What is this?!

Check out Kirby's funny Target commercial.

1 Month Old!

First Church Day

We went to church all together for the first time. She burped right in the middle of sacrament a big one that I've been so proud of. Good Girl! Kimi was a bit embarrassed and we both were laughing pretty hard ... as reverently as possible.

Bath Time!

Yay a successful bath!

I wanted to protect her modesty so we are only posting pics of her upper half.

The first time we gave her a bath it took all four of our hands and she filled our ears with her screams so there aren't any pictures of her hating her first bath.

The other day we tried a different way to give her a bath and she enjoyed it a lot more!

I think that she looks like she is enjoying herself this time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

3 Weeks Old

Elise Claire Jensen

Here is a fun picture of her eyes open.



This was the onsie we got for Halloween just in case Elise came in time. She was pretty dang cute in her smiley face shirt.

Grandparents

Our parents both came out to visit this last week. YAY! It was so much fun to get to see them. Here they are with Ellie. We love them so much and are so greatful for everything they've done for us, especially Ellie.

Daylight Savings

Last night was daylight savings? We totally forgot and it caused me considerable guilt. We are very lucky to have a little girl that we have to wake up to get her to eat otherwise she would just sleep and sleep and sleep. We were told to feed her 2 oz 8 times a day so we've broken that up to be 4 times every two hours during the day and four times every four hours at night. Last night she went to sleep at one so I set my alarm on my phone (which automatically updates the time) to wake me up at five if she hadn't woken up to eat by then so I could wake her up. Well my phone switched time zones in that amount of time and my little girl went FIVE hours without eating! I'm so sorry little one! But also I'm so grateful that I really did get my extra hour of sleep. Oh, the guilt!

Heyborne's Visit

The hospital had very strict rules about kids visiting. No one under the age of 16 is allowed, even to the healthy kids in the regular nursery. This killed Elise's cousins who wanted so badly to come see her. It's better this way I think though. They didn't need to see her with the tubes in her. This was a lot of fun to just chill in our apartment and let them hold her and see her. Although she isn't very entertaining yet.

Giraffe Bouncy Chair = Elise's ijoy Chair

We are jealous of her massage chair. We want one.

pics from hospital

rough starts

After a hard four days, Elise and Kimi and Ryan get to go home. Kimi went in for a c section Saturday because the baby was too big to be delivered naturally. (I apparently can grow "One healthy ambilical cord!") Elise went straight to the NICU because of breathing complications and low blood sugar. She had to stay in a oxygen tent that covered her face and kept the air she was breathing more oxygenated as she needed it. She looked like a little astronaut in training. We weren't for sure that she would be able to come home with Kimi because after she was taken off her IV's for her low blood sugar she kind of jaundiced a bit. We get to take her home but we have an appointment tomorrow to see if she needs the baby tanning bed. Oh well, at least she got to come home! We were very excited. Here's a picture of her enjoying her ride home.

Elise Claire Jensen

Elise Clair Jensen was born at 7:55 am on Saturday October 24, 2009. She weighed 10 lbs 6 oz at 20 3/4" long. She is a beautiful angel and we're so happy to have her in our family.

Kooza!

The baby still isn't here. Sigh. Looks like the doc might be wrong and I may just see him tomorrow at my appointment.

The good side of her waiting so long? We were able to go to Ryan's work party at Santa Monica Pier. We went and saw a Cirque del Soliel called Kooza. They built this huge tent in the parking lot by the beach that they perform it in. I hadn't ever been to one before. It's like the circus without animals and with an un-followable story. There are some crazy people that can do crazy things. I really liked the contortionists and the guys who were crazy enough to run around inside the two rings that spin around.

I did amazingly well I thought for being nine months preggo. My ankles were huge and she kicked me sore during the performance. But I was able to get as comfortable as possible for me right now and we were on the first shuttle back to the parking structure so there wasn't tons of walking or standing. YAY!

Big Carl vs Big Mac

Last night for dinner we had a taste test. We saw a commercial on TV for the Big Carl which is Carl's Junior's rip off of McDonald's Big Mac. Ryan loves the big mac. Let's be honest, they are pretty good otherwise they wouldn't be so popular. However, I never let him pick McDonald's to eat at. I'd rather go to Wendy's for a burger. I call it Icky-D's as a matter of fact. In Utah it was never a big deal because if we wanted a burger we both agreed on Astro or Burger's Supreme. No such luck here in Cali. Every burger here is expensive or really cheap. (And oh how I miss fry sauce!)

