"It's Just a Little Crush...

... it's not like I faint, everytime we touch..."

I have an amazing life. I'm married to a great man whom I adore, I have a wonderful baby whom I also adore and I get to stay home to take care of my family. I've got pretty great. Because I'm so happy, it gives me lots of time to think about things that don't really matter. Such as...

CRUSHES!

I will now list some of my favorite celebrity crushes for your (and Brandon's) amusement. They will be categorized, those of you who know me know that I like being organized. Here we go:

1. All time, always and forever crush - Matt Damon
I will be crushing on Matt Damon 'til the day I die, much like my mom is still crushing on Donny Osmond. In my mind Matt Damon can do no wrong, well, you know what I mean.


2. Trendy crush - Robert Pattinson
I'm sure I'll change my mind about this when a new "It" guy shows up in a couple of years and he'll be dethroned from this spot. Much like Leonardo DiCaprio.


3. Trophy crush - Paul McCartney
Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE the Beatles. If I had been alive during their heyday I would have snuck into their hotel room and cut off a piece of each of their heads of hair and then taken it back home to sniff. So, my purpose in crushing on Paul McCartney is not because I think he's cute, but because he is the ultimate collector's item*.


4. Foodie crush - Gordon Ramsay
Ok, so Gordon Ramsay is not the best looking dude. I just love what a bad@$$ he is and little known fact: he was this close to playing professional football (aka. soccer). That's a pretty good showing considering that our other culinary bad@$$ contender was Anthony Bourdain who has the body of a really tall prepubescent boy. Plus Gordon has a cool accent.


5. Cougar crush - Rupert Grint
I don't know what it is about this kid that I just love, but I just do. It makes me feel better that's he's only 3 years younger than me so I don't feel so cougar-y. I think he's a good example that I look for more than just a pretty face on a guy. Broad shoulders are important too.


6. Old Dude Crush - James Garner
This was going to be a tie between Robert Redford and Paul Newman because they're both awesome but I've decided on a compromise where no one wins. James Garner is just so charming and a dude's dude - this is important in the age of the metrosexual. Where are the plucked eyebrows? Where is the waxed chest? Where is the strange V-neck shirt that looks like a woman's tee? Not here, thank goodness.


7. Musical Crush - Glen Hansard
I usually don't like musicians as men, they're kind of sickly looking and don't always have a whole lot of muscle definition, but Glen Hansard's music is so amazing that I can't help but want him to write a song about me.

And there you go. Now think hard and let me know who your crushes are!

*To Paul McCartney: I know this sounds objectifying, please don't hate me.

School is In

There has been much talk lately about stripper pole dance classes. I know someone who is taking them. And honestly I don't really care what people do in their spare time. If they want to swing around a pole like a stripper, by all means swing around a pole, just don't hurt yourself. The purpose of my post is not to discredit pole dancing as an art or as a seduction device for a stale marriage, but to ask, "Who the heck has a stripper pole in their house?"

Do they come as an add-on in certain gated communities? Can you strip down a wall and use a pipe? Should we perhaps be teaching lap dancing or a certain burlesque style of stripping that does not require assembly? My inquiring mind needs to know.

Ellie's Blessing

Just a quick post before Ellie wakes up from her nap.

For Thanksgiving we went up to St. George to hang out with Brandon's family. My parents went for a little bit as well because Ellie's blessing was on Thanksgiving Day. A blessing is when the a child is given his/her official name in the records of the Church and when he/she is given a blessing to start his/her life on the right foot. Usually the dad performs the blessing and Brandon did a great job. It was hard holding back the tears throughout but I just felt so grateful (thankful, Sean?) to have a healthy little girl and a husband that will help me rear her up with a lot of love. Being entrusted with such a precious daughter of Heavenly Father is a slightly scary and humbling task, but I'm glad Brandon is by my side and that we get to do it together.

A note on the dress Ellie is wearing. All the grand-girls have worn this dress for their blessing and my mother-in-law then has their initials and the date of their blessing embroidered on the bottom of the dress. Ellie is the eighth grand-daughter to be blessed in that dress.


Ellie and Maggie in another stand off.


All the men getting ready to participate in the blessing.


Parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.


I don't understand why I look exactly like my mom and Ellie looks nothing like me. Mystery.


Four generations.


Grandparents


Here is Brandon with all his siblings. All the boys had babies this year and Anne is pregnant. Tons of babies to go around.

I'm so glad I married into a great family and that my parents could be there for such a great moment in Ellie's life. Go kids!

