Family PIctures

 Kayli did an awesome job of taking our family pics... here are a few!

  (more to be seen on our Christmas card)!

Thanks Kayli!

Update!

I haven't posted in a very, very long time.  It is time.

Quick update:  Gabe is 9 months old.  It goes WAY too fast.  I just took him in for his 9 month checkup and everything looks great.  He's 19.8 lbs (40-45%), 29 1/2 inches long (60%) and 19 inch head circumference (60%).  My doctor even said that he thinks Gabe will be taller than Josh!  Woo hoo!  There is hope for him to be tall!  

Gabe is eating table food and any food he can get his hands on.... he LOVES to eat.  He loves to play with balls, go on walks with me and sadie, and play in the tub.  He is full of smiles and loves all of the volleyball girls.  He is such a trooper coming to all of the practices and almost all of the games too.  And he takes great naps... I think that I am one of the luckiest moms around.  What a sweet boy.

Next update:  We finally hydro-seeded!!  We would have had it a couple of weeks ago, but after we raked we were unaware that our sprinklers were set to turn on and so our beautiful raked yard turned in to a beautiful muddy-raked yard.  Nuts.  Then it rained all week after that so we had to hold off.   This year we brought in probably 40 loads of dirt plus 10 loads of topsoil, got our sprinklers put in, laid an RV pad and a patio, put in a rock wall and steps off our back patio.  Finally... got our seed.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate so that we can have beautiful grass next spring.
  If we save up enough next year we are hoping to put in a fence, and maybe even a swingset!  I had no idea how much money and time it takes to put in a yard.  Oh, I forgot...we also planted 5 silver leaf maples in our park strip (which are going to have to come out... their roots are shallow and will tear out our sidewalk).  We planted 2 peach trees, a pear tree, a nectarine tree, and an apple tree by our garden.  We then planted two honey locusts, and two maples that turn bright red in the fall.  It's all coming together slowly!


And my last update:  I love my volleyball girls.  It's so fun to coach.  Sometimes I want to pull my hair out.  It's true.  But most of the time I am so proud of these girls.  They work so hard and have improved SO much!!  Truth be told...we for sure won't win the State tournament. BUT... we have a good shot of going to the tournament and that is success in itself.  These girls are so fun to be around and they are really starting to understand how to be a team;  how to get rid of their egos and play for each other.  I can see a bunch of these girls going on to play college.  How sweet would that be?!   They have taught me so much and have showed so much patience and love to Kayla and me as young coaches.  It's been a blast.

 Last night we beat Murray (who beat us easily the first 2 times we played them) and we have 2 more matches until the State tourney.  I'd love to upset some top teams this year...  :)  Volleyball is more than just a sport to me.  It teaches skills, confidence, teamwork, family, sacrifice, and love.  I hope you can see why I have such passion for this sport.  It teaches girls to be confident, strong women.  And...it's so fun.  Thank you Kayla and Heidi for letting me coach with you this year and for all of our Westlake girls for putting up with me.  I love you all.... and so does Gabe.  And thanks to Josh for letting me continue being in the gym and supporting my love of this game.  

small clip of Gabe's giggle.

Funny noises and little tickles make him giggle.

5 months old

Holy smokes, my baby is growing up.  Today he is 5 months old and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  Being pregnant dragged on like I was living in a slow-motion world, then my boy makes his appearance and life is now pushing the fast-forward button!  Slow down!!  I am loving every stage....  he is sitting up with help, eating rice cereal, rolling from his tummy to his back, and starting to giggle when we tickle him.  He has the sweetest giggle... man. 

 He loves to eat his hands and his toes and loves to chew and suck on anything that he can grab hold of to put in his mouth.    No teeth yet (thankfully)!    

Gabe and I take Sadie on a walk almost every day, and he smiles at me till he eventually falls asleep.  And his funny little quirk right now... constantly twirling his left foot or kicking with his left leg, even when he is eating.  It's pretty cute.  oh... and he LOVES his bottle.  When he sees one his entire body wiggles, kicks, squirms and shakes with excitement, and if he doesn't get it fast enough then he is angry and cries at you till you give it to him. 

And this past sunday he had his first hand-hold with a girl... Ainslee Schmidt.  Her mom Stephanie and I laid them on the floor next to each other during Relief Society to see how they would interact... it was so sweet.  Most of the time they just looked at each other, till Ainslee decided that rolling was more fun.  True love?  We'll see.  :)

(We didn't try to make them hold hands... they did it all themselves!)

I can't wait to see what else is in store for us.

Gabriel Joshua,  your Daddy and I love you so much.  

4month checkup

At Gabe's 4 month checkup he weighed in at 12.9 lbs (12 lbs 14 oz) and 24 inches long.   The doctor said he's healthy and right on track.   I can't believe how fast he is growing!  Just this last week he has found his toes and has been giggling (a little bit).  He rolled over a few weeks ago and sleeps 8-9 solid hours almost every night.  I can remember those first weeks after bringing him home.... I was singing hallelujah if he slept 4 hours at night!  It really goes so fast.  Here are a few recent pics of my sweet boy.

 

First trip to Disneyland

 Our good little sleeper...

Loves to hang with Daddy. 

I'm pretty sure his entire hand is in there.  Talent...? 

Finally starting to sit up with some help!

15 Weeks old!

I can't believe my little boy is already 15 weeks old.  There is so much I love about him, words don't do it justice.  The way his eyes shine when he smiles (especially in the morning!)... the way his tongue curls when he cries, and the way he stretches his whole body when I change his diaper.  It's like he telling me, "freedom!" from the diaper.  It is sooo cute. He talks to me all morning long and gets excited when I come check on him.... his whole body wiggles a million-miles per minute.  Bath-time? Usually more smiles and wiggles.  Oh, and I love how he grins from ear to ear when I lift him over my head to fly. If you haven't seen him do this, I'll show you when you see him, it will steal your heart. 

ok, there is so much more I want to say about this cute boy, but I wasn't even going to write about that... what I really was going to write about was his pictures.  We went to go get his 3-month milestone pics.  They turned out pretty cute.  Not as good as Kayli Johnson did on his one week old pictures, but they still turned out cute.  Being a mom is the hardest and best thing ever.  He just woke up so I better go catch some smiles.   :D

Blessing day

On March 27th we blessed our baby Gabriel. We had immediate family come and join us afterwords for a little food and socializing. Thank you everyone for all your help and for your love and support. We love you!

Lloyd side

Sorensen side

4-generations

phones.. keeping the kids entertained