It's a he, it's a he she!

I cut my hair! I just went in and did it, the lady came at me with her razor blade and the hair went flying. I have my glamor shots on the other computer which is now totally not working but you can catch a glimpse of the due in the Halloween shots. It took a little to get used to it, we will see if I keep it. I am no Audrey Hepburn, I realize that, but change is fun.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Bryan and I carved our pumpkin on Halloween, it wasn't quite the same not having dad around sitting around the table sketching our latest pumpkin masterpiece. Bryan and I went the more traditional route of carving, I didn't know carving could be so fast, usually it seems like it took a couple of hours when in cahoots with dad.


The masterpiece taking shape.

Crazed artist!

Bryan was excited thinking we might get some tricker-treaters but our door only rang twice. I purchased some of the nastiest candy I could find so I wouldn't be tempted to snack on it, something called candy sticks, they looked scary! Bryan in his excitement decided that just wouldn't do and purchased a bag of mini Butterfingers. Our night was spent watching movies on TV and Christopher asleep. Next year should prove to be more exciting so we can dress the baby up and go around the block getting candy for Bryan and I to eat.

Feed Me!

I decided it was time that we start feeding Christopher some rice cereal since he seems to be growing like a weed. The first night I think most of it ended up on his face instead of in his mouth. The next night I had Bryan start feeding him but he didn't seem to like it and kept scrunching up his face, which was so hilarious. Bryan now feeds him as part of his nightly ritual and the baby is slowly getting the hang of the spoon.

She's Here!

Mom came to town and I was SICK with the flu! I couldn't be more upset, I had been waiting for her to come for weeks and I could hardly move. It was a blessing that she was here however, because she was able to help with the baby while I tried to rest. We made it out of the house once to the local Wal-Mart and that about did me in. Mom wouldn't sit still even though she started coming down with something as well. She did all of my laundry, organized what she could of the babies room and fixed us meals and much more. I was told by my mom and Bryan that I was being a grouch one day, I blame that on the sickness and the fact that I couldn't taste food, and that my friends is a fate just about worse then death. My mom being the generous person that she is extended her stay by a couple of days in order to help see me through to the end or at least until I could function a bit more. One of the highlights of the trip was staying up until 1am one night chatting with mom, I think she was just trying to avoid that rocky bed (: I love my mom and I hate when she has to leave me. Bryan told me we weren't going to be able to have my family come visit because I get so depressed when they go, what can I say I love my family!

Preparing for Mom

Mom told me a couple of weeks ago that she would be coming to visit on her way home of visiting Eric and Jean and their new baby Adam. I have been so excited thinking that this would be the trip that we could find the "finds" of Lubbock. In preparation for her arrival I asked Bryan to help around the house, you know I was thinking something along the lines of wiping down the kitchen or getting the bed together but he decided that it was more important to switch out the old light switches and outlets, men! Anyway, I think I will let Bryan write in his own the outcome of his rewiring.

Bryan:
I was switching out an outlet in the living room and it had one line coming in and two lines going out. Well I got all the wires connected, turned the power back on and plugged in my drill to test the power. I switched on the living room light...and surprise, surprise, the living room light would not turn on anymore. I tested the outlet to see if it had power so I plugged in my drill and pulled on the trigger and it started spinning, very slowly, but low and behold the living room light turned on! As soon as I would let go of the trigger the lights would turn back off. I looked up to see Whitney laughing at me, but Christopher, who was helping me out, thought I was doing a great job! As of today, I was able to get the lights in the living room working (kind of, we have three switches that all used to work, but now only one works at a time, kind of weird), but the outlets on that wall still don't work (and that goes for the outlets in the office on that wall as well). I will give it back to Whit for some reason she was feeling lazy and didn't want to type this herself.

Bryan's next job was to bring the free boxspring and frame I got off of "freecyle" (http://www.freecycle.org/) in and set up in the office. The frame we got didn't have bolts so he stacked up a couple boxes of food storage and called it good. We figured this set up was still better then having mom sleeping on a mattress on the floor. The bed rocked a bit so we may just have to invest in a boxspring and bedframe, free isn't always better unfortunatley.

By this time of night I was really not feeling well, I was coming down with something so at least we had new outlets and a rocky bed set up in order to wleome mom to town!

