My Sweet Love

As we come within days of having Bella Lou I find myself exceptionally nostolgic about Jensen, our precious first born and what will be our only son. To say he is an angel is really an understatement. He is the love of our life and at 16 months we feel very bittersweet that his "only child" days are coming to an end. At the same time we hope and pray him and Bella are life long best of friends and buddies who take care of each other. Jensen's little personality is just so fun and sweet. Recently Jensen has just become a different little boy. He is in a whole new developmental stage and it is quite extrodinary and has been for me the most exciting and rewarding stage of parenthood thus far. He is like a sponge right now learning so many new words, sounds, repeating after us, telling us what certian animals say, pointing to his own nose, ears etc. Telling us when he wants cherrios, his sippy, to eat and even when he wants to go upstairs. His favorite time of the day revolves around when Daddy comes home or is home. His bond with Nate is just something I have rarely seen between a dad and child and it warms my heart. More than anything I think Nate was meant to be a Dad. He just never runs out of patience, love and grace with Jensen. He cherishes his role and even on Jensen's "worst" days Nate always says how blessed he feels to be Jensen's dad.

We can't wait for Bella to get here and have always wanted a daughter too, but there will be nothing and no one who can ever take the place of our sweet first born. We love you so much Jensen and are so glad the Lord gave you to us!

Pink Kicks

The last 2 years Nate and I have immersed ourselves in everything "boy." Whenever I go to a store I find myself driffting to the boy section to see if there is anything cute for Jensen to wear or fun to playwith. He is my little angel forsure and our natural tendency to lean towards everything male has been fully ingrained in our mind. When we found out we were having a girl we were overcome with excitement. We knew we wanted 2 children and so to have both a girl and a boy feels like winning the lottery of life. However, it has not fully hit me that I now get to indulge in all the girl things I wasn't sure I was going to get to experience. Even though I am 10 days away from having this little bundle of fabulosity I still find myself looking at boy things and not quite believing I get to enjoy the tutu's, huge flower headbands, leggings, her first pair of jeggings and so much more. It is def a dream to come true! I was recently at my favorite consigment shop and found the most awesome pink kicks that were literally brand new. They was not a scratch or mark on them to be found. These would retail around $40 and I got them for Bella for $9. I was so excited about how fun they are I decided it was blog worthy (anyone who knows my love for shoes will understand my true excitment). Nate and I are counting down the days, hours and seconds until we get to meet our daughter. It has not fully hit us and I don't think it will until we finally get to meet her. We are so excited for all the fun to come with both a girl and a boy!

A Big Surprise for Bella

Last Saturday Bella and I had a big surprise. What I thought was a birthday party luncheon for the January birthdays. When I showed up I walked into a surprise baby shower for Bella. There were so many special details and everyone bought Bella a darling outfit for her to wear. I was so overwhelmed with all the work that went into making it a surprise and just such a special day for Bella and me. A big, heart felt thank you to Ann, Court and Sum for giving me this special memory!

The girls minus Sum

Mommy and Georgia Mommy Mary

Court, my fun and fabulous friend

Fun blanket from Mary

Love the "B" blanket from Michelle

So many sweet and personal details

Shoes for the two other birthday girls I thought we were celebrating

Sum with our sweet Mamas

The precious hosts

Grandpa and Grandma Visit

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa Elwell came to visit. They braved the terrible weather and were able to make it our house. Jensen had such a good time playing and reading and soaking in all the extra attention. They brought some fun gifts for Jensen including his own broom and dust pan, which of course he loves. Grandma and Grandpa did some babysitting for us while we enjoyed time with friends and got extra sleep. Jensen loved spending time with them and we could tell that he remembered who they were which was special. The next time they visit baby sister will be here!

Mommy's Buddy

Thanks Grandma for my cleaning toys

and my car racer!

And I love Grandpa's briefcase!

The Stats

Even though Jensen is approaching 16 months he had his "15 month" appointment today. We were thrilled to find out he is no longer anemic! It has been 3 months of hard work and we are thankful his hemoglobin has improved. He also passed all the developmental questions and is right on track. His currents stats are:

31.5 height (54%)

24lbs 2oz (41%)

47.6cm head (58%)

He got three vaccinations and cried his head off. He is definitely much more aware of needles and being poked at. He did not like it! It was so awful to see him so upset. We are just so grateful for a healthy toddler and just thank the Lord for His provision.