2009 Labor Odyssey

I wish I could link music because then I would link that song from 2001 Space Odyssey. "tannnn, tan, tan, tin,tan,tin,tan" Anyway you get the point.

I've waited to write about the labor because I had issues to work out with it. But I feel like I'm at a good place so it's time to share. Plus I finally figured out how to make it a little more concise.

Sunday: Slight contractions begin. They're nothing to write home about, I teach Sunday school through them. At night contractions are pretty strong coming about 4 mins apart. Go into Birth Center. Only at a 1. Go home. Painful and sleepless night.

Monday: Contractions kept coming through the night so I didn't sleep. During the day they space out. We go to an acupuncturist appointment to get the show on the road. Doesn't work. Walk on the beach. Another painful and sleepless night.

Tuesday: Go back to Birth Center, I'm at a 2. Get membranes stripped (which hurt like hell). Go home. Walk so more. Cry a little bit out of exhaustion and frustration. Another painful and sleepless night.

Wednesday: Go into Birth Center get checked, I'm at a 2. Decide we're going to try all natural remedies to get baby here. First, castor oil. Doesn't do much. Next, pumping, just hurt my boobs. Lastly, water broken. That kicked this off, but VERY slowly. After 4 hours I'm at a 4/5. Labor in the tub for a few hours. Still at a 4/5, can't handle the fact that progress is going so slow and I'm exhausted. Transfer to UCSD. Get epidural. No progress. Get pitocin. Very little progress. Get more pitocin. Some progress. Finally some sleep.

Thursday: Slept a little and 10 hours after getting to hospital it's time to push. Pushed for 2 hours. Suddenly 12 people rush into the room. Baby out, Brandon cuts cord, baby whisked to NICU because of meconium covering her whole body and she's not crying. Suddenly, I'm all alone, grateful I finally get to eat.

And that's it folks. SO not what I had planned, but Ellie got here safely and that's what matters. I'm grateful I went through all that because it taught me so much about so many things. I'm a better person for it.

Lastly I want to throw in a shout out to Brandon who was AMAZING as a coach. Seriously, he should become a doula and charge for his services. I'm pretty sure I would have shriveled up and died without him. And another one to my mom, she took so much pressure off with taking care of Maggie and the house and just being generally helpful. Even if she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown the whole time.

Here's to having babies.

Playbaby: Playmate of the Month

This is Ellie, Playbaby of the Month- Miss November, if you will.
Sign: Libra
Turn on's: eating, snuggling, being sung to
Turn off's: being made to wait for a meal, dirty diapers
Perfect day includes: picnic in the park, about eight naps, listening to my mommy sing out of tune.

Enough talk, my popular demand, pictures! PS These are in chronological order.

I'm not going to lie. My kid is a freaking genius, she holds her own pacifier.


I forget why we're so upset. It's probably because we're on the floor.


Stretch!


Arguing with Dad.


Napping with Dad.


Intense moment with Maggie


I call this squirrel-face. It's the face Brandon gets when he tries to feed Ellie. I think it's because she doesn't understand how he's to feed her without boobs.


Intense moment with Dad.


Sigh.


Post-bath. Ellie LOVES the water and being clean. A true Jacobsen.


First Halloween. I think she should always be an insect from now on.

That's it for now. Now quit bugging. :)

Confessions...

Sigh. I'm a terrible person. For two reasons.

1. I saw a pregnant woman walking down the street and wanted to yell, "Don't do it!"
It's kind of late, she can't get unpregnant, but I still wanted to warn her of the complete consumption of your being that a child requires.

I don't feel that way anymore (well, the "don't do it" park) and have kind of figured out how to balance motherhood with the rest of my existence, but that doesn't take away the flurry of emotions that wash over you like a tsunami when you get home and think, "Holy Crap, this is for real. I'm not entirely sure we haven't made a mistake."

Thankfully those are just hormones talking and once they're back to normal life gets back to normal. But don't be fooled, until normality returns, it kind of sucks.

2. I now know I can kill a man.
That means you, Mr. I'm-17-and-in-a-band-drive-a-motorcycle. And you Mr. Bully-in-the-playground. I know who you are, and I know where you sleep.

For cute.

Just thought I'd post a picture of Ellie. She's getting so big so fast, it's weird. According to the ped (we have to call him this otherwise I keep calling him the vet), she's long, but I could have told you that, she practically wraps all the way around me when I feed her.
Also today was her first shower, which was successful and so much easier. From now on showers only.