The second child

[did I double post that last post??  Uh, oh well. I've looked at Blogger on about 3 different devices so I was getting confused when one said it wasn't published! Bear with me, just getting back into this blogging thing!]

Disclaimer:  Nearly all the posts I have in mind are all about babies or toddlers.  The fact is that is just my life right now! I know some don't care to read all of this... so this is my official disclaimer!

This second child will be here soon!  I mean, in God's timing of course. But really, soon would be OK.

This is not at all how I felt with my first child. I worked my last day on my due date and pranced around in my newly nested house.  Maybe I just remember it better than it was after time has passed.

This time around, it started pretty easy.  OK, honestly it started pretty surprisingly.  We had just sold our house and moved a week prior.  It was one of those "what is today's date?" and "should I have had that second (third?) mojito?" moments.  But true to God's promises- He has a plan and a purpose for us, not to harm but to prosper.  Every blessing is from above- and this one is truly, truly a blessing!!

First trimester, I felt TIRED.  We were living in transition with Ben's parents and I had no boxes to unpack for several weeks so I was able to nap at about every Obi nap time.

At 20 weeks, we were so thrilled to learn that we would be having another boy!  I spent most of the summer and fall just soaking up my firstborn and cherishing the simple single child days!

Appointments told me I didn't gain any weight for a few weeks. I was OK with that- but they were concerned and I got a lecture on eating regularly blah blah blah.  Then several weeks later I gained "too much" weight. I was still OK with that- but they were concerned and I got a lecture about eating balanced blah blah blah. I wasn't changing too many of my normal habits, I had a toddler to chase around, and we took longs walks nearly every day.  I promise, I'll worry about my weight enough in the spring so don't let me worry about it now!

At about 32 weeks I remember thinking I am SO much bigger than last time.  People and midwives told me that comes with a second pregnancy. Especially a second pregnancy not super long after the first one.  At 34 weeks I remember telling people that I felt 39 weeks.  I told my midwife I thought my belly grew a ton and she confirmed that baby boy had a growth spurt!  And because I was measuring big to do a simple ultrasound at 36 weeks to see how he's doing.

At 36 weeks we saw our little boy on the fuzzy black and white screen (that is super hard for me to tell what-is-what.)  The tech laughed at the amount of hair he had!  I was so excited to hear that and it made me so excited to have another long haired baby boy.  I was told he was breech, and my fluid levels were high.  I was also told that he was already 7 pounds!!  

 At 37 weeks, another ultrasound said that he's flipped and no longer breech- yay!  But, my fluid levels had risen even higher.  Now I'm a part of the 1% of pregnant ladies who knows the word "polyhydromnios."  It means there is an excessive amount of amniotic fluid around this child.  There's no known cause and not a ton of serious risks.  Especially since I'm now in the "safe zone" to have him anytime.  Basically, I'll have been walking around feeling and looking like a 40 week pregnant lady for nearly 2 months. Which is so glamorous, as you can imagine.

38 weeks brings us up to date now.  We had a higher-tech ultrasound to see if that could show a cause of the extra fluid.  Things checked out fine... and revealed that he is at least 8 1/2 pounds!  That last fact I'm scared to admit because that means we could have a huge baby if he still cooks in there for several more days.  But now you're all warned. And any comments that state the obvious resembling "what a big boy" really won't be necessary. :) Crazy to think that this child is already bigger than my past-due-date Obi who was 8 pounds!

My prayers are that he doesn't keep swimming around and find himself breech again. For wisdom and peace considering a scheduled induction.  That he'd switch from being posterior to roll around to be facing down and ready to be born. Also, that I would enjoy my firstborn in these last days and keep my complaining to myself and my comfortableness in perspective.  And I'm thanking God for a new life and a baby with lots of hair :)

Now here's some crazy pictures that I'll admit are a little freaky to know that this tiny human is inside me.  Really, every birth is a miracle! 

Our recent detailed ultrasound gave us some 3D images and we can see the sibling resemblance!

And yes, nesting has been in full swing over here!

No excuses and no promises :)

Hey blog! It's me, the author again!  I could give a ton of excuses (and they are really good excuses) on why this blog has been neglected.  But then I realized I'm not getting paid for this and it's really only for me to record our life and as an outlet for this once-upon-a-time English major. So I'll spare you the excuses and just post a few drafts I've had going. Baby #2 is on his way within the next few weeks so at least that will be something exciting and worthwhile to post! 

