Is Abby really pregnant... you decide

Time to vote... we have our suspicions... Thought this would be fun.

This picture was taken a few months before we were thinking about breeding her... about the time we figured out she was cousins with Tegun! She is about 58 lbs here.

This is her laying in the hall way between the kitchen and living room... maybe a little saggy but aren't we all?!?!

AWE... she loves a good belly scratch... then again don't you?!?! Looks kinda round to me... what do you think?

Time for a treat... Chad almost lost a finger with this one... hungry puppies? You decide... (hint: compare this pic to the first one)

View from the back... she carries well if she is... time to vote. There is a poll on the right of my blog.

She weighs in at about 68 lbs now.
This is the dog we have been trying to get to gain weight for 2 years now.

Cast your vote. Voting runs till 12/10. If she is she should have her puppies between 12/12-12/19. The final results are up to Abby.

I overdosed on pumpkin pie!

LOL... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! It is my favorite for many reasons...

1. It's a time to get together as a family without the added stress of BUYING PRESENTS... everyone is there just to be there!

2. I love all the yummy food that is associated with Thanksgiving...

3. I like to try new recipes every year

4. It gives me an excuse to eat as much pie as I want... I have to try them all right?!?

5. LEFTOVERS!!!!


This year we went up to my sis-in-laws, Shontell, to have the feast.... but first we all gathered (minus 2, Justin who was sick and his daughter Caylie who was with her mom) the WHOLE Christensen family for pictures (thats about 40). Chad has 8 brothers and sisters and all but 1 of them have spouses/kids of their own... you can imagine how the numbers can add up quickly. We even have 1 great grandchild and 1 on the way... thats 2! I can't believe it.... Hopefuly the pictures will be ready to view soon so I can show you the MAGNITUDE of the whole situation! It was a small miracle that we even pulled it off, all thanks to some great planning by Shontell who arranged the whole thing!

All in all a great day and a great THANKSGIVING!

I spoke too soon...

Sunday night was a different story... Casey was awake all night crying and not feeling very well... Chad's sleep count for Sunday was about 1 hour.

When I got home Monday morning I put Casey in our bed around 8:30 AM hoping to catch a few hours of sleep, my sleep count for Sunday was 0 since I was at work, I had been sleeping about 1 1/2 hours since getting home from work.

It worked, Casey slept until about 10 AM in our bed, when we got up she was not being herself. She was really whiny, and had no energy! I couldn't get her to eat or drink anything! She was just slumped over on the couch... she would only get off the couch if she thought I was going to leave her alone.

By 1 PM, no food, no fluids, no energy and no wet diapers since early that morning I got worried about her and made an appointment. The appointment was for 4 PM, of course we didn't see the Doctor until 5 PM! I love our pediatrician! He has been the doctor for both of our kids and Cameron is almost 12 so I must like him!

The doctor asked me a bunch of questions... examined her carefully... typed some stuff in his notes... looked at her again... asked me more questions... at this point I am getting very nervous about what he is going to tell me. He tells me he thinks she has the stomach flu (I knew that) then he tells me that the flu this year has been know to cause Pneumonia and Diabetes! He said that she is dehydrated and would benefit from a night of IV fluids! At this point I am already so worried about her I just want her to be better!

Chad called right after I left the Doctors because I told him our appointment was at 4 and it was 5:30 and he hadn't heard from us... I was sobbing of course... I told him through all the tears that he wanted to admit Casey for IV fluids and some blood work. He left work immediately and met me at the admitting while I was checking in. I called my mom to call Cameron since he was home by himself waiting for me to take Casey to the doctor.

The picture is what the nurses gave to Casey when we got to our room. A lady bag and a blankie.

It was shift change when we got to the hospital. The off going shift got her vitals and changed her into a little hospital gown complete with ties in the back and some pants. I talked to the resident doctor that would be taking care of her through the night, more questions, more worries. She took a little nap in Daddy's arms while we waited for the nurses to get done with report to come give her the IV.

Then in walks the CHARGE NURSE... another story about her... she and a couple of nurses aides got her IV in, I was only going to give them 1 chance to poke her and then I was calling on some friends from NICU to do her IV. Lucky for them they got it in! I held her while Dad talked to her so she wasn't watching them poke her. Through her sobbing tears she answered all of Dad's questions about where the doggies were and where "guy" and the ferrets were. She was such a trooper! They put a little stick on baggie to try to get a urine sample, the CHARGE NURSE wanted to just cath her, I didn't want her to be more traumatized than she needed to be so I wanted them to use the bag.

