Pieper's Blessing Day

Along with Parker getting baptized on the 2nd, we decided to bless Pieper that day as well. We figured with having family and friends there for the baptism, we might as well have the blessing that day as well so all those people could be there and not have to travel two days in a row. So we celebrated to great kids in the same day. Parker was more than willing to share his special day with his new little sister. After the baptism and confirmation of Parker, Matt gave Pieper a wonderful blessing. She looked so beautiful in her white dress that Grandma Yancey made for her. She also had a beautiful blanket that she used that day crocheted by her Great Grandma Williams. After the blessing and baptism we went to our ward building and had a luncheon, a hot dog bar. We had hot dogs with all the fixings, relish tray, finger jello, grapes, apples, oranges, chips, and pumpkin cake. It was perfect for a kids luncheon and went so well. I am lucky to have such great family and friends that all pitched in to help bring food, set up, prepare, and clean up afterwards. It really was such a great day to visit and be with the people we love most.

 

Parker's Baptism

We are so proud of Parker for making the decision to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a special day for him and us. We were blessed to have a lot of family and friends come and support us. The weather was beautiful outside and the day was really nice. The program went as follows:

Saturday November 2, 2013

                                                                        10:00 AM.
                                                      Blackfoot East Stake Center

Baptism of Parker Matthew Christiansen

 Opening Song: I Like My Birthdays

 Chorister: Erika Christiansen

 Pianist: Great Grandma, Sharon Williams

 Opening Prayer: Grandpa, Paul Yancey

 Talk on Baptism: Grandma, Serena Yancey

 Baptism of Parker by his father, Matthew Christiansen

 Talk on the Holy Ghost:  Erika Christiansen

 Confirmation of Parker by his Father, Matthew Christiansen

 Bishopric Remarks

 Blessing of Pieper by her father Matthew Christiansen

 Closing Song: The Holy Ghost

 Closing Prayer: Grandma Linda Christiansen

Parker's 8th Birthday

My oldest turned 8 on the 1st!! Holy cow! I am getting old! Matt and I are still in shock that we have an 8 year old, we can't even remember what life was like when it was just the two of us before we had kids. We sure love Parker and all the wild and crazy excitement he adds to our family. He is a great kid and we are so proud of him. For his birthday I sent boxed rice crispy treats to school, I was so overwhelmed with his birthday, Halloween, his baptism, and Pieper's blessing that I didn't want to have to worry about getting to his school to drop off treats. And with Halloween being the day before the kids were all probably still on a sugar high anyway. I felt a little guilty for not making him something homemade that he chose, but only for a little while. After he got home from school and Matt got home from working, we met my parents, Grandpa and Grandma Yancey, for Pizza at Mr. Pizza. It was delicious! I love their cheese breadsticks, I could eat them for dinner all by themselves! Parker wanted pizza and at first he chose Little Ceasers, but I convinced him that Mr. Pizza was better and that we needed to go there. It was great and I didn't have to cook!! We came back to the house for cake and gifts. Parker wanted an Army (camouflage) cake this year. It turned out great and he loved it. When he came home from school and saw it, he was so excited and immediately told me how much he loved it. I was glad I could at least do that for him to make his day special. He got a cub scout shirt, neckerchief, and scout book from Matt and I, along with a baptism book and towel. Grandma Yancey made him a quilt for his bed and a scrapbook about his baptism. Grandpa Yancey got him a remote control truck. He was quite excited for a new remote control vehicle. (Grandpa & Grandma Christiansen were out of town on Parker's birthday weekend but they got him a new church outfit with a white shirt, tie, and tie tack and he looked so handsome in his new clothes!). After gifts we had cake and then called it a night. We had a big day to get ready for the next day!

Pretty Please

Paxten in quite the character in our house. He is very energetic and an all around BOY! He loves to run, jump, climb, and get into mischief like any other typical little boy. He tries to do things his older brother does, and sometimes his older brother tries to get him to do things that even he wouldn't do. He makes me laugh and smile every single day. Right now he knows exactly what to do to get what he wants. He puts his little fists up to his mouth and scrunches up his little face while he says, "Pretty please" but is sounds like, "pitty peez" it is just so darn cute and it gets me every time. "Pitty peez can I stay," "mommy choc milk pitty peez."  Whatever he wants, all he has to do is look at me with those blue eyes while holding up his little fists and say pitty peez and I pretty much give in. How can I not, look at this cute little face. I doesn't just affect me, Matt and my mom succumb to the asking as well. He has us wrapped around his little finger, and he knows it and uses it to his advantage. He is one smart 2 year old!

