Chunky Monkey Please

Since so many of you enjoyed the picture I posted of my better half when he was a "wee" one, I decided to delight my readers with a few more pictures I found today.
I'm glad my man has such a strong dose of core confidence so that we can laugh together at this fabulous bit of nature. You're adorable baby.

Detroit Car show

So, if we lived in Paris, we would go see art and architecture, but since we live near Detroit, we get to see cars! It was as cool as a broadway show in New York or The Grand Canyon.. just different...
We loved the concept cars and tried out all the 7 seaters as we plan for a few years down the road when we get to buy a nice practical used car with plenty of room for car seats. Believe it or not, our two favorites were the Kia Borrego and the Buick Enclave. (pictures in that order)

Not a dream car, but a great family car and it comes in my favorite car color.. russet (although I don't think they call it that).

The best part about it was that Paul got to feel smart teaching me all about cars, like which car company bought out who, when and who owns what now and where they're all from. I also learned all about engine sizes and how to compare horse power and understand their names.
Here were some of our favorite concept cars...

New Year's

We celebrated New Year's at our house with Pat, Steve, Jeanette and her baby Jake!.



We loved having Jake here. Eirik loved having a playmate live here for a few days! (so did I! Can I rent a playmate for Eirik somewhere??) Wait.. I just need the one I gave birth to to grow up .. Quick!

We were so blessed to have Pat and Steve visit us. They not only are great examples of a married couple and of great parents, they are also full of good advise, unconditional love and great wisdom. They did more than I would have ever asked of taking care of the boys to give Paul and I a break. They also looked around our house and found all kinds of ways that they could bless our lives.
new blankets,
changed lightbulbs
ice scrapers
a new lock for our front door that Eirik can't open
important car repairs
a little set of table and chairs for E
a hobbie horse and tons of plastic animals
and much more.
They have a way of spoiling us that makes me want to turn around and be just as generous to other people around me. They are great examples of our Heavenly Fathers unconditional love. They knew of many of our needs before even we did, just as our Heavenly Father does. We are blessed.

Joren's first Christmas... and beyond

I'm so easily distracted. Each time I come to the computer with a few moments to spare I get out my list of things I'd love to blog about and then inadvertently get sucked into someone else's blog before I write a word. I love my friends blogs! How fun it is to get a peak into your lives! I would feel ashamed to not share mine back.

First. We had a photo shoot of our family with our little Joren. Some of the pictures are posted on our great photographers blog. We are deciding which ones we are going to buy. Um.. we want all of them. :)
In these pictures our little Joren is so tiny- like this one where he's lying in a serving tray in the sun.
He was only 6lbs 2oz when born and I have already , in just 7 weeks put away all of his newborn clothes, adjusted the carseat to the next size and moved him to #3 diapers... yes you heard it #3 diapers! I have extras of all the previous sizes to store away for baby 3. The funniest part of this is that Eirik just grew out of 3's about 4 months ago so I still have extra 3's! Joren is chunky and SO cute.
This is a close up on his shirt that totally makes me happy since it was his dad's shirt when he was one. I don't know how Paul fit into it at 1 since this is what he looked like at 3 months. :)
(I never get tired of showing off this picture!)
It even says Paul on the back in this great light orange velvet print. I love it! Paul's mom passed this on to us for Christmas. How cool is that that she saved it all this time!
Speaking of Christmas....
I know it's a little late, but for the sake of record keeping..
We spent our Christmas this year at Zach and Arinn's house with their three kids. Since both of our families couldn't afford to fly home, Paul's parents and his sister Jeanette came to us! We had a great time! Since we got married I have failed miserably at buying Paul Christmas presents, but this year finally I bit the bullet, stopped being so stinking stingy and got him some things he wanted. And of course he spoiled me as usual. We had so much fun with little E letting him open presents. He is still little enough that he was just all eyes. He loved watching his older cousins tear into their gifts! I think his favorite gift was this My little Pony that we bought to give to his cousin, but he fell in love with it so much when we were wrapping it that I ended up giving it to him. He carries it with him everywhere. (sorry Eirik, I know that info will work against you in the future... ha ha ha,,, said with a sinister laugh)
Our Christmas festivities were mostly marked by excellent food. Our hosts really know how to eat well. (I should have taken pictures! Duh!)
Their Christmas eve tradition is to cook up a ton of really fresh big shrimp with a lot of spice and butter sauce. Yum! They told us to use "Old Bay Seasoning" and steam the shrimp according to the directions on the back of the Old Bay bottle. They said just don't overcook the shrimp. We are definitely going to pick up this tradition!
They also made a salad of baby greens, candied pecans, dried cranberries, green apple slices, avocado thin sliced red onions and a vinaigrette dressing that we loved. The following ingredients are all added in quantities that are guessed at. Arinn said we should adjust according to our taste.. as if we are all as good at cooking as she is. :)

