Finding the Dress

The kids and I headed to Madison a week before Christmas to spend some time with my sister, who was in town for two weeks from New Zealand. Much of her time in Madison was spent making wedding plans for her June wedding. On Saturday, my mom, my 2 sisters, and Sadie and I (and Blake, poor guy!) went dress shopping. Well, actually it was more like 'picking the favorite' since Lindsay and my mom had already done the big shopping and we got to come along to see the 'final 2'. And what a fun day it was!!

No pics of the dress...of course! But after selecting "The One", we were served a champagne toast (and Sadie got a champagne glass with water).

Sadie loved every minute of it. She spent much time following Lindsay around and 'fluffing' her train, but in between dresses, Sadie did a little playing of her own!

Sadie is going to be the flower girl in Lindsay and Rob's wedding, so we took the opportunity to try on a few flower girl dresses. Sadie loved changing into each one and HAD to stand on the box that Lindsay and other brides get to stand on!

This one was a bit big, but as you can see from each picture, she loved 'carrying' her dress around just like Lindsay carried hers around the store.

Lindsay is going to be a beautiful bride and Sadie will be such a cute flower girl----can't wait!!

Wyatt's 1st Christmas Concert

I am a bit behind on my posts, so here is my attempt to catch up while all 3 kids are sleeping. Wyatt had his preschool Christmas concert a few weeks ago and it was so cute! My in-laws and sister in law were also in town and got to see Wyatt 'perform'. He was so excited about it and kept asking us if we would all be there to see him. But once he got up in front of everyone, his shyness shown in full effect. He was very excited once he spotted us but was also immediately aware that people were watching him.

This was, I think, his 'nervous reaction' to all the attention:

...he played with her dress during the entire first song! Thankfully she didn't seem to mind.

Once the first song was over, he really began to concentrate--sorry about the quality of the pics. Now that i have my new camera and telephoto lens, this won't happen anymore!

Always serious.

He did a great job and to my surprise, he knew all the words to the songs and sang them all as well! During one part of the service, the pastor of the church where he attends preschool was telling a story about asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas. After sharing some of the kids' answers, he said that Mrs. Meyer (Wyatt's teacher) asked him what he wanted for Christmas and before he could even answer, a precocious little boy in the class shouted out "HAIR"! (I should explain that the pastor is probably early to mid-thirties and has a very slight receding hairline--note 'slight'.) He then looked over at the class and said, "That little boy was Wyatt". Of course the entire congregation was laughing hysterically but Matt and I, along with my in-laws and sister in-law, couldn't believe it!! We were laughing, but also in shock that Wyatt would have the confidence to shout out an answer before anyone else, let alone such a surprising one! I explained to his teacher the next day that since both his grandpas have little hair, its become a common joke/discussion in our family. Not sure that will make the pastor feel any better, but it made for a hilarious story for us to remember!

Two weeks already??

it's hard to believe that Blake is already 2 weeks old today. Time seems to go even faster with each child. And it also helps that Blake is such a great baby---pretty much just eats and sleeps! And I've only been getting up twice a night for the last week, so I feel quite rested for having a newborn. We've had lots of visitors and unfortunately i don't have pictures of everyone who has been here because I've just been enjoying the company! But here are a few snapshots of the past two weeks--he is definitely one loved baby!

Day 1 at home

Day 3 at home---this is what he does most of the time!

A common look from Blake

Our first Minnesota-born baby

The 'signature' move of all our babies

Introducing Blake David Sorensen

I really was beginning to think this day would never come. And I was getting less impatient and more resolved to accept that I would forever be pregnant with my third child. It just seemed like I had been in the 'any day now' stage for long enough for it to be permanent. But 9 days overdue and an ultrasound that measured this baby at 9lbs, 120z. was all it took for my doctor to decide to induce me the next morning. And as much as I didn't want to be induced, I had a good experience with Sadie and knew this one would probably go just as well. (I just really wanted the 'surprise' effect of spontaneously going into labor. But knowing a day in advance has its advantages as well.)

(Like getting a picture of my belly....I hadn't taken any this pregnancy!)

Awaiting this baby in the hospital. For Matt and I, it was such a relaxing morning--really! Once I got in to my room, Matt headed to Starbucks to get a coffee and paper while I got started on the pitocin. He returned around 8am and we sat and watched The Today Show together, discussing what we would name this baby (we had it narrowed down to two names for a girl and two for a boy.) At about 9:30am, I started having more painful contractions and asked for the epidural. By 10:30am, I was resting comfortably watching TV while Matt read and did some work. At around noon, I mentioned to the nurse that I felt a lot of pressure and was going to need to push soon. My doctor came in, I pushed for about 15-20 minutes, and we finally got to meet Blake David.

After he was born, Matt and I were both so emotional. Much more with this one that with the other two. And I'm not sure why. We've talked about it since then and I think it must be that now that we have older kids, we have a better understanding of what having a child really means and how exciting/amazing it is. Whatever the reason, I was a mess for about 5 minutes!

Before he was born, I had guessed the baby would be 8lbs, 10oz. Boy was I shocked when they put him on the scale and he was almost a full pound bigger than that! Thankfully he didn't feel that big when I was giving birth to him.

Proud Daddy--now with 2 sons!

His first visitor--Nani!

