Battle For the Wooden Spoon

This is Ben speaking. I know, many of you blog readers wondered if I even exist. Well, I have nothing against the blogging world, but simply don't do it nearly as well as my wonderful wife. Yes, you Melinda. However, it is past 1:00 and I have 10 more pages of GI physiology that I have to finish before I can take my test tomorrow morning. Naturally, I think I have time to make my blogging debut right now.

Our son will be the end of us. As seen in this video, he rambles and rants to himself all day long. While Melinda was at card club last night, I took the little man for a walk to the mailbox. This excursion should last about 2 minutes. After finding his little shoes and jacket, we headed out. I opened the door and he shot out as fast as he could go, leaving me in the dust, and ran straight off the edge of our porch. He didn't even break his stride as he hurtled himself off to certain doom. Proportionally, the drop off the 6 inch step for him would be like watching a normal size person walk off a 3-foot wall. Sure, it probably wouldn't kill you to fall off but I would definitely not throw myself off of it WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING. Being the hero Dad, I rushed out and whisked him out of midair, saving him from a nasty faceplant on the front sidewalk. We were off.

Walking with a 29 inch tall boy is difficult. a) you can't stand upright and still hold his hand. He is too short. b) Because he is so short, he is interested in everything on the ground. I think it is because he is so close to it. Rocks, garbage, water, mud, and individual blades of grass are all riveting. And c) small boys hate holding hands. I invented a new way to overcome this last problem. I make him hold my pointer finger, and then grab his wrist with my other 3 fingers and thumb. This way he can hold my hand if he wants to, but if he doesn't, well, he still will hold my hand.

All in all, it took approximately 15 minutes to walk with Emerson to the mailbox (alone, it would take 2 minutes maybe, if I was slow). Then he opened each large community mailbox for another 5 minutes or so (a daily tradition), and then we headed home. I let him lead, and we ended up crossing the little street between the mailbox and our house 7 1/2 times, finally coming to rest on top of the storm drain. By the way he was staring down into the dark abyss, I could see we would never make it, so I excercised my fatherly authority and picked him up. After all that exercise, he calmly looked at me and stuck his finger in his nose.

Home Improvement Love

New guest bedroom with a new twin bed. (We got rid of a lot of the junk and rearranged a lot of things.)

Our beautiful upstairs hallway of white doors and baseboards

New entryway floor

New kitchen floor

White doors, baseboards, and flooring

IT'S FINISHED! We've been doing some home improvements that we actually finished a long time ago, but I just haven't gotten around to posting pictures. Remember those pictures from a long time ago of the new bathroom floors and how we painted the baseboards white? Well, I took some friends' suggestions and tackled the whole house while I still had time to enjoy it. For like 5 or 6 weeks I painted during every one of Emerson's naps and after he went to bed at night. I knew it was a huge job, but I didn't realize how huge. I started to get a sore shoulder. :( It was crazy how much paint and primer the doors alone took! Ben helped with the painting, but laying the floor was his huge job. We did the floors with our good friends and it took a little longer than we expected to do both houses. I must say though that both of us are happy with the end result, and we finished everything before we had visitors. I don't know what to do with all the extra time and lack of paint on my hands! (Oh wait...yes I do....I have a precious little beastie named Emerson that takes up all available time.) Anyway, we really like how the white updates the house. That brown just didn't quite do it for me.

"Hoppy" Easter

Following his goldfish trail

Hooray for Easter!

All kinds of yummy treats

I know. My title is so cutesy. Well, the Easter Bunny found Emerson. And he even left age appropriate treats! What a smart rabbit. We were going to color eggs, but then we were lame and didn't this year. Oh well. (I think the real reason we didn't color eggs was that we had just had potato salad for a bbq and I couldn't stomach the idea of more hard-boiled eggs around.) I guess Emerson doesn't really know what he's missing. Plus he got to do an egg hunt at his friend's birthday party, so he probably got his fill there. Did I mention he did awesome at it even with all the bigger kids? Unfortunately we didn't have our camera. Isn't that how it always goes?

We decided...er....the Easter Bunny decided to give E a little more direction to find his basket so he left a trail of goldfish crackers for him to follow. It took a long time even though it was a very short trail. Emerson picked up each goldfish, studied it, and then sat down and bit it in half. Then he dropped them. So we paused and got him a little contained for him to drop the fish into. We didn't have enough tape to film the whole thing! He finally skipped a few and wandered into the bedroom and happened upon his basket. He was so happy when he saw it contained yogurt melts! He pulled them out and immediately shook them as his typical motion of acceptance. I think he quite enjoyed his first little Easter. Mom and Dad also enjoyed our Easter with a fabulous dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, jello, homemade rolls, and strawberry cheesecake trifle.

