My Baby is One!

It was Charley's birthday on the 6th and she turned ONE!  I can't believe how quickly this last year has gone and how wonderful the adventure has been.  I never would have imagined that having a child could bring so much happiness.  This little girl is truly the light of our lives.  To say she is spoiled would be an understatement.  At least she is cute.  :)   For her birthday breakfast we made jungle animal shaped pancakes and she was in heaven!  We decided to take her to the little aquarium that is here in Boise.  It's nothing compared to the elaborate aquariums found near the ocean, but for a one year old it was pretty exciting.  She loved all the colorful fish and being able to pet the different sea creatures.  Aunt Taylor joined us for the fun.  

Dad found a sand box in the shape of a ship and fixed it up for her.

We celebrated her birthday on Easter and had all the family over.  If you haven't guessed it yet the theme was rainbow.  We had rainbow everything and did it in our back yard (which we barely finished in time)  She got a TON of gifts and loved ripping the paper off each one of them.  When it came time for the cake, she would only pick at it like a bird.  I wanted to get a good cake smash photo with her, but she would simply not dive in.

Since she is one, I think an update is due.  She started walking a few weeks before her birthday, and loves to dance and explore.  She likes to draw with chalk on the sidewalk, paint, and color.  She loves the outdoors and water.  She loves to play with her baby dolls and push them in her stroller.  She LoVes to read and learn new things.  She loves animals and knows different animal sounds; monkey, duck, cow, sheep.  It amazes me how quickly she is learning and how easily she picks things up.  We love our baby girl and are so happy to have her in our lives.  Happy Birthday to our little miracle!

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!!!**