FHE photos

Last Monday's FHE (family home evening) was taught by Danny and was about reverence (due to the serious need which was evident during sacrament meeting the day before.) So,oftentimes our FHEs are just quick lessons from the Friend or a scripture story or just reading the back of a gospel art kit picture or something. I really like it better when the lessons are prepared in advance. Danny did a good job with our lesson and really had Victoria and Christian engaged and listening. This is a picture of his little lesson- types of behavior written on slips of paper in a vase. If the behavior was reverent we put it on the temple picture, but if it was irreverent we put it in the trashcan.

Victoria was in charge of Activity and she thought that it would be good if we could all help give Grant his bath since normally just Danny or I bathe him and they are asleep already.

Christian was snack helper. He was going to serve candy, but then I suggested that he serve the leftover vegetable soup that they made in Joyschool at the Henrich's that day! He was "souper" excited about that idea. He was very proud of what he helped create with his friends. He really is a naturally joyful kid. Plus, he chooses veggies over candy. Nice!

I am glad for simple but great nights with the family.

Beatiful Clean Baby Boy

Just wanted to post these adorable pictures of Grant's first full bath at home. I'm was a bit slow to upload my pictures from the past 2 weeks, but got around to it tonight. Isn't he so sweet?He wasn't so sure about the water sprayed on his head, but he didn't cry either.


It looks like we just might have 3 water babies. Yea for successful bath times!

Call me Ironman

I normally never remember to write down the funny things that my kids say. Trust me, they could fill a book. However today Danny took the day off of work and he and Christian just went to eat lunch with Victoria at her school, so I have a few minutes to type as Grant snoozes.

This morning Christian called Danny, something strange like, "No go cho" or something like that. He thinks it is funny to make up rhymes. Or maybe it was "Big bottom head." He also thinks that potty talk is funny. I honestly don't remember what he called Danny, but I do remember the rest of the conversation.

Danny- Could you please call me Daddy?
Christian- No, Daddy waddy (Laughing)
Danny- I really like to be called Daddy. You need to call me Daddy. If you call me Daddy I will call you what you like to be called. Do you like to be called Christian? Or little buddy?
Christian- (Laughing again) No. I want to be called Iron man! Call me iron man!
Danny- OK, Ironman.
Christian- (Bending over and laughing hysterically this time)- OK Daddy!

What a goofball. How does he even know who ironman is? I hope he quickly forgets what he likes to be called.

Copying our friends- Jib Jab!

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A few other cute Grant pictures

Coming Home!

I always feel like the car ride home from the hospital with a new baby is kinda dreamy. It's not because I don't enjoy the hospital stay- I actually do. It's so calm there. I think it is because I feel so thankful to be bringing a new baby home to our family. Grant's first car ride was no exception. It just feels magical to me. Danny and my first dance song even played on the radio. I asked Danny if it was a cd. He said, "No, but that would have been a romantic idea. You would have thought that was so cheesy. Wait... would you have liked that? You would have! You mock that sort of thing, but like it too." I think he's figuring me out... sometimes. Anyway, here are the pics.

His cheeks look like Elder Holland's in this pic. It's so funny how babies often look like old men.
Safe driver! Note the Dora cup and a sippy cup in the front. With 3 car seats our van is totally screaming "Whoa, big family!"
I love him! Can you tell?
Showing some evidence to our neighbors that he's here- an "It's a boy!" flag on our car and a welcome Grant sign on the door.

Danny carrying our little guy in.

Grant was still in his car seat sleeping when Christian and my mom came home. They had been eating lunch with Victoria at her school. Christian ran right up to see his brother and tried so hard to be gentle with him. We were proud of Christian for his efforts in self-control. V came home just a couple hours later and couldn't have made it back from the bu stop any faster! We were all glad to be together!

Grants meets the family!

When Grant came back to the room he met his Geemaw and Papa (Danny's parents). They thought he was pretty great! Here are his first pictures with them.

Kattia, Camila, and Megan came the next morning. The girls liked him. Camila was especially excited to hold him. Megan was happy to look at him.

Then, a bit later in the day he met his Grandma and Grandpa (my parents). I was so excited! It was sad the day before when they were the first there and didn't get to meet him because they needed to take Victoria and Christian home so that they could get to sleep before it was too late. V still had school the next day. They were glad that he was here and healthy. Of course they loved him too!

Then, we had special family time when Victoria and Christian got to meet Grant! Here are a few of the cute pictures. They both held him and talked to him.

They gave him the presents they had for him. Victoria had a bear that she made with Geemaw for him. Christian bought him a frog rattle. He is going to make a Curious George book with Geemaw soon. Grant had little presents for them too. They got a princess card game and a cars dominoes game. They said, "Mom, I think these are from you." "Yes, but Grant was with me when we got them." They also got "I'm the big sister" and "I'm the big brother" stickers which they proudly put on.

Danny and the kids brought dinner too. It was a great lasagna that one of my friends had made for us. It was fun to eat together. My dinner tray came in at the same time and so, we shared some of that too. Just because the kids thought it was cool. The dessert was good though- cheesecake.

