Springtime in February

I guess technically it's not quite spring, but it sure feels like it!  I know you have all been enjoying the amazing weather we've been having lately, am I right?!

Sunny skies, and warm temperatures means I have already broken out my sandals and shorts!  I love spending more time outside with Elise, and she LOVES it too.  We play fetch with Yuki in our back yard and we swing on our swing set.

Today was too great to stay in doors after church, so Dan and I decided to try and take Elise to the tennis courts and see how she did while we hit some balls.  We covered her up with sunscreen and set her in her "bumbo" chair with a few toys and her "puffs" (side note--puffs are the greatest invention ever.  She loves them and would literally eat an entire can if I'd let her.  They have saved me from a cranky babe more than a few times!!)

She was so content just to watch us hit and enjoy eating her puffs in the sunshine!  I guess that means we have a lot more family tennis outings to look forward to!  Elise enjoyed throwing a tennis ball; she already has a great arm and can throw things really far.

After tennis we grabbed some Wendy's and stopped at a park by our house for a picnic.  Elise was fascinated with the grass.  It was her first time sitting down in it, and she loved running her hands through it and picking at it.  We played with her on the swing set, and she went down a slide for the first time (in my lap, of course)!

Man oh Man, she is only 8 months and we already have so much fun with her!

This babe is such a cuddler!

Nothing cuter

Future tennis protege in the making ;)

Chillin in her bumbo, happy as a clam

New hairdo! From MISHAP to FABULOUS.

I am the kind of girl who likes to change up her hairstyle pretty frequently.  I get bored after a while and decide I need a change.  Over the years I've had it short, long, black, blonde, and everything in between! I'm not too risky though and I like natural, "safe" styles and colors.

The past few months that feeling of needing a change was hitting me and I knew I wanted to cut a lot of my length off.  Mostly because it was so dry and damaged, and also because I had a lot of post-partum hair loss, so it was extra thin.  Long, dry, stringy, hair is NO BUENO.

I follow a girl (no names because I don't wanna "blast" her) on IG who posts pictures of her work and I thought a lot of it was super cute, so I scheduled an appointment with her.   I was SO excited for this new change.

Here is a picture of my hair BEFORE any cutting or coloring:

HERE is the picture I showed her to illustrate what I wanted.  I told her I wanted a lob (long bob) and I wanted it angled so the front was longer.  I told her I wanted a subtle, NATURAL looking balayage that was very well blended.  I actually stressed the words natural and blended.

HERE is what I ended up with after 3.5 hours in the chair and two attempts at "color correction."  I really, REALLY hate when I get to the end of a hair appointment and I do not like the results (which has happened in the past but never to this extent!)  I felt incredibly awkward about how to tell her it was not at all what I wanted and I did not like the cut or the color.  She could tell though, and she said "just give it a few days and the lines will fade and it will be more blended.  Play with it and if you don't like it let me know and we'll work something out."  I told her I would go home and wash it and play with it, but that I was already certain I would want to come back and fix it.  She said okay and she insisted that she would not take my money (which I really felt some guilt over because she had spent 3.5 hours on my hair).  BUT at the same time, this is shotty work and I would have been very upset if I had to pay for it.

Kurt Cobain was an awesome musician, but never in a million years did I want my hair to look like his. Talk about "balayage" gone bad.

Ok. I was DEVASTATED at how much of my hair was gone, it was a lot shorter than I'd anticipated, and I couldn't even handle the coloring.  I basically cried all night and Dan thought he'd lost me forever.  I know, I know, it's just hair.  But my hair is my thing.  I love my hair.  I love feeling like I have pretty hair.  I'm a woman for crying out loud.

I'll stop my melodramatics, and cut the happy ending...

I can laugh about this now because I found an AMAZING stylist who fixed my mess, and I now LOVE my new hair.

So I have SHORT hair, and I'm rocking it.  It's not what I initially wanted, but I really do love it.

And I will end by saying this, the first stylist is truly talented, I have seen her work in pictures, and that is why I wanted to go to her in the first place.  I just think she had an off day and it unfortunately was on my hair lol.

Hooray for short hair!!!

Valentine's Day 2016

Dan does a great job all year round of showing me he loves and appreciates me, but I have to say, this Valentine's he earned some major husband brownie points.  Mostly, because he was such a cute dad with Elise and started the tradition of spoiling both of his Valentines!  I love him showing her how important she is to him. He gave her a stuffed Valentine's bear and a new toy ball.  Elise adores her daddy.

Never trust a bear that's as big as you are.  Unless that bear is pink and says "princess".  In that case, you're probably safe.

Daddy's girl

Posing with her presents

He also scored a few (hundred) brownie points by getting me a new mountain bike.  It started as an innocent converstation where Dan brought up the idea of me getting a new bike, and I replied something like this, "oh yeah a new bike would be great, but our money would  be better spent on other things, and I don't really need it."  He has learned what I am saying without really saying it ;) So Saturday afternoon when I thought he was at the gym he was really out scouting the local bike shops, and he ended up finding a killer close-out deal on a last year's model bike that was perfect for me.  It's sitting in our living room, and I just stare at it all day, waiting for the snow to melt off our lovely mountains so I can enjoy my new steed.

Isn't she a beaut!

It might not look like I'm a serious rider in my Sunday best, but I can shred with the best of  'em!

Dan had these roses delivered Friday when he was at work. 

Sunday, actual Valentine's Day, we decided we were too lazy to cook dinner so we went to The Olive Garden and enjoyed a nice family dinner.  Elise is now big enough to sit in the restaurant high chairs, so she is content as can be because she can people watch and get bites of our food!

My entire world right here.

This girl's got so much spunk!

