Life is Brilliant.

 I love science, I always have.  As a young child I had a microscope, a telescope, a chemistry set, anything I could get my hands on that dealt with science.  I was fascinated by it, I still am.  I am a science major at Boise State and the further along I get in my undergraduate career, the more and more amazed I am at the sheer brilliance of life.  It is mind blowing that people of science can believe that we were formed by evolution alone, that there was, is, no divine hand that creates such perfectness in this world.  Today, while sitting in my Genetics class (which,by the way, was being filmed for NBC Dateline :D) learning more in depth about how each individual can be identified by a single cell containing their DNA, I couldn't help but think how incredible this is.  Really, who could argue that its not incredible?  But beyond that, sitting there I gained more of a testimony that God is real and that he has created all the beauty of this earth.  Everything fits together so perfectly.  From the differentiation of cells to create our perfect bodies to firing neurons creating our thoughts.  I often catch myself thinking about these things mechanically because its easier to understand them that way, but when I allow myself to really think about the way these things work I can't even comprehend how they could possibly create such outcomes as thinking, the intricate features of a baby, the movements of my fingers as I type this.. I know it is only possible through God, like everything else in this world.
 There are so many things to be grateful for, like the opportunity that I have to go and receive a college education (though it has taken me forever!) and to learn more about the marvelous things our Heavenly Father provides us.  I am so lucky to know where we have come from and to be able to sit in my classes knowing that there is a greater being that has perfectly created the awesomeness of the things that I learn about. That there is purpose to this life and it wasn't an accidental development.  I love being awed by this magnificent world.  There is beauty everywhere.  I have decided (again) to try to revamp our blog and to focus a little more on the beauty of life.  I am also coming around to the idea of using this as a way to reflect on my family's adventures and to help remind us of the beautiful life we've been given.  So to start, and I'm starting small, I am re-titling our blog.  Hopefully this will be more of an inspiration to keep me going on this.  :)

    In case you want to discover something new and exciting here is a link to one of my favorite sites...  Science Daily  Enjoy! :)

Things Mostly About Charley

Clearly it has been forever since our last post. So much has been going on around here and life just keeps getting busier. Since I'm no good at doing updates as things happen, here is a very quick recap of our last year... with lots of pictures.

During the spring after Charley was born:

• Greg and I managed to finish our semester at school though it was tough focusing on school work with such an adorable baby around.
• We attended several weddings, including my dad's and Greg's sisters.
• Charley had an infectious disease she some how picked up. She's a tough one and we all managed to get through it... naturally, she was so grumpy and fussy all the time.
• Charley was blessed June 12th. I always love having lots of family in town for things like this. Greg gave her a beautiful blessing and afterwards we put on lunch for everyone.
• We helped my dad and Michelle move out of both their house, then into a rental and finally into their new home. phew!

Helping Grandpa pack.

During the Summer:

• We both took a couple summer classes, had lots of family visit, floated the river several times, traveled down to Utah, went to Lagoon, and watched our baby girl grow up.

Fall:

• Greg and I started another semester. (Someday we will be done....)
• We went to the corn maze and bundled Charley up in Greg's coat. She loved it!! She just watched everybody and enjoyed the scenery.
• We celebrated Halloween by going around to all of our families houses showing off Charley, because everyone just had to see her. :)

Thanksgiving and Christmas:

• We spent Thanksgiving down in Utah with Greg's side of the family. We stayed in Spanish Fork with his grandparents for the better half of a week and had a busy, fun packed time. We got to visit with lots of family, see good friends, shop, visit the temple (Boise is closed) eat lots of food, and shop some more. We also went to Temple Square and saw the lights. I always enjoy doing this, but I enjoyed it even more this year with our little girl. She was so entranced by all the lights and people.

• Christmas was a little more chaotic this year. We spent the night at my dads, as tradition (which, unfortunately for Taylor, has to end soon) and went to church with them that morning. When we got home we gathered around to open presents. Right as we were beginning, Cameron (my step-brother who is on a mission) called, while they were talking we made brunch. In the middle of making it, Greg's parents called and they were ready for us to head over there for gifts. So we quickly left, missing the meal, opened gifts there and then headed back to my dads to finish up presents. Then back to the Jensen's for dinner. It was non-stop chaos but it was so fun. And Charley of course was the star and made one heck of a haul! Her pile of gifts was never ending, but she loved the whole experience. She loved playing with the paper and bows, and figured out that there was something inside and would help rip off the paper. She would get most excited when she opened a book.

Helping Great-Grandpa put up lights

Sadly, she had a blowout in her Christmas dress, so she is wearing PJs she got from Great-Grandma Clifford. But, she was excited about her book!

After Christmas we enjoyed the rest of our winter vacation. My mom came up from Boston and watched Charley while Greg and I headed for our Caribbean cruise, which of course, was so much fun.

