The Christiansen Family: July 2008

Our Sweet Girl!

Jackobi had her 5 month pictures done a couple of weeks ago and we just got some of them back.... this is one of our favorites!! Our photographer put some of them up on her website so I was glad to snag one without breaking any copyright laws or anything! Thanks Katrina! I can't believe how quickly she grows and learns!! When we first had her, Nate and I immediately fell in love. I didn't believe it when people told me that it only got better, but guess what it DOES!!

Our Home - The First Year!

Last July Nate and I moved into our first home. Nate built the entire house with help from our friends and family, so a lot of hard work went into it! I must say, he did a fantastic job!! And although we might disagree on certain things that still remain unfinished (he thinks they're finished, but I guess I must not be so easy to please ... I mean, who needs shelves in their pantry ?? .. :) ) We LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! It's nice to have a place to call your very own! I only had a few pictures of the progression of us building it, but thought they were fun!

Our Last Baseball Weekend this Season

Wow! I can't believe that baseball season is over! The boys have been playing since mid-February and I can't believe how fast the last 6 months have gone! We've had a great time going out as a family and watching this great game; it's consumed most of our weekends and I wouldn't have it any other way! Jackobi has already learned to love going out to the ball field, so I'm sure next year we'll have our hands full! Good job Brian & Casey during this season of school ball and Legion!

The Beautiful Temple

Friday we had the opportunity to go to the Open House for the Twin Falls Temple. It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! That's all I can really say about it! We're so blessed to have a new temple in our midst! We can't wait to go back again soon!

Athlete of the Week!

Nate and I have always thought that his little brother Casey was a pretty good baseball player, but we're a little partial since we're family. WELL, I guess it must be true! He was named the Athlete of the Week by KMVT (our local news station). Not too bad for an incoming sophomore!! Here's a link to the video (I couldn't figure out how to steal it to put on our page!) ...you'll have to click on the 'Watch the Video' link below the picture...

http://www.kmvt.com/sports/25674434.html

And here's the little blurb off of their website:

This week's Athlete of the Week goes to Minico pitcher Casey Christiansen. After giving up four runs in the first two innings against Twin Falls on Tuesday, Christiansen beared down and held the Cowboys scoreless in the final five innings. In the sixth, Christiansen was untouchable on the hill. After hitting the first batter of the inning, Christiansen went onto strike out the next three batters in a row. He also helped out the Spartans on offense. The rightie hit a double in the game, and scored a run when he layed down a perfect bunt that scored Cody Winmill from third. The play was part of a seven run inning for Minico. Congratulations to Casey Christiansen, this week's Athlete of the Week.

We just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS CASEY!! All of those hours of catch are starting to pay off!!

It Must Be Wedding Season!

Jamie Smith (Reynolds) and I have been good friends since we were little girls and she's one of the people from high school that I will always keep in really good touch with. In high school, I remember always hanging out at Jamie's house and her little sisters Codie and Candace always being around; they were always just the little girls. It was so crazy this weekend to see them both so beautiful and grown up at Codie's wedding!! Jamie and I have talked about how we still just see them as little girls, but I guess pictures don't lie! They're not so little anymore -- boy does time fly! Codie made a beautiful bride & I could tell she was SO happy! Congrats Codie and Dale!

She's a Braves Fan and Doesn't Even Know It!!

For those of you who know Nate very well, you know what a HUGE Atlanta Braves fan he is. The very first outfit we bought for Jackobi was right after we found out she was a girl; we decided she needed some Braves attire (and a great BIG bow so that everyone knew she was a girl!) With the Legion baseball season winding down, we were excited that it FINALLY fit her! We didn't get very many big smiles for the camera (but if you saw her at the game, she was all smiles...darn batteries died!) but here's a picture of her in her little outfit. The game was great; we split with Madison. Casey pitched the first game and did great on just 3 days rest. We won the game he pitched 9-4. It was a great night out at the ballpark!

It's a Crazy World Out There!!

Nate and I decided that we should put our blog on private. I don't have a lot of your email addresses, so PLEASE send me yours so I can add you to our list of 'authorized' viewers!! Thanks everyone, we appreciate it!!

Our Week So Far...