 Also, I'm not going to make promises on posting once a week or anything.  So, let's just jump into things!  

So here's a few pictures from our summer!  

Sorry I lied...

Last time I said we had an "announcement"... I said we're not expecting and that we're moving.

Well, I'm here to apologize.  I just need to clear my conscience.  I lied.

We're expecting!!   Though I technically didn't lie because I didn't know when I previously wrote that... but ignorance is not an excuse for sin.

So yes, baby #2 is due December 3rd (but I really think it's a week after that...)

So I'm just trying to accept the fact that I will probably spend at least 3 consecutive years either pregnant or nursing a baby. And maybe next summer will be the one where I can feel OK in a swimsuit again. Maybe. 

I have SO loved just having me and my little Obi.  He's now walking more than crawling and he's our little helper in all we do.  Or rather just our little rearranger and moving things from where we put them.  He's our little lineman and pushes anything that moves.  I'm so excited to see him as a big brother and try and teach the baby sign language. :)

They'll be about 19 months apart and I'm almost 16 weeks along.  It's been fun to personally tell people as we see them. But  I've been rockin' that belly band for a while now so I suppose we better make this social media official so people don't have to feel bad for thinking I'm carrying baby weight from #1.  Nope, most of it is baby weight with #2. Most of it... 

And of course, some pictures of my favorite... he has no idea what's coming for him! :) 

We moved and we survived!

Just letting blog-land know we survived the move.... because it may seem like we hadn't since I haven't blogged since then!  Between not much laptop time and other thing going on... I guess blogging hasn't been a priority!

One big thing that has happened is Obi turning 1 on April 30th!!!

Here's some pictures of our weekend away at Grandpa's!

As soon as I can resolve the situation that my recent pictures are in three different places... I'll get some other photos from the last couple months up!  

We have an announ... or news... or something to say...

Whenever the word "announcement" or "news" is said in regards to a young married couple.... usually a kid is somewhere in the making.
Well, we're not expecting... but we do have other news.

We're moving!

For a while, we felt the pull to be back where we came from and be closer to family.
We also knew that this summer we would move closer to Ben's work. And we thought that if we're going to move to a different city anyways.... then let's think about moving somewhere close to family and where we already know we like to live.

We've loved these past two years. We loved contributing to our church and getting to know this city. Ben was thankful for the manufacturing experience he got and being a part of several different management teams has taught him a lot.  The company may be sad to see him go. He excited to pursue different options with family business and no doubt use the skills he's learned these past two years.

As with any move, there some bitter mixed in with the sweet.  This is were we raised our first child for (nearly) the first year of his life.  We'll miss Which Wich and a Panda Express drive-thru.  I loved my doctor, pediatrician, delivery hospital, etc. I even liked the dentist I found here.  I LOVED being able to walk to Panera, Von Maur, consignment shops and grocery stores. I love the pedmall downtown and the library. I feel like I'm leaving one of the best places to raise a toddler.  I live an 8 minutes walk away from an outdoor park splash pad!  I also feel like we're leaving this city during a time when it's best to live here!  Oh spring is so glorious... and summer in a college town is awesome.  And our house, I love our house and it's been so perfect for us.
I also noticed that the minute something is about to leave or change- I realize how much I love it.

But, I've also learned that moving is not the end of the world, but actually can be quite the opposite. Moving happens a lot here.

Another cool confirmation was the ease of selling our house. Our neighbors were one the first people to know we were putting our house up for sale.  I figured maybe they know someone who wants to be their neighbor!  And they did. They connected me that night to their brother's family. That family saw the house a few days later. The next day we accepted their offer.  Boom. Done. (almost...)  How BLESSED to not even have to stick a "for sale" sign in our yard or finish the sub-par website that I started about our home.

So my days have been filled with soaking in the local things/people I'll miss and packing a box or two.
We're so excited to start something new and know that wherever we are, our God is the same.

thirteen thousand "words"

If a picture is worth a thousand words.... then here's thirteen thousand words!  Titled "Florida, January 2013"  Better late than never, right??

The first of many play place stops in our future! 

Those are manatees... at least that's what I was let to believe. 

291 days old

I just got curious today and thought I'd do some simple math.  Or... google a website that could do this simple math for me.