Charley is now 9 months old and she has been the biggest thing to hit this planet in our little world. She is seriously the most popular thing ever. Both families are equally obsessed with her (as are we) and we can't go anywhere without her being the center of attention. She is becoming such a big girl and is very independent. I have a feeling she is going to be a bit of a stubborn one when she gets older....

She is doing all the baby things, eating, growing, crawling, (almost walking!!! Oh my!) putting every dirty little thing in her mouth... At her 9 month appointment she weighed 17 pounds, has a big head and is a tall chicka.

This kid has one heck of a personality. She can draw in anyone around her. She has the biggest grin and knows how to work it. She loves to blow kisses, clap, fake laugh, make animal sounds, and copy everything anyone does. She won't drink out of a sippy cup, she has to drink out of a regular cup, and loves to use a straw. She doesn't like to watch tv, but she loves to sing along with the ABC phonics song, trying to mimic the sounds of the letters. She loves our ki-ki (cat) who sometimes lets her pet her. (which she does softly) She is the biggest flirt and LOVES loves kids, and will laugh her head off at every single thing they do. She loves to dance, especially to Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida (I know, good song for a baby...) and will 'raise the roof' with her arms . She knows how to turn on dad's I-phone and loves to play the baby apps he has on it for her. This has us worried a bit, that she is already obsessed with a cell phone... She will tell us when she wants food by saying num num num num. She loves to read books and likes to turn the pages herself. She loves the mirror and her baby doll and gives it kisses. She has three teeth which she likes to rub her lips against. She is just like her daddy and can pull a kazillion different faces. Seriously, a Kazillion faces! She loves to play peek-a-boo, but has to be the one to hide. She loves bath time and having her head washed. She loves to sit on mom's lap and help her do homework... well she calls it helping. She is amazing and we truly feel so blessed to have her in our lives. I have a million pictures of her and because I think my kiddo is adorable, here are some of just Charley:

Tay had her baby for school the same week I had mine. :)

She had a photo shoot when she was just a little over a week old. They turned out amazing and I am so glad we decided to get them done.

One of her hilarious faces

Our little Bronco!

Chasing the laser pointer with Luna.

Charley JoAn

Our little miracle is here! She was born on April 6th at 12:11 am. She is absolutely beautiful and healthy and strong. She weighed 7lbs 3 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Before we left for the hospital

She decided to come a little earlier than planned, which is just her style... It is crazy to think back on how everything happened. The day was so normal and I had so much planned for that evening. My water broke around 7 on Tuesday night and since I was having a C-section, that meant no waiting around for labor, I was having that baby. I didn't want to believe it and struggled with the idea that I could be having her that night. Greg was at work and I refused to call him. Instead I went around the house doing all kinds of chores; laundry, vacuuming, dishes, etc. I waited until he called me on his break before I told him, and even then I almost didn't. He was excited and rushed home early from work to take me to the hospital, but not before I repacked my hospital bag, finished the laundry and tested out the car seat one last time. When we did finally get to the triage the nurse was pretty positive that my water did break but we had to wait for the results of the test. We asked the nurse while we were waiting if they got a lot of women in there with false alarms. She told us all the time and that most likely the girl next to us was one of them. I was so jealous of that girl, and prayed that I would have the same result. It sounds so silly now, but I did NOT want to have my baby that night. I was scheduled for the 14th and that was when I wanted to have her, not the 5th, nor the 6th. But I of course, do not get to choose how these things work out. After the tests were confirmed, the doctor came in and double checked that baby was breech and in less than 15 minutes I was in the O.R. I had decided not to tell any of our family that we were going to the hospital until I heard them say for sure I was having that baby, because, remember, I was praying I wasn't. Everything happened so fast once we found out, that all I was able to get out between the preparation was a text message to my sister before they wheeled me away. We thought we would have plenty of time to let everyone know what was going on once we found out because hospitals always seem to be so slow. Not the case. Greg walked out for a quick phone call and they almost wheeled me away without him. Everything happened so fast, and I was is such a daze that nothing felt real to me, but the second I heard my baby cry everything became real. You always hear people talk about how they feel when they see their baby for the first time, but it is even better than what they say. It was such an incredible experience and the feeling of love was overwhelming. Before my baby girl came I would have mini anxiety attacks, "I can't be a mom, I don't even like kids!" is something I would frequently tell Greg. That night I didn't want to go to the hospital because I didn't want her to be here, I couldn't possibly imagine taking care of another being. But here I am doing it and the hell I imagined it would be like while pregnant and before I even got pregnant is not hell, not even a little bit. It is pure joy. I always think how amazing it is that I can love this little one so much! I've only known her for a few weeks. I now have mini anxiety attacks when I am away from her, all I can think about is her. My husband and my baby are my world.

Here are some of Charley's first moments..

Her debut

Our first family picture
My favorite facial expression.

