Quoted: Soren at Sweetcakes

March 15th Update

We had a great visit last week with Erik's mom. Grandma Linda flew in last Saturday after Erik's race and left yesterday. We had a rainy and cool weekend but I think the weather cleared up enough for Linda to enjoy some nice AZ spring days.

It was a busy week filled with yummy food and lots of running around. The kids were spoiled with attention and I enjoyed the extra pair of hands around the house and around town.

On Friday we drove out to Mesa to have lunch at Barro's Pizza with Erik. He gave his mom the tour of his office, then Grandma and the kids and I went across the street to enjoy a treat at Sweetcakes. They have yummy BIG cookies and a 7 layer brownie that I can't resist. The weather was perfect and we walked over to the Mesa arts center and enjoyed the beautiful landscaping.

Svea wishing for a bite of my brownie

Soren's favorite - PB M&M

On Saturday, Erik celebrated his 33rd birthday. We went over to Lowe's so Soren could build a tabletop basketball hoop at the free Build and Grow clinic, then picked up our traditional sodas on the way home. After fitting in some long runs, we went out for a wonderful dinner. Erik loves seafood and Erik's mom treated us to some yum at Red Lobster. We went home and watched the movie Up and enjoyed German chocolate birthday cake and ice cream.

Blowing out the candles

It was sad to send Grandma home yesterday. We had a great visit and can't wait to see her again!

Run for Ryan's House

Erik ran yet another race last weekend. Only a measly half marathon (13.1 miles) this time. He placed 3rd in the Clydesdale division. This self proclaimed "fat kid" continues to amaze me.

Pretty good considering he started the race a half hour later than everyone else.

Here is Soren babbling about the race:

I was pretty impressed. We hadn't talked about this map before. I guess Erik showed him the marathon course online a month or so ago and he remembered these details.

Svea in Motion

A quiet moment?

I'm calling this a quiet moment and I've decided to sit down and write a long delayed post. Through some miracle, BOTH of the babies are asleep in their beds right now. Yes, there are dirty dishes that I should be doing right now. However, I haven't been able to find a spare second to blog in a LONG time, so I'm taking a few minutes for me.

I posted the last bunch of pictures with full intention of sitting down the next day and writing an explanatory post. HA! I'll do my best to catch you up, and I may even get to some new material before I'm done tonight.

My sister Steph came into town the first week in February for a visit. We had beautiful weather and thoroughly enjoyed running her around town. We did some shopping, a zoo trip and got in some nice time at the park. Soren had tons of fun playing with Steph and Svea didn't mind the extra attention either. It was great for me to have a running buddy so I could run outside while she was here. We also got away to play a couple of nights of volleyball as well. We miss you already, Steph, when are you coming back?

While at the zoo with Steph, we were enjoying a picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches when Soren made a new friend. A squirrel came right up to him and put its paw on his leg. I tried to gently tell the little critter to shoo, but it totally ignored me. The little guy's next move was to jump onto Soren's lap and put both paws on his chest. Apparently, Soren was not understanding what he wanted, so the squirrel took his lunch into his own paws and started eating Soren's sandwich right out of his hands. By this time we had started yelling and arm waving to get the potentially rabid rodent off of my babe. He totally ignored us until I grabbed a chunk of Soren's sandwich and threw it on the ground. He grabbed the sandwich and headed off to a more quiet spot where crazy humans weren't trying to stomp on him and break his ear drums with shrieking. I don't think I will ever forget Soren's face as he screamed in a high pitched voice, "get away, squirrel, just go away!" - trying to be calm and yet panic showing through (probably an exact mirror of what I looked like!)

We also squeezed in a few outings to the Children's museum, the AZ Museum of Natural History, the Heard Museum, the zoo, the zoo, and the zoo. I'm so thankful for culture passes that have allowed me to take the kids to museums all over the valley that I wouldn't normally pay full admission for. Our zoo membership ended in February and we crammed in a ton of visits to the zoo in an attempt to get really sick of it. No such luck, I am missing zoo trips already!

My birthday was lovely. Thanks for all the cards and well wishes. I'm truly blessed to have so many family and friends who care about me and recognize me on my special day. I really didn't think turning 28 would be any big deal, but I was surprisingly glum... a preview of those depressing "older" birthdays? Well, Erik took me and the kids out for a nice lunch at one of my favorite places and I did some shopping and it turned out to be a pretty good day.

I was able to freshen up my makeup supply with some of my birthday cash (thanks again, cash givers!) and Soren has joined me in my obsession. He "helps" me with my makeup and generally makes a big mess every time I let him near the stuff. I caught him several times with makeup, and the "boys don't wear makeup" message doesn't seem to be sinking in:

Svea has also been seen with some funny looks lately, courtesy of not-so-multi-tasking mom:

Yes, those are Soren's pants.

Valentines day was nice - we ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and the kids got lots of Valentine's Day love. I finally got around to making my birthday cake, so we had "Valentine's cake" for dessert. Soren is a big fan of "Valentine's cake" and wants one for his birthday too. You can't go wrong with chocolate cake (fresh and easy cake mix mmmmm), whipped cream and strawberries!

