GOOD NEWS!

At this very moment there are two men installing a NEW air conditioning unit in our apartment. It's turning out to be quite a big proccess so it will probably not be done until this evening. (crossing my fingers). I don't think we can handle an overnight without some relief!
This summer has been one of the hottest that I remember in a very long time. I do remember some pretty hot summers when I was little. My mom and sisters and I would lie in front of a fan and wait until it started to cool off. I also remember being so uncomfortably hot at night that we would put ice cubes in a sandwich bag and chew on them. Another way to beat the night heat was to wet towels and lay them on our foreheads turning them over every couple of minutes.
Ahhh... the memories of summers gone by. I have a feeling that this summer will have alot of fond memories for Chris and I as well.

These pictures are almost purely for the Grandparents benefit (Hi Eloise!). The top picture I labled "milk drunk" because when he's all done eating he ends up looking a little loopy and extremely satisfied.

It's 3:40 in the morning and I am trying to cool down after Ander's 3:00 feeding. The temp today was 104 and that was in the afternoon when things usually start cooling down here in So Cal. I don't think I have felt this hot and grumpy in a very long time. My dear husband Chris keeps trying to afirm my motherly efferts by patting my shoulder or holding my hand and I keep veering away because of the sticky heat that radiates off both of us.
The window air con in our apartment probably dates back to the Ford administration and at this moment I am sitting right in the line of cool air and I feel slight relief, but as soon as I move it's back to sweaty July heat.
O.K. I'm off to bed now. When I get up in two hours for the 6:00 bottle it hopefully will have cooled down a bit more.
Tomorrow may be a day to take Anders on a big field trip to the local Starbucks where mommy can sip a Venti iced green tea....

Here are a few pictures from today. Aunt Gretchen and Heather stopped by this morning to visit. I gave Anders his first real bath at home tonight instead of the wet wipe swipe that I do at night. He was a bit overwelmed by it all. The one thing he really enjoyed was getting his head washed. After it was all done I combed his hair with a very soft toothbrush. Quite a big day for him! We also had the home health care nurse come and do a check up on him. So far, since he's come home he has gained about 5 ounces. We were pretty relieved to hear that. All that milk is paying off!!

ANDERS CAME HOME TODAY!

The day finally (yet quickly) for us to take our little guy home. It was quite a day and we are pretty much tuckered out from all the excitement. He is doing really well and is sleeping on the couch at this very moment. So far he is showing himself to be a pretty mild mannered baby but I may eat my words later. Hopefully he'll stay mellow and easy for a while.... I mean I'm only asking that of him until he's 18.... that's not to much to ask for is it?
Anyways I'm off to get his next feeding ready. That usually takes a bit of time.

Well, Wednesday has come and will be over soon. We didn't take home Anders today due to the fact that he still needed to put on a few ounces. I talked to the doctor today and he seems to think that Saturday will possibly be the day we can break him out of the hospital.... We are considering using a room they have at the hospital to spend the night with him while having the nurses nearby. It's a bit intimidating to unhook him from all the moniters and drive away to fend for ourselves.
As of today he is 3 pounds 14 ounces and he may gain a couple more before Saturday. We will love to see him tip the scales at 4 pounds. =0)
In the mean time we are preparing his little bed and stocking up on diapers and wet wipes. Today Chris and I lost ourselves in the confusing labrinth called "Babies-R-Us" looking for little things that we may need. Of course there are way too many choices and everything is pretty pricey. We realized that the "baby needs industry" is quite a racket. We managed to get out of there with what we felt were just the bare necessities.... except for the very cozy looking snuggler blanket. (A velcro blanket that a you wrap the baby in and it velcros so they can't kick it off.) That was an impulse buy on my part.
We'll try to put up some pictures of Anders first day or days at home.

Quick Update

It looks like if all keeps going smoothly, that our little man may be coming home this coming Wednesday. He has graduated to sleeping in a crib as opposed to the incubator and he is doing a really good job eating and maintaining his temperature. All these things make it possible to send him home. The reason he is still being watched closely is because he had some little episodes that they call "D-stats" where his breathing slows down and because of that his heart slows down also. Most preemies have these and with Anders he corrects it on his own but whenever they have an episode like that the hospital has to keep them another week to make sure it doesn't happen again. His last one was on the 5th of July. We are now waiting and hoping that he's outgrown that and we will be able to get him home. We can hardly wait!

A couple of pictures from the weekend. One of our favorites is Anders looking like a little monkey. He makes such hilarious faces and we just sit there and wait to see what his face will do next. It's very amusing.
The feeding picture is a favorite of mine because I have been so challenged to make enough milk, bottle it and rush it to the nursery at the hospital every day. It has felt quite frantic and as of today I think that I have caught up enough so that there won't be a shortage for the next day or so. He doesn't do well with formula at all and will usually throw it up. He does REALLY well with my milk and we are hoping he will fatten up in no time.
Anyways, life is taking on a bit of a routine and Chris and I are beginning to feel a little more relaxed and rested. We even considered going to see the new Superman movie tonight.... we then reconsidered. But it was an option. We realize that we won't be running off to do spontanious things once Anders comes home. Even though it is hard having our little guy at the hospital we know he is in good hands and it is a blessing to be able to recoup a little before life gets even crazier having a little child with us every moment.
We really are looking forward to the day he is strong enough to join us at home. That will be a day to celebrate.

