6 months old!

Hi everyone! I am so sorry that it has taken a while to post....we have been so busy with sleep training, appointments, holiday cheer, that I haven't had much time to even get to the computer. We have had a wonderful, and challenging few weeks. The boys are getting a little better with their sleep everyday. Which is a huge blessing to their parents, because we are almost to that breakdown point. :) I don't think that I ever realized how tremendously hard everything seems to get when you are sleep deprived. I don't know how moms with more then two infants do it.....yikes! Teage and I are trying to keep our heads, and spirits up, and praying that things get a little better each day.

The boys had their six month checkups this week as well, and I am happy to report that they are right on track with height, weight, and all the skills that come along with this age. Lucas now weights 15lbs 11oz and Dylan is not far behind at 15lbs 9oz. I am so thankful for how much these boys love to eat!! :) We are now starting them on baby food (mmmm.....squash!), and are excited to watch them discover new tastes along the way. Both are also rolling all over the floor, trying to get to their favorite toys, and actually beginning to scoot a bit as well......I am so worried!! :) Their favorite thing is to go upside down, or "fly" around the room.

Teage is doing well with his job, and loves his office and all of his co-workers. He is still working for Washington Mutual, and thankfully was not effected by the layoffs of last week. But, thank you to all of you who were concerned for us.

I am doing well also, just trying to adjust to motherhood on not much sleep. :) Thankfully I still have a ton of help in my mom and stemom, coming over to help all the time. The boys love them, and I am so greatful for all of their help and support. I couldn't do it without them! I do have my knee surgery scheduled for the beginning of the year, so I will update you all when that occurs. I am not too worried about it, but the recovery time could be a little brutal with two little ones!

We also want to wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year. We are so thankful for all of our friends and family in our lives, and love this time of year when we get to think about, and celebrate, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!!

Our little family at the Christmas tree farm in North Bend....we had so much fun picking out our tree!

Daddy and Dylan getting ready to chop!

The finished product!

Lucas trying to eat his stocking.....yuck bud! :)

Christmas Card

Here is our Christensen Family Christmas Card for this year. I probably won't be able to get it mailed out to everyone, so please do not be offended if you don't get a physical copy of it. I did want to shrae it with everyone though, and wish you a beautiful holiday season. Merry Christmas everyone!! We are so thankful for all of you, and how generous you are to our family!!

Blackmail Pictures!

This week has been a wonderful, and stressful one for us. The boys are doing a little bit better with sleep training, which is always a plus! We just keep on trucking through it, and know that one day it will just work out! :) The other positive and fun thing, the boys got to see snow for the first time!! Yesterday it started snowing pretty heavily at our house, and we woke up this morning to almost a foot of snow on the ground. It was fun to watch the boys check out this weird white stuff for the first time. We pretty much just stuck inside after that though, as I tend to get a little nervous driving in it.

We also took some naked pictures of the boys the other day right before their bath. Hoorey for blackmail! :) They are just so darn cute though, I couldn't resist!!

Lucas watching the snow coming down!

Mr. naked Lucas

Mr. naked Dylan

Cute Pic

Just had to share this picture of my adorable boys. They are getting so big! They are so strong, and independant already! :) And, they love laughing at their daddy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. We were very thankful to have spent the day with our family, both mine and Teage's, and reflect on the wonders with which Heavenly Father has blesesd us recently. The boys are doing wonderfully. Both are rolling around the room, interacting with each other, and eating rice cereal twice a day. They are generally happy and healthy, and we couldn't be more thankful!

Daddy with his boys all dressed up and ready to go to Jesse's Maltby breakfast.
Mommy with her little hoodlums :) Can you tell that Daddy picked out the outfits that day?
Dylan and his favorite toy
Lucas having a ton of fun. Is that not the sweetest smile ever??

Jesse's 31st Birthday

Happy Birthday to our loved Jesse! We love and miss you!

1st attempt at rice cereal....and, Halloween :)

This last week was a fun one for us. After the boys received the green light to start with rice cereal, Teage and I couldn't wait until we could make the attempt! At first the boys were definitely not sure about what we were doing. I think they were actually most apprehensive about the spoon more then anything. :) Lucas finally got used to the taste of the spoon (and I suppose the cereal), and went for it in the end. But, Dylan was not having anything to do with the whole affair. He would make a horrible face at me every time I tried to put the spoon in his mouth, and then spit most of the cereal back out again. :) In the end, I think that we got a few spoonfulls in their tummies, a ton on their mouths and bibs, but definitely had a tons of fun!

