First Week Home, Birthday, & Lights

Our first week home has been great. Brooke seems to be adjusting to our home very well and the older girls are also adjusting very well to having a baby around. It really feels like Brooke has always been here - except maybe that we got a little more sleep before :)

At least one of us around her is getting sleep though...

In the words of Clint, she is a "Dave-baby" - we sure think she looks like her Dad.

Brooke didn't love her first bath so much...

she liked the towel a little more...


our new precious girl:

Sunday was McKenna's 2nd Birthday. It was so fun watching her. It was obvious that she really did feel special on her birthday and was loving having all the attention on her.

Grandma Hopkin made McKenna this Ariel cupcake-cake.

Impressive, huh?!

McKenna LOVED it and even burst out in Ariel songs a few times.

Birthday cake was definitely what McKenna was looking forward to on her birthday. She was asking for it all week and was so excited when it was finally time to eat it! Whenever we would mention anything about her birthday she would say "my cake!" And for the days following she asked for her Ariel cake every chance she had until it was gone.

McKenna also scored in the present department. Her grandma's knew her well and got her the two favorite presents - backpack from Grandma Jensen and Little Einstein's baton from Grandma Hopkin.

Thank you Grandmas!!!

Brooke & McKenna sporting the birthday hats we made:


Birthday Girl!

The girls woke up on McKenna's birthday and found tutus and dressup shoes so they would dress up for the special occasion (and everyone could have something special. We still struggle in the sharing department...)

Our three tutu princesses:

My favorite part about newborns...

All weekend Brooke's bilirubin levels were testing high. Sunday morning we went back to the hospital again for her to be tested. Her levels had jumped from 15 (Sat. results) to 19. Right before McKenna's birthday party started the doctor called and wanted to see Brooke right away. I brought her in and the doctor said he wanted to admit Brooke in the hospital for the night to lay under the bili-lights. He wanted her there right away. Me, being the hormonal post-pregnant woman I am right now, burst into tears. He was trying to calm me down and reassure me that her condition wasn't serious and that everything was going to be ok. I told him I wasn't crying because my baby was going to the hospital, I was crying because I was missing my other baby's birthday party. Oh goodness - I am emotional.

Anyway, he let us go home for a few hours to celebrate McKenna's birthday before checking into the hospital. Thankfully, my mom is here which allowed Dave to come with me to get settled and help me keep it together. He went home later that night to be with the girls.

Here are some shots from the hospital:

It broke my heart seeing my brand newborn baby lying in only her diaper all night. I "wrapped" her in her blankie as best I could so she could have some sort of comfort.

Her levels went down low enough by Monday morning that we could go home and continue treatments at home. We got to bring this suitcase home and have her lay in it for the rest of Monday and through Monday night.

Luckily Tuesday morning when Brooke was tested again, her levels were low enough (11) to be done with the lights. This morning we brought her in for another test to see how she was doing off the lights. Her levels went back up to 14, but she doesn't have to go back under lights. We have ONE MORE (hopefully) test tomorrow to make sure her levels aren't continuing to go up. This poor girl - she had SO MANY pricks on her heels. Today when I took off her sock at the hospital she started crying. She knew what was coming. Poor girl :(

We're just glad that she is doing well and home with us. Hospital stays are never fun, even just for one night.

Brooklyn Dawn

Welcome Brooklyn Dawn Jensen!!!

Our sweet little baby is here!

excited sisters!

ready to go to the hospital

At my doctor's apointment on Tuesday morning, the doctor told me that I was ready to be induced if we wanted and that we could have our baby whenever we were ready. After thinking about it and discussing it all day, we decided Tuesday night that we were going to be induced first thing Wednesday morning. We just couldn't wait to meet our baby girl!

After a long day, Brooke finally arrived at 5:57 pm.

7 lbs. 10.8 oz.
19 1/2 inches long

After a lot of waiting, a fantastic epidural, a few pushes, and the doctor working his magic (she was posterior, but he was able to turn her during one of the pushes - what a miracle!), she is here! We couldn't be happier and we couldn't be more blessed.

Brooke had quite a bit of fluid in her lungs when she was born. The respiratory specialist was able to get it all out right away (another miracle) and she was fine. Just a short little cry when she was born and that was it. What a sweetheart.

Dr. Judd - our hero

Brooke had her eyes wide open right away and just stared up at us. Dave took the opportunity, while he had her undivided attention, to teach her about the important things in life.

About an hour after the delivery, Dave left to go pick up Katie & McKenna from my cousins house where they stayed Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. They stopped by the hospital on their way home to meet their new sister and to have some dinner. I missed them so much and was so excited to see them!

happy sisters having Happy Meals :)

Katie was SO EXCITED! I'm not sure McKenna really knew what was going on - she was more excited about the hospital room than the baby. She was pretty difficult to get a picture of, but not Katie!

so tired, and SO happy!

Mom & baby had a quiet night together at the hospital.

Dave & the girls came back first thing in the morning to hang out and keep us company.

the Jensen girls! Isn't Dad so lucky?! :)

our veteran big sister, checking out the baby

I love this picture - Brooke is so loved!

