Happy Birthday Megan!!!!!

I just wanted to give a shout out to Megan and wish her a happy 22 birthday! I couldn't ask for a better sister who is SO very creative, nice, and selfless. Thank you for everything that you do! We love you very much and I couldn't ask for a better sister or a better family! I'm so grateful for families. I love hanging out with my sisters (+ Ali who is pretty much a sister) and my mom! I have such an awesome family and I am so grateful for everything that they do. We love you all very very much! Happy Birthday Meg!!!! I hope that you have a great day!

--Mindi

Our first 3 weeks

So, it has been a crazy 3 weeks and we have loved every minute of it. Being a mom has brought so much joy and emotion and you can't really describe it until you have actually gone through it. Whitney has been so much fun and Danny has been so awesome and supportive. She loves her daddy! I slave away for her all day and as soon as Danny comes home she is all his and is so smily and good for him. My family decided that they have to have visiting hours when Danny isn't home because when he is, he is constantly holding her and cuddling her. Thank you everyone for all the food and visits! We are so grateful for our family, friends, and wonderful ward who have been so helpful and supportive! Here are a few more pictures of our little Whit (we can't tell who she looks like, I think she looks like Danny but who knows)

Introducing Whitney Mae Westenskow

Mindi was scheduled to be induced, but started her contractions at 6:30 that morning. The labor and delivery went very smooth. Cute Mindi did so awesome, apologizing to those who showed up early for having to wait that the baby hadn’t come sooner. It crushed hurt my heart when Mindi’s brave tears dropped while getting the epidural (she has a very low pain tolerance), but then she was so much more fun to be around after the legs went a bit numb. Whitney was born April 16th at 8:33 pm weighing 7 lbs and 2 oz, only after about 20 minutes of pushing.

Thursday morning little Whitney was spitting up a light green color. The nurse thought that there might be some problems with her intestines, so she was scheduled to have some x-rays, and a barium enema examination (you drink the white chalky stuff, and then they x-ray ya). Whitney was in NICU with an i.v. in her little arm for 24 hrs with no food in preparation for these test, it broke our hearts to see her that way. The barium revealed a slight twist in her intestine, but was not drastic enough to continue to refrain her from food. Mindi was very excited for the opportunity to again feed her from her now very large breasts.

The x-ray, which they took a few times to confirm, divulged a unique side to our little girl. Whitney is part of the .01% of the population that has Situs Inversus. Situs Inversus is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions, which means that her major organs are on the opposite side of her body. Cute Parker, Mindi’s little brother, expressed his concern about which hand and where it would be placed when stating the pledge of allegiance and hoped that no one would get mad at her for misplacing her hand on the opposite side of her chest to cover her heart. Situs Inversus has no effects. She will be able to function her whole life as if her organs were in the correct place. Mindi and I consider it a reminder from God, letting us know that He is watching over our family. After all since there are no serious problems with her intestines, we could have gone a long time with out knowing about her uniqueness, and that type of information will be good to know as she grows. It was also comforting for us to know that Donny Osmond was just realized to have situs inversus, after a misdiagnosed appendicitis. Thanks Donny, we’re hollerin at ya brotha!

We were able to bring home this precious little bundle of joy Saturday morning. When she found out that she was able to come home, Whitney expressed how excited she was to finally be formally introduced to Mo and Muffins. Mo, our handsome man, was intensely curious about her. Both dogs have taken great interest in Whitney even waking up at night with us while feeding from Mindi’s now enormous breasts. The first night was hell, but each night gets better and better as cute Whitney, Mindi, Muffins, Mo, and I get better acclimated to our new routines.
Whitney is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I get emotional just writing about her. Mindi and I love little Whitney so much, as I’m sure each parent experiences and we have both thoroughly enjoyed this incredible experience in becoming a mother and father. Mindi has been so stellar; my love for her has increased ten fold. It was an emotional weekend for us and we are glad to have had such a growing event.

And so the next chapter of our life begins. Thanks family and friends for your prayers, phone calls, and encouraging thoughts. We love you! Here are some pictures of our new little baby girl, the new center of our world, taking place of the Utah Jazz and our dogs. Ooooohhh that’s sad, we still love our dogs too!

One for the money......

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… well I’m going to use a thousand words to paint a picture…mental picture.

Silly due dates, tricks are for kids. We are now one day past the day that our baby was supposed to come out. I don’t blame the doctors. I blame technology. I told Mindi today that it would make it a little more convenient for me if she would just reach up there, grab the baby’s ear, and pull her out. If it really even is a girl, it’s hard to know that for sure the way technology has already lied to us about the day she was to be born. I had a dream the other night that we left our new baby in our room on the bed and when we came back in the dogs were walking on her, but she was beautiful and little.

I am in awe that this time of our life is here. Everyone keeps telling us that our life will never be the same. Almost like….sucker! lol Just kidding, it’s usually followed up with a nice, “but it’s all worth it”. The baby’s room is ready and so am I.

Mindi already has expressed this, but I would like to add my gratitude for everything our friends and family have done for us. We have felt overwhelmingly blessed with all of the support and generosity from all of you and we thank you very much. Brooke, Mindi’s friend, I would like to particularly thank you for the Broncos cooler bag. I don’t know if it’s impolite to express favorite gifts, so I’m not going to be so blunt, but I really liked yours! Mindi and I speak often of all we have and all we are blessed with. Our family and friends are a giant part of that. We love you all, and we’ll keep you posted with our posts.