Potty training. Ugggh. Can I just not talk about this right now? We were doing great for about a week. I made up a sticker chart with goals I thought were realistic and put together a prize box for incentive. Soren was very excited about earning the prizes, especially his first successful number two prize:

My plans soon backfired and Soren turned into an emotional wreck. I never would have imagined someone could cry for an hour and a half over not being able to earn a prize! We couldn't handle the turmoil, so we are on break from potty training for a month. Soren has brought it up a couple of times and been rewarded, but I am not pushing at all and the prizes and chart are out of sight. Hopefully I'll have a better report next time we try.

Svea. She has grown up so much since the last time I posted. Hair is finally coming in on her round little head, about a quarter inch of light brown/dark blond straight hair. Her eyes seem to get more baby blue everyday and I am so jealous of her lashes! She has 6 teeth, the 4 front top teeth and 2 middle bottom teeth and her new smile is adorable. The feeling of teeth must be a fun experience, she is usually grinding the tops and bottoms together - not a pleasant sound but it makes for a very cute expression. She is getting very strong - her constant push ups and rocking back and forth have allowed her to start moving around on her own. Last night was the first time she got consistently forward locomotion. I've already gotten myself into trouble today as she is surprisingly mobile and got into a few things I wasn't expecting. She is eating two meals of solid food a day and she loves every kind of food she has tried: peas, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, rice cereal, oatmeal, cheerios, you name it! Eating and drinking water come easily to this little one and I love that she loves food. She is a very intense little person and is always observing what is going on around her. She still gets excited and rocks and waves both arms in synchronized motions up and down, especially when mealtime is close or when Daddy is home. She has even master moving her exersaucer around on the tile. By rocking her body just right she can get that thing to travel. I'm just started to see glimmers of personality. She is very pleasant and pretty easy to take care of. I'm not saying she is not demanding, but she is very predictable and I don't have any problem meeting her demands. She sleeps well, taking two or three naps a day and then sleeping 6 hours at a time at night most nights. I could just eat her up - I love this age!

And just a few more pictures since the last slide show:

Show us your new teeth, Svea!

Finding some "snacks"


A little bit toothy grin

Cute girl

Soren vs M&Ms


Soren vs Getting dressed by himself

Svea is following in Daddy's footsteps (Whataburger straws are the best I am told)

February 17th Update... more to come soon

Number 5

How did I fail to mention this? Erik ran marathon number 5 in Las Vegas on December 6 with a time of 4:08. This guy keeps amazing me with his constant goal accomplishment. Never dreamed when I married him that he would be a 5 time marathoner. Keep running, Erik!

Svea: 6 months old!

I've had several comments come my way from family members about little Svea. It seems that more than a few of you don't know my little girl very well yet. Well, that isn't your fault. I haven't been posting enough of this sweet little thing on the blog! Here is a post just for you, Svea.

Svea has been such an easy addition to our family. She is sweet and can keep herself entertained very well. I think one of the reasons Soren has adjusted so easily to having a little sister around is that she is not overly demanding of my time. Once she has a need, however, she is very vocal about making it known. She has a very loud and grating cry that gets fast results around here!

Svea is very curious and likes to play in the exersaucer or on the floor with toys. She can spend long stretches of time examining a toy or her hands or feet. She loves to watch Soren play and wants to get in on the action. When I am holding her in my arms she will start to rock (almost violently) forward and backward - I think she wishes she could get down and run with Soren. Although she isn't crawling yet, she is surprisingly mobile. She rolls readily from back to front and vice versa, but LOVES to be on her tummy. She can lift her entire upper body up with her arms and holds her head up high so she can see what is going on all over the room. She can move in a full circle and can wiggle a foot or so forward or backward. She LOVES bath time. In her whole life she has cried twice during or after a bath. The water soothes her and makes her splash and smile!

Svea is very social. She cooes and smiles and even screams to get attention, whether it is from me or Erik or a stranger behind us in line at the store. I've noticed that she is very good at being captivating. The person holding her is at her mercy - she has very engaging expressions and gives out smile after smile to keep you interested in looking at her. I've had many people who've held her describe her as "simply sweet". I know I am totally in love with her! She has gorgeous baby blue eyes with long lashes and I have a hard time tearing myself away from interacting with her.

We've learned that Svea loves food! I've been having a lot of trouble with her lately. You may remember what a great sleeper she was early in her life. Since we left for Utah, it seemed like she was up every 2 hours or so every night. I've been very prayerful about this situation lately, as it is hard for me to function when I am up with the kids so much at night and I feel like I am not the kindest and most patient mother when I am tired. I had several conversations with friends that led me to realize that Svea might be hungry at night. I know that probably sounds obvious to some of you experienced parents, but for me it was really an "aaaaaaaah" moment (angel choir singing) when that thought came to my mind. We picked up some rice cereal for her on Saturday, and I think my problem is solved! Svea is totally ready for solid food. After some initial trouble figuring out how to manuever solids, she is a pro eater and gulps down a quarter cup or so of cereal at a time. She has only woken up one time in the night for the last few nights - it is so WONDERFUL! I feel bad that I left her feeling hungry for so long.