Our little family on Halloween....we didn't do much, but if you notice, the boys are wearing little dog PJ's with tails. So cute! :)
Dylan: Mom....I don't think I like this!!!
Dylan: Mom....I told you I don't like this stuff!!
Both boys sitting like "big boys" at the table
Lucas: I'm not so sure Dad!
Lucas: Well...I guess it was OK!

MY TURN!!!

So, I thought that I would give this another try! I figure that once every two months is just about right! So, what has changed? Well, we introduced rice cereal to the boys on Sunday night, and they both slept for 8 hours! Amazing! They both are growing so fast, and it's a blast being a Dad! I absolutely love their personalities, and how each of them are so unique! Dylan is our mover and shaker! They both love to watch TV, and you can see in the picture below what lengths they will go to see it! But, watch out! As soon as you turn them away from it, picture #2! They really liked that BC/Virginia Tech ending! But, they are so much fun and I am loving every minute of every day that I get to spend with them! I can't believe that it's been four months too! It's crept by so quickly!

4 Months Old!

The boys had their four month check-up this week....I can't believe that they are already that old! The days go by so quickly, yet so slowly at the same time. :) Both boys are healthy again, thank goodness, and their check-up was wonderful. They are right on track in terms of development, and they are still gaining weight like crazy. At their appointment, Dylan weighed 13lbs even, and Lucas was 13lbs 1oz. That puts them in the 25th percentile for weight, which is slightly higher then they were last time. So, they are doing really well! The only bad part about the appointment was that they had to get their 4 month shots, which was a horrible ordeal. Both boys were so traumatized by the whole thing that they were clinging to me the next few days. They were really sensitive to every little noise, or even if we were holding them "incorrectly". But, they seem to have gotten over the worst of it now, and it is mostly forgotten. :) We are so thankful for how these boys are growing and progressing. Both are smiling and laughing all the time, and would much rather hang out with everyone instead of go to bed! :) Lucas even started reaching out and grabbing toys the other day....big step!!

Me with my big growing boys!

What are you doing up there brother??

Thing 1 and Thing 2

The boys have been so adorable lately, I just can't even handle it! :) Both of them laugh all the time now, especially at daddy when he is showing them silly faces, or singing a funny song. They also giggle and smile all the time at whoever is holding them. They are such sweet and loving boys, and have such wonderful dispositions about them. Last week when they were sick, we could tell that they were miserable with their runny noses and coughs....but, would that get them down? Nope! They were still smiling and loving life. They are such a joy, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life!

Both boys are now turning over from their front to their back, but haven't quite mastered the back to front yet. They are sleeping a bit better, and still moving around a ton in their cribs. I can't understand how they do it! They are swaddled up fairly tight when we put them down at night, and somehow they manage to wiggle out of their swaddle, and end up on the opposite side of their crib within a few hours! :) My mom calls them "little Houdinis"!

All three of us were fairly sick last week, but I am happy to report that we are feeling a lot better now, thankfully! Today we even went on a little outing to Sears 1st Ave, where I used to work, and the boys got to meet all of my sweet co-workers. I think that they had a lot of fun being the center of attention! :)

Our adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2

Laughing at Daddy while I took the picture

Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but this is Dylan sleeping on his side. He tried to roll over, only made it half-way, and ended up falling asleep in that position!

Christensen Family Reunion

This week Teage's sister and her family came into town for a mini family reunion on the Christensen side. They stayed with Brett and Beth for a few days, and then with us over the weekend. Tawna has three children, Ethan who is 7, Kiana 5, and Maiya who is 9 months old. They are all such sweethearts, and we love playing with them and having a great time with the whole family. Soccer anyone? :) It was so much fun to have all the new cousins together for the first time (since the grandchildren count has doubled in the past few months :) ), and for all the aunts and uncles to have some time "grown-up" together as well. Everyone even took time out to write to Uncle Brook who was not able to attend, as he is on a mission in Argentina.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of all the new cousins together....I got pretty sick over the weekend, followed by Teage and the boys, and we were down for the count for a few days. :( But, all of us seem to be pulling through it, and will hopefully be back on our feet in no time.

