All I want for christmas are my TWO FRONT TEETH

Oh my goodness gracious!! Can I just say that this week and a bit has been a nightmare? Cadence has been teething on and off since she was 3 months old and I thought those few months were hell...Ya freaking right, this week has been worse than those 4 months.....1 week...and I feel like the worst mother ever and deserve a prize or something. I was getting frustrated with her because she's not eating or drinking, screaming most of the night and not sleeping, and wiping her slobbery/boogery face all over me because her face hurts. I just thought she was coming down with something (especially after spiking a fever of 103 degrees F, and grabbing at her ears). We went to the doctors to see if she had an ear infection but was told nothing was wrong. I asked if teething could be the culprit and they confirmed it. I just had to keep up on the Tylenol and let her chew everything in site. Sure enough 1 week later her right bottom incisor poked through on December 10th. At least now I know the sequence of events that occur just before a tooth decides to make it's grand entrance. First they say your baby drools and you'll feel like she has a drool tap built inside her mouth. That's an understatement, it was a river of slobber/boogers. Second they say you have a fussy baby. That is true but do they mention the nights of screaming in agonizing pain for 2 nights straight (even with pain relievers). Frick! I thought I was prepared for this but I'm not and this is only just the beginning of her teeth coming through. This first year is going to get worse.

On a brighter, much happier note, Cadence started crawling today. We are soooo stoked! It is so cute to watch her move around, if I knew how to post a video I totally would. But here are pictures, just imagine her moving when you look at them.... :) And she made the crawl before christmas deadline I set for her. Anywho next post should be her 7 month stats when she turns 7 months in a week. Happy Holidays!

6 Month Stats

Well my baby is 6 months old and it's been a tough age for me. She's not the tiny little baby who loved to cuddle in my arms for hours and hours. Instead she arches her back and wants to be put back down on the floor with all of her toys and explore using her NEW abilities. :( Sad day indeed.
Today (November 22, 2010) I took her to get her 6 month immunizations and luckily there was only one needle and she didn't even make a peep. I was very impressed with her. She's such a trooper and I love my baby girl with all my heart. I cry when I get needles so ya, that makes me worse than a baby? Ha ha
We also weighed and measured her and here are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 9 oz
Height: 27 inches

Things that she can do:
1. Gets into crawling position and rocks forward and backward
2. Grabs toys with both hands, waves it around to see if it makes noise and sticks them in her mouth.
3. When she drops toys she will look for it and try and get it back
4. When on her tummy she can scoot herself backwards (if I leave the room she has moved all the way across the room)
5. When she's in front of a mirror she smiles, coos and reaches out to pat the mirror
6. She grabs her feet and chews on them all the time (wish I were that flexible)
7. She's very vocal and blows raspberries, and she speaks veloceraptor (not really, but she sure sounds like one)


Things that she eats:
1. Rice Cereal, Oatmeal Cereal, and Barley Cereal.
2. Apples, Pears (she doesn't like the fruits as much as veggies)
3. Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Peas, Potatoes
4. Turkey
5. Rice Crackers in all shapes and flavors
6. Apple Juice, Prune Juice

