welcome relief

I'm happy to report our week of 30+ degrees seems to have finally broken with yesterday's arrival of Hurricane Earl. The Hurricane didn't amount to much here but now that it has come and gone hopefully our family can get some good rest.

Cody has been off this week but with the weather and him putting out his back day 1 we didn't get to do much. A couple days at the water park and a clean garage and basement is what we do have to show for it. Oh and Elliott got to meet his cousins Carter and Lydia, Uncle Paul, Meem and Pap yesterday as we braved the storm and headed to the island. We had a great day, I would have said perfect if Kate had not woken 45 minutes from home and screamed for at least 25 of those minutes.

Here's a hodge podge of photos from the last week and a bit:

Tummy time.

A side view.

Kate helping Grandma Janice feed some formula to Elliott.

The water park with Pappa. 

Elliott enjoying or sleeping through today's bath.

In other news, this Friday my Mom arrives and then a week later my Dad comes for their second week. I can't wait. I know Cody can't wait either because he and our brother in law Paul are abandoning us to do the Fundy Trail hike for 4 days. I just can't wait for Cody to go so he can start talking about something else for awhile.

Hope all is well with all of our friends and family all over this great land. xox aj

5 years, 4 houses, 3 dogs, 2 kids & 12 motor vehicles later

Cody informed me this morning that today marks 5 years of us being together as a couple. I don't know what was more surprising the fact that Cody knew this or thinking about how much we have been through/purchased/made in the last 5 years. It seems that Kate and Elliott are the only things that have actually stuck.

We are doing better and better each day as a family.  Kate is slowly but surely adjusting to the huge addition to our threesome and Elliott too is filling out and adjusting to day versus night. He still is eating every 1.5 - 2 hours during the night so I'm feeling pretty numb. But I am happier and happier with our new, complete family. Speaking of the family I thought I would share a couple more photos of the duo/trio...

Early days.

Kate saying hello. 

Our girlie girl in all her finery.

My sleeping beauty.

Last night - I think Elliott is feeling settled in his new water-free surroundings.

This morning - our girl getting ready for daycare (which she seems to adore). She screamed and cried when I picked her up this afternoon.

Happy anniversary baby. I love you and can hardly imagine where we will be in 5 more years. Probably getting 2 kids ready for school - I know you can't wait to shop for school supplies. I personally hope we will be on car #13 - something other than a mini van! XOXO to all.

move over betty draper

You need not explain who or what Betty Draper is to any fan of Mad Men but to everyone else Betty is a beautiful, high maintenance lady of leisure with clothes and hair. Despite all her tom boy tendencies Kate has a lot of Betty bits as well. Last night Aunty Candace was here and Kate strutted her best stuff for her - specifically a fantastic tutu and head piece from our great friend Becky. Kate honestly becomes a different little girl when she's in the tutu. We love it.

For the record the true Betty would never be caught dead actually doing anything in the kitchen.

 She refused to drop the container lid to give me a perfect shot.

 This morning Kate got ready for day care with the addition of a hat then turned to her brother with her second hat - who previous to then had been sadly under accessorized. We're just thankful that she's sharing.

Here's our beautiful boy today staring at his new owl.

Have a great day everyone! Aimee

elliott nathaniel jorgensen

We are so happy to finally introduce our beautiful baby boy - Elliott Nathaniel Jorgensen to the world. I know people really just want to see him so I'm going to try to keep this short.

I had an unusual and very erratic labour - spells of hours with no contractions. After 24 hours of this I suggested to Cody on Saturday at 5am (following one strong painful contraction) that we go to the hospital and at least get checked out. It turned out that I was in active labour and 5 cm dilated - so was admitted. 7 hours later, Elliott was born at 12:22 pm August 14th, 2010.

Our second labour was a delight in comparison to Kate's. My water did break naturally this time and there was a rumour that I would have to go epidural free but thankfully my labour didn't progress at all in the time following the water breaking and the anaesthesiologist showing up. So with a completely frozen lower half I was able to push that not so little man out in a series of 6 sets along with my love Cody and my sister Rhonda (who saw the whole event and had 3 spare hours before catching her flight home to Calgary). I hope I said good bye and thank you so much for everything.

8 pounds, 4 ounces, 20 inches long. He sounds pretty big but really is so tiny and skinny. I think he's identical to Kate with just a little shorter hair. He's gorgeous and we all are completely smitten - even Kate. Well I think Kate actually likes his stuff more than him. She especially loves rocking like crazy in his bouncy chair with her puppy.

So here's our Elliott (with 2 Ts):

The weigh in.

Hello Elliott.

The proud Pappa.