Vinaigrette Dressing:
2-3 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper 1/2 tsp and add to that to taste
1 T sugar (or more)
1 T mustard (or less)
1 T lemon juice (or less)
Balsamic vinegar (more vinegar that oil)
1/2 c olive oil

And of course we did the nativity. Eirik took his part as Joseph so seriously. It was adorable to watch. The singing was "divine" and luckily Paul didn't get hurt too bad this year playing the donkey. Only a few bruises.

For Christmas morning my family always made fresh squeezed orange juice and fruit pizza. This is one tradition I love to keep going. Next year I'll make sure I have a round pan so that the fruit is all arranged in spirals. I'ts much prettier that way. I also decided that I am going to use the white chocolate mouse from Katherine's strawberry tart recipe for the layer under the fruit and over the cookie dough crust. Is this a breakfast or a desert you may ask. Well it's Christmas breakfast so why does it matter!?
Mousse ingredients:
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker's), chopped
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions for mousse:
Combine white chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in large metal bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl
to touch water) and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove
bowl from over water; cool chocolate mixture until lukewarm, about 15
minutes.
Beat remaining 1 cup whipping cream and vanilla in large bowl until
peaks form. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with cream of
tartar in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into
chocolate mixture, then fold in whipped cream. Transfer mixture to
cooled crust; smooth top. Chill overnight.

Good thing you have to make this in advance because no one wants to cook this much on Christmas morning.

We also usually have an egg and barbeque pizza for breakfast with the fruit pizza. Zach suggested that next year we make it like an egg calzone with lots of herbs and cheese inside the crescent roll pastry covering. I think I love it. I'll have to start experimenting with this great idea. Thanks Zach.

I thought Joren's tiny feet were especially cute in these tiniest Christmas socks. I should have put a quarter next to them.... just believe me... tiny ok.

We loved having Christmas with Paul's family, but I also missed mine. My brother left on a mission to New York in early December and we are so proud of him. isn't my family so cute?!
I think Davy is trying to look like Shaggy here... he's still pretty good looking, even if no one will hire him. :) (Oh, Daniel is on his tippy toes... don't be fooled. ... Dan, you're on your mission and can't read this to defend yourself anyway.. ha ha )

This is my gorgeous sister and her beautiful family. I miss you guys!!! Joren's hair is going to be this same copper color of his cousins. Those red hair genes are pretty strong dad. So far you've passed them on to 3 of the 4 grandkids!
I'm so excited to go home to see these great people at the end of Feb! Yay!

A New Year is Here ..

My friend Emily just posted that she has decided to make a blog specifically for her son and my friend Merillee has a great blog written through the eyes of her 2 year old. It's so cute. I've been thinking of doing it too. I've noticed that all of my posts of late have been all about my boys and I don't think I've written anything about me in a while, or about my husband either come to think of it... so you can expect a bit of a change in my next few entries. So.. it would be nice, but it's too much work so I've decided to use my labels a lot better and I'll keep doing my monthly updates about my boys and just make them separate posts. That way if the nitty gritty details about each tiny development can be easily skipped if it's just a little too much (as I imagine it can be for anyone other than the mother (me).)

I'm way into list making and crossing off lists.

I have this yearly goal setting extravaganza down to a science. But this year it's already the 15th and guess what??
No List!!

Am I starting to chill out in my old age? (almost 31!!!)

No, it's probably not that? (unfortunately) (sorry Paul)
Do I feel like I have already perfected myself and there is nothing left to do??

... no, I can't even take that joke any further. :)

Am I lazy?

