3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

Each year, going on three years now, the Jensen family holds our annual pumpkin carving contest.  I am known for my inability to carve...I am really the only one who has to expend a massive amount of brain power into thinking about which lines I cut out and which I don't???  Dan's advice to me: "Just do the opposite of what you want to do and you'll be fine." BTW, stencils are not allowed, or that would be a whole lot simpler!!! I still get flack for the pumpkin I carved two years ago that ended up just being a giant hole because I accidentally cut too much ;)

This activity actually gives me anxiety lol.  Truth. But it's also a lot of fun, and we give out awards such as "scariest" "funniest" "cutest" and " A for effort".  This year I had looked up many ideas online that seemed simple enough, but days before the carve out, it hit me that it would be so cute to have Elise sitting in the pumpkin!

We were given a one hour time limit to carve then the judging would begin.  I cleaned out the pumpkin and etched in the words "My 1st Halloween."  Etching sucks.  That simple phrase took me 50 minutes lol and Dan and Brent helped me finish within the time frame because my hand was cramping! Dan had planned to start his pumpkin once I finished mine, and held Elise in the meantime.  But mine took the full hour, so he didn't get the chance to carve one.

We stripped Elise down to her diaper, and set up a cute little scene.  As soon as we placed her in the pumpkin she was hysterical.  Crying, flailing, the whole shebang.  Can't say that I blame her. It was pretty cold in there and I probably could have cut the leg holes a little bigger, #lifelessons.  We snapped a few pictures then pulled her out and she was content as can be. We joked she is going to have a PTSD reaction every time she is near a pumpkin :) :) :)

Of course, I won "Cutest pumpkin" this year!

Cutest sad face I've ever seen.

"Get me outta here!"

We thought if we held her she might cheer up...Nope!

The gang and their pumpkins.  Lorin's pumpkin (far right) kills me!!!  He carved a bat, but all I see are Fallopian tubes!!!

Whit snapped a few pictures before the carving started.  Those big eyes and chipmunk cheeks get me every time!

  

This little babe's got quite the paparazzi.  The Jensen bunch is kind of obsessed, which as her momma, I love!

28 Years Old!

I am in denial.  In my mind's eye I still think of myself as 21 years old or so!  I meet someone and I think to myself, "Oh he/she's about my age" then I find out they are like 20 years old...where did the time go?  I seriously cannot believe I am already 28!  I'll come to grips with it eventually, probably about the time I turn 29 ;)

Dan says I'm like wine because I only get better with age.  He's a good man.  We talked today about how eventful my 27th year was-- We moved three times that year!  What else... I started a new job with DCFS, got pregnant, had our precious baby, left DCFS to stay at home with Elise, bought a new house...all in one year! We were busy.

Thankfully, things have settled down.

This birthday was spent with my little family.  Dan took the day off work and we went to kneaders for breakfast.  We then decided to head to Old Navy and do some shopping.  I bought some cute outfits for Elise and a shirt for myself (one shirt...Dan thought I'd lost my mind!) But let's face it--dressing Elise is much more fun than dressing my, currently, overweight, post-pregnancy body!!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty low key, we relaxed at home.  It was SOoo nice to have more time with Dan during the day though!

Grandma Sue and Chey came over to watch Elise so Dan and I could enjoy an evening out, just the two of us.  We went to Ruby River and both ordered the garlic sirloin and garlic mashed potatoes (at least we both had garlic breath)!  We enjoyed eating our food at a normal pace (I'd forgotten what it was like to chew), and talking without one of us tending to the baby, but really, all we talked about was Elise!  We reminisced on the past 8 years, and how awesome it is to be parents.

We came home to one traumatized baby lol! Grandma is awesome, and  I know one day Elise will rather spend all night with her than with us, but right now she is a momma's girl!!!  She gets pretty fussy when other people take care of her.  Poor thing, when we leave her with Grandma or others she cries a lot!  I'm hoping it's just a phase!  We try and expose her to family often so she gets used to them and feels comfortable with them, but so far she is only comfortable if Dan and
 I are close.  She's a stinker like that. I love that she's a momma's girl, but at the same time, I don't want her to be afraid of family!!!