It's official.... Obi has been out of the womb longer than he was in it.  So that pretty much means he's a big kid now.  291 days since this kid has been out in the real world!!

But really, he's eating pretty much anything now and sleeping like a champ (most of the time).  Half the time he cries when he wakes up and half the time he bangs his pacifier on his crib or tosses it out and I can hear it hit the hardwood floor.
He finally has two tiny bottom teeth that make his smile more mature.
He's crawling faster everyday and finding new things to pull himself up on everyday as well.
He loves his mom and sometimes gets nervous when she's not around.
He likes things that are attached to strings (sweatshirt/coat strings, pacifier clip, a drum toy that we have).
He also likes things that are like sticks that he can hold and swing around like  my his soup ladle and whisk.  We had a paint-stir stick out and (of course) he managed to find it and then crawled around poking and prodding his toys and furniture.
He claps puzzle pieces together like cymbals and enjoys making any noise.
He crawls around my feet in the kitchen everyday and is thrilled with each new tupperware or utensil (or occasional food scrap) that I'll toss down to him. I love it when he crawls while grasping a toy in his hand.
He's so funny to watch explore and learn through playing.
"Baby Signing Time" is his favorite show but we're still working on those concepts to click.  He knows how to sign "milk," "more," and "all done."  He just doesn't know when to do them and which one gets him which thing.
He claps, all the time.
He is a master beat boxer and can make so many noises with his lips and mouth.  He can imitate a ton! He's pretty good as his "da-da-das" and his "bowbowbow" (rhymes with wow) and can make an "mmmmm" sound but not quite "ma" yet!
He turning into quite a flirt when he turns his head sideways and gives a sly smile.  He can only turn his head to the right, though.

Oh Obster.... You are truly a joy!!

January

[This was one of those scheduled draft posts that apparently didn't post on schedule...  It's about January, which I know was like 2 weeks ago, but I'm still going to post it.  It was rather therapeutic to type this out. So, let's reflect on January.] 

I feel bad for January sometimes-- it gets a bad rap.  Not many people say they like the month of January in the Midwest. November/December are busy celebrating holidays and with family...February is short and therefore seems to go fast. March gives us more hints of sunshine and spring.  April and May are just the best.  And poor January... people just seem to endure January.

January gave me lots of tears and lots of joy.

January brought us into beginning year 4 of our marriage and caused my thankfulness for my husband to grow.
January brought me the flu for a day :(
January gave us some sunshine in Florida!! And the packing, traveling, and plane ride with a baby.

In January, I watched my grandma hold her great grandson and play and talk with him, and then only a week later I watched as her weak body was only able to give a slight smile when Obi squealed. I watched her spirit grow strong as her body grew weak. January was the last month my grandma saw on this Earth.

January was when my baby started crawling. And when he got his first tooth (just yesterday!! A tiny little razor sharp tooth cutting through). January made my baby Obi so much fun! He can clap, nod/shake his head, babble, wrestle, and growl. January made him 9 MONTHS OLD. (wow).

January had me busy at home (when we were home) preparing our house for two people to live with us for a few weeks.  They are here from China through an exchange program with our church. They cook, they clean, they watch babies while I shower... it's been fun!! :)

January overwhelmed me.  The last Monday morning in January I spent at the only enjoyable place outside the house in Iowa in January.... the mall.  It was just me and my baby-- we walked, we ate food, we played peek-a-boo, we looked at Target clearance, and we bought bigger baby clothes. It was so refreshing and I had no idea how bad I needed that morning. It also confirmed that I am an introvert.  I felt like it was the first time I was able to truly breathe in January.  Part of that was because it's exhausting waiting for someone to die. Its hard watching family grieve. Even though my grandma gained Heaven when she died, its still hard for us here.

Sometimes, I wished it was January forever.  But that's only because of the fact that babies grow fast.  I love this baby stage so much and I know it's the only time where I'll ever have just one child this age.

So here's to February... may it bring me many chances to truly breathe.

Want to feel selfish? Be a parent.

[I'm starting to sort through the posts in my "draft" section.... this one was started months ago! But it's a truth that I am still learning. Enjoy...]

A tiny person named Obi has taught me so much about myself. Namely, he's taught me how selfish I am.

