Welcome To The World, Soren Christian!

Brothers...best friends!

Under the bili lights for mild jaundice

We are thrilled that Soren has arrived! He made his debut on Thursday, July 30 at 8:03 am. He weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces (thank God for c-sections!) and was 20 inches long. He is a sweet baby and we are truly enjoying him. It seems all he does is sleep and eat (primarily sleep) but when he's alert he's calm and ready to be cuddled and cooed over.

Nolan is SO IN LOVE with his baby brother. It's the cutest thing in the world to us. He loves it when Soren "squeaks" and is very attentive with kisses. When Soren cries Nolan is deeply concerned and tries to console him as best as an almost three year old can. They are bound to be the best of friends!

Transitioning to a family of four has been attainable in large part to my wonderful, helpful parents. They are staying with us for a while longer and we couldn't be more grateful for their presence.

Our house is crazy chaos right now (primarily due to my out of control hormones) but I am certain we will all find our rhythm in due time. Please pray for us as the journey continues!

July Busy-ness

Nolan with Colin, Cameron and Aaron
Nolan and Valerie

This month has been rather crazy since we are in the final throes of preparing for the arrival of our baby on the 30th. We've washed clothes, moved furniture, set up swings, installed car seats and much more. Our weekends have been spent in "baby mode" and even though we already had most everything we need, we've still managed to spend a good deal of money at Babies R Us. The new little one deserves a few new things, right?

We have also had the pleasure of out of town visitors this month, which has been fun. My friend since sixth grade, Shannon Schmitt, and her family stayed with us earlier this month as they toured NorCal on vacation. Nolan had tons of fun with Shannon and Dave's three boys--Colin, Cameron and Aaron. Talk about lots of testosterone and energy! This morning we dropped off my friend Valerie at the airport to head back home to San Diego. She had been with us just shy of a week, and again Nolan had a blast with her. On Sunday my parents are coming to stay with us and help with the transition from one child to two. I am SO grateful they are willing to come. They are a huge help!

If I thought this month was crazy, I know the next month will be even more so as our family grows. We are excited and trust that God will help us get through those even crazier days!

Anniversary Weekend

Todd and I have been married for five years now! June 26, 2004 was such a special day and it's so neat to have it come around again each year and reflect upon all the good things God has done in our lives. To celebrate we spent the weekend in Sausalito, a quaint bayside town at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge just across from San Francisco. Of course, we had Nolan with us so our getaway wasn't romantic per se, but it was fun and full of adventure.

We explored some of the coastline in Marin County and loved the fact that the temperature was a cool 75 degrees as opposed to the 108 degrees that we found when returning to our home on Sunday afternoon. Ick! We took Nolan to the Bay Area Discovery Museum which was fantastic. It truly was an awesome place for the 2-8 year old set to explore. We'll definitely be back! We planned to head up the coast a ways to Muir Woods, where some of the most spectacular redwoods stand. However, there were signs all along the freeway that said the parking lot at Muir Woods was full. We'll try it again another time, maybe on a weekday this fall when the toursists are gone! Yet another diverted plan was to go to Golden Gate Park, but once we found out that it was Gay Pride Weekend in San Francisco we quickly changed our minds!

We stayed at a beautiful resort called Cavallo Point Lodge literally at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge. Cavallo Point is on an old army property called Fort Baker. About 18 months ago part of Fort Baker was remodeled to be a luxury hotel. The "house" (room) we stayed in was formerly officer's quarters. I loved the history of this place!

Our greatest adventure, however, belonged to Nolan. He locked himself in the bathroom in our room and there was no way to get him out without the help of two maintenance men who had to come and literally pry the lock off the door. He was in the bathroom for about 15 minutes...and all three of us laughed the entire time. What a crazy kid!

Marin Coastline

The world famous Golden Gate Bridge

Our "house" at Cavallo Point

Fun at the Discovery Museum

My Husband Is So Selfless That...

...he got ME a new car for Father's Day! (Yes, you read that right!)

We weren't really in the market for a new car, but we love to go look at them anyhow. It's one of our mutual pastimes. Even before we were married we went to car shows together and ooh-ed and aah-ed over all the fun that can be had on wheels. And now Nolan loves cars, too, so it truly is a family affair. Anyhow, we had heard all sorts of good things about the new crossover from Toyota, the Venza, and thought we'd just take a peek.

That peek turned into a test drive that turned into an evaluation of our Jeep. Numbers were crunched and we learned that we could save money (about $100 a month) if we bit the bullet. Sayonara, my beloved Jeep! It's been a wonderful three and a half years, dear Jeepy, but you've been replaced by a brand new Venza.

The Venza has all the bells and whistles we are spoiled with... (ahem, "accustomed to!") and more. My favorite two features are the automatic liftgate and the fact that Nolan can get in and out of his car seat all by himself. I no longer have to hoist my big boy up into the car because it's lower and "angled better" for easy access! A pregnant mommy's dream come true! It drives so smoothly and quietly and doesn't feel like a truck even though it has the power my Jeep had. It was fun scooting about town today and exploring the features. Nolan has already taken to calling it "Nolan's black car, " but it's really mine!

33.5 Weeks And Counting!

Here I am in all my "pregnant glory." I am ready for this little guy to just hurry up and come already! This pregnancy has been SO MUCH MORE achy and physically challenging than my pregnancy with Nolan and I'm selfishly ready for it to be over. However, I know that it's best for the baby to cook as long as possible, and of course we want nothing more than a healthy little one. So, unless baby has other plans, he will arrive via c-section on July 30. Only 5.5 weeks more. I CAN do this!

Slightly OCD?