Well, we are still torn. Ryan liked his Big Mac better and I liked the Big Carl better. I just can't get past that McDonald's burger taste that just screams heart attack to me as I eat it. Plus I liked the meat better. You could tell it was meat and didn't just all mush together in your mouth. The only downside about the carl is that it's so much more meat and cheese that it's hard to keep the burger together while you eat it.

Guess we'll stick with the Habit or In and Out for burgers, there's just always a huge wait at the closest of those restaurants to us.

anytime? really? When do I grow up?

I had my 38 weeks appointment yesterday and had a stress test done on the baby. All is good with her, she moves as much as she's supposed to I just can't feel her like I used to. Probably because she has moved so low. My doctor was suprised how low she was and told me that he probably wouldn't see me again before the baby was born. WHAT!? I mean I was early but Ryan was three and a half weeks late. I would rather earlier then later. The lower she gets the more back pain I have and the harder it is to walk. But Ryan really needs her to hang on until Friday night (a tax deadline) and I was told by my sister it would be best for her over the weekend too. When I told my dad he said that he told my mom when it would be best for him for me to be born and I waited until then. Hopefully my baby will be as good for her dad as I was for my dad.
So, I could be a mom...in less than a week...that sounds so big! Completely life changing and it still hasn't really hit me yet. I still feel like I'm "playing house" and am six years old. That's not good, I'm going to be in charge of someone else's life. I can't be six anymore!

Flu Shots!

We found out that anyone taking care of babies should have a flu shot. I don't know if you know this but Ryan is REALLY scared of needles. But Saturday we both bucked up and went to a flu shot clinic and got flu shots. Ryan did really well. I would have rather not stood in line for forty five minutes just to end up with a band aid and a long walk (well for a 37 weeks pregnant woman) up a hill to the car. At least our flu shots were free and neither of us had any reaction to the shots other then the shuddering and slight tenderness at the injection site.

WAHOO! We're done with flu shots!

Good Food + Tummy + Baby = Conundrum

Ryan's work bought us tickets to this event called "Taste of Burbank." It's this event where a bunch of the restaurants in downtown Burbank make one or two of their most famous dishes and give them out. We had everything from big chains like PF Chang's give out their lettuce wraps and dumplings to Fudruckers handing out mini burgers to a crepe restaurant handing out yummy desert crepes and this great bakery that handed out chocolate dipped strawberries, tarts, bear claws and pastries. Mmmmm....it was delicious, I just wish I had had more room in my tummy to enjoy more things. It was hard to choose what to eat.

Baby Shower!

My cute sister threw me a baby shower and I love this picture (minus my tubby tummy) so I decided to post it and give her props for all the hard work she went through. Thanks dear sister!

Thanks to all the friends that threw me a shower as well. I know it was a lot of work to get everything together. I love you guys!

Ryan's aunts probably don't keep up on my blog but they had a party for me and my little one as well. They are awesome for doing that for me.

to mommy haircut or to not mommy haircut...

My hair has done that wonderful thing that everyone else loves while your pregnant and has doubled in fullness. My hair was already pretty full and now it takes an annoying long time to dry. So, with baby on the way I've wondered if I will want to go shorter and get to spend less time blow drying it. The other option is to let it go longer and let it dry in a braid or bun. No matter what length my hair doesn't dry straight anymore but it doesn't do completely curly either. If I've ever wanted to go long again though now is probably my chance. Anyway, here are pictures of what I'm thinking, make sure you vote!

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Biggest Laugh I've Had in a While

So, I signed up for the email newsletters that tell you what's going on in your body this week. And I clicked on a link that led to the following pictures of women who have painted their preggo bellies to look like pumpkins!

SERIOUSLY?!?! I barely want pictures taken of my belly with clothes on let alone strip and paint AND take pictures of my belly.

Cheeks!

So, I went in for a fourth ultrasound because Elise wouldn't stop sucking her thumb so they could see her heart. Before I went my sister showed me pictures on a blog of a sweet little baby with a cleft pallet and told me how she asked at her ultrasounds if they could show her that her baby doesn't have one. I didn't know you could request things at an ultrasound! So, being a worrywart like all the women in my family, I asked if the technician could tell if my baby had a cleft pallet. The technician printed out this picture. It's a little hard to tell what it is of so I edited it a bit so you could tell a little better.

