Baby's First Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve at Morten's sister's house with his whole family. In Denmark we do the whole big celebration, dinner, presents, etc on Christmas Eve. I ate duck and liked it this year! I haven't ever liked it any of the previous times I've tried it. It's very traditional for Christmas dinner here.

Olivia wore her best Christmas dress and was very sweet while getting passed around to Farmor and Farfar (Grandma and Grandpa), an her aunt, uncle, cousins, etc. She was very cooperative while we ate Christmas dinner and seemed to really enjoy staring at the Christmas tree lights. We did end up putting her to bed at the usual time since we didn't want to keep a tired baby awake for something she wouldn't enjoy or remember anyway - but she got lots of nice presents and had lots of fun with them the next day.

It was all in all a very lovely evening and the 25th was great too. We decided that we are going to keep a bit of both traditions in our family no matter where we are for Christmas - so this year we also opened stockings Christmas morning, American style. It was a very nice and cozy morning and then we went to Morten's parents for the rest of the day to have the multiple course traditional Christmas lunch. There is fish first (ew...) then pate, then meatballs and pork roast, then pork tenderloin, then cheese, then fruit salad, then cookies and hot chocolate, etc. Each course comes after like an hour so we were basically eating all day. I got a moment to sneak out and call my family right when it was Christmas morning for them, so that was fun :) Olivia was being a little sweetie for everyone, wearing her new Christmas dress from Farmor. It was a great Christmas. Now I can't wait to go to the states in about 2 weeks, to see my family and let Olivia meet all her little cousins and uncles, and see Camille when she gets home from her mission!

I love my little doll...

I promise I will write a real post again soon. But in the meantime, quick update: Olivia is doing well! She was never really a "newborn" and is now moving out of that "4th trimester" stage. She is covering all the physical milestones about 2 months early, including: supporting her head, lifting up her head and chest (and everything else pretty much) by her arms, supporting herself with her legs, rolling over (front to back), grabbing at things, throwing crazy tantrums including head banging (usually when she doesn't want to go to bed), and becoming incredibly and adorably corpulent. She's our wee beastie. I have a feeling once she takes off she will be a little tornado! She gives us the sweetest smiles (see above), babbles all day long, and sometimes sleeps 7 hours through the night. Not to say that there haven't been challenges but we are just loving parenthood and loving our precious little munchkin. Can't wait to see what she does next!

Pictures

Just a few quick pictures while Livvy is napping.

Ain't she purty? We love her.

Olivia Dawn Jensen has arrived!

Our darling girl is finally here!!!!! It was Monday the 20th when I started having contractions off and on all day, and they got more regular around 5 pm. So, we spent the day/evening just relaxing and having a grand time at home, watching old musicals, and getting really excited to meet Olivia. We headed to the hospital at about 9:30, and found out I was already 6 cm dilated and everything was going well. According to the midwives, it was a "textbook" birth, meaning everything went smoothly and quickly without complications. Our beautiful Olivia came into the world at 1:03 am on September 21st: 8 pounds 6 oz, and 20.5 inches. Right away we noticed her long and thick, dark hair, and it also quickly became apparent was very strong - right away she lifted her head and opened her eyes to check out her surroundings.

It's impossible to describe how wonderful it is to have her with us and to be her parents. I will just say that our lives have been changed forever and she is more amazing than we could have ever hoped for.

Where, oh where can my baby be?

In her cozy little cocoon of course, being fed through a tube and enjoying the good life. Why would anybody in their right mind want to leave that and go out into the rain and cold where you have to breathe air and wear a diaper and put forth an effort in order to get fed.

Or maybe she knows what big hugs and kisses Mommy and Daddy (and everybody else) have in store for her, and she does want to come out but just hasn't quite figured out where the exit is.

Either way, here's hoping something happens this week!

A bit of inspiration

I just read a quote I really like on my Aunt's facebook page (by M. Scott Peck): ‎"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."

My Aunt is an inspiration to me because she has faced many difficult trials in her life but still manages not only to stay positive and enthusiastic, but also to keep laughing and smiling and constantly being a light to everyone around her. I hope that I can also take the (very few) difficulties I encounter and learn from them to be positive and keep laughing no matter what.

Time bomb

I wonder what the baby countdown will say when wednesday is over? I keep getting the feeling it will say...3...2...1...BLASTOFF!! Sometimes I do feel a bit like a bomb about to explode, a rocket about to take off, etc. It is nice to know that the time to meet the baby is so close but it's weird not to have control over the day and time that it will take place, and not to really know what it will be like.

