Soren Update February 27th

We have had an exciting few weeks.

I had a great birthday, thanks to everyone who made it so special for me. I had a great time with Erik and Soren, and ate way too much good food.

Erik's marathon was a blast (for me at least!). We stayed in a hotel close to the race to cut down on driving time on race morning. Soren had a great time in our hotel room. He sat in the desk chairs and used every page of the complimentary note pads to color on. He also made himself very comfortable in the King sized bed we all shared. He is a bed hog! Erik left to run bright and early on Sunday morning, and Soren and I headed out to find him on the course a couple of hours later. We were able to drive right next to a lot of the course and cheer for Erik right from the car. It was a beautiful day, slightly cool, but not too cold. Soren had fun playing at the park and admiring Erik's shiny medal. Erik did very well, especially considering the cold he had for the race. He beat his personal record with a time of 4:02.

When we got home from the marathon, the excitement wasn't over. Erik's mom, Linda, was in town, so we got to enjoy her for a few days. Soren really enjoyed her company! I did too - she took me out for lunch and a few hours away shopping while Erik watched Soren. It was so nice to catch up with her again, and for her to see Soren in his natural environment. He is so much easier to interact with when we are at home. I'm so glad we got a few days to visit with her and for Soren to get to know her better.

Our next exciting occurrence was the death of our refrigerator/freezer. In the words of our repairman, we were killing it slowly. I didn't know that there are air intakes you are supposed to clean periodically - oopsie. We had just passed the 5 year warranty on the fridge (by three weeks), and we were extremely lucky that Whirlpool decided to cover our repair anyway. SUCH a relief. I was worried about buying a brand new fridge, but instead we got our fridge's life back without paying a dime.

Things finally got back to normal this week. Soren and I were able to go out and enjoy the beautiful warm weather we are having. On Tuesday, we took a trip to the zoo. Soren had been asking to go almost everyday since Erik got me a pass for the zoo for my birthday. It was pretty fun, but we went with friends and Soren is not a pack animal. I ended up dragging him or chasing him most of the way. It will be nice to take him by himself and just let him run. I think he had a great time though - he is still talking about the monkeys!

Soren is growing into quite the buddy. He is game to do anything with me. We are able to go to the library, the park, volleyball, and the store and he is excited about any and all of them. He is really starting to talk. I can't always understand everything he is saying, but he jabbers away almost all the time. He has also started singing. He has several songs he hears regularly, and he will sing along with them when he hears them in the car, on the TV or in his room. It is pretty cute. He is also soaking up new ideas. I can't believe his memory. I can tell him something once and he will remember it and bring it up days later. I need to try and do another talking update, his vocabulary is getting pretty large.

If you are interested, I took a few movies of Soren talking and singing with me today on our patio. Hopefully his cute little personality will shine through.

Enough of me for now, here's Soren.

--Ashley

Soren Update February 9

Ok, just by the fact that I almost called this the JUNE 9th update, you get a glimpse of how our winter has been this year. Winter is why I love living here. We have had a very mild winter, with most of our days sunny and in the high 70s or low 80s. (Insert sigh of happiness here)

Things are going great here. Soren and I are finally over our miserable colds of January. We are excited to emerge from our sickrooms and get out and enjoy the rest of this nice weather. We've already been out to the park several times, and Soren is constantly begging to go outside. He doesn't even care if we go out in our dirt backyard to play, he just soaks up the sun and plays with the rocks.

Superbowl Sunday was a lot of fun. We have 9am church this year, so we got home at noon and had to wait for four whole hours before we could dig into the goodies. I had a hard time not making extra snacks, but it was just the three of us, so I couldn't justify a huge menu. Soren's favorites were the soda and the "cakes" or reese's pb cups:

Erik has been amazingly busy this semester with studying for his two classes. He left work early on Friday to join me at my checkup. It was nice to get home early in the afternoon on Friday and take Soren to the park. We are learning to treasure a little time with Daddy! I know he hates having to give up time with us and he often sneaks away from homework to put in a few minutes with Soren. None of us can wait for him to be DONE! Here are a few clips of Soren at the park on Friday. He is finally old enough to enjoy the park toys that are made for 2-5 year olds, and you will catch a few of his signature phrases if you listen closely:

Here he tries out the "big one"

I am starting to feel great. I love the second trimester when I am no longer sick, but still not huge. I'm still playing volleyball a couple of mornings a week, and I am trying to fit in the rest of my life in between.

This is going to be a big weekend. I turn 27 on Friday. Linda is coming in for a visit on Saturday. Then, we are heading out to Apache Junction on Saturday and Sunday for Erik's next marathon. Should be fun!

Ashley