A Birthday Visit

After crying periodically during the day after dropping my mom at the airport, I pulled myself together enough to blog about their visit. For Emerson's birthday we were lucky enough to have Grandma J, Grandpa J, Uncle Brad, and Aunt Steph come visit. They arrived on April 1st (no joke...haha) and Grandma J stayed for a whole week, while the others had to leave on April 5th. We had such a wonderful time, it was hard to see them go!

4-1-09
My family pulled up in front of our house with a Sam's Club size bag of Cadbury eggs and Reese's peanut butter eggs (my favorite!). I knew they loved me. What a way to start out the visit. :) We started out the visit by going to German Village and eating at Schmidt's Restaurant. It was really good if you like German food....and we all do. The giant cream puffs were divine. After the restaurant we browsed around German Village and visited the Book Loft which is a bookstore that has 32 rooms of books and is a couple of blocks long. It was pretty cool and we kept worrying that we'd lose each other in all the different rooms.

Emerson and Uncle Brad at German Village

E smiling and waving at the cars driving past

4-2-09
The next morning we started the day out right by visiting the Waffle House. It's a very quality establishment, and we WILL be going there with whoever comes to visit. So buckle up. It's really quite a dive but the food is good and nothing beats the stories that the waitresses are bellowing about domestic abuse and such. It made us pretty grateful for our family situation although I did notice they are hiring so maybe that would change if I took a job there. After Waffle house we drove to Dayton to visit the Air Force Museum. There was definitely a lot to see and Ben, Grandpa, Brad, and Steph took the tour of the Air Force One hangar while Mom and I stayed with little E while he screamed his guts out battling sleepiness. He finally lost it and slept for a while in my arms (and yes, they were about ready to fall off by the end.) We saw a lot of interesting things at the museum, but we were ready to be finished by the end and I think all of our legs were throbbing from all the walking. Ben had planned ahead nicely and packed a delightful lunch for us to enjoy at the pavilion outside the museum and we tossed the frisbee around afterward while E laughed at us. Apparently frisbees are hilarious. Brad accidentally tossed the frisbee on top of the pavilion twice and Dad and Ben had to stealthily scoot the picnic table so that he could climb on top to retrieve it. It was pretty risky considering we were on a military base. We finished the night out with The Italian Job while eating Italian Ice.

E laughing at all of us throwing the frisbee

Ben and Steph

Brad and Dad

Ben and Mom

4-3-09
Little E's birthday! We decided it would be best to make sure he had a good nap before leaving on our adventures because we didn't want a repeat of the air force museum. We played The Office dvd game while waiting for Emerson to wake up from his nap. We decided to have little man open his presents in the morning since he's more of a morning person. He got so many nice presents and was thrilled in his own Emersonian way to have so many new things to play with. We spent the afternoon at COSI and Emerson enjoyed the water exhibit and the frog exhibit. We went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for E's birthday dinner and it was delicious. We came back and sang to him and watched him eat his cake. Ben and Brad stayed up in typical fashion to watch a movie until very late while the rest of us went to bed.

E having a shoulder ride while enjoying COSI

Another shot of E's bulging belly and happy face

4-4-09
We started out the morning with some gourmet baked french toast and then headed off to Amish country. It was about a 2 hour drive and it was beautiful country. Everyone loved Heini's Cheese Chalet with all of the 50 varieties of cheese to sample. We all ate a piece of colby-jack in honor of Natalie. :) We went to an Amish bakery and then ate at what we thought was an Amish restaurant. It had a lot of German food too and wasn't authentic Amish like we thought, but it was still really good. Before the boys headed off to Priesthood meeting we stopped at Al's Gourmet Popcorn and each got some delicious popcorn. They have some pretty interesting flavors and they're all really good. The girls watched a chick flick while the boys were gone.

E during his big Amish day. Of course he didn't sleep during either of the car rides.

He slept at the restaurant like this for about half an hour

After he woke up he spotted some more cake in the display case and crouched down to get a better look.