My mom got here last week and it's wonderful to have her here! Showing her around Copenhagen for the first time has been a nice distraction from the "time bomb" feeling.

Pictures, as requested...

This is the stroller - it's from Emmanjunga, it's called "Nitro City" and the color is "grey dream" though I think that color is discontinued now. We bought it at Ønskebørn.

Here are the dresses I made....not the prettiest or the most professional ever (notice the ugly seams) but it was fun to make them. I used the same pattern for both, so I have no idea how the pink ended up so much bigger. They are meant to be worn with little onesies (how on earth do you spell that?) and tights. Next project, a boppy pillow!

I didn't make this next one, but it's just cute. So here's a picture.

Projects

I'm currently borrowing my mother in law's sewing machine in order to make some baby dresses. It's a little bit daunting since I have only finished a sewing project maybe 2-4 times in my life. But I have so much time right now and I know that is about to change, so I'd better use it while I can! The dresses are just very simple in a jumper style, and I am using the same pattern to make several dresses, so hopefully I can master it before I try something else. It's fun trying to read a pattern in danish...but let's just say that sewing tutorials on youtube have been my friend!

I've also been playing piano a bit. Don't get me wrong...I am not a pianist. But we inherited a nice-ish keyboard from Morten's parents, and since I can't practice guitar right now (belly gets in the way), I figured I would try to learn a few hymns so I can (eventually) make myself useful at church. It's fun because when I do, the music is right next to my belly and baby girl always kicks emphatically when I play. Maybe she wants to be a dancer when she grows up.

We picked up the stroller yesterday, finally. It was interesting trying to decide on one, because Danes have a very different idea than Americans (or just the rest of the world) about what a stroller/pram is for. Most families get them extra large, complete with a mattress, duvet, rain cover, and heavy duty wheels that don't swivel. Basically they are like little houses on wheels. This is because many families in Denmark believe in letting their children take their naps outside, usually in the backyard, in order for them to grow strong lungs from the fresh air or something like that. Actually I've never really gotten a straight answer as to the reasoning behind it.

We had a lot of discussions about what we expect out of a stroller, which thankfully does not involve the idea of using it as a second crib, so we decided against the traditional pram in favor of a more american style folding/swivel wheeling stroller, but it can lay flat and comes with a "lift" (I believe they are called moses baskets in the states) that fits inside to accommodate a newborn. The style I wanted was purple and frilly, but Morten was concerned that pushing a purple stroller around might undermine his manliness, so we settled for gray instead. Can't wait to start taking her out for walks in it!

Bitty Baby Glamor

I've been making little headbands. I should probably wait to post pictures until I can actually put them on her tiny head, but here is a preview...

Two Years

First off, I should mention that last Sunday marked 2 years since I married this handsome fellow. It has been absolutely wonderful being married to Morten, and I look forward to the rest of eternity with him by my side.

On to other news...

Wednesday was my first day of maternity leave. I didn't have any particular plans for the day except just enjoying it and getting at least one nap in. However, when in the kitchen casually doing some dishes, my eyes wandered and I saw a speck of dirt. Something started happening inside me....I had to start scrubbing that dirt right away. Suddenly I discovered that I had spent hours frantically scrubbing and organizing the entire kitchen, and now had a killer backache and had to lie down. The craziest part was after I finally finished, I still didn't want to lie down. I wanted to move on and do exactly the same in the rest of the apartment.

I guess that's what they call the nesting instinct. I should probably take advantage of it before the baby arrives, when nobody will have time for things like organizing pots and pans.

Tuesday night was my baby shower! Baby showers are not really a tradition in Denmark, but in the church they are. The group in my ward have very specific baby shower traditions. For instance it has to be a surprise for the expectant mother, usually planned by her friends or family. Before opening the gifts, the giver has to give a "wish" for the mother and/or baby, and someone writes these down so that the mother can keep them. These are things like "I wish for your baby to sleep through the night" etc. The ribbon off the presents is collected by someone else, the ends tied together, and wrapped around a book. At the end of the gift opening, the expectant mother takes ahold of the end of the ribbon, then it is unraveled and passed around to all the ladies in the circle until the ribbon runs out. The person to get the end of the ribbon is supposedly the "next one" to have a baby, and she gets to keep all the ribbons.

