Tristan, I Love You!

Here are some pictures of my little Tristan.  My Uncle was nice enough to take some pictures of him. 
Enjoy!

 

Look at that smile : )

 

He loved the camera!

Tristan with mommy

 

 

 

Christmas Memories

This was our first official Christmas at home with the kids.  We had our Christmas Tree up and our stockings out, which I made last year minus Tristan's,  It was very exciting for us.  We were very excited about being able to spend Christmas morning at home.  I had planned on cleaning up and doing last minute shopping on Thursday, but I woke up Thursday with horrible congestion and a sore throat, blah!  I wasn't able to do much of anything, even though I still tried.  Being sick during the holidays = no fun!  Luckily I wasn't too sick to miss out on the festivities.  We have always gone to my Aunt's Christmas Eve when I was growing up and we have continued to go since we married.  We did things a little different this year for dinner.  We usually have a ham and mashed potatoes and all the other traditional Christmas fixings, but this year my Aunt suggested we do an Italian themed meal.  Doug said he would make homemade pasta with spaghetti sauce.  It was very yummy!

Doug's homemade pasta

 

Erik opening his first gift!

 

Oh yea, and Erik woke up with pinkeye Christmas morning

Erik loves blocks!

 

Erik helping mommy open a gift.

Daddy with one of his gifts.

 

 

Tristan with one of his gifts.

 

 

Erik would NOT east his oatmeal without his Elmo bubble bath.

 

After making of HUGE mess with his oatmeal Erik got

to try out his new bubble bath, and proceeded to eat it.

Later in the morning we went over to my parents for a yummy breakfast of waffles with sausage and fresh fruit.  We spent the rest of our day there and had lots of fun.

 

Tristan got a gloworm from grandma and grandpa.

 

For dinner we had prime rib and snow crab.  The prime rib was delicious!

 

No nap = falling asleep at the dinner table after one bite of jello.

 

My Aunt Shirley doesn't look too happy in this pic.  

 

The newly refinished family room at my mom and dads.

 

 

I love the track lighting my dad installed.

 

Newly installed hardwood floors in the hallway downstairs.

 

The laundry room

 

I love this guy!

Yes, I gave Erik a haircut!

Before, and I don't know what is on his nose.

After.  Isn't he the cutest boy you ever saw!

Erik's Escape

At church on Sunday during the second and third hours there is a nursery for toddlers. Joy took Erik to nursery class like any other week. During the beginning of the third hour I had just sat down with Tristan and was getting settled when my brother in law walked in with Erik in tow. He told me that he had found Erik wandering the hall! He brought Erik over to me and I sat Erik down on my lap to calm him down, he was a little scared I think.

When I took him back to nursery two members of our bishopric were standing outside. As I walked up to them I told them that Erik had been found wandering the halls. They stared at me in shock, gaping, trying to comprehend what I just said to them. One of them who happened to be the nursery leaders husband, knocked on the nursery door for me. As the nursery leader looked out she saw Erik and a confused look came over her face. I remarked that Erik had been caught escaping prison. When they were changing from the playroom to the class room he must have wandered off when no one was looking. I was just glad that it was my child that wandered off and not someone else. I think that there are a lot of people who might not have been so understanding.

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

Erik LOVES having mommy and daddy read him stories.  One of his favorites is Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  I usually read it to him several times a day.  I actually have it memorized now, lol!  Last night after reading him a few stories, I decide to read my Ensign, a magazine my church comes out with each month.  Erik sat right next to me while looking at some books, one of them being Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?.  As I am reading I hear him talking.  At first I didn't really pay attention to what he was saying, but as I heard him talking I realized he was reading himself the story, "Brow Bear Brow Bear see?  Red Bird Red Bird See?..."  It was a little surprising to see him "reading". 

I love being able to share these precious moments with Erik.  He is such a fun boy at this age, and he is learning so much about the world around him.

I am going private

I will be making my blog private within the next week or so. If you would like to continue reading my blog please leave your e-mail as a comment or e-mail me at sokolowski.joy@gmail.com. Thanks!

Family Night

Last night for our Monday night activity we built a gingerbread house. I have never before built one, and it was really fun. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

My favorite part is the roof, on this side
and the path of gum drops.