P.S. Tonight, I am making Mindi a 65 oz Gatorade with cayenne pepper, after which we will go on a 5 mile jog, followed by 5 minutes of passion, possibly longer! Hopefully, that will get the week started off on the right “baby’s”foot!

All the fun showers

Thank you everyone who came to all of our baby showers and the gifts that were given! Everyone has been so generous and we really appreciate it and love you all! Thanks for all the cute outfits, toys, and the fun accessories. Especially, thank you mom for everything that you have given, Meg-- thanks for the stroller and the many outfits and shoes, and Vicki for the "pre made" scrapbook, quilt, and the MANY diapers! We have the best family, ward, and friends! We are very grateful for everything that we have been given and thank the Lord daily for all of our blessings! Thanks again--

Danny still thinks that we are going to have a boy-- so thanks Aaron for indulging in Danny and giving him a Bronco Mobile. We have quite the little Bronco collection for Whitney. My cute grandma made her a Bronco blanket, we have Bronco bottles, pacifers, and even a Bronco bottle warmer. She is going to come out a true Denver Bronco fan! When we went to register at Babies R Us Danny was given the "gun" and he registered for EVERY Bronco item in the store. Cute Dan! :)

The Utah Jazz

Can I say how awesome the Utah Jazz are! Danny and I were able to go to the Jazz game on Thursday against the Lakers and although we lost (and by the way I HATE Koby Bryant and the Lakers- sorry Tim!) it was still such a fun atmosphere! We have such an awesome team with fun and- not to mention- cute players. We were only able to go to the 2nd half because Danny had a regional basketball game with our stake, but it was still fun. We each have our own Jersey. I have Okur and Danny has Kirilenko. I tried getting Danny to pose for me with his jersey but he refused and mine barely goes over my round belly!

I have always been a huge basketball fan. I love to watch it and love to play it. I remember playing Kyle on Sunday nights at Grandma's and making him cry often because I was so good and he couldn't hang with my mad skills! As soon as I have the baby, I'm going to start practicing again and I'm going to get really good, so watch out Kyle! The other day, I was going through all of my old journals and in almost every entry I would write about the Jazz, the games, or go off on how hot I thought Bryon Russell was. I have a detailed analysis of the 1996-1997 Jazz season, so if anyone needs any stats or anything of that sort, I have it all so let me know! :) --I even made a scrapbook from the newspaper articles. I was way GEEKED out! Here is one of my finer journal entries about the Jazz:

Just to preface, this was game 6 at Houston and the Jazz had a 3-2 lead. This is what I wrote:

"The score was tied at 100-100. It was the Jazz ball. With 2.8 seconds left in the game, Russell inbounded the ball to Stockton who shot a 26 foot 3 pointer. My family and Kyle were at the edge of the couch wide eyed. Our heart stopped when he shot that shot. Stockton swooshed it!! It was the best feeling in the world. John Stockton sent the Utah Jazz for the 1st time ever to the NBA Finals to play the 4 time championship team- the Bulls. We played our guts out!"

This is one of the many drawings I did in my journal. Funny, funny. With the playoffs beginning soon(well not till May)-- rest assured, Danny, me, little Whitney, and the pups will be watching lots of basketball! Go Jazz!

Addressing the Issues

Ok, there are a few issues that need to be addressed with the previous blog posted by my beautiful potbelly wife.

1. Will the baby have our worst attributes?
2. D-Dubb doesn’t change diapers.
3. Fainting and Farting

Item #1 Will the baby have our worst attributes?

We all looked a little goofy pre-puberty, but does pre-puberty even matter? Because a picture is worth a thousand words, we're just gonna have you soak these shots in.

I think Whitney Mae will have fine attributes.


Item # 2 Danny said he wouldn’t change a diaper.

Let me just say this. Mindi doesn’t clean, she straightens. Which means when it comes to wiping the baby's bum, the only person who is gonna really “get between the cracks” so to speak, is me. If the baby could talk when she comes out, I guarantee she would personal request a nice wipe down from her father who is thorough and detailed. They say the proof is in the pudding, to this day you can’t tell a difference in my bum from when I was first born. Yes I’m that good.

Item # 3 Fainting and Farting

I think you should google about what happens usually to those who faint. 95% of people who faint do one of the two things, completely poop their pants, or pee themselves. I read a study conducted by the students of Harvard that the 5% of those who don’t completely loose their bowl movements, when fainting, are more powerful, handsome, and are more likely to succeed. And just for the record, when you faint it can be one of the most relaxing states your body can be in, since I knew I was fainting, I released any built up pressure to ensure maximum relaxation.

To give you an update of us; we are doing fine. Only 4 weeks left of freedom. We were talking about our schedules the other night and how to accommodate the new addition to the family and it really sank in. Holy H E Double Hockey Sticks, It’s gonna be a trip yo. None the less we are excited.

We haven’t been keeping up on American Idol this year, even with that kid from Utah doing so well. I find that I get angry and jealous watching the show, and continually ponder, “when will I get my big shot”. So in serious contemplation Mindi and I decided to create our own Whole New World. Please keep us in you prayers. I’m hoping Simon Cowel gets a wif of this presentation and invites me on the show as a new and upcoming performer.