Update!

- Henry turned 6 months on the 8th
- Jack is potty-trained and doing very well!
- MN had a massive blizzard on Friday 10th & Saturday the 11th, 20 inches of snow in some parts!!
- Had a great Thanksgiving and are so very thankful for everyone in our lives..
- Ben and I booked a cruise vacation in January for just the two of us and cannot wait!!!!

Henry

Big Boy Underwear!

Henry is 5 months old today!

Henry is 5 months old today. It's really sad how quickly time flies by. Even though I am home with him every day life is seriously a blink! Henry smiles and giggles all the time, he can roll-over onto his tummy and back and he is starting to eat solid foods. He went to his 4 month check-up last month and weighed 15 lbs. He's getting so big! Love you pumpkin!

My Husband is 30!

Last Saturday I had a surprise 30th Birthday party for Ben. It was absolutely a success and he had no idea! I couldn't believe I pulled it off. He was totally surprised. Ben's parents took the kids that day to a Halloween party and Ben was outside raking leaves so I had the whole day to get the house cleaned and errons done. Then I had him go pick up my Dad and Step-mom from the airport and their job was to "stall him" for 2 hours! It was hilarious, the entire time he never knew. I had so much help from my mom and Ben's family. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Ben really appreciated it and we had a great time with all his family and friends there!

Halloween!

Kids had a great Halloween this year. It was Henry's 1st and Jack's 2nd. Jack was a lion and Henry was a pumpkin. We took them out trick or treating with my Dad and Step-Mom and Jack absolutely loved saying trick or treat and ringing all the doorbells. He got tons of candy and eventually we had to cut him off before he went to bed. The Friday before Halloween, I had a party for my daycare kids and they all had a blast. I had 6 little boys running around in their cute costumes. We painted pumpkins, decorated Halloween cookies and had a trick or treat treasure hunt outside. Dacia (my assistant) came as a clown and I was a black cat.

My Little Pumpkin Henry

Jack in his Lion costume

Daycare Kids

Pamper the Provider Conference

This past Saturday I attended the, "Pamper the Provider Conference" in St. Cloud. There was about 400-500 Childcare Providers there. It was nice to be in the company of others who knew about the everyday workings of running a family childcare business. I attended a couple workshops that day, "Marketing Yourself in a Recession" and a Sign Language Class. Both were really helpful for my daycare and I am glad I went. There was also lots of vendors there to shop and be pampered! I got a wonderful hour massage!

"Johnny Mow!"

Didn't know a 2 yr. old could have an obsession did you?

Emma Krumbees!

Every Fall, Ben and I go to Emma Krumbees in Bell Plaine for lunch and the "Scarecrow Festival". This year was lots of fun because Jack is getting older and can participate in lots of the activities they have going on. We had a yummy lunch at their restaurant with my Mom and then went to the festival where they had pony rides, apple, pumpkin and strawberry picking, tractor rides, mazes and a petting zoo.

Rachel and Forrest's Wedding!

This weekend we went to our friends, Rachel and Forrest's wedding. Rachel and I have known eachother since grade school. She is one of the funniest, most caring people I know. She was such a beautiful bride! The wedding was at Dodge Nature center outside and the reception was at the Mendakota Country Club. It was a beautiful ceremony and Ben and I danced our socks off at the reception. It was so great seeing a bunch of people from highschool too!

Gettin' Hitched!

The Newlyweds, Rachel & Forrest

Shannon, Me, Lindsey and Angie

A Night Out with the Walker Women!: WICKED!

Tuesday evening, my Mom, Grandma and Aunt got tickets to go see the production of Wicked at the Orpheum downtown. We decided to make a night of it and go out to eat first at the Capital Grill. We had such an amazing time. I got the Filet Oscar and for anyone that doesn't know what that is, it's a filet mignon steak with crab on top! The best possible combination if you ask me! The play was awesome too! Wicked was about how the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of OZ became her Wicked self. The acting, costumes, and music were great! I just wish we would've been a bit closer to the stage. We ended up seeing my cousins there too! It was such a nice surprise! Thanks for the Wicked night Walker ladies! I had an awesome time!

Oh Henry... :)

My Little Guy will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. What the heck!!??


Chunky Monkey

Wow, Busy Weekend...

Wow this weekend was a fun but a busy one! I fell asleep on the couch at 8pm last night, luckily, Ben put the kids to bed!

Friday - Ben's best friend Nate's Wedding BBQ Reception at Minnehaha Park

Saturday - Every year, the Walker side of the Family holds a golf tournament called "The Penny". We had lots of fun, but I golfed a 71 on 9 holes, ouch!

Sunday - Irish Fair on Harriet Island in St. Paul!

Here are some pics from the Golf course..

A Day Out With Thomas the Train!

On Saturday we took Jack and Henry to "A Day Out With Thomas!". Jack had so much fun! We rode on an actual real Thomas Train :)

Summertime with Jack

He's so much fun these days, I just had to post some cute pics I've taken recently..

Henry is 7 weeks already...

Already a charmer!

Recent Happenings...