1 Month Old

Pieper was one month old on October 1st. ONE MONTH!! Where has the time gone??!! I can't believe that my baby...my LAST baby...is already one month old. I am seriously not liking how fast this is happening. She is going to be one year old before I know it. I am loving having a little newborn in the house again. It is SERIOUSLY a lot of work and it is hard, definitely hard, but I look at that sweet face and it melts my heart. Pieper is such a sweet baby and loves to be the center of attention. She loves to be held (surprise, surprise!) and loves to be talked to. She loves her sister Paige and often gets "kidnapped" by her to be taken to their bedroom to be sung songs to or played with. She is going to have the best time when she is older with her big sister. She is sleeping pretty good throughout the night, usually waking only twice. I can live with that! Matt has been a super good helper at night, taking turns with the feedings during the night. It is so much harder with #4 because the three other kids have so much going on, I can't just sleep in or take napes when she is sleeping. Parker has school, Paige has school, Paige has to catch the bus, Parker has homework, Paige has homework, dinner needs made, laundry washed, grocery shopping.....the list goes on and on. So in that aspect it is so much harder. But Matt and I both knew that she was meant to be part of our family and now we feel like we are complete! Here she is 1 month old and counting!

Newborn Pictures

I love the trend of getting newborn pictures. Babies just don't stay so tiny and precuiously (Did I just make up a new word?!)
 small for very long and I feel like these images at least capture it a little bit. Pieper was an absolute angel for pictures, she slept almost the entire time. Although we found out that she did not want her head to be placed on her hands, she kept turning it to one side or the other. I think she is absolutely beautiful..I know I have a biased opinion, I can, I am the mom!

Great Grandparents

We had my Grandparents in to dinner one Sunday evening shortly after Pieper was born so that they could meet her and have a chance to hold her and visit with us and my parents. Matt cooked a beef tenderloin in the Traeger and we had salad and baked potato. It was delicious. Grandpa and Grandma Williams were thrilled to meet their newest great-granddaughter. 9/8/13

Parker 2nd Grade

Our oldest started 2nd grade this year!! What??!! I can't believe he is that big, having a little newborn in the home again brings back all the memories of each other child and when they were that age. It doesn't seem like that long ago we were bringing Parker home from the hospital, so excited and clueless as to what was in store for us. And here we are almost 8 years later!! Parker was very excited to be starting 2nd grade. He has Mrs. Taylor this year, and we are thrilled about that. She has been quite a while and I know she is a wonderful teacher, so Parker is in good hands this year. We are hoping that he really excels this year and that he grasps some of the concepts that were hard for him last year. He has come a long way and it almost to the point that he enjoys some of the parts of school. He was really excited when he learned that a bunch of kids from his 1st grade class have Mrs. Taylor as well so he had friends in the class with him. When we woke him up in the morning for his first day, he just got right back into the routine we had last year and was ready to go in record time. I think he was pretty excited. When he came home from school he was so excited that there would be no homework for the first week because it was also fair week. This kids hates homework, and so does this mother, so I was a little excited as well that there wouldn't be homework to worry about. I am still adjusting to life as a mom of 4!

Going Home

All packed up and ready to go home! We are excited to take Pieper home to her brothers and sister and to be in our own space together as a family. We had great nurses and great care while we have been here, but we are just ready to be home, (and lets face it, why pay for more use of the hospital than you need!)

Bathing Beauty...in Blue

The night before we were planning on leaving the hospital, we noticed that Pieper was looking a little jaundice. So we had the nursery take her back and check her levels. And sure enough, they were in the 14's! Which is pretty high, high enough that they wanted to keep her in the nursery under the blue lights for the entire night. Which, allowed me to get a fairly good night of rest, but I was worried about how my little girl was. In the morning, after I had eaten breakfast, showered, and watched some TV, I was wondering when they would bring her back to my room. They finally showed up and said that her levels had dropped a little bit, but that they wanted her on a portable light for the rest of the day. I had been cleared to go home, and now we were waiting to see if the baby was going to be able to go home as well. After talking to the pediatrician, he agreed to let her go home on the condition that we take a bili light home with us and keep her on it as much as possible. After making arrangements for the light and doing all the paperwork to check out we were finally on our way home at about 2:30.

Photo Shoot, 1 day old

I couldn't resist taking a bunch a picture of Pieper when she was just 1 day old! How sweet is this new precious baby! I wanted to make sure and capture her teeny tiny features right from the start. I am so in awe and amazement with this new miracle we have have been blessed with that is straight from heaven!