Merry Christmas!
We've had a busy, but fun last few days. We were able to celebrate with both sides- the Sorbels before Christmas and my family on Christmas day. As we were talking about Christmas being Jesus' birthday, Addie of course wanted to make a cake and bring birthday hats. On the way to my parents' house Christmas morning, Addie looks at me and asks, "Mama, where's baby Jesus?" Brandt nodded at me and I began to explain as best I could about Jesus, where He lives, and why we still celebrate. So after lunch that day, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Addie blew out the candles on the cake, announcing that Jesus lives in our heart. Good girl! :)
Other exciting events this week...
-We started rice cereal with the little guy. We also moved Eli down to his room and big crib. And we're also letting him cry himself to sleep instead of doing the 'bounce and lay him down carefully' thing ;) So, some big events in the little boy's life!
-Brandt and I had our first overnight away last night. We went and saw a Cirque holiday show and stayed overnight. Then today we saw AVATAR. It was a great time. And I got 8 hours of straight sleep!! Much needed :)
Brandt is off work for the week. Looking forward to lots of family time.

Recent pics for your enjoyment :)

Addie's first gingerbread house! What a masterpiece ;)

My precious boy. Elias is just a sweetie! Of course we have our moments/days, but overall, he is an easy, easy 3 month old :) For about a week now, he has been sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Last night was 11. Amazing!

Other updates...
We have our first dance competition of the season tomorrow night. My girls are way excited! I'll let you know how we do!

Brandt is traveling for work all next week. Kinda sad about it, but I can't complain. It's been a long time since he's traveled...

God is doing some amazing things through our small group right now. Digging into our spiritual gifts, and both of us are feeling very challenged.

Looking forward to Christmas with Addie. Such a fun age! She's going to really get into it this year-- hopefully the giving as much as the receiving ;)

We had a little photo shoot with a friend last weekend. Despite the cold weather and the uncooperative kids, she managed a few good shots! Click on the link to the right- "Kendra's Photography" to check them out :) Thanks, Kendra!

A few pics from our week. Duluth... Thanksgiving celebrations... a quick, but perfect week :)

Brandtis is done with his semester!! Yipee! Now his week off can truly begin :) Cute story... B got home and Addie goes, "How was class, Dad?" (a typical conversation) Then she proceeded to ask, "What songs you sing at school today?" We tried to explain that dad had to take a test, and he didn't get to sing songs at school today. Such innocence.

This picture is to prove to my husband that I in fact do tummy time with Elias. Or at least I did this morning :) And yes, it's 8:30AM and both kids are sleeping- Addie still in bed and Eli down for a nap. And the best part about that... I got to shower this morning!!

A couple pics from our weekend. Looking forward to next week- Brandt is home all week, we're taking a trip to Duluth, and of course... Thanksgiving dinner!

2 month appt today... even though he's 11 weeks...
Length- 24 inches
Weight- 15 lb. 9 oz.
3 Shots- no fun :(

We had an unexpected visit from Phil and Kylee. It was great to hang out with them, even though it was only for a short time. Things are going well in the Sorbel household. Brandt has just two weeks left of school for this semester. Yeah! Eli is sleeping much better at night. He usually wakes up once, around 2 or 3 AM, and then sleeps til 6:00 or so. Although I am thankful for the longer chunks of sleep, I'm not thrilled about the early rising ;) We have Eli's 2 month (which will actually be 11 weeks) appt. this Wed, so I'll update with his stats. Addison is going through a bit of a phase... bossy, emotional, and demanding! We're working with her on obeying and just being kind. She's great with Eli; it's me she's rude to. Ironically, her class at church has been talking about obeying- so hopefully that will hit home for my girl! I'm aware that she's only 2 and I know I was the same way. I guess it would be appropriate to say Thank You to my parents for dealing with my attitude- What goes around, comes around!

Halloween was a blast! Brandt and I got to take Addie trick-or-treating while Eli stayed here with my mom and dad. She loved it! We lasted about 45 minutes before she was asking to go home. Then yesterday she asked if she could go trick-or-treating again after her nap :)

Happy Halloween! We carved our pumpkins this afternoon. The girls created the normal - looking jack-o-lantern, and the boys... well, boys will be boys!

Future softball player? :)

Elias James- 8 weeks

I took the kiddos to the Otsego Pumpkin Patch this morning. It was a blast! We got a free pumpkin, Addie played some of the games, and Eli just basked in the sun. It was a beautiful day for it :) Addie refused to wear her Halloween costume because it wasn't 'Halloween' yet and we weren't trick-or-treating. But Eli willingly wore his ;)
And if you haven't seen my little one lately, I just had to add a couple pictures of him. 7 weeks old... smiling, talking, eating (if you couldn't tell by the cheeks)... love him!