After after a great visit, Victoria and Christian gave Grant kisses!

It was great to introduce our newest family member to our other family members!

On his 1st day home, Friday, he met his cousin Robert. Yesterday he met TJ, Whitney, and Teagan. Bobby came by to see him too. Then Scott, Chrissy, Hailey, and Sydney came. Then he met Craig, Lorel, and Ella. G.G. and Aunt Mary came too and we had a nice visit. Then I got to show him to my friend, Melanie Henrich. I think everyone likes him. He was on his best behavior for all of the visits!

He'll have to wait a bit to meet Patrick and Leah and Matt, Janelle, Donovan, Howie, Nina, and Cameron. We'll be sure to post lots of pictures!

Thanks to all of you for warmly welcoming baby Grant into our family!

Grant's first day on earth!

Grant's first picture ever! I feel so honored that it was with me. Can you tell he is nice and strong and healthy? Look at that strong hand. The only thing a little off was his purple color. That corrected pretty quickly though.

This picture upsets me a great deal. It makes me think, "Holy Cow! This was a rough ride for the little guy! So much changed so suddenly for him. I was safely inside of my mom and now I'm here and away from her. What is going on?"

Our little guy in the scale. 8.0 lbs 7.9 oz. Not too shabby.

First close- up! Pretty cute already, eh? Grant in comparison to Danny's finger. Isn't it amazing that he started out so small as a fertilized egg and has grown to this. It is also incredible that he has so much more potential for growth. And that's just physically speaking! Lots of divine attributes too. If you ever hear Danny call Grant, "Little cheesy bottom," you'll know why! Lots of vernix on this little buddy.

The nurse wrapped Grant up and let us have a little bonding time before he went to the baby nursery for some tests.

I had my chance to hold him first. It was so great to be able to hold him and see him and talk to him!

Danny was pretty happy to meet his little boy too. We talked about how amazing it is to love another baby just as easily as we first loved Victoria and Christian.

Then, it was time to try nursing, one of my favorite things to do. Grant wasn't quite up for it, so we didn't press the issue too much. Despite the fact that I posted my belly pics, I won't post the breastfeeding pics. Although I do love them.

Then after about an hour of special bonding time he was off to the new baby nursery.

We called the Grandmas and told them the good news. We asked them to call our brothers and grandparents etc. We asked my mom to bring the kids in about an hour or 2 because that was how long we expected Grant to be in the nursery.

First my dad came. Then my mom and Victoria and Christian came. They were happy to see Danny and I, but couldn't wait to meet their grandson and brother! However, baby Grant needed some extra tests and a chest X-ray and two hours turned into 3 hours into 4 hours. So, we told them to go ahead and take the kids to dinner. Then Bob and Susan came. They had to wait too. My parents and the kids came back, but we were told that it would be another hour. After that hour, the nurses still wouldn't let him out. Danny asked twice explaining that our other kids were here and could we just let them meet briefly. I was an irate mom when they said no. Danny and my mom felt like it was best to be sure that Grant was healthy. I did too of course, but I felt strongly that he was healthy and fine. So, sadly, Victoria and Christian had to go home without meeting their brother. They were so heartbroken and really cried. Luckily they had their dad and two sets of grandparents to help them understand better and feel even more excited about their special day tomorrow!

So, I cried too, but didn't until they were gone. It just wasn't what I was hoping for and I felt disappointed. Plus, I felt sad for the kids and my parents.

However, I know that we had soooooo much to be thankful for during the day. The labor that Danny and I had been so nervous about went so smoothly. Almost perfectly really! Not that it was easy, but it was so healthy. Honestly, we considered it a true miracle that my heart went from a resting heart rate of 110-120 with crazy bouts of tachycardia and arrhythmia's during the last few months of pregnancy to a perfectly healthy heart rate of 70-80 during labor! We feel like it was a direct answer to lots of prayers. Even the nurse and doctor couldn't really explain it. They just said that sometimes bodies do amazing things in labor and problems often self-correct to help things go smoothly. They said that often newborns with weird heart rates will suddenly correct themselves in labor too. It is so counterintuative, but such a great blessing!

Anyway, here is a pic of the great big brother and big sister with the welcome presents that they brought for Grant.

Here are the sweet tired kids, looking through the glass at their baby brother. The nurse agreed to come close to the glass with Grant before they left. They thought he was so cute and couldn't believe how chubby he was! They loved just looking at him!

So, it seems that this beautiful entry took a tiny bit of a sad turn... but thankfully everything was just great again just a bit later when we got our healthy baby back!

I'll post about Meeting the family next! That will ALL be happy- promise!

Grant Easton Soderholm is here!

Grant Easton Soderholm arrived today at 2:10pm at 8lbs. 7oz., 20.5 inches. He has brown hair and the look of dark eyes (at least for now). Brooke and Grant are doing great. Look forward to a better post when Brooke comes home from the hospital.

