"She's Kinda Cute"

Happy Birthday Daniel!!

We enjoyed celebrating Daniel's birthday together as a family on Friday, party hats and all. Here he is with his two greatest gifts sitting on his lap.



Esther is doing very well and still sleeping most of the time, even at night, so we don't actually catch her with her eyes open very much. We are really loving these newborn days and enjoy the sweet spirit she brings into our home. Time is already slipping by quickly, however, and Daniel and I agree that every time we look at Esther she seems bigger. Good thing for pictures and videos to help us remember these precious days.

Trying out some disco moves in her sleep.

10 Days Old

It's hard to believe Esther has only been with us for 10 days because it's already strange to think of what it was like without her here. She is such a sweet, content baby and we are just so happy to have her in our family. I'm feeling better than I expected but am still a bit sleep-deprived so I'm trying to keep my "to do" lists pretty short each day and just enjoy this time with my two cutie-pies.

The flash wasn't strong enough so it's not the best quality, but it's fun to see us as a family of four now.

I'm such a lucky mom.

More Pictures

I'm running out of steam so I'm not going to write too much, but I know there are a few of you out there who would like to see some more pictures of our sweet little Esther so here you go. And thank you to everyone who has been checking in with us--we appreciate your love and excitement and are so blessed to have so many who care for us and our new, beautiful daughter.

Smile!

Not the happiest expression but it's the only photo with Mommy out of the hospital so far.

Daddy with his little girl.

Spencer was happy to help Daddy build "baby sister's chair" as he called it, and then wanted to get in his new chair so he could be like her.

Gramma has been so good to both of them, especially giving Spencer lots of attention.

Bath time

Big brother!!

Some updates

Esther went in for her bilirubin test this morning and passed just fine. So far she has been very quiet and sleepy :) Everyone has been pretty tired around here so we all took naps this afternoon. Spencer is pretty sick with a runny nose and cough so he hasn't been able to go outside yet to enjoy the new snow :(

We got a new camera for Christmas so this is the first video that we've uploaded and I'm still experimenting with the settings. I'm sure Becky will be back to posting pretty soon so expect some more updates and a lot more pictures!

Welcome Esther!

Name: Esther Brynn Jensen
Born: January 21st 2010 at 1:29 AM
Weight: 8 lbs 7 oz
Length: 19.5"

Christmas Pictures, etc.

Here I am finally getting to posting some pictures from Christmas and a few other December activities. I've enjoyed looking at everyone else's and am glad I can feel a little closer to you even though we were far away from many of you.

Spencer got to hang out with his cousin Olivia when her family came out for a wedding at the beginning of the month. Note his expression of awe in the second photo. He is always so happy to play and talk with the older kids.

We had a ward Christmas party and of course the children got to see Santa. Spencer did a lot better this year, perhaps it was because he had a friend by his side the whole way.

The yummy candy canes were worth it!

We went to the mall to see Santa and Spencer and his friend Andrea enjoyed a ride on both this train and one that was set up just for Christmas, which actually made me dizzy.

On Christmas Eve my family came over to our apartment and we enjoyed a yummy meal and a nice Christmas program with music, stories, and scriptures. My parents came out here because there were more of us in Utah than in Iowa and I was happy to have so many of us together, without any traveling on our part!

Uncle Neil keeping his nephew entertained.

We rented some card tables and chairs from the Wymount office so there would be room for all of us, and the grand total for keeping them for 10 days was $1.54. You are brillant, Daniel!

We had Christmas morning in our own apartment and it was lots of fun for me to watch Spencer open and play with his presents. When we told him it was time to open presents he said, "Happy Birthday to you!" Maybe next year he'll know the difference between birthdays and Christmas.

My sister Megan just returned from her mission in Italy (another reason my parents came out--we wanted to see her before she started school and it would have been so lonely at home with just the 3 of them) and she stayed at our place Christmas Eve and joined in our Christmas morning fun.

We headed over to Neil's house for the rest of the day and were bombarded by even more presents. When there are 13 people together it just takes a while to get through everything! And yeah, the cute little tree Emily and Jenny picked out looks pretty silly with so many presents "under" it.

Spencer was past due for a nap so he was really running out of steam by the end.
(Does this count as a belly shot, Tamara?)


My mom made these adorable Mary and Joseph outfits for the two two-year olds and they cooperated well enough to try them on.

Daniel has been very diligent about getting Spencer outside to exert his amble amount of energy each day even with all the cold weather, for which I am very grateful.

On our last day of Christmas break we went up to a place called "Jump On It" which had these inflatable jumping things as well as multiple trampolines lined up next to each other where everyone could jump to their heart's content. If I had been eager to go into labor early I may have joined in, but I decided to just watch from the side.

We really had a wonderful Christmas season and enjoyed getting together with family and friends to celebrate, as well as having lots of time on our own without school or any big travels. I appreciate the special spirit there is at Christmas and was grateful to have the opportunity to think more about my Savior and the wonderful gifts He has given us. I couldn't ask for anything more than my amazing husband, our precious son, and "baby sister" who is about to join us. We love you all!!!