Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fun holiday weekend. I love three day weekends because I really enjoy having Kjell around an extra day and so do the kids. My brother Robbie and his wife came up from LA with her sister. We celebrated Ryan's birthday as a family on Saturday night and Chaz's on Sunday at my mom's. We had our family bar-b-Que Sunday because we knew Robbie and Laynie would have to leave pretty early Monday to beat traffic going home. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, swimming, and we went to see Night At The Museum Monday. Drew loved the movie and Chaz fell asleep 15 minutes into it (at least he's still free!). Nate did great sleeping the whole time. I am looking forward to the Forth Of July Weekend. We are blessing Nate that weekend and will have family and friends around, it should be fun.

Chaz's B-day

Today I took the boys to doughnuts for breakfast as per Chaz's request to what do you want for breakfast. Than we took some sandwiches to the park and ate there while they played. My mom brought Chaz some Cotton Candy Ice Cream this afternoon. It's his and Drew's favorite but she only brought it for Chaz because she wanted him to feel special, luckily Drew was napping at the time and Chaz quickly devoured the evidence. I was going to let him skip his nap this but he crashed on the floor of my room, guess he's not so grown up yet.

Chaz's Second Birthday Party

Today is Chaz's Second Birthday! I can't believe he is 2 already. He looks so grown up and is talking so much but I still think of him as my baby, yes even though I have a new one. A friend of mine has a boy a week older so yesterday we had a party for the two of them together. Our "mom's group" came over for lunch and a Dora Adventure. Chaz loves Dora, he calls the show Dodo and Boots. So we had the kids go on an adventure to find the piñata. I had a lot of fun and I think the kids did to.

Nate's First Week

Well I have to say things have gone pretty smoothly this first week. It helps that Kjell has been able to be home most of the week and I have had tons of help from friends and family. I joke that I didn't see Drew most of the week as he was kept busy by play dates, preschool , and sleep-overs at my parents.

Chaz had a difficult day on Thursday our first full day together. I came home from the hospital on Wednesday and the kids hadn't met Nate yet because the hospital wouldn't allow visitors under age 12 due to flu restrictions. They were able to visit me in the lobby of the hospital but Nate stayed up in our room with grandma. Chaz was good that first afternoon. Then Thursday he got upset about something and was so mad he started vomiting. Then the rest of the afternoon he was cranky. I took his temperature and he ended up having a low fever. So after fighting him to take Tylenol, which he usually begs for, he returned to his regular self.

Drew and Chaz had a ton of fun while I was away horse rides, staying up late, and movies who could complain?

Nathaniel Cole Pedersen

Here's some pictures of Nate, please excuse me for not making this post match the rest of Sarah's blog (this is Kjell, Sarah's still in the hospital)

Nate was born 5/11/2009 at 2:16, everything went really well and Sarah and the baby are doing great and are hoping to come home tomorrow afternoon.

Mother's Day

Here I am the night before...39 weeks!

This has been a very emotional Mother's Day for me with the anticipation of our new arrival among other things happening in life I feel very blessed to be a mother and have the life I do.

Last night I was able to go out with the girls one last time before having the baby and after a movie they surprised me with some gifts. It was so thoughtful of them, I was shocked and surprised. It made me feel very loved by the friends I have made here. Maybe it's the hormones but I am so grateful to them for their thoughtfulness and generosity. They are all wonderful examples of Mothers to me. It was fun to share some of my concerns with them and receive advise as well as share stories. I see these women in their everyday lives and watch them with their children and I am constantly humbled by what great parents they are.

I am blessed to have many sisters and sister-n-laws who are also wonderful examples and help to me. My own sisters make such efforts to help me and support me that I feel guilty for not making more of an effort with my in laws. I don't get to see them often but I think of them and love watching their families through blogs.

My mother-n-law is such a wonderful women who I have a lot of respect and love for. I remember spending a Mother's Day in Colorado with Kjell's family. I don't remember if we were married yet or not. Ann cooks Sunday dinner for her family that lives near by every week. When she was cooking the Mother's Day dinner I asked Kjell why the men weren't doing it and he said because his mom likes to. I am not sure if he was right or not I never asked. She made the entire dinner, set the table, served dinner and desert, and then did all the dishes. She never once complained or made a comment about how it was Mother's Day, she just did it. The other women helped, including me, but Ann kept telling us to relax. This is just a small example of how I always see Ann putting her family first.

My mother has become one of my best friends. She had been out of town for the last 3 weeks and I realized how much time I spend with her on a daily basis. I spend more time with her now than I did when we lived at their house. She is such a generous, patient, loving grandmother to her grandchildren. She encourages me to show more of those qualities to my kids, especially patience.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!