Jared Conner Mortensen

He's here! I'll do pics later(don't worry, my mom is here, she'll make sure I get it done. :)) but he was born at 11:52 pm on February 3, 2010. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long. My mom got here about an hour before he was born. So far, nursing seems to be off to a good start and I feel pretty good. Although, I'm going to go to bed VERY soon! Loren just went to get our little guy so I can nurse him one more time and we can spend a few minutes with him, then we are going to get some sleep.

Yay!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Not exactly the best pictures.... but it's a boy! Everything looks really good. :)

Phew!

Ok, I'm done with the one memory card I have to do. I need to find the other still, and I have some things to write about that I don't have pictures for. I have gotten a ton done today though and I'm honestly pretty proud of myself. :) It's made a huge difference that Ethan has been so cooperative today. We went to the mall twice and that really helped since he was pretty worn out.

Haircut! (August 2009)

Most of my life I've kept my hair pretty long. Occasionally I'll cut ten or so inches off to donate it to "Locks of Love", but it still usually reaches my shoulders. This time I really went drastic(for me)! It doesn't seem like it, because the haircut actually suits me fairly well. I've NEVER had my hair chin length that I can remember, though. I've been wanting to get highlights in my hair for a long time and went ahead and did that since there was a special deal going at the time. All in all, it cost a lot less than I was expecting and it turned out great! I cut 12" for "Locks of Love" then had to have it evened out which usually takes off another inch or two. 12" for Lock of Love.

I've never had it this layered that I can remember.


Not such a great picture of me... I only had Loren take one so there's no selection.


Another way I did it a day or two later. I was really happy to find out I CAN still pull it up! You can also see my baby "bump" in this picture.

Parks (August 2009)

This is an indoor playground at the University Mall. It's perfect for harsh(hot or cold!) weather so it's one of our favorites.

This is a park over by BYU that we really liked. There were actually two different play

One of the fun things we did this summer to keep Ethan entertained was find parks we hadn't been to before. Of course I usually forgot my camera, but here are a bunch of pictures we did get.

Swimming at Cherry Hill(August 2009)

Most of the summer I was really, really sick with morning sickness. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had it with Ethan, but it was enough to keep me from being able to do much. It actually was part of the reason Ethan and I went to Wyoming; Loren needed a break. He really stepped up and helped me so much while I was sick.

One of Loren's favorite summertime activities is going to water parks. So as soon as I was feeling a bit better in August, we went up to the Cherry Hill Water Park for a day trip. The best part for me was that we spent most of the day in an innertube, so my super low energy wasn't too much of an interference. Loren and Ethan both LOVED it! It's a pretty well designed park and we really enjoyed the circular "river" that had water dumping/pouring/spraying/misting us every once in a while. Ethan really liked that. :)
Loren wasn't thrilled about me taking this picture, but I think Ethan looks super cute. :) This was at the end of the day and we were all getting tired.

Another at the end of the day. Ethan was asleep within just a few minutes of getting in the car.

They had a bunch of false buildings around part of the perimeter of the "river". I was going to get a picture of all of them, but just ended up with the one that contained the Sheriff building. :) It was especially fitting since Ethan still had the Sheriff tatoo on his cheek from when we stopped to see my dad as we were leaving Wyoming.

Such a cutie in his "Cars" swim trunks!

Pioneer Day (July 2009)

This picture was right after we met up with my family in Greybull. Ethan warmed up to them almost immediately. That was great because in the past it has taken a day or more.

Ethan and I were so excited to get to go up to Wyoming! Leslie was in the Pioneer Pageant the week of Pioneer Day and Cowley's Pioneer Day. For her talent, she sang a really pretty song and I accompanied her. Leslie is such a tomboy that she was completely out of her element doing a pageant. It was really fun to watch her gain some femininity throughout the week. She did such a great job! The crowning moment was to see her all dolled up in her formal. She's always been cute, but she was truly gorgeous that night! Sadly, I don't have any pictures!!! I think what must have happened was that I was so wrapped up in helping her, I ended up forgetting to take pictures. I hope I was a help to her. Some of the time I felt like she was frustrated with me, but I think it was mostly just the stress of the pageant.

Leslie took this on the way up to Cody to get her shoes for the pageant.

Ethan with his Grandad Blackburn.

Chasing the turkeys(or something?) out at the farm.

This picture contains the entire town where I grew up. If you look closely, you can see the Cowley water tower.

Dad and Uncle Dennis with a new "toy". It was a pretty awesome gun actually!

Don't worry, the car wasn't moving. The wind was blowing though, so it almost looks like a "puppy-hanging-out-the-window" shot.

It's a good thing there were so many cherries because we couldn't get enough of them!

When I was growing up, Cloud was my constant companion. I don't know how many people commented over the years about how we seemed attached. I would do everything from just riding around town to going and getting the mail to spending nearly whole days just laying on his back. He's getting pretty old, but I hope Ethan can have some fun rides while Cloud is still around.

One of their other horses. Ethan looks so tiny up there!

Ethan's great-grandad Blackburn. For as long as I remember, my Grandad has always said "Where's my kiss and hug?" if I seem like I might forget to give him one before I leave. I was glad Ethan was so into giving kisses and hugs while we were in Cowley. This is one of my favorite pictures ever. :)

Ethan was so much fun the whole trip. He was just starting to get to the "helpful" stage and that made for some very funny moments.

Isn't this gorgeous!?!? It's one of the many, many beautiful things to look at in my Grandma's yard.