No.. not really.

I guess I have been waiting for the right inspiration. I've come to realize that goals are all about lifestyle changes and well, I can only really think of one that I am prepared to tackle right now. Getting to the change means a lot of talk in between. Here goes:

I had my life mapped out in perfect detail up until the point when I got married. I had career goals, monetary goals, lifestyle goals, and always hit my goals. Then I got married and Paul decided to do med school and then everything about where we live, how much money we have or don't have became all wrapped up in this one big goal that I have very little control over. Up until now Paul knew that he wanted to be a doctor, but had no idea what kind. This wide open ended future has been really hard for me to get a grasp on. Paul has to turn in his schedule for his elective rotations for the next year this week so the past week or two has been pretty stressful trying to decide so many big things. Paul was talking to a lady at his work about these decisions and she said, "you just need to have more faith in God!" Her statement really struck me. The reminder coming from someone outside my faith seemed like even more of a reprimand. I realized that I have been living in a state of stress and fear rather than a state of hope, faith and optimism. Being optimistic is a choice and I have not been making the right choice about it all the time.
I remember distinctly the day when I realized that someday I would have a husband, we would be partners and I wouldn't always have to do it alone. This week I was reminded that Paul and I don't have to do this alone. Luckily we are in it together with a merciful, loving God that loves us in a way that we don't deserve, that we haven't earned and he wants to give us what we need even when we don't have a clue what it is. I have not been exercising my faith. My burdens have been heavy because I have not believed that God is watching our little plight.
My poor husband has had to live with me for so long being super stingy and thrifty as if we are always going to be dirt poor. I am so conservative by nature and being married to someone much more liberal is often challenging, but I've realized that part of my stingy side comes from a lack of faith. Doesn't He say that He "giveth liberally and upbraideth not"? Doesn't He say that the lilies of the fields are arrayed in majesty, why are we worried about ourselves?
I took some time and listed in my journal many of my fears or concerns that sort of shape my thinking and it helped me realize how negative I have been in my thinking rather than seeing the bright side of things. It's so ingrained that I think it's going to be a chore to reprogram and truly change my thinking. . . so that's my goal for the year.
True/ core deep optimism fueled by honest faith.
I can use all the suggestions you all have.

I'd like to end with a quote I am stealing from my dear friend Michelle's blog:

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

My Rock star name is Tiger Pathfinder

I got Tagged:


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -
Tiger Pathfinder

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) -
Raspberry Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) -
"M"-"Aan"

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) -
Chartreuse Ibis

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) -
{no middle name, but nickname=} Mel Roy Glenwood

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) -
AAnMe

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) -
The russet nestea (Hey just cause I don't drink it doesn't' mean it's not my fave)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) -
Stanley Glen

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite scent/perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Romance Chocolate Pretzel

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) -
Gayle Glen

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) -
I can't remember for the life of me..

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) -
Spring Orchid

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) -
Mango Diamond

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) -
Nothing Aspen

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) -
The Painting Thunder storm Tour

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A new twist on cool

Yesterday Paul was telling Eirik a scary, intense story about Eirik slaying big fire breathing dragons. Paul asked Eirik, "What's your horses name?" and Eirik confidently said "My little Pony!".
Today Eirik insisted that Heman rides My little Pony! Is this as funny to anyone else as it is to me??

The super cheese grin

Whenever you ask Eirik to smile he breaks out in this super Cheezzzy grin. Paul likes to imitate it, and it cracks me up. Here is Paul showing off his Christmas present that I made him this year. It is a World of Warcraft lap quilt showing his WOW character as he has developed over the past few years. No Paul, I will not hide your shame. It is here broadcast to all of my friends. You are most definitely a video game nerd... but a pretty cute one at that. Cheezzze and all. :)

