Christmas come and gone

We got the chance to travel to farmington, nm for Christmas. We got to see lots of family and we enjoyed ourselves very much. Christmas Eve was spent at my aunts Tammi's house having diner and the kids acting out the nativity story and playing games. Christmas morning we wake up ashley to open gift but I would say too early. she was very tired and wanted to keep sleeping longer but we needed to get presents opened before church. As we were getting the camera ready Ashley became very very mad that she could not go out of the bedroom. We let her go down the hall and showed her what santa had brought her ( a new trcycle). She was so made she wanted to just sit and cry and have a fit. After about 10 mins she decided she wanted her trycycle and calmed down. We started opening gifts and ashley loved it. She would open a gift and move on to the next gift before finding out what she got in the first gift. When she was done with her gifts she went around and helped who ever still had gifts to open theirs. She would even open the gifts that did not need to be opened yet.
 We went to church with my family and then had a great family diner. We also went to Tyler's brother's house to spent some time with his family for Christmas. Ashley once again open up gift that were not for her when no one was looking. The rest of the trip was spent between Tyler's family and mine going going going all over the place. I am glad we got to see lots of family but wish it we could have stayed longer. Tyler wanted to come home and spend time just us before his has to go back to work. Our camera was not charging so by the time we got it working I forgot and did not take any pictures! Which after all it was done I am not happy about it but of well. All in all we are glad to be home but miss family but had a great Christmas!

Baby and Ashley

Today I am 18 weeks and 4 days. I had a doctors apt this afternoon and everything seems to be going good. Heartbeat is strong and sounds great. We finally have a date for an ultrasound which will be Jan. 4th. or sooner if they have an opening come up! Finding out is like getting a late christmas gift! I can't wait. I love 20 weeks ultrasound and being able to get lots of pictures and really see the baby more. So they guessing continues if you have not done so already! Boy or Girl? We will see very soon!

Ashley has been talking more and more lately and I am thankful for the talking. She has always been a talker but now we can finally start to understand a little more. Her word for this week is Yes! She says it to everything. She loves to watch movies and tries to sing to the songs during the movies. She is really wanting to open up gifts and she does not want to wait any longer. We are excited to go to farmington and enjoy christmas with our family. I am sure Ashley will enjoy everything.

New dress

I decided to make a dress for Ashley this year and it worked out really well. It is a little big but that is ok. That way she can wear it for longer then a month or two. She loves to dress up so she liked having a new dress to wear! 

Ashley does not like to take pictures and she sat still which is amazing! Finally able to get a good picture of her. (ps that is her cheesy smile)

16 weeks

Friday the 2nd of December marks 16 weeks or 4 months of being prego! I have an appointment next week and then we will get the apt to find out what we are having after that! I can't wait to find out! Tyler thinks it will be a boy and I think it will be a boy most of the time! Sometimes I think a girl but then go to thinking a boy. So I guess we will have to wait and find out for sure!

Check up a poll on my blog to give your guess on what we are having boy or girl!

Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas

Thanksgiving we decided not to go anywhere and just stay home. Tyler works nights so driving thanksgiving day since tyler had to work the night before did not sound like something we wanted to do! We had our own little Thanksgiving diner (the first time I have ever cooked everything by my self in cluding the turkey.) We later went to my uncles house who lives in gilbert and went for a walk with him for the afternoon. I turned out to be a nice thanksgiving even though we missed all of our family that we did not get to see.

That night I thought I would go black friday shopping at walmart why I am not sure. I had some awesome things I wanted to get for Tyler. First of all I will never do that again. There was no parking and by time I got into the store it was crazy. There were no shopping carts so I asked this old lady if I could help her to her car and than have her cart after. Well we walked outside and the lady could not remember where she parked her car so we walked all over looking for her car. In the end she thought she needed to think about where she parked and wanted to go inside to think it over. In the end and 20 mins later did not find the ladies car and no shopping cart. I decided at that point to carry what I wanted to get and choose only one thing out of the three since there was no way I was going to carry all three. Got in line and got checked out really quick and left very quickly. Bytheway they stoped letting people into walmart because it had meet the max amount of people allowed in the store. Went home went to bed and woke at 4am to go do more shopping! I know I am a little crazy for some reason I love it. We only went to JCP and we were in and out within 10 min and we got everything that we wanted to get. Went back home and went back to bed.

That day we got the christmas tree up and ashley loved every min of it. I love putting the tree up right after Thanksgiving then i feel all the hard work and hours of putting the tree together does not just get taken down in a week or so. Ashley has to turn the lights on everyday and kiss all her ordaments that she can. She has left all the gifts alone under the tree so far which is amazing since she loved to open gifts. So we are almost ready for Christmas and I for one can't wait for it to be here!