IV done we are off to our room where we are staying the night. Chad went home to shower and to pick up Cameron. Her bolus of fluids got done and they gave her some more fluids that had potassium in them... about 300 mL into that bag of fluids and she was a different kid. We were walking in the halls (she associates all walks with my friend Verlynne so she was quite upset that she wasn't there), eating jello and asking the nurses for crackers. With Casey feeling a little better Chad headed home.

I got some urine in the bag, the CHARGE NURSE said it wasn't enough and that she wanted to straight cath her. I talked to the resident about my concerns about that and she agreed to try the bag one more time and if it didn't work to just talk to Dr. Lauret in the morning.

Cameron threw up himself 3 times... didn't know this until Verlynne picked him up after school. He is fine, he ate like 4 pieces of pizza that night. Good to be a boy huh?

My friend Stephanie was working that night so on her lunch break she came over to see us and she brought me some food since all I had for nutrients all day was coffee... thank heaven for coffee... Casey ended up with some pretty bad diarrhea that night which was kind of a set-back. After her 3rd bout of it the nurses came in to draw some blood from her. 3 pokes later and after I had to tell them when they had blown her vein and why they shouldn't use the vein they were digging around in they left us alone for a while. I think it was 4:30 before we got to sleep.

The next day, after breakfast, Dr. Lauret came in to see us. He said the diarrhea was okay, as long as she is getting in more than what is coming out. He was as upset as I was that the CHARGE NURSE said there wasn't enough for the test, he said all he needed was a drop. He decided to let us off the hook for that test but he wanted to check her poop, no problem, she has had diarrhea. Lunch was going to be the test if she can go home. He said she could have regular food because up to this point all she has had is clear liquids and crackers. Her first tray was liquids, then they ordered her a regular tray and I talked to dietary and got her mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. We had 3 trays, she had to eat something, right?

It was slow but she ate, and we walked, and she would eat some more. The resident came in and talked to us and we said we felt good about taking her home. He said he had to page Dr. Lauret before he would let us go. So we walked some more. This time she was actually walking around instead of being carried. We would pass the resident in the hall and I told Casey to ask him if she could go home... dirty pool I know.

(While we were in the hospital we watched hours and hours of blues clues!)

This picture is dark but she was looking at the cars from 4 stories up waiting to be sent home. I guess she is not afraid of heights.

We got home around 4 PM on Tuesday... very long week, month, week, whatever I have lost track. I am so happy she truly is doing better! She ate PIZZA last night for dinner and most of the family was in bed by 9 PM! Now on to Thanksgiving, this year I am thankful that we don't have to spend it in the hospital and we will be able to do family pictures with the Christensen family (all 40 of us).

This is her now, watching her shows and dancing around... whew... what a relief.

Horray!

It's official! We were able to go an entire day without vomit! Casey still isn't eating very well but she is holding down fluids and a little food. Woot! Woot!

Only 2 more weeks till our Wendover trip! I am so excited!

3 more weeks till we should have puppies, I am a first time puppy grandma so wish me luck!

31/2 weeks of school left! I am so done with this semester!

All I can say is thank goodness for family, good friends and massive amounts of coffee or I would have never made it through the past couple of weeks. I am sure the next few weeks will be the same!

Poor Baby...

So last night, actually early this morning, when I finished my paper (about 4 AM). I went in to check on Casey because she had been coughing and crying a little. Well the coughing was actually throwing up!

I got her out of bed and we headed downstairs to watch her shows and get her cleaned up. She proceeded to throw up several more time through the night, I feel so bad for her! She finally fell asleep around 6:30 and I moved her to our bed hoping to get some sleep.

We slept till almost 9:00 when she threw up again, and then again an hour or so later. It was almost 1 PM before I could get her to drink anything! She had some toast and was able to hold that and her Gatorade down.

I just put her down for a nap and now I have to run to school to fix the mistakes my lab "partner" made while doing some work on our unknown bacteria this morning!!!

Sleep count so far for me is 5 hours plus cat naps on the couch when I can since Tuesday morning (the last time I slept well was Monday night and that was still a late night because I was working on a study guide for my Micro test I have to take by Saturday!) Thank goodness for coffee!

What kind of shoe are you?

