Happy Birthday to Sam!

My little man turned two on August 5. He continues to amaze me with his little personality.  Actually, I should take that back.  There is nothing little about his personality - or his voice for that matter. The kid only has one volume - very loud. Sam loves life.  His infectious laugh is so easily invoked by so many things.  He is talking up a storm these days and I laugh every day at things he will say to me.  He loves his little sister, and I will often times catch him giving her hugs and kisses and telling her that he loves her in his sweet little voice.  It melts my heart.

Sam at 2:

Favorite songs: Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree, "Of God" (I am a child of God), and "I know you" (the song from Sleeping Beauty)

Favorite food: hotdogs and french fries

Favorite toy: his teddy bear and legos

Favorite show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Scooby Doo

Favorite things to say: "insert name, where are you??", "I love you! so much!", "What are you DOING?!",
"See ya later, alligator"

Words he can't say quite right, but that we absolutley love: "Ronka" for Grandma, "nunny" for bunny, "toonsies" for cartoons, "mote" for remote

Sam is very polite and is really good at saying please and thank you.  Today, he wanted a popsicle and was being a little whiney because it was taking a little longer to get it than he wanted.  I said, "Sam, how do you ask nicely?" His response was, "Can I have a popsicle, honey?" I laughed out loud.  What a character.

Oh Sam, you crazy, sweet, loving, smart little boy - how we love you!

Little bit of this, little bit of that

I feel like summer is upon us already.  Looking at our calendar, I see most of our weekends are full.  We just spent the last weekend in St. George for Pharmacy Convention.  We stayed at a beautiful rental home that allowed us to all stay in the same place and play together for three days.  The last night, we stayed in a hotel, and it was so different in comparison.  I definitely prefer being able to mingle with everyone in the house.

We got a chance to meet up with our good friend Marci and her family at a splash park in downtown St. George.  Sam was a little hesitant of the water at first, but it didn't take long for him to jump right in.  In his clothes.  Marci's little guy Lincoln is adorable.  The little guy is fearless, and loved the water.

Lately, Sam has been such a cheeseball whenever he see's a camera.  He'll smile real big and yell, "CHEESE!"  I love it.  This is him showing off his new jammies and modeling the front pocket.  Seriously love this kid.

 A few weeks ago, our friend Jessie came out from Maine to visit us.  We took the opportunity to be touristy and went to all the places that we've never been here in Utah.  First, we went to Kennecott Copper Mines.  This tire is one of the tires of a tractor that hauls rock from the quarry. The tractor itself is two stories high. 

 Sam loves his cousins.  He thinks he's so big! He wants to do whatever they are doing.  Whenever he is with them, he just lights up and they love him too.  It's so fun to watch them play.

 At the Great Salt Lake with his dad.  I love this picture.  Sam loves Mike so much, it's obvious by the way he gets so excited whenever Mike gets home from work.

Here is our little miss in her blessing dress.  My sister Nellie made it for her, and I absolutley love it.  Kate looks like she's skeptical in this picture, but she loved it too.

On a funny note, Sam heard me say Mike's name the other day and for the next 30 minutes called him "Mike" instead of "daddy."  I had to giggle everytime he said it.  Don't worry, Mike got him saying "Trisha" too. 

Life is moving along out here in Vernal.  I love it.  I love that I get to hang out with my two kids all day.  I love that Sam is so happy and expressive.  I love that Kate is spending more and more time awake and happy.  I love getting to spend time as a family when Mike comes home.  Love it all.

2 months later

Life goes so fast.  I feel like I am finally starting to catch up and find some balance.  I remember it wasn't quite as easy as I expected it to be when Sam was a newborn, but I didn't think I would have such a hard time adjusting to two.  There were many moments over the past two months where I asked myself, "what were you thinking?!"  But as time has gone on, I have found that I am capable of being a mother to two children, and can even say that my kids are surviving and happy. 

I have watched Sam turn from a little baby into an independent and active little boy.  He wants to do everything himself and we have entered the waters of the toddler tantrums, and boy do I NOT like this.  He has major melt downs for the slightest thing.  Whether it be getting him from his room in the morning, or offering him milk when he wanted juice.  I am so glad his vocabulary is expanding, because we need to learn to communicate with each other in a big way!  Still, he is such a sweet and loving little boy.  He makes me laugh everyday.  He is so observant, and will mimic almost everything I do.  Like sweeping the floors, eating with a real fork, loading and unloading the dishwasher, and many other "grown up" things.