Pics from Today:

Hanging as a family

Muah!  Heading out to dinner

What else could a girl want for her birthday besides these two?

Mommy cuddles to stop the sniffles ;)

Trying to cheer her up lol

Ending the night with some laughs

Daddy's so funny

P.S.: How awesome am I for keeping up on blogging?!  Three posts in 24 hours.  I got this.

3 months old!

Has it really been 3 months?!?!   Yep! Almost 3 and a half actually! Elise is too much fun. She's my best little friend, and we have fun spending all day together. Mom and Dad get a kick out of her many facial expressions and noises she makes.  She has progressed so much in just one month, and we love to see her concentrating and figuring things out!  We have started to see her personality developing...she is a lot like her mom, for good or bad lol!  Here are some things we want to remember about her at  3 months old:

• She laughs a lot more- silly noises and faces are her favorite!
• She loves to be held facing outward so she can see everything that is going on.  She also likes to sit on your lap facing forward. She can hold her head up all on her own now!
• She loves to "perch" on mom and dad's shoulder.  We call it "perchin" and she can stay that way for hours.
• She is fascinated with Yuki and gets the biggest smile on her face when Yuki is near.  Yuki still treats her like a jealous older sibling lol.  
• She is very attentive and likes to read books and look at the pictures.  "Is That My Puppy?" is a favorite.
• She is still sleeping all night.  Thank you baby girl.
• She was blessed on October 11th by her daddy. 
• She still keeps her thumb tucked in between her fingers when she makes a fist, as she has since birth.  It's the cutest thing.
• I swear she might be teething already.  She is constantly sucking on everything and drooling all over the place. She blows bubbles with her spit. We'll see if she cuts a tooth soon...
• She knows her mommy and daddy.
• She hates being left alone, loves to cuddle
• She is more vocal now, and babbles and gurgles all day
• She is starting to know her surroundings (knows her home vs. grandma's home for example). Mom explains each room to her and the items in the room when we're at home :)
• She LOVES being naked (well in just a diaper).  Nothing cuter than a naked baby!
• She has the funniest "laugh cry" and it usually happens when she is crying because she is hungry and she sees a bottle or breast, so she starts to laugh in between crying.  She recognizes her "ba ba"
• She LOVES looking at herself in mirror, laughs at herself

• She takes after mom in that she gets cranky when tired...the last hour before bed is pretty rough.  She is cranky from about 7pm until 7:45-8pm when she goes to bed. We spend time getting ready for bed by taking a bath (which she loves), reading books, singing with "glowy" and walking around with her.

Random Pictures at three months old:

Getting ready for bed, cuddling "conejito"

So smiley and happy

She loves playing with her hands

Perchin' on mom's shoulder

Loves being outside

She's still not a huge fan of tummy time, but she holds her head up like a champ!

Splish, splash we're taking a bath!

Growing up so fast!

Elise's Blessing Day

Elise was blessed by her daddy, Daniel, on Sunday October 11th.  He gave a wonderful blessing.  I had planned to bring a pen and paper to write it down and save for her, but being the forgetful person I am (and not to mention super busy that morning)I forgot!  Although I don't remember verbatim the words that were said, I will always remember the spirit and love that I felt as Dan spoke.

We got to the chapel and Elise was WIDE awake.  No sleeping in sight.  She also hadn't pooped in 2 days, and she tends to have big poops during church.  I was so afraid she was either going to have a blow out in her dress, or be super fussy during the blessing...yes, I worry too much.  She was awake when Dan took her up, but fell asleep in his arms half way through the blessing (and no blowout)!

We had so many family members and friends show up, and we felt their love and support for our little family.  So many men who are important to us got to stand in on the blessing.  It was awesome to see the huge circle of priesthood holders surround Dan and Elise.  And it was also nice to have a full congregation!  Our ward is very small!!  So small that with the friends and family who showed up for the blessing, the attendance doubled what it usually is!

After sacrament meeting we all gathered at our house for lunch and visiting.  The weather couldn't have been any better, and we ate and visited in our backyard.  I love that so many family members came!  I was a bit nervous that we would not have enough food, but we ended up having plenty and even leftovers.  The menu was kept simple but tasty.  I ordered foot longs and cupcakes from Payson Market (I used to love baking them myself, but with a baby...ain't nobody got time for that!!).  Lots of family members brought yummy salads, desserts, and other sides to share with everyone.

Elise was content as can be.  She was tired and did not smile too much but she did not fuss or cry and she loved being outside!  Every one raved about how adorable she looked in her blessing dress (which I already knew...being her mom and all :) but it is always nice to get compliments from others about your baby!  I bought her dress from Baby Gap after seeing it and thinking it'd be perfect for what I wanted.  I loved the color, simplicity and how soft and angelic it looked without being so uncomfortable and "typical" of blessing dresses.  She looked like a little angel.  The lace slippers I found on Etsy, they were so cute on her little feet.  I laced them up like ballerina slippers, but she kicked so much they would hardly stay on, so after sacrament I just took them off instead of readjusting them every 5 seconds lol.

My heart is SO full of love for that little girl.  She is the single biggest accomplishment of my life, and I think everyday about how I can possibly be the mom she deserves.  I am so grateful for Dan and the awesome father and husband he is.  I am grateful he was able to bless her and start her little life on this earth off on the right foot :)

Elise with her great Gma Mary and great Grandpa Twitchell

I managed to get Grandma and Grandpa to smile pretty hard with my silly faces..But Elise wasn't going for it

Some of the Jensen "teenager" cousins

Smiling with Grandpa Jensen

Proud Dad and Mom 

We seriously spend 99% of our time kissing her!  

Daddy with his little princess :)

Like I said, 99%

"Okay Mom, enough with the kisses already!!"

Airplane babe

Airplane...gets a smile every time.  And more kisses from Mom.

Cuddles with Abuelita

Grandpa and Grandma Malan

My heart just hurts (good hurt) when I look at this picture.

"I'm going to wiggle like crazy and play with my dress now making it hard for you to take pictures of me, okay mom?!" Bye bye slippers :)

Smile or no smile, slippers or no slippers, she is still too dang cute in my book!

Goodness we love you, Elise!!!

Labor Day 2015

It was a day full of everything but labor.  My kind of holiday!  Elise was a little gem and slept for 7 hours and 45 minutes the night before!!! I woke of feeling like a million bucks.  We took our time getting ready, then met up with Sue and Chey and explored the Onion Days booths at the park.  Really, the booths are mostly full of junk, lol, but I did find a few cute headbands for Elise.

It's become somewhat of a tradition to get together with the Jensen family on labor day and go for a bike ride down Payson Canyon then meet in West Mtn for a BBQ and then play a "friendly" game of volleyball (lets be honest though, when Lorin and I start playing there's no such thing as friendly unless you're on the winning team)!  This is typically what happens every year.  This year was a little different, but still just as fun!

We kept the tradition of the bike ride and took a ride down Stumpjumper -- Lorin, Dan, Brent, Bridgette, Chris (and his dad and brother), and I.  Grandma Sue and Chey stayed home and watched Elise for us!

This year we decided to do tin foil dinners instead of a BBQ.  Each couple brought their own. Everyone was pretty creative with their dinners.  There was salmon with asparagus, lots of steak, and each dinner looked delish!  Dan and I made Italian chicken with peppers, mushrooms, and onions.  We enjoyed smores and banana boats for dessert.

The volleyball games didn't happen this year.  Instead we spent time sitting around the campfire and sharing funny stories and memories.  We talked for hours and enjoyed each other's company.  Dan entertained the group with all the children's songs we now know by heart thanks to little Elise.  We sang, "Carrot stew" "Wheels on the bus", "Green grass grew all around" and many more.  It was pretty funny to see a group of grown ups singing our hearts out around the campfire to such songs.  There is really nothing that stops Dan from entertaining his little girl :)

Most of the gang, waiting for our tinfoil dinners to cook

These pictures have nothing to do with Labor day, other than I took them on Labor day lol.  I just love them all too much not to share.  Elise is so photogenic (which she does not get from me!)

Grandma Sue was making all sorts of funny faces and noises to get her to smile

Yay! We caught a smile on camera!

I smother her with kisses all day long!

"Really mom??  Another picture??"

She chose the perfect time to nap right when our dinners were ready to eat!

Supergirl!  Playing with Aunt Bridgette