IAN JAMES CHRISTIANSON

Happy 4th of July!

We had a pretty easy going 4th of July. We took an easy hike up at Camp Dick here in the Rocky Mountains and then had a BBQ at home with the family. Jim and Bryce picked up some fireworks and gave Ian a good show. Ian loved the fireworks!

Shaun is packing on the pounds... he was up to 7 pounds 4 ounces last week... and about 8 pounds by now. He has his social smile now and of course saves the best for daddy. :) He is such a sweet little baby and he loves his mommy. Ian is adjusting well to having a baby brother and always wants to hold him and kiss him. We love our boys!

Mommy hiding under the trees, trying to keep Shaun dry from the rain.

Hiking with Uncle Bryce.

Ian loves corn on the cob! He will eat 2 or 3 himself!

Bringing Shaun Home

Our baby boy is here! Shaun Ryan Christianson was born Friday, June 19 at 3:44pm. I went into labor Friday morning around 8am... I was mopping the floors.. sweeping the patio.. nesting. I had a scheduled 9:45am OB visit, so I was trying to get stuff done around the house before I left. My contractions were about 10-15 minutes apart and earlier in the week, I had contractions 10-15 min apart that lasted an hour and just stopped.. so I thought it could be false labor again. I left the house at 8:45am to pick up my neighbor, drop her off at work and then go to my OB visit. On the way there, I was telling my friend, Jen, oh, there is another one, maybe this is it.

When I got to my OB visit, I told her that I was having consistent contractions since 8am and they were 10 min apart, she checked me and I was already dilated 4-5 cm. She told me to walk around outside for a little bit to wait for Jim and then check myself in to the hospital. I checked in around 11am, Jim joined me a little before noon and Shaun arrived by 3:44pm. At one point, they were concerned about a placenta abruption since I was bleeding out early and they thought Shaun might be showing signs of distress. They were preparing for an emergency C-section until they proved Shaun was doing just fine by checking my baseline when I came in and thought maybe the bleeding was because I was progressing so quickly rather than an abruption. To be safe, they waited as long as possible for me to push, so he would come out quickly. I was able to push Shaun out within 2 contractions, about 10 minutes and he is perfect! He weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces at birth, skin tone was great, and came out screaming.

We have been adjusting to life with 2 kids over the past couple days. I'm definitely sleep deprived and am very grateful to have my mom here to help get through these first two weeks. Ian loves his baby brother and wants to see him all the time. He is feeling the change and is also very attached to mommy right now, crying if I leave the house without him. We have been spending lots of time outside taking easy walks while Ian rides his bike and hanging out on the front porch while Ian mows the lawn and plays in the water. Shaun is a great little baby, sleeping a ton and already giving us lots of smiles so early on. He is my happy boy. We are so very blessed to have two sweet boys and are loving life. If you haven't already seen our early photos, see our slideshow by clicking on the following link:
http://www.jameschristianson.com/darkroom/share/?n=shaun

Here are more photos of Shaun's first days at home.

Ian's bike

Ian is now riding a balance bike! It is so fun to watch him go... and he is fast. He is quite the daring little guy, just like his daddy. He wants to go fast and tries to find every hill that can gain him speed. Thanks to Jim's coaching, he will also go down grassy hills and then crash at the bottom with a big smile on his face.

A couple weeks ago, both the grandmas came out to visit and we took a ride in Prospect, which is the new location of Jim's photography studio. Here are photos of Ian cruising around Prospect.

Jim in his new studio! :) Still waiting on the rest of the furniture to arrive...

Baby Shaun is coming in just a week or less! We'll keep you posted with baby news.

Daily Life

Life has been busy and the weeks are flying by. Only 4 more weeks to go until Ian meets baby brother Shaun. Ian frequently talks about baby Shaun and how he wants to see him. He even shares his toys by holding them up to my tummy to see if baby Shaun wants them. It's pretty cute. He's going to be a great big brother! Here are a few photos of the past weeks. Ian is quite tall for his age... taking after the men on both sides of the family. He is also a very fast little runner now and mommy has a hard time catching him with such a big tummy. He keeps me moving for sure.

Ian in his guitar pajamas Aunt Shelly bought him. Thanks Shelly, he loves them! He pretends to play the guitar on his shirt as you can see.

Mommy is drinking lots of water for baby Shaun and Ian likes to drink my water too.

Ian sporting his beanie Aunt Carey made for him. My little skater boy. :)

Ian getting a haircut with daddy. He doesn't look very happy. Cracks me up!