 One thing in particular that he has started doing is dressing himself.  He doesn't always get his arms and head through the right holes in his shirts, but he sure tries.  The other night he successfully got his shirt on, who cares that is was on backwards.  He has started stringing words together and is so cute when he asks, "where's Papa?" or "Where's daddy?" or as he told me the other day when I told him it was time for bed - "No it isn't!"  What a funny boy.  He also loves his little sister.  Every morning he wakes up and asks for "baby".  He has started saying her name with an emphasis on the "t" in Kate.  He also likes to hold her and give her kisses.  He talks to her in a high little voice and he says things like, "Hi baby, hmm?  Kate, hmm?"  My favorite thing that he has started saying, is "I love you!"  Melts my heart every time.

Miss Kate is growing up way too fast.  Little miss is measuring in at a little over 11 lbs. and has started smiling and cooing.  She has been sick for the past three weeks and it has been rough.  Nursing has been a struggle, but we're getting back into the swing of it.  She is starting to sleep through the night and is on more of a schedule throughout the day.  I really have enjoyed dressing her up and getting all girly on her.  She likes to cuddle, this one does, and it seems like she always just wants to be held. 

We blessed her last weekend.  It was a beautiful weekend with family.  Kate looked lovely in her dress made by her Aunt Nellie.  Mike did an incredible job with the blessing - so sweet. We love our little lady, and are so glad that she is here and part of our family.

Bring on the Pink

The past two months have flown by, and I have been meaning to sit down and blog.  But I haven't.  Then we went and had a baby, and still, I meant to, but haven't gotten around to it, until now.  So I'll break things down for y'all.

1. Sam turned 18 months old.
    Our little man is growing up!  It's crazy to see the new things he'll pick up on every day, as well as how observant and smart he is.  He is definitley a little boy who loves his routines.  He loves bedtime and nighttime songs.  If you fold your arms, he'll start to pray.  He loves to play with the feather duster and will always go to the cupboard under the sink to get it, then proceed to dust all the furniture.  It really is quite helpful!  He has developed a new habit, not such a great one, but one that has been allowed due to serious fatigue on our part.  In the mornings he'll come in our room, crawl in our bed, and watch cartoons.  Not so great when he wakes up at 5:30 and wants to come watch cartoons.  We usually put our foot down at that point and put him back in bed.  If it is close to 7, he usually gets away with it.  It buys us at least another 45 minutes of sleep and usually he'll snuggle up next to one of us and love on us. I kind of like that part too. 
      He's wicked good at puzzles and the shape sorter.  It's amazing to watch him figure them out.  He loves playing with his friends, and thinks he's so big when older kids are over.  I love to watch him mimic them.  Except when they start yelling "MINE!" and take things.  It usually takes him a little bit to get that out of his system once his friends leave.  He's learned how to open every door in the house, and I have to make sure the front and garage door are locked at all times, other wise he likes to go out and explore the yard or the garage.  He has added new words to his vocabulary - including "up", "bye", "apple", "bird", and "baby".  He also says "I just don't know", "uh oh, spaghettio" and "stuck" when he can't get something he wants.  He's super happy and still the most ticklish kid I've ever met. 