4-5-09
We had a breakfast of German pancakes and watched conference (and little e). Then, sadly, Dad and Brad and Steph had to catch their flight. It was so sad to see them go and I think E missed them and that they missed E. I was glad that Mom got to stay until Wednesday so I didn't have to be sad all at once. We watched the last session of conference together and then watched The Ultimate Gift. And, miraculously, mom and I BOTH stayed awake the whole time!

4-6-09
Sadly, Ben had to go back to school. (I guess he IS in medical school and should study sometime. :) He works so hard. ) Mom and I relaxed and were entertained by E. He had his 12 month well-child visit and got all his immunizations. The little guy is 29 inches tall (25th percentile) and weighs 19 lbs 14 oz. (10th percentile). I was surprised at his weight because he looks like such a solid little guy with all of his thigh rolls. Mom and I went to lunch at Panera and then made a trip to Babies 'R' Us to get all kinds of stuff for Emerson. I took Mom with me to get Panera bread that night because it's a once in a lifetime experience that I thought she should have. Then we watched Planet Earth and saw a spore thing grow out of the head of an ant. It was crazy.

4-7-09
Again, Ben was at school all day. Mom and I got ready for the day and conversed while getting ready in different bathrooms and laughed when we realized we both had our hair dried and were holding our respective tubes of mascara with our makeup partially done. We laughed even more when we both finished getting ready within 2 minutes of each other. What else is there to say but "like mother, like daughter"? We froze our little tushes off when the gas pipeline people came and turned off the gas while they worked without telling us and shivered as we made our oreo truffles. Then we HAD to go shopping for a new Easter dress and shopped 'til we dropped. E was such a trooper the whole time. We finished out the night with another episode of Planet Earth and went to bed.

4-8-09
Mom packed and watched E while I made a trip to the grocery store and then I had to take her to the airport. :( Emerson craned his little head to look for her as we drove away and cried the whole way home. (Well okay, both of us did. I'll admit it.) It was sad to come home to an empty house with Ben at school and me being so used to having company all day and someone to talk to. It was a great visit and we can't wait for them to come visit again. Ben, Emerson and I already miss you. You're all precious! We love you!

Thanks Uncle Scott and Aunt Ashley for the cool new shirt!

Even though we're sad you're gone we'll be ok. See? :)

Pictures of E's Birthday

Opening presents with Mom

Playing on his new castle slide

He figured out how the slide worked pretty fast and practically started throwing himself down with no one to catch him

"I don't know why I'm getting all these presents, but I LIKE it!"

We spent the day at COSI for Emerson's birthday and he especially liked the water exhibit

Playing with his Busy Ball Popper

His little birthday cake...he's not sure what's going on...

He decides he should maybe touch it...

He decides he REALLY likes it

Guzzling his milk after devouring his cake

Smiling through the chocolate mess with contentment

E's bulging belly

Emerson's birthday was a ton of fun. He was happy when he woke up and got to have his favorite thing for breakfast: yogurt. What a way to start the day! Then we decided to have him open his presents in the morning because he's generally happier in the morning. He was absolutely showered with gifts! He got a climb and slide castle, a set of animals, a mini soccer ball and a busy ball popper from mom and dad. Grandma and Grandpa J gave him some cute books, clothes, and a Fisher Price Little People Barn. Grandpa and Grandma Christensen gave him some cool Dash light-up shoes.

After presents, we had lunch and headed to COSI. Emerson was good the whole day and especially liked the water exhibit. He had a great time playing in the water and rubbing it around on his hands. We had to stop as soon as he started slurping it off his hands though.

After COSI we went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. (For those of you familiar with Spaghetti Factory in Utah, it was similar, so we're not sure who copied who.) It was so good. Emerson enjoyed sharing Mom's fettuccine alfredo.

After dinner we came back to the house for Emerson to play with his new toys and of course for his birthday cake. In my family it's a tradition to make the baby their own mini cake for their first birthday and watch them eat it. I didn't even realize that a lot of people don't do this until like a few months ago. Really. I was clueless. We just always did it and loved it. And I know it's great to use natural sweeteners and stuff for their first cake and try to make it healthy, but come on...it's their birthday. If ever there was a time for them to deserve chocolate, it's on their birthday. And plus the mess shows up much better on film if it's chocolate. So I made Emerson his own little cake and I made a fudge ribbon cake for the rest of us. (Thanks Jamie for the recipe! It was so delicious for Jon's birthday we had to have it again. :) ) Emerson was a little shy about his cake for a minute or so but then he decided to go after it and he couldn't stop shoveling it in. There was even a point when he picked up the whole cake off the plate. He made it almost through the entire thing. We were amazed. He absolutely guzzled his milk down when we gave it to him. He was so dang cute.