It was at my friend Anne-Dorthe's place and it was really nice - lots of my friends from church were there and all the ladies in Morten's family too. The gifts were great and it was just nice to feel supported and loved.

Now it's the home stretch I guess. Just frantically cleaning everything in sight, enjoying the nice weather, and waiting for the baby.

Baby News

We went to another ultrasound a few days ago (the last one!) and everything is stil fine - it seemed like her growth was slowing down a bit but that was a good thing since she was so big the last time. At this point I'm trying not to count on a big or a small baby since there's really no way to tell what size she will be by the time she arrives. She gets the hiccups every day now, and also reacts very nicely to things like Morten talking to her in danish (planning mischievous ways to tease mommy together). She also reacts to music. Seems like her favorite music so far, or at least the music that gets a reaction out of her, always has a steady beat and a lively tune. She also has a strange reaction to the sound of running water - for a couple of months now I've noticed that she wiggles when I'm doing the dishes, washing my hands etc. At first I couldn't tell what part of her was wiggling, but now I can tell it's either her fingers or toes because it's very tiny and sort of tickles. Not really sure what that is about! It will be fun to see if she has the same reactions when she is out.

I confess I've been a bit baby obsessed lately. Sometimes I google potential baby names just to look at all the cute baby girl pictures. The fact is I just can't wait to see her and hold her in my ARMS, not my tummy. I'm also a bit anxious to get my body back - to turn over in the middle of the night without shooting pains everywhere, to bend forward without squishing my daugher, my stomach, or any other important things. But all in all I think I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. And I have heard from others that after giving birth they miss the kicking, punching, tiny toe wiggling, etc, and I'm sure I will too since that is definitely the best part right now. And like in any good story, I'm sure the suspense and anticipation will make the happy ending that much more enjoyable once tiny toes finally comes to join our family.

Babymoon in Vienna

It's time for the much procrastinated post about our trip to Vienna...

We flew out to Vienna on a thursday night and took various trains/trams to get to our hotel. The hotel was amazing, because it wasn't really a hotel but a small apartment in a restored victorian era building, complete with a little kitchen for all my midnight munching needs. Very cosy, pretty, grand, and very Vienna.

We spent the next several days running around like a bunch of tourists, takings pictures of everything, acting crazy, and having a blast. Below are some highlights.

Schonbrunn Palace and the surrounding gardens. We spent a whole day just exploring this huge area.

Karlskirche - we saw an awesome concert here later in the week.

LDS Church. We found an english speaking ward to attend.

Beethoven's grave, and a lot of other composers not in the picture. It was fun to explore a posh Austrian graveyard.

Mozart's grave, or at least the spot where he is most likely to have been buried. This graveyard was less touristy and more creepy.

The library. We did a lot of our walking around in the evening since it was cooler.

The museum of natural history

The library from the front.

City Hall

Morten loves animals, so we had to check out the zoo. I noticed that at the Austrian zoos/aquariums, they don't really believe in putting barriers between the guests and the animals, which was especially true in the case of this sloth. It was really friendly and at several points Morten had to back away to keep the sloth from climbing onto his shoulders. He wasn't even zooming in this picture.

On Wednesday we took a day trip to Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia - only an hour by train from Vienna). It was really fun to see such a big difference between the two cities when they are so close together. We got a bit of culture shock at the train station in Bratislava because it was quite a shady area but when we walked on into the "old town" we found it endlessly charming. I've definitely acquired a taste for eastern Europe and would love to also visit Prague, Budapest, etc.

We discovered later on that we didn't get any really good pictures in Bratislava because that was the day it started getting REALLY hot, and we were more concerned about staying out of direct sunlight than getting good pictures. Below is a church we found in the old town, which was basically crumbling in disrepair (unlike most of the old churches in Vienna). I loved the way it looked.

Bratislava castle, on top of a massive hill. The climb was tough but worth it in order to explore the castle and see the view over the Danube from the top.

Back in Vienna the next day, we lost a bit of our "must see and do everything NOW" tourist stamina and spent our time on some more relaxing activities (especially if they involved air conditioned buildings).

This is the view from the roof of the aquarium.

Wandering down pedestrian streets, into touristy shops in order to make fun of the souvenirs and try on silly hats...

The natural history museum.