Blowing raspberries at Olive Garden

I tried to make the holiday special for Dan as well.  We recently watched the newest "Mission Impossible" and I saw a fun "secret agent" mission-type scavenger hunt on datingdivas.com that I used and modified to better suit our relationship/personality.  It started off with him getting the following folder which he opened and read to start the hunt:

He started the scavenger hunt in the bathroom where he found his first mission: "To make Elise Smile and laugh.  No tickling allowed!" After he successfully completed each mission, he opened to envelope and was given a clue as to where to find the next envelope.  There were only five total, so it didn't take very long!

Mission #2: 60 crunches in under 60 seconds.
Mission #3: Get me to laugh while I try and keep a straight face!
Mission #4: Pick out a "stylish" outfit for Elise from head to toe! *This was my favorite one* Ha ha, he didn't do too bad, but let's just say she probably won't ever wear the outfit he picked ;) ;)
Mission #5: Tell me why you love me and give me a passionate kiss and hug!

After the last mission he was given a clue about where to find a present waiting for him.  I got him a video camera, similar to a Go-Pro, called a Contour Roam.  He had been wanting one and seemed excited!

Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day with your loved ones as well!

I Have a Six Month Old

It's already been half a year?  Are you kidding me?  Time is flying!!!

Here's what Elise is up to at six months:

• If she was rolling before, she's steam-rolling now!  I leave the room for half a second, and some how she's turned 180 degrees and is already on the other side of the room.  She hasn't started crawling yet, but pulls her knees up off the ground and tries to scoot forward.
• She said her first word, "dada."  She says it all day long now!!!  It's the cutest.
• She's also said "mom"(it wasn't her first word, and she also only says it when she's really sad, but I'll take it!!)  She says it almost in a cry voice, "mooommm" it's so stinking cute.
• No teeth yet, but she's started grinding her gums a lot.
• She weights 16 lbs, 4 oz. and is in the 50th percentile, and she is 26 inches long, which is the 51st percentile.
• She has the cutest fat rolls on her arms and legs.  I love her chunky-ness. Especially her chubby chipmonk cheeks :)
• She has,overnight, become aware of everything that surrounds her and is constantly looking around and wigglying.  She pays attention to everything I've got in my hands and tries to grab it and put it in her mouth! 
• She is such a happy baby!  She still sleeps through the night, and naps for about 2 hours a day. Sure, she has her cranky days, but overall she is just happy and so fun.  
• She's sitting all on her own now!
• She loves all fruits and veggies.  She's not a fan of scambled eggs, and she hasn't tried much else yet.
• She has got strong legs!  She loves to jump up and down in her jungle gym, and when she's being held, she loves to stand.
• She loves to be startled, and she's started participating too.  For example, when we play "peek-a-boo" she will turn away or bury her head into your chest then look up ready to be startled, and laugh when you finally make eye contact and shout out a silly phrase like "peek-a-boo" or one we say a lot, "Where my puppy?" in a silly voice.  That phrase gets her to giggle a lot!

I had to put her in this onsie one last time before packing it away...but it was too small that it wouldn't button, so it was just tucked in.

She sits so good now!

Chunky legs like mom

Hello 2016

We welcomed the New Year with our Jensen family at Lorin and Sue's.  We played lots of around the world ping pong, and cards games to count down the hours until midnight.  It literally felt like torture trying  to stay up that late, we were ready to hit the hay by about 10:30 lol.  But we made it and toasted to the new year right at midnight!

New years is all about looking ahead and setting goals.  I have many goals I'd like to work out this year including, getting back in shape, reading the BOM daily, and saving $$$.  These are goals I've been half hazardly trying to work on over the past few months, but with the new year starting, it's been that extra boost of motivation I've been lacking (let's hope it doesn't fizzle out lol...what am I saying... IT WONT fizzle out!!!).

New years day also happened to be the day Elise turned six months, but I will write all about her happenings at six months in a seperate post.

It's probably no surprise that the only pictures I got that night were of Elise...:) :) :)

She's growing up so fast!

I die laughing when I look at this picture!  It must have been taken mid-scream!!!

Christmas 2015

Christmas really is a special time of year, but this year was so incredible, thanks to Elise.  She was almost 6 months old, so she did not know what was going on, and wasn't like, "yay all these presents are for me!"  but seeing her light up when we set her in her new exersaucer jungle gym was so much fun!  Being a mom this Christmas also made me focus more on the true meaning or "reason for the season", and Dan and I tried to be more Christ like by serving others.  We bought my nephew and niece, Will and Marzia, Christmas since Jessie was not able too, they thought it was all from Santa, so they got Christmas just like all the other kids their age!

We also did a "12 days of Christmas" for a family in our ward for the first time, and it is now a tradition we will continue each year.  I cannot wait for Elise to get old enough to participate and do some of the door bell ditching :)  I got ideas from online, but wrote up the poems for each night all by myself, and they turned out pretty dang good, if I do say so myself!  We had planned to stay anonymous throughout the entire 12 days, but on the FOURTH, that's right, FOURTH, day, the dad decided to spoil the fun and he literally chased Dan (who was on foot sprinting down the block to our "pick up" spot) in his CAR!!!  I was observing all of this in the car and couldn't believe it.  He was very grateful to us, and he promised not to tell his kids, but I was kind of bummed that he ruined the fun of being anonymous so early on!

Dan went out of his way to make my Christmas special by preparing a little challenge for me.  He wrote up fun rhyming clues that went to each of my presents, and first I had a chance to guess just by feeling/shaking the gift, but if I didn't guess it right, I was given one of the clues.  He had a "bonus gift" for me at the end if I guessed all of my presents correctly, which I did!  He really is so thoughtful.

Pics of the fun: