Soren Andrew - Week 14

Outtakes can be found here...
This crazy baby made a face like this in almost every shot. I'm not sure what the deal was today.

Trip downtown

I got a library card to the Kansas City Public Library, so we celebrated the Presidents' Day holiday by checking out the central branch in downtown KC. We looked at the display of newspaper photos from the '20s and '30s on the fifth floor and checked out some classic movies from the Vault. (Cat Ballou, anyone?) I even found an audio book I was interested in: The Tao of Willie Nelson.

We ended up parking near where the FFA was founded, which reminds me: Happy National FFA Week!

Project Linus National Make a Blanket Day

I've been scoping out local crochet groups for some time, trying to work up the nerve to go to a meeting. I finally decided I would brave a Project Linus meeting on National Make a Blanket Day to see what it was like. I crocheted a blanket with some leftovers from Frances' afghan, loaded Soren in the car, and we were off.

I was terribly nervous. I wanted to stay for a length of time to meet people and get a good start on my project, but I wasn't sure that Soren could handle not being entertained by his swing and mat or unending shelves of shiny new merchandise.


Boy, was I wrong!


Soren couldn't get enough attention from the ladies, who were so very welcoming. They made sure to learn his name and get him in plenty of photos, including a big group photo. He behaved so well they were sure I must have him around people all of the time. There was no trace of the angry little monster that sometimes appears when he doesn't get his way, although I'm sure if I tired of watching him there would be no end of volunteers who would take a turn. He was quite entertaining with his faces and cooing. He laid on a blanket or sat in his car seat and held my yarn almost the entire time we were there. We turned in the blanket I had made and started on another whose progress had to be frogged when we got home. It was a lovely day. We will definitely be working with the KC Project Linus group in the future.

Go to work with Daddy day

Vandergriff, one of the guys that works with Jason, has been called up to go to Afghanistan. Soren and I took some cupcakes up to the armory to wish him good luck and a safe journey, and we were going to eat lunch with Jason. That day everybody decided to give Vandergriff a farewell sendoff at Riley's Irish Pub, so we tagged along and Daddy got to show off Soren to all his co-workers.

Soren Update: 3 months

Unofficially, Soren is 15.5 pounds and 25 inches, according to our ability to measure such things. He's 4 inches away from the limit on the car seat, and he may move into the new car seat sooner than that if he continues growing at this rate. I am finding it more difficult to haul the boy AND the carrier around, but I am enjoying the workout. Our big guy is wearing clothing labeled for 6-month-olds and 9-month-olds now, depending on the brand.

We've been reading books we've received as gifts and are thankful we haven't tired of them yet. I have procured a library card to the Oak Grove library and the Kansas City Public Library to prepare for that day. Soren is paying more attention to the pictures when he wants to and sometimes adds in his own version of the story.

Soren is actively trying to roll during tummy time. I'm not sure how quickly this will advance, but I'm hoping to be able to report that he can roll from his tummy to his back by next month. We'll see...

We are also working on developing a loose schedule that works for our family. It is helping Soren get used to more regular naptimes so he can be well-rested, and it is helping Mama and Daddy by giving us time we can count on to get housework and other errands accomplished. The house is finally getting back to normal!

Soren Andrew - Week 13

Outtakes can be found here.

Valentine's Day/Anniversary

My dates and I headed out mid-morning for a Valentine's Day breakfast at IHOP. Then we stopped for some coffee at Starbuck's before heading to see True Grit. That's right. Soren's first movie theatre experience was a newer version of a John Wayne movie! Go Team Duke! (Stapp family inside joke) Then we stopped at Lowe's to get parts for the toilet, and we ate lunch at Panera. We went for red food coloring at Patricia's, but they were out. Instead, Daddy bought Mama some flowers. While Daddy fixed the toilet, Mama sneaked out to find some red food coloring to surprise Daddy with a red cake in the shape of a heart. Flowers, cake, a fixed toilet and John Wayne...could a Valentine's Day/Anniversary get any better?

Weekend visitors

Today, Grandma and Grandpa Schad came to visit, and they brought Aunt L along. Uncle John was sick and stayed home, otherwise we would have had a full house! Most of the visit was while Daddy was at drill. Everyone took turns holding Soren, and he showed how close he is to rolling over when he played on his mat. Soren had so much fun in the morning that he slept through dinner at Applebee's and all afternoon, even a little after Daddy got home.

Enjoying some sunshine...

after being cooped up inside all winter.

Soren Andrew - Week 12

Due to time and temperament of the model, interesting outtakes are limited this week.
See what I mean?!

Mr. Grouch

Soren harumphed, whined, cried and was a general mess for much of the afternoon. Mama finally got him to go down for a nap in time for him to be rested and in a better mood to play with Daddy when he got home from work.

For Grandma S

Grandma Sarah wanted to see photos of Soren in pastels. So, we took photos this week. Please ignore the squinty eye; we had some issues with eye boogers. These photos are for her.

Havin' fun in the 'hood

We like hoodies in our family, mostly because our house is cold. Soren liked them better before we pulled out the camera. Thanks to Aunt Stefani for supplying Soren with this hood.

Happy birthday, Uncle John! Oh, and Fire School

Happy birthday, Uncle John!

Oh, and I hope all my buddies going to fire school made it there safely to have fun in class.

Happy Chinese New Year, Cheyrl!

Happy Groundhog Day!

I had planned a funny post about whether Soren would see his shadow or not, but then we got tons of snow and frigid temperatures. There was no way I was going outside, let alone taking Soren, but I assume he would have seen his shadow.

We were certainly glad to have Daddy make it back home safely after being snowed in at the armory. He shoveled the walk and then caught up on important news with Soren.

Soren Andrew - 11 weeks

Outtakes - For more photos, check out our album.