Before Obi, I LOVED going to Target by myself.  I know a lot of women can relate to me on this "Target Therapy."  Something about the bright lights, wide aisles, the nifty red cruiser-carts, cute throw pillows, and the red clearance stickers...  Only one thing would make this city's Target better: a Starbucks (instead of the awkward Target "snack shop") Oh yes, and a "Super" in front of "Target."  Oh well, can't have it all.

It was so easy to go places and I never though twice about driving across the road to another store.
I loved thrift shopping and would sometimes hit all 5 that I love in this city in one day.
I also loved cleaning and decorating and making my house a home.
In college, I loved going to Borders book store and flipping through magazines in a comfy chair. (RIP Borders stores)
I could get ready in the morning so fast after accepting a last-minute sub job.
I enjoyed laying out in the sun getting a tan.
It was fun to see movies in an actual theater.
Oh the days of a long shower and shaving my entire leg, not just the knees-down.

I really miss those things! Since a baby, my Target trips are very "to the point" and I look at only what is on my list.  Oh yeah, and now lists are a must because I can never remember what I need.  And the list has things like "the white package non-scented boogie wipes" on them. Thrift stores are only possible with baby-wearing in those cluttered aisles.  Good thing Ben has made a movie theater in our basement because now that's impossible.  There's a constant "game plan" in my mind of when I fed him last, when he'll be tired-therefore when he'll be fussy, when he'll need to eat next... etc.

When I think about these things that I miss, my selfishness is embarrassingly obvious.  I coveted my alone time and the simplicity of life.

And I only have ONE baby and he takes at least two naps a day!!

Slowly, these things are becoming more possible. And even enjoyable.  If I want to leisurely walk around the mall and buy nothing... I want to do it with my baby because I can justify that trip as "getting the baby out of the house."  I only go places when I know he'll be awake because he's so happy to be out.  Grocery shopping is fun with him.  The constant "game planning" now comes to me so naturally. Sometimes I think more about when he needs to eat next that I forget about when I may need to eat next.
 Putting him to bed has become SO easy that babysitters are a possibility. Napping has also become SO much better (like put-him-in-his-crib-and-leave easy).

It's a combination of turning the infant into the baby... and getting past the 1st time mom learning curve/shock.

But mostly, it's sacrifice.  Many people who haven't even experienced salvation through the ultimate sacrifice of God's son will tell you that having children requires sacrifice- but that it's SO worth it.

Learning true sacrifice for another comes with friendships/family/dating relationships/marriage... it makes you be something else.  Marriage made me be a wife. This baby boy made me be a mom. But being a mom doesn't replace my titles of wife/sister/friend/daughter/etc.  It just adds to it. Each new role requires you to adapt to changes and make those changes the "new normal."
Being made a wife was exciting and I could converse with the one [husband] who brought about the changes and my necessary adaptation and sacrifice. Being made a mom was also exciting... but probably more exhausting if I'm honest... and you can't converse with the one [baby] who has caused all the changes. I mean, they are tiny people who act entirely on a series of reflexes. Thus, sacrifice is necessary.

I've noticed that I've started to say "we" instead of "me."  "We'll return the Redbox today." "When we went to the store..." "When we ate lunch.... "   This kid is my little sidekick in everything I do all day.  It may seem like my perspective in life has gotten so small and so focused on this one mini-person and everything to do with a baby.  But "mom" is just being lined up with all my other titles.

Has my perspective narrowed? I don't think so at all. My ability to love has grown so much (and I can tell it's not done growing) and that has made me a better and broader person. Sacrifice for a worthy cause is always worth it.

tiny Obi pictures

Just taking a step back to the days of Obi-infancy. This may have been brought about by the fact that this baby is 9 months old is less than a week. Oh how I miss that black baby hair... but I do love the smiles from today!

5 generations

(This is one of those posts that has been sitting in my "drafts" folder for a while... )

My Great Grandpa and my son are 102 years apart.  That's so crazy to think about!!  1912 and 2012 are very different years.

We had a very special opportunity to visit him in September and who knew that they'd be the best of friends :)

He had to ask a few times what his name is... but he guessed he was "about a half a year" which he was a little over 4 months old then.  

5 generations is pretty special!

And I suppose I revisited this post from my drafts folder because I've been thinking about them a lot.  My grandma's Heavenly home is being prepared for her to arrive very soon.  About a month after this photo, she learned of her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.  And only a few months after that diagnosis that cancer has taken over her body.  We've been blessed to spend some time with her in her last days and it was comforting to hear that she's not afraid of death.  No Christian should be and that's a promise I'm clinging to these days.  

