Farewell Logan

Emerson and his good friend Sadie Humpherys. He will miss her!

Melinda and Emerson

Ben and Emerson

Our crappy but sort of lovable apartment

On May 5, 2008 we said farewell to good ole' Logan. We were so excited to get out of our apartment, but when it was empty we were honestly a little sad. We had some great times in Logan and it was a lot harder to leave than I expected. We already miss all of our good friends there. I'm sure we'll come back to visit, though.

New House

Melinda, Ben, and Dad at the closing

Well, we did it. We purchased our first home. Where are the pictures, you might ask? Well they don't exist yet therefore I am unable to post them. When we took our trip out to Ohio when I was 36 weeks pregnant we found a house and have been going through the whole process of buying it ever since. We finally closed on May 9th after many complications and headaches. But we love it and we're excited about it.

A mere half hour after we signed on the house, Ben grabbed his packed bag and flew out the door to drive our gigantic moving truck out to Ohio with all of our stuff. We decided that it wouldn't be very much fun to haul Emerson on a 25 hour drive, and I wouldn't be much help since I'm pretty much tethered to him all day. So Ben's dad and brother drove out with him and his mom flew out on her way to Virginia. (Our house had to be cleaned up and worked on a little bit because it was a foreclosure.) So while they were there gone for about 6 days working their tails off I got to play the part of single mom (with a precious, helpful family of course.) We were so glad to get the house taken care of before we move out there for good in July and we really appreciated the Christensen's help. Oh, and as for the pictures...I requested lots of pictures from Ben, but he forgot to take even one! He did take a video with our video camera though, so I guess I'll forgive him.

Happy Graduation!

Our Little Family (notice Emerson's Utah State apparel)

The distinguished graduate

Our little family with Elder and Sister Perry

Ok, let's backtrack. In my stress and hurry to get moved out of our apartment in Logan, get moved into my parent's house, and taking care of a new baby, I neglected to post anything about Ben's graduation! I feel like a terrible wife. So here are some pictures from the day. Way to go, Honey! I'm excited for you now, but I can only imagine how ecstatic I'll feel when you're graduating from medical school and you're done with residency!

Tagged

1. Who eats more?
Ben does. (Phew! I'm glad I got tagged after I had Emerson because I think I definitely ate more during pregnancy. :) It makes for a good excuse to eat pretty much anything you want. I miss that. )

2. Who said "I love you" first?
Ben did. It seemed like it took forever though--probably because I knew I was in love with him by our 3rd date.

3. Who sings better?
I think we're pretty equal. Neither one of us is spectacular, but I have to give Ben credit because he tries to sing the different parts in Sacrament Meeting and I just sing the melody.

4. Who dances better?
Me...but it's really rather hard to tell because neither one of us can bust a move and it's pretty darn equal when dancing (swaying) to a slow song. I win this one simply because I think I hate dancing less than Ben does.

5. Who's older?
Ben by 2 years and 10 months

6. Who's smarter?
To be honest, I think we both have specialty areas...Ben could kick my trash in anything science or math related, but I'm a little better at English and managing children. :)

7. Whose temper is worse?
Mine, hands down.

8. Who does the laundry?
Well we have this beautiful dazzling laundry fairy that comes to do our laundry and then she leaves all of it nicely folded on the bed! Then all Ben has to do is put his laundry away. Isn't that nice!?

9. Who does the dishes?
I do most of the time, but sometimes Ben gets a surge of energy and preciousness and orders me to sit and do nothing while he does our dishes. Hopefully that won't be such a big job when we have a dishwasher in our new house!

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me.

11. Whose feet are bigger?
Ben's.

12. Whose hair is longer?
Mine. But when Ben's gets long he gets these cute little curls around his ears that he terms "Jewish curls". Little Emerson had Jewish curls when he was born. He was just missing a Yarmulke.

13. Who's better with the computer?
I think we're pretty equal at that.

14. Do you have pets?
No way.

15. Who pays the bills?
Ben works to pay them and I write the check.

16. Who cooks?
Me. Sometimes though Ben whips us up something Italian (which means it has spaghetti sauce in some form or another.)

17. Who drives when you are together?
Ben.

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?
Ben...but sometimes I treat. It's sort of silly though really when it all comes from the same bank account. I guess it's just the idea that he's paying that makes me feel special.

19. Who's the most stubborn?
Oh dear...we both have to choose our battles.

20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?
That depends. I think both of us feel like we're always the first to admit we're wrong so I guess it's probably 50/50...or 60/40 (me)...or 70/30 (me)...sigh...probably 50/50

21. Whose parents do you see more?
50/50

22. Who named your pet?
No pets.

23. Who kissed who first?
Ben kissed me because I was too tantalizing. At least I could exercise some self-control in our relationship.

