Lasercats

Yesterday, Jazz finally got LASIK surgery. (Btw, LASIK is an acronym, so it is capitalized. see?) All four of my siblings have done it, plus both sister-in-laws. In case you are wondering, yes, I have perfect vision because I am the favorite child. Obvi. If you need some LASIK, there are two little sisters left to marry so put a ring on it and get your screening. Just kidding.

My super cute sandals covered up. Total surgical crime.

It is a fairly quick outpatient procedure- Jazz was awake the whole time, but got a few doses of Xanex to calm the nerves and to relax his eyeballs. I got to go in and watch, which was really fun. Nothing says "I love you" like a giant bunny suit and a hair net.

"I think I have a floater. Wait, who are you again?"

Checking flaps post-op.

Every time I watch my dad do surgery, I feel like he is such a rockstar just slicin' and dicin' and making people see better. I know he absolutely loves what he does, and that makes all the difference. Even with me there being silly and scribbling on Jazz's leg with a medical skin pen, he was so professional and I am constantly impressed with his massive medical expertise.

Aren't these goggles awesome. Now he really looks like Chowder from Monster House.

Jazz had his checkup this morning and was already 20/15 in one eye, 20/20 in the other. If those aren't some impressive results, I don't know what are. Hey Dad- thanks for fixing up my husband's eyes. You are the best ever. Now he can see me roll my perfect eyes from across the room- without the assistance of glasses!

Some funny stuff he said/did with Xanax on board:

"Would you still love me if I quit everything to become a nascar driver?"

"Oh, JaNae- she is my food buddy. She likes tomato juice!"

"You know what sounds good? DONUTS. The powdered kind."

"Thanks for holding my hand during the second eye." Me: "uhhh, that wasn't me."

And every time someone would come out of surgery ahead of him, (and periodically after his surgery) Jazz would put his hands into little gun shapes and make "pzzew pzzew" noises like he had tiny lasers in his fingers. "Laser hands! Laser Jazz!"

PS. Blog overhaul in progress. What do we think?

I love to see the temple...

On Saturday, Jazz, Isabelle and I were sealed together as a family for all of eternity in the Sacramento, California temple. What a special and spiritual day we spent together-it is hard to describe just how wonderful our entire day was surrounded by our family.

For my friends who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, let me explain. When Jazz and I were married civilly, we were married for time, or until "death do us part." We believe that our church possesses the power to marry people not only time but also for all of eternity, linked together beyond death. Jazz and I were not initially married in the temple because Jazz was not yet baptized a member of the church. Since his baptism last year, we have both been preparing and working to learn about the temple and live worthily so that we could enter in the House of the Lord and be sealed for eternity. It is something I have been looking forward to my whole life, but especially since Jazz was baptized, and even more so after Isabelle was born.

I am so grateful that my family was all able to attend. Sean and Rachel brought baby Jakob up from Irvine, Sabs and Mo drove across Nevada from Utah, and mom and dad, Scott, JaNae and Madilyn drove down from Redding. We missed Jazz's family and I know they were with us in spirit.

I was pretty emotional the whole day- it just felt so surreal but also so familiar and so right, like I was home. I will never forget how it felt to kneel across the alter and look into Jazz's eyes as we committed to each other forever and ever. And then, Isabelle was brought in to be sealed to us and I really, really lost it. She looked so beautiful in her long white dress (same one she was blessed in as a newborn) and her smiley pink face- it is a memory I want to keep fresh forever. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room by the time we were finished being sealed.

After we left the temple, it was like I was on a high the rest of the day. Our babies played together, some people took naps, we sat around and talked about our favorite part of the morning. My testimony of the gospel was strengthened so much, I am especially grateful for temples so that families can be together forever. I can't wait to go back.

(More photos to come, we had a few professional photos taken together.. we should get those back in a few weeks)

For more information about our church and about temple marriage, feel free to visit lds.org or mormon.org. Or email me!

Father's Day

I know it's 8 PM and Father's Day is mostly over but I've been spending the day with some favorite men in my life and it's hard to blog when you are busy being with awesome people. That being said.

To my father: Thanks for my chocolate brown eyes, for my thick head of hair, and for the obsessive gene we all seem to carry. Thanks for teaching me how to take care and make things last, how to treat my spouse, and how to make toffee and scotchies.

To my father-in-law: Thank you for raising a boy to be a sensitive and caring man. For teaching him to be kind and to be selfless, for showing him to be accepting and loving. I will forever be grateful.

