No tricks here, just two little Treats

Cassidyland

Cassidy is an independent, free-spirited little girl who is most happy to entertain herself in her own little world which I affectionately refer to as "Cassidyland". She has existed in this little bubble of a world, safe and happy as can be, completely unaware that something (or someone) might come along and disturb her tiny utopia...until now. We were anxious to find out how she would react to the new baby since she appeared to have no clue he was on his way all these months. We were prepared for her to act out in jealousy when she realized she had to share the spotlight, but she surprised us by not reacting at all! She has completely ignored her baby brother for a whole week. But today we are seeing some signs of acknowledgement and even affection toward Travis. Hopefully her interest in him will grow and soon she won't remember life without her brother.

Here she is playing in Travis' closet, especially interested in his little shoes, which do not fit her feet, much to her shock and dismay and despite repeated efforts.

She has yet to put Travis in her doll stroller, but this morning thought it was high time that his teensy newborn diapers take a spin around the house!

Father and son

These early days, Travis is with me (the food source!) so many hours of the day, but Kurt grabs him as much as possible for some Daddy Cuddle Time. We're happy we saved vacation time so he can be home with us for another week.

Our first week as a family of four

Here we are, already a full week after Travis' birth. We were so happy to be able to come home quickly from the hospital and start our life as a family of four at home. It's been a great week! Cassidy is doing well, though still does not seem to notice Travis much. I guess he's just not that interesting to her yet. Travis is a great eater and sleeper and we're all feeling pretty rested after each night, so we count our blessings on that front. Friday we had our first outing as a family - up to Charlevoix for Travis' weight check (he's already above birth weight!) and to go grocery shopping. We feel so normal, like he's been with us a long time and this is how it was always supposed to be. Overall, the adjustment process is going much better than we could've imagined.

Here are some new pictures of Travis. He sleeps so much still, and loves to be swaddled. I spend hours staring at his face, wondering who this little person will become. We think he's just perfect and as handsome and sweet as can be. Sometimes we think he looks a lot like Cassidy did as a newborn, and other times totally different. Time will tell!

I know it's way too early for him to officially "smile" but I swear he has special smiles just for me. Here he's giving a wink to his fans.

One of the week's biggest events was his first at-home bath. I realized as I was gathering supplies for it that we don't have a towel just for him so he used Cassidy's pink and purple kitty towel. :) We remember that Cassidy loved her first bath, but Travis wasn't so sure it was for him. We'll have to work on that. This picture best captures his emotions while being bathed.

Travis

Here are some more pictures of the big day!

Cassidy, the big sister

Cassidy had a ball all weekend with Uncle Aaron, Aunt Sheri and (especially) Kayla. She was mildly intrigued with her little brother - Uncle Aaron is more fun!

Grandpa Faust and his grandsonTravis looking at his big cousin, Kayla

Cassidy and Daddy in our hospital room

The handsome sleeping boy Proud Uncle Aaron

Aaron, Sheri and Kayla with Travis

Big cousin Kayla and Grandma Faust with Travis. Kayla is the most loving, adoring cousin. She will be a great big sister for her new sibling next spring!

Our little monkey

He's Here!

We are thrilled to announce that our son has arrived!

Travis Aaron Jensen

born Friday, October 22, 2010 at 7:56 am

7 pounds, 13 ounces

19 1/2 inches

We are all happy and healthy. Life is good!

A typical mid-October day

I think the neighbor cat can sense when we're outside. Within minutes, he's over at our house following around his biggest fan.

Cassidy is starting to think this is her kitty!

The Leaf Pile

More and more leaves are coming down each day and today there were finally enough for a decent leaf pile...at least for a little person like Cassidy! She had sooooooo much fun "jumping" into the pile and making it rain leaves on her head. Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

Hiking with Daddy

We have been blessed with the most gorgeous fall weather this year. Today was another great day - lots of sunshine and about 70 degrees. Kurt loaded Cassidy into the hiking backpack and took off for a good part of the afternoon and took these beautiful pictures of the colors near our house. Happy autumn! Cassidy had fun grabbing leaves off the trees as they hiked.Two peas in a pod

Nearby neighbors have a donkey and a mule - so fun for Cassidy to see!

Oh, happy day!

What a fabulous day! Today is October 1st, a day we've been waiting a long time for. Mommy is pregnant and it's been a loooooong pregnancy, but we've been telling ourselves, "just make it to October and we're home free". This morning we turned the page on the calendar and here we are, in October. Woo-hoo!

We've been planning on today being the day we take Cassidy to the apple orchard and what a perfect day it was. We started out at Friske Orchards, by far our most favorite orchard up north. It is owned by a wonderful Christian family and they have such a beautiful, awesome place to explore. Cassidy loved the Noah's Ark, the slide, the goats/sheep/chickens/rooster, the apple trees, everything. We're going to try and make it back again before the baby is born. Here is the best picture of the day: Daddy and the prettiest pumpkin of them all!
We arrived early, just in time for warm, fresh pumpkin donuts with maple glaze and cinnamon sugar (plain for Cassidy). You don't have to be a big donut fan (which I'm really not) to appreciate the deliciousness that these little nuggets of love are. Mmmmmmm!!!

Cassidy needed a little help getting started, but soon got the hang of the donut game.

What little kid passes up the chance to "drive" a real farm tractor?

Loving the slide that comes out the side of Noah's Ark Doesn't every kid need the perfect outfit for a day at the orchard?

These are the tamest, nicest animals.

As big as the biggest pumpkin...just three weeks from today our baby boy will be here! Yippee!

Someone carved this awesome Jesus statue out of an old tree trunk - so cool!

This trike is much bigger than the one we have at home!

After leaving the orchard, we headed to Petoskey and Bill's Farm Market, our new favorite place! Wow! We've heard about this place, but weren't prepared for the bounty we were about to behold. First of all, the view from almost every angle is of gorgeous valleys and trees of every color as far as the eye can see. The colors are just beginning, but boy, are they gorgeous. Can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the next few weeks!

Cassidy tried to lift many of the pumpkins (or as she called them, balls) but most of these weighed more than she does! So she banged on them like drums instead.

We have never seen such a variety or rainbow of pumpkins like this. They also had every variety of squash you can imagine. Add to that some truly amazing fresh produce. We loaded up!