Brooklyn Dawn

wide-eyed girl

I love new babies!!!

proud Great-Grandparents came to visit

she already loves her binkie - what a blessing!

doesn't love getting changed so much....

We decided to come home Thursday night after Katie & McKenna were asleep. My brother Brian came and stayed with the girls at our house so Dave could come get Brooke & I from the hospital and we could come home when it was calm and quiet. We were able to get settled, get some food, and get some sleep.

We were all very excited to go home.

And of course, we brought our newest princess home in style.

We are all doing great and really are so happy to have baby Brooke here. Like I said, we are so incredibly blessed!

Happy Birthday Kari!!!

Last Week

Ok 9 days, but who is counting......really....?

Today at church while "everyone" seemed to mention something about my pregnancy - "you're almost there," "hopefully we don't see you next week!" "hangin' in there?" - it hit me that this baby is really going to be here SO SOON! As in, around 9 days-soon. Wow. I know this may be a strange thing for a pregnant woman to say (and Dave may not agree) but this pregnancy really has gone by fast, and given the fact that I am a week away, I feel good. Yes, I feel VERY pregnant, and yes, I feel VERY uncomfortable most of the time (what 8+ month pregnant woman doesn't?) but overall I don't really feel only a week away. Don't get me wrong, I would be fine if this baby was born tomorrow, I guess I'm just saying I'm lucky to feel good and not DYING to be done.

I just can't wait for this little baby to be here! I can't wait to see what she looks like. I can't wait to have another little one to cuddle, especially after so many months of awkward kid-cuddling. Speaking of which, I can't wait to comfortably hold my other girls again and enjoy having them in my lap! I can't wait to give Dave a real hug. I can't wait to be able to put on my pants without being worried about falling over :). I really just can't wait to find out how this new little one is going to change our family forever. I feel like the luckiest person and she's not even here yet! Wow. We are so blessed.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

I love McKenna

I love McKenna.
She makes me laugh. Really laugh.

The other night, she was having a hard time sleeping in the middle of the night. I think maybe her nose was stuffed. She would ask for a tissue, be fine for ten minutes, and then need a drink of water, be fine for ten minutes, and then need another tissue, etc. etc.
I brought her in our room and sat on our chair with her to rock her. I "forgot" about my huge belly and how cuddling and rocking doesn't work so easily these days. So, I brought her in bed with me. I haven't tried to sleep with McKenna since she was about 6 months old, so I had no idea how this was going to go. Surprisingly, she was good. She was very cuddly and it didn't take her long to roll over and fall asleep.

About ten minutes later, she quickly rolls over onto her back and starts singing, REALLY loudly, "Look at this stuff! Isn't it neat?!....Lookin' around here you'd think....sure...she's got everything!!!" followed by an "Ah-ah-aaahhhhh, ah-ah-aaaaahhhhh!" (you have to sing that one for full effect). I could not help but bust out laughing - I mean really laughing. Dave then says, "McKenna - be quiet." To that, she pops all the way up and says "Oh! Hi Daddy!" I don't think she knew he was there.

It took me a good ten minutes, at least, to stop laughing after putting her back in her crib.
I love that girl!

Happy Birthday Jen!

38 Weeks Pregnant

This time in the year...

2005

2007

2009

I went to the doctor today and he assured me that I will be at my appointment next week. Good chance there will be no baby this week...

That's ok though - due date is still two weeks away and I'm hanging in there :)

Tiny Little Poops

About a week ago my sweet mother sent me a box of See's chocolates to get me through the last few weeks of my pregnancy. There were 24 truffles - one for each day left in my pregnancy (yea right they will even last that long...)

Today, Katie, out of the blue, asks me in a very concerned tone, "Mom, are those really tiny little poops?"
I replied, "What?!" having NO IDEA where this is coming from.
"Are those really tiny little poops?" she repeats as she points to my box of chocolates.
It took me a second to process what she was talking about and then I remember...

Dave, being as clever as he is, told Katie that they were tiny little poops, so that she wouldn't ask for any. Thank you Dave for doing "whatever necessary" to protect my treats and for setting the stage for this priceless (and hilarious) conversation. :)

Happy Birthday Mary Kaye!

D.E.A.R.

Just finished Because of Winn-Dixie with Katie before her nap today. This one took a little longer for us to finish, mostly because there aren't any pictures. It was a little harder to keep her attention during this one, but she did seem to enjoy it and thought it was HILARIOUS that the girls' name is Opal. She also thinks it's funny that the girl looks like a boy (see front cover). Katie cracks me up...

This was a great book. I definitely recommend it. I think we'll check out the movie now that we've finished it - I think it would make for a great Family Movie Night!

She has requested that our next book be Pinnochio that Dave got for his birthday from his mom.
I love that Katie loves to read!

Drop Everything And Read!

Happy Birthday Erica!

Haircuts

25 Days

Thanks to the little gadget on my sidebar I just realized there are only 25 days lefts 'til baby gets here.
Wahoo!

Dave Birthday Details

I realized I didn't really say anything about what we did to celebrate Dave's birthday or explain the presents at all. For those of you interested...