An early Christmas

Well, it has been a while since the last post but our computer has had a virus and Bryan spilled a drink on his laptop and fried it so it has been difficult to keep updated. We had to purchase Bryan a new computer, which I am working on, and I am not sure what we are going to to about our home computer, especially since Stephen our computer go to guy is not around! Among our other recent purchases was a new dishwasher. The 2 weeks we did not have a dishwasher we broke so many dishes, we are down to 4 cups, and all of our glass bowls are gone, and I am out a couple of ramekins as well. I am not sure what cost more, the new dishwasher or the dishes we have to replace. Merry Christmas to us!

Such good cookies!

After making my pie for the Fall Festival I had some leftover pumpkin and had a hankering for some cookies. Sandra sent me to this blog http://thegoodapple.blogspot.com and I found a pumpkin cookie recipe. I decided to give them a try today and the recipe was easy and really tasty. After icing everything, they looked like they needed a little someth'n someth'n so I thought I would sprinkle some cinnamon over the top. Well, as I started my artistic touches I realized that instead of the sweet smell of cinnamon I caught a whiff of the dirty sock smell of cumin! I almost decided that I could simply just dust it off but decided that I better throw away the defiled cookies. Thank goodness I didn't have to throw them all away because this was a good recipe.

Recipe tips from Whit:
I like this recipe because these cookies were not gummy like other pumpkin cookie recipes I have had. The recipe said to cook them for 10-12 min. but I left mine in longer because I don't like undercooked pumpkin. The dough is not very sweet, but wait until you put that icing on, watch out! Last, I didn't have any milk for the icing so I used some cream and that made some pretty darn good icing, enjoy!

2008 Fall Festival

Our family picture, I looked soused but then again I usually do these days.

We had our ward Fall Festival this past Monday, we did not dress up but I did participate by signing up to bring a pot of chili and make a pie for the scout fund raiser. There was a big debate, do I make white chili or stick with the tried and true chicken chili, in the end I went with what I know and made the oh so delicious chicken chili. I think it was a good choice, at least Bryan and I enjoyed it. I also wasn't sure what pie to make, the pumpkin chiffon is tasty but not flashy, I went ahead and made the pumpkin chiffon anyway, and someone actually wanted it out of quite a selection of pies. We didn't stay behind for the trunk or treat but maybe next year we can use Christopher to get candy, and I will have to come up with some costumes or enlist Sandra to make me something.

A Saturday at the Jensen's

(Don't mind the video, I now understand you can't tip the camera when filming)

Bryan played hooky from his school work this Saturday, probably the last time he can do so with finals coming up, but it was really fun having him around. We spent the morning trying to find a worthwhile garage sale, hitting up our local Wal-Mart, and of course like so many other Saturdays, we just happen to find ourselves by the doughnut shop and had to stop in. The rest of the day was Bryan working on the yard, hanging drapery in the kitchen, moving in some furniture from the garage, cleaning out the car, and finally setting up his grill after 3 months. He received the grill for graduation and his birthday and it has been in a box out on our back porch since we moved. It was such a beautiful day, I decided cleaning the kitchen could wait, so we laid out a blanket and the baby and I played outside while we watched Bryan try to read the pictorial directions on assembling the grill. After the baby went down for bed Bryan couldn't resist running to the grocery store to purchase some meat so we could test out the grill. While he was fixing dinner, I finally was able to hang some pictures on my bare walls. It was a productive and good day.


A man and his grill.


Fruits of our labor.

The pumpkin patch

Bryan & Christopher on the hay ride.

With Bryan being so busy lately, we haven't had a chance to get out that often so this past weekend was really fun when we met up with a few couples from the ward and went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. Bryan and I were being cheap and ditched out on the corn maze which was fine with me, it will probably be a bit more exciting when Christopher gets older and from the sounds of it we didn't miss out on much. Instead of the maze, we put our money towards a bite to eat, so for our $8.50 we got 2 boiled hot dogs, and a sausage wrap. So I thought the sausage would have been wrapped in a puff pastry, but I guess that's not the case here in Lubbock, no, it means a sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla, not tasty or worth the $3. Despite the bad food, typical so far of Lubbock, we did have good company and it was fun having a chance to talk to people! It was starting to get a little chilly so we bundled the baby up and went on a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our awesome pumpkin. Christopher despite being up past his bed time was being so good. I think we will make this a yearly tradition, it was fun and it will be even more so as the baby gets older.

Whit selecting the one.

Why do I even try?