Baby!

Due date has been changed for sure now to May 18th 2012! We had an ultrasound to confirm the date due since I got pregnant so quick! (I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks after stopping birth control!) The ultrasound did show the baby was a little bit smaller so they moved it out 6 days! Which in my mind is not a huge deal. I have an appointment next month and the doctor is hoping than we will be able to do the ultrasound to find out what we are having! I can't wait! I do not perfer a boy or girl but I like knowing so I can get everything ready! If it is a girl than we are good to go! Boy well we have some shopping to do! I just can't wait to find out! So far we are doing good baby is developing good and looks good!

Halloween

(This was supposed to post weeks ago but did not for some reason)

We had a ward halloween party the saturday before and it was a lot of fun. Chilli cook off and lots of good food. Games for the kids and of course Trunk or Treating! This was Ashley's 3rd halloween but the first time we decided to stay and let her go truck or treating. She loved it. She said Trick or treat (some what) to the people and thank you every time. Our ward also does a pumkin carving contest and tyler own again this year! This what he did this year!

Ashley was little red riding hood and she loved her cape! She loved running with it. I made it early in the week and she keep asking to wear it.

Tyler and I choose to do 50's and I think it turned out pretty good!

On Halloween night I decided we would just stay home and hand out candy for the night and ashley had so much fun. She had to make sure everyone got 2 candies and she put them in the bags herself. Well that was until the older kids came looking really scary and then she ran away! Tyler convinced me to take Ashley trick or treating around our neiborhood. He had to work that night so he wanted to make sure she got to do it even if he could not take her. She had so much fun. We live in an area that a lot of our ward does also so it was fun to see all the kids from primary out trick or treating. She would run up to the door and hell trick or treat until they would answer the door after she would knock. We only went to 5 or so house and went back home and continued to hand out candy. Overall it was a great night and I am glad you was so excited about it.

News

Well if you have not heard Christiansen Baby #2 is on the way! We are so excited! I am due May 12 as far as we know. We had a Ultrasound done and the baby is smaller than normal so they might move the date up to the 18th so when we go back to the doctor in Nov she will decided the date for sure!

Oh and to tell the family we made ashley a t-shirt that said Big Sister In Training!

Ashley 2nd Birthday

Ashley turned 2 on Sept 5 th! I know almost a month ago! I have been really busy with homework and life and forgot to post! She had a kids birthday party the saturday before and we invited all her nursery friends to come swimming at our community pool. Sunday we had a small family birthday party since my mom and Tyler mom were both in town to celebrate with us. She seems to have a really good weekend and I can't believe she is 2 already! She is growing and getting bigger everyday.

Quick Family weekend Trip

Since school was starting again Tyler wanted to take a quick trip away! So we went to Long Beach, CA. It is about a 6 hr drive from our place which is not too bad. We woke up really early Saturday drove to Long Beach and spent the day getting to know the area since we had never been there before and going to the beach of course. Tyler and I and Ashley love the beach! Ashley and I did not care for the water since it was so cold! We also took Tyler's brother Jay who is living with us! He has never been to California or seen the beach so he was way excited to be doing so!

While at the beach Tyler and his brother were swimming in the ocean and I look over Tyler is on the beach and called me over to him. I went over just as the beach medical was coming also. He was in a lot of pain and blood was pouring out from his foot. I asked him what had happen and he said he had no idea what got him but it hurt. The beach person said he got stung by a stingray and it does hurt. Well they had to take him somewhere to put his foot in hot water but could not get the water hot enough so they sent us to our hotel to be able to put his foot in hot water to help with the pain. I have never seen Tyler in so much pain. Once in the hot water the pain got so much better. The life guard said that it is like someone taking a steak knife and stabbing you and pulling it out and leaving stuff in there that hurts worse. Well all in all it was a pretty good day! We spent the night walking the main pier. Here are some pictures of our weekend.

This picture above was taken right before the stingray happened!

Ashley was loving the feel of sand on her! She would rub it on her arms and laugh!

Picture above is off the Long Beach pier and that is the Queen Mary and it is huge! She looks just like the titanic so cool! You can pay and walk on the boat but we did not have time!
LA Temple! We wanted to a least stop and take pictures on our way home! Such a peaceful temple grounds. It is surround by city and busy streets but become so quiet once you enter the grounds. The picture before is Ashley on the temple grounds.

where has the time gone?

Wow it has been over a month since my last post! I was hoping that because I was home more that I would post more but so far that is not the case so here is a little update!

