Animals

Jeremiah LOVES animals. Lately, he has been finding all kinds of animals around outside. He loves them, hugs them and carries them around with him. The only thing he has a hard time with is being gentle. Jeremiah doesn't know his own strength yet.
On Easter Sunday Jeremiah was on the back deck throwing a garden snake by it's tale, last week Jeremiah excitedly brought me a snapping turtle and the day after that had fun playing with a frog.

Jeremiah loved his turtle. He carried it around in a white ice cream bucket and loved to hold him. I think he held the turtle a bit too tight because every time Jeremiah picked the turtle up it would urinate. Jeremiah thought it was funny that the "water" came out of the turtle; he liked using his turtle as a water gun.
 Jeremiah has shown me an appreciation for all living things. I'm so glad that Heavenly Father gave us such a beautiful world full of all kinds of animals.

Virginia

Life has been good in Virginia. Chris is still trying to find a job and working hard at it. Jeremiah is pretty well adjusted now and loves having his uncle Sam around to play with him all the time. Sam teaches him new tricks all the time. Jeremiah spins around in circles with Sam and they both fall down laughing. Sam also taught him to raise his hands in the air and shout "Lasagna" but Jeremiah says "lalana". He kept doing it while we were eating dinner and loved having everyone react by mimicking him.
Jeremiah's favorite food is still peanut butter. He eats it like Pooh Bear eats honey!

We are so sad that Sam's team is done playing basketball. We had a fun time attending his high school games and cheering on the Westfield Bulldogs. Jeremiah learned to cheer, stomp and clap really well by the end of their season.

Although, life right now isn't as we had hoped we have been so blessed. We have been able to stay with family at little/no expense, we have been given great callings in the ward, we walked away from a car accident without injury, we haven't had major health problems, and we have wonderful family who continually prays for us and supports us. We are so grateful for all that we have. We know that the Lord is looking out for us.

A Cross-Country Journey

Christopher, Jeremiah and I just moved from Provo to Washington DC. Along our way we made some fun stops and saw some incredible things. 

We made a stop at a rest area and Jeremiah played in the snow for the first time in his life. He was so excited at first but once he started playing with it for a while he began examining his hands, whined a little bit and flapped his hands in the air. He didn't realize that snow was so cold.

Nauvoo was incredible! We were able to see the temple and visit some of the Church members' homes. One of the highlights included running into my High School Painting teacher who is currently serving in Nauvoo with his wife as a senior missionary couple. The old cultural hall (#5 on the map) was currently being renovated but because I knew Mr. Laney (my old teacher) he took us on a private tour of the building. Chris and I were able to slow dance on the same old floor that Joseph and Emma danced on...such a sweet moment. 

The spirit is so strong in Nauvoo. Tears came to my eyes as I walked around and looked at how much the early saints had done and dedicated to the Lord. 

Just a few miles away from Nauvoo is Carthage Jail. We were able to have another private tour and spend some time walking around in the jail where Joseph Smith Jr. was kept under false charges of treason. We stood in the same room that Joseph, Hyrum, Willard Richards and John Taylor were kept in and saw the bullet holes left in the walls from the angry mob. I knew I would cry at Carthage but, I also assumed that there would be a terrible feeling that accompanied my tears. However, to my surprise, I was met with a soft, sweet spirit that left me feeling only grateful for sweet Joseph and hopeful for the future.

Along our trip I made an effort to stop at some of the restaurants featured in "diners, drive-ins and dives" on food network.  My absolute favorite place was a little "dive" in Cincinnati called Terry's Turf. There best menu item is a burger with a burgundy wine with wild mushroom hamburger topping. AMAZZING!!! I'm not necessarily a burger person but, I could eat a burger from Terry's any day!

We made it safely to DC 2 days ago and are so happy not to wake up and drive 8 hours!

Some updates on Jeremiah (14 Mo. old)

He now does sign language for: "please", "thank you", "more", "diaper", "bye", "drink", "milk", "water", "eat", and "help".

He verbally says, "mamma", "dadda", "please", "nana" (banana), "gawa" (grandma/grandpa), "go", "hi", "bye", "hot", "wow", "ish", and "jus" (Jesus).

He runs around like the Tasmanian-devil and his favorite toys are: cell phones, remote controls, pots, pans and silverware.

 We love you all and are so grateful for all of your love and prayers!!!!

