Cuuuuute! 10 Weeks Old

Which one is your favorite?

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No.4

No. 5

How Carsten got his name

Carsten is named after his great-great-great grandfather, Carsten Christensen who with his wife Karen who moved to the United States from Denmark and in the late 1800s.

Carsten and nine other men wanted to promote the Kingdom of God in Thief River Falls Minnesota, and agreed to start the Scandinavian Evangelical Church.

Carsten's middle name is Michael...just like his Father!

More photos of Carsten

Here is another picture of Carsten before we brought him home from the hospital.

Our new, larger Family of 9!!

His first ride in the car seat ...on the way home.

Proud and tired Papa!

The Baby is Born: Carsten Michael

Here HE is! Our precious Carsten. He was born (finally) on August 26th. He just about shared a birthday with Big Sister Heather whose birthday is the 27th. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long. It was a fast birth, but was great. Mike and I shared that memory with Laurie and Tabea, my doulas. Laurie kept me cool by keeping a washcloth wet and cold, and Tabea held my leg up as I birthed laying on my left side. Kathy was at home with our kids - freeing up Mike to be with me, and Marcie was kind enough to arrange meals for us for the first 2 weeks - freeing us up from meal preparation and shopping. What a team, huh?

Carsten was greeted by the MOST excited big sisters and brother EVER!!! They just couldn't wait to see him. They visited us twice in the hospital before we came home.

Here is Heather on her 12th birthday. Since it was her birthday the day Carsten and I came home from the hospital, she got to come with Mike to pick us up.

I think Big Brother Jack was the Proudest of ALL. He is no longer the only boy in the family.

Waiting for Baby

Honestly, I'm getting a little impatient already and it is only August 12. My due date is August 15. Most likely baby will come 3-5 days after that - or even later. I have a "To Do" list, but don't really want to "do" anything, but get labor started. So, today I decided I would check off at least ONE thing. I cut Jack's hair. Here are some pics. What do you think? His hair is so darn straight it shows off every mistake. I usually cut one day, then fix it for the next couple of days, or Mike just gets the buzzer and fixes it for me. Jack was a real trooper - it took me a while. You can compare it to his hair in my last post.

R&R - not too far from home

Just a 25 minute drive from home is a lake with a few hotels and restaurants and parks. We enjoyed some time away for the weekend. Park first with Dedricks, then off to the hotel.

Rachel is not too big to play!

Julia enjoys the park too!

Look at the size of this Park!!! Would you go down that slide?

Kids are just across the lake from where our hotel!

There it is...the green building across the lake.

Time for some lunch. We had to wait an hour, but it was worth it. Plus the kids had plenty to play on while we waited...and waited...and waited.

And we didn't have to wait alone, Dedrick family was with us!

Enjoying a nice breakfast outdoors!!!

View from our rooms balcony - that is where we played the first day.

We enjoyed the gym and the pool!!!

Two to three weeks until due date.

So much fun...she fell asleep within 5 minutes of getting in the car to go home.

Juju's 4th Birthday!

OUR BIRTHDAY GIRL - JUJU TURNS FOUR!!!!!!!

We started off the day with our traditional MnM pancakes!

We had her open just one present in the morning so dad wouldn't miss all the fun! He had to head off to work!

This gift box was from Gram-E and Gramps and included a new Barbie, pretty dress and new shoes, and some Barbie underwear. She is WAY into Barbie!

Megan and Jack were so excited to get her a Mushabelly Mushkin so she can now play with them!

Mom and 4 big sisters worked hard to make a beautiful Barbie Cake - she loved it!

Gotta love the Barbie Umbrella - how perfect! from friends

Gifts from Nana - dress & hat!

Opening gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Epp!! Friends watching closely.