Quarantined!!!!!!

Sad Ava with red eyes, cough, and tons of secretions!






Mom dressed me up for a photo shot!

Daddy dressed me up & feeling better today!














Last week Ava was diagnosied with RSV........ an acronym for an Adult cold in a baby. Of course I have spent the last week suctioning, giving breathing treatments, counting respirations, giving chest physiotherapy...and crying. I am sure that we have spent the last 4 weeks indoors, washing hands with saintizer and sick vistiors wearing masks...and still Ava & I get sick. She is doing much better this week but still has a man-sized cough in her tiny body :( My PED said Ava could not ask for a better mom to take care of her right now....I said I do not want to be that kind of mom!
She is still happy as ever with a new trick of smiling when she is talked to & a big frown when she is sad! Thanks for all the calls of concern...it seems when Ava does have a visitor about 3 days later they are sick too.....Ava "vector" Kristensen. We miss seeing all the grandparents! My mom came by last Friday...not as a Grandma but a serious medical visit (G-Ma is a PED nurse practitioner) to assess Ava's clinical status...by sunday my mom has the same cough as Ava...watch out!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Ava Lolabelle's first holiday. The last few weeks we have enjoyed visits from friends and family from near and far. We made our first of probably thousands of trips to the Uinta Basin to see KK's family. To date this is the farthest away from home Lola has been. We have enjoyed the four B's of parenthood: breastfeeding, burping, bathing, and butt-wiping. Who would have thought these simple human functions would be so satisfying. Lola was so happy to see everyone and we really appreciate those who traveled so far to enjoy time with our little family.




Here Ava is enjoying a swaddle bath. This is a technique KK showed me from work. You use a blanket to keep her warm while washing portions of her body at a time. SHE LOVES IT!!!



















"MOMMY!!! I just finished with my facial and you are greasing me up with your lip gloss again!!!!"














Here's Ava with her Grandma Ruth. We stayed with her in Roosevelt for a few days before Easter. Ruth got a lot of quality snugglin/nappin time with her great granddaughter.
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It is easy to see that Aunt Marie is much more exited about birth of her niece than she was with me. She was trying to smile but I was the 7th boy and she still didn't have a little sister.

"See you guys next time"

WE'RE HOME!!!!!!

Today Ava Lolabelle is two weeks old. Looking at her earlier pictures, she has changed but not too much. Kristin is doing as well as could be expected after the surgery. She spends her days with the new one and is a great mother. She has been around newborns for the majority of her nursing career which gave her a head start on the feeding and diaper changing skills. It has not taken very long for me to catch up with her even though Lola usually waits until I am changing her to do her business. Lola really loves her mother, she calms down with the sound of her voice and usually falls right to sleep in her arms. My favorite thing to observe is the way she kisses her daughter all the time. KK cannot do this at work even if she becomes attached to some of the patients she has taken care of. This is good because parents probably do not want the lip gloss residue that I have to constantly wipe off.

I've notice lately that when I log on at school to see my baby, my pictures do not always line up with explanation text. So I decided to place all pictures to one side to see if that helps.



Yep, we couldn't be happier with our little redheaded angel. It feels great to be home.













We had pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. Ava Lolabelle posed like she has a future in front of the camera. Here she is in her Cinderella Princess Dress.












Here she is in her second wardrobe change. Kristin wanted to wet down and curl her hair but I thought it would be cute up.














Here she is later in the shoot. She did so good but as you can see, she was needing a little help from her friend. (and KK hand holding up the bear behind the rug) We all need somebody to lean on.









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Of course I saved the best for last!!!!! We love this picture. Photographer placed her arms crossed and set Ava's chin on top. As soon as she started making her look at me noises, Ava lifted her head up long enough to snap a few shots. At eight days old, I think she is just showing off.

AVA LOLABELLE KRISTENSEN!!!!!