We've also FINALLY gotten her out of our room and into her crib. I think it was harder on me than it was for her. I feel so alone when she's not in my room (and my husband is working nights). It's like I miss her and I feel a lot of anxiety when I don't have her near me. I wake up and still look in her bassinet to make sure she's breathing to find her missing and I remember she's not in my room. And she's also sleeping through the night without any nighttime feeds, which is excellent but I wake up full and in a lot of pain. GRRRRR!! Should have done this a long time ago, but I wasn't able to sleep without her in my room.
She has done most excellent with this routine and I'm glad I spent $47 dollars on an ebook to help me figure this out. I wish babies came with instructions on how they work so I didn't have to fork out money on these things. But I did and it was money well spent. I wasn't for letting my baby CRY IT OUT because I thought that she would grow up with abandonment issues but this book says it's ok to let her cry because the crying isn't going to be as long as you think it will, and it's all for a good cause. The first night she cried for 45 minutes before she went to sleep without a soother, Miracle Blanket, or any other sleep prop I had been using to get her to sleep. They also say to put your baby to bed early. 7-8pm is an ideal time for kids to go to sleep, which is amazing. My husband and I can finally watch movies together and reconnect and it's been great for our marriage because having a cranky baby all day and then a baby that doesn't sleep well at night was taking a toll on our moods which had an affect on our marriage. I went to sleep that night thinking that she would wake up but when I heard her cry at 4 am and then put herself back to sleep and sleep 3 more hours I was AMAZED!! I could not believe it. She now goes through her bedtime routine and while I'm reading her a story she looks at her crib and gets excited to get in it. She has learned to fall asleep on her own and this is an exciting feat. It's awesome to watch them the first couple of nights as they learn of ways to soothe themselves back to sleep. I don't know why I didn't think of setting a routine for her to go to bed, because I know I can't go to sleep if I don't go through my routine, so why wouldn't babies be any different. HANDS DOWN BEST THING EVER!! I should send the lady that wrote this book my testimonial because it works and I don't think most overtired parents think about this stuff because they're, well, overtired. Anywho. That's all for now. Wish us luck!! Hopefully next month I have pictures of my baby crawling!!

5 Month Stats and UPDATE

So since the last post, Cadence turned 5 months and she's almost 6 months now. OOPS! I took her to get weighed and measured at the Health Unit here in Raymond on October 26th and here are the stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 3 oz
Height: 26 inches

Cadence has mastered sitting up all by herself without anything surrounding her to prop herself up. She lunges at toys that are in front of her and can pull herself forward to her knees (she'll be crawling soon). When she's on her tummy she'll turn herself to get the toys that are around her. She loves hair and pulling on it (imagine that) lol.

Cadence is still breastfed but she eats Rice Cereal, Barley Cereal or Vegetables just before she goes to bed because I'm sick of waking up every 2 hours to feed her during the night. YIKES! She loves Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, and as of last night PEAS.... She gets so excited to eat solids, she acts as if she's never eaten a day in her life. She'll open her mouth and flap her arms in excitement like a little chick would do. She feeds herself Rice Crackers which she loves to nibble on throughout the day, a great snack while we're at church and don't want to leave the lesson.

2 weeks ago I got my Wisdom Teeth yanked and the first couple days were really good pain wise and as soon as day 4 hit, boy was I in pain... I was taking Ibuprofen every 4 hours and Tylenol in between those doses and I could still feel the pain. I think I had a couple of dry sockets which are much better now. Good thing you only have to get your wisdom teeth pulled once in your lifetime. OUCH!!

Andrew is almost done rebuilding his engine for his Laser and he couldn't be happier. He has also applied to the Lethbridge College for the Wind Turbine course and I'm hoping he gets accepted because he wants to get a better job and in order to get anything better you have to go to school. We pray that this works out for him.

Oh ya and Cadence dressed up as a butterfly for Halloween. We didn't go trick-or-treating because we were busy but we dressed her up and took pictures anyway.

That's pretty much it for now. Stay tuned for 6 month stats!! :)

Look what I can do!

Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness.......
Since my last post Cadence has suprised us with some developmental feats! First, she can roll over from her back to her tummy (if she sees something she wants to get, otherwise she's pretty lazy). Secondly she can sit up with barely any help from us. She has amazing balance and when she falls to one side she can catch herself with her hands and keep herself up. It suprised us because one day she couldn't do it and then the next she did! Here's some pics of her awesomeness!!

She can also drive my car!



Also last night was a night from HELL!
I've decided to introduce solids to her because my milk isn't tiding her over for more than an hour and I now feel like she is totally ready. I've tried Heinz Rice Cereal and does great with that but I had some Nestle Rice Cereal with Probiotics in it and 1 1/2 weeks ago I gave her that and she woke up that night and puked her guts out from 10pm- 2am. We took her to the hospital that night and the doctor said it couldn't have been from the Rice Cereal, that it was just a little stomach bug. He said to watch her throughout the night and push fluids. Well she stopped puking at 2 and wanted to eat and she was fine after that. Last night I fed her some breastmilk and then only fed her 2 Tbsp of the Rice cereal again. Put her down to sleep at about 9 and at 10pm she woke up screaming, lifted her out of bed and she puked everywhere! She's allergic to this brand of Rice Cereal. FRICK! I hate seeing her that way, and it broke my heart. It also put me into a huge panic and I couldn't sleep at all last night. She's absolutely fine today, we just won't be using NESTLE ever again! At least she just vomited and didn't go into shock or anything.... MY WORD! Any who that's all for now. I'll keep you updated.