Due to the H1N1 virus, children under 5 years old were not allowed into the hospital. When I first heard this I was just crushed! I remembered going to the hospital when my youngest sister was born and it was so much fun--and I wanted my kids to get to experience that as well. But thankfully I had a few weeks to prepare the kids, so they seemed fine with it. They got to play at a friends' house for the day and wear their 'Big Brother, Big Sister' t-shirts. We took some video of Blake and I in the hospital and Matt showed it to them over dinner that night. And of course, they then wanted to make a video for Blake and I to see--and it was so cute!

Matt and his best friends Erik and Andy--our family has been so blessed by the friendship these guys share and I am so thankful that Blake will grow up with such godly examples to follow.

Meeting Blake for the first time--in the hospital lobby

Do you think they look a bit excited?

Wyatt was explaining the bracelets to Sadie--

--showing her Blake's matching bracelet (or anklet to be accurate).

A moment between Daddy and Sadie as she explained how to take care of her baby brother.

We are so thankful to have Blake in our family and are excited to watch him grow. He seems to be changing so much everyday and I'm hoping to be able to post it all on here. But keeping up with the blog with three kids is a bit more challenging than with two--but I have high hopes!

Thanksgiving 2009

With my due date being the Monday before Thanksgiving, we had no plans to leave home. Instead, my parents and one of my sisters came up to spend the weekend with us and hopefully get to meet baby #3. And let me tell you, I did just about as much as I could to get this baby out--but to no avail. We had a great weekend, though, and I am thankful for all we were able to get done before the little one arrives.

This was the first year I have ever hosted Thanksgiving and prepared the entire meal by myself. It was actually quite fun and nice to not have to travel anywhere. Matt and I are thinking this could be a new tradition for us! We also loved it because it was our first holiday in our new home, we had plenty of space, and I got to use my china and crystal from our wedding!! Yes, it's all been in boxes at my parents house for the last 7 1/2 years and now I finally have space for it!

My kids LOVE egg nog and got to have some in their 'coffee cups' after dinner--the official beginning to the Christmas season. And you can see just how much Sadie enjoyed her cup...

Friday morning I woke up at about 4:30am with some contractions and thought for sure this was the day. I never have contractions prior to going in to labor, so this must be it. I got up and did some online doorbuster shopping and my 6:30am my contractions weren't really progressing. So my mom and I headed out to do some more shopping with a twofold purpose--(1) get some great deals and (2) keep the contractions going and send me in to labor. Well, neither of those purposes were fulfilled. We were too late to get any of the deals we wanted and my contractions stopped. So by 9am we were back home.

After Matt and my Dad realized that the items they wanted to look at were not 'doorbusters' and therefore they didn't need to shop in the morning, we headed up to Cambridge, MN (70 miles away) to my aunt and uncle's Christmas Tree Farm. It is a beautiful place and I have so many great memories of Christmases spent there growing up.

I did, at this point, ask my family if they thought it was a good idea for me to go up there since I had been having contractions and so many of my friends had said earlier in the week, "Well you really aren't thinking about going that far away, are you?" But of course my family, like me, thought it was no big deal. I mean, they do have hospitals there if we needed one. So off we went.

Aunt Adie giving Wyatt, Nani, and Mary Jo a ride up to the house on the gator--probably Wyatt's favorite thing on the farm

My kids were enamored with all the 'wildlife' and hunting gear inside my aunt and uncles house......you can definitely tell that this is a house of 4 boys!

Wyatt is quite the observer and was watching intently as they put each tree on the machine that shakes all the needles out and then baled each tree. My aunt said they usually bale the little kids that help them out during the Christmas season, but Wyatt wasn't too interested in that yet. I do have to say that as I look at this picture, I can't believe how big Wyatt looks!

Family picture in front of the gift shop.....4 days overdue!

With Pops, Nani, and Mary Jo

Once we got home, my Dad, Matt, Mary Jo and Wyatt headed out to do some shopping while Sadie, my Mom and I began the Christmas decorating. Sadie started to dig through the boxes of decorations and found the stockings first....

I mean, where else would you put stockings, right??

She helped me put some of the lights on the tree, however, I am a bit of a 'light' freak and am very particular about how they are put on. I can't stand it when the cord shows and I really despise it when it looks like people just went back and forth across the front of the tree. I know, most people don't care, but for whatever reason I do. And my husband is actual thankful for my attention to detail in this area because our tree does look much better for it!

Enjoying the traditional bottled cokes while putting up the ornaments!

We were trying to get some good pictures of everyone and Sadie's only concern was being able to drink her coke without stopping! Good thing this is a once-a-year tradition!

The true "Coke-a-Cola Classic" drinkers....the rest of us opted for Diet

Our best attempt at a self-timer photo (we missed you Linds and Rob!!)

The sign of a great night!

My family headed home a bit earlier than expected on Sunday afternoon due to the baby deciding not to make its appearance yet. And here I sit on Tuesday afternoon still waiting. We are now 8 days overdue but I have to say that I am actually thankful it didn't come over the weekend because we were able to have so much fun with my family and get so much done.

It was a great Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for---(in no particular order)

*personal relationships with Jesus Christ

*God's grace

*our marriage--which is stronger today than ever before and we are still so much in love with each other

*Wyatt and Sadie--we are so thankful we get to be there parents

*a healthy pregnancy and baby--no fears in this household of having a preemie!

*Matt's job--not only a great job with a great practice, but also in the city we wanted to be in

*Amazing family--we are so blessed to have such supportive families that we both love

*Great neighborhood--we couldn't have picked a better place to live

*Freedom--living in a great country that gives us the freedoms we cherish

There are many more but these seem to top the list. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (and hopefully we'll have another little one to be thankful for any day now!)