1. Dad, Step-mom, Brother Blake & Sister, Mikayla in town from TX.
2. We spent majority of my maternity leave at family cabin in Siren, WI.
3. Celebrated 4th of July at cabin.
4. Jack learned how to hold his breath under water, jetski, tube, ride on motorcross bike and fourwheelers with big uncle, Blake, help Grandpa Mike with yard work at cabin, and is now talking sentances!
5. Celebrated my Mom's Birthday!
6. Went back to work!
7. Henry 6 weeks old!
8. Ben building fence in our backyard.

Mom's Birthday

Jack on Pontoon

Sparklers on 4th of July!

Uncle Blake and Jack on motorcross bike!

Henry, 1 week old.

Me and Henry (4 weeks)

Henry Michael Christensen!

Henry Michael Christensen - Our new little addition was born (11 days early), Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 12:14 a.m. in the morning. Weighing 7lbs. 12oz. and 21 1/4 inches long! I started having contractions at home (during daycare hours) at 4pm. Patiently awaiting the parents to pick up their children, I started timing the contractions and they were 5-6 minutes apart right from the start.
I waited to call the doctor, for about an hour and a half as they weren't really painful yet. I finally called the doctor at about 5:45pm and he said I should go in a get checked out. In the meantime, my Mom came over to care for Jack while we were gone. We left for the hospital at 6pm and wondered, "Is this really it?" or was this just another Braxton Hicks fakeout? The last thing I wanted was to be sent home!
We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and sure enough, I was in real labor and dialated to a 3 cm. I got an IV and shortly was dialated to a 4 and I was able to get an epidural. Shortly after the epidural started to kick in the doctor came in a broke my water as it wasn't going to on its own. Then things started to slow down, so they gave me a drug called Pitocin to speed up the contractions. After this, things started to speed up. I quickly went from 6cm dialated to 9 and the baby was starting to make some big moves. During this time contractions and pressure really started to get strong and painful so they upped my epidural dosage to a stronger medicine. Pretty soon I was dialated to a 10 and ready to push.
The doctor came in again and I was asked to push 3 times after each contraction. I did this about 4-5 times and there Henry came! It was a wonderful moment and almost surreal as it was so much more relaxing than Jack's birth-even though it was 3 hours longer! They placed him on my chest and I knew we had another little one to love. What a wonderful thing it is to be a parent!




Henry and his proud "Big Brother" Jack

38 weeks along and waiting...

I know that I have to be patient and that I shouldn't be so anxious but I am starting to really wonder when this baby will come. I know that 40 weeks is just around the corner (12 days to be exact) but I think I really set myself up with thinking that he would be early as Jack was. I have tried to think of ways to "busy" myself but I can't help but constantly think about going into labor. Just this last Wednesday morning I thought I might be going into labor as I was having contractions but they just stopped! So it was just a false alarm. I even took a shower and got ready at 4 in the morning and called my mom to come over! So every night now I go to bed thinking, Will it happen in the middle of the night tonight? Maybe!!!! The baby isn't even born yet and he's already controlling me! : )

New Perennial Garden!

We have lived in our house since February 2007 and I always wanted to do "something" with this area in our front yard, but we haven't gotten around to it until this Spring. It started out as a rock garden with a couple of overgrown shrubs. Over the last couple of weekends, we turned it into this! My house loves that I am "nesting"!

Heart of the City

Last Wednesday, I took Jack to the "Heart of the City" fountains in Burnsville. He had so much fun running around getting wet! :)

37 Weeks!

Well I am 37 weeks pregnant. I've had a couple of scares with Braxton Hicks contractions, but it obviously wasn't the "real" thing. I'm definetly uncomfortable at this point and wondering when this baby boy will come. Jack came at 37 1/2 weeks so that is probably why I am so anxious! I've been trying to stay active in hopes that might speed things along but I know that he will come when the time is right. Jack is getting more and more curious about more growing belly and he talks to my belly button often. I'm really excited to see how he will react to the little one.

My Little Boy is Two Years Old Today!!

Jack, Happy Birthday Muffin!
I am not sure how you got to be 2 years old already, but the time is here! You are learning new things everyday. Your vocabulary has quadrupuled in the last couple of months, you love motorcycles and point them out everywhere we go. You also love trying on any shoes you can get your hands on(including my highheels), getting dirty everywhere, playing with your friends, getting hurt every two seconds, cuddling with daddy on the couch and just being a boy. The last couple of years with you have been nothing short of amazing and I love you soo much!

Mother's Day!

I had a very nice but busy Mother's Day. Ben and Jack greeted me in the morning with breakfast in bed (cinnamon rolls and milk) and waiting for me was a very pretty bouquet of flowers and a very nice card from my boys. Later that morning, I had to teach at church in the nursery, go to church and brunch at The Tavern on France with my Mom and Brother. The food was so yummy and a nice way to wrap up the weekend.

Waterpark of America-Jack's 2nd Birthday Celebration

Last night we celebrated Jack's 2nd Birthday! He won't be 2 until Tuesday, May 11th but we decided to celebrate over the weekend and make it a hotel night. Jack absolutely loved the waterpark! My mom and brother joined in for the fun and we all had a great time there. I especially enjoyed the part when my mom got completely drenched on the lazy river! : )


Kiddie Waterpark

DQ Ice Cream Cake

"Happy Day!"

Let's blow out the candles again & again!