Belly Painting (as promised)

OK, this post is not for those who are easily offended or gag easily. I never have worn a bikini and feel awkward exposing my body. In fact, I was sort of debating breaking the promise to even let the kids paint me. So, I am not sure why I would post belly shots of myself at this very pregnant size- this was yesterday and I am being induced tomorrow!

So, I thought that I would HATE pictures of myself this huge and wanted Danny to put the camera away. However, when I saw the the pictures I actually liked them a bit. The kids and I had fun and it will be neat to have evidence of how big I actually get in order to house our babies and help them grow. Either ignore or enjoy!

Concentrating Christian- put the most paint on me!Victoria liked tickling me as much as she liked painting me. I am soooo ticklish, but she is too. I'll get her back one day!

The masterpiece- Grant's colorful first home!

Hopefully this will come off before tomorrow or the nurses just might raise their eyebrows. J/K the paint is already long gone. Too flaky and itchy. Plus, of course we used crayola washable paints!

Christian starts Joy School!

I feel like we have had so many great things happen lately. And here's another!

Christian is starting Joy School this year! It started on Wednesday and was another good first day of school experience for our family!

I know that my blog entries are very long, but I started this blog mainly as a journal for our family, so I want to be pretty detailed about the important events in our family. This will probably be another longer one because it was a big day for Christian and I.

The first day of Joy School was at our house and C was pretty excited about that. During the past couple of weeks talked about it and played some of the great Joy School cds to get ready.

In the morning, Christian picked out his first day of school outfit, an outfit he would choose almost every day if he could, his yellow Thomas shirt!

He brought his backpack downstairs in the morning and was excited to see evidence of Joy School in our house when he came downstairs. I had some books out, homemade play dough, some art supplies, the weather charts etc. He really was pumped.

After we had breakfast and got Victoria off to the bus stop for her second day of school, we came home and had a Christian photo shoot! He's so funny. He moves so much, he is tricky to catch, but I think we got some great first day pics! Here are a few!

Christian in his awesome new red backpack! He is standing in front of our new weather chart! He thought it was pretty cool. Check out the great faces!

Here he is putting his show and tell object into his backpack. He chose a really cool Triceratops to share with his friends!

Here he is in his freshly covered rug remnant mat. He picked out the fabric last year. It is navy flannel with red and white cars and trucks. Very cute. Danny sewed the cover for Christian a few days ago and it looks great! I love these pics because Christian shows his true personality so well. Laughing and silly. He wanted to take one pic lying down also. By the way, this is pretty close to how Christian uses his mat during school also. (at least on the 1st day at his own house). He tries to stay on it, but it is tricky still. We'll keep working on that!

After our photo shoot, Christian helped me get the house ready for his friends. He helped me clean the breakfast crumbs of the table and chairs, set out the play dough and utensils, vacuum(OK, he really just sat on the sofa saying turn it off during that part- he's not afraid, but he hates the noise because I can't hear him), get the music ready, etc. He really was a great little helper.

He kept looking out the window and asking when his friends were coming. It was totally cute.

They finally came! Christian was ecstatic!

Here are some pics of Christian, Sam, and Laurie. Aren't they just adorable! They were all happy and ready to start a new adventure.

I didn't really have lots of time to take pics when I was teaching, but I did take a couple while they had free play time(with play dough- there were other options, of course, making it "free play", but they all stuck with the play dough).

The lesson was a getting acquainted lesson. We learned the rules of Joy school, met Joy Boy (a blue hippo this year), learned about the joy school house, calendar, and weather. We had snack time, rest time, story time, singing time, etc. I think the song they liked best was "Pokey Bear" because it was so funny! We played a "favorites" game that helped the kids to learn about each other's favorites and helped the kids find things in common with each other and with the teacher(this time me). If they remembered the others' favorites they got 1 M&M. It was Christian's favorite part of the lesson. We also did a neat craft with crayon shavings on paper. They sprinkled them on and I melted them with an iron. They turned out to be really neat. Each one was different.

Here is Christian with his creation later in the day when he was ready to play in the pool.

We ended class and headed outside for a few minutes of outdoor playtime until the moms came.

It was fun. The kids were really well behaved! Especially for the first day. They were very cute. Christian and Sam really have fun together and Laurie did really well too. I really liked having Laurie because it was so brand new and exciting to her. Christian and Sam knew a lot about what to expect from having been at school with Victoria and Josh, but they still seemed very pleased that now it was for them. They are big kids now! Christian listened and obeyed pretty well which was great because sometimes it is tricky sharing your house, mom and toys. It was really hard for him to sit when it was time to listen though. He prefers rolling around on the floor which won't work. I told him, "Please sit on your mat" about 10 times, but I predicted that that would be difficult. One of the 6 rules that we learned was "We sit up quietly in our seats when it's time to listen." So, I am hoping that over the next few months that rule can be reinforced again and again and that soon he'll get it. Especially at the other houses. I want him to be respectful of the rules and other teachers. Anyway, it went very well over all. It helped restore some confidence in myself that I can do a good job teaching kids. I enjoyed it and I know that Christian enjoyed it. I heard him tell his Dad, sister, and grandma all about it.

We are thankful for another successful first!