preschool

riley's first day of preschool was this past monday. it took her a long time to fall asleep sunday night and the first thing she said when she woke up monday morning was, "do i get to go to school now?" she was very excited and was just fine when we dropped her off and said goodbye. tyler and i drove away and were amazed that we have a preschooler. time goes by so quickly. she looked like she was having a lot of fun when i picked her up, so i trust this will be a great new experience for her.

she refused to take a picture with out her baby sister, and well, we can hardly ever get her to smile for the camera.

after a lunch and nap that day, and only because i still had tyler's help, we ventured to the local apple farm to meet up with friends from my moms group. when we got there we sampled apples and cider and took in the fall surroundings. it was a perfectly sunny and clear day and was just beautiful on the farm. sonja and i only lasted about 15 minutes then spent the rest of the time in the car sitting...but tyler and riley had a blast. everyone drove a golf cart out to the orchard to pick a small bag of apples. we came home with a few bags of honecrisp apples as well as a jug of fresh apple cider and have been enjoying their goodness this week.

it was a big day - preschool, a family outing and our last day together before tyler had to go back to work. i was actually pretty tired come the end of the day. i've taken it pretty easy the last few days as i adjust to this new life. i really can't complain though - sonja has made the adjustment extremely smooth. all 3 of us are completely smitten with her and in a sort of baby bliss stage. we are enjoying it while it lasts :)

birth-day party

i had visions of making a chocolate cake while i was in early labor, but seeing as how my early labor fairly quickly moved into active labor, i did not have time for this. and who wants to bake while having contractions? anyway, i found this recipe (i've been really into her website for baking lately) and tried it out a few weeks prior. i talked to riley about having a little birth-day party for sonja and she was beside herself with excitement.

so last saturday morning her and i baked the cake then my friend claire, who was visiting that afternoon, made the frosting and raspberry filling with riley.

that evening, along with the oranens, we had a little celebration. we sang happy birthday and enjoyed some cake. as you can see below, riley was extremely excited. she really has taken to this whole big sister thing quite well.

and the chocolate cake? it was delicious.

photo shoot

last weekend our friends andy & erin came to see sonja. erin is quite the photographer so i asked her to take some pictures of sonja. here they are below.

sonja.drew.denton

we are so happy to announce our baby girl is here and is just perfect. sonja was born 1 week ago today (on her due date!), last tuesday morning at 5:08. she came after just 6 hours of active labor. nothing compared to what we experienced with riley. i had a successful vbac, which i cannot even begin to express how joyful this makes me. it was a huge accomplishment for me and such an answer to prayer. thank you to everyone who was thinking about me. sonja weighed in at 8lbs 14oz and 20 3/4 inches long. she is plump and so cuddly. at 1 week, she is already back at her birth weight. so far she has been pretty sleepy and quiet, so i am having to wake her up all day long to feed her. she seems to be a bit more awake and fussy at night, so i am adjusting to less sleep, but such is life with a newborn.

i came across the name sonja, a scandinavian name which means wisdom, only about 3 weeks before she was born. tyler and i both instantly loved the name and knew it would be hers. tyler's scandinavian roots are important to him, so he was especially in love when i told him the current queen of norway is named sonja! we really struggled with loving any name we talked about and could not agree on a single name, so her name really was delivered to us at just the perfect time. her middle name drew is of course after my older brother andrew. he is a very special & important person to us and if you've ever met him you'd want to name your child after him too :)

i had my first day at home alone with my two girls today. to be honest i was very nervous about tyler going back to work, but the day was smooth and actually quite enjoyable. i even managed to clean and bake banana bread. huge success! riley is adjusting quite well so far and is just smitten with her baby sister. the only problem we've been having is getting her to not smother sonja with hugs and kisses while nursing.

i'll post more later this week.

from the moment she was born she has been trying to suck on her hands

riley is a very proud big sister

my mom is in love! she came up to stay with riley while we were in the hospital. she was a huge help and riley loves spending time with her.

sonja gave riley this strawberry shortcake doll when riley first met sonja and we aren't sure if riley loves strawberry shortcake or sonja more :)

our little one has lots of hair. it's all the nurses could talk about when she was coming out!

she looks like she's laughing!

she is such a joy already. we are completely in love and feel oh so blessed.

carrie + jeff

last night we celebrated the marriage of carrie and jeff. carrie and i have known each other for years (technically since kindergarten but we really became friends in high school), so it was such a privilege to be able to attend. (so i guess i am grateful i haven't had this baby yet!) they were married at the uw botanical gardens in seattle. their ceremony was outside in the grass, in front of 3 beautiful trees. the reception was inside the horticulture center, and because of the great weather, spilled outside onto the patio. the wedding was beautiful, simple and very carrie and jeff. it was perfect. congratulations you two! we are so excited for you as you embark on this new journey together. sadly i forgot my nice camera, so these so-so pictures will have to do.

the majority of these beautiful dahlias were provided by carrie's dear friend janice's husband. janice was one of carrie's dearest friends and she passed away a year ago this month from a nasty 6 month battle with cancer at the age of 31. janice grew and loved beautiful dahlias in her garden, so carrie honored and remembered her by using the flowers from her garden. it was beautiful and meant so much to carrie, as well as to marcus, janice's husband who was at the wedding. janice is sorely missed.

me + my nearly 40 week pregnant belly

the beautiful bride and her handsome father

the wedding officiant was john, another great friend from high school

the ceremony

kim + i

carrie + i

it was a beautiful wedding and we had so much fun. it was awesome to see friends from high school and spend an evening together celebrating a great marriage. unfortunately i don't have any pictures of tyler and i, but take my word for it, he looked so handsome. we had fun dancing, yes, i danced, and i'm sure it was a sight to see. the photographer told me i was the cutest pregnant dancer she's seen. haha. little did she know i was just trying to shake this baby out of me! we left the wedding while my friends were still dancing the night away, but my heavy body and sore feet could not handle another minute. we also drove back to bellingham last night, wanting to get home, just in case.

39 weeks

...and 100% ready to have a baby. baby denton please come soon (like tomorrow 9/8 would be perfect!)