Why do I even try? Bryan and I are going to be replacing our carpet with laminate flooring during Christmas break, but until then I decided to get our carpets clean because they were nasty. Well, I have two crazy dogs and with the rain, well they have tracked so much mud in! The smart thing would have been to put a doormat out, but that would have been too easy! Anyway, I think the mud would still find it's way in. So much for forking out the dough for clean carpets. Why do I even try? (it's hard to see in the picture, but there are little foot prints everywhere!)

Oops!

So I pulled an Autumn Murset on my little boy! (For those of you who don't know the story, my neighborhood friend did a number on my hair growing up, leaving me with a nice buzz cut!) It has been rainy here so I tend to feel cooped up, which is never a good combination. Bad things happen when I am bored, like in high school when Erin and I decided one night out of boredom to pierce my ears for the second time, I felt so guilty that I took them out the next day. Now I just have two tattooed ear holes as a reminder of my stupidity. The tattoo is from our attempts to keep things sanitary during the piercing process, we burned the tip of the needle and never wiped it off leaving the soot; I guess you can call it that, behind in my ear. Once my ear healed the black soot never came out, creating a tattoo forever reminding me of what happens when Whit gets bored. I have many stories of things I have done but shouldn't have out of boredom. You would think I would have learned my lesson, but oh no, not me! Anyway, I am just prolonging the inevitable, especially since I found out mom is coming back for a visit and she would find out soon enough, so here it goes.

I thought Christopher's hair was starting to look a little shaggy and patchy, so I went into the bathroom and had the clippers in hand to go ahead and give the baby a little trim, and then I thought, "You know, you better run this one by Bryan because we all know how the last trim came out." Anyway, I held out until Bryan got home and some how talked him into to this horrible deed. Well the clippers looked like they would leave about a 1 1/2 of hair but oh no, it took it down to the scalp!!! I cried, my babies luscious locks are no more. He was like Samson, he had such strength from his hair or in his case, good looks, and I can say that because I am the mom. Now he just looks like any other 4 month old child out there, bald! I am really quite devastated. I vowed not to take any pictures of him until it grows back, and I didn't want to admit to any family members what I had done because I know I would get an ear full. I have since come to grips with the bald head and have to document this time, so like my tattooed ears, I would have a reminder of what stupid things happen when I get board.

Well, I learned my lesson, and thank goodness it is starting to get cold so I can have him wear hats all season. I almost saved the scraps of hair to make a wig, but I had lost too many hairs to the drain. Oh the shame!!!


The after

The Good Samaritan

Well I have been reviewing my posts and I can't believe I didn't post about dad coming out to help with the house! Dad heard all about mom's wonderful experience when she came over to help that he wanted one of his own, I just call that crazy! It was really fun to have him, unfortunately that was the week Christopher and I dug in our heals on his nap training so I spent most of the time working with him while dad painted. I know some of you may be thinking, how convenient, but honestly I don't know what is worse painting, or battling a child to sleep. Dad was able to get so much done, our kitchen is now painted and the family room. Between dad and Bryan they moved the boxes out of the family room, they are still split up among the other rooms but at least they are not in a pile sky high right when you walk into the house.

We didn't let dad stop working for very long but when we did it was so he could take us out to dinner. When mom was out we tried finding a good Tex-Mex restaurant and with no such luck I thought when dad came we would try for a good bbq place, this is Texas after all. Well, my conclusion is that Lubbock is not for foodies as the bbq was no very tasty. Hopefully, by the time mom and dad make it out again Bryan and I will have been able to scrounge up at least one descent eating establishment. Although, Bryan and I have taken up grandpa Farnsworth's tradition of the Doughnut Brigade and have come across a tasty doughnut shop. Anyway, we are so thankful for dad and his time he put in with us, his sleeping arrangements were not much better then moms although we did at least stick him in the study and not the kitchen. I now have yellow walls and white ceilings, it's a good thing. We can't thank you enough!

The Firm

Bryan was in a competition last week for the Board of Barristers at school. The competition was Client Counseling were you and a partner interview a pretend client and get judged on how well you do. Bryan did very well and got rave reviews from his judges. That was my impression anyway, and I am probably just a little bias.

The Schnitzel

So it has been forever since Bryan and I have gone out together to a fine dining establishment but tonight that has all come to a close, Wienerschnitzel here we come! Bryan has been begging, I mean begging to go to Wienerschnitzel even though we have never been. For those of you that know Bryan, the hot dog is fillet mignon to him so I finally gave in. I had a chili cheese dog, I don't now what I was thinking, I was under pressure to order. I have to say I am a little nervous for what we ingested when there was a choice for original or all beef. Bryan and I both ate the original, so I am afraid to even think of what that means! Anyway, I am hopeful that will take care of his hot dog craving for a while and we can put the schnitzel to rest.

