Hello Houston

Time has been going a million miles and hour and standing still at the same time..not literally of course - it just feels like it.

My wonderful mother and I were went down to visit the fabulous Fears family in Albuquerque a few weeks ago. We had a great time playing games, doing Easter egg hunts, going to the zoo, going swimming, and all sorts of fun things! To make the week even better, Jordannie and Colby joined us for the weekend. Kade and I loved spending some time with family.

Ky and Kade lounging in the stroller at the Albuquerque zoo

Kade slept the whole flight from Albuquerque to Houston

We are finally in Houston! Last summer Roland came down here for six weeks to clerk for a Judge, while he was down here he found a few internships for this summer (which is no easy task...my husband is a major rock star) We feel so grateful for this opportunity and are excited for what the summer has in store for us.

The nice waitress at The Cheesecake Factory brought Kade his own plate of bread and a sliced banana

The pool at our apartment in Houston

So far our adventure in Houston has gone pretty well. Our apartment is nice, it has a nice pool and BBQ area as well as a fitness center and sauna. Houston has been good to us so far, we went to the zoo (which is amazing) and the public library, we have seen some pretty exciting thunderstorms and have a huge list of things that we need to do this summer while we are here. This summer will be an excellent adventure.

On separate note Kade is has been developing into the funniest tiny person alive. I feel like all of the sudden he has grown up so much. It has been really fun to watch him grow into the adorable boy he is and I get so excited every single day to spend time with him. We sure are a blessed bunch. 

Playing in the trash when we were moving out of our old condo in Utah

He has become pretty snugly too...any time any place - especially if you have snacks

Sunday walk around our new place in Houston

Cruising

A couple weeks ago we spent all of our time sleeping, eating and living on a boat.  This was our first cruise experience and will definitely not be the last.  We went on the Crown Princess seven day cruise down to Mexico. 

The first two days were spent at sea enjoying all the luxuries the boat had to offer.  We ate, swam, watched movies, played games, drank delicious specialty drinks (virgin), ate some more, and went to lots of fun shows and other boat entertainment (we won BINGO).  Cruising is so incredibly care free and amazing. 

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta where we went zip lining through the jungle, enjoyed incredible views, and ate delicious street tacos. 

We went to Mazatlan next where we visited a beautiful cathedral, went to a massive (and stinky) shopping center,  and Roland and I ate some amazing Mexican food at a local restaurant that didn't speak any English whatsoever - thank goodness for Google translate.  Our entire meal was only $7 (3 fruity drinks, 2 chimis, and 3 tacos). No English = authentic Mexican cuisine = yum. 

Final stop was Cabo San Lucas. This was a quick stop. We took a boat taxi over to Lovers Beach and enjoyed soaking up some sun. Ryan and Dallin decided to swim in the water we were strictly told not to swim in, and almost were swept out to sea (more than once).  After enjoying the beach we went to Taco's Guss, the food was ok. 

The final cruise day was spent at sea. We slept a lot, ate a lot, and rocked out at Karaoke. Overall, it was a successful and relaxing vacation. 

We were excited to see Kade after a week apart - hopefully it won't be too long before we enjoy another cruise!

First day on the boat, enjoying soft serve and a tasty drink.

See ya later Los Angeles.

We won the final round of BINGO on the second day of the cruise.  We wanted to end on a high note, so didn't play again the entire trip.

Gorgeous view at Puerto Vallarta after zip lining through the jungle.

Cathedral in Mazatlan.

Mazatlan.

Google Hangout with the Kade-meister.

The cruise ship doesn't port at Cabo, so we (and that creepy guy behind us) rode life boats to port.

Still riding to port at Cabo. Can't get a picture without a photo bomb creeper.

Finally made it to shore at Cabo. I felt like a celebrity with how many people were screaming to get my attention (locals wanting you to buy from them).

Lover's Beach.

Some local came over and held out his iguanas for us to pet, then (when we took the bait) proceeded to place them on our shoulders.  After we were done playing he simply said "tip". So we gave him a buck. Sneaky little Mexican.

Cabo.

Lover's Beach.