Here are a few pics from today. Grandama and Grandpa Jensen have been VERY excited to spend some special time with Anders before they go back home to Ohio. They were able to cuddle him a bit before he had his dinner. He really is enjoying looking around at his surroundings when he's not sleeping and seems to notice different people. He especially likes being held by daddy and always makes funny faces while he's looking around.

So, here is Anders in all his preemie glory. We took these pictures today. We left the camera in the car on accident when we first got to the hospital and unfortunately missed getting a picture of him being awake and alert. Most of the time he eats and sleeps and the few moments when he's awake he's squinting his eyes against the light and new sights. I'm sure everything is quite overwelming outside of his former comfy home....
We get to hold him whenever we visit and today I got to try giveing him a bottle.(he promptly fell asleep so I passed him back to the nurse to finish it off).
Despite his small size he is doing really well and is off all the IV's and tubes. They still have a few wires hooked up to him to moniter his viatal signs but other than that he is free of constraints. It's good to see him move around more freely.

Thank you to all who have and are praying for him and us. We feel all the care and appriciate it more than anyone could know.

I'd like to announce the birth of John Anders Jensen (goes by Anders) born Sunday June 25 at around 9:45 in the evening. He weighed 3 pounds 11 ounces and is 17 inces long.
He seems to have farily reddish hair and he looks like a little man. VERY cute. We'll have pictures up soon.
I'm doing fine despite all the surprises of this last week. It's nice to be home from the hospital and unhooked from all he wires and needles. I'll update again as things settle a bit and we get some good pictures of our little love bug.

Birthday synopsis

Yesterday was the big 30 for me. It really wasn't all that bad and I actually enjoyed the idea of moving into a new decade. The morning and early afternoon had a handful of lovely people gathered around our pool at the apartment. The evening was filled with an amazing performance at the Pantages Theatre of "Les Miserables". After the show Chris and I had a very late dinner at a restraunt called "Hollywood and Vine". It really was a fun day and I am so glad that I got to see such an amazing show.

Here are a few pictures of the beginnings of baby stuff that will be taking over our apartment. The Winnie the Pooh baby book was just too cute and to top it off it's filled with fun poems from the A.A. Milne books.
Hopefully we will have the baby nook completed within the next month and I'll post a few pictures.

O.K. so Chris and I have been saving our wedding pesos for a few choice items. Some neccessary and one or two frivolous ones.
One of the much needed items was a new couch. I loved the couches that D. and B. gave me back when they went to work at Faith Acadamy. Some years have passed since then and the couches have seen plenty of good days. We decided to upgrade and get a new comfy cozy couch to lounge on so that I can feed the baby and watch "The Dog Wisperer" when the time comes. We chose a nice bright red couch with a matching ottoman that allows me to put my swollen feet up onto. (that was the whole reason for purchasing the ottoman).

Hi Aunt H., I was able to get the picture up. I love this chair but it doesn't match our new bright red couch, which I will blog about next.

Hi Aunt H.! I know you probably are checking this blog to see the picutre of the family chair that needs a home. I'm having problems with the picture feature on blogger so I'll try tommorrow.

Here are a few pictures of our little bunchkin. It took a couple of times to actually get a picture of his face because he tends to be a bit sleepy. Luckily the very last try showed us his sweet little face. We can't wait to meet him in August! The top picture he was caught yawning.

It's about time to write again although my life has been pretty basic. Our apartment is coming along pretty nicely although there are still MANY things to get done before baby comes in a few months. I'm beginning to feel a little freaked out by that fact knowing how fast time can fly by.
My neighbor downstairs was due May 12 and ended up having her baby last week. I saw her walking down the path with a little blue bundle and it hit me that that will be me and Chris and our little blue bundle very soon. AHHHHH the whole rest of the day I was a little subdued....

On a different note it's been fun to hear from sister Heidi and husband Will as they are beginning the proccess of making Texas home. They are staying with Erin and Jim and from the news I've heard it's going well. The kids are loving the pool and are a bit creeped out by the bugs.
It will be fun to see how the settling goes and what kind of house they can find.

Fun book I'm reading right now is "Ceasar's Way". It's acually a dog psychology book but really deals with human issues and how they affect and make dogs unbalanced. The author, Ceasar Milan has a show called "The Dog Wisperer" which airs on the National Geographic channel in the afternoon. It's quite interesting and I'm having a hard time putting the book down to do normal things! Oh well, it isn't everyday that I have a good book going!

I love this picture of the intense gaming that went on in the family room.






Last night was our official "say goodbye to Heidi and William" night. A small group gathered at the DeHart's house in Agua Dulce for a BBQ. It really is bitter sweet to see them go. We're glad that they will be able to buy a house and be near Erin and Jim but we are soooo sad to have BOTH sisters and families so far away. The problem with living in this amazingly beautiful state is that it's pretty much impossible for a normal young couple to buy anything. A two bedroom condo goes for over 300,000 and that's if you're lucky. *sigh*
It will be interesting to see where the Lord leads us in the future. We are both open to moving but it would have to be really obvious that it was the right thing to do. We do feel good about staying in the L.A. area for now, but who knows.

Shrink Wrapping Our Stuff


In all the organization desperation I had the great idea of getting those vacum pack storage bags that are supposed to shrink everything down flat. It's truly a great idea and if the ziploc seal didn't pop open everytime we'd try to close it, it would be a truly easy way to store bulky stuff. Has anyone ever used these bags and if so which brand did you use and did you have trouble keeping the ziploc closed?