Spoiled Rotten

Having a new baby is fun in so many ways. But one of the great benefits of new babies is the spoiling you get from the proud grandparents. We have been so blessed by our parents this month.
First my mom came to town for a week and I can't count the ways that she blessed our lives. She brought a bunch of Christmas presents with her including clothes for the boys, pajamas, books, toys, and games. She took us shopping and helped us stock up on food storage. We bought Christmas presents together. She taught me how to clean my carpets. (Yes, I'm 30 and have never lived in a house with carpets I had to clean.) She taught me how to use fabric softener, (yes, I'm 30 and lame at laundry.) She did crafts with me every night!!! (Does it get any better. :) She helped me finish my Christmas stockings that wouldn't be done without her. We stayed up late sewing by the tree while she read a fabulous Christmas story, and we cried together. sob sob sob... She helped me decorate and clean and she played and played and played with Eirik and Joren and let me sleep in. I am so lucky to have her in my life, even if I only get to see her once or twice a year. We tried in one week to make up for all the lost time. I sure miss her and wish we lived closer. We went to a church activity and I had women I have never met coming up to me at the end telling me what a delight my mother is. In one week I learned so much from her about how to love people and how to be kind. Thanks mom for being so great! I owe it to you to shape up a bit. Love you!

A pound a week!

So every new mother thinks their baby is just the cutest thing... unless the baby is not the cutest thing.... and Paul and I just weren't so sure for a couple of weeks. Joren was so tiny when he was born, he was absolutely beautiful, but he was really so very sloppy, squishy, skinny, and lets admit it.. skeletal, we were a bit worried and wondered (only to ourselves of course) if he was going to turn out. Luckily we are proud to say, he will. :) The other day, overnight, it seems he got just cute as can be. We looked at each other and said, "Look! He got really cute!" He's one month old now and we just found out that he is now a whopping 10 lbs 3 oz.. meaning he has grown over a lb. a week since we was weighed at one week old. Not bad! He has already outgrown his newborn diapers that I seriously stocked up on and the new onesies that I made for him when I brought him home. He is starting to smile that "is he really smiling?" smile and he is just melting us every day. I wish I had a great camera and I could capture what we get to see when we look at him. This is the best I can do right now. I'll work on it...

This photo is from Joren's blessing which we got to do at Zach's house the week of Christmas. Paul did a great job. It was a beautiful blessing.

Smart as a whip and conviced this is the funniest thing in the world

Eirik at 21 1/2 months

I love doing a monthly update about our kids. Mostly because it helps me remember to write down some of the cute things they are up to. First of all, I have to tell how cute Eirik has been at rolling into this new roll as older brother. We have been reading so many books about new babies and being a big brother and what babies do for so long that Eirik seemed accept his new responsibility with ease. He LOVES his brother. He loves to bring Joren all of his favorite toys and pile them on Joren's tummy. Eventually Joren will have 4 horses, a rooster, 2 cats and a spaceman on him and Eirik will be going for the piano next. Eirik loves to say "Baby brother Joren, watch Eirik, clap like Eirik, jump like Eirik!" He talks so well now that I forget how young he is sometimes. He understands everything I say. We have to spell things if we want to keep secrets from him and I'm afraid he's going to start deciphering what we are spelling soon. He has learned to read 5 or 6 words from this awesome book that we got from the library called "Move" and we are working on reading quite a bit. He knows his whole alphabet and recognizes each letter. He can count to 20 without help, but he always misses 14. He has become a great little helper. He always takes Joren's diapers to the trash can without me asking. He has a few cute phrases that he says all the time like "Yes, mommy, ok" and "Mommy and daddy said no no" (this is said with a little finger shake.) He is afraid of trains. He always says "Train coming our house." I tell him every day that the train is far away and there are no train tracks in our house, but he is convinced that the trains are coming for him.
He loves pretend. Paul told him a bedtime story about dragons and swords and ever since we have been hearing constant monologue that sounds like this: "Daddy, sword, fight dragons, right ere, dragon scary rahrhhh, fight Eirik, sword, um dragon, yes oh yes, sword." Then Dad says, "What's the dragon's name? "Yes, oh, yes T-rex, Dragon, fight dragon right ere, this side, Tricertops, says, run cerotops, run Eirk play T-rex, mom play cerotops. Mommady T-rex. Princess go?" (Where did the princess go?) "Get it princess. Get it princess. (escalating pitch) Get it, GET IT, GET IT!! Mommady, (mix of Melody and Mommy) black horsey go? Black horsey go?? Girla ride horsey, hold on tight girla, fight dragon, fight dragon!" And if we keep it going this can go on for hours.
Eirik repeats everything that he thinks important over and over and over again. He is SO stubborn! I hear the following phrases about 100 times a day.
"Up pease mommady"
"come ere mommady"
"hode it mommady" (hold this toy mom)
"watch TV, milk"
And here are a couple of other sayings we love to hear him say:
"Eirik appy now" (happy now) or more recently "om appy now" (I'm happy now)
"duel Mommady!" (let's have a duel)
"on guard big dagon" (dragon)
"run free" (while naked after getting out of tub)
"lay down next" (lay down next to me Mom)
And my favorite "I love you to Mommady"
If I say something is hard to do Eirik will say, "Daddy help"
He loves anything with horses. If there is a tiny picture of a horse in a book, he will be obsessed with that page. He has about 12 horses that he carries around with him while he says, "woah, gigup, gigup" (giddyup) or "Mommady, by sis guy", (Mom, pretend you are this horse and play with me.) Today at Ikea we let him ride around on this hobbie horse (the kind with a horses head on a stick.) He was making everyone in the store laugh by trying to gallop by walking sideways holding the horse and whinnying at the top of his lungs. It was quite a show!
There is a show that we found on google video called "Horseland" that he insists on watching all the time. He also loves Wonder Pets. It's been a great starting point for lots of pretend adventures with his horses and other little animals that always have to go save other animals in our house.
Tonight we were putting together some a new kid size set of table and chairs for Eirik and someone said "I need a screwdriver." Eirik went to go find one. He tried to open the door where the tools are and couldn't do it so he went to the dishwasher, opened it, found a knife and ran back saying "ow bought knife?" (how about a knife, will that work?"!!!! We were all stunned, but not quite as stunned as when he showed us that he knows his right hand from his left hand when asked. I only told him this once, and Paul told him once when he showed him the right and left blinker in the car.
We've had more than one person tell us that we are in way over our heads with this kid. He's too smart for us.
Am I going to regret that I never learned calculus?

