Our Baby Shower!

Hello!

So this past weekend has been AMAZING! It was the weekend of my baby shower, which was all a big mysterious secret from me thanks to my family. All I knew was the date, the guest list and that there was going to be cake. Everything else was a complete surprise! A big thanks to my sisters, Courtney, Becca and Kelly, and a big thanks to my mother in law, Susan, and my mom! They were the party planners and executors. They did a fantastic job. I truly can't put into words how loved I have felt knowing how much effort they all put into this party for me and this little brewing baby. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Truly, it has meant so much to me.

(P.S. - Get ready for picture overload!)

Coming in to see what all they have done... finally! 

Seeing that cake! Holy Moly! 

So we are 99.99% sure that we will be naming our baby girl Annie Joyce Jensen. My grandma is named Joyce, and she is the inspiration behind the name! We share a birthday, and she is one of the kindest, most charitable humans that I know. She was able to come down for the shower, along with my sweet, Aunt Sarah! We are so happy that they were able to come and share the day with us! We love you guys! 

Grandma Joyce!

Mom, Grandma Joyce, Tyler and I! 

This is my sweet mother in law, Susan. She was one of the main masterminds behind the entire party. She even did it from Texas! Everyone has been telling me how amazing she has been throughout this whole process, and I am not surprised at all! Thanks for all you do, Susan! I completely lucked out on a mother in law, as well as another fantastic grandma for our baby! We love you!

My Mom and Dad were also able to make it down for the baby shower! I'm a lucky daughter! Love you guys! 

Aunt Sarah! Seriously, the best aunt a girl could ever ask for! Love you! 

My big sister, Kelly! I love you, Kel! :) 

This is Cindy & Morgan. They are old friends of Susan's who came down just for our baby shower.
Seriously, so sweet! We're so glad they could make it! 

Here I am with my sisters/besties! They were 3/5 hostesses of this event! I love you guys! Thanks for all that you put into this!

CUTEST HAT EVER! 

My "Oh Crap! Bag" Thanks, Kenna! Most creative gift ever!

My sweet friend, Melanie, sent me a baby blessing dress! Love you, Mel!  

My sweet sister, Kelly and my nephew, Rudger! 

Mouth Dropping! The beautiful flowers on the wall were made by my sister in law, Becca. Are they not STUNNING!? 

Becca, Courtney & I, with our preggo bellies! 

Becca & Kelly

Aunt Sarah & Courtney! 

I cannot get over this cake! Agh! So pretty! I still feel guilty that we cut it! 

My sweet family! 

So, to say that is was a perfect day is an understatement. Thanks so much again to everyone that came and to everyone that helped put this together. Like I said, I can't even begin to describe how much it has meant to me. I love you all! I'm so happy to be bringing this sweet baby into a world where she will feel so much love! I am beyond blessed with good family and friends. Love you all! Next time I update this thing, it might be with a baby! ;) 

With Love,

Rifka Jensen

Baby Bump Post! (32 Weeks)

Hello!

So I've been getting some requests for a baby bump picture, so here we go!

(Warning - we are past bump level. This is a dadgum baby bowling ball!)

So I'm currently at 32 weeks. Other than these past few weeks, I really have had a great pregnancy! So I really can't complain too much. Especially since all of the discomforts mean that I'm having a miracle grow inside of me! 

With that being said, before being pregnant, and even early on in pregnancy I didn't understand how women would get to the point where they just want to go ahead and have the baby. (Considering that labor sounds hecka awful). But, I completely get it now. I even asked the doctor yesterday at our appointment if the baby really needs the next eight weeks, or if we can just go ahead and pop her out now. Yes, I was joking... kind of. Lets just say that while I love this baby girl, I'm going to be happy to have my body back to myself again, and for the heartburn and backaches to take an exit. 

Pregnant momma's, I get it now. And to my own momma, I love you. Thank you for going through this for me, and thank you for not rubbing it in my face every time I was a snotty teenager. You are even more amazing than I already thought you were! 

