Dad and Emerson

People always ask me "How is Ben with Emerson?" I'm not exactly sure why...I don't know if they think he's a shady character or if he's scared of babies or what, but if they knew that he came from a family with 15 kids I'm sure they wouldn't think the latter. I guess you can be the judge about the shady character bit. No, I'm joking. Ben is a wonderful daddy. He really misses Emerson while he's gone to work and school all day. He's an expert baby burper and he is great at changing diapers (and willing, too!) He loves to spend time with his little pal.

A few more pictures of Little Em

Our little mini-Ben

Being a baby lion

Recovering from oh-so-traumatic tummy time

All bundled up for his first Sunday walk

Bathtime Fun

Emerson and Dad enjoying bathtime

He's not sure what he thinks...hands are NOT in the happy place

Our handsome, clean boy all ready for bed

Bathtime is fun with Emerson. He was a little unsure when he had his first bath, but now he really enjoys it. It's funny to see his whole body relax as soon as he touches the water. I think he enjoys bathtime mostly just because he gets to play fountain and tries to spray Mom.

Hands in the Happy Place

There are lots of fun things about Emerson's little personality, but I think our favorite thing is when he has his hands in the happy place. There's no doubt he's content when his hands are in the happy place. In the picture above, we took him out in his carseat for the first time when he was a few days old because we had to run to the store. He got really mad when we put him in because we had to remove the hands from his happy place, but he settled down pretty quick. I ran/limped inside while Ben stayed with Emerson in the car. He had periodic bouts of mild fussiness while we were out but he wasn't hungry or messy...it wasn't until we got home and he was zonked that we discovered he'd weaseled his hand under the carseat strap to his happy place. Ah, relief.

Just another example of the hands in the happy place.

My Lifesaver

I hope Grandma J doesn't kill me for posting this picture of her...but I think it's really cute of her and her little grandson. I just had to write how much I appreciated her help after I had Emerson. I can't even begin to describe all the things that she did for us! She came up to Logan to stay and help us from the Sunday after Emerson was born to that Thursday. She cleaned, she cooked (and left meals in the freezer so I pretty much never have to cook again!), she held Emerson (not that it took much to convince her...) while I took naps, she ran errands, she went grocery shopping, she chatted with me all day...the list just goes on and on. It was so fun to have her come and she just did so much that I just bawled as soon as she had to leave. Thanks Grandma J! We love you!

One Week Old!

Today Emerson is officially one week old! He's had such a big week. He got mail from Grandma and Grandpa J, had a visit with his pediatrician, watched conference, and had a bath! He's a very busy little boy. Sometimes he gets overwhelmed with everything he has to do...eat, sleep, and poop. I'm sure I was overwhelmed with all my tasks at that age too, so I'll cut him some slack.

Awake

Our bright-eyed boy at bedtime

Mom! Stop taking pictures and help me sit up!

I absolutely love when Emerson is awake because I love seeing his big eyes. It's just that he's usually awake when I would like to sleep! The nights haven't been bad yet though. He's just been getting up about twice a night and usually has a good 4 hour stretch where I get some deep, much-needed sleep. I can't complain though, because he's such a cute little weasel that he's worth getting up for. The first night we were home we were so paranoid that we wouldn't wake up to feed him. So I was like, "Do you think I need to set my alarm or something?" And Ben was like, "Yeah, maybe you'd better." Then we proceeded to turn the baby monitor up to the highest setting (in our spacious apartment...) so that we could basically hear him inhale and exhale. It makes me laugh really hard now though because I'm certainly not worried about hearing our little guy in the middle of the night--he's sure to let us know when he's hungry. We've now turned down our baby monitor a few notches...or like twenty.

Asleep

It's funny I know, but Emerson likes to sleep...a lot! He's just so peaceful and photogenic when he's sleeping that I have to keep taking pictures. Pretty soon I'll feel like he's not sleeping enough, so I figured I'd better document it while I still can.

At Home

Emerson getting ready for bed

Emerson's funny little feet

Dad and Emerson watching General Conference together

Our awake little guy

It seems like every face he makes or little grunts come out of his body (besides the suspicious ones from the bottom end) is the cutest thing ever to us. I think he's already tired of the camera, and he's not even a week old in these pictures.

Coming home from the hospital

Emerson getting his last meal in the hospital before he gets to see his new home

Emerson in his new clothes. (He was so difficult to get dressed! He has the strongest, most determined little arms and legs I've ever seen!)

Two days after I delivered little Emerson, we got discharged from the hospital. That was kind of a scary feeling. We put him in his humongous carseat and gathered all of our stuff. The nurse came in and checked to make sure we had him in his carseat correctly and then came down to the car with us to make sure we got him buckled in correctly. Then we were like, "Are you sure it's okay for us to take him? You don't need us to pass some exam or something to prove we can take care of him?" It wasn't too bad in the hospital because there are a million nurses around making sure you feed him and are doing everything right. They even bring him in from the nursery when he's hungry to make sure he gets to eat. But now....we're in charge. Scary.

He's Here!

Melinda's last pregnant picture. Notice how I'm smiling? Yes, epidural.

Emerson Benjamin Christensen

He weighed a whole 6 lbs 15 oz!

The new parents

Mommy and Emerson

Well, after 13 hours of labor on April 3, 2008 our little boy is finally here! We are so excited and are already enjoying parenthood. It was so weird though to leave our apartment as 2 people and to come back as 3.
I was completely expecting to go over my due date, but he apparently was ready early. :) What a good boy. My water broke at 2:30 in the morning and I woke Ben up and told him we needed to go right then. He acted stunned for a few minutes and then finally woke up and realized the time had come. I was feeling really excited and nervous. We got to the hospital and they checked to make sure my water really did break...(like I wouldn't know?) and then put me in a bed and let me wait for 12 hours until it was time to deliver. Boy am I thankful for modern medicine. I was smiling all the way through the pushing part (seriously!) all thanks to the epidural. I highly recommend getting one. I know there are people that are very against them, but for me it was definitely the right choice and it made the whole experience so much better.
After the biggest workout of my life, our little boy was born. It was so amazing! I just couldn't believe that 1. He fit inside me and 2. That he is ours! I can't even describe how wonderful it was to hold my little baby. Ben was such a great support through the whole process and was so positive and loving. He's such a wonderful husband, and now a great daddy too. :)

38 1/2 Weeks

So I kind of hate this picture because my stomach looks so weird...but baby was doing one of his super stretches. So here I am at almost 39 weeks and I'm feeling pretty ready to have our sweet little boy. I hope he's sweet anyway...I'm kind of entering that panicky stage where I realize that there's only one way out for him, and it doesn't seem to be quite the right size. I guess that's why they invented epidurals--which I AM taking advantage of. Good for those people that are brave enough to do it natural, but I'm afraid I'm a wimp and have often said I would've died early on had I been born in pioneer times. Hopefully after the whole experience I'll be feeling well enough to post some pictures of our newest addition. :)