2. We had a baby - actually, I had a baby.
   On Friday, March 16, Katelyn Elizabeth Sorenson was born.  She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  Thursday night, Mike came home from work with a plan to put me in labor.  We went curb walking and galloping up and down the street.  We were laughing our faces off and I felt a few good contractions.  Then we came home, and I had a lavender bath.  The next day, we were going to go find a bumpy road, go galloping again, and then eat a "labor inducing" dinner of eggplant parmesan.  We were both so anxious and excited to meet this little lady!  
   Thursday night I experienced a few strong contractions, but nothing consistant.  However, I woke up at 5 the next morning to fairly consistent contractions.  Nothing painful, just consistent.  They were about 7 minutes apart.  I got up and got ready for the day, sure that they weren't really the real thing because they didn't hurt.  However, at about 10 in the morning when they weren't going away, I decided maybe we should call the doctor.  They suggested I come in, even if it was only to get checked.  So we did some quick grocery shopping and cleaned the house and headed in.  We got there around noon.  I was hooked up to the monitors and after about 2 hours, the nurse came in and said that they weren't detecting any contractions and hinted that we may have to go home.  I really wanted a VBAC and I knew how important it was for me to go into labor on my own for this to be succesful.
    I was so frustrated.  I know my baby moves a lot, but I find it strange that I would be mistaking movement for something that felt like a contraction and was consistently 7 minutes apart.  There was a shift change shortly after, they readjusted the monitor and were able to start picking up the contractions.  My Dr. was out of town, but the Dr. on call came in and checked me. I was at a 4 and 100% effaced.  At that point there was no turning back.  I was hooked up to an IV, given fluids and pitocin and prepped for an epidural.  This is where it gets crazy.  After the epidural, I noticed that only my left side of my body was numb.  I laid on my right side to help distribute the epidural, but by that point the contractions were one on top of the other, and I felt every.single.one. - because you see, a numbed left side doesn't help a woman who is pregnant in her right uterus. 
    Within an hour of starting pitocin, I was at a 9 and ready to push.  It was crazy how fast it all happened and I was a little bit in shock.  Shock of how quickly it happened and shock of the fact that I would definitley not be enjoying the benefits of an epidural.  I started pushing and within 35 minutes, Kate was here.  I've never experienced so much pain or determination from myself to get it done!  I just wanted to be finished to have the pain over with and to hold my baby girl.  When it was over, I may have yelled "Halle-freakin-lujah!"  Along with some other choice words that may have slipped out as I was pushing.  Mike said I was acting like I was high, just out of touch and wired.  I guess it's the adrenaline rush of it all.  I experienced a lot of bleeding during the delivery and needed a blood transfusion which delayed our homecoming, but all was well in the end. 
    She is here.  She is beautiful.  She is such a great little nurser and sleeper.  Sam is having a hard time adjusting and my heart breaks for the poor little guy.  He's lucky to have my mom, his Nana, here to help.  She's been giving him all sorts of love and attention.  He's getting better with each day, but he's definitely not happy that mom and dad have their attention split between him and someone else.  I've been trying to find ways to spend some one on one time with the little guy and let him know I still love his guts.

 Here I am in all my glory, right after we were told we wouldn't be going home without a baby.

 After 35 minutes of the worst pain I had ever felt in my life.... beautiful baby.

Because the next day was St. Patty's Day, Mike came in with Sam and we were all in green.  Our first family picture.  I was really swollen from the fluids and pale from my loss of blood.  But, oh, so happy.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

So many changes happening around here!  We are in the final months of this pregnancy and it's hitting home that in just two months there will be a little lady in this house.  It's becoming more and more real as I see my belly growing, and even more so as I feel the discomfort that often times accompanies the third trimester.  I'm feeling aches and pains that I never experienced in my pregnancy with Sam.  This little one is already measuring bigger than her brother did at this point, and she's sitting pretty head down.  This is all great news to me as I would really not like to have another c-section if at all possible.  I'm often calling my sisters and asking - "Is this normal?!"  I feel like I'm a first time pregnant lady because things are so different this time around.

I wanted to share a cool experience I had a few weeks ago.  I have been experiencing some spotting with this pregnancy - nothing like I did with Sam, but still to be safe, my Dr. told me that I need to call or go in and have the baby checked when this happens.  It always seems to happen at the most inopportune times.  Like at our Christmas Party for Mike's family, for example.  It was Christmas Eve, we had driven into Salt Lake from Vernal, and I noticed the spotting at the beginning of the party.  I was determined not to let it ruin my night, so we waited until the party was over before making the decision to head to IMC in Murray.  The drive there, both Mike and I were frustrated, wondering if this was going to be our life every week - making little trips to the Dr. just to reaffirm what we already know, our baby is fine.  I told Mike, I would just really like to talk to someone who understands my situation - my exact situation! Dr's try their best, but let's face it - my situation is different.  Not every woman has two uteri!  When we got to the IMC, our nurse was getting me ready to see the Dr., and she asked me to explain what was going on. I promptly went through my spiel on how my anatomy is different, my baby is in my right uterus, I've experienced preterm labor with my previous pregnancy, etc.  At that point, she asked me if I had heard of the lady about two years ago in Murray, who had two uteri also and was pregnant in both.  I laughed and told her that I had and that I got many phone calls from people wondering if that was me.  She then told me that the woman is actually one of their labor and delivery nurses.  When our nurse's shift ended, she sent Angie - the one with the two utes - in to be my nurse.  What commenced was about an hour and a half of questions from me and very relevant answers from her.  Here was someone who knew exactly what I was going through.  Her pregnancies (all 4 of them!) were all very similar to mine.  She experienced issues with her situation just as I had.  It was the most comforting conversation I could have asked for. And as we left the hospital, I realized that my prayer had been answered.  Only my prayer was never spoken in the form of a prayer.  It strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father not only hears our prayers but knows our hearts, our fears, and our frustrations.  And sometimes, he will send us tender mercies - not necessarily in response to those prayers, but as an arm reached out to surround us to remind us that he knows us and loves us.  I will never forget that.