(Here's the baby daddy, he didn't know I was snapping pics. Hehe)

Well thank you for catching up with us! We are so excited for all that the next few months have to bring! I think this little girl is going to be here faster than we can comprehend, especially considering how fast the past eight months have already gone! Eek! Her baby room is mostly ready. I'll post some pictures on that later. :)

Love you all! Until next time!

Love,
Tyler & Rifka Jensen

p.s. we're happy - and crazy. Somehow I ended up on Tyler's shoulders the other night while we were laughing uncontrollably. I love this guy. Life is dang good.

Holiday Updates

Hello friends and family!

I hope you are all doing well, and had a wonderful Christmas and New Years season! We had a great time over the holidays! We spent Christmas day with my local siblings, and then later that evening Tyler's Dad and Stepmom came into town until New Years Day. It was a blast! They pampered us by doing some honey-do-list items (like installing canned lights and reupholstering benches! Ah-mazing!), and we spent every night on the couch with a Star Wars marathon. We had a lot of theories that we had to discuss regarding the newest one, so watching all of the previous movies was a must.

 I unfortunately didn't get any pictures with Gene & Michele while they were here (I seriously don't know how that happened - I guess we were too busy having fun!). However, here are some more pictures from Christmas day.

Tri-Tips were the main course! Yum! 

This is me getting told that I need to put the camera down because the food is ready! 

This is me convincing him to just smile for a picture anyways :) 

Caleb & Becca

Jared & Courtney 

(Not pictured - by sister and bro in law, Kelly & Spencer - sorry! Don't know how I didn't get a couple pic!)

On New Years Eve, we have a tradition of playing board games and chomping on chips and Rotel dip. It was a blast! I thought I took pictures, but I guess I didn't. Oh well, maybe pregnancy brain is getting in the way of remembering to grab my camera...

We love you all! Hope you are having a great 2016 thus far!

Love,
Tyler & Rifka Jensen

We're Alive... and Busy!

Hello Friends & Family!

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season so far! I love this time of year, and I love that now I can decorate for Christmas and not feel any guilt for skipping Thanksgiving! :)

So, first things first, pregnancy pictures! I haven't been very good about taking consistent pictures of how my body is changing throughout this pregnancy (I can thank my daggum busy schedule for that!). Here are the two (semi-official) pictures that we have managed to take. With that said, the second one isn't even up to date. Oh well!

I'm currently at 25 weeks, so I'm already bigger than the last set of pictures. I'll try to have another documenting shoot soon! 

So for the past few months we have been busy! Tyler was on a baseball team with his work, Coca-Cola. It was fun for him to play, and it drove Max crazy to attend the games and not be able to chase the ball. So, all around good! Below is a picture of their team shirt, which I thought was hilarious. Think Rihanna.  

In October we visited my parents in Kansas and got to see their little apartment and the town that they are serving their mission in. It was so great seeing them and meeting some of the people that they have told us about. 

We also had some fun date nights, including visiting the corn maze with Max. I forgot how fun those are! We also tagged along on Halloween and trick or treated with the nieces and nephews. Max joined in the group as a lion. 

 We got a head start on Christmas decorations and threw up some Christmas lights on our house. This is the first year that we have put up Christmas lights. I didn't help much, since my sweet and overprotective husband wouldn't let his pregnant wife on the roof. So I hung out with Max on the grass and would throw him supplies and take his picture. It was pretty fun! I haven't gotten a picture of the finished product yet, but here are some pictures of the process!

From watching, and listening to Tyler's perspective, hanging Christmas lights on steep roofs and peaks is scary! Thanks babe for all the work and making our house festive!

Last week we went to Washington for Thanksgiving. We were able to see Tyler's side of the family and catch up with them. It was a great trip! I unfortunately didn't get any pictures, but trust me, it was fun and yummy!

This week we start our prepared birthing classes. Tyler and I both have no idea what to expect, but hopefully it will be fun, and hopefully it will make me less scared about the "big day" at the end of the pregnancy. Eek! 

That's about it for updates for now. We'll have plenty more to share at the end of the Holiday season! Thanks so much for checking in on us! We love you all! 

Love,