ST. George Getaway

St. George is one of our favorite places to visit.  We were so excited to take Elise with us and experience so many fun "firsts"!  We headed down Thursday morning with Lorin and Cheyenne.  It's only a 3.5 hour drive, and I hoped Elise would sleep for most of it.  She didn't sleep at all, until about two minutes before we arrived at our condo...silly babe.  But she was so happy and content on the drive down!  

When Elise woke up from her nap and we'd unloaded all our gear, we decided to explore Snow Canyon and do some hiking.  Elise loved being on daddy's back in her carrier.  She was so smiley and fascinated with her surroundings!  Of course she pooped as soon as we hit the dirt trail (she always times those poopy diapers just right!), but the first hike we did was pretty short, so we made a pit-stop back to the car to change her diaper before continuing on to the next trail.

Pictures while hiking in Snow Canyon.  I made good use of my selfie-stick ;)

The gang who went hiking

My happy explorer

Jake and Cara and Bridgette and Brent arrived Thursday night.  We learned some very exciting news that Bridgette and Brent are "egg-cited" to tell us their "egg-specting" their first baby!!!!  She used Reses Eggs (fitting for Easter) to announce it.  We couldn't be happier for them and so excited for Elise to have a cousin to grow up with!!!

Friday we loaded up the bikes/gear and headed to JEM Trail.  It was about 30 minutes from our condo.  It is a fun, easy ride.  Cara and Cheyenne are both beginners and they did so well on every trail.  Elise slept for most of the ride, and Dan and I took turns staying with her and shuttling the rest of the riders.

Chey and I stopping for a pic on Jem

had to capture a "groupie" before embarking down Jem trail

After Jem we stopped at WEndy's for lunch then headed over to Gooseberry Mesa for some more riding.  Gooseberry is located close to Zions.  It's more of a crosscountry trail with lots of peddling, up and down, climbing over rocks, and more technical than the other trail we'd ridden.  Cheyenne was not a fan and I felt bad she did not have fun, but the rest of the gang really enjoyed it.  You bike along the top of a huge Mesa plateou so you enjoy some gorgeous views of the Zions area valley.  

Bridgette did not want to bike this one (more risky now that she's prego) so she stayed with Elise and Dan and I got to bike down together!

on top of Gooseberry Mesa

Whitney and Chris and Sue arrived Friday night.  We went to dinner with everyone at Qdoba, a fresh mex type place, and I had a steak burrito bowl.  It was so yummy.  I am craving it, and hope they open a restaurant in Utah County soon.  

Saturday morning we rode Bearclaw Poppy, a favorite classic we always make sure we ride when we are in ST. George.  I stayed at the condo with Elise on the first rotation while the rest of the family went down. 

 When the first group got back to the condo it was my turn to ride.  I went down with Dan, Lorin, Brent and Chris.  I was trying to keep up with the "big boys", so to speak, and was riding more aggresively than I usually do.  I felt great.  I was hitting some drops I usually ride around.  I felt so confident that I decided to go over a feature they call "clavicle hill" (I'm assuming due to the many riders who end up with broken clavicles lol).  I was uneasy from the start, but told myself that I'd successfully landed every other drop so far and that if I just committed I'd be fine.  I was the last to go down and found a line that looked the "safest" so I started riding down and before I knew it I felt that impending fear that comes when you know you're about to wreck.  I flew over the front of my bike like "superman" and landed face first on my chest, my bike flew right on top of me. It all happened so fast.  I didn't move for about 30 seconds, just laying on the ground with my bike on top of me, mentally assessing myself for injuries.  Meanwhile I see Dan running as fast as he can up the hill to get to me.  I was lucky!  I landed pretty hard on my left side, so my shoulder and knee was sore, but nothing was broken! I knew I had not seriously injured anything, except for maybe my pride ;)  Of course there was a big group of riders at the bottom watching us hit this feature.  I swear the worst part of wrecking is the adrenaline that kicks in and you involuntarily start to cry, then your nose starts to run, and your a big dusty, emotional, snotty mess.  Fun, fun.  I felt so stupid lol.  

Anyways, after I'd recovered we continued down the trail, and I got to the bottom without further incident.  It was a fun ride, wreck and all!