Dylan and Lucas doing some tummy-time!

Miss Maiya saying hello

Kai'o looking over momma's shoulder

Ethan and Kiana at Snoqualmie Falls, having a good time! "Can we go now???" :)

Cystic Fibrosis Walk

Today we had the priviledge of walking to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. About a week or so ago, we found out that Great Strides was doing a walk in Snoqualmie with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and we knew that we had to get involved. About a year ago, our friend Jolene passed away from complications due to CF, and we loved being able to have the opportunity to do something good towards finding a cure. Jolene was, and is, a beautiful person inside and out, and inspired all who were around her. Her sister Karine and her family, myself and the boys, and many of our other friends walked today, under the name "Team Jolene". We had a wonderful time, and were able to raise quite a bit of money towards finding a cure. We can't wait to get started on next year's walk!

Erin J, myself, and Karine at the starting line

Erin's son Tyler, munching on his snack at the midpoint. :)

Dylan and Lucas in their "Team Jolene" outfits....you may notice the great amount of spit up all over them as well. :)

The whole team at the finish line! It was a wonderful walk.

Boys' Blessing Day

Dylan and Lucas were blessed at church last Sunday....and what a special day it was! Both boys looked dashing in their adorable white outfits (that were just slightly big for them) :), and so many people came to show them their support and love. We felt very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family there to share our special day.

Lucas trying to sleep on Dylan's shoulder :)

Lucas all tuckered out after church

Our family after the big day

Friends and Laughter

The boys are just starting to smile and laugh at us now...it is so sweet! It really does help to have someone smile back at you when you are dead tired at 3am! :) They make the cutest noises, and are actually starting to laugh in their sleep also. The other night when Lucas was sleeping on Teage's chest, he just started chuckling, like he was dreaming of something hilarious!! I wish that I could have caught it on tape!

Mr. Dylan

Mr. Lucas

Lucas, Gibson Waggoner, and Dylan....chilling on the couch together! :)

Grandpa Dan's 50th Birthday!

Last weekend we were able to go to my step-dad's birthday party, and the boys were sure a hit! It was wonderful to see a ton of family, and have the boys meet some of their great aunts, uncles, and cousins. Everyone had a great time wishing Dan a happy 50th!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

The boys getting ready to go....so cute!

Teage's turn!

OK, so don't laugh at me because this is my first blog EVER! But, I first should say something about the boys. They are absolutely perfect and bring so much joy to my life. I love coming home and seeing my family and having them look for their mom when I hold them! They are getting to be monstrous (I think so!) and love it when they are full and smiling! I took these pictures of the boys after one of these moments, and just love it!

Parkinson Family Reunion

This last weekend we had a mini family reunion at my dad's house. It was wonderful to get most of the Parkinson side together, as all of us now live in all different parts of the country. Aunts, uncles, and cousins came in from Vegas and South Carolina in order to enjoy a few days together. We had a wonderful time, just being together as a family. Most of my cousins are now grown up, and the others are definitely on their way! :) It was also the first time that most of the family got to meet our little ones, which was a huge blessing as well. My uncles definitely had a good time teasing my dad about being a "grandpa"!! :) We hope that it won't be a whole year before we get to see everyone again.

Welcome Kai'o Christensen

Teage's brother Brett and his wife Beth just welcomed their new addition last week, Kai'o! He weighed about six and a half pounds, and was 19 inches long. He is just adorable, and mom and baby are both doing wonderful. I am sure that the three boys are going to get into a load of trouble together!
We are so thankful to have so many family members all around us. We are very blessed.

Birth Annoucement

I could not find any twin annoucemets that were reasonably priced, so I just decided to design one myself. It was a lot of fun!

2 month check-up

The boys went in for their 2 month check-up this week! They are both healthy, thriving little boys, who are gaining a ton of weight every week! I was very surprised at how much they had gained since their last checkup. Lucas weighed in at 9lbs 9oz, and Dylan at 9lbs 4oz! That means that they have been gaining over a half pound a week, which is tremendous for premies!! We are so excited about it! They also got their shots, however, which was much less exciting...but, we got through it, and the boys are taking it like champs. Both boys are holding their heads up really well, are looking straight at our faces now, smiling on purpose (which is SO fun!), and starting to coo also. We are loving getting to know them and their little personalities!