Random Comments by Whit #3

While we were sitting in church today Bryan told me to wipe the inside of my eye because it was looking a little dark. Well, it didn't go away, I have bags.

Random Comments by Whit #2

It is a sad day when you look forward to getting out of the house even if it is to Wal-Mart. (Half of the store smelled like fecal matter, I just had to say it.)

The Hair Stylist

Christopher was having some "Tummy Time" and I realized how long his hair was getting, so I grabbed the scissors and went to town. It is very crooked but better then before. Check out the before and after shots.


Before

After

Baby Whisperer Numero Dos

Yes, just call me the Baby Whisperer Numero Dos. I may be jumping the gun a little, but baby Christopher had an awesome day of napping in his own bed and went to bed tonight like a champ. This past week and a half I have been working on undoing all of my parenting skills I put in place over the last three months. Christopher would not sleep unless being held, or sleep longer then 10 min. at a time because he kept spiting out the pacifier. I have spent hours on the phone consulting on how to go about undoing what I have done with Sandra and Mom so some of the credit can go to them. I have also read the Baby Whisperer, and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child in hopes of solving my issues. I was a woman on a mission especially since Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child informed me I would have a bratty child that would grow to an adult with issues, or something like that if the child did not get sleep. I had a couple things already going against me such as the vibrating chair, (I swear those things can't be good, but it kept him quiet), paint fumes from the home renovation, and Bryan and I as parents. So like I said, I was a woman on a mission because Christopher has to overcome so many obstacles. You may be asking how I accomplished this amazing task; well you will have to wait for my book, but it had a lot of crying involved (no I did not Ferberize) getting rid of a pacifier, a Miracle Blanket (a.k.a. stray jacket that I bought for way too much money at a baby boutique in Scottsdale and worth every penny), and what I am calling a Miracle Sock. I can't get too detailed with the Miracle Sock because it is worth marketing but lets just say socks as mentioned in an earlier post can be used for many things in the Jensen Household. Ok, so I will never market the Miracle Sock so what I did was cut a hole for the babies thumb to stick through so those blasted extra fingers wouldn't get in the way, it seemed to do the trick and I have been using it ever since. I am available for phone interviews for all of you struggling parents, I will be more then happy to charge you ridiculous amounts of money to tell you how you screwed up your child, but don't call during the hours of 9, 1, & 3 because my child will be napping! Ha ha, anyway, I just thought I would share my great news and tell everyone to pray for me that Christopher's sleeping may continue so I can get this house finished, oh and some sleep for myself.

The Electric Chair, Miracle Blanket, and Miracle Sock

And the rains came tumblin down!

Well, all schools in good ole Lubbock were canceled on Friday due to the excessive flooding from all of the rains that came. Since Bryan had some extra time we decided to go for a walk. I tried to dress the baby in something warm but this very little sweater hardly made it over his ever growing belly.So this was my solution, yes those are socks on his hands. I am in trouble when it starts to get cold here because I am an Arizona girl and don't even own a sweater, I think I will have to invest in a couple tube socks so I can keep my hands warm as well. Oh, and yes I got Bryan to wear the Snuggli that you see in the picture, he offered so I said go for it - He looked a bit dorky but I thought it was so hilarious I didn't say anything and made him think I was getting a picture of the baby when I just wanted to document this. The truth is, I think anyone wearing a papoose thing looks nerdy, but they do the job.

Looking Good!

All tuckered out! You can't see it but there is a puddle of drool on Bryan's hand.

Don't be too surprised if our family has to dress like this for the the upcoming winter months, our money will go to the heating bill leaving us to make do with our socks to keep us warm.

It's a Good Thing

I was pondering, as I often do, and an idea just hit me about what I should do with the extra lemons I had laying around. Freeze the juice! Ok that may seem like a no brainer but it is how I have frozen the juice people, in ice trays. Many of my recipes call for a teaspoon or so of fresh lemon juice so; I have filled up an ice tray where I have measured each with 2 teaspons of juice. I know Martha would be proud. Once frozen my plan is to stick them in a freezer bag so the stay fresh and if I want to get a little crazy I will vacuum seal them so they are really fresh. When a recipe calls for lemon juice, I am good to go, and I will no longer have half a lemon sitting around going bad. It's a Good Thing.