Thursday night was my favorite part of the whole trip. During the entire week, people on corners dressed as Mozart had been trying to sell us overpriced, touristy concert tickets. While I was determined to see a classical concert at some point during our stay in Vienna, I didn't want it to be one of those commercial ones. We were lucky to find out about a less advertised concert series in Karlskirche cathedral, where we saw Mozart's requiem thursday night. It was an unforgettable performace by a very gifted local group, with a surprisingly small audience and personal feel to it.

Some things I noticed about Vienna:

-The buildings almost ALWAYS have statues and some manner of "curly q's" all over them.

-People are extremely courteous to the elderly, women with children or pregnant, and handicapped. In fact, politeness in general seems to be very highly valued.

-The classical music background of the city is a very important cultural heritage.

-I guess I would notice this, being pregnant, but there are far fewer unpleasant smells than you would imagine, even in elevators at train stations, etc. Maybe I am just comparing with CPH where the train stations almost always smell bad.

The whole trip was a wonderful time for Morten and I to relax and enjoy spending time together before our lives get turned around (in a good way) when the little one arrives.

More baby news soon!

Now I'm the one who looks like an alien...

Ultrasound #5

Went for another ultrasound today! And got a lovely 3D picture of our adorable little one playing peekaboo.

It is a bit freaky looking I'll have to admit, but what a great chance to see her cute big cheeks and tiny ear. Technology is amazing.

We found out early on that there are 2 veins in the umbilical cord whereas normally there are 3, so the doctors have been paying extra attention and taking extra ultrasounds just to make sure that the baby is growing properly. It turns out she is growing more than properly, weighing around 2.5 pounds already, which is 10% more than average at 26 weeks. They predicted she would probably be almost 9 pounds at birth if she comes on time. But I never really expected that we would have a small baby anyway, since I was pretty enormous (10 pounds) and Morten wasn't small either. So, no surprise there.

We also found out that she is most definitely a girl. We knew that with about 90% certainty before, but this time they were 100% certain on that. Good thing we already bought lots of pink dresses!

Next week I've got to take some tests at the hospital, go to a consultation with the midwife, and then we will go on our babymoon to Vienna!! I'm so thrilled about that I can't even begin to say. It will be nice to forget everything for a while and just hang out in a cool city with my awesome husband, who by the way did the laundry, cleaned, and left me a really sweet note today "just because." What a guy!

Danish Creatures

Living more in the "countryside" now than before, I have been enjoying all sorts of new wildlife.

For example.

The other day, coming home late at night, I saw a porcupine meandering through the bushes outside our apartment. I immediately assumed it must be a very rare occurrence to see such a creature (I had never seen one outside the zoo before), so I excitedly called Morten over. He ho-hummed and told me they are as normal here as armadillos or possums in Texas. Ok then.

We also spotted a hare the other day. Not a rabbit, a hare. Running accross the road. Complete with extremely perky ears. It made me want to go read the Redwall books again and start saying "wot, wot!" at the end of every sentence.

Recently, I also had a not-so-pleasant encounter with an overgrown spider. We live on the second floor and I'll have to say we do manage to keep things pretty clean and uncluttered for the most part, but there it was, a giant spider in the bathroom. Any time I mention my distaste for spiders in company with danes, one of them is sure to point out that spiders in Denmark never bite, and most people pick them up and play with them as children. Though that is not very comforting, I guess spiders are still better than roaches. So, comparing Texan and Danish wildlife, I do most definitely prefer the Danish version.

"Serious scrappers"

Things are coming along, pregnancy-wise. I'm 25 weeks into it, and can hardly believe that means (roughly) 15 weeks left. Little "___" kicks me all day/night long, especially when we are hungry or I am making too much noise. We have thought about some names already but I won't jinx it by writing them here.

I have been discovering the many joys of pregnancy, both expected and unexpected. I can't wait to get to know her but at the same time there's still so much to get ready. I've been a bit overwhelmed lately with all there is to do - the usual work/chores/social/church/family obligations, as well as the growing responsibility of "taking care of myself." Most days I would rather just skip that one altogether but Morten is very good at helping me remember to take my many vitamins, get enough rest and exercise, tend to the bizarre ailments that come along with pregnancy, and stop stressing out.

The last one is something I could still stand to learn a lot from the Danes about. They are very serious about relaxation. They can work very hard but they are also very serious about family time, vacation, and their hobbies.

