Hanging at home

I need to tattoo "Take more pictures when it's not a special occasion!" on my arm. :-) I think I have cabin fever and just want SPRING to really be here. It's cold. Brr. But life continues to be interesting and both boys continue to GROW like crazy, hence the need for that tattoo! I don't want to miss capturing those small momentous moments. I think a big milestone is coming up any time now--Patrick walking. He's not there yet, but boy does he want it! Anyway, here are a few photographed moments of late...

The Blue Squirrel toy from Aunt Kerry, Uncle Tim, Jack, and Ella has been a hit with both boys. I love how they've found a way to share it. Perfect!

Uh oh. Patrick was left in the dust!

Oh, I guess he had something to examine on the TV...like how to turn it on. Egads! Watch out for  Will on this thing. The string is to Patrick's 1st birthday balloon. Nice accessory for the ride.

I discovered a new job for Will today--he is great at putting together Patrick's bottles and finding caps/cups that match. Woo hoo! That's my least favorite part of emptying the dishwasher. Now I have Will to do it. Yes! He sorted and put away silverware too. Thanks, Will!

The more tedious the task, the more Will likes it! :-)

Whose birthday was it anyway?

Will thoroughly enjoyed Patrick's birthday and has happily accepted Patrick's new toys into the craziness that is the Sorenson toy collection. I did buy Will some gifts so he wouldn't feel left out, but I needn't have worried--he simply assumed ALL gifts were for him. In theory, he does know that most of the gifts were Patrick's. Now every time the UPS truck comes, Will says, "Birthday present for Patrick?" It only took a few deliveries for Will to make that association. :) I don't worry too much about distinguishing whose toys are whose...except when Patrick tries to play with a new toy and Will shouts, "MINE, Patrick!" Oh, the joys of being a referee. :-)

Will's gift from Mommy and Daddy on Patrick's birthday.

"Helping" Patrick open his gifts. Oh wait--Patrick was in bed. WILL!!!

Grammy's package was a VERY exciting event for Will (and Patrick too).

Ham.

In true boy fashion they ignored the clothes and went straight for the toys. I suppose baby girls would do the same! Mommy loves the clothes!

The book with Grammy's recorded voice is a HIT!

Patrick just couldn't figure out who was talking! :-)

To be fair, I think this ball was really for Will and Patrick has latched onto it as his. Only fair since Will usurped almost everything else! 

Patrick's 1st Birthday: Part I

Patrick's birthday was a busy weekday, but we made the most of it! First, Patrick spent a fun-filled day at Laura's. He always has fun there. He wore his hand-me-down 1st Birthday onesie, which worked out perfectly in my mind. I'm glad I saved all of Will's old clothing. Patrick is small for his age, so Will's clothes have  managed to fit Patrick in the right season. Hooray! I even tracked down the matching 1st Birthday bib. Go, Mommy! Organization paid off.

Justin took the boys to buy me flowers on the way home from school. Meanwhile, I stopped at the same store about 15 minutes later to buy cupcakes and red wine (the wine was for me, of course!). The first birthday is really about the momma, right!? I stopped by the dollar store for party hats, noise makers, and a first birthday balloon. Nothing like advanced planning. Eek. 

We lit a candle on a cupcake and sang to Patrick. Will blew out the candle and singed the front of his hair in the process. Oops! He didn't even notice. Good thing we did before anything serious happened. Patrick DEVOURED his cupcake. His first totally unhealthy treat was well received. He loved it until he hated it, if you know what I mean. Too much of a good thing. After clearing his system, we got him cleaned up and headed out to dinner at Maderas, our favorite Mexican restaurant in town. Jon and Tracy met us there to celebrate Patrick's birthday. So sweet! Both boys were quite well mannered. We ate, had a margarita, and were on our way...Patrick was a perfect little one-year-old angel and he went right to sleep after all the excitement of his first birthday. :-)

My sweet boys.

I'm 1!

Charmer!!!!

He managed to get a chunk of this party favor in his mouth. Ick!

Right before he singed his hair. Oops!