We cleaned up, ate lunch, then went swimming at the condo's pool.   Elise loved the water, she was kicking her feet and splashing with her hands the entire time.  She looked so cute in her swim suit, I completely forgot my phone to take pictures of her while she was in the water :( but I did get a few of her sitting with us at the hot tub. 

she was one tired babe after swimming

chunky monkey chilling by the pool

The Jensen Bunch relaxing in the hot tub

She really wanted to get back in the water!

After swimming Elise was so tired.  She took a nap, so the boys and I decided we wanted to take an evening ride down Bearclaw again.  I decided to save "Clavical Hill" for another time.  It's to soon to try again, ha ha.

Dan on Bearclaw poppy

Sunday we headed home. Elise was an angel the entire trip.  I was worried that she would be off of her routine and thus would be fussy.  She is also teething (3 teeth at once) but you would never have known! She was the happiest baby and slept so well at night in her pack and play.  I am so lucky to have such a content baby girl!!!  I am also so lucky to have an amazing family who loves spending time with her and volunteered to help watch her so Dan and I could bike to our hearts content and have fun together.  

Our first family vacay (albeit a short one) was definitely a success, and we're looking forward to more traveling with Elise in the future!

Grandpa Jensen's 80th Birthday Celebration!

We had so much fun celebrating Grandpa Jensen's 80th birthday this past Saturday.  The Jensen family sure knows how to throw a party.  Grandpa Sam has left quite a legacy, and it was so neat to hear from all his kids and many grandkids about memories they have of him.  He is an awesome man, and I feel very blessed to be a part of his family and call him Grandpa.  Elise really enjoyed the party, there were so many people to play with and dance with.  She tried lots of new foods; including cheesy corn, vanilla ice cream, pulled pork, watermelon, and cantalope.  She is old enough now that whatever mom and dad are eating, she better get a taste too, or else...

Here are some pictures of the fun:

Cousin Kendra made this cool cupcakes.  

Us with Grandpa J

Chey and me

Bridge and Brent on the dance floor

Lorin and Sue getting their boogy on

Daddy dancing with his girl

Someone stayed up way past her bedtime!

My people

My love

Grandpa J getting ready for his presents

Elise loved Cara's bracelets

Here he is at 80 years old, looking young as ever!

Elise did WHAT??!!

This is honestly the first time I have experienced what I would call a MIRACLE.  Healing the sick, raising the dead, level miracle.

This moment.  It may NEVER happen again, so I must document.

Elise fell asleep for her morning nap, get this, ON HER OWN. For the first time, ever.

This babe sleeps like a champ at night, usually 11-12 hours.  She wakes up occasionally and will whine, but gets herself back to sleep.  I know how blessed I am...which is why I haven't fussed too much that she is not the best when it comes to nap time.  She sleeps at night, when many of my friends's babies do not, so I was feeling pretty dang lucky.

But the older she gets, the more nap time has become my worst nightmare; I seriously dread it. The reason is because Elise will not go to sleep on her own. The only way she falls asleep is by me walking around bouncing/rocking her to sleep.  Which was fine when my baby didn't weigh 18 pounds and counting!!!

I have not been living in ignorance people.  I have researched sleep training methods, and tried them all.  I tried the "cry it out" method.  Let me tell you, my babe does not calm down, she just wails and wails until I finally can't take it any more and go in and pick her up.  I get her to calm down, then lay her back down in her crib, stay there soothing her, or leave the room for a few more minutes....this goes on repeat for about 30-40 minutes, when I have finally had enough that I end up just rocking her to sleep in my arms after-all (I'm a wimp, don't judge). I spend more time trying to get her to sleep than she does actually napping.

Her room is dark.  Her bum is clean.  Her tummy is full. What am I to do?!

I was seriously at my wits end last week after battling for some many days with her. So today, when nap time rolled around I was asking myself, "do I spend 40 plus minutes working with her to fall asleep on her own??" OR "do I just rock her to sleep, and try the training 'tomorrow' (AKA probably never)??"

Well, I decided to give it another go.  I sat with her for a few minutes on her rocking chair, singing to her and rocking her, then I told her I loved her and to have a good nap.  In my arms she was starting to doze off.  I was so tempted just to get her all the way asleep.  BUT I set her down in her crib and walked out.

Cue the whining.  She whined for about 5 minutes.  Then, total silence.

"Am I crazy?"  I thought.  "There is no way she fell asleep."  I walked to her bedroom door ever so slowly, sure that every creaking floorboard along the way was going to be followed by crying. I put my ear up to her door and listened.  Silence.  I opened her door a few inches and saw her fast asleep.  I didn't even dare try and take a snapchat to send to Dan for fear of waking her.