You Are Flip Flops

You are laid back and very friendly. Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about. Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual. It takes a lot to get you to dress up! You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake. You tend to “play hooky” and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people. You should live: By the beach You should work: At a casual up and coming company

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Denae posted a quiz on her blog and I found this one... FYI.... I am working on a "formal paper" that I have been blowing off, I should have started it about a week ago and I am having writers block right now.

Cameron's new (used) bed!!

The bunk beds are gone!! I have not liked the bunk beds for a while, I have taken them apart and put them back together enough times in the 8 years that Cameron has had them to detest them a little. Missy inherited the headache er I mean bunks from me for her boys. We gave Cameron our old double bed, Chad hates our old bed (causes him back pain, too soft), Cameron LOVES it. We got this headboard from KSL.com, was advertised as a full, is clearly a queen size (sigh). Cameron says he doesn't care that it sticks out 3 inches on each side! We just had to set it against the wall.

This is his canoe bookshelf, not new, I searched and searched for this. Found it on KSL.com of course! We actually got this when we had our apartment in Provo.

Fishing/Camping decorations that I bought for him when I got the bunk beds. Things are finally coming together.

These don't really match, the stuffed German Shepherd was given to my grandpa by my mom before I was born. It used to sit in the back window of his car. When he sold his car it got moved to his bedroom, thats where we found it after he died. We thought Cameron should have it. They had a special relationship. The pic is of Grandpa's WW 2 tanker!

Cameron's dresser, again something we bought him when we lived in our Provo apartment. But it matches! I moved it from the other side of his room, full of clothes, because I am a dork and didn't think to take the drawers out! LOL.

This is Cameron's desk that Chad and I stole from him when we moved to Provo. I thought it would be nice to give it back to him so he could have a place to do his homework away from his little sister. And since it's his anyway. LOL.

This is the whole thing put together. I am going to get him a new comforter set for Christmas that will go along with the decorations and his personality better. Do they make Camping/Fishing/Pre-teenage boy comforters?!?!

Peaceful

On Tuesday my friend Verlynne and I went for a long walk up Hobble Creek canyon. We actually try to do it at least once a week, sometimes twice. This picture was taken on the way back, it was just so peaceful.

This trip was special. I took BOTH dogs (thats about 155 lbs of dog muscle) and Casey in a stroller. I usually take Abby, our smaller dog, and Casey but I have been feeling bad about Tegun always being left behind because he is so big, strong, and I have to say he is a little bit of a FREAK when it comes to going for walks. It's our own fault. We don't take him enough. He can burn out Chad's arm pretty quick when he is walking him from all the pulling.

Verlynne also had both of her dogs, Molly and Sadie, a small dog and a medium sized dog.

Overall the walk went well. The initial task of getting the dogs out of the back of the jeep, getting Casey in her stroller and introducing the dogs to eachother was quite the task, but after about 5 minutes of walking we had a good pace going and everybody was in walk mode. I was even able to tie Tegun's AND Abby's leash to the stroller and I only held them tight if someone was approaching on the trail. No pulling, no being mean to Verlynne's dogs. I was pleasently surprised.

We walked for about 2 hours up and back. Verlynne always lets her dogs off lead to run on the trail. I let Abby, she usually stays within about 5 feet of me because she is such a chicken. I got brave and let Tegun off his leash. He actually played with Molly, Verlynne's smaller dog! I was amazed and like a proud mom! He hasn't had many doggy friends so I suspected he would try to eat her. I even brought his muzzle just in case (that was tried during the inital meeting but he rubbed the skin off the end of his nose trying to get it off before we got out of the driveway). Having Tegun there playing with the other dogs even brought Abby out of her shell a little. I think she liked having Tegun there, she is more sure of herself when he is around.

I really enjoy my walks with Verlynne, we talk about school, work, kids and anything else that may come up. Eventhough we both have so much to do during the day it is a good way to reset and it gives me a energetic boost to get me through the rest of the week! I love it!

Finally!

As many of you might know the whole bedtime routine has been a little difficult around our house. We have grown a lot the past couple of months, I say we because there has been a lot of growing on behalf of the kids and the parents.

When Casey turned 2 I talked to her doctor about her giving up the bottle, I expressed my concerns with her screaming for 4 hours when we tried to take them away... me working graveyards and needing a nap more than her... her very over-worked daddy handling things by himself while I am always gone to school/work. He was very supportive and understanding and believed things would happen eventually.