My little Turkey

Thanksgiving was wonderful! We were able to spend time with family that we love and to reflect on the things we are most grateful for in life. Jeremiah helped me make this little halloween decoration for our fridge; all of the feathers are cut-outs of Jeremiah's little hands.

This time last year I was holding a little Jeremiah in my arms.  I went into labor Thanksgiving night and gave birth about 21 hours later. Jeremiah will always be my little Turkey. He reminds me of the wonderful things in life. 

We celebrated Jeremiah's 1st birthday on Saturday. I still can't believe it! He doesn't even know that he's 1 or what a birthday is but he sure enjoyed his birthday cake and loves playing with all of his new toys and gifts.

Celebration and Trouble

CELEBRATIONS

Grandpa Clark came to visit this past week. SO FUN! We love seeing him and spending time with him. While he was here we had a large party at Grandma Christensen's home (the home of all partying) to celebrate November family birthdays. Little Jeremiah, his wonderful grandpa, Kofi (11.11.11.   So Cool!)  and Christina Myers all blew out candles. It was so nice to be with everyone and spend time eating, talking, playing games and more than anything, just being around each other. 

Although, it is not quite Jeremiah's birthday he was able to open a gift from G&G Christensen. He got 3 little stackable, noisy cars that he LOVES. 

TROUBLE

Lately, Jeremiah has been getting into all kinds of trouble; he pulls everything off of the tables, all the books off the shelves, all the food out of the fridge, sticks everything in the trash, pushes all the buttons he can find, touches every knob, heads straight for the plunger every time the bathroom door opens, and escapes the house anytime someone opens the door. Some days I think I'm going to lose my mind trying to take care of him. It's a good thing he's so darn cute.

This Halloween we dressed up as characters from "How to Train Your Dragon". Chris and I were vikings and Jeremiah was a baby dragon. Jeremiah loves his costume; both times that we've let Jeremiah wear his dragon costume he's ran around the house "RAWR"ing. It's pretty cute!

We enjoyed a fun Saturday at Great Grandma Christensen's home where we paraded around the block and had lots of fun treats. I think we were all sick to our stomaches by the time we left. 

Tonight we will be spending time with G&G Brown. Jeremiah's uncles are excited to take him trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. After tonight I'm sure our stomaches will be turned into petrified candy!

One step at a time

Jeremiah has been eagerly trying to walk for the past two months now. It's been incredible to watch him go from sitting to standing, standing to walking along the couch and finally walking along the couch to walking. I love watching him concentrate on and try new things. He has a curiosity and spunk that I admire. Every day is a new adventure with Jeremiah; every day we learn something new together! I am so glad that I can tag along with such a great boy and experience the world through his incredible eyes.

Here is a video of Jeremiah learning to walk.

The American Idol Experience

Jessica Dixon and I decided that it would be a fun idea to go to Houston this year to try out for American Idol. So, we bought tickets and flew out to Texas without a clue in our minds as to what would happen when we arrived. Since neither one of us is 25 years old yet, to rent a car would cost us an arm and a leg. So, we decided to go with public transit. But, not having traveled very much alone we didn't know the first thing about getting around.

We arrived at the Houston airport and we were greeted by a big warm hug from Mr. Humidity when we walked off the plane. Yuck! But, despite the weather we were determined to make our trip wonderful. With our Carry-on luggage in hand and a smile on our faces we headed outside to the bus station. Unlike other cities I've been in the bus maps in Houston were extremely confusing. Rather than trying to figure out how to get from place to place on our own we just decided to ask people around us for help. We talked to a nice old man who told us what bus to take to get downtown. As we rode the bus we giggled and pointed out the window at the unfamiliar sights around us. When the bus driver directed us off the bus we realized that downtown was a very loose term. Apparently "downtown" was miles and miles and miles big. 3 1/2 hours, 4 bus trips and miles of walking later we had reached the Galleria (a mall that Chris Moyes, my sister-in-law's husband, told us was a cool place to go). As we walked in, we realized that we were extremely underdressed. The Galleria was an upscale shopping center with the Armani story being at the Low end of expensive. But, we were sweaty, tired and very hungry so we ignored the fact that we didn't fit in and just found a place to rest and eat. 
By now, my phone had been dead for about 2 hours and it was 9 pm. Because we didn't know where else to go or what else to do we caught a bus down to Reliant Park where the auditions would be held. We were dropped off on the opposite side of the Reliant Stadium but didn't find it a huge obstacle because how far around could it be to the other side? Right?... NO! We began walking down the dark street with our luggage dragging behind us. When we finally figure out we were heading in the wrong direction we were exhausted and didn't want to walk anymore. We were lost and our excitement about being in Houston was fading quickly. With no way of calling anyone and no way of figuring out where we were, we sat down on the side of the road. As we looked around us to see where we had plopped down we noticed that there was an electric outlet on a TREE! What? Yes! There was one tree that someone hadn't taken Christmas lights off of and there was a plug right there on the tree. We hurried and plugged in our phone and thanked Heavenly Father for such a great tender mercy. 