Tyler is busy going to school and work! He is gone Monday thru Friday from 7 am to 11pm! Not sure what his schedule will be this next semester but I am sure it will be about the same! We miss him and look forward to spending time on the weekends! He is such a hard working and I am proud to have such a wonderful husband.

Me, well I am staying home and making the most out of my time. Going to the gym and enjoying being a mom! I love being a mom maker and I love that I finally have the time to do so! My house is clean more and the laundry is done and I don't have to worry about doing it at night or on the weekends! I have time to do things I love to do and look forward to crafty sewy stuff I can do!

Ashley is great! She is so much fun and gets a lot of her humor from her dad (not too sure if that is a good thing yet.) She is always saying gross when she does not like things. She is very talkative and is very good at telling us what she wants, such as hungry or wants some juice! This weekend we finally were able to throw away the pacifier!! She cried a lot the first night but finally went to sleep and did fine. The next day we bought her a new doll for her to sleep with and for some reason it calmed her down and she has not had a problem with not having it at all! Her newest thing is her diaper!!! She hates to wear a diaper or anything for that matter! it is not that she wants to wear underwear or do use the potty chair she just like to take her diaper off! So we always have to check during naps and night time to make sure she still has a diaper on! She will wake up take it off and than go back to sleep! Not sure why but it has been a mess to clean up! So we bought a potty chair and we will see what she thinks! Any Idea feel free to share!!
She is very good little girl and i am thankful for her and the energy and spirit she brings into our lives!


Where have we been the past month? going going gone!
Ashley and I decided to head back to farmington with my parents after they were in AZ for the weekend! We stayed a couple of days in NM and enjoyed all our family! We got to celebrate Molly's birthday with her! Ashley loved playing and did not want to leave! We than decided to go with my mom to Idaho to see my brother Derek and his wife for the weekend. We left and drove the full 12 hours! I was not sure how this was going to go over! Ashley gets car sick and that is a long time to be in a car for a almost 2 yr old! She is awesome! We were able to give her something to help her not get sick which helped a lot. Movies got to love movies! She watched so many movies and she did not cry or get upset the whole trip! She was wonderful! We got to Idaho and enjoyed spending time with Derek and Amanda! They are such a cute family and I just wish we were able to see them more often and spend more time with them. We took a day trip to Jackson hole, Wyoming. It was such a pretty drive and a cute little town and we ate the best burgers there! We stayed for a couple more days with Derek and we headed from Idaho to AZ! Another long day of driving decided to stay in UT for the night and than continue on our way the next morning! All in all it was a great trip and it was the longest trip I have spent with my mom in a long time and I really enjoyed our time together! My mom ended up staying the the rest of the week with us so we spent 2 weeks with her! Ashley was sad to see her go and still asks where her Grandma is! I look forward to maybe planning another trip with my mom again!

4th weekend fun!

The fourth of July weekend is one that Tyler has looked forward to for a month! Saturday night we went down town Mesa for the Freedom Celebration! They close off main st for miles and have a car show and on the side street they have things for the kids with lots of food and things between everything. You would think being outside in Mesa, AZ would not be fun and did I mention we hit record highs that night, 118 degrees that day! Thank goodness for misters and fans that were covering the streets keeping everyone cool, and it really did not feel that hot! We walked the whole thing checking out all the cars and walked around the kids stuff! To end the night they shot off fireworks off the top of the buildings that everyone was standing under. We decided to get away from the crowd and went and found a grassy area to sit on and watch the fireworks. Ashley had a great time and she did get a little scared at first but than decided they were Pretty! She keep say pretty oh pretty the whole time!

Getting ready to go to the celebration on Saturday!
First time french braiding her whole hair!

Watching the fireworks!

One of the many cars on the street! Just one of my favorite cars!

This girl was there for the play Cinderella is going on this next month and Ashley thought she was great! She even told her thank you after we took her picture!

Monday we had a BBQ and of course made homemade Ice Cream. We decided to set off a few fireworks off that night and Ashley was not so sure about those fireworks! The ones that were loud she did not like, all the others were pretty! All in all it was a great weekend!

Hot hot hot

Well living in AZ of course it is HOT! it has been around 112 lately! Most of the time I love the heat! Saturday Ashley got to go to her first pool birthday party that was not for her. All of her friends from nursery were invited. It was a lot of fun. We played at the pool for over 2 hours. Ashley had so much fun to have kids her age in the pool with her. Tyler and I got really burnt and are now paying for it! Ashley thank goodness only got her head burnt a tiny bit! We look forward to the time spent at the pool and are thankful to have a community pool we can use anytime we want!
on other notes Tyler got another Job offer and excepted. He will be working for Boeing! He is very excited and will start the end of this week! He pays way better than his current job so I am way excited for him! It is also really close to home so less to spend on gas!!! We have been blessed in so many ways and I am so thankful for all that we have been given!

much needed update!

