POW

Those who know me well will tell you that when I have a new baby, I disappear. I go into hibernation for at least a couple of months. Why? Because I basically become germophobic! I arm myself with lysol wipes and stash bottles of purell in every room, bag, purse, and drink holder and begin waging my own personal war on bacteria and the onslaught of viruses everywhere.

When Sawyer was 4 weeks old he got RSV despite my dedication to sanitizing and hiding out at home. So with Hayes having been in the hospital with immature lungs for 10 days, I took it up a notch. I washed everything in sight, I met the kids at the door and policed the dropping of shoes and backpacks at the door, the washing of hands with a hospital grade scrubby and then sent them off to change their clothes before coming near the baby. In three months I think I hit church maybe 3 times and still have not touched the commissary; having assigned all errands to Tyler. I have only actually visited my VT sisters once; preferring the drive by treat drop option instead the other two months. I did get out to the boys' basketball games, but sat away from other spectators and kept Hayes enshrouded in his car seat; sleeping soundly and safely.

And a week ago Sunday I took Hayes to the ER. And he had RSV. And we were there until Thursday. Prisoners of war.

The way I see it, my only options now are to either keep my school-age kids home with me (Porter had brought home a cough), somehow completely quarantine myself and Hayes, or just suck it up and deal with it. Germs are everywhere. At least I got to sit and read and watch movies for 5 days instead of facing housework and bills. And since I was basically tethered to the room and they wouldn't bring me meals since I wasn't the patient, I lost 3 pounds while there. There just might have been a silver lining. And Hayes is much better now. Still a little stuffy, but better. It's just unfortunate May is still so far away...

I'm a WHAT?

..A Spelling Bee Mom! Yes, it's true. I have reached official Spelling Bee Mom status! Crazy. I always dreamed of being a Soccer Mom, a Basketball Mom, taking my daughter to dance performances, etc...Never thought I would be cheering my kids on in their school spelling bee. It's amazing how intense those things can be by the way!

So Briggs was the first runner up in the Ramstein Intermediate School Spelling Bee. Very serious business! The base General was one of the judges and the winner goes on to district and then to Europeans. They started with 70 3rd through 5th graders and TWO and a HALF HOURS later, it was a fifth grade girl and Briggs! He probably could have won had we spent more than one or two dinners practicing!

Sadly, I didn't even bring my still camera. I took some video, but I really didn't expect him to win! So no triumphant photo, but he is loving his new-found popularity and I think was more excited about the $50 savings bond than the actual win!

Halloween

Yes that's right...Halloween! I'm just a bit behind!

Hayes Christian Jensen

Hayes was born November 9th, but it doesn't seem like it was that long ago! He's only been home for a week now. He was born at 38 weeks and was 7lbs 11 oz, but got to be one of the 1% who have immature lungs still despite his size and 38 weeks being considered full term.

He stayed in the NICU for 10 days while he was on a ventilator for the first half and then had an oxygen tube in his nose for the second half. It was 5 days before we even got to hold him which about killed us! They let me stay at the hospital with him though which was nice and we had Grandma Joyce here to take care of everyone at home when Tyler had to go back to work.

Now Hayes is doing great though and has had no problems since he's been home! He had to come home though to a house full of sick kids! So none of them have gotten to hold him yet without a hospital mask and we are going through purell like crazy and crossing our fingers that he stays healthy! He is one sweet little baby though! We're all smitten. He loves to sleep and only wakes up to eat every 3-4 hours. Now we just need to stretch that out at nights!

Berchtesgaden, Part2

Suited up to descend into the Salt Mines in Salzburg.

Our lodge in Berchtesgaden and the view below.

Swimming in the Konigsee.

Hiking through the Wimbacklamm.

Berchtesgaden, Part 1

I'm a little behind on my blog posts and don't know that I'll ever catch up, but here are a few pics from a trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany that we took in July. Berchtesgaden is in the German Alps right next to Austria. It's about 15-20 minutes from Salzburg. I had a few other pictures that I wanted to post, but our computer crashed and although it's up and running again, I'm still not sure where iphoto went. Hmmm. So until I figure that out, this is all I have for now! We went down with about 6 other families from our ward and stayed in a big lodge. It was a very cool lodge and fun to all be together. Several of the friends that came with us were mothers with deployed husbands, so the two days we spent in Salzburg, Tyler was leading around three wives (two of them expecting) and 12 small children. =)

Hitler's retreat (aka The Eagle's Nest). Apparently he was really quite afraid of heights and only really came up to show it off to other dignitaries and people with rank or power. Now it is actually a restaurant inside. It was incredibly hot the day that we went up, but the view didn't disappoint!

The is Helbrunn Palace in Salzburg. the king had quite a sense of humor, so all around the palace gardens are trick fountains. There were little boxes all over the grounds with switches to turn on hidden fountains. The kids absolutely loved it and the guide had a lot of fun getting them wet. Unfortunately, they were too wet to go into the palace at the end! We found a nice park instead, and I'm sure the kids enjoyed that more anyway!






If this gazebo looks familiar, it should! This is the gazebo from The Sound of Music.
This is overlooking Salzburg from the fortress in the middle of the city.

This picture doesn't quite capture the heat and humidity, but it was way too hot! Everyone in America, say a little prayer of thanks for the AC! There is next to NONE in Europe. About the only place you can stay cool in the summer heat is in your car!

It's A....

Sadly, the printer was not working at my ultra-sound, so I don't have a visual, but after careful scrutiny both Tyler and Dr. Rich have declared that this baby is most definitely not a GIRL!!!!!!! It is in fact a boy. Yes that's right. Another boy! Tyler's comment was, "I already can't handle the three we have!" Sophie said after that she felt like crying, but she was able to contain it. Briggs asked how we could tell, and after the doc pointed things out to him, he jumped back like something had bitten him and said, "Ew!" Porter and Sawyer just ran around the office pushing buttons and pulling whatever cords they could find. Good thing our doctor is a good friend as well!

As for me, I really think that I knew it all along. While friends, neighbors, and family couldn't wait to hear the news, I could. And I think it was because I knew it was a boy, but as long as there was no ultra-sound there was still a chance!

Don't get me wrong though! I'm most certainly NOT sad about having another boy! I think it will be so fun to have the four boys so close in age! And I'm absolutely smitten with the ones I've got! And boys love their Moms don't they? Plus, I've certainly got the gear! This will be a no-shopping-required baby (although I did strategically throw out the old baby swing before we made a definite decision on number 5 - or at least before Tyler knew we had! If Tyler had been sure we were having another he would have made me keep it and they make much cooler ones now)!

But I do admit to being sad that I probably won't ever get to have another girl. (Tyler wouldn't be happy about that 'probably' as this is supposed to be the last!) I just wanted one more to dress up, and go to lunch with, and to still call me and need me after they're married...And how am I going to survive four missionaries leaving one after the other? Are weddings or missions cheaper? Hmmmm. But I'm just not sure my body could handle another surgery.

Well anyway - that's the news! If anyone has a good name suggestion, let me know! We had a name for a girl!