To my husband: Thank you for preparing to be a father long before I met you. Thanks for holding my hand during Isabelle's delivery, you were right- everything turned out just fine. Thank you for getting out of bed to feed her when she wakes up a bazillion times a night. Thank you for being patient when I am frustrated or angry or upset with a situation. I am so lucky you chose me to be the mother of your children. I could literally not do this whole parenting thing without you.

Happy Father's Day!

(She is so small- I miss that newborn stage!)

tidbits.

Today is one of those days where I just can't get anything done. I've got laundry piled in the living room, Isabelle is only happy if she is chewing on my cell phone, there's stuff to get in the mail, and I won't tell you how long it's been since I vacuumed my house. My to-do list keeps growing and growing and nothing is being checked off. Does anyone else have these kind of days?

In other news- my Driod works...the rice sucked all of the water out and it works PERFECTLY. I was shocked really. If anything of yours falls into water, pull the battery immediately, and put everything in an open container of white rice. Wait five days, and voila. Good as new.

I'm not sure what to think about So You Think You Can Dance this season. I love seeing the past dancers, but you don't really get to talk to them or see what they are up to. I absolutely hate the tap dancer, she makes me want to sit on my own eyeballs. And I'm so glad our prayers were answered and Mary Murphy is G to the ONE. No more bleeding ears! Suck on that, hot tamale train! The Asian Dude (as he shall be known) from the Miami ballet totally owns the show, he is way better than anything we've ever seen. Probably the most compelling reason to watch every week is Cat Deely. She is six feet of awesome.

Isabelle is growing like a weed. She's been so small, and now she is just mowing down food and beverages, leaving a wake of empty bowls and messy bibs. I've been making all of her baby food myself, and I can hardly keep up. Some pajamas she has only worn once or twice, and then I put her in them again and her little toes are squished against the footsie part. Good thing she has like a bazillion other pairs.

I miss my sisters.

I started this blog like four six hours ago and I keep trying to finish it. Isabelle is chewing on my laptop cord so I better go.

To Two Years

To my sweet husband on our two year anniversary:

The last two years have been such an adventure.

A big move, new job, and a baby too.

We've learned a lot about each other.

Thanks for making sure my toothbrush stays charged.

And for filling up my car with gas whenever you drive it.

Thanks for working long hours at work 

And then longer hours here at home.

Your right brain attitude

And my left brain mentality

Work out just great together.

And though you leave your cold medicine wrappers around the house

and sometimes I don't put the toilet paper on the roll.

You are still perfect for me.

Happy Anniversary

My morning mishap.

This is a snapware full of rice.

Let me tell you why this snapware is full of rice.

Wednesday morning our two year old fake daughter niece Madilyn came over to play for a few hours. This is a regular routine for us- we have cereal and play zoo and read stories and take naps. Isabelle loves having a playmate and I love pretending I have two kids. This particular morning I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to take the girls to the clover creek preserve, which is just about a half mile from my house. It wasn't too hot out, it would be good exercise for me, the girls would love it. Perfect.

 

So after breakfast, I strapped Isabelle to my chest in the bjorn, buckled Madilyn in our stroller, and away we went. I felt so courageous. Look at me! With two babies! Going on a walk to the preserve! At 8:30 in the morning! And so it went for awhile.

 

We walked clear around the preserve to the pond filled with ducks and geese and frogs and other animals for Madilyn to try to chase down. As you walk toward the pond, there is a nice little lookout area with a few benches and a little plaque with information about the animals in the preserve. From there, there is a sloped embankment down to the water, where all the ducks hang out. Can you see where this is going.

 

Madilyn of course wanted to get out and play so I popped her out of the stroller, we were just sitting on the bench talking about the birds when it happened. The sunshade from the stroller acted like a giant sail as a gust of wind picked up the stroller and rolled it down the embankment, right into the pond. Right. Into. The. Pond.

 

Now, I'm not the kind of person to be surprised by many things. However, as the stroller raced by me like a runaway semi-truck, my jaw dropped and some sort of emergency noise lept from my throat. In that split second, I debated whether or not I had time to chase after it and possibly make a heroic save. Before I could decide, the stroller was too far gone, sitting soggy in the duck pond. I watched my cell phone fly over the handlebar and plunge into the water. Following my phone was our access into my house- the garage door opener. Along with diapers, wipes, a bottle and a paci.

 

Not having had two children to handle on many occasions, I didn't know what to do. Can I leave the two year old on this bench? Should I set Isabelle down? Should I go for help? Send Lassie?

