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...

Baby Gift Idea

Check out these cute onesies I made tonight. Since there are lots of babies due to be born in our neighborhood and ward, I was trying to think of an economical way to get them all cute gifts. I thought they turned out pretty cute -

Kangaroo Zoo Birthday Party

Katie went to her friend Mia's birthday party last week at Kangaroo Zoo. They had a blast!!! The whole place is full of huge blow up slides & toys. Perfect for a 4 year old birthday party!

Thanks Mia & Happy Birthday!

the whole party

Grace, Katie, & Mia the birthday girl

33 weeks

Yes, I do still have 7 more weeks to grow ;)

D.E.A.R. - Princess Book

Katie & I finished her princess book today! No, we didn't just start it last week when we finished the other one - we had already read most of it. We just took a break to read the Nursery Rhymes & Fairytales. Today, we read the last Cinderella Story in the book and finished it!

Our next book is "Because of Winn-Dixie." We'll see how it goes because this will be our first chapter book that doesn't have any pictures. After this we will definitely be checking chapter books out of the library - at least until we can start building our Juevenile Library fast enough to keep up with Katie! When McKenna & I were at the library today the librarian gave me some really good recommendations. I'm excited to check them out and see how Katie likes them.

I think our next library addition (perhaps for Katie's birthday) will be the original Winnie the Pooh. I've never read them and have always wanted to. Perfect!

Do any of you have any suggestions? I think we're looking for 2nd/3rd grade chapter books (pictures would be nice, but not needed).

Pregnant Mommy

The picture might be hard to see, but this is Katie's first drawing of her pregnant mommy. Katie is on the left, mom & baby in the middle, and "monster Daddy" on the right. She laughed when she said that and said it was dad dressed up like a monster (?) . She also told me that the bindi's on Katie & me are ponytails. It is SO FUN to watch her creative skills develop and to see what goes on inside her mind.

I LOVE this picture!

*btw my belly doesn't actually hang below my feet, thankfully! :)

D.E.A.R. Time

So, after getting the long awaited Princess Book for Christmas, Katie (of course) chose to read McKenna's Christmas gift first, before tackling the Princess Book. Today Katie & I finished Disney's Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales. Clever versions of the stories and cute illustrations. I'm sure that this book will get lots of use in our family through the years.

Tomorrow we will continue our D.E.A.R. time with the Princess Book.

The Two David's In My Life

I guess I can understand why I find David Cook so attractive...

(but I still think mine's cuter :) )

Here's to the two David's in my life :)

and the return of American Idol!

Wahoo!!

Katie Date

This post is a little late - but the last Katie Date (Katie & Mom only) we want on was to see the movie "Despereaux" the weekend between Christmas and New Years. We had a great time, even though the movie was just so-so. For a cartoon, it was kind of a downer. It was a pretty good story, and the mouse was very cute, but there was not one funny character - no comic relief at all. Not quite what we were expecting in an animated film. Couldn't tell how much Katie liked the movie. Like I said, we had a GREAT time together and so I think that made the movie better than it actually was. I think it's probably more appropriate for a kid a little older than Katie. Actually, I think a boy 6-10 would probably love it.

Katie wanted to stay in the theater until the "very end!" so we sat there through the credits, finished our snacks, and snapped some of these fun shots. She is such a blast and I love being able to have some alone time with her. I am a very lucky mama!

Giggles

Pretty Girl

We Love You Katie!

We Love the Grand Mas & Pas

On New Years Day we left on a roadtrip to southern California to visit Dave's Grandma & Grandpa Jensen (GG & GGpa). We were thrilled when we found out that Dave's parents were also going to meet us there. The girls definitely got lots of Grand Ma & Pa love. We also were able to visit Dave's Uncle James & family, and Dave's Great Aunt Suzy. On the way home we stopped in St. George and visited our good friends the Baileys. We were gone for five days and were so glad we were able to see so many people that we love and don't get to see nearly enough. I wish that we took more pictures, but McKenna is very tricky to get a shot of! She is a quick one! Luckily we got these to document the trip (and another rare chance to get our own family pic!)

Very rare picture of McKenna actually smiling at the camera - too bad we lost Katie's attention

we have learned the trick is to ask McKenna to show the camera her teeth. Perfect smile!