We were ALL finally ready to pack up the baba's. It had been a while since we had caved and given Casey a bottle for bed and she hardly even asked for one, if she did she was easily talked out of it. I think we left them in the cupboard for SECURITY. Casey was very helpful in packing them away and now bottles are deemed "yucky and for babies". Woot! Woot! Now for potty training... um... yea... maybe some other time. So far her response to going pee in the potty is a big fat NO!

Cameron has decided to grow up a little too... only his got him into trouble... lets just say he is a horrible liar and I so busted him! I think he would be upset if I shared his shameful moment so I will just leave it at that. I am not looking forward to him being a teenager! UGH!

Chad continues to work 6 days a week. His boss is getting chemo and can't work so many days a week. Some weeks he gets a day off during the week and I actually get to see him, but most weeks we play the pass off game with the kids and the day to day. Crazy-ness is all around us.

In other news.... UVU has decided I was their 89th choice out of 40 spots for the nursing program for January. Lets just hope there were more than 89 applicants and that I didn't come in dead last! I suppose my 3.52 GPA for my pre-reqs was not up to their standards. So I am on to another semester and on to another plan on how to get into a nursing program without spending a fortune!

Very Important...Because I have today

Okay, Here is the scoop. I don't really know this family. They live in my Sister-in-laws ward in Harriman (sp?). I am a health care worker and a mother and I have been touched by this little boys struggle. Please nominate them for this award. They have lost something so precious and at the same time they have gained so much strength all from such a little boy!

"There are people who change our lives. Their influence inspires us to live life to the fullest and be our best everyday. Because of their strength, we are stronger. Because of their faith we are more faithful. Simply put, we are better just for knowing them.

The "Because I Have Today" Award gives you the opportunity to honor those people in your lives - let them know the difference they have made." Hilary Weeks

If you have been touched by Trent Duvals story - and would like to nominate the Duval Family for this award, (or any other family) please go to the following link to read about this award or send an email to todayaward@hilaryweeks.com and nominate Trent and his family.
Be sure to follow the instructions on what to include in your email.

Include your name and phone number as well as the nominee's first name, address and phone number. Photographs attached to the email are welcome. Please submit the nomination from your perspective rather than referring the selection committee to a blog site.

As part of your nomination please include the following statement: `I give permission for the information submitted in my nomination to be displayed and viewed at hilaryweeks.com. I understand that permission will be obtained from the winner before any comment or response by the recipient is used`.

Because I have today.....I'll enjoy the simple things!

Below is a link to Trent's blog, it's kind of a journal about his fight with Leukemia, if you want to get to know him and his family a little better before nominating them! This family really makes you appreciate all the little things in life.
I emailed my sister-in-law to get their address and stuff so if you want to nominate them let me know and I will get the info to you!

http://trentduval.blogspot.com/

For sure have a box of tissues handy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Halloween from the Christensen's!

It took about 45 min to do hair and make-up for this Halloween.
I did Cameron's first and by the time I was almost done
Casey thought it would be a good idea for me to "baby paint" her face too.
Thank goodness.
What is a puppy costume without a spot around the eye,
a black nose and whiskers?!?
We went to my mom's house to show her the costumes and do some Trick or Treating.
Then we came home and had some Navajo Tacos (first timer) for dinner.
They were nummy!
Cameron went out in the neighborhood with some of his friends.
Overall a good Halloween!

This picture is cute because Casey is trying to sit on the porch the same way Cameron is...

I just like to do pics of them standing next to each other because there is such an age difference between them so I think it is cute so see them side by side.

Cameron, the shredder ware-wolf!
P.S. I am a first timer on the ware-wolf make-up!
Not too shabby.

You can't really see it but we sacrificed a doll for the hair (she had cancer anyway ;)~j/k) and I hot-glue-gunned the hair to the sleeves of his shirt for hand hair.

I thought it would hurt him less if I glued it to the shirt instead of his hands.
I know, you are thinking I am TOTALLY getting mom-of-the-year for that one!!!! LOL!

Kind of DORKY but it works!

Puppy dog whiskers and a cute wet nose!

This is Casey getting the hang of Trick or Treating.
She is a quick learner when there is CANDY involved!

P.S.S
This is why Casey had piggy (doggy) tails for ears instead of wearing her hood.
She fought it!
And yes, I am holding her hands so she can't take off the hood so we could get just 1 picture of her with her floppy doggy ears!