My boys in blue.

Trying out the soother in our sucking-obsessed boy's mouth. I think he looks just like Kate here.

Grandma Donna says hello.

Our little girl doesn't look so little anymore. Especially with her new Pappa hair do.

Kate in Elliott's chair last night.

Well I have had some very long nights and about 10 hours sleep since I think Thursday evening so I apologize for the delay in this blog and some over due phone calls. Elliott seems to be very mouth obsessed and wants to be nursing at all times (no exaggeration) or he wakes very agitated. It's been a lot tougher than with Kate. So that's my focus for the next days - working on getting him down without me. And hopefully with the hours and days he can just learn to relax more.

In the meantime all our love.
The bigger better Jorgensen Sandwich - Cody, Aimee, Kate & Elliott

island hop

Rhonda, Norm, Aidan, Jackson, Madi and I did a whirlwind tour of PEI yesterday - or at least Cody's favorite island spots. It was a great day, some of the highlights and lowlights being: kids complaining of car sickness - low; the big bridge - high;  fish & chips - high; the gorgeous beaches and warm waters of the island - high; kids getting car sick - low; visiting Cody's Meem & Pap - high, watching kids watch pottery people pot - high; ice cream in sugar cones with chocolate and sprinkles - high; visiting a haunted mansion amusement park and having all three kids wimp out before they actually entered the first room - low-them / high-us; peeing on the side of the road in direct sight of motorists - high-us / low-them.

We had a great day, or at least I did. Plus our new baby was not born an islander. Here are some photo memories from our great day:

The gang.

The little gang on their way down to Thunder Cove.

Aidan.

Jackson.

Madi.

Me, Madi and her sequins.

The Moo-rio brothers.

And a tired little Miss.

The gang travels back to Calgary Saturday afternoon and I know both Kate and I will miss you all terribly. Hopefully we can make a few more memories or maybe welcome a baby before you leave. I did promise Madi that the only way that I wouldn't be at the airport to say good bye is if I was in the hospital.
xox - aj

kate hearts madi

My sister Rhonda, brother in law Norman and their family arrived on Sunday evening. Their family this trip includes their grandchildren Madi (5) and Jackson (6). With our impending arrival and their busy brood they have chosen to rent a cottage in Shediac. Which is actually kind of nice as it will get us to the beach more often.

On Monday night they were over for dinner and for the boys to get a "Wee" fix. While the boys were busy playing Wee, Kate became mad for Madi. Mad as in kind of possessed. But a happy possessed.  I have never seen anything like it but Kate literally was attacking Madi wrestling her to the ground and jumping all over her. It was hilarious. I have to say Madi was a very good sport.

I managed to get a few photos of the girls. However I just got  a new camera and my settings must have been on very low resolution, so they're not great.

The girls on the rocking horse.

Happy girls.

Let the madness begin.

Nice moves.

Nice Madi. After the big wrestle, Kate pats her all better.

So far they have only had one beach day followed by a trip to the HopeWell Rocks. Today is rainy again so they're probably heading indoors. Hopefully the weather delivers as promised - a hot Thursday and Friday.

On a separate note. Today marks less than 2 weeks to our due date. Hurray! Have a great day everyone. Aimee

changes

We have been going through a lot of changes here at the house and with Kate these last couple of weeks. The biggest change has been moving Kate to a new daycare here in our community. Instead of a 35 minute commute it's literally a 2 minute trip. Today was day 4 and I think we are seeing improvements all around. She seems so much more agreeable in general and certainly at the end of the day. I'm not sure if its the place, the people, the lack of a long boring drive, or perhaps its that her Pappa is in Toronto for a few days. Whatever it is - I'm thrilled.

We have also been getting ready for baby #2: had rooms painted, built furniture, done loads of laundry. Other than not having our bag packed, I think we're ready!

Kate has been practicing her big sister skills too. Today I had the baby bouncy seat out and we put her doll in it. Well she kissed the baby, soothed the baby, bounced the baby, put a blanket over its head, then dragged the seat all around the house and finally she sat directly on the baby. I guess it was at last, her turn to bounce. Though somewhat terrifying, it was a hoot watching her.

Though still looking a little sparse, I thought I would share some of the photos of the nursery so far:

Please note the bed is soon to be Kate's, we're just letting her look and play on it for a bit before we introduce one of the final changes and actually have her sleep in it. Oh that and I need to get some bedding for the awkward sized small setting.

And here is the little Miss herself. This photo was taken tonight after I finally convinced her that trying to stand and surf on the frog was not a good idea. She is a wild child. Happy weekend to everyone. Lots of love, Aimee