday we received the best news, Drake was cleared to come home.

Ballroom Dance Concert

Every year I like to attend the Brigham Young Ballroom Dance concert.  However, I didn't think I would get to attend this year with my baby scheduled to be due any day.  As luck would have it, he decided to stay put and my Mom got extra tickets from her work.  So as a family we all went and enjoyed the concert. The boys liked seeing the different numbers and enjoyed the popcorn and treats Grandma Kate bought for them.  I'm glad I was able to attend particularly since it happened to be a farewell concert to the directors I came to know and work with during my time on the team.  

 

Easter Weekend

This past weekend was filled with Easter activities.  We started the celebration by letting the kids paint Easter eggs.  Each of the kids got two eggs to paint and then "mom and dad" got one.  Karl wasn't around when we finally got to painting them so Fischer took it upon himself to paint Daddy's egg.  All of his eggs are more orange (since that is his and daddy's favorite color), Griffin's are the multi-colored eggs and I painted flowers on mine (I have to have at least one girly egg in the bunch right?)

On Saturday we met up at Great Grandma Clara's place for their annual Easter egg hunt.  My kids were in different age divisions so Karl went with Fischer while I took Griffin.  Unfortunately, with them in the different divisions I wasn't able to get pictures of Fischer getting eggs but they both were really excited and it was fun seeing Griffin grasp the concept of finding the eggs.  

 Fischer couldn't wait to show me his basket when we met up again.  He was pretty proud of the amount of eggs he got.

 Once the eggs were gathered, we got all the kids together for a picture with Clara.  We love that we get to share in these moments and activities with her.

Later that day Fischer says," I think someone was pretending to be the Easter Bunny because I saw a zipper." Karl and I got a good laugh out of it and then quickly changed the subject.

On Sunday the kids woke up to a basket of goodies waiting for them.  

 They loved their new bubble making machine and had a blast trying to pop the bubbles

We then headed over to my parents for an Easter Lunch. Afterwords my mom spoiled the kids with a treat and egg hunt.  

My Dad then entertained the kids with what we call "Magic Mouse" It was a game/magic trick he played with my siblings and I when we were little.  We got to talking about how long it's been since we've seen magic mouse and how many of the grandkids have never seen it.  I was glad when Grandpa decided to bring mouse to life for the kids.  

That night we made our way to the Christensen's for a dinner and some more Easter fun.  Grandma and Grandpa once again outdid themselves with a Easter egg hunt filled with treats and money.  

The kids were all anxious and ready to go.

It ended up being a long day but a fun one.  The kids loved finding all the goodies and playing with their cousins. They were really spoiled this year.  I didn't realize how much until I started putting their treats and stuff a way. Kind of ridiculous, but, I'm glad they have grandparents that love them the way they do and want to spoil them now and then.  

Spring Soccer-1st Game

On Wednesday, Fischer had his first soccer game this season.  He loves to play and isn't afraid to get in there with the other kids.  He played some great defense and got some good runs with the ball.

Griffin enjoyed practicing his soccer skills on the sidelines

High Five Coach!

Sure love watching this little man of mine play. 

Batgirl Cake

I haven't been doing many cakes lately with the way my pregnancy has been, but when a family friend asked if I would make a pink batman cake for her daughter I decided it would be a fun one to take on.  Karl was nice enough to help me so I would't kill my back and it was fun learning and trying out a new sprayer tool I received for Christmas.

Golfing with the Boys

With "daddy" having been gone all week the boys were eager to get out and hang with dad upon his arrival home. So when Karl said he wanted to go to the driving range to hit some golf balls both of the kids wanted to join too.  However,when we got to the golf course we found out the driving range was closed.  Since no one was on the course and it was later in the day, the staff at Talons Cove said that even though the driving range was closed we were welcome to go and hit some balls on the first few holes if we wanted to.  So to hole one and two we went.  The kids had a great time.  It ended up working out better as it gave the kids room to run and hit their ball to their hearts content.  Griffin ran all over the place hitting his ball off his tee.  He had a big smile the entire time we were there.  Fischer got some really good swings in and enjoyed telling Griffin about the rules of the game and when we had to be quiet and when it was okay to talk.  Karl even got some good hits in too.  All in all it was an enjoyable time for the whole family. 

Griffin didn't quite grasp the concept of which way he was suppose to hit the ball.  He just enjoyed hitting it.

All practicing their putting shots

I loved that Fischer tipped his hat for me.  

Griffin cheering that his ball went in the hole. 

Love my family of golfers. 

Indoor Slide

When Daddy is gone on business,  and the weather is bad outside, Mommy has to get creative.  The kids LOVED playing on our indoor slide.