Christian's Birthday!

Traditional birthday breakfast of choice in bed 2009

His buddies at his party 2009

My baby turned 9 yesterday! Wow, where have the years gone? 9 years ago...

My due date with Christian was January 8th. January 8th came and went...and he wasn't ready. So, I visited my doctor and they decided if he didn't come by January 18th, I would go in for an induction. Late January 15th, I was having regular contractions. We called my aunt Mychelle to come be with Benjamin so we could go in. She arrived and I went in, they hooked me up..meanwhile both Chad AND Benjamin have the flu, so while I am in my hospital bed, Chad is in the bathroom getting sick.
After a few hours hooked up to machines, they decide my contractions are far enough apart that they send me home. We go home to our 2 year old late Sat night/early Sunday morning and my aunt goes home....my mom is on her way from her house which at the time was more than 2 hours away. Sunday morning both Benjamin and Chad are very sick, and I have yet to sleep. Gratefully both my sister Jacobi and my mom came so they were able to make meals, clean messes and take care of the 2 year old because I don't care what those doctors say...I am contracting and I am in PAIN! Sunday evening I go back to the hospital and they give me morphine to help me sleep, I haven't slept since Friday night/Sat morning and I am exhausted from contractions. They send me home after a 2 hour nap, and I am finally feeling no pain! My mom goes home, it seems as though things have calmed down so she thinks she can go to work on Monday before my induction on Tuesday. My little sister stays to be with Benjmain "just in case" Monday morning I wake up in FULL labor! The morphine has worn off and this baby is coming! I cry my way to the hospital where I am hooked up to the epidural-not a moment to spare- (Chad passed out while they poked me with the needles, but not getting sick anymore which is good) My mom turns around and comes BACK to Rochester, and at 3:47 I start to push. At 3:52, on January 17th 2000, my beautiful, happy, perfect color, wonderfully healthy, Christian Jacob enters the world with his beautiful singing voice. He weighed 8lbs 1 oz and he is absolutely breathtaking! 20 min later my mom arrived back at the hospital to see her newest grandson. He was welcomed later by his big brother Benjamin who couldn't get very close because he was still pretty sick, but was too excited to stay home and not meet the baby.
Christian has always been able to make me laugh. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, sincere, funny, capable, and creative. He humors us with his wit, he entertains us with his songs, he captivates me with his ideas and his stories, and he blesses me with his love. I am more and more proud of that young man and the person he is becoming everyday. I thank God for choosing me to help guide him in this world. I should have known based on the way he entered this world that he would dance to his own drummer, take his sweet time to do nearly everything, and posess no sense of urgency...but he is who he is, and I am honored to share his life with him.
I wish I had baby pictures on the computer, but 9 years ago we did not have a digital camera, and I just haven't taken the time to scan any in, but here are some shots of Christian from age 4 on...he is turning more and more into a little man!

Age 4

Summer of 2005

Spring of 2006, he broke his shoulder falling off the bed. His kindergarten buddy Ethan wouldn't even let me help him with his coat and backpack at school. He made sure to take care of Christian...they've been best buds ever since

Winter 2006--He almost always has a bruise on his head somewhere! He has the strongest head ever! This was taken skiing at Coffee Mill.

Summer 2006--He drove the boat home from Pepin to Wabasha! He did a great job!

Summer 2006- Playing the piano...I wish he would take lessons!

Summer 2006

Nisswa, Summer 2008--eating ice cream, chocolate of course!!

Spring 2008--freeing himself from being locked in our bedroom! The door handle broke so when the door closed we couldn't get him out. He had to take the door off the hinges. He was in there for over 45 minutes!

Jeez I love this kid......