UPDATE!

Well we have finally moved in and boy are we glad that's over! I seriously hate moving with a passion. I just hope that we don't have to for a long long long time! Cadence is adjusting well and is sleeping better then when we were in Lethbridge. I guess living right off of Mayor Magrath didn't help! It is so quiet and peaceful here in Raymond, I love it! Andrew is adjusting to it too. This move wasn't easy for him, he came kicking and screaming!! I don't know why people don't like Raymond? I guess people that lived in small towns and such don't like going back to it once they have city.... Well I'm a city girl and love being in a small town.

Cadence turned 4 months old on September 17 and we got her 4 month shots done as well. She did so well with them, she just scowled at the nurse that poked her and that was pretty much it. I had to go and do this alone so I am so glad that she did well. We weighed and measured her and she is now 15 pounds even and is 25 1/2 inches long. Holy crap! Although when I looked at my baby book I was 15 pounds at 8 1/2 weeks old!! I was a fatty!! LOL. She is getting so independent and right now I am glad that she is because I want ME time back. She can put her pacifier in her mouth by herself and grabs everything (including my hair, OUCH). She also grabs my face and opens her mouth to give me kisses! She is so stinkin cute. Her hair is coming in uber blonde so she looks bald from a distance but in fact she has a lot of white blonde hair (Pictures to come). Her new favorite toy to play in is her Exersaucer which she is now big enough, and sturdy enough to play in. We discovered this as we were moving, we couldn't get anything done unless we stuck her in that thing. We're still working on rolling over and she can accidentally roll from stomach to back, hopefully that comes soon. She gets sooooo frustrated just being stuck, I mean who wouldn't when she watches her cousin run around and wants to mimic him. New favorite thing to naw on: Pickles!! She loves them, and it soothes her gums and stomach while she teethes! GENIUS.

I went to the doctors for my annual checkup, but I have also been feeling nauseous, exhausted, lightheaded and dizzy for a couple months and decided to get that checked out. Test results came back that I am ANEMIC! BOOURNS!!! That explains it and now I have to take iron supplements until I don't even know when. But at least we found the problem and now I can recover.

Andrew has been doing well. He went to see 30 Seconds to Mars in Calgary with his friends and loved it! If Cadence wouldn't play strange with everyone she comes in contact with I would have gone too. He got to go on stage for one of the songs and had the best experience ever. He's keeping busy with work (he's now on Nights), rebuilding his engine in our NEW GARAGE!, and helping me keep sane by watching Cadence while I indulge in extra long showers and such!! He's so good to me and to Cadence. I appreciate everything he does to support our family and we love him dearly! MWAH!!

I think that's it for now..... If I remember anything else that has happened to us I will be on to post no doubt!! Stay tuned for pics of our 4 month old and other stuff I guess. PEACE

We're MOVING!!

That's right ya'll. The Christensen's are leaving Lethbridge and moving to Raymond! We are so freaking stoked. We move in September 15, (that's less than 2 weeks away). We're finally getting out of a lame basement suite and into a house with a garage and 3 bedrooms and a huge backyard with a firepit!! (Bring on the BBQ's and party's in the summertime) Why Raymond? Because I have to go back to work in April and I don't want to have someone I don't know and trust to watch Cadence while I do work. My WHOLE Family lives in Raymond and they all said they would help watching her which I think is better for her. I know it's still not me with her but what do you do? So instead of driving clear out to raymond to drop Cadence off every morning and then heading to work, it's just one straight shot to work in Coaldale. It's perfect and our prayers have been answered!! Here are pics of the house:

Here's the garage where Andrew will be able to tinker with his cars:


Here is the entry-way and the living room:



Here is our amazing Kitchen and Dining Room combo:


The Master Bedroom and 1 of the 2 other bedrooms:


The laundry room and computer room combo:


The Cute Bathroom:


And now the part you've all been waiting for..... THE Fully FENCED BACKYARD:


That's it, that's all! Hope to have lots of people come over because we now have the room for it!! HOLLA BACK SON!!

