My Boys!

While we've been enjoying the snow what we've really been dreaming of is our summer vacation. Ian and I recently were able to purchase (for a great price, might I add) some plane tickets to visit our parents; Florida and California here we come! We're both excited to go back and visit our roots and show Atley our old stompin' grounds. Besides that I'm sure ready to get out of the Winter and back where the summer never fades!

Another great thing that's happened recently is a surprise date. A couple weeks ago, Ian was able to get a day off work. He arranged for a babysitter and planned a date all without me knowing about it. I love good surprises. The ones where people pop out from behind doors and stuff I can do without though. Anyway, we went to dinner together and he bought me some new slippers. Here's a picture of the surprise invitation.

He had put the invitation on the fridge and called me after class (when he would normally be going to work) and I read the invitation as he was telling me he was on his way home. With all the stress of school and taking care of Atley that comes, it was sure nice to get a break. I must admit it was so sweet, I cried. I'm not a crier, but I'm so glad I have such a thoughful husband.

The other boy in my life has been absolutely adorable lately. We've been taking pictures like crazy and he and the camera seem to have gained a mutual respect for each other. He'll be 4 months old tomorrow, and getting bigger every day!

Grandma Sorensen was really great to sent Atley some clothes this week. Goodness knows the way he's been drooling we've needed more. Here's Atley in one of the outfits. So cute!

As you know, we like to play dress up. Maybe one day he'll hate me for it, but for now it's really fun! This week we decided to dress him up like his Uncle Taran. Taran has a red vest and sometimes wears it out. I think he was a little jealous of how good Atley made this look.

Atley is babysat every thursday night while I'm in class. Sometimes it's kind of a rush to get out of the door. This past thursday I forgot to refill the diapers in the diaper bag. Oops! When he needed a diaper change, the only size diaper my friend had was Newborn. I thought it was so funny how small it looked, so I took a picture. Another one of those that he'll hate me for whe he's older. It's also interesting to note that this size diaper used to drown him! Our growing boy!

Last night I was able to watch my friend Mary's daughter Emily so she could have a date night with her husband. We always love having Emily over to play because she's such a good helper with Atley. Yesterday she said she wanted to hold him, so I sat him on her lap on the couch. Isn't it just adorable?

This last picture was taken today. Atley finally found his thumb! I've written before about how much he loves sucking on anything he can get in his mouth, well he's finally consigned to the traditional approach. We're not sure what to think of it yet. He slept for a good two hours with it in, but I'm kind of nervous what breaking the habit will mean when he's older. For now, it is quite cute and it probably means less drool! Yay for the Mommy!

An All Mine Valentines

Last week our family celebrated Valentines Day. We've been trying to go to Utah and visit family there, but since that hasn't been working out for us, we chose to stay here and make the most of our weekend.

Friday night, Ian was able to get off work early. We enjoyed having the extra time with him and so did his buddies. They played some games together. Probably as a way to relax and talk about all the great plans they had for their wives' holiday.

Saturday morning, we woke up and played Raquetball (per my request). I haven't been able to get out of the house and do much physically since Atley was born and I really have missed visiting the gym. My friend Mary and I played a couple of games, the first of which she totally smoked me. I think I did pretty well on the second one though. It may seem like an odd thing to do on Valentines day, but it was Ian's way of showing me how much he was willing to do things that make me happy. Besides, he was glad to spend some time with Altey. Male bonding and all that.

After Raquetball, we got cleaned up and went the ward activity. We danced our hearts out to the cha-cha. Ian was a really good sport. Though he says his hips are fused to his legs, he gave it his best effort and the result was quite impressive. What even better is that Atley slept THE WHOLE TIME! What a good baby we have.

The evening came and since we didn't want to head out into the crowded restaurants of Rexburg, we babysat for someone else and got ourselves a special pizza.

Love may be in the air for most Rexburgers, but for the Sorensen family...it was in the Pizza!