Some fun things for us this week: Jackobi LOVES the sound of tearing paper -- we were at Nate's mom's house and she was tearing up some junk mail while we visited, well, Jackobi started to giggle pretty good. Once we realized why she was laughing, we tore more and more paper -- her laugh was hysterical! She ended up getting the hiccups from laughing so hard! It was really cute, I can't wait until she can rip into Christmas packages in just a few more months!

Jackobi has also gotten really good at eating from a spoon. We learned that she LOVE pears, likes applesauce sometimes and HATES rice cereal....she also likes cheetos (I let her suck on one yesterday and she was instantly in love!!)

We have grass!! Yes we do!! Nate and I have been in our house just over a year and planted part of our front yard a few weeks ago. Our yard is MUCH bigger than we both realized until we got out there and started working (okay, Nate worked, I watched...someone had to hold Jackobi!!) We were so encouraged when it started coming up so quickly. Now we've actually had to mow it a few times and it looks pretty darn good for our first try! Now we'll try to conquer the other half! Wish us luck!

Nate has been working nights the past couple weeks and I was really unsure of it when he first started. I don't mind change, but I don't always embrace it I guess you could say! BUT... I have found I don't mind it at all! It's really nice to be able to have him home during the day and I've found lots to keep me busy when he goes to work each night...FOR INSTANCE, my mom and I went shopping tonight -- it was great! When we're both in shopping moods, we have a blast! Jackobi had a good time too, with all of the spring colors of things she was getting pretty excited playing! When I put her in her carseat when we were finished she almost instantly fell asleep! We wore her out!!

Well, that's all for now. This blog has almost become like a journal for me, it's good for me to be able to jot down things and just take some time to almost 'reflect' on what's going on in our seemingly chaotic lives. For those of you who read...you'll just have to bear with my long winded moments! They don't happen too often!

Congrats Andrea & Shawn!!

Andrea and I have been friends since high school and she's also Nate's cousin. In fact, she's the one who set Nate and I up on our first date!! I was so happy when Nate & I got married so that one of my best friends would become family! Today Andrea and her fiance Shawn got married -- it was the perfect day for an outdoor ceremony. Everything was really pretty and Andrea looked beautiful! We're really excited for them and can't wait to see what the future holds for the new Mr. & Mrs. Free!

Another Month Older! That Makes it 5!!

Holy smokes! I can't believe another month has passed and Jackobi is now 5 months old! It's amazing to me how quickly babies learn and progress!! Jackobi REALLY loves attention these days and knows when she has it! She also LOVES to play with her toys, anything that makes noise keeps her happy! She has been able to sit by herself for a little while now, but seems to have mastered it in the last week -- she's still a little wobbly at times, but does pretty good!! She's still learning to eat from a spoon and is a 'texture baby' ... anything with a funny texture (which is most baby foods) she has the instinct to immediately spit out. She's getting better though and I've found if I let her hold the spoon and help her, she does much better! Miss Independent already! She's defiantly her daddy's girl and already loves music! Any music as long as it has a good beat. She LOVES her Baby Einstein CD.s too!! Her Aunt Camille was home last week and we also discovered that she ADORES the piano. She especially loves it when we let her pound on the keys ... her smile goes from ear to ear!! Well, that's all for now, I could go on forever I'm sure! Nate and I are continually blessed because of Jackobi and are so thankful that heavenly father sent her our way! I truly don't know where we'd be in life without her! We love you Jackobi!!!

Dress Shopping in Boise!

Nate and I are both SO excited for our friends Jared and Ashley to get married this December! Jared and Nate have been friends since they were just boys, so we were really excited when he and Ashley hit it off so well. We can't wait for some of our BEST friends to tie the knot! Yesterday Ashley, Gina, Wendy and I went to Boise to pick up Ashley's wedding dress (she ordered it MONTHS ago, so we were excited it finally came!!) She's absolutely GORGEOUS in it! We then headed to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch (which is reason enough to go to Boise!!) and the hit the mall and stores around Boise for bridesmaids dresses. After a LONG day of shopping, we finally found the perfect dresses! It was a great day and fun to just hang out with the girls! Congrats again Jared and Ashley! We couldn't be more excited for you!!

Our 4th of July in a nutshell!!

