October, BABY MONTH!

I'm only a little excited that October is finally here! We have been anticipating the arrival of our sweet baby boy and the changes in the weather is making everything feel real. It's cooled down quite a bit which makes my pregnant self very happy. It feels sooo nice outside. All the Halloween things are up in stores and in the house. Eli has really enjoyed learning about Halloween. He loves to point out witches and pumpkins wherever he sees them. It's so fun seeing him actually start to understand things more. He is a full-sentence talker now as well! I love his little voice and the sentences he comes up with. It really makes you realize how much they listen and pick up on what you say! One of my favorite things he says is: "Hey (Rocket, Salt, Mommy, Papa) wuddya doin day?" His words always run really close together and it almost sounds like one word. Lately he also thinks everything you say is you saying that's his name. So if we say, Guess what? Chicken butt! He will say, "I not chicken butt! I Blake!" It's so funny because most of the time he says his name is Blake instead of Eli. He also knows that he his two years old but struggles to show you on his fingers. His favorite shows right now are Room on the Broom (a short show about a witch), Coco, and Cars. There's a song in Coco that he loves and his face always lights up when he hears it! It's called "Poco Loco." He loves Lightning McQueen and Mater and takes them with him almost everywhere he goes. He would play cars with you all day long if you'd let him. One of his favorite activities is chasing Salt (the cat) around the house. Salt is surprisingly tolerant of him and they both seem to enjoy one another's company. He is great napper which is such a blessing for me. He usually naps from 1:00-4:00 (although I try to wake him up around 3:00).  Then he will sleep through the night from 9 pm to 7:30 the next morning. On Sundays he absolutely loves going to nursery. He always talks about how he gets to see "his friends", play with toys and go on a walk. His favorite person is definitely his Papa and loves to be on the "moaner" (lawn mower) or the tractor with him any chance he gets. He also enjoys hanging out in the shop with anyone who is doing a "work up" (work out). His Uncle Brayden has introduced him to the world of Harry Potter and he now uses anything that resembles a stick as his wand to cast spells. He doesn't enjoy my kisses as much anymore and has started telling me to kiss baby Masen. I assure him that I will, as soon as he comes out. I don't think he quite understands what is going to happen when baby Masen comes out but he does understand what is his and what is the baby's. I love it so much when he kisses my belly. I know he's going to be an amazing big brother and my heart just might burst when I see them together for the first time. Right now it is October 17th, and I am 38 weeks and a bit. We're hoping that Masen makes his arrival very soon because we are planning to fly out to Mississippi in November for the wedding of Bree and Scott. We are so excited they are finally tying the knot and really don't want to miss it.

August-September

Well, I am combining these two months because I failed to get on here to write everything down and it's already October! I'm going to do my best to remember the highlights of these two months. So towards the end of August, Jake, Kayla and the girls all flew in from Texas. Sweet Lily was so cute running to hug Grandma and was crying the whole time, which of course made most of us cry! I was so happy to see them and we all hugged and cried. They stayed at our house for a few days. One night we went to the great Western Idaho Fair! It's always something we look forward to, even though it's the same thing every year. We get all the unhealthy food and enjoy walking around looking at all the vendors and of course the weird people. At the time I was 32 weeks pregnant so it was a bit of a struggle, but we did our best. We watched a dog show and enjoyed seeing all the animals. The highlight of their visit though was spending a few days together in McCall. Some friends were nice enough to let us "rent" their cabin for a few days. It was not so much a cabin as it was a massive house on the lake. We all had our own rooms (and there were rooms to spare). We brought up a bunch of food and snacks and each took turns making dinners. We brought up some new games and had some good laughs every night. One of the best was the game Monikers. It was kind of like charades. Mom made us all laugh so hard when she was talking about Hitler and saying "Hi Ho Hitler!" (Instead of "Hail Hitler). I legitimately peed my pants and had to run upstairs to change. One night we did smores, sat in the hot tub and then another we ate out at My Father's Place. That same night we went to get ice cream and had a good laugh when the serving sizes were WAY more than we bargained for. One day the boys went golfing while the girls stayed home with the kids. The house sat literally on the beach so the little kids had fun playing in the sand and on the deck. Jake and Kayla convinced Lily to jump in the water with them and as soon as she came up for air she was screaming bloody murder. She was NOT happy. Her and Eli did great playing together most of the time and little Charlotte just never sat still. One morning we all went to The Pancake House and again got way more food than we knew what to do with. It was so fun being together as a family and just enjoying some time away from the world. Jake had to go back to Texas for work shortly after but Kayla and the girls were able to stay for another week and a half. They stayed with her parents and we got to see them a few more times. Lily and Eli had had enough of each other at that point and it was good to have the separation. We all celebrated Lily's birthday together with the Hansen's while they were here. The rest of September is kind of a blur for me. I've been biding my time just waiting for this baby boy to get here while also trying my best to enjoy what time I have left with Eli as an only child. Justin started another semester of school in September- he is working on an internship as well as one class.