Patrick doesn't seem all that interested in the candle. Good thing Daddy and Will are!

I sense a little jealousy on Will's part. Hmm...Patrick just looks awed.

Is this really for ME?

Digging in...

REALLY digging in!!!

I think the sugar started to hit his digestive system here, and not in a good way. He was cranky boy for a little while. 

Will loved the festivities and only wanted a very small piece of the cupcake.

Mommy does exist

I really don't appear much on this blog, do I? So, here's the face behind the "voice." Self portraits. Justin was off doing something else, so I took matters into my own hands. I MUST have photos of me with my new one-year-old boy! 

I love how he's look at me. 

Hi, Will!

Blue eyes/brown eyes. 

Snowpacalypse

We got a major snowstorm--to the tune of 28" in less than 24 hours--on March 7th, 2011. We had a snow day that day! Here are some pictures that were stuck on my phone. I don't really want to think about snow when Spring is near, but this storm was epic and should go down in (our) history. :-)

We braved the storm to take the boys for a short walk/sled. Justin is up to his waist in the drifts in our side yard here. It was hard to get to the street!

The street had just been plowed like an hour before this shot was taken. Will didn't last long in the sled getting blasted with snow! 

We couldn't keep Patrick out long with his sensitive baby skin...but he liked it for a little while!

The goggles were crucial!

I put Will (yes, WILL) in the backpack for a ski around the neighborhood. If it weren't for my skis, I would have been thigh-deep in snow on the way up the driveway!

Brr.

Dear Patrick...

Dear Patrick,
Tonight has been an unexpectedly emotional night for me. I have been thinking all week about Friday, Friday, Friday, because this week, Friday is March 11th--the incredible day you were born. But tonight (Thursday, March 10th) around 8:00, it hit me--one year ago tonight is when your journey out of the womb really began. I want to tell you your birth story. I think I saved a place on this blog to write this story about a year ago, but I don't think I ever got back to it. Your life has been enriched in so many ways by being our second child, but in the way of documentation, your brother Will got more. But, you got the privilege of having an older brother who adores you (sometimes it might not seem like it, but he does!) and parents who didn't have to learn about babies by taking care of you. Will was our guinea pig. You got the seasoned veterans. :-) But I digress. Here is your birth story...

You were due on March 3, 2010. I was certain that you'd be late--I just had a feeling--but I didn't anticipate you'd be eight days late! The weather was mild for March. There was no snow on the ground, which is very different from now, your first birthday when there's about three feet of snow on the ground--no joke! I did A LOT of walking and a lot of working. I was supposed to start my leave on March 8th, but I just couldn't do it. I wanted to stay busy since I was going crazy waiting for you. So, I worked until. I just couldn't work anymore, and I schedule my last day to be Wednesday, March 10th. I worked a half day that day, and after I left school, I went right to the doctors office so they could check to see how you were doing!

The appointment took a long time. They wanted to hook me up to a monitor to check your heartbeat and to see if I was having contractions. The equipment wasn't very cooperative, so I was there for 2-1/2 hours. I didn't mind. It felt good just to relax and think about what kind of boy you'd be. I knew you were a boy at about 20 weeks...I like to get the surprise early when it comes to babies. No waiting until birth for me! I started to feel crampy at the office. I mentioned it and they said that it could be practice contractions but since I wasn't very dilated, that it probably didn't mean anything. I scheduled an induction date just in case you didn't decide to make your appearance naturally. If we had gone with the induction date, you would have been born on March 16th. I am so glad I didn't have to wait that long.

As I drove home from the appointment, I started to feel some pains. Nothing major, but enough for me to notice. When I got home I told Daddy and we started to monitor things. I spent some quality time with Will on the couch while Daddy made dinner. After Will went to bed at 7:00, I really started to feel some movement and contractions, so I started to time them. Daddy called Laura, your wonderful daycare provider, to come get Will for the night. We weren't sure you were going to arrive, but we wanted to be prepared and make sure that Will was happy and safe. Laura came and got Will around 8:30, and around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., Daddy called my doctor's office to tell them what was going on.They said that I should come up to the hospital to check my progress.