Wow! I can't believe that the 4th of July has already come and gone! I LOVE that Rupert has such a huge, week long celebration!! We started things off with the fireworks on the square, several trips back down throughout the week to visit the yummy food booths and the parade Friday morning. We sat with Ashley and Kenzie at the parade, and boy did Kenzie get A LOT of candy!! It was fun to just hang out with everyone, but was a little warm for Jackobi -- we were happy when she finally decided a nap was needed! Both Nate and I have families that love to get together. So needless to say, we had lunch several times on Friday! First we went to both his Grandma Christiansen's and Grandma Taylor's house and then headed out to the river to go boating for the rest of the afternoon with mine. Jackobi sure loves it outside, so it was a perfect, but tiring day for her! That night my mom watched Jackobi while Nate and I went to the Rodeo with most of his family and Chris and Sara. It's a yearly tradition to go to the PBR and was FUN as usual! We had a great time! All in all, we had a wonderful 4th of July holiday! I can't wait until next year when Jackobi can actually enjoy the fireworks and parade!

More Random Things...

Tagged by Jessica

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was only 14, whew! Growing up, we spent most of our summers out on the river. So I was probably there! I grew up on a farm, so I probably was doing my fair share of line moving and rock picking!

5 Years Ago?

I had just moved up to Pocatello to attend ISU and was working at the Buckle. I was living with my friend Heather Harper (Stevenson at the time). So we were probably making our daily trips to Geraldine's (it's the best little sandwich shop you'll ever eat at!!)

5 Months Ago?

Holy smokes, I was 40 weeks pregnant -- just about ready to have little Jacobi!

5 Things on my ToDo List:

1. Get 4th of July goodies ready for tomorrow!
2. Work on Jacobi's baby book
3. Mow our lawn (well, that's more on Nate's to do list, so I guess on my list is making him mow the lawn!!)
4.Go to the eye doctor....my last contact went down the shower drain this morning!! Boo!!
5. Laundry (but if you know me, that's ALWAYS on my to do list!!)

5 Favorite Snacks:

1. DIET COKE! (is that a snack??)
2. Gummy Lifesavers
3. Nilla Wafers
4. Fresh Strawberries
5. Popcorn (I get that from Nate)

5 Things I'd do with a Billion Dollars:

1. Pay off our house and get out of debt!
2. Share with our family
3. Donate to charities
4. Buy Nate & I new cars! (well, a truck for Nate!)
5. Landscape our lawn!

5 Places I've Lived:

1. Poky (Hillside Apartments with Heather)
2. Still Poky, but the other side of town with Sara, Becky and Jamie
3. Twin Falls with Sara
4. Rupert with my parents
5. Jackson

5 Things You Might Now Know about Me!

1. I don't like scary movies! I don't even like Nate to watch them in our house!
2. I'm a picture fanatic! Sorry if it annoys you, but I'm one of those people -- especially with a new baby, I can't stop!
3. I don't like SNL. I know, it's pretty much un-American to not like Saturday Night Live, but I don't.
4. Baseball is my favorite sport EVER!
5. I'm a perfectionist! Yep, I pay attention to those little details that no one notices and let them drive me nuts until it's JUST right!

FiReWoRkS!

I love the 4th of July!! It's my favorite holiday and I wait for it every year! Last night were the fireworks at the square and I was excited (and a little nervous) to see how Jackobi would like them. Nate had to work (bummer!) so my mom and I headed down around 8:00 to meet up with Ashley and Kenzie to eat some yummy Mexican food from the St. Nicholas Food booth. It was a really nice night and even though the park was REALLY crowded, we managed to find a good spot to sit with Gina and Mylee. Mylee is Gina's little girl and is about 8 months old now. It was cute to watch her try to play with Jackobi (who didn't really know what was going on!) It's funny how early on, 4 months makes a big difference in age! The fireworks started around 10:30, and wouldn't you know it...at about 10:25 Jackobi fell asleep. I was a little nervous that the loud noise would wake her up and she would be scared, but she was OUT!! She slept through the entire show (yep, all 15 minutes!! :) ) She was pretty cute all sprawled out on my lap. I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see how she really likes the show! All in all we had a great night. The perfect way to kick off the 4th of July festivities!