Jack's riding a bike all by himself!

Jack is 4!

What a busy couple of weeks we've had! Jack turned 4 years old last week on May 11th. Just a day after I got out of the hospital after having Lucy. We were glad to be home with him however, I couldn't really do do much but care for the baby. Ben was officially on "boys duty" since he was home helping out while I healed and while we were all adjusting to having a 3rd. We wanted to make sure that Jack knew that his birthday was special even though we had just brought home his sister the day before so Ben took Jack and Henry to: http://www.pumpitupparty.com/ - it's basically a place with multiple "bounce houses" for kids to jump in! Jack and Henry absolutely loved it! After that, he brought Jack to a movie, The Pirates - Band of Misfits, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14MtmqOZwQA. What's funny is half way through it Jack fell asleep and was snoring the whole time. :) All the jumping in the morning tuckered him right out!

 I cannot believe my first born is 4 years old already. It makes me so sad that 4 years has gone by so extremely fast. This year has been good, especially developmentally for Jack. He's such a smart kid with such an imagination and funny sense of humor. He plays great with his little brother and since Lucy has been born, he's really sweet and gentle with her too! Jack, you brighten our lives everyday, we love you little stinker!

Worst Week! - Jacks trip to the ER..

Poor buddy after xray.


After the IV was put in, such a brave kid! :(

Saturday night right before Jack went to bed he had a mild fever so I gave him Advil before bed. He woke up at 3am with a 103.5 fever and vomiting :(. I called the doctors office and they said to give him a tablespoon of fluids every 15 minutes for an hour until he's keeping things down. The night went on, more vomiting, high temp and lots of uncertainty. He also complained of his eyes hurting and they were very swollen by Sunday. We continuously kept dosing him with Tylenol and Advil every 6 hours while he still continued to get sick throughout the day. The vomiting subsided on Monday and I called the doctor on Monday night to have him seen Tuesday to see what exactly was wrong.

Ben took him to the pediatrician as I had work. The peds office did a blood test and a chest x-ray and concluded that he had pneumonia and pink eye. Great we thought! Antibiotics and eye meds were prescribed and he started taking them. Later that day his fever plateaued at its highest to 104.1. Wednesday, I closed the daycare and stayed home with him. He complained all day that his tummy hurt and his eye were really swollen all day long. He was constantly crying and temp still between 103-104.

I decided I wanted more answers so Wednesday night we took him to the ER. Something wasn't right. He didn't act like he had pneumonia at all. There was zero coughing, wheezing and no runny nose at that time. His eyes were also swollen, not matted like you would see in pink eye. I wasn't buying what the pediatrician had diagnosed. The ER gave him an IV, took blood (not a fun experience when they can't find his tiny veins!), urine and abdominal xrays. They concluded without a doubt that he had a bladder/kidney infection, he was very distended (constipated) and that he needed to pass some gas from all that crying! They started him on antibiotic and told us to continue the one that he was prescribed for the pneumonia. We also gave him claritin for his eyes and that helped the swelling go down tons.

Anyway, today (Thursday) he's improved lots! Still a fever but up walking around and now more cold symptoms than anything. I am so glad I took him to the ER!!!! A mother's intuition is always best even if you think you are being over protective stick with your gut feeling!

Jack's 1st Trip to the Dentist!

Jack's 3rd Birthday!

All I can say is wow! Three years has gone by soo fast. My little baby isn't a baby anymore, he's a 3 year old little boy today! Jack came into this world on Mother's Day 3 years ago today. He wasn't waiting anymore and it only took 3 hours from start to finish to deliver him. What a great Mother's Day that was! :)
Jack has accomplished so much in the past year and he's so much fun. He's fully potty trained now standing up to do his business. :) I can carry on a full length conversation with him. He really loves bears, tractors, trains and basically with wheels. He loves being outside and getting dirty (as a boy should). I should also mention to commemorate him turning 3, he decided to stick a piece of corn up his nose today! :( Don't worry it came out right away, but I thought..what a story to tell about his 3rd birthday! haha

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)

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! :)

Sever's Corn Maze

Ben went hunting this weekend, so we decided to go to Sever's Corn Maze in Shakopee with the Lesnau's. We had lots of fun and the weather was quite nice. There was a Corn Maze, Giant Corn Pit, Petting Zoo and lots of other fun things to do for kids. Earlier in the week we were stuck in the house for a few days as Jack had the Flu. We were was so glad to get out and have some fun!

