Announcing…

Callen Tieg

Born: April 6, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Weight: 6 lbs. 4 oz.
Length: 18 inches

He is such a sweetheart, very laid back and chill, especially when his older sister gives him “loves”. He sleeps a lot, but mostly during the day- a habit we are trying to flip to nights. He is only a couple weeks old, but thus far has a very sweet and calm personality.

 

 

A friend asked me what it was like having a boy. At first I told her not much, but upon further reflection here are some of the differences I have noticed between baby boys and girls: (most, okay maybe all, of the differences I noticed were in relation to bodily functions)

1.	He goes through as many outfits as a girl would, but for very different reasons (mostly due to peeing on his).
2.	In changing diapers, speed is vital.
3.	Also in changing diapers, being aware of the vicinity and direction of certain things is key in protecting myself and my outfits.
4.	It really makes the whole diaper changing operation run a lot more smoothly when there are two, maybe   even three, people helping. I realize this one is not realistic all the time, but it really does make it easier.

     
I am sure any parent of a little boy could add plenty to this list or even give great advice on controlling this, but we are having a wonderful time getting to know our little boy (bodily function issues included) . We laugh a lot and just love having Callen here with us.

A Lot of Little Firsts

These last few months have gone by so quickly, all my good intentions of blogging just got sidelined for other things. We have had a lot of firsts in the last few months:

Rya went bowling for the first time…

 

 

 

It was officially in celebration of Cody’s 31st birthday- a little family party, if you will. Rya and I (at 7 months prego) were trying to beat Cody. Despite our valiant effort, we didn’t get anywhere close. We did take a video, but it is rather long. It is one of Rya’s turns bowling, and at one point I think the ball might have actually starting rolling back towards us. So rather than put the video on, I will just let you imagine. It was really fun watching Rya- she had a great time and I can see a very accomplished bowling future for her.

Rya is now in panties…

Potty trained, officially! What more can I say than “Woo-Hoo”. After we got over the last little hump she just took over and became Miss Independent. It is nice not to have to worry about changing two sets of diapers anymore. She is a pro!

 

First trip to Chuck-E-Cheese...

This was actually Rya’s reward for going a whole week without any accidents. Aside from being terrified of the big “Daddy Mouse”, she loved it! We blew through a cup full of tokens, chowed down on some pizza and enjoyed just being kids.

LOL

We have finally started potty training Rya. It is going really well, at least part of it is going well. She uses the toilet all by herself to go “water” as Rya calls it, but holds everything else in. She is definitely in control because she always manages to fill her diaper, when the need arises that she wears one (night-time and such). This is an issue because she is essentially causing herself to become constipated. Not to go into too many details, but this is the set up for the story.

 

It was about bedtime Sunday night when Rya started complaining of a stomach ache. Naturally, we figured it was constipation. But, then she started crying. Again, I figured gas pains combined with not wanting to go to bed was causing the tantrum. But, the crying turned to screaming, and  a non-stop painful screaming. After about 20 minutes of this screaming, we started to be concerned that this stomach ache may be more than just that. A half an hour in, she was still screaming in pain, and so we made the run to the ER, with her screaming the whole way there. As we waited anxiously in the waiting room, we just kept praying that it wasn’t too serious and that our baby girl would be alright. What seemed like an eternity, or more like 20 minutes, passed and Cody felt her pass some gas. And, within just a few minutes Rya started to calm down and return to her normal self. After probing her stomach without any painful reaction, we decided it was most likely constipation and we could treat it ourselves. So we did just that. We took her home and gave her a suppository. She didn’t enjoy that at all, a little crying followed, but who could really blame her?!

The next morning she woke up fine. By the evening, though, she seemed really tired and lethargic. Her temperature was upwards of 102 and we decided to give her some Tylenol to lower her temp and let her get some sleep. So Cody turned to Rya and asked, “Do you want some medicine?” To which she promptly replied yes. But, a second later, the expression on her face turned quizzical, and she edited her response with, “But, not the bum thingy?!”

That gave us a good hearty laugh and Rya nervously joined in the laughter, still unsure, until she realized it was just Tylenol! It was too cute, I had to write it down and share. 

Rya can make friends anywhere…

Just in case you can’t tell, these are the mannequins at Old Navy. She ran right up and starting chatting with the little girl the moment we got there. By the end, she had adjusted the mom’s outfit, danced with the little brother, and took the dog for a walk.

Merry ThanksChristgivingmas

Despite what it appears, we did have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas- just failed to add those events to the blog in a timely fashion (shocking, right?) So, rather than bore with too many details, I will just give a few highlights and get to the good part…the pictures.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving here in Arkansas with some good friends; expressed many thanks, ate too much amazing food and lazed around. I am not sure we got any pictures, but we really did have a wonderful day! We are so grateful for friends that are our family away from home.

Christmas

Christmas was spent in Albuquerque with Cody’s parents and sister and her family (The Bohns). Rya was showered with not only countless gifts, but attention as well (her and her 5 cousins became fast friends).  We hardly saw her after our arrival. The first thing she would want when she woke in the mornings was to be with her cousins, and she was until we dragged her to bed each night. I think she is ready to have another “friend” around, good thing we have one on order- due to arrive in April.

Above: Rya with Grandma & Grandpa Christensen	Above: Rya and all the Bohn cousins
Above: Like I said…fast friends	Above: Only two years apart in age, In fierce competition for the win—look at their serious faces.

Above: She really liked the idea of lots and lots of presents.	Above: Compliments of Uncle Brandon- here’s our little Rya princess with her prince hiding away in their castle.

Above: Grandma made her a princess outfit- you can only imagine her excitement.	Above: Keeping all her gifts very close to her, or on her (the arm was not included with the cow puppet.

Above: They cleared the front and back yard of snow to make one big snowman- their better than a snow blower.	Above: Rya was much more interested in just eating the snow.

It’s a BOY !!!!!!!!

I apologize to all those who have not heard and may still be waiting to know the gender, I did very poorly following through with my “stay tuned” announcement (only a month late). But, here he is, making his belated debut appearance on the family blog: Baby Boy Christensen (still un-named as of yet, we’re accepting suggestions):

 

Above: There he is in all his glory!	Above: Not sure this needs  an explanation.
Above: It’s his feet.	Above: It looks like he is sucking his thumb, but the doctor said he probably just had his hand by his face.

And, my personal favorite:

So, right now, his expected arrival is about mid-April. We are excited to meet him in person! 

Surprise!

I’m getting crafty (with much help from my sister). Check out the shirt we made for Rya, it turned out really cute!

And, if that announcement is not obvious enough…

Tune in next month, when hopefully, we will reveal the gender!