GG & GGpa with the girls
our girls LOVED GG's beanie baby collection!

Gran & Gramps with the girls
our happy daughter on the left, our emo daughter on the right

We love you all and can't wait to see you again! Hopefully soon!

Princess Rock

AJ & Katie rockin' in the New Year

We had our second annual Rockband New Years Eve party with the Giffords and the Wilkins. We had fun chatting, rocking, laughing, EATING, and just being together. We didn't go as strong as last year - rockband was over by about 9:30 and kids were in bed by about 10 (they actually asked to go to bed!) - but we still had a great time. We love our friends and were so glad we were able to spend the night with them before taking off New Years Day.

It Has Come To This

This is Mom not ready to ween baby off bottle for her own sanity and sleep needs. This is the only way to keep McKenna from taking off the lid and pouring out all the milk.

What's in a Name?

Ok, so I finally have started thinking about what the heck to name this baby. For some reason I HAVE NOT been able to think about it yet. Whenever I would, my mind would go completely blank and the only name I could really come up with was "Uhh...."

I have a few "requirements" for the names we are considering. I really like names that have nicknames. That will give the kid options as he/she (who am I kidding? - SHE) grows up. I also want all of our names to fit together. There doesn't need to be a theme or anything like starting with the same letter or Biblical names (not that I have anything against that) - I just want them to sound good together. And then, I prefer part of the name to have some sort of meaning. So far our children's middle names are both family names. We have already decided on Baby #3's middle name - another family name. So, now for the first name...

I think I finally have a few good ideas and I wanted some input. (I can't promise that we're actually going to use any of these names...)

Here are the finalists:
Brooklyn
I have loved this name for a while. She would probably be called Brooke (we planned on calling McKenna Kenna and we totally don't, so who knows...). I think this name is very cute, femine, relatively unique, and I just like it. Brooklyn was actually almost McKenna's name. We changed it 30 minutes before she was born. It also was on our list for Katie, but back then Dave didn't like it so much.

Pros:
I like it
It has a nickname
It fits
It flows with the middle name
Has been on the list for a while

Cons:
Brooklyn rhymes with Katelyn - kind of

Ashlee
This is a recent addition to the list. I just think it is a pretty name. And I have never met an Ashlee that wasn't pretty - not that that means anything, I guess I just associate the name Ashlee with beauty. Again, very feminine name. Not too original, but common enough and classic enough (like Katie) that she wouldn't feel like a fad. Plus, the other night Dave said that this was his favorite out of the three.

Pros:
It's pretty
It fits
It flows with middle name
Dave likes it

Cons:
No solid nickname - Ash? Nickname isn't as pretty as full name, but I guess could work

Elisabeth
Now, this name is quite controversial at the moment. I like this name, but have not ever really considered it for my own child. I don't LOVE the name although I do LOVE quite a few people with this name. But for some reason it keeps coming to my mind lately. I really like the nicknames Libby and Elle (REALLY like Libby - again, a recent development). Dave, however, does not share my enthusiasm. I think he likes the name Elisabeth, but doesn't like Libby or Elle, so he has vetoed the name. I am not giving up so easily though. It is still on my list. And Elisabeth with our chosen middle name flows beautifully and is a very classic, classY name. But, I am concerned mostly with the fact that my husband doesn't like the name, but also the I don't love all the nicknames. I would choose the name because I like Libby, and/or Elle. But I can't control what nicknames my child will be given or will choose.... The spelling is also debatable and still negotiable. I guess I chose an S instead of a Z because it seems softer....? Is that weird? Maybe it wouldn't be worth all the spelling corrections.

Pros:
I like it
It fits
It flows
Classic & Classy
It has many nicknames - I like Libby :)

Cons:
Dave doesn't like it
I don't like all the nicknames
Haven't always loved Elisabeth
Weird spelling?

So, I'm not sure if I'm making any progress with this, but it sure does help me to write it down. If any of you have some input on the subject I would definitely appreciate it. I know we still have 3 months before this baby comes, but history has shown that I definitely struggle in the baby naming department. I can't make up my mind! I can use all the help I can get!

There also is a poll posted if you care to participate...