Aerial View of this year's Corn Maze, pretty sweet huh!!


Haley & Jack

Candice and I in the Corn Pit

Amanda the "Scarecrow"!

Jack's New Kicks!

Since Jack has been running all over town, I thought it was time for his first pair of hard-sole tennis shoes! I've always loved the Converse, "Chuck Taylors", so I knew exactly what I wanted to get him when we went searching for his new shoes. He tried them on at the store and they we so adorable on, I had to buy them! He had alot of fun the other night trying the new shoes out..

Jack took 4 steps tonight!

I got home tonight to find my little boy taking 4 steps towards the sunglasses I had in my hand! He was crying the whole way cause I kept moving away from him, but he did it! I was so proud of him, I started crying with amazement! It was such an awesome feeling. With the progress he's making, we'll have him walking in no time! Will post a video soon :)

May 11th 2009 - Jack's 1st Birthday!

I woke up this morning and could hardly believe that my son had turned 1 year old! It was May 11th and it had been one year already since I gave birth to our beautiful little boy, Jack Andrew Christensen. At 7:11 a.m., Jack came into this world at Fairview Southdale Hospital, 2 1/2 weeks early! I was only in labor for 3 hours before he was born. I was so lucky! I remember having so many great feelings that day; excited, overjoyed, blessed & scared to be responsible for such an amazing miniature human being. Over the past year, Jack has brought so much joy to Ben and I and we are so thankful that God gave us an opportunity to raise such a sweet little man. Although he isn't walking yet, he is scaling the furniture quite quickly, eating like a tank and loves to play with all his toys! Happy Birthday buddy! We love you so much lil Jack!

Jack playing in the yard!

Jack's 1st Birthday Party

On Saturday May 9th, we had Jack's 1st Birthday Party! Jack's actual birthday is on May 11, but we wanted to celebrate on the weekend so everyone could come. Almost all of our family came over to celebrate with us. We served yummy beef/chicken tacos with all the fixings. Plus guacamole & chips. That was gone almost instantly! I got a special Jungle ice cream cake for the party from DQ and also made Jack his own personal cake. Jack got tons of awesome presents; clothes, toys, books, etc. Thanks so much everyone! I think the best part of the party was Jack getting all messy with his chocolate birthday cake! All in all, I think Jack enjoyed himself.

First bite of birthday cake!

DQ Ice Cream Jungle Cake

Let's open some presents!

My new ATV, from Momma and Daddy!

Jack's 10 Months Old Today!!

Looking back, I cannot believe that it has already been 10 months since Jack's birth! We are so lucky to have such a neat little man. :) Lately, Jack has been a totally sponge with learning new things. He's so active with crawling, talking baby talk, pulling himself up, trying new things to eat, showing tons of personality and of course getting into lots of trouble! We love you sooo much Jack-a-boo!

Jacks getting a baby tooth!

Since Jack was three months old, if he was crabby in any way, I would just say, "He's probably just teething". Over time, Ben and I just started laughing aboout the situation because I would always blame it on teething. Pretty much everyday for the last 6 months, I would always check his mouth, "Nope, nothing". So you can imagine my amazement when yesterday, Jack was a little crabby and I checked his mouth to see if anything was coming through and sure enough a little tooth! I was so excited for him! I wonder how much it really hurts them? I hope not too much for Jackie's sake, because this is just the start to alot of pain! :(

You can't see the tooth yet in this picture, but I thought I would post one of Jack's cute mug anyway.

2nd Appointment

So this afternoon, Ben and I went to our 2nd doctor's appointment. This one was awesome..WE GOT TO HEAR THE BABY'S HEART BEAT! It was amazing.. strong and 160 beats per minute! It was nice to finally hear something. I have been putting up with all the bad symtoms of pregnancy; Morning (noon & night) sickness, fatigue, no motivation to do anything but lay on the couch, & eating everything in sight! Today we finally experienced a wonderful "symptom". And it was an awesome gift from God. Until next time...