May

Today is May 30th and I'm sitting here trying to recall everything that happened this last month. We're feeling all settled into our new place and are really enjoying the backyard! At least we know Eli is for sure! At the beginning of this month Brayden graduated from college. We really wanted to be there for it but it was going to be such a short trip for Mom and Dad because Mom was flying out to Mexico the next day and Dad was moving Brayden out of his apartment. So, we decided just to stay home (Justin also had class so it would have been just Eli and I). Brayden and Dad made a pitstop at our house on their way back and stayed for one night. We all went to dinner and played at the park and then went to Bear World the next day. It was so fun having people come visit us! Dad bought us all some yummy fudge. In the middle of May we took a trip home to visit Mom, Dad and Brayden. We watched all of them do a round of crossfit, ate lots of yummy food and played card games with their neighbors, Carla and Alfredo. It was a nice break from reality and Eli had a blast being outside and playing on the tractor, razor and lawn mower. The rest of May was spent in anticipation for June!

April

I can't remember if I mentioned in the previous post that Justin was going to interview for a job with Assa Abloy- one of the largest lock companies in the world. Well, they flew him out to Connecticut for the weekend to do the final round of interviews. It was him and 14 others. They were able to tour their factory and learn more about the company. I think he had 3 interviews and he also had to give a presentation for 15 minutes to two people. He said he felt it went well, but unfortunately didn't get the job. I personally felt a bit relieved that he didn't because I didn't see how he would be able to finish school and work 40 hours a week. We both feel really good about him finishing school and feel like it's what we need to do right now... even though it's always a constant struggle with money. We are trying to avoid debt like the plague and so far don't have any besides our phones (which we owe something like $300) and our car ($7,000). We do feel very blessed that we haven't had to get a loan for school and owe a lot of that to my parents who help us out with tuition. We've still got about two more years of school left before Justin graduates, but the semesters seem to fly by. He just finished his 4th or 5th (can't remember) and will begin another one in 10 days. We are going to be spending the summer in a friend's house as they will be in another state for summer sales. We're really looking forward to NOT hearing our upstairs neighbor's dog yapping all day long as well as having a backyard! I am seriously looking forward to summer (even though it snowed yesterday and we are almost halfway through April!) We had our first ultrasound for baby number two on Wednesday and it was so delightful. He/she was wiggling and moving around the entire time. We did get a few really good pics! I'm dying to know what the gender is but we've decided to just wait until the 20 week ultrasound to find out what it is. That will fall right on the same week that Justin's family will be visiting. Now both times I've been expecting we've lived across the country so I really want to have something to share with them while they are here.
The last few weeks have been pretty exhausting for me- I'm still teaching classes in the morning and this first trimester has taken all the energy out of me. Poor, sweet Eli is such a good sport and sometimes results to entertaining himself while I lay on the couch and get some rest. His little personality is sprouting so quickly and we are loving every moment with him. He is talking more and more every day and loves to copy anything that I say! Yesterday when it snowed he stood on the window sill and say, "Heck! Cow! Word!", repeating after me when I was saying, "Oh my heck! Holy cow! Oh my word!" It is so much fun to have a little buddy all the time. He is also very good at saying please and thank you. A lot of what he says I never teach him, he just catches on all on his own! He had a friend over yesterday and really had no clue what to do. I don't think he yet understands the concept of play. He thinks everything in the house belongs to him so he really struggled to see another child playing with his toys. Boy does he have a reality check coming his way this year! I do think he will have a hard adjustment but once he is adjusted he will be such a great big brother. I know it will be an adjustment for all of us so we will just be learning together! We are planning on having the baby in Boise. We will probably move in with Mom and Dad for a few months from mid-July to beginning of January while Justin works on his internship. Exciting times to come! :)

Well it's not quite May so I'm going to finish off this month. We have moved out of our sweet apartment (YAY!) and that was quite the ordeal. We only had one person to help load everything into the truck so it took a bit longer than we would have liked. I mostly worried about Justin straining his back which I was right to be worried about because he was in pain for then next couple of days. I found out the morning that we moved that one of my most favorite members in the Coventry ward had passed awayWe are currently moved into our house (sort of). Most of our stuff is in boxes in the garage and we will try to get by with only what we need! It's a little frustrating because we keep thinking of things here and there that we need and then have to go digging through boxes to find it. But other than that we are really enjoying it here. Eli loves having the backyard to play in and a neighborhood to take bike rides in. It's going to be a great summer! Justin started classes on Tuesday and is feeling the stress of a new semester, but I know he will do great. We spent the week in between semesters at my Mom & Dad's. I hosted a baby shower for Megan Leifson and that took up just about all my time. It ended up being a bit more work than I anticipated but it was still worth it to see Megan so happy. Everyone deserves a big bash for their first baby.

