Monday, May 30, 2011

Visiting Grandpa & Grandma Christensen's Over Memorial Day

  Nick, Luca, Elizabeth and I went to Grandpa & Grandma Christensen's over Memorial Day weekend and we had a great time.  The first night we celebrated Micaela's birthday at Grandma & Grandpa's house; Cindy, Micaela's friend Justice, Gary, Susan, Nathan, Becca and their little guy Reese were there having cake and ice cream.  (I didn't get any pictures that day).
  The next day (Sunday) we went to church with Grandma & Grandpa but had to leave in the middle of sacrament meeting because I completely forgot my brain and left Luca's bottle and pacifier at the house.  We made a quick dash home and made it back to hear the last two speakers.  After sacrament we went looking for the St. George new airport so Nick could introduce himself to the people he works with so he could put a face to a voice.  That took two hours because we couldn't find the stupid airport.  They put it in the middle of nowhere.  After that we went to dinner at Nathan and Becca's.  They have an amazing house that Becca has decorated so beautifully.
  Monday we just took some time to relax before heading back home.  It was such an amazing trip and we are so glad that Grandma & Grandpa let us come and visit.
Luca is riding the rocking horse @ Nathan & Becca's house

Silly Nick, Poor Grandma - Nick just loves teasing his poor grandmother

I'm not sure if he is scared or confused - but whatever he is, he sure is cute

Grandma and Grandpa, working on getting Luca fed

Nick, Shauna & Luca going 4 Wheeling

Luca - Master of the 4 Wheeler

Just hanging out with dad

:Luca is learning to cast

Silly Grandpa

Silly Grandpa - Part 2

Silly Grandma

Silly Grandpa - Part 3

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

U2

I work at a flight school at the Salt Lake City airport and yesterday U2 flew into Million Air's terminal so they could get to their show.  A lot of celebrities fly into Million Air and so far none of them have ever stopped to sign autographs or take pictures with fans.  So you can imagine the shock I was in when the SUV limo pulled out of the airport gates and stopped.  Bono and The Edge got out and started meeting people.  I went out side to see what was going on.  They were both so nice to everyone.  I snapped a quick picture with my phone and just hung around in the crowd.  I had Luca in a front baby carrier, Bono and The Edge came over and said "Cute Baby" then they went on to the next group of people.  I though it was pretty cool.  Take that Dean & Karen!!!
The Edge, Bono and their bodyguards

Chillin'

Little Luca is starting to play with things.  Not really play, he just likes to hit things and watch them swing.  He got a play mat for Christmas from his grandparents and he is just starting to like laying on it.  This made the cat a little sad because the cat loved playing with the toys.


Elizabeth's Seminary Graduation

Well it is official, Elizabeth is a seminary graduate.  The ceremony was held on Sunday the 22nd of May.  One more graduation to go and she is all done with high school!
Elizabeth with her diploma

Shawn, Elizabeth and Linda after Liz's graduation

Bryan's Birthday

Sunday May 22nd was Bryan's 26 birthday.  I made lasagna and Shell made some pumpkin pie for Bryan.  Kelly played "Happy Birthday" on her cello and we all sang along.  It was a lot of fun.
Luca being held by his cousins Kelly and Trevor

Bryan holding Luca

Trevor is explaining something to Nick but we aren't quite sure what

Grandpa Ted helping Luca wave "goodbye" to Trevor 

Grandpa Ted and Luca

Uncle Bryan home from war

Bryan got home from the Middle East on Saturday the 14th of May.  He has been gone for 9 months and we really missed him.  He looks great and he got to see his nephew Luca for the first time. (I was going to title the posting "Uncle Bryan home from Army, but I didn't think anyone would get that unless they watched Arrested Development)
Bryan and Luca at the National Guard base in Salt Lake City

Bryan and Luca

Bryan and Nathan's little boy Trevor

What a month!