Patience, Patience, Patience

This past Saturday in the afternoon, Erik got a fever. We had been planning on going to our ward Christmas party together as a family. Doug, Tristan and I were going to be part of a little program they had planned for the evening. The program was for Tristan to be baby Jesus and Doug and I would be Mary and Joseph. But, since Erik got sick we decided that Doug should stay home with Erik and I would go to the ward party with Tristan. I still ended up being Mary and Tristan, baby Jesus so they chose another Joseph. Everything went well, I was just a little sad that Doug and Erik were not able to make it.

I was lucky he got sick on a Saturday and that Doug was able to help me out before Monday came. His fever gave way to a sore throat, congestion and deep cough. Well, Monday came, and boy was it a struggle for me, being a mother of two now. Tristan was being such a good baby, like always, and he handled things well. When it came time for me to feed Tristan, Erik just got so upset because I could not feed him. I ended up having to stop feeding Tristan, poor guy, so that I could lay Erik down for an early nap. He slept for about an hour and then he seemed a little happier.

So, today comes and he had another hard morning with me needing to feed Tristan. I have also been keeping Tristan in his crib most of the time because I don't want to end up having TWO sick children! I have REALLY had to try hard to work on having patience so that I don't get too stressed out. I have become more and more grateful for my husband during this period of sickness. I just really hope that Erik gets better SOON!

Birthday parties are fun!

We have had a fun day today! We went to my 2nd cousins 2nd birthday party at a cool indoor bounce house. Erik loved it! They had a huge slide that I thought Erik wouldn't go down, but I think he spent most of the time sliding down. There was also an obstacle course for "older" kids, aka adults, so Doug and I were able to do that, he beat me once but then I beat him the next time we went through. They also had had an arena where you could knock each other off like they do in Gladiator. We had so much fun and it definitely is a great place for parties. Hopefully we can take Erik to a place like that in the future, he had a ball. The only bad thing is I completely forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures. I'll have to remember that next time.

So I'm pretty much the worst blogger...

Life has become much more busy since Tristan came along, and I haven't had much time to blog. I am going to try and remedy that by catching up over the next week.

Erik is now 2 years old and is very active. He likes to keep me on my toes. He doesn't pay much attention to Tristan, but when he does he'll say " Tri, Tri,". Today when we got home from church Tristan started crying and Erik came up to him and started imitating his crying, it was pretty cute. I have been teaching Erik his Alphabet, and numbers 1-10. He also knows all his farm animals and some jungle ones too. I can't believe how much he is talking now a days. He hasn't started speaking in sentences but he sure does love to talk! He also really likes Mickey Mouse, since he's been watching the Disney Channel in the morning. He knows all the characters on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He is such a happy boy and he loves to help me around the house.

Tristan will be 2 months old tomorrow. He is such a good baby. He has been sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks. He doesn't cry very often and he is always so happy. He has started to smile, although I haven't been able to catch a picture of one just yet. Tomorrow he goes to the doctor for his 2 month check-up. Last check-up he weighed 9 lbs., so I'm curious to see how much he has grown since then.

Doug has been fairly busy with work and his calling at church. He is the financial clerk in our ward and since we've started Tithing Settlement he has to be at church every Sunday and Tuesday Night, and right now we have afternoon church, from 1-4pm then he has to be back to church at 6 pm. It will only be for the next 4 weeks. At work he works in the Tech department, which consists of him and another person. He has been able to help the company alot since he started with his new position. He recently wrote up a new program for calculating shipping costs. It should have taken about 3-4 months to write up but he got it done within a month. He is also looking at Bachelor programs at Baker College. He is looking at taking either a Computer Science degree or a Computer information degree.

As for myself, I've been getting used to having a new little one and a new 2 year old! We are also gearing up for the Christmas season. We already have our tree up, we still need to decorate which we will be doing tomorrow night, yay! I want to get some Christmas cards out start making some Christmas cookies. If anyone has any good recipes please post them as a comment on this post. We have most of our Christmas shopping done and I just want to do a little cleaning around the house. Besides getting ready for the holidays I have been wanting to renew my crafty skills, which aren't many, by re-teaching myself how to knit and crochet. I also want to make Tristan a stocking for Christmas, although I don't think he'll have it till next year. I have lots of pictures to post from Erik's birthday and such just have to wait till I get copies of them from my dad. Until next time enjoy these few pictures of my boys.

Erik enjoying his birthday cake

My boys!

Tristan at 2 months

Erik is 2 years old today!

Playing at home in one of the toy baskets.