While we were waiting for our phone to charge Jessica noticed that just a block down there was a grocery cart. What luck!!! When we were rejuvenated enough to get back up and wander some more we put all of our luggage in the grocery cart and began pushing it in the opposite direction we had headed last time. It was only when we began passing a lot of homeless people that we feared we were not in a great part of town. Just as we were beginning to worry we heard a shout from behind a bus that had just stopped. A boy ran across the road to us and knew by the looks of us that we were from out of town. He shouted at us and asked if we were trying out for american idol. We replied in the affirmative and he said that he would like to accompany us to wherever we were going because he too was trying out for american idol. He said, "what the heck are you two girls doing out this late on this side of town? Ya'll are going to get yourselves killed. Let me push your buggy and I'll come with you to wherever you are going." Well...we didn't know where we were going but, we thought it might be a good idea to try and find the other side of the stadium. Eventually, three hours later, we reached the other side of Reliant park. We didn't realize that the place was so big.
When we found the line of anxious talent waiting to register we were so happy!!! Ah...we had made it. As we sat in line there was an awkward silence around us. Jessica and I thought it would be a fun idea to have some entertainment to keep us awake through the next 7 hours so, we brilliantly began asking people to sing their audition pieces for us. We had NO IDEA that once we got people singing they would NEVER stop! Our night was long and filled with music. We met incredible singers and some that were not so incredible. It was so fun to meet people that were so different from us. We loved the black texan accent and enjoyed the weird questions that some of the people asked us. They said things like, "Ya'll are married? How old are you? Ya'll have kids too? Crazy! You're baby daddy still around? My baby daddy not. I'm gonna hunt him down and beat his a**. How long you been married? Wow...and he don't beat you? Ya'll are lucky!"

At 9am we were finally able to register. Now that we endured long enough to get our orange wristbands we were so excited to get to Sugarland so we could sleep at the Smith's home. 

After a few bus rides and people telling us where to go, we reached the sugarland station. But, guess who doesn't have phone battery again??? Yep...so we trail off again on foot. As we were almost about to break out in tears we spotted a taxi at a gas station. Another tender mercy. The man was able to get us to the Smith's house (which we would have NEVER made it to on foot).

The Smith family is so sweet and kind. They had fresh towels and a nice cool bed waiting for us when we arrived. It was so nice to relax and finally get some sleep.We enjoyed being with the Smith girls so much that we hung out with them most of the time we were there. They were a blast to be around; it was like having a 24/7 "girls night".

On Friday morning we arrived at Reliant Park Stadium around 5:30am. We sat like cattle in cages that they shoved everyone into. At 8am they let us into the stadium and we did a lot of filming. When they were done with their filming they instructed us on how the audition process would go. There were 12 booths in the middle of the stadium. A line of 4 people were to approach every booth and the judges would direct them to sing in turn. They then say "yes" or "no". If they say "yes" you get a golden ticket and go to one door and if they say "no" you get your wristband cut off and walk out another door.

When it was our turn we walked up and it appeared as though the two judges were playing rock-paper-scissors. Apparently they were fighting over going to lunch and neither of them wanted to be there. The girl that lost at rock-paper-scissors wasn't very happy. She looked at us with a nasty stare and just told us to sing. I don't think she even listened. She said "no" to the whole line after us until she was able to go to lunch! HAHA...we felt like we did a great job (Jessica sang "angel" spectacularly and I sang "a-tisket a-tasket" better than I expected) and there were people around us who also didn't make it and were incredible!!!!! American Idol makes it look like half of the people who show up are bad or weird but in all truthfulness only about 2 % of the people trying out are jokes, 68 % are average and 30% are amazing! What's silly is that only 1% of all the people who try out actually make it past the first round of judges and half of those are the jokes that aren't even good at singing. But, that's show business! :)
We had such a great experience trying out for American Idol. We didn't come into it expecting anything, we knew that we didn't have great odds. It would have been cool if we got through but, we had a good time just being a part of something so big.

