July....You Don't Want to Hurt Me

We've almost made it through the month of July alive. It was a close one though.

Here's a little taste of our month:

• At the beginning of the month, Karl got food poisoning that lasted 2 days. At the same time, I got mastitis. Both of us were sicker than we had been in a long time and were completely useless.
  
• Right after our bouts with sickness, Karl took off for a 2 week tour of the Bay Area with his Construction Management summer class.
• Soren and I joined Karl for the 2nd half of his trip and stayed with my family in Pleasanton. I spent my days with Soren and my Aunt Christie, laying out by the pool, taking the dogs for walks, hanging out with my cousin and enjoying being away from my crazy life at home.
• Right after we got back from up north, we turned back around and drove to Santa Cruz for Karl's mom's family reunion. Karl's grandparents and aunt from Alaska got to meet Soren for the first time, and I got to meet a lot of people for the first time too!
• After the reunion Karl's parents, grandparents and aunt headed down our way to spend the week in Cambria. We somehow managed to see them every night they were here. By the end of their stay, Soren really warmed up to them and I think he understands that he's part of a really special family.
• Soren got 4 molars. The uppers were especially hard, giving him a fever of 102 degrees and making him the unhappiest he's ever been. We've had some looooooonnnggg nights this month.
• Soren learned three new things: 1.) How to eat with a spoon. 2.) How to throw a tantrum. 3.) How to give (close-mouthed) kisses.
• The last day of this month (tomorrow) will be a great end to a crazy month. My sister and her husband are flying into SLO for our family reunion. (Yes, a lot of reunions this month!) They will stay for 10 days, which will be their first trip back here together since Soren was born. Soren's already practicing all of his new skills to show off.

So there you have it, a little glimpse into our July. As you can see it was a pretty wild ride. Needless to say, we're looking forward to August!

Raaawr!

Karl and I have been reading a lot of Good Night, Gorilla to Soren lately. He loves when we make the sounds of the animals as we flip through the pages (the armadillo is a tricky one.) We noticed that Soren started repeating us when we would "raawr" for the lion. Of course, we thought this was the cutest thing ever to happen.

On Thursday when I was home alone with Soren, getting ready for work, I put him in his crib so I could take a shower. I set him up with some books (not Good Night, Gorilla though) and a bunch of toys to play with while he had some alone time. Here's what happened when I walked by his room after my shower.



This is just another example of us not giving him enough credit for the stuff he can do. Not only does he know what sound the lion makes, he can pick them out of any old book! We realize this is something every baby at this age can probably do - we're impressed anyway.

Since we have a lot of time alone at night due to Soren's 7pm bedtime, Karl and I LOVE watching videos of our little buddy after he's gone to bed. This one has just topped the list!

P.S. Notice that whine and expressive eyebrow raising and furrowing? I'm getting a LOT of that lately....welcome to toddlerhood!

Happy Birthday Sören!

Yesterday we celebrated one year with Soren. Starting on Friday night, I started rehashing all of the details of my labor with him. I would tell him what time of day my water broke and when my contractions started (a.k.a. "When you told Mama it was time to come out.") I reminded him of when I started pushing (12pm) and when he was finally born (3:15pm.) He just looked back at me blankly. I guess it was more for me than him to recount all of the details. I just could not believe it had been a year since my life changed so dramatically.

When I was lying in the hospital bed at midnight having been up for 2 days straight (oh yeah, and giving birth most of that time) I remember thinking how no one warned me how hard it would be. I wasn't naive when it came to caring for babies; I had done it for other families and really, almost everyone does it - how hard could it be? Now I realize that there's just no way words can prepare someone for how life changing birth and caring for a new baby can be. You suddenly go from an individual who can eat, sleep, bathe and live on your own terms, to a parasitic host that is no longer living solely for yourself. Obviously, being a Mama is a lot more fulfilling than being a "host", but in those early days you feel like you are constantly giving all that you could possibly give of yourself. If I only would have known how fast that time would go by, I would have cherished it a little more. Or maybe not - who knows.

Soren has suddenly turned into a little boy. Every day it seems like he's doing something new and I'm finally realizing that almost every parent must feel the way I do - that I have birthed the sweetest, smartest baby in the world! It's hard not to be so overtaken with pride and amazement these days - but I try to keep my head strapped on (for the most part.)

His party had me stressed for a few days, but it turned out to be a really fun time to celebrate with our friends and family. I thought Soren might feel overwhelmed with so much going on but he didn't seem to mind the hang out time at all. He did a great job of sitting through opening two of his presents and LOVED his organic oat and applesauce muffin/birthday cake topped with hand whipped cream. His favorite part was playing with all of his friends and test driving his new Radio Flyer wagon. It's amazing to see how many people love our little guy. We truly are blessed with amazing people in our lives and it makes me feel so blessed that Soren will grow up with that kind of friendship around him. I am so looking forward to another incredible year with Soren!

Here are some pictures from his special day...

Another Month Has Gotten Away

It's crazy what having a child can do to your sense of time. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but this month has gone by way too fast. There's a lot going on around the Lundeen household these days, so it's no surprise.

I started two new jobs: Working at The Sock Drawer and as a nanny for a 9-month-old little girl. The Sock Drawer is a really nice break away from my responsibilities at home and a chance to be around adults for a couple of days a week. (I truly love playing, singing, dancing, feeding and reading to Soren every day, but sometimes I start to feel a little crazy.) Plus, anyone who knows me, knows I love socks. It's a pretty perfect fit. With the help of my mom, and a couple really sweet friends, I am able to leave him and not feel anxious about it. If you're a working mom, you know how valuable that is!