Svea's personality is starting to show through in pictures as well. It has been difficult to catch her smiley moments on camera, but we are both getting better at it! Hopefully these pictures help you get to know Svea a little better, and there is only more to come!

Ashley

Catching Up: Christmas 2009

Wow... where to start? I guess I'll just try and catch you up on a little bit of what we've been up to. It won't be pretty but I don't want to forget everything, so for my journal's sake please bear with me.

A quick note on Svea (more to come on her in my next post): before we left for Utah she was already an avid roller. I caught her in her bouncy chair like this one afternoon and since then she has to wear the safety belt (I don't think we ever had to use that with Soren).

We left for Utah on an early morning flight on December 16th. My sister Stephanie came to pick us up at the airport. Svea was excited to finally meet her aunt Stephi!

We spent a few hours at my parents house while Steph drove back to Provo to take care of some errands and pick up my other sister. It was nice for the kids and I to recover from our trip with a much needed nap. Svea finally got to try out some of her cool weather clothing.

When Jenny arrived, Svea was again very excited to meet another aunt. It was

kind of funny to see Svea react with tears - she is usually very social and soon got over her fear of her aunties.

In all the driving, Steph's car misplaced a hubcap. We called a local dump and asked if they had any hubcaps. They told us there was a chance, so Steph and I headed down to check it out. Hubcaps? Yea, right. Most of the cars had no tires, let alone hubcaps. We had to laugh at our first visit to the junkyard.

My parent's flew in from Japan on the morning of the 17th. We spent a couple of nice days hanging out and decorating for Christmas. Svea was exhausted by all the attention and the cold weather. Her cheeks get so rosy!

Soren especially loved the Christmas trees this year. He helped my mom decorate the snowman tree as a warmup to decorating the tree we would find in the mountains.

For several years my family has gotten a permit for a Christmas tree in Idaho. My mom's parents live an hour and a half north of Pleasant View in Riverdale, Idaho, so we go there to find a tree. This is the first year I've been able to go in a long time, and it was the first time for Erik, Soren and Svea. Steph had to go back to work, but my mom, dad, Jenny, Jake & Mekelle were also able to go this year. We drove up into the mountains from my grandparents house and snowshoe off the road until we found the "perfect" tree. We celebrated by taking lots of pictures and drinking hot cocoa. Soren helped my dad cut down the tree. We stopped at my grandparents' house for a yummy dinner before heading home to decorate the tree.

Svea and her cousin Bridget got all bundled up for the trip up to Idaho.

Svea all bundled up for the trek:

Soren and Daddy:

Soren the snowman:

A little too much cocoa???:

Timber!!!

After a busy Saturday in the mountains, we woke up Sunday morning and headed to Draper to spend some time with Larry and Kristen. We spent a few nice days up at their home. We went to Temple Square on Trax to see the lights, played in the snow and watched lots of football and Wallace and Gromit episodes.

Yes, this is a blurry picture but it proves we were there!

Soren catching some snow:

The snowman

Soren enjoying a root beer float:

We also were spoiled by a few gifts before we left. Soren's favorite gifts were a delicious can of cheese from Wallace:

And a new Leapster2 from Papa that he fell asleep with that night:

After the nice visit with Erik's family, we headed back to Pleasant View on Christmas Eve to see a little more of my family. My entire family was able to get together this year for both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We had our traditional delicious Christmas Eve feast and program. Then we all opened up our Christmas jammies.

Svea is a natural at gift opening:

The matching babies and their matching daddies:

The girls:

Christmas morning was so much fun. The little kids made the day. We were all spoiled rotten.

Svea opening a gift:

Soren was very excited!

Soren was excited by all of his gifts, but I think the best reaction was to the bowling set. He has been using a toy basketball and plastic cups to bowl at home for several months and LOVES playing bowling online with his aunts. When he peeled a little paper back on his new bowling set, he started breathing fast and gasping, "my bowling, my bowling!". He got right down to business - I've never seen him concentrate so hard on ripping paper off of a present before. It was so funny. We are going to get a lot of mileage out of this bowling set!

After a nice relaxing Christmas day, we decided to go sledding and spend some more time out in the snow. I love this picture of Erik - I was trying to get an action shot of him in the air, but I think this face is hilarious. He was sore the entire drive home.

Erik headed home on December 27th, but the kids and I stayed at my parents' house until January 5th. We had lots of fun visiting with family.

The kids took a nap together and when they woke up, Soren begged for a "photo shoot":
We got some more snow:

We were able to attend my dad's parents annual New Year's Eve party. There was lots of good food and good company. I was surprised that Soren was immediately drawn to the toy guns at the house. He's never really played with them before. I had to laugh when he dragged this rifle over to where some of my cousins were playing RockBand and started strumming on his "guitar". Guess I don't have to worry about him being bloodthirsty yet!