24. Who asked who out?
Ben asked me out first, but I have to admit I had an agenda and helped things along to fit my own purpose. You see, we had creative arts class together with my brother Scott and I just casually mentioned that I didn't have anyone to go to the evening's event with because Scott had found a date. So Ben took the subtle hint and asked for my number and said that I could go with "them". Of course, being the girl that I was, I went home and consulted the roommates on who "them" was (were?). It turned out to be Ben, his best friend Ryan, his sister Brooke, and like 12 of her closest friends. I was relieved I didn't just turn out to be the 3rd wheel though. Ryan was a little dense and didn't move out of the passenger's seat when they picked me up at my apartment, so I was stuck in the back with the rest of the girls. I admit I was a bit miffed at this fact, but the seating arrangement did work out at the actual event due to the efforts of both Ben and me. We got to sit together and the other 40 girls were separated from Ben by Ryan and me. :) The rest is history.

26. Who's more sensitive?
Me.

27. Who's taller?
Ben at 5'10". I'm a mere 5'5".

28. Who has more friends?
Neither of us have any friends. Sigh... Just kidding we're equal cause all of our friends are married couples pretty much.

29. Who has more siblings?
Ben has 14 siblings and I have 4.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Ben does. But only because I LET him wear them.

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. :)

What's high in the middle and round at both ends?

Winda in front of the Columbus, Ohio Temple. It's one of those small temples, and they're not kidding!

Ben in front of the mini temple

Our rental car. It had the worst turning radius in the world, but we were just glad to be mobile after our carless honeymoon.

Buckeye Stadium. Yeah, it pretty much makes me embarrassed to call Utah State's parking lot a stadium.

Well, it's official. Ben and Emerson and I will be moving to Columbus, Ohio this summer for Ben to start medical school in the fall. With said baby coming so soon, things have been more complicated with our mobility. We didn't really want to take our brand-new baby on an airplane when he was a few weeks old and then cart him around a foreign city looking for housing and then have to make the trek all over again in a few more weeks. So we made an executive decision (which was harder for us than you know) to take a trip out there over spring break to look at places to live. This took a lot of research and preparation before we even went out there, and was certainly very stressful, but was such a fun and successful trip. The main stress was whether I would be able to go or not because they don't recommend that you travel after 36 weeks. So I got it okayed by the doctor on call because my doctor was on vacation and there was no one in his office (I guess women don't have babies while their doctor is on vacation?) and we flew out the day before I was officially 36 weeks and then we flew back 3 days later. And yes, we made it there and back without delivering the baby. :) And thanks to Delta not having any travel restrictions for pregnant women, they didn't add to the stress.

I was a little stressed during the flight because my dad and the doctor on call told me to be sure to get up and walk around so I didn't get blood clots. It was all fine on the way to Ohio, but on the flight back I want you to picture this: I am in the middle seat, not sitting by Ben. It is approximately 1 million degrees in the plane, there is a good-sized man sitting on my right side with his gigantic fleece jacket spread over him while he naps. There is a severely obese man sitting on the row in front of me causing the entire row of seats to lean back. The lady directly in front of me is reclined to the fullest. I have a huge stomach that prevents me from bending over to get into my carry on, not to mention my wool peacoat that I'm holding on my lap because the overhead bins are packed too full to stuff it in. And last, but certainly not least, the man on my left side, (the aisle side) has his full bottle of water, his cup of ice, his cell phone, his palm pilot, his napkins, snack, and an entire bag of Skittles (yes, individual Skittles) strewn over his tray table. Meanwhile I am screaming in my mind, trying not to picture the humongous clots forming in my legs making their way to my brain and/or lungs, and trying to get up the courage so say, "Ahem, excuse me, but can I get by?" to the slowest beverage drinker in the whole world. Finally, my panic attack got the better of me and when I could see he had his Skittles reasonably corralled, I asked him to move. I was seriously worried for a minute that he would just say no. Then what? But thankfully he moved. And don't worry, I have yet to have a stroke or heart attack from the clots in my legs. It really was a good trip and we're excited to live in Ohio.

Like Father, Like Daughter

On February 27th, my sister Stephanie turned 12. I can't believe she's that old already! I happened to be in Murray that evening, so I got to celebrate with the rest of my family. While we were singing to her, my dad noticed that he and I have the same stomach! I guess it just runs in the family. :) My brother Brad was making fun of me earlier and had a basketball shoved up his shirt. I think he's just jealous because he wants to be in the club with Dad and me. Love you, Dad!