Friday night, I surprised Dave by getting a babysitter so we could go out. We went to the new-ish Harley Davidson store in Lindon, where they have a huge showroom, shop, and restaurant. Unfortunately the showroom was closed, but there were huge windows in the restaurant that let us look into the shop and showroom while we ate. The restaurant is called Marley's and they sell gourmet sliders (small hamburgers/sandwichs). Dave got the Filet Mignon slider and I got the hamburger with bleu cheese and bacon. Yum! The food was a little pricey, but SO YUMMY. It definitely was a treat and a good find.

After dinner we headed over to Home Depot where Dave bought his long-awaited birthday present. He has been saving Home Depot gift cards for a while now, and got a few for his birthday from Mom/Dad and Mom/Dad-inlaw, and so he was able to go and buy his socket/ratchet set - FINALLY. He is so excited about it. Thanks Moms & Dads for making his birthday dream come true! :)

We then went to Sub-Zero ice cream (mostly for me) for some dessert. Again, SO YUMMY! We went home after that and prepped for Valentine's Day.

Saturday we mostly just relaxed at home. We took a trip to IKEA for lunch and to buy some heart-shaped ice cube trays. I made these for the girls for Valentine's Day, but ruined the trays (that I borrowed from a friend) in the process so we had to replace them. Ooops! But it was a fun outing.

That night Katie delivered Valentine's to her friends in the neighborhood. We then had Dave's birthday dinner (lasagna), cupcakes, and Dave opened his other long-awaited present, a computer mouse. You can tell in the picture how excited (and surprised) he was about that gift.

So, those are the details. It was a fun weekend. And it was a bonus having Dave home on Monday too for President's Day. We love having Dad home!

The Festivities

as you can tell, he was excited about his presents!

and the girls enjoyed the cake - at least what they got in their mouths :)

Hee Hee Hoooooo

Pretty sure I had one giant contraction all day.
Pretty sure it had to do with the fact I was teaching in Relief Society ;)

Happy Birthday Dave!

31 Things That I Love About Dave

1. I absolutely LOVE his smile. It’s what made me first fall in love with him (besides his hot Jeep of course J)
2. I love how he loves his daughters more than anything and isn’t hesitant to show them.
3. I love his undoubting commitment to the gospel.
4. I love how hard working he is.
5. I love how he knows SO MUCH about SO MANY things.
6. I love that he is confident.
7. I love that he can always laugh at himself.
8. I love that he is honest.
9. I love how he makes everyone feel comfortable when they’re around him.
10. I love how he knows how to talk to anyone about anything – he has an amazing way with people.
11. I love that he loves to have fun.
12. I love that he loves to laugh.
13. I love how he loves to fix things and isn’t afraid to take anything apart to do it.
14. I love how nonjudgmental he is.
15. I love that he is still cool at 31!
16. I love that he loves and listens to really good music.
17. I love the sound he makes right before he falls asleep.
18. I love how much he loves his family.
19. I love how much he loves mine.
20. I love how he sleeps with his face in his pillow.
21. I love that he brushes our daughters’ hair every night after baths.
22. I love his giraffe tongue. J
23. I love how he doesn’t take anyone or anything too seriously.
24. I love that he is athletic and no matter how out of shape he is he still runs really fast.
25. I love, appreciate, and admire how he never complains about things he needs to do.
26. I love how he dances.
27. I love that he comes on walks and to the park with me even when he doesn’t really want to.
28. I love that he lets me be me.
29. I love that he eats the food I cook.
30. I love that he loves me.
31. I love that I get to be with him forever.

Happy Birthday & Valentine’s babe!
I love you so much!!!!

~Meg

Hallelujah

It seems like things are going to be better this week.

Dave's back injury (due to drying off his back after a shower) seems to be getting better. Even though he still has pain, he is able to be take his medication and actually go to work this week. Sad that we don't have him home like we did last week, but good that he is feeling better.

My back pain, however, will probably continue for at least another 5 weeks :). BUT, overall I am definitley feeling better so far this week than I did last week. For some reason I was in a bad mood ALL WEEK last week. Some sort of pregnancy PMS perhaps? Does that even exist??? This morning I woke up definitely feeling better and ready to start a new week fresh.

The TV was actually OFF by 9:30 this morning, which was a huge accomplishment for us! The girls are happy and playing together (alone!) in their room. Hallelujah!

This is going to be a good day. This is going to be a great week. It has been decided. :)

After all...it is a birthday week!

Couple of Old Folks

Dave & I have been quite the crimpled couple the past couple of days. Between my pregnancy aches, pains, and slow moving, and his hurt back with very limited motion, we are quite the sight to behold. It is funny - when something falls on the floor, we both kind of hesitate while we figure out who could more easily pick it up without doing too much damage to our bodies. When a child needs to be held or help doing something, we have a similar dillemna. And I no longer have the "I'm pregnant, can you lift that...?" card to pull. Neither one of us can or should be doing much of anything right now.

Let's just say the we are getting some what of a preview of what our lives may be like in 50 years. It is actually quite funny...