I'm back! Has it really been over two weeks since the last post? Let's see, lots of stuff has happened since then. Jared got a new job, all of the grandparents came down for a visit, Soren was baptized, we went on another train adventure to Los Angeles, Einar is learning how to lock up his stuff so that it won't get stolen, we've spent some good time at the pool, and Soren got his first two teeth last week. Wow!
This is Jared looking extra spiffy in his uniform on his first day at his new job last Thursday. He now works with a counter-intelligence company as a first sergeant (much the same duties as before, just with a group of people that aren't in the infantry). However, he now has to commute to the other side of the base everyday. No more 10-15 minute trips to work. He's looking for some books on tape for the ride and is thankful that he drives a Honda Accord and not a pick-up truck or SUV. In other Jared work news, they will be issuing him a Blackberry! The no cell phone guy will be able to be reached. I'm very thankful that he is taking this in stride and can see how it will be beneficial to be in communication especially since he'll be working so far away from home.
Einar likes to line up his cars for races, just like in the "Big Race" in the Pixar CARS movie. He's got quite the collection of little cars now. Races must be pretty wild though since I found four of them in the chair that I nurse Soren in today.
Yesterday Einar and I went for a swim at the pool while Jared and Soren took a snooze in the chairs along the side. I was a bit jealous of the shut-eye, but Einar and I had fun in the water. Last week we had so much fun in the water on Sunday afternoon that Einar drank too much of the pool and threw up his lunch in the shallow end and we had to close the place down. It didn't re-open for two days. He certainly didn't mean to and he wasn't sick, just had too much water in there. He didn't realize that he was the cause of the mass exodus.
Catching the first two teeth on film is pretty much impossible. However in this shot you can certainly see lots of drool on the little guy. He also sucks on his lower lip now and sounds a lot like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park once in awhile. The teeth didn't seem to cause him much trouble, but they sure are noticeable to Mom. He's learning not to use me as a teething toy.
This is the MetroLink train that we rode to LA with Poppa, FarMor, Grandma, and Grandpa. It was such a fun day! We got out of the house before 8AM!!!!!! Caught the train in Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo and rode the train to Union Station in LA which took about an hour and a half. Then we explored Olivera street and Little Tokyo, both of which were within walking distance. FarMor was the only one who had been to Olivera street and she hadn't done that since high school so it was new to all of us. I learned that Mexican jumping beans actually move around A LOT down here where the weather is warm. When I was a kid the movement that they did wasn't that impressive since they had been transported to the Northwest.
The guys were all riding on one side of the train while the girls were on the other. Soren had visiting privileges with the ladies.
Einar got this alarm "lock" at McDonald's and locked up his banana one night so that no one would eat it while he was sleeping. It worked very well, none of us even touched it!
On the way home from the Long Beach Airport, we stopped at this place called Boomers. It's a lot like Chucky Cheese's with rides outside as well and no pizza. I did some Soren feeding and Einar and Jared played some video games. I tried this one afterwards and I have absolutely no idea how to ride a motorcycle! I crashed a lot.
On July 27th, Soren was baptized at Our Savior's Lutheran Church. He didn't make a peep during the baptism and just looked at the water. I guess when Einar was baptized he didn't make a peep either, but he was only a week old and sound asleep. Soren is dressed like all of the other men in our family were in a Hawaiian shirt--standard dress attire for men in San Clemente. Thank you Lynn, Dennis, Mom and Dad for coming down and being here for such a special day!
The night before the baptism, Lynn, Soren, Kathleen and I participated in the San Clemente Relay for Life to raise money for Cancer research and programs. We walked from 1am-2am which is why we were looking so alert in this photo. There are also not many people around at this time of the night to take photos so I am behind the camera.
These are pictures from the nice lunch that we had in our club house after church. It was a great way to celebrate Soren's baptism with delicious food, friends and family.
One night after Jared returned home from work, we took the whole crew down to the beach for a beach dinner. We grilled up some turkey burgers, ate chips, drank water and made some S'mores till it got too dark to do anything else. The sunset was beautiful!
Poppa loves to hold babies!
Gotta get cleaned up before heading off to church.
The four of us during the baptism.
I held Soren while Jared tried to wrangle Einar.
Reading stories with Grandma Jean.
Riding the carousel with Grandpa Lee.
Flying with Dumbo.
Another picture of Einar wiped out after a fun day at Disneyland.
And this kid didn't even go to Disneyland! He just looks like this when he is in a milk coma.
Since it is Labor Day weekend, Jared put Einar to work tonight. After they cleaned up his train tracks and trains, Einar swiffered the floor really well. Our upstairs looks really good tonight! And we get to stay home and enjoy it tomorrow since Jared has the day off and we don't have anything big planned for the holiday. That last little bit of cleaning must have really done Einar in though, he fell asleep while Jared was reading him "Mulan" for his bedtime story.
Last Tuesday, we went to Disneyland with Kathleen and her kids. On the way out we caught the parade on Main Street USA. Soren was asleep and Einar was pretty close, but he was awake enough to point out all of the princesses as they made their ways down the parade route.
Sleeping Soren in the Sling.....
The look of a proud Dad who was able to put Soren to sleep for bedtime. Jared even was able to complete a successful transfer to his crib!
This is my Totem pole of guys. Aren't they cute? They had just come back from a walk down the hill to play a little golf while I made dinner. Dinner turned out really well--Stir-fried Eggplant with ground beef and peanut sauce and Chocolate Souffle for dessert. Not a combination that you would find on most menus, but it sure did taste good!