Joren is a keeper! ...

We've been snapping pictures all week and here are a few of the best...
We think he's adorable. When we brought him home from the hospital we found that none of the clothes we had for him would fit! He was too tiny. So I made some clothes. These are the only onesies that fit him, so I decorated them, and I made the green fleece pants you see. These are so easy and fast to make. I love sewing!



And I love this little bundle of joy. He is such a delightful boy! He doesn't cry except when getting his diaper changed. When he's hungry he just fusses and sucks on his hands. He is so good natured and sweet. He's a great eater and so far doesn't spit up much and burps easily. What a delight!

Christmas Stockings

My friend Amy told me yesterday that her mom suffers from OPD: Obsessive Project Dissorder. I totally relate!! This is my disease!

Ever since Kristen showed me her Thanksgiving banner creation I have been bitten by the sewing bug. I keep thinking up all of these fun fabric projects. The first couple of projects I have tackled are some darling little onesies for Joren, some fleece pants for Joren and these fun Christmas stockings. I've always wanted to make stockings, but it didn't make sense to make them until we had a bit bigger family.
I still need to embroider the names on the top. The "believe" one is mine, the wise men one is Paul's since he is wise and the patriarch of the home who's job is to lead us to the Savior, Eirik's is the shepherd with the sheep since he loves animals, and Joren's is the angel since he is our little Christmas angel this year.
I listened to the book of Luke online while I embroidered these and had a great time thinking about the Christmas story.
Thanks Kristen for inspiring me and giving me confidence!

Drum Roll Please.........

TA DA!!
Just in time for Christmas, let us introduce the newest little darling member of our family:
Joren Paul Aanderud!!

He was born Nov. 26th at 9:45 PM
He was 6 lbs. 2 oz.
20" long
He has short blondish red hair and deep cobalt blue eyes.


Before I begin our story, let me apologize in advance to all of you that have had much harder deliveries than mine. Please don't hate me because I deliver fast. :) (oh, and don't read this if you don't want graphic details.)