Cadence 3 Month Photoshoot

Today we had Cadence's Pictures done at Superstore Studio and had soooo much fun. Luckily Cadence was cooperative and not fussy. Hope you enjoy these pics, I know we do!

New Beachbody Product: TurboFire®

Weight Loss Challenge!!

So by the end of my pregnancy I managed to put on a total of almost 60 lbs and Andrew (yes Andrew) put on about 20-30 lbs. We didn't like that we gained so much and were sick of the lack of energy, foggy brains and everything else that comes with being out of shape. So we swore to each other that once Cadence was born and I was feeling good again that we'd start a Weight Loss Program.
One week after having Cadence I dropped 40 lbs (mostly water weight and baby of course) so I technically have 20 lbs to lose to get to pre-pregnancy weight.
July 19, 2010 is when we started. We recorded body measurements, weight and took Before Photos.



Andrew is doing a Beachbody workout called P90X, a very intense 90 day+ program that uses a technique called Muscle Confusion to get the results you want, by confusing your muscles and busting through plateaus. Andrew is doing the Lean Program for the first 90 days to lose all his weight and then switch to either the Classic Routine or the Doubles Routine to get RIPPED!!! So far he has done 2 weeks of the 12 he has to complete and he feels awesome! He's not grumpy anymore, he has energy to do lots more things in a day, and he's pumped to keep going with all the results he's seeing. Stats: First Month


Weight: 10 lbs
Neck: 1/4 inch
Chest: 1 inch
Waist: 1 inch
Right Bicep: + 1 inch
Hips: 1/4 inch
Right Thigh: 1 inch
Right Calf: + 1/4 inch
Total inches lost: 2 1/4 inches Total inches gained: 1 1/4 inches


I am doing a program called The FIRM Cardio Weights System. I have done this at-home aerobics system before and had excellent results with it. The FIRM has been around since the 80's and it combines Cardio moves with Body Sculpting moves to effectively burn fat, gain muscle and lose the weight you want. They guarantee Visible Results within the first 10 workouts or your money back. I have tried this system before and it totally works for me! Once I get down to Pre-Pregnancy weight I am going to take it up a notch or 5 and start the NEW TurboFIRE Program. If you've heard of TurboJam, it's the same lady doing this but it is EXTREME!!!! I am building up my cardio and slimming down first before I even attempt this one!! Here are my stats for Month 1:

Weight: 5 lbs
Neck: 1/4 inch
Chest: 3 1/4 inches
Waist: 4 inches
Right Bicep: 1/4 inch
Hips: 1 1/4 inches
Right Thigh: 1 1/2 inches
Right Calf: + 3/4 inch
Total Inches Lost: 10.5 inches Total Inches gained: 3/4 inches

Stayed tuned because in 1 more month, there will be a little less of the Fat Christensens' and more of the FIT Christensens'. WORK IT!

Swimming!

Today Cadence went swimming for the first time and it was a success. We went to the new Raymond Pool. She didn't know what to think at first, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea. She was so stinkin cute in her little pink swimsuit! We went with friends of ours for Monday Night Extravaganza aka. Family Home Evening and had fun until we had tired, cranky, freezing kids to deal with... oh and being eaten alive by millions of mosquito's. Here are some of our favorite pics of the evening! Enjoy!

Ready to go swimmin' and enjoy the sunshine!!
Going right in!
Not sure what to think, she stood most of the time:
Jumping right in:

With her daddy:
Done swimming and posing for the camera:
Her pink ruffly bum:
That was fun, I'm ready for round 2:
Her future husband; William Lowry 8 months old:

Fun with PhotoShop!

So I've been wanting to get Cadence's 3 month photos done and can never decide on outfits because she has way too many.... So I googled cute poses for 3 month photoshoots and I found ones when they are in cute bottoms and just a headband on... So I wanted to test them out, I did a quick little photoshoot of my own and played a little on PHOTOSHOP!! I'm not a photographer obviously but here are some pics I did!!! ENJOY!! Stay tuned for the professional ones (after we schedule them, and get them done).