We got laughing so hard at his big belly after he finished his cake. We had to undress him because he was such a mess and he had cake crumbs down to his belly button. He was toddling around the kitchen acting wired and showing off his belly. We thought it would be funny to see if he would go after more cake if we showed it to him and he stopped and looked down at his belly as if deciding whether or not it could hold more and decided that it could and he reached for the cake. (Don't worry, we didn't let him have any more. He had PLENTY. :) )

Happy 1st Birthday Little E!

(This was like the only time during the whole day he would look at me even though he looks extremely solemn.)

Today my little baby turned one. I am in absolute disbelief. What did we do before we had this little guy? It does not seem like a year ago that he was born. Time has absolutely flown by, but it's gone by slow as well. It's been weird thinking about where we were a year ago and what was going on. It's amazing how much Emerson has learned in the past year and how much he's grown. He's always had a funny little personality from the moment he was born and insisted on having his hands in the happy place. His personality has just gotten even more pronounced. Emerson was lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa J and Uncle Brad and Aunt Steph fly out for his first birthday. (Mom and Dad were pretty excited to have visitors as well even though they were there mostly for E. :) ) He was just showered with gifts from all kinds of people who love him. I don't think he ever figured out it was his birthday today, but he sure had a great time with all of his new toys and his own cake. At one year old, Emerson:

*Walks like a champ
*Is very talented at drinking from his sippy cup
*Loves to play peek-a-boo
*Waves and claps like he's known how all along
*Answers "ya" to any question addressed to him
*Sorts his food on his tray, dropping some off the side and dropping some into the cup holder
*Discriminates against the smaller, less desirable pieces of food during his meals. He patiently waits until Mom decides to give him more and he can select the largest pieces
*Adores yogurt. He cries when he finishes the little cup
*Loves going down the slide at the park
*Imitates Mommy laughing and getting excited
*Is Mommy and Daddy's biggest helper

We love you so much Little E! You are our favorite boy in the whole world and we're so blessed to be your parents. We just don't know what we would do without you.

*More pictures and posts to follow detailing the rest of Grandma and Grandpa's trip and our home improvements.

Kirtland/Niagara Falls/Palmyra Trip

The Little Christensens in front of the Kirtland Temple

E being unproportionately large in front of the Kirtland Temple

Being a happy little fella

Niagara Falls

Our family on the Journey Behind the Falls (although you are unable to see the annoying French-Canadian teenagers, rest assured they are there pushing their way in front of us.)

Dad and E at the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center

Helping E walk at the Joseph Smith farm

Dad and E in front of the Palmyra Temple

Emerson and Kennedy laughing at Ben

The Sacred Grove

Last weekend we took a trip to Kirtland, then Niagara Falls, and ended in Palmyra. We met Ben's family at Niagara Falls and continued on from there. Although it was a lot of driving, it was lots of fun and Emerson was great in his new carseat. And thank goodness for our portable DVD player.

We decided to stop at Kirtland on the way up for a small dose of church history. There was actually a lot to see there and we really enjoyed it. Then we continued on to complete the 6-hour drive to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. It was a weird little place...a lot like Las Vegas. The border guard gave us a hard time and kind of made us feel like criminals. I'm not sure why, and I'd like to think that they do that to everyone. But oh well, they allowed us over the border and more importantly back to the United States. The Falls themselves were pretty spectacular. It was really cold by the falls and it was tough to see things in some places because there was a lot of mist. Unfortunately we weren't able to ride the Maid of the Mist because it wasn't open yet and there was still a lot of ice on the falls. We were able to go on the Journey Behind the Falls, but we couldn't see a lot because of the ice.

After Niagara Falls we continued on to Palmyra and were able to see the Hill Cumorah, the Joseph Smith farm, E.B. Grandin's bookstore, and the Sacred Grove. I'm not sure what my favorite part was because they were all so interesting. I was surprised that Palmyra was kind of a crappy little town besides the well-maintained church sites.

We had a good time hanging out with the Christensens and getting to see our little nieces before their family moves to Peru in a few weeks. And we're so glad that Little E was such a good boy for us. Thanks for the fun trip!