Monday's thoughts...
I am really enjoying staying at home. Most days go by quickly, and I'm not counting the hours down til Brandt gets home like I used to. I start coaching a week from today, so I am definitely looking forward to that!
Eli slept from 10:00PM-4:15AM last night! A world record :) Then from 4:30-7:15AM. I feel great today! No nap for me :)
Addie LOVES the snow! Just walking in and out of Cub Foods today, she was so giddy! She just kept squealing about the flakes falling on her sweatshirt! So cute :)

On a different note, I've been feeling like I am not giving this second child as much attention as he deserves. I knew this would happen, but I am feeling a bit guilty of it today. He sits in the bouncer or swing way more than Addie did. He isn't held as much. It's hard to balance/share my attention between them both. I'm struggling with it a bit. And now, Addie is down for a nap, so it should be my time with Eli, but he's sleeping too. Nice for me, yes, but still causing me to lose out on one-on-one time with my boy.

Finally, this potty training thing is not going well. I'm giving it 5 more days (this week only) and then we are done. She was having all this success last week, until Friday. Then ever since Friday she's been peeing AND pooping in her underwear/on the floor. She doesn't even care! She is definitely smart enough to know what to do, and she had 6 days in a row of pooping on the toilet, but now it's like she gave up. Or, like Amber says, maybe she's realizing if she pees in her pants, she'll get a good 5 minutes alone with me as I clean her up and we start over. She could just be too young still... which is why I'm trying for a few more days, and then I will admit defeat and try again in February once my coaching season is over.

That's it for today! Happy Monday! Enjoy the snow :)

Happy Wednesday!

My two cuties :)
Things are going pretty well. Potty training is exhausting! She's only had one accident in her pants. Otherwise, she just doesn't pee! I've been doing a diaper for naps and nighttime, so those are always wet when she wakes up. Do you think she's smart enough to not pee until she's in a diaper?? I am realizing I'll have to stop that sometime soon, but for now, I treasure my own sleep so I want Addie to sleep through the night rather than pee her bed. After dinner yesterday, she started to look as if she had to poop, so I swept her up and sat her on the toilet. About 5 minutes later, she had pooped and peed!! A success!! She was so proud of herself! She ran circles around the living room :) So we ended on a highlight and today is another day. I put her on the toilet about every 30-45 min. She doesn't mind it, but she just doesn't pee!
So here's to day 3...

Amber and I took the kiddos to the MN Zoo today... yes, on the windiest day of the year ;) But it wasn't too bad, and we practically had the place all to ourselves! The kids were great- and Eli slept the entire day. I think we both agreed that today we loved being stay-at-home-moms!

Things are going well. He has had some 3 and 4 hour stretches in between feedings the last couple of nights... what a relief! It feels good to get some sleep. I had my 5 year Bethel reunion last Friday. It was great to hang out with friends and old roomies. My mom and dad kept Addie overnight and all day Sat, so I had a day with just Elias. What a refreshing day for me! I got a lot accomplished.

Thursday I am going to begin potty training. We've been talking about it and counting down the days with Addie, so hopefully that will help. I start coaching in 3 weeks, so I would like to have it figured out before then. I'm a little anxious about it, but we have no plans for the weekend, so hopefully being homebound (and possibly upstairs away from carpet) will help :)

My loves :)

Go Vikings!!!

A few pictures from the last week. We're doing well... B starts classes at the U this Saturday and then work next Monday. But we will survive without him :) Now I may actually take a nap during the day, when he's gone, instead of cramming in episodes of LOST while Addie sleeps. We are on Season 2 and are completely addicted ;)

We must be in the 'honeymoon' stage right now, or else we are extremely blessed! I mean, yes, we are tired... he eats every 2-3 hours at night, like any other baby, so that gets exhausting, but otherwise, Eli seems to be pretty perfect :) But I want to brag mostly about Addie. She has made this adjustment so smoothly (knock on wood). She loves her baby brother, but also enjoys being by herself. And to top it all off... this morning all four of us slept in until 9:00AM. WHAT!? I'm sure we'll have our rough days, and I know it will be challenging when B goes back to work, but right now I am loving every minute we have with this new addition to our family!

The things I'm learning...
-Your body CAN function on little (and I mean little) sleep :)
-You can love a second child, one you just met, just as much as the first
-Older children adapt well - Addie has been just perfect the last two days
-Babies sleep ALL the time (I forgot this!)
-The laundry/dishes/trash has seemed to double in size ... we do all three every single day!
-The mind is a mysterious thing... every day I get further away from the labor experience, the less I remember. Ask me yesterday, and I would've still opted for another c-section... ask me today, I'd think about the whole labor thing again!
-Boys DO pee almost every time I change his diaper. I had heard the 'warnings' but didn't believe it to be true. I can't tell you how many diapers/onesies/pj's we go through every night

A funny story...
Last night before bed, Brandt told me to wake him up (if he didn't on his own) to change Eli and get him ready to be fed. I told him I would. So the first two feedings, I woke up Brandt and told him I was ready for him to change the babe. By the time I had set Eli on the floor and gotten a diaper ready, I would look back at Brandt, and there he was, cuddled up in bed, sound asleep!! Ha! So, the first two feedings, I did all the work ;) The next few, I actually handed the child to Brandt so he did his part! Gotta love him!