Nolan has my tendencies to be organized and perhaps a bit OCD. This afternoon when I opened his door after rest time this is what I found. He likes taking his diapers out of the diaper drawer and looking at them...but this lining them up just made me laugh! What a goofball!

24

24, although one of my favorite TV shows, is really not blog-worthy. Especially now since the season's over. What else can be said? Of course, Jack won't die of whatever plague he's been contaminated with, and of course he'll be back again defending the country. It's just TV, people.

The 24 I'm referencing here is the wonderful, perfectly sublime 24 hours of true alone time I was treated to this weekend. I've been feeling overwhelmed, both as a wife and a mommy lately, so my dear husband made arrangements for me to stay at one of his hotels last night. There were no dishes to put in the dishwasher, no phone calls to answer, no emails to reply to, no Nolans to feed or bathe, no Todds to tend to. It was all about me...and it was delicious.

I haven't had 24 hours completely to myself since Nolan's been born. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE spending time with my family, but there's definitely a huge need in my life for "prolonged" solitude and rejuvenation. I got it this weekend and I feel like a new person.

Here's a basic rundown of my last couple days. (Um, it's OK to be jealous. Just let your hubby know that you, too, need some alone time! Seriously, 24 hours can make a world of difference!)

Saturday, 9:50 am--Woke up in a daze and frantically ran into Nolan's room to make sure he was OK. He rarely sleeps this late. He was fine and just waking up himself. God bless him!

Made breakfast for the family, showered, packed and hit the road at 11:30 with a raspberry mocha frappucino in hand. Already I feel like queen for a day!

12:30--Arrived at my destination, Santana Row in San Jose. Who knew that this little slice of European inspired shopping / dining sunshine exsited? (Oh yes, my husband. He knows what I like!)

Perused the shops at my leisure, had a wonderful lunch curbside at a darling little French cafe.

3:30--Checked in to the hotel, read to my heart's content while being serenaded by the gurgling courtyard fountain right outside my window.

6pm--Not hungry for dinner due to delectable late lunch but opted for Pinkberry frozen yogurt as a light alternative. Perused more shops, lounged at Borders Books, picked up dessert (chocolate raspberry mousse...mmm!) for a late night snack.

7:30--To the room, pajamas on, book open.

9:30--Lights out.

Sunday, 9:30am--Lights on.

10:15--Breakfast at the hotel in the courtyard. I hadn't had cheese blintzes in forever and they were so good!

10:50--Check out of the hotel, stroll through Farmer's Market and a few more shops, listen to the wonderful jazz musicians while sipping yet another raspberry mocha in the piazza.

11:45--Realize that although I've had a wonderful time alone I miss my guys like crazy-cakes.

12:30--Pull into my garage and greet the ones I love best with hugs and kisses.

Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

I {Heart} Vacation

We had a great time out in Palm Desert! It's so nice to get away and have time with our little family. My parents kept Nolan for a couple of days so Todd and I could have some alone time (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and then the three of them joined us later in the week. We spent most of our time in the pool...Nolan's favorite place ever. We love our little fearless fish!

Big splashes!

A new favorite snack...Dreyer's "Dibs" ice cream miniatures are the perfect size for little hands!

Out on the boat...after the fight to get the life jacket on!

The last 24 hours of our vacation were spent in San Diego with our wonderful, dearly missed friends. Getting to spend time with the people we love and miss is the best!

Nolan, Tre and Zeke chowing on popcorn

Warning! Delinquent Blogger Alert!

I have been so awful about keeping this blog up to date. It's not as if nothing's been going on in the Liedahl home, it's just that at times I feel too overwhelmed, tired, uninspired, or just plain uninteresting. I guess you'd call it a "slump" regardless of whatever has caused it!

As my waistline (and tush and legs and face) expand I have become so much more sedentary. But even sedentary is uncomfortable at this point! When I was pregnant with Nolan I KNOW I had more energy and stamina, but this time around I just feel like a voraciously hungry bump on a log. At least I'm getting in a lot of good reading before the baby comes...and Nolan doesn't seem to mind just playing out on our patio in the sandbox, painting, or tooling around with his trucks and cars. When we go to the park these days it's to small parks (where he can't run too far away from me!) that have benches in the shade. I hope he doesn't remember this stage of his childhood as being deprived or neglected.

Although he's truly NOT deprived or neglected, something is definitely "setting him off" these days. In the past few weeks he has taken to throwing tantrums like never before which include hitting and kicking me. I'm at my wit's end not knowing how to handle them and I've read all sorts of parenting books, solicited advice from friends and prayed my heart out...but nothing seems to help. Right now it appears that the best thing to do is not to "reason" with him but to leave him alone in a safe place and let him "get it out." I know much of this stems from the fact that he has trouble communicating his wants and needs...and this breaks my heart. In some ways I feel as if his communication skills have not steadily improved in the last few months (as they developmentally should), and may actually be regressing a bit. I just don't know what to do other than to love on him and let him know he's safe. If this behavior and breakdown in communication lasts too much longer I am seriously considering having his speech and language evaluated. I'm not seeing a "red flag" yet, but there's definitely a flag there...and it's slowly turning pink.

In other news, we had a great vacation last week. Right now I'm too exhausted to detail it with pictures and stories...but I promise the time will come. Maybe this weekend, maybe not. Stay tuned!

Night Time Routine

Nolan LOVES his bath and always has. He thinks it's great fun to splash as hard as he can and get everything in sight good and wet. Especially me.

But the highlight of his evening is "flying" wiht Dadddy. Todd swings him in the air and throws him onto a big pile of pillows on our bed. This father / son "bonding time" incites giggles all around. Of course it does rile Nolan up just minutes before bedtime...but it's worth it.