Merry Christmas!



I broke down and took the baby to JC Penny's to get his picture taken. Chris was convinced that he would catch a cold from the shag carpet in the studio. It went well except for the fact that I scheduled the appointment for noon which is right when Anders gets fed. This was the best picture and I think that he is actually looking at me holding the bottle which I was giving to him in between pictures. He does have a look of anticipation on his face. We did all come down with colds a little while later....

This past week in Texas was blast. When we arrived on Tuesday night we went straight to Erin and Jims house. Erin had made some yummy ministrone soup which was very welcome after a long day of traveling. Wednesday, Chris interviewed with the company in Dallas and Erin and I hung around the house, went for a walk and visited Petey the faithful horse.
The weather was humid and pretty warm on Tuesday but the weather reports were predicting a drastic change by Wednesday night into Thursday.
Late in the afternoon a the air changed from warm and humid to dry and chilly. It was a fast switch and we really got a taste of Texas weather! By the evening it was thundering and lightening and Erin suggested that we should leave their house a night early and drive out to Heidi and Williams house before the the ICE STORM hit! We knew that we would be seeing E and J in a couple of weeks for Christmas so we decided to do the drive out to Denton on Wed night instead of Thursday.
The visit with Heidi, William and the kids was priceless. It was so special to be able to spend three nights and almost 4 days with them. The kids couldn't keep their hands off of Anders and he didn't seem to mind. He was kept smiling the whole time. They made him a fort (shown in the picture below), they carried him around and sang to him and basically doted on him the whole time. I only had to rescue him a couple of times. =-)
Chris' experience at the interview went well and on Friday he went in to the studio to do a freelance job for the company. It gave both them and him a chance to work together and see how it felt. They are still interviewing people so we won't know what the outcome is until mid Dec. We'll be happy with either getting the job or not getting the job. It would be a huge change to move out there and we have had so much change this year. We really are curious to see where God leads us with all of this.
One downside to the trip was that we all caught a killer cold. Anders is over it now for the most part and I am on the tale end. Chris was pretty miserable yesterday and hopefully today will be a bit better.
As a side note, the ice storm did hit on Thursday although it wasn't as bad as we thought. It was just REALLY cold and icy with a bit of snow. It stayed cold through our visit.

Rain rain beautiful rain!


We are finally getting some weather that feels like fall. It has been one of the hottest falls this year with the temperatures getting up to the 90's on some days. My favorite time of year is Fall so it was so fun to wake up to the sound of rain on the tree outside our window.
It's 10:30 here and our day is just starting to get moving. Last night I stayed up late doing laundry and ironing clothes to get us ready for a trip to Dallas tomorrow. We're flying out in the early afternoon and there is a lot to get together since we are traveling with a baby.
I have two sisters that live near Dallas so it's going to be great to visit and catch up on the time we have missed.
Although we are extremely excited about seeing my sisters and their families, we aren't going out there for that purpose. The last couple of weeks Chris has been sending out resumes to different companies that he is interested in. Up until now he has been working as an independent contractor doing audio engineering. He's done pretty well but it's always a bit scary if work gets slow. So, he has been interviewing with a couple of companies and one of those is in Dallas.
We'll find out more about this job and if it's a good fit, how stable it would be etc.... by Wednesday.
We are open to change but it is crazy to pick up and leave the place that has all of our friends most of my family and everything we know. I'm still processing the reality that we could possibly move if this job is the right one. I would love being near my sisters, it would be great to have cousins nearby for Anders, and we could by a house.... there really are benefits to living in TX.
So, we'll know by the time we get home on Saturday. I'm sure there will be a blog about it soon.
Until then pray for us if you think about it.

What a difference a year makes!