Houston was a BLAST!  We had so many great experiences and met some great people. I am so grateful that Jessica and I were able to have the American Idol experience. We had such a great time bumming around together but we are glad to be home. I've decided that I like my life as a wife and mom way better than partying all night, sleeping all day, being around crowds of people all the time and standing in front of cameras all day. But it was worth it just to be with Jessica and hang out with the Smiths. I actually think the highlight of our trip was playing with the girls in our bedroom and just hanging out.

If you're thinking about trying out for American Idol DO IT! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that will rock your world. I've never been a part of anything like it and I don't think I'll ever try out again but I am glad I did!

Back in the Swing of Things

It's been over 2 weeks since we've returned from China and we are still trying to kick our life back into gear. It's been tough getting back onto a normal schedule again.
Jeremiah has finally seemed to let go of his fear of us leaving him again; he now lets us enter another room without shrieks of terror. If there's one thing I've learned about babies it's been how forgiving they are. I can bonk his head, accidentally leave him in his crib for an hour after he's woken up from a nap, or forget to change his poopy diaper and he still loves me and greets me with a big "I love you mommy"-smile. There is something to be learned from these babes. They are truly a sweet little gift and they have so much to teach us.

Shortly after we had been home we realized that our house was not very "baby-proof". Our apartment floors were falling apart and since we have such an interesting landlord (bless his heart) there was no way we would ever get it fixed unless we did it ourselves.
So, here's what we did the week after we got home. TADA!!!
Now Jeremiah can cruise all he wants and I don't have to worry about what nasty pieces of old flooring he can put in his mouth.

Before                                                                             After

Chris recently celebrated his 28th Birthday. Boy am I glad he was born! Where would I be without him?
We had a simple stay at home celebration which was all he wanted after his hard day's work. But, that didn't sit well with my family so, we celebrated a tad bit more with them later in the week.

Jeremiah is cruisin' around all over the place now. He goes from room to room faster than I can turn around to see where he's going. He now stands up and walks from one piece of furniture to the next. Every once and a while he'll get daring and let go for a few seconds but then slowly lowers himself to the ground and realizes that for now he can get around faster by crawling. He babbles non-stop and tells us all kinds of stories...if only we could understand them. One of his new favorite things to do is hold onto the front of the entertainment center and dance (stomp) and sing (Bah bah La La Ba Wa) with whatever is playing on the TV. Jeremiah has developed such a sweet relationship with Chris. Whenever Chris gets home from work or comes through the front door Jeremiah jets straight toward him greeting him with smiles, giggles and high pitches squeels. Daddy then usually spends about an hour tickling and playing with Jeremiah. They are so fun to watch.

Here is a picture of happy Jeremiah just after I watched him finish eating a potato bug. He puts whatever he can find into his mouth and locks it shut whenever I try to take things out of it.

Jeremiah also enjoys the taste of fresh soil...mmm...Yummy!

New Tricks

Jeremiah Crawls!!!! 

He figured out how to get around just in time for Grandma and Grandpa Clark. He was so determined to get his own toys. Every time we put him down he got straight up on all fours and tried to maneuver his way toward's whatever he was intrigued with. He would grunt and sometimes get so tired he would just collapse onto his stomach and sigh. But, after hours of frustration he can finally go wherever he wants to. It's such a great thing for him but not so much for me. :)

Jeremiah SWIMS! 

I know it sounds crazy right?! 

A woman in my cousin's ward in Alpine teaches swimming lessons to children of 6mo -16. While at a swim lesson for my cousins toddlers she asked if she could give Jeremiah a "float lesson" since he had just turned 6 months and could now be considered for swimming lessons. I was a bit nervous but she assured me that he would be ok. So, we gave it a whirl. She took Jeremiah into the water and pushed him under. As she backed away she watched to see what he would do. Amazingly enough, Jeremiah flipped himself over and pushed his belly into the air, making it so he could get his mouth out of the water enough to breathe. WOW! It was seriously the coolest thing I've seen a baby do. It turns out that most normal babies know how to float as an instinctive survival tactic. 