First cruise - and not our last.

'till next time Mexico.  xoxo

Has it really been a year (and change)

Kade turned one. I finally understand (a little) what parents mean when they ramble on and on about how fast time goes.  I remember my mom always teasing me when I was young, telling me I wasn't allowed to grow up anymore.  I feel that way about Kade.  Sometimes I get so excited for the next stage or milestone and as soon as Kade hits it I miss the old stage (a truly vicious cycle) I'm really working on enjoying the here and now, because it really is all you have.  Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift,  that's why it's called the present. (Cheesy kung-fu panda quote)

Anyway Kade has officially learned his first word. He has been copying things here and there the past month or so, but this is the first word that has actually STUCK, and no,  it's not mommy (I'd me lying if I said it doesn't break my heart) it's "ball" he knows what a ball is and points out everything and anything remotely round.  I made eggs for breakfast, every egg was a "ball" before it was cracked open.  Tonight at Costco as we walked through the produce section and Kade immediately zoned in on the honey dew and started getting so excited that he recognized a "ball" (not the only ball in the produce section too)  It is adorable to watch him learn, grow and develop meaning. He even recognizes balls in pictures (we have a picture of Bob Marley playing soccer)

Kade is also walking everywhere and occasionally tries to run. It's hilarious. Even more hilarious when he gets moving holding something massive (which is quite frequently actually) We sure do love that boy of ours. 

Kade cut a tooth!

Kade officially cut his first tooth last week! It's little, it's sharp, and it's oh so cute! Oh, and we have been brushing it morning and night-we polish that perfect fraction of a tooth 'till it shines. :) (pictures to come...)

Also, in other news - my baby is the most easy going child in the world.  Confession, I drove Kade over to the Christensen's home earlier this week for Aileen to watch him and when I arrived I opened the door to get Kade out and somehow his car seat and car seat base (that WAS buckled into the car by the way) had tipped right over.  I had no idea until we arrived.  He was just hanging out chewing on his Sophie giraffe, happy as a clam. Could he get any easier? I think not.

I love my son.

World Cup 2014

So we went to Brazil. And we left Kade behind.  I missed him, but Brazil was kind of a neat place.

Here are some interesting things I thought about Brazil:

• Brazil has tiny elevators, like seriously miniature.
• The bathrooms in both our hotels had a bidet (not built into the toilet, just a power hose on the side)
• In Sao Paulo everyone was selling socks in the street. Possibly a hot item there?
• In our hotel in Sao Paulo you had to plug your key in to get the lights to work. Can't leave the lights on when you leave the room.
• The stores are TINY. Seriously so small. Like elevator status small.
• The stores aren't only tiny, they are super random too. We would walk down the street and in a matter of minutes pass a pet store, then a restaurant, then a window blinds store, then a barbershop, then a toilet seat store (I kid you not), then a drug store, then a bar, then a light switch store... etc.
• There aren't any pedestrian buttons to cross the street. You just sit and wait, or dodge traffic - most people exercise the latter option.
• Drivers are extremely aggressive. Which makes it challenging to dodge traffic...I may or may not have been scared for my life once or twice, as a pedestrian and passenger.
• The people we ran into do not speak a lick of English, and they have no mercy with English speakers.
• Breakfast consisted of toast and jam, crescent rolls with meat, rolls, a platter of cheese, platters of sliced lunch meats, fruit, and CAKE! Cake for breakfast?! Might be enough to get me to relocate. (Jokes - but seriously, I am never leaving the US again)

We did some touring which was awesome. Went up to the city center building in Sao Paulo (they compare it to the empire state building) and could see for miles and miles, the city was like something out of a painting.

In Rio we went to the Cristo Redentor statue, that was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We rode a train up and around the mountain and saw all of Rio! Gorgeous. We got pictures of this amazing statue, and we saw Labron James up there too! (That's a lie. But he posted a pic on Instagram like the day after we went, so we kind of saw him - and yes, I follow King James on insta).  

