Friday, August 7, 2009
Filing these blogs into months
Since it has been brought to my attention that my blog is LACKING!
Yes, for those of you who catch me playing FarmTown, it IS true that I do spend time doing such a thing, but that is because it requires one hand to click, click, click to plant, harvest and plow, and right or left, the hand doesn't matter, thus we are able to keep the milk supply evened out. I "farm" while Corelle is attached to my hip (well, boob to be exact!), and then when she isn't attached, I am frantically trying to get dinner made, some room in the house cleaned, or running off to work.
Breastfeeding, I have learned, takes MANY hours out of my day since she doesn't care much for solids and is needing to eat more and more and MORE as she GROWS. She likes Mum Mums and Graduate PUFFS and sweet potatoes when she is hungry enough, but for the most part she is a dairy-loving kind of kid! It was not until THIS week that she decided to test out her newly grown two bottom teeth and CHOMP on mom. I sort of yelled at her. I admit it! I am not much of a yeller, but if something involves pain, it sort of comes out of nowhere! The great thing is, she thinks it is funny and smiles up at me with her big blue eyes and her open-mouthed smile and looks at me like I am Brian Regan-taken-over-Mom's-body. I am not sure whose adoration runs deeper...mine or Corelle's! She also adores her daddy, who is (I have to admit) the cutest dad of all times. I keep telling him I want him to be as sweet-talking to me as he is to her (we are still working on that one, but I KNOW he can do it so we're off to a great start!)
My mom is doing well, all things considered...and my Grandma MAY get out of the hospital tomorrow. We are keeping her in our prayers as they have seemed to work thus far! We are grateful that my mom works for one of the best surgeons in the world and that he was able to find the adhesions and twisted colon that were making Grandma so skinny! Hopefully she will continue to get stronger and stronger!
Corelle just turned 8 months on August 6th and my BABY sister turns 16 (YES! SIXTEEN! I can't believe it either!) Time never seems to slow down and the world around me is constantly changing. I really do wish I could, as the song goes, "save time in a bottle."
Corban finished his third and second to last classes for his MBA yesterday. He has ONE MORE CLASS this fall, and then we are done! I will look forward to having him home more in the evenings, but as he said, "There will always be something!" and spoke of his desire to get his PhD in Physics (MY WORST NIGHTMARE!) So, I guess we will see what happens come December when he graduates. A job in Cedar was interested in him that has great medical benefits and full-retirement after 20 years, but that fell through. I thought to myself that God may not want us in Cedar City forever and so many new opportunities may arise when Corb finishes school. I actually felt somewhat relieved that it fell through because I don't feel ready to commit to Cedar forever before we see what doors the MBA will open up. I think it is safe to say that while I get excited for new adventures, there is a part of me that is comfortable with our lives and gets a little apprehensive about making a move in our lives that could be fun but could always be worse! Corb's job may demand an hour and a half of commuting each day, but it is a low stress job. What if he gets one that demands a lot more? We are truly comfortable right now, in spite of family being so far away and a lack of close friendships here in Cedar!
I must say farewell. I really do wish that I blogged every day. I will try my best to write more often, but the perfectionistic writer in me will not settle for two or three sentences, and thus gets pent up in me until I burst out in a tangent like THIS that probably no one has time to read anyway and which I certainly do not have time to do everyday!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Birth Announcement and Christmas letter
April 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
The first line of this letter is supposed to read “We wish you a Merry Christmas!” However, Happy Easter will have to do!!! I started writing this back in mid-November and was going to mail it out before the hustle and bustle of a new baby and Christmas arrived, but decided instead to send the letter out with baby announcements, and life with a new baby has been, well, pretty busy!
2008 was a crazy year! We had a “foster daughter” for a few months at the beginning of the year, and that was a pretty stressful time for us! I was working 55+ hours a week and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a 16 year old every night when I got home (okay, it wasn’t really THAT bad!) on top of trying to keep the house clean and keep everyone fed! I needed to study for a big counseling exam to finally get my
Anyone who says you can’t conceive while stressed wouldn’t believe that I did! After a month of complete chaos, I suspected I was pregnant. I don’t know why, I just did. So I went out and got an EPT, and voila! A little pink plus appeared! Disbelieving, I did it again…VOILA! ANOTHER pink plus! I put my arms around Corban, who was making sandwiches downstairs. “You’re gonna be a daddy,” I whispered. He kept on making sandwiches. “Do you want one?” he asked. I looked at him, dumbfounded! “You are going to be a daddy! Aren’t you excited!?” Another set of disbelieving eyes needed to see that pink plus! Doubting Thomas that I was, I did the test AGAIN the next morning…ANOTHER PINK PLUS!!! There was no denying THREE pink plusses!
