And a pinch to grow an inch...

Yesterday was my 24th birthday! Kurt, Tyson and I celebrated it mostly on Saturday by going shopping in Reno. The weather was extremely nice there-I cant remember ever having a birthday where there wasn't snow on the ground! So that was a nice birthday suprise. Kurt, as always gave me awesome presents! Yesterday my friend Heather took me out to a yummy lunch, I got a lot of birthday wishes from family; I got to talked to my brothers, sisters, parents, and got an awesome happy birthday video from nieces and nephews! We ended it with a slice of scrumptious cheesecake. The only bad part about my birthday was that Tyson wasn't feeling very good and was grumpy all day long:(Kurt got me a new robe, new pj pants some movies and hot coco to have a warm and snuggly movie night!

Deck the Halls

I had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas this year! Even though as soon as you step out of the house it seems more like October than December. But Kurt put on Christmas music and we went to town anyways! We put up the tree and added some new ornaments which I think make the tree look 100x's better, and hung the stockings over the fireplace! I love love love love love when the house is decorated for Christmas! It seems so homey and warm and cozy. Now if we had our fire going it would be amazing! Im excited to see how Tyson reacts to Christmas too! Of course Football started right after decorating!! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....We'll be getting a bigger tree next year!!!

Tyson watching Daddy get lights ready

Tyson is 5 months old!

Tyson has turned the ripe ol' age of 5 months!!! He is quite the little guy. He has learned to roll over both ways but prefers to roll from his back to front, all though he doesnt care to be on his stomach and is stubborn about going from his stomach to his back- so why we does it- I have no idea! He is getting more and more silly as the days go by. Recently he has started smacking his gums, which I think has something to do with him teething- but he thinks its pretty funny.
We have been working on his napping...which is extemely hard. He hasnt liked to lay in his bed for naps for a long long time. He likes to be held- but I decided it was time that he sleep in his own bed. Sooooo the last couple of days have been pretty stressfull on all of us. But I am happy to say that last nigth he was put to bed awake and fell asleep with NO crying and only woke up once through the night!! Now we'll see if we can make it that easy during the day....

Giving Thanks

This last week we went to St. Louis to have Thanksgiving at Kurts parents house. We flew out Thursday morning and got there at 6pm so everyone was so kind and waited to have Thanksgiving on Friday! We were welcomed Thursday night with lots of Aunts, Uncles and cousins(Tyson's) anxiously waiting to meet Tyson! He seems to love all the new adventures and was super happy all week. He did way better then I expected on the airplane, he was either sleeping or happily playing while other kids around us were screaming the entire trip. We had a great Thanksgiving day- with great food and good fun. Then on Saturday Grandpa Santa came and gave out presents! It was a lot of fun to see how some kids liked Santa and others, even though they knew it was Grandpa, were still scared! We stayed until the following Wednesday while everyone else had to leave on Sunday. We played a couple games of Hand and Foot- and I am happy to say that Marita and I kicked Kurt and Newels butt!! (The second game!) We ate at YUMMY 5 guys and of course Pei Wei. MMMMMMMMMM! Then we went bowling, went to the park where the guys played football and the girls and kids walked around, watched the ducks in the pond and played on the playground.

Snuggle time with Grandma

Fun times with Grandpa

You have a little something on your face...

We have started Mr. Tyson on rice cereal this past week and he LOVES it!! The first time we obviously didn't know what we were doing so the cereal was a bit runny....pretty much fed him milk from a spoon! But he did pretty good with it- most of the stuff on his face was from us trying to get it to his mouth- not him spitting it out! The second night I think I made it too thick, trying to better it from the night before! And fianlly the third night we got it juuust right! Last night I couldn't be quick enough inbetween bites- he would yell each time after he would swallow a bite until the next one would come! He got a bit crazy to say the least- I had to make more 3 times because he just kept wanting more. By the end he was settled down and quite full:)

Halloween Festivities

We participated in this years Trunk-or-treat for the first time. We...
1) missed the Chili but made the candy giving!
2) were psyched to dress up- but disappointed when it was pitch black and we were unable to show off our costume creativity!! Oh well there is always next year I suppose!
3) ran out of candy in about 45 minutes!
4) were a baseball player, a Ghostbuster and a clown!
5) had a lot of fun!

Tyson's first Halloween

My pumpkin

Kurts pumpkin!