Wow, I was just thinking of how fast this year has gone and what blessings it has brought. Last year at this time I was contemplating moving to Dallas to be near Erin and Jim. I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with them and realized that I was happy just visiting. I felt that it wasn't the right time to move. Shortly after that I found out that Chris and I were going to be parents. It was a difficult time of decision making and introspection.
Then came a short engagement and the most meaningful and lovely wedding we could have ever asked for.
We had about three and a half months of marriage before Anders joined our family. He was 7 weeks early and I have to say that that week was one of the most difficult and uncomfortable weeks of my life.
Our lives have changed so much since June and as I look back at how crazy life has been and the changes that have taken place I can only be grateful. I love my husband and son and can't imagine life any differently.
Some other things I'm grateful for....

- A big apartment where I can practice my nesting skills (and they do need practicing!)
- Parents who love each other and made a good home for us to grow up in
- Friends to have coffee and gab with
- Good books to read when I have time
- Sisters who I can honestly say are my friends
- The cool fallish weather we're having today (FINALLY)
- The possibilities of new things
- A wonderful extended family,grand parents, cousins, aunts and uncles
- A very handy computer savvy husband to keep our house hold technology going
- And of course a healthy happy baby

Hello Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, I just wanted to show you that I'm growing and I'm a very happy and contented baby.... most of the time. Sometimes mom props up my bottle so that she can get something done. She keeps checking on me even though I'm a big boy and can drink my own bottle without all her help.
I like sitting up and looking at bright toys but I keep falling forward because I want to taste the toys and I haven't mastered the use of my hands yet. I know that I have hands and I often have them clasped together because it feel kind of nice.

One of my favorite things is playing with daddy when mommy's at work. We have a really good time together and he's very good at making sure I get a big bottle of milk every few hours or when I start chewing on my fist. Today we played a really fun game. He would hold me up in the air and then bounce me onto his tummy. I laughed a lot and even tried telling him how much fun I was having.
Anyways, I can't wait to see you at Christmas and I love the little outfits you sent me. I especially like the socks that look like tennis shoes.
I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving. I'm hoping for a taste of turkey but I don't think mommy will let me yet. Maybe daddy will slip me some mashed potatoes.

Hmmm... it seems like Anders likes bananas as well as rice cereal, blueberry yogurt and... Polynesian pile-on.
For the last few weeks whenever Anders would see me or Chris eating anything, he would watch intently and drool. He has seemed more hungry and a little less content. All of these signs pointed to the fact that solid food was about to happen.

At my parents house on Sunday night Anders got his first taste of "real" food compliments of daddy. That first food was a small piece of rice as well has a taste of Chicken gravy. By the time I realized what had happened Anders had a look of glee on his face and was happily gumming the piece of rice. There's no turning back now!

On another note my sweet chinchilla, Bubba, found a new home today. It was sad to say goodbye but my hope is that he will be able to have a little more attention at his new house than he was getting with me.

Happy Halloween!

Hello those who visit this little blog. Every day has been so much fun, as well as a lot of work with Anders. Chris was just commenting the other day about how fast time is going by. Anders used to be almost completely bald and now he has a little tuft of hair that I can comb into different styles. It was kind of sad to think that we wouldn't see his sweet bald head much longer.
Last week he gave us a real laugh, actually it was more like a chortle. He is turning out to be quite a fun little extrovert! He really seems to love going out and seeing people. Today he got to go to the salon with me for a birthday party and he had a blast being fawned over by all the ladies. He has a very charming smile and LOVES to have people look at him. He plays hard and then crashes just as hard.

Some favorites from this week. =0) I just can't help myself!

Anders is getting to be quite the fun little man. As you can see by the pictures I'm having fun with his sparse hair. I'm sure that gel will be a part of his grooming routine at some point.

Today is Chris' b-day and so on the suggestion from a friend we visited the wet-lands in Newport beach. After a very pretty drive around the wild life preserve, we headed out to a yummy dinner at the Crab Cooker.MMMMM
Today Chis commented on the fact that he was half way to forty and how horrible that was! After talking to a friend and mentioning that fact the very dutiful friend pointed out that he wasn't halfway to forty, he is halfway to 70! Scary.... Life flys by at a freakishly fast clip.

Thanks to cousin Ariana, I was able to get a few current pictures of Anders taken. I love seeing the changes in both Amelia and Anders as they have grown. They had a nice time laying next to each other and flailing their arms and legs.