Six days later I took my big counseling exam. I took a few days off work to study and, being newly pregnant, devoted it to reading baby books instead of study guides! It was soooooo exciting! I went into the test positive I was going to have to retake it and was okay with that, under the circumstances. Wanting to make the 3.5 hour trip to
A month later, our “daughter” moved out (sigh of relief! I didn’t want the stress on the baby!). Six weeks later, we went to
Wanting to fit in a vacation before the baby was born, we went to
In August, Corban finished his MBA pre-requisites and started his actual MBA classes, going full-time at nights (bless his heart, he works a full day and then goes to class every night Monday through Thursday). He will be finished in December 2009 and can’t wait to be done with school. His company started losing business in a major way back in October, and every time he calls me during the day, I wonder if this will be the day that we, like many other Americans, will find ourselves facing unemployment. My father Daniel, my brother Ryan, and my step-brother Kevin all worked at the mines in Morenci, Arizona and were laid off at the beginning of 2009. These are such scary times! We are hoping an MBA plus an engineering degree will make him more marketable in these economically difficult days!
In early November, I got some sort of stomach bug that was going around and wound up in the hospital for the day. By the end of that day, I was dilated to a 4 as a result of the vomiting and dehydration, and we thought our little girl would come early as a result! Shortly after, I learned that my Grandma had been diagnosed with cancer, and my family was devastated. She went to the Huntsman Institute and they still have not ruled out or confirmed cancer, so it is scary not knowing what is causing her weight loss and pain!
During my 9 months of pregnancy, I never could get Corban to talk about names. “It’s too soon,” he always said. And as time passed and my belly grew larger, “Let me think about it and I will let you know,” he would say. He never did let me know. Well, he did in his way, I suppose. We were out walking one evening and he referred to the child in my belly as “Corelle.” (Rewind two years. The day we were heading to
On December 6th, two days before Corelle was due, I let the doctor strip my membranes. He said it may or may not cause me to go into labor, and sure enough, less than 2 hours later we were at the hospital and I was dilated to a 7! An hour and 55 minutes later I was holding our beautiful Corelle in my arms. I had some post-labor bleeding, and recovery was SLOW. I had surgery (a D & C) a month after the delivery because I continued to lose blood. It was hard to be mommy when I didn’t even have enough energy to walk around…there were days in that month that I couldn’t even get out of bed to feed myself! I couldn’t even imagine having a toddler to take care of in addition to a new baby during those rough days and wondered how anyone has a second child! Now that I am feeling better, I remember the wonderful parts of being pregnant and having a baby! I LOVED the labor experience!
So, 2009 got off to a slow start, but things are back to normal now! Corban and I LOVE parenting! Corelle is the sweetest baby imaginable, and Corban and I feel very blessed! Corban is the CUTEST dad I ever could have wanted for my kids! How lucky Corelle and I are!
We hope each of you are in good health, happy spirits and enjoying the blessings in your lives! Thanks for being a part of our lives. You are among the countless blessings we are grateful for!
Happy Easter, such a glorious time when we remember the Resurrection of our Savior and Friend, the one who brings joy and blessings into our lives!
With love,
Corban, Noëlle and Corelle Christensen ♥
Friday, February 27, 2009
My Review of Fisher-Price Power Plus Plug in Swing
The power plus swing is the first swing to feature a plug-in option to save mom money on batteries. It has 6 speeds and 10 soothing songs, plus a 3 position recline to accommodate even the youngest baby in comfort. As the swing moves, the three plush toys on the overhead mobile sway. The mobile eas...
Love my Fisher Price Power Plus Swing!
Pros: Lightweight, Stable, Good Support, Easy to Clean, Visually Stimulating, Holds Baby's Attention, Easy to Assemble
Best Uses: Naptime, Infants
Describe Yourself: First Time Parent
I LOVE that this swing doesn't require batteries! I also love the appearance of this swing...it is cute cute cute and the colors will work for our little girl as well as any boy babies we might have someday! I read lots of reviews before making this purchase and some people had expressed being disappointed with the speeds on the swing. My husband says it's true that the high speed isn't much faster than the slow speed, but really, how fast do you want your little baby to go!? My baby LOVES the music on the swing and the mobile on top. People also said it's easily outgrown, but really, what don't they outgrow in the first year of their lives!? This swing is the best one I've found, and I looked at LOTS of swings! I recommend it to anyone! (The only problem I have is that my baby's head slumps over when she sleeps so I wrap a folded blanket in a U shape around her head...it would be great if the swing could come with something like that...like the ones they make for carseats!)