Hello hello out there! It has been a crazy past month and a lot to update.

Ashley
She is doing good. She is teething a lot and not eating very good still. We are still working with her to get to eat more and different things. She loved pizza and yogurt, and always a great eater if pizza is put in front of her.

Tyler
He began a new Full Time Job a couple of weeks ago. He has not worked full time since Ashley was born. He finally after some thing like 8 yrs got to quit working at applebee's! He is working for ATC which i can't remember what it stands for and way to hard to explain what he does. All I know is he is fixing airplane parts! He is still going t school at night so he has very long days. He will be done with school next May. He loves his job and he is getting experience in the career field before school is completed which is awesome. Just better pay after school is completed.

Me (Brittani)
I decided to become part-time and asked my office manager to do so about a month ago. I was given permission and while on vacation was fired. So I am now a full time stay at home MOM! I have not been home with Ashley full time since she was 6 weeks old. It was hard at first to get used to. While Ashley was napping I found myself very bored. I decided to take up Couponing! I have already saved lots of money and I find it very exciting! I am so glad to be at mom and I am glad Tyler is working so hard so I can stay and home!


Trip to Farmington!
A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Farmington for my little brother Dalin's Graduation. We had planned on leaving thursday during the day but decided to leave Wed night and surprise my parents.Which we did very well. Tyler was not able to go since he had work and school. Dalin Graduated Thursday night and it rained all day long. Yes we sat in the rain for graduation. It was cold also. We decided to leave ashley with Krystal my sister in law so she would not have to sit in the rain and be cold. The graduation was over quick since it was raining. Friday night we had a party for dalin at my grandparents. Good to be around family. In ways like family be close I miss living in farmington. Saturday we drove to Albq. and picked up Tyler at the airport since it was cheap to fly him in and went to the zoo for the day! Tyler's sister and family and my family got to go. Ashley and Kaitlyn had a fun time with each other and seeing all the animals. All in all it was a good weekend. (besides getting fired while there)!! Can't wait to plan our next trip to back to farmington again! So Glad my brother graduated!

4 yrs

4 yrs ago today Tyler and I were married. I am so thankful for Tyler and all his has done for me. Thanks babe for the best 4 yrs. I don't know what I would do without you!

18 months old

Short update: Ashley had her 18 month old check up! She is 20.2 lbs and 33in tall. So still tall and skinny. Her doctor is concerned she is too skinny for how tall she is! So she is on a fat diet! Eat and drinking lots of calories to try and get her weight up! As we explained to her doctor she eats a lot but I guess she needs to eat more fatty foods! So pedisure, whole milk, and lots of snacks! She is learning and growing more each day. She has a big vocabulary and she learns a new word everyday! She tries to sing the spongebob song at the beginning of the show!(which i don't care for but Tyler and her watch it during the day while I am at work.) She still loves Tinkerbell and would watch all three(soon to be 4) movies all day long if we would let her! She loves to write on the sidewalk with chalk and color! She loves books and loved to have a book with her all the time. She is a bundle of fun and I can't wait to be a stay at home mom with her as soon as Tyler is done with school!

Trip to Utah

Tyler grandma who was one of the nicest ladies I have ever meet passed away, so we got to take a trip to Utah! She was sick and the whole family was glad that she did not have to suffer for a long time. This funeral made me really really grateful for the plan of salvation and for belonging to the true church. She was a great lady and you could tell how much she was loved and I am grateful to be part of that family. I am glad that she was finally united with her husband and family that has gone on before her. We were grateful for the opportunity to see all of Tyler's family. We don't get to see his brothers and sister very often. All the kids loved playing with each other and boy are there a lot of girls. 5 girls all under 2 and of course 2 boys who are older, who had a great time playing football with Tyler and his brothers.

We also the the chance to visit Tyler's good friend, who he served the same mission as, and his family. They are some of great friends and we wish we lived closer to them so we could hang out more often!! They have some really cute kids and Ashley loved hanging out with their little girl a lot. We needed more time so we could stay and play for a week, that would be nice.

We decided to not drive the 12 hours back in one night like we did on the way up, so we stopped and stayed in Las Vegas. Tyler's brother Jason has never been so we had a good time walking about and see all the light. Tyler and Jason even rode the ride at the Stratosphere. All in all it was a great weekend and we were glad that we got to go. Below are pictures taken while in Vegas and of the new bridge over the Hoover dam but others we forgot the camera so I will post if we get copies from anyone!

