Ashlan Amy Christensen

Written in my journal originally Thursday March 28, 2013.

Ashlan Amy Christensen was born March 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM. She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19 in long. She is so precious and I am so glad she is here.

Her original due date was April 4, 2013 so she came about 2 weeks early. I went into labor around 4 AM that morning and sent Kip to work. I had the same feelings two days before and had Kip stay home assuming I had gone into labor. Since I didn't I thought this was the same thing. I told him I would text him if the contractions got closer. At 7:30 I called Kip and my mom to come. We got to the hospital at 8:30 and I was a 6 1/2. The anesthesiologist was busy in an emergency surgery so I had to wait until he was done to get my epidural. By this time I was so worried I wouldn't be able to get one. I was able to get something to help with the pain but it made me dizzy. He finally came in and it was seriously the best epidural I have gotten. She was born a few minutes after I got my epidural and in less than one push. She was so easy except for being in labor with nothing to help with the pain until I was seriously a 9. I don't know how those woman do it who go all natural. They are brave!

We are loving her sweet spirit. She is very dramatic and definately let's us know she is in charge. She snorts when she cries if she is really upset. She has two little dimples. One is very prominent but the other shows itself occasionally. We have had so much help from family and our ward has been so nice to bring in meals.

It's always amazing to me that with every new baby our love can grow. Being a mom is a challenge but the biggest blessing. I am certain she is a little touch of heaven and we love that feeling in our home.

3 kids is proving to be a challenge. I can't do the things I could do before on my own or with little trouble. It feels like everything takes longer and is harder with 3 little ones. We wouldn't change it for anything though. Kip is an awesome daddy and a great husband. He is so busy with school and work and yet does so much for us at home. The boys have been loving wrestling with daddy time. Something I am sure we will always remember.

FHE and a promise

Yesterday I had a feeling that I needed to be better at documenting our everyday life. So here it goes again.

This last weekend I made a game for part of my sharing time. It was called Punch it out. The kids in primary loved it and I was glad it worked out. Ty had been asking to play it ever since I made it. Last night I decided I would incorporate it into our FHE. I finally got screaming Ashlan fed and got the boys settled into a movie so that I could get it ready. I got everything done with the game and found my scripture and pictures I would use and we got started. Kip was at school during this time and wasn't able to help so it took a little more time on my own. It's times like this that I am grateful for his help.

We had McKay help me say the prayer, Ty helped with the song and we played the game. Then we read the scripture story and looked at the pictures. It turned out great and they seemed to love it. It amazes me how much their little minds know already. Even though it took some time to prepare it, I am glad we did it and they learned a little more about the creation. Ty even answered the questions right about who created the world and what things were created.

This might sound like we had a smooth night but I want to remember just how crazy it was last night. Kip left for school about 5:00. Our last babysitting kid left at 5:30. Even though it had only been 1 hour and a half since Ashlan ate by this time she was screaming to eat. So I sat down and turned on a movie for the boys. While they were watching I quickly fed Ashlan. During my feeding time with Ashlan Ty pulled McKay off of the couch and he bonked his head. I had to hurry and put Ashlan down, grab Ty and put him on a time out and pick up and console McKay. Then I had to discuss what happened with Ty. You could say this was 15 minutes or so of pure chaos. After that I was able to calm everyone down and finish feeding Ashlan. Then I had dinner to get on the table. Then we fed everyone and started FHE. Once FHE was done we had bath time with prayer and scripture. Then it was bed time. I was ready for bedtime and so were the boys. Ty was asleep in less than a minute. McKay played quietly in his bed for a half hour or so before he finally went down.

I got them down and it was time to feed Ashlan again. Then I was able to talk to her for a few minutes then clean up the kitchen and dinner mess. At this time Kip came home. He brought 2 balloons home for the boys from his class. Each of the balloons had something written on them. One said Joker and the other said Husband. I asked what it was about and he explained his assignment. He said they each had to write out 4 titles they hold in their daily life. They got to juggle them after. Then they were asked to choose the most important. He chose Husband and I was surprised. Then he ate dinner while telling me about his day and we finished with a movie and ice cream.

It was a good day. There were moments of craziness and moments of happiness but it was a good day.