The 3rd and 4th of July

We had such an amazing day on Saturday we got to spend so much time as a family and we had a couple firsts for Christian!

Like his first ride on a fourwheeler with daddy! I have to admit I was a nervous wreck, he seemed to like it okay though. I hope I have a camera handy for all the fun things Chris gets to experience with Christian.

We spent the evening in Morgan at Chris's parents and Sienna had a blast she loves her grandma Gail and grandpa Frank SO much! It was her first 4th of July with her little brother!

I love his red white and blue outfit he looked like a little hillbilly!

We went to the football field to watch the fire works and it was FREEZING!

We were cuddling so we could keep warm before the show

I was pretty nervous that the sound from the firework show was going to freak Christian out, but as soon as the show started he was amazed!

We had such a good time, I am so glad that we have such beautiful children to celebrate the holidays with!

I am SO proud of my brother and husband who continue to serve our country so we can be free and enjoy this holiday!

I love my children

I have such adorable kids! Christian already adores Sienna and she told me that he is her best friend the other day! I can't believe she will be starting second grade in August, it seems like just yesterday she was in diapers! She is growing into such an amazing, well behaved little lady! She said the family prayer the other night and made sure to thank God for her little brother and the sunshine, it was too cute! I love watching her grow and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

All Smiles

He is getting SO big so fast! He always has a smile on his face and he's really photogenic, I love it!

Dear Christian

It's amazing to say the least how very much the day you were born has changed my life forever. You are loved and cherished by so many people and it is so fun watching you grow. You turned 12 weeks old on Tuesday and these past couple of weeks you have been learning some fun new things. You have this amazing smile that shines all the way to your eyes and these ginormous dimples that melt my heart (and everyone elses) you laughed once last week but I can't for the life of me get you to do it again! You have started screaming at me when you want my attention, at this point I think it's cute but I'm sure by this time next month it will be driving me crazy. Your big sister is amazed by you, she loves blowing rasberries at you and watching you smile and try to do it back, she makes sure to give you hugs and kisses everynight before she goes to bed and I think when you cry it breaks her heart because she runs to you and does everything she can to cheer you up, sometimes she is the only person who can calm you down. Your daddy couldn't ask for anything more than having two beautiful children. He basks in his glory everytime someone tells us how much you look like him, which is often.....very often.... He loves to play with you and is so excited for the day that you will be able to go fishing with him. We love you more than words can say and we're so blessed to have you in our lives.

Spring is in the air

I love how much she loves him

                Even if it's still snowing in Utah :-) I can't believe it has been 7 weeks since the BIG day! Things have been running very smoothly in the Volkert house and we have all adjusted quite well to the newest addition to our family. Sienna is almost finished with the first grade, and is looking forward to summer break. Chris and I are trying to plan an amazing summer vacation, it's kind of hard to work around his school and reserve schedule but we are managing. Christian sleeps through the night which for a 7 week old is quite an accomplishment! He is such a good baby and I feel so very blessed. This week I have been able to make him smile and he is developing such a cute personality, I can't believe how big he is getting! He has his 2 month check up on the 25th, I am anxious to see how much weight he has gained but I am not looking forward to him getting his shots. I wish I could put into words how much Sienna loves her little brother and how helpful she is with him, I just love watching her interact with him when she thinks no one is looking. She loves giving him kisses and calming him down when he's upset and he adores her already. I LOVE it!!!! The lord really has blessed me with 2 amazing children. I couldn't ask for a better family! On another note I am driving to Buhl this weekend, just Sienna Christian and I, to pick up my mom. I am excited for her to come and stay a few days with us she is so much fun to have around not to mention incredibly helpful! Then shortly after she gets here my sister in law should be having her baby! So we are all going to drive to Las Vegas to meet my niece and my oldest brother Jeremy will finally be meeting Christian! I seriously can't wait, my summer is already off to a good start.

He's getting so big!

Not so happy to be in a tie!

Cutest pouty face EVER!!!

Mommy makes me smile!

   

Labor and Delivery

I just had to post this because I felt the need to brag :-) I started having close contractions at about 8 in the morning on the 23rd but they weren't as painful as I thought they should be ( I've never been in labor so I imagined they'd be much more painful ). Well I happened to have a doctors appointment at 11:30 so I decided to just go about my business until my appointment. By the time 11:00 rolled around my contractions had consistently been 4 minutes apart for about 3 hours but I was still determined to go to the doctors office first, I didn't want to go to the hospital for false labor :-) I had called my mom and told her at 9 what was going on and she was having a fit because I wasn't going straight to the hospital, she just kept telling me " I hope Chris knows how to tie off an umblical chord " but I kept telling her that it was probably false labor, I mean hey, I'm still not due for 6 more days, it was 3 weeks early and everyone kept telling me that when you have your first baby your usually over due. At 11:30 we finally got to my appointment and I got right in (there was no wait, thank God) and the doctor asked me why in the heck I wasn't at the hospital because I was having a baby... I must admit, I felt a little dumb, but I did not want to go to the hospital and waste time. So we got to the hospital pretty quickly, I was admitted at noon and dilated to a 5, they gave me the epideral 20 mintues after arriving, the doctor came in at 1:30 to break my bag and I was dilated to a 6, when he came in he told me things were going quickly and that he would probably be back in around 5 or 6 to help deliver our baby. As soon as he left I started dilating a centimeter every 30 minutes so the nurse had to call him back pretty quickly. I had Christian at 3:21 in 3 sets of pushes it was the easiest thing I've ever done and it terrifies me because I just know that I will never have such an easy labor and delivery again! By the time they sent me home 2 days later I definetly did not feel like I had just had a baby! The lord really blessed me with him :-)

I had to post my last belly picture, it feels weird not having one anymore!

Special Delivery!

Christian Douglas decided to grace our presents 3 weeks early! He was born at 3:21 pm on March 23rd, he weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 inches long. I can't believe he is 2 weeks already! Sienna is an amazing big sister to him she loves to help out. She loves giving him kisses, fixing his hair into a mohawk and laughing at the million funny faces he makes a day :-) Chris is a proud daddy he has been amazing at helping out and I am so happy he finally has a little boy! My mom came the first week to help out and boy did she ever! I was so scared that when she left I wouldn't be able to keep up but I am managing. Christian is so adorable in every way imaginable I love just watching him sleep. He doesn't let me get to much sleep though, he wakes up about every 2 hours at night to eat and then sleeps really well during the day, needless to say I am learning to function off of about 4 hours of sleep a day :-) Everyone says that he looks just like Chris but I think the older he's getting the more he's looking like me, I'll let you be the judge. Either way, Chris and I make some pretty cute kids :-)