  Well, we've had a interesting few weeks.  First off, on the 5th of May Nick was driving home from Weber State when a maintenance worker pulled out and hit the car.  Nick was ok but the car had to go into the body shop to get some work done.  OK, minor issue but hey, life goes on.
  The next Thursday we had another little adventure.  My sister, Michelle, came over to visit and she was helping out by letting the puppies in from being outside.  When she came in the house she said Kody was having a seizure by the stairs. Kody has minor seizures every once in a while and the vet told us not to worry unless they became more frequent.  I went outside and I though Kody was dead.  He wasn't breathing, his eyes were glazed over and when I picked him up he just flopped in my arms.  The only way I knew he wasn't dead was because his heart was still beating.  Shell said she would stay and watch Luca so I jumped into the car and headed towards the vets.
  I went to our regular vet because when I talked to the nurse I didn't know there was a special animal ER in Sunset.  After I drove to Layton I had to backtrack to Sunset and Kody wasn't doing any better the whole way there.  I just kept praying that he would be okay and he could be his normal silly self again.
  I arrived at the ER and by this time Nick was on his way to the Animal ER to make sure Kody was ok.  Kody was still seizing when I got him to the ER.  They gave him some medicine to stop the seizures and relax him but he was going to have to spend the night.  I called in the middle of the night just to make sure he was doing alright.  The nurse said that he didn't want to spend the night in the kennel and he was doing better.
  The next morning I went to the Animal ER to pick him up and the nurse said he was doing just fine, he kept everyone up all night because he didn't want to be in a kennel.  (At home all the puppies sleep in dog beds under our bed).  I got Kody home but he still seemed very disoriented and he kept stumbling.  I made an appointment for him to see his regular doctor on Monday so I was very anxious the whole weekend.  Kody didn't seem to be making any improvement and I was so worried.
  When Monday rolled around Nick & Luca took Kody to the vet.  The vet explained why Kody was acting funny and stumbling.  The Animal ER vet prescribed too high of a dose of medicine for Kody, so in essence Kody was drunk all weekend.  The vet fixed his dosage and Kody is completely back to normal.
  The Friday after the vet appointment I got a call from the insurance agency letting me know that the car was totaled.  I though "Oh joy, what more can go wrong", I had the agent call Nick to give him the good news and let us know how much our car was worth.  Our car was worth more to us since it has been paid off for 3 years than totaling the poor thing.  Well we started the search for a car for Nick.  As most of you know, Nick is usually very easy going, but when it comes to his car he gets kind of "weird".  I searched the internet for 4 days looking for anything that he would remotely consider.  He turned everything down and we were running out of time because we only had 1 more day with the rental car.  I was getting desperate.
  I talked to our insurance agent over the phone and she recommended a website that members of our insurance company could search for vehicles on at a reduced price.  I had 1 day to find a car.  On the website I found a car that I though looked pretty cool, I hadn't heard of this make before so I asked Nick what he thought.  He was very interested, to say the least.  I found out where the dealership was and we made plans to test drive the car the next day.
  So Saturday morning we turned in the rental and set off to look at this car Nick seemed interested in.  We got to the dealership and I though they had made a mistake about the car because this car was nice.  I wasn't expecting anything too fancy but this car was pretty cool.  It was fully loaded with a sunroof and this and that.
  Well we test drove the car and Nick was sold, there were a few we-owe items we wanted fixed so we presented our offer to the sales man.  He took our offer to the tower (slang for where the office manager hangs out and makes car deals) and our offer was declined.  We bid them good day and took our leave.
We made it  out to my car and had Luca buckled up when the manager came running out trying to get our attention.  I really mean running and this was no little guy, you could really tell he liked McDonald's.  Anyway, they decided to accept our offer and at the 23 hour and 59th minute we got Nick a car.
  I'm going to get a picture of Nick, Luca and his car this weekend but just use your imagination until then.  Nick has an 04 Saab Sport Sedan that is dark blue and the car goes fast.  You can ask Nick's dad how fast this car went.  When we took the car to show his parents Shawn took it out for a test drive and I was worried about him getting a ticket, he was so speedy.  Well Nick is happy and so am I because I don't have to look for a car anymore.
  Well there are only a couple of more days left in this month so hopefully nothing else decided to go wrong.  ( I had better go find some wood to knock on)

P.S.  As I was writing this my dryer died.  I get to go look for a new dryer this weekend.  I guess I didn't knock soon enough.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day Dinner

This was my first Mother's Day as a mom to a real baby not just a mom to puppies.  We went over to Nick's parents house at 3 so we could talk to Jared, who is serving a mission in San Paulo Brazil.  It was wonderful to be able to talk and see him.  After we talked to Jared we had dinner and the husband's were in charge.  Shawn made pork roast, Nick made garlic mashed potatoes and Jake made a Cesare salad, but he was in a creative mood and put a peanut butter cup in the salad.  I was a little afraid when he said there was a surprise in the salad.  The salad tasted fine, and while I was eating dinner I was reminded of a salad I've made with chocolate in it.  The recipe is posted in the recipe section and it is called, "Strawberry Salad".  Since I forgot the camera at the house I'll post more pictures of Luca and how cute he is.

This is the day we brought Luca home from the hospital


Just hanin' out with dad

He love his suckie

Bad Mommy Moments

   I knew being a mom would be hard and different but I didn't know how many times a day I would feel like a bad mom. It seems that every time I pick up Luca someone is telling me that I'm doing it wrong or that I should carry him some other way.  I know I just need to grin and bear it but sometimes I wish they would just sink into the earth to never been seen again.  I also love it when older people tell me that if it weren't for modern medicine Luca would be dead.  I love those people too.  It doesn't make it any better when I'm giving Luca a bath and he screams as if I killing him and not just cleaning out his little fat folds so he doesn't smell like sour milk.
   Talking to my mother-in-law and sister's in law really helps because when I talk to them they help me feel normal and that it is alright if my baby screams while I am giving him a bath.  Enough complaining.  Here are some of Luca's first bath at our house pictures.




    Monday, May 2, 2011

    Easter 2011

    Nick is helping Luca get Easter Eggs in his Easter basket, Luca seems super excited, so excited he can't wake up.
    Nick, Luca, Carson and Savanna (in the back) are looking for eggs in Grandma's flower garden.
    Nick and Luca after getting tons of Easter Eggs, also his Easter puppie is in his basket too.
    Addison, Streator, Savanna, Brooklyn, and Carson holding Luca after the Easter Egg hunt.




    Sunday, May 1, 2011

    Luca's Blessing Day

    Luca was blessed on April 10th at the Davis Hospital. We decided it was probably better to get it done sooner than later. Our bishop was very excited to attend the blessing because he said he never blessed a baby in a hospital. We would like to thank all the family who were able to attend and help Nick bless our little Luca. We missed those who weren't able to be there.
    Nick & Shauna holding Luca after he was blessed
    The proud papa holding his little guy
    Shauna with her little guy