Hello all you anxious onlookers. My picture posting is put on hold because I got milk in the camera and it's not working now. It was at the bottom of the diaper bag and a bottle leaked and somehow got into the battery chamber. We are pretty bummed out because Anders is growing so much right now. Hopefully we will be able to get it fixed or get a new camera soon.

This week we have Chris' mom and aunt here from Ohio. They are catching up on all the baby moments they have missed so far. Last night we were able to leave Anders with them in the hotel while we went to the movies. What a treat it was! The big event was being able to go out to Corona to Glen Ivy hot springs for the afternoon earlier in the week. I was anxious to get back and see our little guy but it was a much needed break and we truly reveled in our hours of freedom.
I'll post some pics of the week when things slow down a bit.

Cheesy Banana and Ham casserole....mmmm


One of my new interests is the food network on Cable. I am doing a lot of sitting while I feed and burp the baby and while I'm doing that I like to see what new and interesting recipes are being made. It is really making me more interested in being creative with cooking. Actually it's making me want to cook whereas before cooking was just a means to an end. I only did it occasionally and really didn't get super creative.
Now, I used to find joy in cooking. When I was pretty young I love making breakfast potatoes and was extremely proud of my mixture of spices, butter and potatoes. I really enjoyed seeing my sisters eat them and like the way they tasted.

I remember one time when I was about six or so, I really wanted to try and make bread. I had no idea what went into the mixture but I knew that dough had to be a certain consistency and that flour was somehow involved. So I began to search the kitchen for ingredients that seemed right. (I have no idea where my mom was at the time). I ended up putting together peanut butter, honey and flour in a mixing bowl. My mom ended up coming in just about the time it was all mixed up and I have some recollection of having to eat some of it to teach me not to waste good food. I do know that it didn't taste very good.

So, lately my desire to be creative with cooking has been reawakened and I've been trying some new recipes that I've seen on the food channel. One of those dishes was the Cheesy Ham and Banana casserole. When I set out to make this dish I went onto the website to read the reviews and see what people thought. It was either given one star or five stars. It was one of those dishes that is either loved or completely hated. So I figured I'd try and see which category Chris and I fell into. I made the dish and I have to say that it is quite an interesting mixture of flavors! We both decided it was an amazing and interesting dish and I've decided to try it again for a brunch when I get a chance. Because it also involves bacon and potato chips as well as lots of butter, we won't be making it very often around here!

Anders got a new toy yesterday and I set it up this morning. He is really starting to focus and enjoy his surroundings so it is especially fun to show him so many colors and shapes and see his reaction. He wore himself out playing and had to have a nice long nap afterwards.

Yesterday was a sad day for our little man. We had his two month well baby check up a the doctors office and that included his first set of immunizations. One shot on the left leg and two on the right. Ouch!
I've been pretty calm in the past about him getting a poke or some other uncomfortable procedure because I know it's good for him, and it will be over soon. For some reason yesterday was quite different. I think I cried more than he did! Chris couldn't be at this appointment so I got to do the honors of holding his little hands out of the way making sure he didn't flail too much. As soon as it was over he stopped crying and fell right to sleep on my chest. It was so pitiful.
The rest of the day he didn't feel very good and slept most of the time. Today he is feeling like himself and is smiling again. It's a relief to see him get his little personality back again!
We'll have to do this again in two months but we'll be prepared with geared up nerves and plenty of baby tylenol.

One of my favorite after bath pictures of Anders looking quite sweet.
Last Friday was the official due date of Anders birth and it's been fun to see how he is starting to change and grow each day. It seems like just in the past week he has been able to focus more and is starting to smile at the right times. Chris and I are enjoying each phase and trying to take in each new moment as it comes.
My sister Erin is visiting from Texas this week and she came bearing a very thoughtful and much loved gift. The quilt that Anders is so happily cuddled up to in his moses basket was put together by Erin and her hubby Jim. I love the fact that it was home made and I am sure that this will be a favorite of his as he grows.