The other two days a week, Soren and I spend the entire day over at our friend's house while I care for their infant daughter. It's amazing how much easier my day is when I have my own built-in playmate for the baby I am caring for. Soren and Simone absolutely love playing with each other and I'm sure it's just going to get more fun as they grow up. (I'm also sure that it's going to have it's challenges as they both get more mobile and more independent.) It's so nice to be able to raise my own child while getting a little extra income at the same time. Plus, Soren is stoked to have access to an incredible amount of toys!

I am also busy contributing to Fig+Sage, the "green" blog that my sister and I started in March. It's becoming more and more popular, which we're really excited about. We get a chance to review products and decide if they're cool enough to go on the blog. It's a lot of fun to be working with my sister on a project like this, we're already learning a lot and making new friends.

Karl is busier than ever, which I didn't know was possible. I can't even remember how many all-nighters he has pulled within the last month. It's intense - that's all I can say. We've got another 2 weeks to go until summer and then he starts summer classes. If anyone tells me that they miss Karl, I usually tell them that I do too. It's the truth.

Hopefully this post explains why we have been such elusive friends and family members these past several months. It's not that we don't love you, or think about you, or wish we could spend more time with you. It's just that we're trying to hold on to our hats as we ride through this season of our life. We always appreciate phone calls or emails, we're just not the best at replying to them. I'll try to be better about updating the blog with any important events so that we can stay a little more connected. Thanks for understanding!

I'll be back soon to post pictures of Soren's first birthday party. I can't believe I'm going to have a 1-year-old in a couple of weeks...wild!

The Big 1

Soren is turning 1 and having his first birthday party on June 7. This fact just hit me the other day and I am in fast planning mode. I just got the invitation out a couple of days ago, thanks to my dear friends Seth and Skylana. Seth personally designed the invitation and it's so special to have his 1st birthday invitations made by one of Soren's favorite people. (Seriously, Soren LOVES Seth's band.) Here's a little taste of what it looks like...


The elephant (hand drawn by Seth) actually walks in the real invitation - so cool. Thanks Seth!

A few of you have asked what Soren might want as a gift. Of course no gifts are required, or even expected (I hope this goes without saying.) If you would like to give him a gift over and above your love for him, you can check out his wishlists at Amazon.com, Speeses.com and Kate Quinn Organics. All of the links to these sites can be found on the right hand side of this blog under Soren's Birthday Wish Lists.

Now I'm off to look for a cake recipe that won't put him into a sugar coma on his birthday...

Baby Steps

...quite literally! Today Sören (yes, this one deserves the umlauts) took his first step without support - and didn't fall down! I reached out my hand to help him from the chair to the coffee table and he refused the help and tried it on his own - and it worked! Who knows if this means he'll be walking soon, but it's a very important milestone that Mama must not forget to put in the baby book (Erin, go find the book and start writing now!)

We didn't get a picture of it, but here are a couple that were taken today...the day of Sören's first steps!

Playing Bicycle with Mama

Practicing his standing skills

Month in Review

Wow! It has been almost a month since I've posted here. My sister and I have been busy starting our own blog and that has taken up my spare blogging time. I will do my best to recap the past month...


First of all, I feel like Soren has really become a little boy this month. I mean, he was always a "boy" but now he's doing boy stuff. It's all so weird to me and at times I am absolutely shocked by how old he's getting. Most of the time I find myself not giving him enough credit for things he's able to do on his own. I have loved every stage of his life so far and I hope to find something to love in every stage of his life (yes, even the teenage years) but sometimes I get a little sad that he's not so tiny anymore. I'm not dwelling on it though, and I'm really loving this new stage where he is so aware of the things we do together.


It is so fun to see him trying to interact with the world around him. He talks to us quite a bit and he loves to sing and dance and drum on just about anything that will make a sound. He loves music, but much to Karl's disappointment, he prefers Mama's music (what can I say, that's the least I should get for all the time I spend raising him. :) He is also really into sharing right now. He will hold something out for us to take, but then quickly tries to get it back. It's so fun seeing him figure out all of these life rules.


He's now up to three words (that we can understand), so now he has "Aaaah-da" (all done), "Nigh-nigh" (how he asks to be put to bed) and "That" (said perfectly with the "th" sound and all.) He uses it to ask the names of things around him, mostly buttons - his obsession.

Soren is still about 2 inches taller than all of the babies his age, which is not a huge surprise. I am always so conscious of how long his pants are and if they get to be at all around his ankles I get in a little panic. Karl reassures me that it doesn't matter because he's just a baby, but it's obvious I'm projecting some of my own insecurities onto my child. I will try to stop this soon. :)

We're noticing his little will coming out more and more these days and he makes his wishes very clear on most issues, mostly food choices and being told he can't have the remote, cell phone, camera, etc. He loves technology - he's his father's son, that's for sure.

OK, enough of the mom gushing -we have lives other than Soren too (it's hard to tell from this blog though!) My latest news is that I am working again. It's going to be quite an adjustment going from being home all week to only being home 3 days. I actually like the jobs that I have, so that makes the transition easier.

Karl is still busy with the last quarter of this school year - it's, by far, the hardest one yet. We've been super fortunate to have been able to ease into the architecture major for the past few years and now we're in "the trenches." Karl's doing a great job of juggling school, work and papahood, although it's not an easy task. We're all making it work, but it's definitely a "day at a time" kind of thing.

So there you go...a little update on our lives. And here's a precious little picture for your viewing pleasure....