We were also able to go to the FIFA Fan Zone at copacabana beach, beautiful beach and really fun environment down by the fan zone too!  Those Argentines are looooong winded. I think I know the song they all sing now...but the lyrics might not be completely accurate--they were ALL over the city and everyone was singing.

The soccer games were awesome too! The semi final stadium was full of Argentina fans cheering for Argentina (naturally) and Brazil fans cheering for Netherlands because they did NOT want Argentina to win. So this created a funny environment where the Argentines were chanting "siete!", since Brazil had just lost their semi final game to German 7-1 (adding salt to the wound? I'd say so) in response the "Netherlands fans" (Brazilians) would chant "cinco!" Because Brazil has 5 World Cup titles and Argentina only has 2. It was great.

Going to the World Cup Final and closing ceremony was A-MAZ-ING.  I was worried about not feeling safe down there, since big events tend to draw out all the crazies, but they had 25,000 people policing the game, complete with military dudes with machine guns--I felt pretty safe.  The finals also drew so much diversity, and everyone has SO much country pride, we sat next to a man from Guatemala who wanted to take a picture of us to remember who he sat by (Guatemala wasn't even in the tournament).  He was a sweetheart and offered to share his popcorn, or at least I think he offered me that. We also saw people from Canada, a ton of them (represent), Sweeden, Columbia, and Mexico to name a few. It was really neat.  There were the same chants that were going on at the semi final game (see above...poor Brazil) and the intensity of the crowd was seriously unreal. A few final fun things, I was on the big screen in the stadium (mission accomplished) and there was a streaker at the game (mission accomplished for him too).

Well that's it. It was a fun and crazy experience.

Took a picture of the screen on the airplane....longest flight of my life (literally)

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo panorama pic

Semi Final Game

Argentina vs. Netherlands

Argentina won in PKs (scoring 4 Netherlands had 2 blocked shots)

Me and the hubs in a tree at the beach

Cristo Redentor

Cristo Redentor

Cristo Redentor

Jumped on a Police bike

FIFA Fan Fest at Copacabana Beach!

World Cup FINALS, with my obnoxiously pink outfit

Argentina vs. Germany

Germany won in overtime 1-0

A piece of our view...not to shabby of seats eh?

My kidney bean is 5 Months old

Crazy to think this time last year I was only about 8 weeks pregnant. Kade was roughly the size of a kidney bean! I remember thinking how long 9 months seems, when in reality 9 months is a relatively short time commitment when you think of what your body is doing...making a person.  Kade is now 5 Months old and I can attest that what a mother gives to have a baby is WAY less than what she receives from the sacrifice. Kade is such a blessing and I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world to call him my son.  I love him more than he will ever know. 

And Then There Were Three

Last Monday I had lunch with Ryan and Jessica at Vivint.  It was exactly one week before my due date and I felt more than ready to be done with my pregnancy. Jessica told me to prepare for the possibility of going a week over so if I did go over I wouldn't be completely devastated... little did Jess know that just thinking about being pregnant for 14 more days sent me home from work for a good cry.

My water broke the next morning.  My alarm went off at 7:00, I got up and went to the bathroom where my water broke (great timing and location for the event)  Without any contractions Roland and I took our time getting ready to go to the hospital. As soon as we finished everything we needed to do we went to the hospital. They started me on pitocin at 10:00 am-since I still didn't have any contractions. It took a little while to get things going, but by 3 o'clock I was dilated to a 3 and received my epidural.

Doctor Savage came around 6:00 to see how things were progressing and I was at a 5.  Forty minutes later I was an 8, and just before 7:00 I was a 10. The nurse wanted me to wait for a bit to let the little man hopefully move down a tad.  Before this point my contractions had been causing some stress on the baby so they put me on oxygen to help increase the oxygen available to him..I started pushing with the nurse at 7:30 and things went were going so well she had me stop so I wouldn't have him before Doctor Savage could get back to the hospital.  Once Doctor Savage was in the room it took 3 contractions before baby Christensen decided to show his adorable face.

Kade Arvon Christensen came into the world last Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 9:04 pm, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long.

We feel like the luckiest couple in the world to be blessed with such a perfect spirit to join our growing family. Kade couldn't be more loved.