Once again Atley was an angel, going to be early and sleeping like a rock so Mom and Dad could enjoy a movie together.

Sunday we enjoyed our church meetings and then had a friend over for dinner. Since we felt bad for being a little selfish with our time on Saturday, we spoiled Atley with attention. We dressed him up and played with him every possible moment. I believe he really enjoyed the attention. Here are some pictures of our time together.

Atley enjoyed us putting real shoes on him for the first time. His little Air Jordans were a gift from a friend. He sure looked ready to play some B-Ball.

I think this Valentines Day Ian and I realized exactly where Atley's heart is. His hand is certainly the love of his young life. Either that or his pacifier.

Here are some other fun pictures Atley has had taken recently. Enjoy!

This one is his official 3 month old photo. All smiles and so BIG!

I was doing my homework and turned around to see him making this creepy face. I HAD to snap a picture!

Gotta love the bunny!

Smiles! Mom loves those!

Though it's hard to see him cry, I definitely love the crying faces too. Plus, his kids will appreciate them someday.

Christmas 2008

Ian and I just celebrated our second Christmas being married, but this one was just the two of us (and Atley of course). We decided that because of Ian's work schedule, costs, and the weather, that we'd stay behind and enjoy a quiet Christmas at home.

Here's how it went...

First we decided that we'd open one present on Christmas Eve. Atley was so kind to offer his present up for opening, so Ian did the opening and I did the pictures!

As we prepared to open his present Atley started crying. Ian said "Man, I don't think he gets the point of Christmas." Maybe he was just upset that we opened it for him.

Finally we were able to get him calmed down enough to see his gift. Thanks Grandma Sorensen!

Much like most of this part of the country, we had heavy snow fall this week. I think the storm totals were from 8-12 inches! So, yes, we had a white Christmas.

And a heck of a time trying to get our car out!

Later in the day we decided to celebrate with some of the students that weren't able to go home for Christmas also. Melaleuca gave us a Christmas Ham, so we cooked that and had about 10 people over (plus about 3 kids) and enjoyed a Christmas dinner.

This is our friend's daughter. She LOVES olives, and apparently someone told her about the olives-on-the-finger tradition. She's a master at it!

We had a lot of friends over for dinner. I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of the adults, but the kids were so cute! This is our friend Mary with her daughter Emily.


Here are a couple more kids from the party. Erin on the left and Bailey on the right. Atley was outnumbered by girls.

Emily loves Atley. She often comes over to our house to see him and is sure to shower him with attention and kisses. She is always updating me on what he's doing by saying things like 'baby Atley crying' or 'baby Atley sleeping'. She's one of the cutest 2 year-olds there is!

All in all we had a wonderful Christmas. But, don't let me be the only one to tell you about it. Here's Atley with his side of the story.

Our Adorable Baby

So, as for the newest developments in Atley's development, he's growing! Unfortunately, the progress is quite slow. We had him weighed and measured on Christmas Eve and he came in at 8lbs 2.5oz and 21.5 inches. For comparison his birth measurements were 6lbs 3oz and 19 inches. And, so you don't have to do the math, that means he's gained nearly 2lbs and grown 2.5 inches. Tomorrow (Dec 27), he'll be 8 weeks old.

Though he's still smaller than many newborns, he's developing mentally by what seems to us as leaps and bounds. He's smiling more and more each day and beginning to talk to us. Here are a couple pictures and a video we took to share!

I just can't get enough of those smiles!

Another thing Atley did recently was he attended his first wedding reception and got to meet Ian's Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen. Grandpa Sorensen's brother is the one who Atley was named after. He was killed before Grandpa was born in an accident involving a horse. Here are some pictures from that party!

Grandpa Sorensen was sure to tell us that Atley is a good looking kid. He also told us that he has no bias and would be totally honest if he was funny looking. That made us feel good and gave us a laugh.

Aunt Margene loved holding Atley. She really likes his name and has been trying to convince someone to use it for a while. We're glad nobody got to it before us. It fits our little baby just perfect.

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