Here we are at 30 weeks. 10 more to go.

 My goofy, big boy.  Sam is just growing up way to fast these days.  In an attempt not to rock his world too much, we decided to go ahead and move him to his big boy bed now, rather than when baby sister gets here.  I was nervous, but my kid is a rock star.  He's not only sleeping well at night, but taking his naps like a champ too.   He'll come to the door and knock and cry for about 5 minutes, but then he'll crawl back in bed and go right to sleep.  He also graduated from the high chair to a booster seat and doesn't like anyone really doing anything for him!  He also LOVES to say "no" and will use it when really he means "yes".  We're trying to encourage other words than "no" because I swear that's all he says all day long.

 Out of boredom one day, I decided we needed to change things up. I stuck him in the tub with food colored pudding and he had a blast.  He ate it all.  I'm glad I used something edible.

 Loving his rocking horse Nani and Papi sent from North Carolina.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2011, and hello 2012!  2011 was a great year for us.  Not only did we get to watch our sweet boy grow up a little bit, but Mike and I both accomplished some great goals.  Mike went a whole year without caffeine.  This is impressive considering his love affair with anything caffenated.  I did a few races and was able to get back in shape after Sambo. Yesterday on our drive back from Salt Lake City, we talked about some family goals as well as personal goals for this new year.  One of my personal goals is to do a triathalon in the year 2012.  I look forward to training and getting in shape again. 

After spending Thanksgiving with my family in North Carolina, we got to spend Christmas and New Years with Mike's family.  Christmas was laid back and awesome.  We went to church and then came back to open presents.  Sam was interested for all of 10 minutes, then he got cranky and we had to put him down for an early Christmas nap.  New Years was a different story as the little man was adamant about staying up until the ball dropped.  We tried to put him down before, but he threw a massive fit.  When we let him just play, he was fine - tired, but fine. I figured, what the heck.  It's New Years!  Who wants to miss the party, really?

This part of my post will be entitled - "Sam lately".  I was really good about keeping track of his milestones and such up until about a year. Then I got pregnant and my brain died.  Not really, but some days I wonder if it has lost a signicant amount of function.  So here is what my little man is up to these days:

* Signing a ton!  He now signs - "all done", "eat", "more", "please", "thank you", "baby", and today he signed "help".  The other morning he woke up and signed "food please".  It has been amazing seeing the light of understanding turn on in his little mind and the screaming and crying dissipate.  I love it.  I love that I can understand what he wants!

* Starting to talk more.  He has added "Nani", "Papa", "dog", and "more" to his small little vocabulary.  Each day he does more as far as trying to sound out words.  This weekend he would say "two-three-raaaaaaaaaaarrr!!!" as he jumped on an oversized stuffed bear.  I laughed as I realized where he got it from.  His dad always counts to three before tackling Sam.

* Starting to mimic.  Praying. Sam will now fold his arms and whisper and then yell something similar to "amen" when he's finished.  Even if you are just folding your arms because you are cold, he will start to pray.  He's started giving hugs - putting his head on your shoulder, or often times putting his head into position then walking toward you with his arms out.

* Running, jumping, laughing, dancing, getting into EVERYthing.  This basically sums up my little man.  He's so busy, so smart, and so freaking hilarious.

My sweet baby boy.

I like this picture as it looks like Sam is singing a duet with his Papa Sorenson.

New Year's Eve breakfast with Esther and Tristan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!