I can do that...

Well, so, here are the results of one of my "I can do that" episodes. Every time I see something, usually some sort of crafty or sewing thing, I think to myself I can make that. I don't know why I think I should. It doesn't necessarily need to be made by me. It probably would be better quality if I didn't do it. I really don't need more projects to work on.
However, last week I worked on making bows not just for my little one but for Trisha's as well. Gwen's birthday is this week (Yikes, she's already a year old!) Trish was saying how she was pretty sure that Gwen was the only girl that wasn't wearing one of those big headband things. We both agreed that we liked bows more than the huge flowers so I went shopping for some ribbon and tights after watching a couple clips on you tube on how to do it. It was pretty easy and the results were dang cute I think. But let's be honest, I'm not going to blog about things I've done that didn't work out so well.

Ryan's New Glasses

Here is a pic of Ryan's new glasses. We even found a pair of sunglasses that attaches over the top. Pretty stylish eh?

Family Gems

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Family Prayer Should Be Practiced with Faith and Trust Posted: 14 Aug 2009 12:00 AM PDT "The practice of Church members is to kneel in family prayer each morning and evening, plus having daily personal prayers and blessings on our food. President Monson said, 'As we offer unto the Lord our family and our personal prayers, let us do so with faith and trust in Him.' And so, in praying for temporal and spiritual blessings, we should all plead, as did Jesus in the Lord's Prayer, 'Thy will be done.' " Russell M. Nelson, "Lessons from the Lord's Prayers," Ensign, May 2009, 48 Topics: Prayer

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Chocolate Age

This was pretty fun so I thought I would share it.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 if you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week) The next two numbers are YOUR AGE!

Family Gems

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Avoiding Coveting Brings Freedom and Enjoyment

Posted:

"Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, 'Thou shalt not covet' (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. Some of us feel embarrassed, ashamed, less worthwhile if our family does not have everything the neighbors have. As a result, we go into debt to buy things we can't afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually. We give away some of our precious, priceless agency and put ourselves in self-imposed servitude. Money we could have used to care for ourselves and others must now be used to pay our debts."

Robert D. Hales, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually," Ensign, May 2009, 8

Topics:

I hope I create flowing laughter instead of excess laughter

"If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.

"Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

"What you create doesn't have to be perfect. . . . Don't let the voices of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."

Elder Uchtdorf

Pioneer Day? We'll vacation for Labor Day then.

My stake attempted to have a pioneer day picnic, but that's just not the same as a free day off work, fireworks and movie and popcorn that we usually do with my family. But I didn't miss the tradition too much because Ryan's parents came down to hear us speak in church this weekend. (hee hee, they would have come even if we weren't speaking but at least they would have been able to leave sooner and not get home that night at 4 am) We took them to a couple of our favorite restaurants, showed them the Santa Monica Pier, the Hollywood walk of fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater. We had a lot fun together and loved having them come.

Well so Ryan earns a day and a half of time off a month. I want him to have five days for when the baby is born. So, with no time off to really take a vacation, we are planning a sort of suicide trip to Utah the weekend before Labor Day. He'll fly back Monday night, and then I'll drive back later that week. There is still some debate about whether or not I'll be doing it by myself so if you know anyone who needs a ride to Cali that week let me know...

99 days!

I'm down to double digit days left til baby! Wha hoo!
Summer hasn't exactly been easy while pregnant but to make it easier on our budget we decided to spend Saturday out and about including seeing the new Harry Potter movie. I thought it was weird because they didn't include some of the big stuff that happens. Someone in our ward said it was like this movie was just an in between movie to get you to the next movie. I tend to agree. I hope the first one of the seventh book isn't like that as well. We also have done a couple visits to the pool at night. We have one pool that is heated like bath water so it makes the air outside seem cold. It's great exercise and I have like zero chance of sunburning.

How are you keeping cool this summer?

What we call "Home"

It may be small but it's ours.

Family Room
(including the new couch!)




Dining Room



Kitchen
(Sorry nothing is mopped but just using the dustpan is a a physical comedy act that I prefer to do as few times as possible)


Bathroom



Yeah, no pictures of the bedroom. You'll have to come visit to see that. (hopefully that gives me a little more time to fix it up)