Snow Day Bliss

I never thought I would be writing a blog on a snow day living in the deep south but here it goes! Having any amount of snow down here is such an anomaly that when it happens it is all that everyone talks about and the news covers it like it was a presidential election. The city completely shuts down (no exaggeration) and the DMT issues statements like "Do not leave your house unless it is a medical emergency." This is of course all very humerous to two people who were raised in the North and in extreme weather, however even 1 inch of snow down here means terrible accidents and taking your life in your hands cause no one has a clue how to drive! Today Nate had a rare day off due to the snow and if you can believe it he has another 1 tomorrow! The last time anything like this has happened was 1993 so it's safe to this is so rare it may not happen for another 20 years. Personal I think the Lord heard my pleas for help in the final days of this pregancy so he sent the snow to shut down the city so my sweet hubs could be home these 2 extra days. So nice of Him to think of me personally:)

We had some cabin fever today with Jensen so Nate decided to take him out to enjoy his first snow. Since we never get snow we didn't have anything for him to wear and had to put him in several layers. This unfortunatly hindered him from moving around and might have been counter productive but we tried! After living in the South for 6 years we have forgotten all our snow tricks but tomorrow we plan to up our game and acutally put Jensen in a plastic container and pull him around. We think he will like this much better. Below is a funny video of our attempt at "sledding" not sure what Jensen thought except "who are these looney people I live with!"

30 days

35 weeks

Today we started our final countdown till our baby girl gets here. It is a relief to know that she will be here in 30 days or less! I have done a terrible job documenting this pregnancy probably cause I have been busy with an active toddler, work, etc. Poor Bella, the pre-birth section of her scrapbook will be much smaller than Jensen's. I am so ready not to be pregnant. This pregnancy has been hard from almost day 1. I have been sleeping on the couch since week 29 and also have had terrible leg cramps at night that make sleeping very hard. We are expecting that Bella and Jensen will be as different in personality as they have been in womb! Not sure what Nate and I have gotten ourselves into but we can't wait to meet our baby girl and I can not wait to never be pregnant again. Some people just love it but I can say that the end of this pregnancy has been one of the hardest times of my life. Grateful and very much anticipating meeting our daughter in 30 days or less!

Toiletries

7 bags of IV Fluid later I was feeling better

Not feeling well:(

On Sunday night I got hit hard and fast with the flu bug. By the next day I ended up in the hospital due to dehydration and contractions. I ended up staying just over 24 hours and received 7 bags of IV fluid. I still feel pretty weak and tired but I am so happy to be home. A big thanks to George and Mary for watching Jensen last evening so Nate could spend come visit me in the hospital. I am so grateful for really good insurance through Nate's job and also top notch care at Piedmont hospital. Every nurse and doctor is just thoughtful, caring and really comitted to each patient. We are doing everything we can to keep our baby girl in the oven for at least a few more weeks!

One funny story that will go down in memory is that I asked Nate to pack my toiletries. I assumed this was a pretty straight forward request. This morning when the nurse said I could shower she asked if I needed a bar of soap. I said "oh no cause my husband packed my toiletries." I went to get them and opened the bag and the gist of it was contact solution (which I had my glasses on) and eye make-up remover (I was not wearing any make-up which seemed pretty obvious to me:). I just had a good laugh cause Nate is so sweet and thoughtful and I am sure thought this is what toiletries meant. I was more thinking of my wonderful Aveda shampoo and condition and special body wash etc. So needless to say I humbly accepted the bar of dial soap for my shower. A big thank you to Nate though for picking up so many big and little tasks as we push to the end!

2 more pics!

Jensen with his 95 year old Namesake GG Jensen

Gram Gram & Papa with their 2 boys

Christmas in the Motherland

We had the privilege of going home to the Motherland for Christmas (otherwise known as ND). It did not disappoint. There was tons of snow and cold weather to make it feel especially Christmasy. We loved spending time with Brandi and Zack and cousin JackO and got lots of good play time in. JackO and Jensen are interacting more and more with each visit and it is so fun to see. We enjoyed so many good meals and movies and get togethers. We just love going home and wish we could go home more. Thanks so Mom & Dad (Gram Gram & Papa) for making Christmas so special and meaningful. It was a wonderful time and we hated having to leave. We love you guys and miss you already!

For a little girl who hasn't arrived yet Bella got the most presents!

Jensen had his first pancake that Gram Gram made special for him

JackO liked his truck

Meeting Santa was a little bit hit or miss

Christmas Eve was a Papa night for Jensen. He enjoyed time with Papa on the couch with his wooden spoon. Jensen really did not need any presents. He likes Gram Gram's cooking utensils

Exhibit B

Opening a gift from Papa

JackO is a big help!

Jensen helping Gram Gram open her present

Wrapping paper is so fun!

a bad attempt at a family photo