Tyson is 4 months old!!

Daddy and Tyson having fun

Modeling the sweater and hat a family friend made for him!

This day last year I had my first positive pregnancy test! And now Tyson Grady is 4 months old! Funny how much things can change in a year! He is getting so big. He started rolling over from front to back and is working on back to front-he will go onto his side and arch his neck back but cant get all the way over. He's having a hard time sleeping lately and I have no idea why but hopefully it ends soon cuz we are very tired here at the Jensen home!

Tyson is 3 Months Old!

Tyson Grady is 3 months old today! He's changing so much- he loves to smile very big smiles- and will "talk" all day with you. He still loves to take baths and hates when its over. He is very wiggley and sometimes it hard to even hold on to him. He has been sleeping from about 8pm to 4am!!! Then again unitl 7 or so. Ahhh- its so nice- I just hope it's to stay! He usually wakes up very happy in the morning! While that is nice, his napping isn't- I havent been able to get him to sleep on his own for more then a few minutes in a long time. So if anyone has ideas- we are more then happy to hear them! He got a new playmat with jungle animal toys hanging down- it lights up and plays music which he seems to really enjoy. It takes him a few minutes each time to figure out he can touch the toys but once he does he likes it. We have been working on rolling over. He hasn't cared for tummy time much in the past but is getting better so I do it as much as I can without making him upset or overwhelming him!! He still hates to have a dirty diaper(which I dont blame him) and will let you know if he wants it changes, if we happen not to know it already! He seems to know when dinner time is and insists on eating the same time we do! A friend let us borrow a front pack to carry him in and I am excited to start using it now that he can hold his head up pretty good(except when he's tired, he seems to get a little lazy with it!) He loves to watch out the windows of the car when we're driving and likes it when I sing to him and help him dance to the songs! When I go to the store not many people come up to look at him- but Kurt and I were at JCPenny's, Kurt was holding Tyson and lady after lady after lady would come up and talk to Kurt about how cute Tyson was. I guess Kurt is more approachable then me or something. Or maybe these ladies like both my guys!! All in all he is a great baby and we love him to death.

Road Trip

Cousins

Starks Kids

This past weekend we made a road trip to see mty family in Wyoming...yup took a 14 hour drive with a 2 month old!!! I will admit I was NERVOUS! But he actually did reaaly good. I kept telling Kurt that I wish he was old enough to reward him in some way by getting icecream or something because we were so proud of him! We split up the trip into two days- we first went to Salt Lake which is an 8 hour drive, stayed with Kurts aunt and uncle who made us a super good breakfast before we headed out the next moring. From there we drove on to Laramie which is a 6 hour drive(well suppose to be). We stopped in Rock Springs to meet my Dad for lunch(he was there on a trip)which took forever. I mean I really loved having the one on one time with Dad but I dont think I have ever been to a slower Subway. We stood in line for almost half an hour with only 3 people infront of us. Then we stopped at Taco Time for my bovarian cream empanada(its a tradition! mmm!) on the way out where Tyson had a little melt down that set us back another 30 minutes or so. Rock Springs did not do so well for us- not to mention all the stinkin' contruction between there and Laramie...grrr. The rest of the weekend was packed full of lots of quality family time. It was the first time in a long time all 5 kids and their families were together- plus a bunch of my cousins and aunt and uncle were there, and my grandma flew in to meet Tyson too! ahhh-he's so loved! We had a really good time reminiscing! And again Tyson did great!

Monday was our 2nd anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY:) Which we celebrated by.....spending time with the family! Pretty romantic huh?! Just kidding- on our way back Kurt got us a hotel in Salt Lake which was really nice- and we went out to eat there! Plus we bought ourselves the truck which we agreed would be our gift to each other. It was another amazing year!

Baby Blessing

Kurts parents came to visit this week for Tyson's Baby Blessing! The day was pretty emotional for me which I think I held in pretty well until it came time for the actual blessing- then I couldn't hold it in anymore and bawled my eyes out! I remember seeing others in the ward bless their babies and tried to imagine what it would be like when our day came- well it has finally come but I couln't have imagined it would to br so great! I am so thankful for a worthy preisthood holder in our home to be able to give this amazing blessing to our children.

A new addition to the family!