You can find out some more about infant swimming at www.infantaquatics.com

Awesome Weekend

 It's been beautiful in Provo for the past week now. I can't believe it! We thought that we'd better use up the sunshine while we have it. Who knows what next week might be like. Provo has such crazy spring/early summer weather; one day it snows and the next it's bright and sunny as ever.

 We took our cute little picnic basket filled with great summer foods (grilled chicken, pasta salad, watermelon, fresh veggies and juice.) and made our way up the canyon.

We had such a fun time playing on the grass and taking walks in the woods. Jeremiah was mesmerized by the tiny inchworms that fell from the leaves. I held some of them on my hand and he just giggled as he watched them scoot.

I forget how much I enjoy feeling the grass under my feet and the sun on my skin. Ah, and the fires, marshmallows roasting, grilled steak, fresh air... the smells of summer just make my soul happy. We will definitely be doing this more throughout the summer.

On Saturday our favorite Provoian friends, Tim and Danielle threw an Epic Trivial Pursuit Party. There were over 50 people who came to the participate in the fun. Everyone was divided into groups and each group represented on of the colored game pieces. 

There is nothing that makes me feel more unkowledgeable than those trivia questions. Truly, i think I might have known 10 out of 50 answers to the game questions. Luckily, we had a couple of more experienced team members to saved our tushies. 

Today, just when we thought life couldn't get better. We went to a baby blessing for cousin Miwa. She is so beautiful and so calm. I haven't seen a more pleasant baby. Her blessing was sweet and the spirit was strong as it always is when these special little people come to earth. I am taken back by the purity and innocence of these little children who bless our lives. I have a testimony of God's love for all of his children and of His sacred and special relationship with children. 

Isn't our Heavenly Father's plan incredible? Being pregnant was an amazing experience for me. Our bodies are distinctly made to bear and birth children; by no small miracle, these infants receive a body of flesh and bones and come into this world according to the Father's design. I am so blessed to be a mother and to take care of and nurture one of God's children. And, as I looked into Nancy's (Miwa's mamma') eyes today I knew that she knew she was a woman of God and that she also felt blessed to be a mother here on earth.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints couldn't be more true. I am made aware of the existence of our God every day of my life and am constantly a recipient of His tender mercies. 

Chris and Jeremiah are two largest tender mercies in my life. I am so happy to have been sealed in the temple to my husband to know that I will be with my sweet family into the eternities.

Some Firsts

Memorial Day weekend was a big one for Jeremiah! We went to ID to visit Chris's sister Sarah and her cute new husband Chris Moyes. (yes...there are now 3 Chris' in the Christensen Family. And that doesn't include the Christinas) We were worried that Baby Jeremiah was going to be a terror in the car but, it turns out he is the most amazing traveler in the world!!! We couldn't have had a better or more beautiful drive.


When we arrived in Rexburg we were starved. We must have been complaining because Sarah and Chris took us to a place where they serve more food than I've ever seen. They took us to BIG JUDS! Big Juds  has 1 lb, 2 lb, and 5 lb hamburgers; they are probably as big as a regular sized dinner plate and stacked about 5-6 inches high. Jeremiah couldn't take his eyes off of everyone's food; his drooled as he watched us eat. So, we decided he could have a fry to gnaw on....he was in heaven!


The next morning we packed up and made a special trip to some Lava Hot Springs so that Jeremiah could play in the water. What a blast! Seriously, we couldn't have had more fun. Later in the day we decided that it had been far too long since we've been on a camping trip and made a decision to risk taking our 6 month old son. Jeremiah did great during the day but, night time was little rough. He doesn't sleep well when he's outside of his crib. We woke up to rain and after a few hours of hiding out in our tents we decided to bail and go back to the  Moyes' adorable apartment. It was so nice to just hang out, watch movies, eat, talk, and take a breather.

This trip introduced a lot of new things into our babies life. He had his first experience camping, first experience swimming, first time traveling for more than 2 hours in a car and first tastes of frenchfries, ice-cream, and gatorade.

I am so amazed at how aware Jeremiah is. He seems to comprehend things easily and can impressively read/pick-up on emotions. He has been so fun and interesting to watch grow and learn.
                                                               

 WE LOVE YOU!