**I wrote this so long ago, it took me a while to finish it. .. . more exciting pictures and posts to come!!!**

Baby's due date is sneaking up on us! We had another weekly appointment today, this one I had been looking forward to for a while now, because we finally got to have another ultrasound! Unfortunately, our child is a stubborn one and was facing down and breech and we could not get a very good view of her. All we could really see was the back of her head and her spine. I didn't even get to bring home a little picture. It was actually really disappointing. My doctor wanted to check her and make sure she was growing well, since all the complications before usually cause babies to not grow like they should. But, once again, she shocked us all when we saw that she already weighs more than 6 1/2 pounds, has a head the size of a full term kiddo, and of course, was Frank Breech. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised, she has been full of surprises since day one. My doctor is guessing that she will be at least 9 lbs come d-day and the size of her noggin may trigger the need for a c-section, which I will most likely have anyway because she is heads up. There is still about a 5% chance that she will turn before she is due, but I will be scheduling my c-section at my appointment next week. I am a little bummed, I wanted to try to have her naturally. I wanted the freedom of moving around, dislike the idea of the use of Pitocin and I wanted the experience of delivering. But, I guess one plus will be that we will know when she is coming and be able to plan around Greg's test schedule at school! Next week we should know what day this little one is coming! I cannot wait!
I also cannot get over how big she is!! I don't know where this child came from. I weighed about as much as she does now and I was way past my due date. Greg was a little bit bigger, but dang! 9 pounds! I was hoping for a tiny baby. :) I guess I shouldn't be complaining, I don't have to push that out.

Everything else has been coming along nicely. We have everything we need for baby, and the nursery is almost completed, I just need to get the decorations on the wall and finish the rug for her floor. School is going pretty good for both of us too. I am trying to get as much done before she comes. I just am so easily distracted by things I could be doing around the house and getting ready for Charley, that I am not as far ahead as I would like to be. Having a baby is just too much fun! :) Once her room is done I will post pictures, because it's adorable! :)

There's a Baby in there?!

It is really starting to hit me that we are having a baby! I am getting so excited (and a little bit nervous) I know it will be one heck of an adventure and I look forward doing it with my sweet, adorable husband.

Over the last 8 months, I have done a crumby job taking progression pics. I really wanted to do them frequently, but failed. I do, however, have a few. So here is what I have looked like during various times of my pregnancy:

My first belly shot at 20 weeks. I didn't really show, I just looked pudgy.

26 weeks. Still not showing too much.

30 weeks. Yea! I finally had a baby pooch!

34 weeks.

I have been quite lucky so far in my pregnancy, I feel great and I love being pregnant! It is an incredible experience feeling a little one inside you. I am going to miss it, but I am sooo excited to meet this little one!

I also had my shower. Thanks to my mom and sister, it turned out great! I was even surprised by my good friend Jenny, from Utah! I couldn't believe all the fantastic things I received. I am now pretty much all set for this baby to come!

Project Complete.

I have finally finished Baby Charley's room! (and a few other things) And I must say it looks fantastic! It feels so good to have it done and to check something off my long 'to do list.' I am hoping that this good feeling of accomplishment will help motivate me to continue to work on the rest of my projects around the house, but at 8 months prego, it just doesn't really sound that fun. . .

My first home improvement project was the hallway. I still need to paint the trim, but I think it looks good so far.

Before:

After:

(please excuse the dresser. I am going to be refinishing it and it just happened to be here when I took this picture)

Now onto Baby's room. I am very proud of this room! I am so pleased with the way that it turned out. At first, this room was an ugly shade of nasty with cheesy butterfly and dragonfly cut out stickers. I started by removing those lovely stickers and puttied the wall. I have never seen so many holes in my life! I felt like I refinished the wall with putty. .

(the wall color here looks white, but it was not! It was more like a yellow/brown/gray mixture, trust me, it was hideous.)

I then painted the walls an adorable pink. The white in this picture is more joint compound. I used it to hide lines left from previous wall paper and old baseboards.

I love bead board! I think it is so pretty! I wanted to do it for baby's room but I figured it would be too hard considering our walls are not perfectly straight and I am not that patient. Instead I found this wallpaper (seriously, wallpaper! I'm not usually a fan, but this stuff is great!) It looks just like bead board, although you can't really tell from this picture.

For a finishing touch I put up a chair rail to separate the bead board from the pink.

I love the way this room has turned out! I cannot wait to get all the furniture and wall decor up! I especially can't wait for Baby Charley to get here and use her new room!

As you can probably tell from the pictures above, our house has been decorated with all kinds of tools and equipment. We are slowly making our way around the house and finishing little things here and there. We are currently working on the basement. We are getting so excited for it to be finished. I have been painting all the walls and this week we will be getting new carpet! So stayed tuned for our next home improvement adventure update!