Kurt and I decided yesterday to start a search for a new car... little did we know the search would come to an end so quickly! We now have a new Ford Sport track. We were looking for an SUV but fell in love with the sport track- it has just as much room as the SUV but with the benefits of a truck! I have to admit, it is a little sad to see the Taurus go...

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

Tyson is a month old!

TYSON IS A MONTH OLD TODAY!!! He stays awake a lot more during the day now- which he likes to smile and wiggle through! We are getting into somewhat of a daily routine-which helps me actually accomplish things around the house since I can somewhat expect when he'll be asleep! Ahhh cant wait to see what comes in the next month

4 week check-up

Tyson had his 4 week check-up yesterday- even though he isnt quite 4 weeks old. He is 8lbs 13 oz and 21 1/4iches long- which means he gained the weight back that he had lost at his one week check-up plus another pound, and grew an inch and a 1/4! Yay:) We decided also to wait to give him a pacifier until he was atleast 4 weeks old and he was nursing better- which I am happy to say both have come!!! I cant believe its already been 4 weeks!

Pricey A/C Adventures

Recently we noticed our air conditioner running a little louder than normal. A few days went by and it continued to get louder, and then it started to shake the walls of our house when it would turn on. I finally called a repair place to come take a look at it, hoping we would be catching something BEFORE it broke. Unfortunatley, it was already broken, but by calling now, we prevented it from ripping our entire AC system apart, which hadn't happened...yet. We needed to replace the motor and what they called the squirrel cage BUT they didnt have the parts. YUP thats right, they are an AC repair company that doesnt have the parts to fix AC's!! Anyways-we couldn't run the AC until it was fixed. We were told it would take a week to get the parts or we could pay an extra 130 dollars to have it overnighted to us. Of course with a new baby we forked out the extra dough. BUT then they tell us its too late in the day to order the part so it wont be ordered until the next day, meaning it wont be fixed for 2 more days. Tyson and I bore the heat(it got to 87)the rest of the day until Kurt was able to come home and rescue us!! We then packed up and headed to reno to stay in a hotel until it would be fixed. Kurt booked a hotel on-line which seemed to have good reviews and a good price. But when we got there- we walked in... and right back out! It was not this nice hotel that the reviews raved about. The lobby smelled like cigaretts, the hallways like wet dog and it sat right across the street from some pretty scetchy houses. Not only that, the airport was barely a mile away, but sounded like we were in the middle of the runway. Hoping we would but assuming we wouldn't get our money back, Kurt went to the front desk to explain why this hotel wouldn't work for us(nicely). Our luck they didn't charge us at all! But yet again things went wrong. Call after call to other hotels, we were told no rooms were available. Finally we ended up stopping at a Staybridge suites and expecting the same answer as from the previous ones, I told the man at the desk our sad little story of our hot house and new born baby. He offered me a small discount (they had rooms!) but it was almost double the original hotel price. We decided we might as well take it since no one else seemed to have rooms. To make long story short, the man ended up upgrading us to a small apartment! instead of a regular room. This room was fantastic!! I don't want to say I am glad our AC broke, because Im not but we did have fun because of it!! We are now finally back at home with cool air:)AHHHHHHH...

Going Home

My Mom, Dad and sister Liana suprised us by bringing my neice and nephew to spend a few days with us! They all drove from Laramie, leaving at 3AM and getting to the Hospital around 730PM. Ugh- what a loooong drive! They were so good to me...rubbing my swollen legs and feet, cleaning my house, doing dished, making dinner and tons more! My mom was able to stay an additional week to help me out:) She was very helpful!

Adding to our Family!

After almost 2 weeks of being 5 cm dialated, 95% effaced and constant contraction, I was induced at 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant! Only 8 hours after being admitted, our precious Tyson was born. Healthy and as cute as ever!

The Beginning of something great!

I'll start our blog with the start of our life together! Kurt and Stephanie married September 6, 2008 in the St. Louis temple. 2 funny things happened that day...1) my sister forgot her temple recommend in Wyoming and couldn't get a hold of her bishop for an hour and a half-which we waited for....I was more than happy to wait though! It wouldn't have been the same without her there:) and 2) Kurt was the first of 10 people to step on my train and rip my dress. He was however, the only one to acknowledge it and apologize!

Here we goooo....

ok- so we are attempting a blog! Hopefully I can keep it updated so everyone can keep up with our growing family!!!!!!!!