Erik was a cow this year for Halloween

Two years ago we welcomed Erik into our family. It is crazy how fast they grow up! He is such a big boy and I love having him in our family. He is learning lots these days and loves to have books read to him. He really likes to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He is able to communicate to us what he wants, which is awesome. Although most of the time he ends up wanting something that he can't have, which results in a tantrum. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful son. We will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday so I'll be posting pics of the festivities.

Tristan is here!

September 30, 2009 at 10:48 am, we welcomed the newest member of our family, Tristan Alexander. Weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/2 in. long. Only a 5 hour labor, and only needing the lowest dose of pitocin to regulate my contractions, things went a lot smoother with his delivery. I have bounced back to my normal self a lot quicker this time as well. I am really happy that everything went so smoothly. When I had Erik I had planned on breastfeeding, well that didn't work out. With Tristan I have been able to breastfeed. I didn't realize how much work it takes to get it down, not to mention how horribly painful it was for the first couple weeks! I am just happy I don't have to buy formula this time around.

As for Erik, he has been doing very well, only occasionally getting upset that he doesn't have as much time with mommy. He is now learning numbers and shapes and colors and is such a smart boy.

False alarm

Yesterday I had my 39 week appointment and everything was still the same, 2 cm dilated, 50 % effaced. Then after I took a much needed nap I had to go to the bathroom, nothing new. Then I noticed I kept on having to go to the bathroom. Usually I can go about an hour or 2 in between bathroom trips. I thought I had broke my water so I started watching the time and I felt leaky. I call my doctor and tell them that I think my water broke, so they tell me to go to the hospital. I then call Doug and tell him what's going on and he hurries home. My wonderful neighbor was so kind as to watch Erik for me, for the second time that day, and we make our way to the hospital only to find out that my water didn't break. I am really hoping that Tristan decides to come before the 30th. Wish me luck!

38 weeks pregnant

I had my 38 week doctor's appointment today and I am still 2 cm dilated and 50 % effaced. I haven't had any contractions. I am really hoping that the baby decides to come soon. Other news...I have made some progress with housework this week. Doug and I got our basement organized and we finished refinishing our dining room floor, and it looks wonderful. I still have a little left that I want to get done. We'll see what happens.

37 weeks pregnant....

My latest doctors appointment went well and I am progressing well. I am now dilated 2 cm, 50% effaced and the baby has dropped. I am hoping the baby decides to come a little early since I am so ready to have this pregnancy over with. Today I haven't felt the greatest. I have had a mild headache all day, and I have been congested. We are nearing the end of refinishing our dining room floor. We need to sand it again and put a couple more coats of poly down. It already looks a lot better than it did before. As for my list of things to do, I am still trying to finish it. I have kind of put everything on hold until the floor is done.

Erik has been such a good helper around the house lately. He loves to help me clean up his toys and he has learned where his head, eyes, ears, nose and mouth are and will constantly pat my head and say "heada", or he'll point at my nose and say "no", or my eyes and say " eyes" he will also say eas for ears. He is learning his shapes to and knows triangle and oval. It is so fun to watch him learn new things.

So much to do with so little time

First off I am officially done working, YAY! It was nice having some extra cash flow and since Doug got a raise not too long ago I think we are going to do a lot better with this new baby than we did when we had Erik. Already I have this urge to get a bunch of cleaning and organizing done around my house. For starters we are going to re-finish our hard wood floor in our dining room. Luckily my parents have every tool known to man plus some extra that I will be able to borrow, (and have Doug operate) a floor sander. Tomorrow and Friday these are the things I want to accomplish around the house:

* Clean and prep dining room floor for re-finishing.
* Sweep and mop all floors in house
* Deep clean both bathrooms
* Wash, fold and put away laundry
* Vacuum all carpet in house
* Clean off the tops of piano, Entertainment Center, fridge and shelf/coat rack

I think I will stay busy pretty much all day. I also want to finish getting Erik's new room and all the baby clothes organized in bins in the basement, as well as getting clothes for the new baby in his dresser.

Somethings I am going to look forward to now that I'm done working are that I will be able to take naps when Erik does and that my house will be a little more tidy. Wish me luck with my huge list of chores I'm giving myself.