Random Comments by Whit #1

I sit around holding the baby most of the day and I discovered a scab in my nose with my one free hand. I have picked it for the last week about twice a day (it comes back fast). I decided it will never go away if I don't stop, so I have been pick free for a day and a half and am still going strong!

I usually don't like to post without a picture but thought this post would require a difficult camera angle.

My Hairpiece

Is my toupee on straight?

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day and Bryan finished mudding all of the ceilings in our house! Now we just have to mud the walls in the kitchen, sand, prime, paint (just about everything), work on the floors, and move all of our furniture in.

In our attempt to make friends Bryan and I went to the ward picnic. It was nice, and Bryan was able to talk to a couple second year law students in order to get the inside scoop. It was interesting to find out they were all about three years younger then Bryan even though they all looked older. I enjoyed myself, just mainly listening, except for the part were I left with five mosquito bites.

Home Sweet Home

Well our move to Texas has been an eventful one, never a dull moment with the Jensen's. Bryan came down about two weeks before me so he could start on a couple home repairs which consisted of scraping the popcorn ceiling, removing wallpaper, tiling bathrooms, and mudding walls and ceilings all before school started. Thanks to Bryan's youngest brother Jared that came down to spend the last two weeks of his summer vacation helping, they were able to accomplish most but not all of the tasks. I arrived the weekend before Bryan's school started to a massive construction zone, a living room piled high of our boxes, a garage filled with furniture, construction dust, and smells of...well we won't go there but let's just say the owners before us just had puppies and it was rainy and moist outside intensifying my sense of smell, needless to say I was overwhelmed. Mom sensing my distress came down for a week to hold the baby while I got to work priming and painting the back bedrooms. My theme song for the week was to the tune of Underdog but changing the words to, "Mom is here to save the day." We had many conversations 99% of them starting with Moms favorite saying, "You know what I was thinking..." She had lots of time to "think" as she spent hours a day taking care of Christopher and making sure I kept busy. I had two nicknames during the week, the first being "Milky the Cow" given to me by Mom since that was the only time she needed my help with the baby, and the second "Cruella Devil" given to me by Bryan. This second name is not from my attitude, I know what you were all thinking, but because I had a huge clump of paint that had fallen in my hair and dried for two days. I sported the new hair color for a while, I figured my friends at the local WalMart and HomeDepot wouldn't mind but decided I better do something about it before venturing off to church the next day. There was no cutting a nickel size chunk from my bangs so after multiple phone calls to anyone Dad could get a hold of that painted we came to the conclusion that olive oil should do the trick. Two hours later and a half bottle of olive oil later, I finally worked the paint out. For all of you that will or have come across this problem, olive oil greases up the hair so the paint slides off in painful small pieces. I probably could have used the natural grease I had produces from my own hair due to the lack of showering but I thought the olive oil smelled better. Anyway, the house is slowly getting painted, and I mean slowly but hopefully after we get some carpet in the bedrooms we can move some furniture.A picture of Mom holding Christopher, and if you look hard enough you will see her five star accommodations. Yes, that is a mattress on the floor in the corner of our dining room/kitchen, and if you look really close you will see the dogs spending their free time on it. And yes, this is the hard as rock mattress Mom and Dad replaced that Bryan and I took with us because it was FREE! Mom would just pop a couple sleeping pills every night and would be out like a light, thank goodness for modern medicine. Anyone that would like to visit needs to remember this tip before coming because prescription pills do work the best. Can I just mention again what a lifesaver Mom was!


Our Family Room


The Gourmet Kitchen
Cruella Devil

Hopefully it won't be too much longer until I can show the "after" pictures to this huge mess.

Bath Time

Bryan is getting Christopher ready for church and I couldn't resist a couple bath time shots with him sporting his pig towel.

He started out the day so fresh and clean but he did not stay that way, yes this cute outfit ended up getting a couple sprays of Zout and a good rub down with Zote, just call me the Queen of Clean, or maybe we should hold off with such titles especially if you have seen my house, those pictures will be coming soon.
Bryan calls him "Christopoopers"

Our Park

Just a Saturday afternoon out at the park with the gang. Just a short walk away from our house is a park, nothing too glamorous as I think it is actually a retention basin that never empties but it is still fun. Bono would eat the ducks if he could and Fritz would be eaten by the ducks if they could.

Christopher enjoying the fresh air.