V-Day Gift

(3 posts today sorry I know I am bad about posting more than once in a day)

Tyler is the best and I could not write with out saying how grateful I am for hm.I thankful for what a wonderful artist he is and that I can have a home full of amazing artwork!

Little update

well the Christiansen are finally feeling better for the most part!
Tyler is still a stay at home daddy! He remains home with Ashley during the day and goes to school at night! He is almost thru midterms and he will be half way done at the end of this semester! He is excited to be done and start working with airplanes!

Brittani-(me)- going to school part-time online (just 2 classes) and it is hard but way worth it! I forgot what it is like to be going to school again. I forgot how hard it can be too. I still work full time for an orthopedic surgeon during the day. I love my job but love to be a mom even more and can't wait for Tyler to be done with school.

Ashley- is crazy and funny and full of energy. I love that I don't go a day with out smiling and laughing with her. She loves to talk on the phone to anyone (even herself)! If you give her a phone she will talk your ear off. I have no idea what she is saying it is so funny! I have tried to record her talking but so far no go! She loves Tinker Bell!!!! She will watch Tinker Bell movies and she is quite and sits and wants to watch the whole movie! Makes it nice when I have a lot of homework to get done!! If anything has Tinker Bell on it she wants it too! She gets excited and will kiss it and say ohhhhh! She is growing and getting bigger and her hair is finally getting longer! The mullet look is not as noticeable. She will be 18 month old in March. Can't believe it! But NURSERY HERE WE COME!!! She has been going in for a little bit to get used to it and so far so good! So when March is here she can stay and mom and dad can continue teaching our lesson without interruptions!

Well here is a little update!!

Smile

Ashley has started to do this cheesy smile lately! You can not help but smile and laugh when you see it! So glad I have a happy little girl again!

Sickness!

Sickness has hit our house! Tyler has been sick, Jay (Tyler's brother who is living with us) was sick, and now Ashley is sick and of course I caught it last. Ashley got it the worst though. Sunday and Monday night we did not get any sleep cause Ashley was up all night with High fevers. Like 103 high. Since it went on for over 24 hours we called her Doctor and asked if they felt they needed to see her. Since she was not really showing any other signs of being sick I was not sure what it was going to be. Meeting Tyler at the doctor she was a little stuffy nose and not much more. Test came back and she came up positive for the FLU! The next two days were hard. Tuesday night the flu hit hard. Everything came all at once! I am just glad she is doing better now and started to act more and more like my happy girl again. The #1 question I have gotten from every one or at least the statement is why did she not get a flu shot!! The big reason is she is allergic to eggs and can not get one!! Poor sick girl but I am glad we got it caught in time and it was not worse than it could have been! So when everyone starts feeling better I will post more and catch up!

2011 here we come!

I have decided to set some goals that I would like to do over the next year or hopes i would like done at least.

• Read the whole Book of Mormon over.
• Take and complete college classes.! Signed up for 1 so far in process to sign up for another! Starting out slow have not gone to school in over 6 years, and I don't have much time! Plus I can take my time to get my degree!
• Tyler will be able to get a job or internship by the end of the year!! Or I might have to wait until May 2012 but we will see!
• We would like buy a new vehicle!!
• Take many trips to farmington, only went 2 times last year ( I know seems like a lot to most people) but I would like to go more!
• Cook more and come up with more things to cook!
• Exercise more which I know seems to be a new year thing for everyone but I have been working on this for a while! Just got an exercise bike for it is slowing getting better!
• And last but not least that I can think of right now! Maybe add another little one to the Christiansen family! We will see what the lord has in store for us!

2010

Wow where did last year go! Here is 2010 in a short glance!
Ashley grew and grew and went from my baby into a little girl! She was 4 months old in this picture! We also welcomed three very cute little girls into Tyler's family! Kaitlyn, Violet, and Scarlette! We loved going and spending time in farmington for those girls blessings!
While in Farmington Ashley came out with the chicken pox! This is what she looked like a couple of days after getting back from our trip.
We spent the 4th in Mesa and had a great night down town mesa!

We found out that Ashley has food Allergy's and she is allergic to peanuts and eggs!

We got to go to San Diego and spend a day at seaworld and on the beach. Ashley turned 1!!!
We were able to enjoy all our wonderful family in Mesa for a Cooper family Reunion!
Ashley got professional picture for the first time which was also in her Halloween costume!
Tyler continued school and in the fall finally started doing the program which is will complete! No more basic classes. Only 1 1/2 year left! He will be done with school May 2012!!

We had a wonderful Christmas and year and can't wait to see what this next year has to bring.