Silly Atley!

This blog post is dedicated to Atley and all the wonderful faces I've been able to catch on camera in the last 6 weeks. He's a lot of fun to play with because I never know what face he's going to make. What's even funnier though is that he usually doesn't know what he's going to do either! I haven't been able to get a good smile on camera yet, so for now I hope you enjoy the many silly faces of Atley!

Here's our little boy playing baby Jesus. Mostly, I wrapped him up this way to keep him warm, but he looked so cute and cuddly!

I was able to find a store that carries the same pacifiers as the hospital. Sorry if you think it's weird. I happen to love it and so does Atley!

These two are hilarious. In the first he's yawning, but if you didn't know that, he looks like he's really shocked or suprised. The second, he looks like he's about to tell me off for doing something he didn't approve of.

This I call "model Atley."

Yes, Atley? Did you want to answer the question?

A proper baby always sticks up his pinky when drinking tea, or holding on to Mom's finger!

And for the finale here are a couple of videos. In the first, you'll see something we discovered by accident. Atley was waiting to eat one night and as I was getting ready to feed him, he was sucking on anything that came by his mouth including my chin and Ian's cheek. This is a re-enactment.

Hope you enjoyed our silly baby as much as we do!

Christmas Cards

Here's the latest installment in Ian's card making extravaganza! These were cards we sent to members of our family. Take a close look and you may see your card here. Ian's been working on them for the past few months in secret so that we could give our families a Christmas surprise. I hope they brought a little joy and uniqueness to your holiday season. After all, these aren't your average Christmas cards!

The outside of the card can be seen on the picture to the left, and the inside on the right. Enjoy!

'Tis the Season!

'Tis the season so they say. The question is, 'the season for what?' Well, growing up in warm climates like Ian and I were fortunate enough to do, this time of year this year has meant something totally different to both of us. Here, I'll show you what I mean.

This is the first snow! Crazy, huh? I'm certainly not used to this type of Christmas season.

Unlike Mom and Dad, Atley is a native to Idaho (even if only for a few weeks) and he knew exactly what to do; get the the covers and stay there for warmth!

With this time of year also comes our ward Christmas party. Atley attended in his most festive attire: his Christmas outfit, with his first Christmas pacifier and burp rag. The bishop's wife was so enthralled with his cute little outfit!

Ian and I knew what came next. Obtain and decorate our Christmas tree. We decided it was in our best interests, and our pocket books, to get a 3 foot tree and dress it up the best we could.

And here is the finished product! Our little tree in all its glory!

So, this year will be a little different for us that the past, but we're really grateful for what we have and the chance to establish our own family traditions. So far we've baked Christmas cookies and delivered them to our neighbors, attended a Christmas party, and played Christmas music almost nonstop! So, though it's different than ever before, 'tis the season!

Thanksgiving

So for the first time, Ian and I hosted our very own Thanksgiving. We were really excited to have everyone join us because we weren't really able to go anywhere because of Atley. We had 14 people (plus Atley) to eat with us on Thanksgiving Day including, My parents, ALL of my 5 sisters, Ian's Mom, Grandma, and Great Grandma, and my Grandma and Uncle.

Here are the pictures I was able to take while they were here. Enjoy!

This was Mom's first time holding Atley. She was really excited to meet him and he was VERY grateful to be held almost non-stop.

Here is Atley with his Great-Great Grandma Cressi. She'd been waiting a long time to hold him, and she was so excited when she finally got the chance.

The food was amazing and these pictures prove it!I'm pretty sure Atley was Maria's new favorite baby by the time she went back to Provo. I bet he likes her a lot too.

"It's TRADITION! You HAVE to put olives on your fingers at Thanksgiving." At least, that's what I was told...

I was so thrilled to have everyone there to enjoy the baby and the food. Maria was kind enough to do the thumbs up for me.5 generations...WOW!

Atley wore his special turkey bib for the occasion. How cute!

Not 5 generations, but there's all my sisters plus the Mom. It has been 2 years since we were altogether. It was sure great to see them.

Erin was such a great help while she was here. She a lot of time caring for Atley and I think got really attached to him.

Darien and Dad arrived on Saturday and she was so excited to finally hold the baby she'd seen so many pictures of! Atley kind of looks like a doll here though.

One special thing that we were able to anticipate was the arrival of Atley's crib. Here's Grandpa Sorense, Taran, and Ian setting it up in his room.
This is our beautiful, hand-made, one of a kind crib. He even added a little touch with this purple heart wood. No, it's not painted, it's actually that color! Cool, huh?

This holiday, Ian and I had a lot to be grateful for. Our families were all here to celebrate the birth of our first baby and we enjoyed every minute of it. Since they've left things have been a lot quieter. grat⋅i⋅tude: the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.

Here are some things that I've been very grateful for this holiday season.
1. The gospel
2. My marriage
3. My baby
4. Family

I hope that everyone was able to find something they've been grateful for and express that appreciation. As President Brigham Young says "I do not know of any, excepting the unpardonable sin, that is greater than the sin of ingratitude." (Teachings: Brigham Young, 177.)

The Great Merger!

So, you may notice that they link to the baby blog is gone. Because Atley is now a part of our family and we do so much together I've decided to merge the baby blog with our family blog. If your someone who love nostalgia and you want to look back on the baby blog to remember all the fun posts, you can still visit it. The web address is www.thesorensenbaby.blogspot.com.

For future news about all 3 of us, you're in the right place. Keep reading!