Joren was due Dec. 8th, but I had a feeling he would come early. I don't know why, Eirik was a week late. Maybe it was just a wish because I didn't want him to be born on top of Christmas, nevertheless, I had a hunch.
On the morning of the 26th I woke up at 3AM with some pretty strong Braxton Hicks. I rolled around on the ground and did yoga stretches for about 2 hours while they came about every 20 minutes or so, and then they stopped. I had my regular doctor's appointment at 9:30 where he told me I was at a 4. Then, very little happened for most of the day, just little contractions warning me that the time had come. I packed and prepared. At 6:30, I started to time them... about 10 minutes apart and getting stronger. We finished our pizza and packed the car. We took Eirik to Erin and Jed's house and put him to bed just before 8:00. At 8:15 we got to the hospital and went to the triage room. I told them they could skip triage, but they didn't believe me. Then transition came, and it came FAST. I think I went from a 5 to a 9 in about 3 or 4 contractions during which time they were trying to get me to walk to the delivery room... yeah right! It was excruciating, and I totally caved in concerning my desire to go natural and begged for pain killers, but as soon as I was through that 4th contraction and had layed down in the delivery room, I somehow got a hold of myself and stopped hyperventilating and started breathing right. One more contraction and they said I was complete and to forget about any pain killer, there was no time. The Doctor came running into the room at about this point, and I was glad he wasn't going to miss it! He had to pull himself away from Dancing with the Stars. :) I asked for the bar that goes over the bed to grip onto. (I was glad Erin and I had gone on a tour and learned about the bar because no one in the room knew where it was, and I did.) It was at the perfect height and made my positioning just right. The contractions were still very intense, but I got my mind wrapped around it somehow and I went deep and started chanting "open, open, open" to myself over and over and over again. I made everything else disappear except visualizing helping this baby out. And then I knew it was time to push him out. This is the coolest part! With Eirik I got an epidural when I was at a 9 so I didn't feel any of the pushing. I just pushed when the doctor told me to. I had a third degree tear that took 4 months to heal. I didn't want that again and I was convinced that if I could go natural I would be able to push when my body was ready and I wouldn't tear. I was right!! This time, I knew exactly what this baby needed to get out. I knew just when and how hard to push. It was such a rush!! I got to reach down and feel his head coming out. I can't explain how amazing this feeling is. After 4 or 5 good pushes, he was out and they put him right on my chest to see him! He was born at 9:45, one hour after we checked in!! He was gorgeous. I had a tiny repair, less than a one degree tear! I was thrilled! The doctor's and nurses were great through the whole thing. There was no in-my-face coaching or breathing or panic in the room. I felt like I was in a great calm amidst this crazy flurry of activity. Paul was perfect. He was calm, reassuring and motivating. I couldn't have done it if he hadn't been there.
The pain was outrageous. It was excruciating and overwhelming and yet so real and magnificent at the same time. I wouldn't do it any other way now that I know how awesome it is to be in control of the birth. What a miraculous experience!

Little Joren is precious! We were so excited to introduce Eirik and Joren. Paul went to get Eirik early in the morning and Paul and Eirik brought me flowers and Joren a teddy bear. Eirik was SO CUTE with Joren. First I showed Eirik that my tummy was smaller, then he looked around for the baby. He totally understood what was going on. He wanted to hold him and touched him and said "soft". Then I told Eirik that Joren was probably hungry so Eirik pretended to peel a banana and offered it to him. (We do this with his stuffed animals.) Then he offered him some pretend milk. Then Eirik gave Joren a little smack on the head just to see what would happen. :) Then he kissed him and told him to "open his lother eye", and poked him a bit. He wanted Joren's socks off so he could see his feet, then he tickled them. Eirik was giggling and loving it the whole time. It was so exciting. I wanted to get pregnant right away after Eirik was born because I just knew Eirik needed a buddy. He's such a social kid, and now I can't wait for these two to be able to play together more. I'm so glad they have each other.


We came home from the hospital after 24 hours, as soon as they let us. I was starting to feel like a rat in a cage and I was so glad to be home. Our wonderful friend Kristen drove back from Cleveland to stay with us for a few days since my mom can't come until my brother leaves on his mission next Wednesday. (YEAH DANIEL!!!!!) That's a pretty good reason to postpone coming I would say! We're so glad to have Kristen. And so lucky to have Erin who kept Eirik overnight, and Christina who kept Eirik for most of the day yesterday! Thanks you guys!!!