March

Can I say how happy I am that March is here? February was of course a happy month because we found out we are expecting but it was also full of sickness. We are all feeling much better in terms of colds and infections, although Eli still has a lingering cough and runny nose. Today I am 5 weeks, 4 days and the nausea has hit. I was starting to think I was going to get lucky and not get sick but nope! It's funny how they call it morning sickness when it's more like ALL day sickness. I just have this underlying feeling of being sick all the time that worsens if I go too long without eating. I don't have enough food in the house to keep up with me so we will be going grocery shopping today! This morning we had the awesome opportunity of going to see some murals that will be placed in the Rome, Italy temple. Our Young Women's Secretary's husband is a very talented artist and has painted a few murals for temples. They are renting out a big shop where they have the canvas nailed to some wood frames in the shape of the actual room. It was so amazing. Him and his wife had traveled to Italy and took thousands of pictures. He has used those pictures to piece everything together into one continuous landscape. I was amazed. He said that he spends more hours on the computer using Photoshop and cropping out pictures than he does actually painting. SO COOL. After that we came home and put Eli down for a nap. I was supposed to work this afternoon but of course my class was canceled. I haven't been getting enough work recently and it worries me. Justin is going to apply for an English teaching job like mine so we are really hoping he can get that and bring in a little extra every month. This month we have some exciting things coming up. Jake and Kayla will be visiting Boise this weekend and next for Kayla's sister's missionary homecoming. I'm trying to convince Justin to skip a couple classes so we can drive out there and spend some time with them. Two weeks after that we will go to Utah for the big Jensen family Easter party hosted by Bruce and Cassie. We always look forward to spending time with family. It's what makes the days and weeks go faster.

Alright, so fast forward a couple weeks since I began this post- it is now Sunday, March 18th. March has been another crazy month! We were able to go to Boise on a Wednesday and spend time with family until Sunday. It was really great seeing Jake, Kayla and the girls. We didn't end up getting to spend as much time with them as we would have liked due to myself and Eli being sick. Eli must have eaten something bad because he threw up all day one of the days we were there. I was still trying to figure out how to manage my nausea so that wasn't fun. We've been back in Rexburg now for a week and since returning home Eli's cough worsened and he just seemed pretty miserable. We finally decided to take him in to urgent care on Wednesday night. They swabbed his nose to test for RSV and the flu. Well, the RSV came back positive. :( They gave us the option to put him in the hospital or we could just watch him closely that night since his oxygen levels were pretty low and he was having difficulty breathing. We decided to just keep an eye on him. They gave him a breathing treatment while we were there to help open his airways. We brought him home and he slept (or not slept) in our bed that night. In the morning I took him in to see our regular doctor to see how he was doing. His oxygen levels were worse but the doctor was confident that we could treat him at home and he wouldn't need to be admitted. He prescribed some steroids for him and we were also able to rent a nebulizer to give him breathing treatments at home. Well, now it's Sunday and he's doing better. He hates his breathing treatments and his medicine but it is helping. He's regressed with sleeping as a result of everything which has really sucked. He wakes up frequently throughout the night and struggles to sleep soundly without someone next to him. We hope he continues to get better! What was neat throughout the whole ordeal was how supported we felt. As soon as we got home from urgent care, all of the family had been notified and everyone was praying for him. It made us feel so loved and cared for. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and extended family. As for me and the pregnancy, I still feel pretty nauseous but better as long as I stay on top of my medicine and eat frequently throughout the day. I'm growing so incredibly fast which is weird because I was so tiny with Eli. I will have my first ultrasound next Wednesday and I'm excited!