 

Madilyn sat on the bench and watched as I waded to my calves into the pond to retrieve my cell phone and other damaged items. The stroller was on it's side, full of pond water and mud. Back up the embankment, I sat on the bench next to Madilyn to dry off and together we laughed really hard about the crazy wet stroller. Madilyn kept saying, "Silly stroller," except it came out more like "Siyee sole-ler."

 

We were getting ready to head back home when I realized that without the garage door opener, we were locked out. Just two babies, no diapers, no food, no water, no cell phone, hanging out at the preserve. Luckily, my mom lives close by. Not quite as close as I do, but close enough that we could walk. Madilyn got back in the wet stroller ("Soggy bum!") and we walked the distance to my mom's house. Arriving on the doorstep twenty minutes later, Madilyn rang the bell and when the door opened, threw her arms up in the air to exclaim "Surprise!"

 

Surprise indeed.
 

I sheepishly called Jazz to let him know I would be needing his assistance in gaining entry to the house, and when I told him about my phone he told me to immediately put it in rice. FOR FIVE DAYS. Apparently the rice is very absorbent and can help draw the water out. In the mean time, it's back to my old blackberry pearl.

Next time, weigh the stroller down with boulders. Or a big bag of rice, just in case.

What I do.

The other day, one of my pre-married-life friends asked me if I like being at home all day. She asked me what I do to fill my time and if I missed working away from home. She told me she could not even imagine not going to work everyday. Did I miss it? What could I possibly do everyday all day long?

I didn't really know what to say. Most of my day is spent on the floor, creating new ways to present the same old toys to Isabelle before she realizes she is bored and wants something new. So what if she wants to chew on my leather handbag. She is content! A big portion of the day is feeding her- breakfast, lunch, dinner of solid foods and plenty of bottles in between. Together, we read silly animal books for the hundreth time. This morning I scrubbed my kitchen floor and chroloxed my bathrooms until they were spotless. Sometimes I am in my pajamas when Jazz gets home from work. Once in awhile, Isabelle and I leave the house and embark on mysterious adventure to Target or Safeway. That is kind of what my life is like everyday.

Monday is laundry day in the Sorensen household, and so while Jazz was getting ready for work, I fed Isabelle breakfast and then rolled her high chair around the kitchen so she could watch me go through the mound of laundry I had excavated from our closet.

So, short answer, yeah-staying home and doing laundry with my baby is pretty awesome.

8 Months

Dear Isabelle,
My sweet little baby, today you are eight months old. This month has really flown by, I feel like I just barely wrote your seven month letter. The last few weeks have been really busy and you have had lots of firsts! First plane ride, first vacation, first swim, first taste of chicken, and you loved all of it. This is your nature- constantly moving and learning and changing, you are happiest when we are on the go. You have always loved your bath time, but now we know you are definitely a water baby. We spent a big chunk of our time in Maui with you just floating in the water with a big sunhat.

I think you weigh about 15 pounds, last time we checked, and you have gotten pretty tall. (It's probably all the carrots.) Your favorite foods are mangos, carrots, beans, and chicken. You are sitting unassisted more and more, but really you just want to stand up and walk. Your favorite toys are basically anything you can chew and drool on. Speaking of drool, you now have two tiny teeth on the bottom. Now when you smile, I can see those pearly little nubbins and it's like kill me in the face, so cute. You smile more than ever and laugh at moving objects- bouncing balls, stuff falling on the floor, me making weird noises- it's all highly entertaining.

We have been spending a lot of time with your cute cousin Madilyn, who is just barely two. She is the sweetest, most unselfish toddler and if she had her way she would share her goldfish and juice with you, she loves you so much. She kisses your face or your arm and squeals in delight when your flailing hand grabs her little body. She makes sure you have ALL of your toys surrounding you and often insists you want your paci. She calls you "Belle", but as of late has moved on to "Izzie-belle." I can't wait to see how you two will become the best of friends.

This month more than ever I see you as a baby and not an infant. I held a newborn yesterday and my mind was totally blown thinking about you that small, smelling your skin and feeling your soft wrinkled neck on my cheek. Wasn't that just the other day? I do love this stage you are in- this exploring, growing, learning, smiling stage where you are so fascinated by the world around you.

Sometimes I check on you when you are sleeping and you are so serene and so beautiful, your hands curled up by your porcelain face. I marvel that our Heavenly Father entrusted us with your precious little life, we are so honored and so privileged to be your parents. My mom used to say "If you only knew how much I love you..." and now I know what she meant. You could never know how much I love you, how grateful I am for you, how your fill my life with meaning and happiness.

Love, love, love you.

xoxox


Momma