36 week ob appointment

Well yesterday I had my 36 week appointment. Everything is looking good and I am already dilated to 1 cm. I am actually happy about that, hopefully this pregnancy will go a little better than with Erik. I have my last day of babysitting tomorrow, I am really looking forward to some time to get my house in order and also some time to relax before the new baby arrives. This weekend, hopefully, we'll be refinishing our hardwood floor in the dining room. Well I'll try and get a new belly pic up soon.

5 more weeks!

Tomorrow I will officially be 35 weeks pregnant. I am so ready to have this baby already, (I think). I still have a lot I want to do around the house, but until I am done working I probably won't do anything. Next Wednesday will be my last day! Even though I have complained a lot about watching these kids, I still have to say they are great. I'm not sure I'll ever want to babysit while pregnant ever again, but the extra income sure has helped us out. This Thursday I will be going out of town with my aunts and some cousins until Sunday. I am hoping to have a good relaxing time away. I have never been away from Erik so I don't know how I'll do away from my baby. So I think we have finally settled on a name for our soon to be born, Tristan Alexander. This name choosing this time around has been a little more difficult than with Erik. I really like the name Tristan and Doug really likes the name Alexander. I like the name Alexander but don't really like it as a first name. So we were able to compromise and Doug is just happy to know that Alexander will be part of his name.

Latest doctors appointment

The other day I had my 33 week ob appointment. Everything is looking good and I actually lost 1/2 a pound, I'm still at a healthy weight! I only had to wait an hour to see the doctor, that was no fun. After my ob appointment I had to run to their other office for my last ultrasound. Baby #2 is doing great and the ultrasound technician said he is weighing in at almost 4 lbs. She also said he has chubby cheeks, how exciting! Grandma and Grandpa will have cheeks to pinch! Anyway I will be back for another appointment in the next 2 weeks and then it is every week until the baby arrives!

32 weeks pregnant

This is me at 32 weeks pregnant...Getting closer!

Random thoughts

Life has been fairly busy for us lately. I am still babysitting, and have been looking forward to my last day of work. Being 31 weeks pregnant and chasing around 3 kids and tending to the needs of a VERY stubborn dog have worn me out. I have been really tired during the day and seeing as how I am watching 3 kids and a dog there is never time to even think about taking a nap *sigh*. I will be through babysitting the end of August, "Yesssss". On another note, my wonderful husband finished painting Erik's new room and we will be introducing Erik to his toddler bed, we'll see how that goes. Next week I have my 32 week ultrasound and I am very excited about it. Something about "seeing" and not just "feeling" the life that's growing in side of you is very exciting for me. I am now starting to go to the doctor's every 2 weeks starting next week. I hope things progress a little more quickly this time around. For anyone that didn't know I had to be induced with Erik and it was no picnic. I have so many things I want to get done around our house before the new baby comes, and I'm pretty sure it's because I have hit the nesting stage of pregnancy. I am very excited, and a little nervous for the birth of this new little bundle of boy. Anticipation and waiting is the game I am in now for the next 9 weeks. Hopefully it will come and go quickly, but not too quickly.

Erik's growing vocabulary

Erik is saying more and more words and surprises us everyday with what he knows. Here's a list of all the words he knows and says, plus some signs he does.

* mommy
* daddy
* doggy
* hi
* bye
* bobby (I have no idea who this is,
but he says it all the time.)
* happy
* no
* ball
* here
* more (the sign)
* story (the sign)
* num num, translates to food or yummy food.

He loves to hand us things he finds on the floor. If he doesn't like eating something he will say "ahhh" and try to put it in your mouth. He knows where his belly/belly button are. He loves to give hugs. He loves to wear shoes and gets very sad when we take them off. Well I will post pictures a little later on in the week. Thanks for reading my blog.

28 weeks pregnant

I am now in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. The baby is doing really well, and he moves a lot more than Erik did. I had to take the glucose sugar test a couple weeks ago and failed the first test. I had to go back for 4 hour glucose tolerance test, which was in no way any fun. Luckily I passed and all is well. Here's what my prego belly looks like thus far.

4th of July and trip to the park

Erik loves going down the slide at the park

getting ready to go down the slide

Playing tic tac toe

Crawling to daddy through the tunnel

waiting for the fireworks

having some strawberry shortcake

He kept on running off and this is one of the
many times Doug got up to chase after him
and bring him back.

Aunt Rachie came with us and was a big help
with Erik.

Doug reading Harry Potter while at Stony Creek
on the 4th of July

Family Picture courtesy of Rachel