2018 January-February

You know when people say, when it rains it pours? That one phrase basically describes this year so far. We ended 2017 with a bang! We were blessed to spend one week with the Jensen's before Christmas. Kayla, Jake, Lily, and Charlotte were able to come from Texas so we got to see them for a bit. Jake gave Charlotte a beautiful blessing and all of the family was there including Grandma and Grandpa Sharon & Carl Jensen. It's always so fun to spend time with everyone. We left for Mississippi a couple days before Christmas. That plane ride with Eli was pretty rough! He refused to go to sleep and was very tired by the end of the day. We spent the next two weeks in Mississippi with the Lowry family. We thought we would be escaping the cold but of course we brought it with us! The South experienced some of its coldest weeks while we were there- leading to Bree's pipes freezing and her heater breaking! It was pretty dramatic! Christmas was wonderful. All of the family including Josh, Kashella and their girls were able to make it. We exchanged gifts and ate a yummy dinner. The next couple of weeks we spent there we did as much as we could to help take care of Grandma Millie (whose health is decreasing pretty rapidly). It was sad to go home but we were ready to be in our own place again. Thankfully Rexburg wasn't too cold when we returned. At the start of the new year I began doing a trade for the local gym here. I am working in their daycare and in return I receive a membership. It has basically been the downfall of our health! Working among so many sick kids that carry so many germs has made Eli and I sick quite a few times already this year. It really stinks! We have had colds, fevers, ear infections and sinus infections. To top that off, Justin's back started acting up again Thanksgiving of 2017. He actually thought it was a pulled hamstring because his leg was hurting so bad and he was hunched over a lot of the time. Well it wasn't getting better so around the beginning of February he finally went to see the Physical Therapist- who told him it was his back and not his leg. So he's been doing therapy a couple times a week which has pretty much drained our already starving savings account! But, we are just grateful that he is feeling better again. He is walking normally and is able to be of much better help around the house... which is very good news, seeing as we are expecting baby number two!!! I am still very early at the moment but ecstatic. We began trying for another baby in September 2017 and haven't had any luck. We were starting to get a little discouraged and then finally it happened! It was interesting to me because before I even took a pregnancy test I had a feeling that I was pregnant. I think you can just somehow tell a difference. Anyways, we found out while we were visiting my parents for President's Day weekend. I had told my mom and Steph (Brayden's girlfriend), that I was feeling different and I might be pregnant. So of course while we were there they begged me to take a pregnancy test. It was still a couple days before my missed period so I was worried that if I took it too early the results wouldn't be accurate. Of course they coerced me into taking one and so appeared one solid line and accompanying -faint- line. For some reason I still didn't want to believe it was true although they were both convinced! It wasn't until I missed my period that it really started to sink in. I went to the doctor this week to get a confirmation and indeed, it's true! Baby number two is due October 31st of this year. I'm hoping to do a better job of documenting this pregnancy than I did with Eli. I find myself wishing I could compare where I'm at right now with where I was with Eli. When I first got pregnant with Eli I noticed right away that my digestive system was running at a much slower pace than usual but that hasn't been the case with this baby. I am currently five weeks along and the only symptoms I've experienced so far are: mood swings, fatigue, tender breasts, and cramping. I think with Eli the nausea began around six weeks, so if this baby follows that same pattern then I can expect about only one more week of good eating! We are looking forward to March and hoping that the weather will get warmer. Hopefully my immune system can also catch up so I can start feeling healthier. I can't wait for warm weather so Eli can enjoy more time outdoors. The poor kid has been stuck inside most of the winter! Our daily routine consists of watching his favorite movies: Boss Baby, Finding Dory, Little Einsteins or Spirit, playing with his choo choo train, painting, playing with play dough, going to get the mail, going to the grocery store and going to the gym! This age that he is at right now is SO much fun. He learns new words every day and loves to copy anything that we do or say. Right now his vocabulary includes: Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Bray Bray, Meow, Woof woof, (all animal sounds- elephant is our favorite, he throws up his arm as he makes the sound), shoes, socks, baby, mink (binky), snack, juice, honnnnkkkk, out (for outside), boots, woody, this , that, waffle, toast. I'm probably forgetting some but those are the only ones I can think of at the moment! He has a book with pictures that he looks at and tells us what he sees. There's a picture of "cry", "yawn" and "laugh". He will do the actions for the words when we point at the picture and it's sooo cute! I will try to get a video. Justin is doing well in school this semester. It's been so cool to watch him learn and grow. I never imagined he would be where he is now when we started dating a few years ago. His ambition has more than tripled and he has such a huge desire to be successful. I'm really proud of him for going for his dreams and doing something he thought he couldn't do. When he first started back at school I was helping him a lot with writing papers, reading and just some basic assignments. Now he does everything on his own! I know he will be successful because he just has that drive in him. We've got another couple of years before he graduates but we are really enjoying it here in Rexburg- a lot more than we anticipated! We attend a family ward and really like it. I am serving in the Young Women's presidency as the second counselor. It's been perfect for me because it has allowed me to get to know a lot of the families in the ward through the young women. The young women President, Heidi, is a wonderful young mom (a little older than me), but it's been so fun getting to know her. We are actually going to be staying in her family's home this summer while they are away in Texas on summer sales. It's a huge blessing for us because we will save some money and we will have a big backyard for Eli to play in during the summer! YEAH! If you can't tell we are so ready for summer to get here.