My first, first-hand, MIRACLE.  So, apparently, the sleep training is working...unless this was a fluke.

It may not happen again this afternoon, or tomorrow, or EVER again.  But it happened this morning. I had to document it.

Aahhh, this momma's proud.

Just for giggles:

Elise is 8 months old!

At eight months Elise is so, SO, SO, incredibly FUN!  I spend all day with her, and it never gets old (okay there are definitely a few moments when it's rough, BUT...)

She cracks me up, and my favorite thing to do is just watch her as she goes about her day and figures things out.

• She is so good at picking up small objects with her fingers.  She can pass small pieces of food from one hand to the other, and put them into her mouth all by herself.  Occasionally she will let one drop, but she has pretty much mastered the "pincher" movements.
• She is such a cuddler!  At times I get tired, but truly I love that she's so cuddly.
• She gives hugs.  She melts my heart when I pick her up and she puts her little arms around my shoulders and holds tight and buries her little head into my neck.  Aaahhh...greatest feeling ever.
• I think she's giving kisses now too...either that or she just likes to eat mom and dad's face.  I can't tell!  But she opens her mouth and leans in to my face, and I tell myself she's giving me kisses, ha ha!  
• She knows how to clap, and will do it when she is happy or when mom and dad cheer, "yay" and start clapping, she will join in.  She claps with one hand open, and the other hand closed in a fist with just her pointer finger sticking straight out.  It's hilarious.
• She loves to throw toys and has a great arm.  We bought her a few small balls that she loves to throw, but she will throw any toy she has in her hands. She also loves banging two toys together.
• She is not crawling yet.  I wouldn't be suprised if she skips crawling and sticks to rolling until she's ready to walk.  I try to entice her with a toy just out of her reach, but she fusses for a minute, and either she rolls to it, or she just decides it's not worth the effort and focuses her attention on another toy ;)
• Even though she is not crawling, she rolls back and forth (like a pendulum) to get to where she wants to go.
• The past few weeks she has started displaying more separation anxiety and gets fussy when I lay her down, or when I leave her alone.  I have been frustrated (not only because my arms get so tired from holding her lol) but also because I was not sure if holding her so much was going to turn her into a spoiled monster, or if it was the right thing to do.  I researched the issue and found that it is perfectly normal and all babies go through this stage at her age, and my responding to her is the right thing to do.  The more I comfort her and hold her, the safer and more secure she feels, and the sooner she will learn that she can self soothe and allow me to leaver her alone without crying...well at least I hope that's the case!
• She loves "puffs" and I love watching her eat them.  She is so cute picking them up and putting them in her mouth and sucking on them.  Occasionally she will stuff three or four in at a time, and I have to dig them out of her mouth frantically, lol, but for the most part she knows to suck on one at a time!
• She is growing a lot more hair.  It's coming in light brown, and in the natural light it has a bit of a reddish tint to it.
• Her eye color changes.  They are not very blue any more, instead change between green-hazel-brown-gray-ish.  When people ask me what color her eyes are I seriously respond, "good question!" because I still have no idea :)
• She outgrew her infant bathtub a few weeks ago, and has been bathing in the "big girl" tub.  She gets so excited when she knows it's bath time.  All I have to do is start to fill up the tub, take off her clothes, and she starts squealing with excitement, laughing, and kicking her legs!  She loves to play with the drain in our tub, along with her rubber bath toys.
• Church has become a chore.  She is not fussy, so I shouldn't complain, but she is so wiggly and active.  She loves to babble, squeal, and move around constantly.  Sacrament feels like an eternity!  And if I'm being honest, I haven't been to RS in over a month because after two hours of wiggly babe, Dan and I are both ready to go home.  
• She laughs a lot at the silly faces we make.  She also laughs if I turn away, then turn back around quickly and make a weird noise.  Get's her every time.
• She loves being outside, and she loves looking out the window.
• No teeth yet.  She is still griding her gums, and chomping down on everything.  Maybe she'll cut that first tooth soon??

Okay, I could keep going on and on about the little things I love and what she is doing at eight months, but I better stop.  Suffice it to say, she is my and Dan's best little bud, and we love spending our days with her!  Here are some recent pictures:

Having fun in the tub!