The Silent Redhead.
In the operating room I was sitting at the top of the bed holding Kristin's hand and trying to help her keep calm when I heard our doctor say,"Look at those cheeks!!" I looked up to see them pull out Lola and pass her to the N.I.C.U. nurses to resuscitate. She made a couple of cute squeaky crys while being wiped down and poked with needles. I was so overwhelmed with the situation that I couldn't do anything but marvel in the majesty that was my first born. Lola remained silent through the rest of the surgery while I held her and prayed for my wife to be OK. My girls and I returned to our room where we had many family members waiting in the sitting area just next to us. I asked KK if I could show everyone our baby and she said with one eye open, "What are you waiting for daddy."
After a brief visit with family and a room change, I found myself with alone with Ava Lollabelle, staring into each others eyes. I told myself that this is the most perfect baby ever and her cutie-pie face was second to none. Of course this is something every dad feels about there own but something tells me this was different.



Here she is in her first dress up outfit. KK has been looking forward to this for months..






















Lola with a fresh bow provided by the nursery.















Hopefully Ava Lolabelle got most of her features from her mom but she definitely has my feet.





Her is our O.B. Lisa Gravelle, She was awesome and also thought Lola was one of the cutest.




Here is the other redhead in my family. My sister Anna has the same beautiful red/copper tint to her hair.




















Kristin kept saying that with all of here experience with babies at work, she would be the first to admit if her baby was a F.L.K. (funny looking kid) but you can see here this isn't the case.


















This picture is a lure to any family members that still need to come see me.

KK MY HERO!!!!!!

My lovely wife Kristin suffered a great deal to bring the greatest gift that a husband could ever ask for. My cutie-pie _____ Lolabelle Kristensen. (We still have no first name yet) She is a 8 pound 10 ounce, 22.5 inch, redhead that has stolen my heart since she was born at 6:42 A.M. I swear she is the most perfect baby I have ever seen.

Here's lola only about 45 mins old. Grandma Susan helped her get her first taste of formula.

Sorry lack of comments due to lack of sleep in last 48 hours....

ALMOST THERE!!!!!

Any Time Now Baby.
Sorry We did not post last month. It was a busy month for KK and I. Kristin is tring to cram all of her shifts at work so she can get an extra 2 weeks of leave when Lola comes. I have been getting back into the swing of things in school and finishing the nursery. Now that my first test is out of the way and KK only has a few shifts left, we are really anxious for this baby to come. We also had three baby showers since I last posted. I cannot believe how much generosity we received from our family and friends. Lola allready has over 100 outfits, more than 20 blankets, and several hundred diapers. Since this is my first child, I am guessing that will keep her looking cute and warm with a fresh change for at least a month or so. I know KK expressed her appreciation during the showers, I would also like to say thanks. It really helps when the parents are not the only ones spoiling the baby.



This is a picture or the nursery. Initially I was going to carve the crib out of a solid piece of wood with my own two hands. Then when we found out it was a girl, I figured might as well get use to buying her what she wants instead.

This is another picture without out the lighting effects from the chandeleir. KK picked out the fabric for her crib set and the colors were matched. The armoire is the changing station and the wall quilt is from aunt Becky.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Left: KK doesn't look very happy, "Cheer up KK Santa is almost here."

Above: PK is not sure what this man wants from him. I better be on the 'Nice' list.

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Holy Cow Look at Those Cheeks.

Less than two months left and Lolabelle is doing great. We had a doctors appointment and an another ultra sound this week. The ultrasound technician was really impressed with the size of Lola's cheeks at 32 weeks. She took some amazing pictures and let us watch our daughter in 4d video for about 5 minutes. It was really cute because we could see her eyes open and close, her eyebrow lift up, and her hands move toward and away from her big lips. It's hard to believe she already has so much personality. We had a lot of fun this month. I survived my semester finals and we had a chance to visit some family in Texas. On the plane ride home, we realized that this was the last time we would be in an airplane without Lolabelle on our laps or making babysitting arrangements. Our unexpected upgrade to first class helped us with this daunting realization.

This is a still shot of the 4d video we watched. Black and white blotchy areas are spots where the computer program didn't quite know how to process. But you can see she has big cheeks and cutie pie lips.

Here's Lola with her left hand next to her cheek. She like her hands up by her face in the on guard position. Probably so she can defend herself from her cousins.