" No fear in death, no guilt in life, this is the power of Christ in me."

How I did Christmas cards for under $30 total

I knew about Pinterest a long time ago... like got my account in Spring 2011.  I'm pretty sure I was one of the first to use Groupon.  I've gotten probably at least $50 in credit from their referral bonuses.
I had Facebook back in the day when you needed an .edu email address to sign up for it.  Before the "news feed" (Can you even remember what that was like??)
I used Picnic forever ago (RIP Picnic... hello PicMonkey) **

And now I'm pretty sure I discovered Cardstore.com.

I follow some coupon blogs that let me in on some good deals... and this was one.  Cardstore.com often runs sales on their cards, I got mine for 75% off.  AND, they send them to your recipient for FREE.   So that means NO time or money spent on stamps, labels, addressing, etc.  I did have to spend an entire naptime (ha! that's totally a mom-measurement of time) putting in addresses in their own website template.  But SO worth it!   I simply selected the date that I wanted to have the cards delivered by... and voila!  I delivered 44  cards for $15.71 total and in under an hour.
And then I ended up ordering 25 un-addressed ones to give to those I didn't have addresses for at the moment for $9.75. So I will have to cough up the money for a few stamps on those.

Funny thing is... I didn't even get the best deal.  Later, they were offering 29 cent any Holiday cards,  So I could have gotten some premium enveloped beauties sent-and-stamped cards for 29 cents instead of my 36 cent 5x7 postcard.   But such is the life of bargain-hunting.

What an awesome idea for any card you want to send!  You can choose the date shipped within one year.... so you could get all your cards sent for the year and never have to think about it again... in under an hour today!

I really don't know how they make their money. Probably because people like me will go and tell people like you and they didn't even pay me to do it.  So you're welcome for telling you about Cardstore.com. And sorry for not telling you before you sent your Christmas cards :)


** let it be known that there are PLENTY of things that I am definitely not the first to know about. The list is MUCH longer for those things.

Happy Christmas/New Year/Anniversary!!

Merry Christmas... and Happy New Year... and Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!!!

Yep, 3 years today.  Gonna cash in a free champagne and chocolate cake anniversary offer from a local restaurant.  Also, same restaurant gave us $30 in vouchers because they were slow last time we ate there.  So anniversary date night for free!!

Oh, what 3 years has done for us.  Really... what this past year has done for us because of Obi!

Since we have a baby, I suppose we are expected to send Christmas cards now.  So here's the picture we used for our Christmas card this year...

I didn't write a typical Christmas card letter.  I figured that everyone we're sending it to kinda already knows what's going on in our lives.  But, just for you people who like to read things... here's what happened in 2012...

Ben finished up an engineering rotational program at The HON Company in Muscatine and began a position as a manufacturing engineer at Oak Laminant plant within HON.  With all the projects he's worked on, he says he's saved the company lots of millions of dollars (sorry Ben, I forget the number...)

Jera worked as as substitute teacher in the Iowa City School District and worked frequently at one of the high schools.  I also worked three times a week teaching reading and math as an after-school program at an elementary that is just minutes from our house.  I loved it (most of the time) and I miss it (sometimes) but I LOVE my current "job" taking care of Obi now.  I was able to complete my teaching job on the due date of our baby boy... and he arrived 4 days later!

Obadiah Alan Jensen was born the morning of April 30th.  Obadiah means "servant of the Lord" and we mostly call him "Obi" for short. His middle name is after his grandpa in Heavan. Now being 8 months old, we're still waiting for some teeth to appear and for his crawling to be perfected.  He's a happy and curious boy who makes us laugh with his facial expressions and his many noises that he makes with his mouth.

We are enjoying being a part of our church, Veritas Church, and lead a connection group in our home. I took lots of little trips this summer with Obi to the Ozarks, Kansas City, and back and forth to Ames several times. My oldest sister got married in October and that gave me a new brother-in-law and also provided lots of fun things for us to be busy with!  We love our little white-picket-fence house and I have especially loved being within walking distance to lots of food and shopping.  Lots of times when Obi and I took walks, we would end up at one of those places :)

We are so thankful for 2012.