We had to go through the emergency entrance since it was about 11:00 when we got there, and the main entrance was closed. I thought it was silly that they made me ride in a wheelchair, since I was convinced we would just be sent right home after I was checked. But I let them wheel me up to the maternity floor and got settled into our excellent corner room. I changed into a coordinating pajama set and the doctors and nurses laughed that I was even thinking about clothing. I wanted to feel good! When they checked me, I was already dilated to 8 centimeters, which shocked me! I was in some pain, but not NEARLY as much as I was in when I had Will. So, I made the decision to do it "au naturel"--without any pain medication. At midnight, the doctor declared that she'd be very surprised if I didn't have a brand new baby boy in my arms by 2:00 a.m.

It was a long night and--I can't lie--a VERY painful night. Pain like I never could imagine and really still can't. It's true that you forget the pain of labor afterward--not that you'll ever experience that! :-) You got a little comfy in there (not really) and I was stuck at 9-1/2 centimeters for HOURS! I was ready to give up on many occasions in the wee hours of that morning and asked for an epidural or a c-section more than once. My "team" cheered me on relentlessly, though, with your dad being the most amazing cheerleader of all. By the time 5:30 rolled around and it was time to push, I was exhausted. My exhaustion meant it took about two hours to push you out.

When you finally emerged into this world at 7:33 a.m. on March 11th, 2010, you were beautifully pink and had a hearty cry. You were chunky legged, chubby cheeked, and absolutely gorgeous. They declared you 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 21.5 inches long. We later realized the scale was broken and estimate your birth weight at about 8 pounds. No matter--you were happy, healthy, and ready to be with us! I was afraid that holding you wouldn't feel as momentous as it did when I held Will for the first time...the second time around and all. I need not have worried--I was moved just as much seeing/holding you for the first time as I was with Will. What I liked better this time is that I was only groggy from being up all night--not from any pain medications. I was a sweaty, tired mess, but I was fully aware of my new baby boy. And you were beautiful. Unforgettable. Snuggly. Blue eyed. Calm.

This is all I'm going to write for tonight, my sweet Patrick James. You have awoken from your slumber, perhaps sensing on some level that Mommy and Daddy are thinking about you right now. You're demanding some snuggles....well, at least a bottle.

I have more thoughts to share with you tomorrow, on your birthday. Until then, I love you to the moon and back and beyond.

XOXOXOXO

Love,
Mommy

Fun with a diaper box!

Every parent knows that non-toys are often the most fun. Take this diaper box, for example. Will started the fun by dragging it out into the living room and getting inside, and the fun took off from there. I love my three boys! Such excitement over such a small thing. :-)

Dino World!

We had a fantastic February break together, just hanging out at home and being together. It seems like it was ages ago, even though it was just a week ago. The next few posts are photos from our low-key week. It was cold and snowy, but we found ways to beat the winter blues!

I overheard Will talking out loud as he planned his "Dino World." It was very sweet to hear him talking about  the mommy, daddy, and baby dinosaurs and to hear him making dinosaur noises. It's nice to be able to leave him alone to play when I need to get things done! He does quite well independently, but of course he loves to play with us too!

Will was THRILLED to show me his creation on his bedroom floor. I was totally impressed!

Play hard, sleep hard!

Now Patrick I cannot leave alone to amuse himself...at least not for very long. He gets into EVERYTHING!!! I knew he was chewing on these markers and left the room to do something and didn't worry, since he can't get the caps off on his own. What I did NOT expect was that Will would open them for him. Rookie move. What was I thinking? Patrick looks like he's ready for Halloween!

Hey, Mommy! Great look, huh?

Still a charmer...but a sneaky one! 

I HAD to get some stuff done (closet organization in my room), so this was my solution. Will was playing with his dinosaurs while Patrick watched from the hallway, having a snack. I was in our bedroom so he could see both Will and me. 

Getting into mischief is EXHAUSTING!!!