For example, last weekend I went to a scrapbooking festival with my mother and sister in law. It was the third time we have been to the bi-annual event together but again I was impressed by the people there and their dedication to their hobby. Most Danes have never heard of scrapbooking, but those who claim it as their own spend a great deal of time and effort on it. We showed up half an hour early for the 9:00 event, which I thought was a bit excessive, and it turns out that scores of ladies from all over Denmark and other countries, of all ages and walks of life, had already showed up before us with at least two heavy bags of "supplies" in tow, all lined up and ready to go in and start "scrapping."

It made me resolve, once again, to always give myself time to do the things I enjoy so that I will have much more mental energy to do the things I "have" to do all the rest of the time, and be better company for the people I care about.

I should end this post before I start babbling...or is it too late? Ok. The End.

Girl!!!!!

Haha sorry to keep you all waiting. We did find out several days ago but I have been procrastinating writing a blog about it. Hence this very short post. I'll just say we are VERY excited for a little girl and already buying cute baby dresses.

It's a....

Haha fooled you. We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl but hopefully we'll know tomorrow after the ultrasound, if he/she isn't being too shy.

We went to the baby store last week to check out all the "stuff" we will need. It's a bit overwhelming but very fun. It will be even more fun when we start buying stuff (soon) and when we know what colors to get things in.

In other news, after 18 months I got released from primary! I will miss the kids terribly but I am also looking forward to less stress and more sunday socializing in my new calling (relief society secretary).

All flights leaving and entering Denmark have been canceled for almost a week now because of this volcano situation. I just hope Iceland doesn't get any volcanic activity in June (our babymoon trip to Vienna), September (mom and dad are coming to visit and see the baby) and November (Maren's visit).

Baby's first hiccup

This afternoon I was sitting at my desk at work, when an uneven throbbing began in my abdomen. At first I thought it was my heartbeat (because sometimes my heart beats really strong in my stomach for some reason). But it was too slow for that. Curious, I put my hand to my stomach, but immediately thereafter the throbbing stopped.

After consulting with a friend who is farther along in her pregnancy than me, I concluded that the baby had been hiccuping but was startled by the pressure from my hand. I haven't felt very strong movements from the baby yet so this was a first! I loved it.

Spring Fever

First let me just say that I love Easter, I love General Conference, I love my husband/future baby, and I love Spring!

Spring fever? Who, me?

So now, the real reason for my post: In Denmark, Easter weekend comes along with 3 bank holidays, so on Friday we decided to do an all day date and enjoy the weather. It has been a while since we were able to do that, mostly because until recently I was spending every spare minute laying on the couch with a large bucket nearby. I have been feeling a bit better lately, YAY! So Friday was really fun. We wandered around the city for a while - and Copenhagen was beautiful as usual:

After a little while we encountered Rosenborg Castle which neither of us have ever been inside, and decided to be a bit spontaneous and do the whole tour of the castle right then and there.

It's the castle that was used as a residence by the Danish monarchy from around the 1600's to the 1800's, until they decided they would like a castle with more than one bathroom in it and moved to Amalienborg instead. First we checked out the crown jewels, which literally are...crowns and jewels and various combinations thereof. Then we walked around in the living quarters inside the castle, which was lots of fun. Some pictures outside the castle:

By the way I know I'm huge and yes I'm sure it's not twins.

After that we hit the Hard Rock Cafe - best American food in town!

I am a sucker for funny signs and I love the sign they have on the door of each bathroom stall:

...and after that we hit the movie theater (Alice in Wonderland 3D), and went home tired but happy! All in all, a great day.

The big news

Got something I want to let you all know...

I am very happy to say that on or close to September 15, Morten and I will become parents to this adorable (though somewhat blurry) little person!

In this picture, he/she was doing a little dance on my uterus. We won't find out the gender until April 21st, since now (13 weeks) is too early to tell.

Here is some thumb sucking action. Well it's hard to see where the thumb is exactly, but it's cute nonetheless.

Ahhhhhh...babies.

Icebergs

Where I sit at work, I can see the harbor out of the window. For the past several weeks (or is it months?) it has been either completely iced over or chock full of large ice chunks. This is the harbor, in other words OCEAN, that we are talking about.

You might be thinking, well it's Denmark, look how far north it is, the bays and harbors must always freeze over there. Actually, we usually have a pretty temperate climate, and this (apparently) is the coldest winter in 14 years. On one hand it's annoying that's it cold but on the other, I never thought I would ever actually see such a thing, much less every day of my life, so it's also kind of cool.

I have straight hair!

See?
Oh the wonders of modern technology (chemical straightening + flat iron).