So serious!

Ah yes, now he is happy. :) Lollipops are his favorite treat. He calls them "apops"

Happy Easter!

Ian loves Easter! Treats inside little plastic eggs hidden all around the house, how could it not be fun. He woke up Easter morning asking for "eggs". We had a great time hanging out with our friends the Jordan's and Sorrenson's for Easter. We had a big brunch, the kids colored eggs, hunted for their baskets and went on an egg hunt at the Jordan's house. It is so fun watching Ian right now. He is so full of life and has lots to say! Here are some photos of our sweet boy. Hope everyone had a happy Easter!


Coloring eggs.


Madeline, Olivia and baby Elin.

Ian playing with toys from his Easter basket.


Ian stuffing his mouth with candy before Mommy and Daddy see him.


Jack and Ian finding more eggs.

Little chipmunk cheeks full of chocolate candy. We were cracking up!

Madeline, Olivia, Jack and Ian





Little Elin sleeping

Olivia

Ian's silly parents

Jim and I were able to have a little "date night" the other week... meaning Jim's parents watched Ian for us while I accompanied Jim to a wedding vendor party. They had a photo booth and Jim and I got a little crazy. New photos of Ian coming too...it seems like life has just been so busy lately. Ian continues to be so fun, but quite the handful. He is practicing the "terrible twos" quite well right now. Makes parenting a little more challenging, but fortunately it's a phase. :) Only two and a half more months until Ian has a baby brother, Shaun. Ian is going to be a great big brother!

Ian's 2nd Birthday!!

Ian turned two today! We have had a birthday weekend with a party with friends on Sunday and a trip to the zoo today. Ian was so excited about his birthday. When we ask him how old he is, he says "two" and holds up two fingers. Then he goes on to say "lollipops on my birthday"... "presents on my birthday".

He had so much fun at the zoo today. We rode on the train, the carousel, got an ice cream cone and of course saw lots of animals. He loved it! Here are some photos of Ian. Our two year old!!

He loves riding his bike to the park. He has become quite adventurous at the park, climbing everything and wanting to go as fast as we can push him on the swing... saying "faster", which of course makes his dad very proud.


Ian's party with a few friends on Sunday.

Mommy made cupcakes for the party.

Digging in


He is so funny, he didn't want to get his fingers dirty by holding the cupcake, so he just ate the top off.

Mommy and Daddy bought Ian a Skuut bike for his birthday

All the kids helped Ian open his presents.

Ian trying to knock down the pinada

It was so funny watching toddlers try to hit a pinada. They loved it though.


Daddy had to work today, but Mommy and Ian went to the zoo with Auntie Heidi and Elin.

Ian loved the elephants.


Singing happy birthday to Ian. Mommy made homemade pizza, we opened one more present and had ice cream cones.


"How old are you Ian?" Two! I love his little fingers trying to hold up the number two.

Weekend away

We decided to escape to the mountains for the weekend for a little change in routine. We had a great time snow-shoeing, swimming in the pool, hiking and sledding. Ian absolutely loved swimming in the pool and sitting in the hot tub at the resort. He has become very adventurous by jumping into the pool with daddy there to catch him and splashing water all over himself and us. He wasn't as fond of snow-shoeing since he is nervous about walking in the snow, but he loved sledding. Here are some photos of our weekend.

We would ask Ian if he wanted to walk in the snow and he would say, "no, I want my sled". He is quite the little talker now.

We found some horses along the way. Ian was fascinated.



Ian sleeping on the way back home. Pretty cute!

Ian's Baby Brother

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and found out that we are having a baby boy! Jim was there to catch it on video. Ian was so cute, after we were finished he climbed up on the table and said "my turn". Jim asked him to open his mouth and he said "ahh" like a good patient and then got a cookie for being a good boy. The pregnancy is going great. My OB said everything looks great and he's an active little boy. It was really fun watching him on the ultrasound cause he was kicking and turning the whole time. Here are the photos we got today of our growing baby.

Ian's First REAL Motorcycle

Daddy did it. He finally bought Ian his first motorcycle. My first question was... "Did you buy a helmet too?" Ian absolutely loves his new motorcycle. Right now he will only sit on it and climb on it saying "Go, go, go... broom". He is a little anxious about the sound of the motorcycle and says, "loud cycle".

Jim is certainly training him young and is looking forward to many years of riding with his boy. This motorcycle is just his size and in another year or so he will be able to ride it with training wheels with a speed control so he can't go too fast. Amazing.