Seth has Christensen genes for sure!

Here's a cute video of Seth.  Notice the tongue.  Focus on his tongue.  Totally Christensen.  Who else does this?  And yes, he slobbers like his mom!

Cleaning

I've cleaned out all of Seth's baby clothes.  At first I didn't want to let anything go.  I wanted to keep everything of his.  But sense soon returned and I realized it would be ok to give his things to someone else and that was the best thing to do.  I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with everything we went through with him, and  it makes you feel like you're losing a piece of it all if you were to give things away.  But it turns out ok!  You actually feel freer and you never lose the memories!  I kept a couple of things.  I have a diaper they used on him in the NICU that is smaller than a maxi and yet it still drowned him!
     One of the best things that happend right after Seth was born came from my friend Teresa Edwards.  Even before we knew if Seth would make it or not, she brought him gifts!  I'll never forget that!  These gifts brought comfort and a little hope that Seth would make it.  Tough times, but I'm so grateful for good friends!   If you ever know of someone who has a baby in the NICU or who is facing life threating complications, treat them like any other mom who has brought their baby home!  It's hard for someone whose baby's life is unknown, lay in the hospital each day, all the while watching other friends bring babies home and be celebrated.

Alex's First Talk in Sacrament

So Alex gave his first talk in Sacrament Meeting today.   It was on his first experience doing baptisms for the dead.  It was all of about one minute long.  He did his best.  You couldn't make out everything he said, but the congregation got the gist of it. It's amazing to see him grow up.  We are glad that he is participating in Young Men's and Scouts.  But as time goes on, we see that we may have to be careful what we let him go to.  Not that it's bad for him, by any means. He's been at about a six year old level socially since, well, he was six!  He had a hard time during combined activity sitting still listening to the presentation on Family History.  He would pinch people and almost caused a fight between another boy.  I imagine if Karsten or Dane had to sit still for that long, they would be causing disruption too.  It's easy to forget his mind is so young while his body is so big.  You just expect more out of them because they are as big as everyone else.

Confessions

Confession #1- I like balancing the check book.  For some reason, knowing how much money we have and where it's going is empowering.  Even when we're in the red, I still enjoy it.

Confession #2- I like to go to the grocery store and see how much I can buy for as little money as possible.  Goes along great when balancing a checkbook and seeing you are in the red!  Now if I was more like my sister Sarah, I bet I could save even more.  But I'm not great at coupons and spotting deals, I'm more like a cheap chef, cheap as in inexpensive.  I'll cook everything from scratch to save a little money, even hamburger buns!

More confessions to com.

Right on Track

You know, after having five other children, you'd think I'd get this child raising thing down.  You'd expect me to know exactly what to do with a child and when they should be hitting milestones.  But alas, I regret to inform you, I am not the child expert.  So, go read a book or something.  :)  Anyways, Seth had some evaluations done on him to determine where he was cognitively, physically, fine motor, speech and language, etc.  and you know what?  He's right on track!  Take away nearly 3 1/2 months for prematurity, and he's doing everything else 18 month old kiddos are suppose to be doing.  For some reason, I was thinking he was almost a year behind.  But, he has proven me wrong, and when you see something written on paper about what they are suppose to be doing, you say, "hey, yes, he's doing this, what was I so worried about?"   Stress level has dropped significantly here. So, I've given up worrying about his hearing as well.  Come what may!  I'll know what to do as time rolls on.

Open up! Texas Rangers!

Karsten's 5th Birthday!

A little late getting this posted, but here is some pictures from Karsten's birthday!  We hope our cousin Carter had a great birthday too!  (He was born the day after Karsten.)

Making yummy pizzas for his birthday dinner.

Pretty cool number five with the candles, although it took more than five candles to make it.  This is John Woozier cake.  Karsten wanted a chocolate cake.  When it was time to eat it, all he wanted was ice cream.  Go figure.

Make a wish!

Karsten was born by an elective c-section.  Looking back, if I had been in a better state of mind, I may have chosen the less invasive measure. But that's the past and the Lord knew it would all happen that way, so I don't regret it.  My scheduled c-section was on a Wednesday but I went in late on Sunday with contractions, and so the doctor decided to deliver him early Monday morning.  Karsten was blessed to be born on his Auntie Tonnia's birthday and she happened to be visiting when he was born!  Grandpa Christensen was also here as well!  He got to drive us home from the hospital!  We had visited Uncle Warren the Sunday before he was born with Aunt Linda and I was having contractions that whole day.  We love our smart little Karsten!  Kindergarten, watch out!