For the Grandparents ...

Here is a 3 minute interview with David Rocky.

Exercise While Driving...check out these moves!

Exercising at this stage in the pregnancy is difficult but important. Kayla sent me this video, which has given me some great moves to use while I'm driving and a fun activity for Rocky. You should see his moves! Rich...this may help your weekly drives to Redding. Look out Wutabi brothers.. here comes Boris & Yuri. Check out this video for a good laugh.

Final Baby Name List is available for voting!

But we are still desperate for ideas and will welcome any new ones for consideration. Happy voting!!

Baby Name Update!

We are unable to add names to the existing poll, so we are going to add another one with additional names in a couple days. This will be the final list, so send us your names now! We've gotten some more good ones (even Rocky is getting creative with it now). Maybe some insight into baby's personality will help. Lately, he has been in a kicking frenzy determined to bust his way out prematurely. He has tested every inch of his cushy walls searching for a weakness, which I believe he has found in the lower left quadrant after hours of repeated blows to that spot last night. It's a good thing these babies don't grow toe and fingernails until the end. So check back with us in a couple days for more names! Let us know if you think of some good letter "s" filled names too, so we can really accentuate those lisps!

(This isn't my belly, but I thought it was pretty cool).

Baby Name Contest

Thanks for all the great responses we've gotten so far on baby name ideas! We've got some great options for a boy destined to have personality. We've decided to post the ideas we've received so far, along with our own (when we get some) so you can vote on them. The voting won't guarantee our final pick, but it should make this more interesting. Keep your ideas coming!! We will add them to the list as we get them. All I can say is that we have some creative friends and family, and we love it! Rocky's only suggestion has been Baby Nolan, which is what he thinks all babies are named apparently. He sure loves his little cousin! Don't worry. Since Kenzee & Justin have submitted some names, we won't be stealing Nolan's. :) Thanks everyone! Keep the names coming!!

Our Weekend Guests

Last weekend, we were visited by my mom, Grandma Moulton and Aunt Karen. It was a quick trip, but we had a blast. We were so excited to have guests at our place that we tried to give them the royal treatment, cooking them some of our favorite new recipes. Grandma seemed quite impressed with our spacious windows and garden and considered moving in with us. Maybe they will now convince others to come. Chico is beautiful this time of year and a great vacation spot for families, so please feel free to visit us!! The only thing we don't recommend is taking a train here. These guys spent the night in Salt Lake's cold, dinky station during a 9 hour delay. The troopers didn't arrive at our place until 3 AM the next day. They recovered quickly though and enjoyed the rest of their stay. Rocky, who is the luckiest boy in the world because he has so many grandma's, loved all the attention and performed well, even using the potty frequently ... which he has refused to do since. He surprised us all that first dinner during a quiet moment by suddenly asking, "Grandma Moulton ... Karen ... what are you doing here?" On Saturday, Rick & Pam invited us out their place for a delicious lunch and a game of what we like to call "Norwegian Darts." Cousin Brad made it out too. Rich & I enjoyed seeing our families have a good time together. Here are some pictures of their visit:

Some Favorite Things

As many of you know, this has been a difficult pregnancy for me. How have I survived? With a little help from my friends. I want to share with you some of the things they have shared with me that have made all the difference.
#1 - the TV show Alias. Jaime recommended this one just in time. We used our online subscription for the first few seasons, then borrowed the last few from a friend. It distracted me during all the sick months. I got through the day anticipating the next opportunity I had to watch it. Thanks Jaime! For those who haven't seen it: Jennifer Garner is an inspiring double agent super spy. This show held a impressive balance of action-packed missions spanning the globe with enthralling relationship drama and character development enough to satisfy anyone. Each season got better with more twists than an Italian breadstick. Just when I thought it couldn't get better, the super spy got pregnant. I was in big-bellied heaven watching an increasingly chubby agent combat world terror along with the aches and pains of child bearing. Suddenly, my own challenges weren't so difficult. I highly recommend it.

#2 - Books. My buddy Julie has been devouring literature like I can recently consume ice cream. She has been passing on her book recommendations to me, which can all be found at the library around the corner from our house. It feels great to be reading again! I will start sharing these with you. Right now, she has me reading, "Sweetness in the Belly," by Camilla Gibb. It is about a European orphan raised in a Muslim mosque and her struggles in Ethiopia during their period of government turmoil in the 80's which resulted in mass migrations and starvation. It is a fascinating book and gives me a better perspective on the current struggles I'm having with my own belly.

#3 - Good Food. I have to confess that I am finally learning to cook. Shameful, I know. Growing up, I didn't have time to learn. In college, I found a restaurant to work at that provided all my meals. During my mission, I was blessed with cooking savvy companions who took good care of me. Now I am out of excuses. My friend Niki, who is achieving her own goals, convinced me that I could learn and provided me with my first crockpot recipes. Incredible! It is so simple and makes the house smell like good food all day. Cool. This success caused me to elicit more help. Rich's mom, who is a cooking hero of mine, gave me the recipe for the Utah-renowned Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork Burritos (let me know if you want the recipe... it is seriously the best burrito known to man) and the best breakfast idea. It is Bob's Red Mill Creamy Brown Rice cereal, which is healthy, delicious and only takes 5 min. to make. Rocky loves it! I recommend it for any of you busy moms with youngsters. Add a Tbsp of coconut oil, a bit of sea salt and 2-3 Tbsp's of pure maple syrup and you will be amazed! Then, on Rich's birthday, Rocky's Grandma Pam presented me with the most amazing cookbook to which Rich later said was, "The best birthday present HE could have gotten." It is called "Anyone Can Cook," which I was pleasantly surprised to find included me. It has big pictures, detailed instructions and different skill levels. Everything I've made has been healthy and extremely delicious. For anyone else that's struggling, I guarantee it will turn your culinary confidence around!

Feel free to comment and share your favorites. If you don't believe I can now cook, come visit us and I'll prove it to you! Just ask my mom, aunt Karen and Grandma Moulton, who were out here visiting last week ...

Alert! Baby Name Needed ASAP!

Okay, we are now soliciting the help of loved ones. There are only 61 days until D-Day and we are still yet to come up with a name for our baby boy. To simplify, we hope to call our next son just one name instead of two, though we are in the market for both a first and middle name. The last name will remain as Sorenson ... or as the lisped members of our family say ... Thorenthon. Our original idea was Cortez Maximus (thanks to a favorite breakfast spot and Grandpa Rick ), but decided we wanted to give him more career options than pirate or gladiator. To go along with Rocky, we also considered Apollo Creed, but we have decided not to give our child a name he will later resent us for. So please brainstorm and send us your ideas. We will post them and there may be a prize for any name chosen. If you choose not to participate, we may steal one of your kid's names. You have been warned! To assist you, David/Rocky has created a sketch out of Play-do of what this boy could possibly look like when he is older. Thanks for your help!

Check out my Slide Show!

Our Belated Easter Bunny

Our Favorite Family Activity

I thought I would start out our new blog by telling you what we've been doing as a family for the last year, though the nausea from this pregnancy put the jamming on hold for a bit. We don't go on vacations or to the movies... we sit home and play Guitar Hero on Playstation 2. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. It seems to be the only video game I can beat Rich at. It's so fun and easy that it has been hard to motivate myself to play the real guitar. Then a few weeks ago we borrowed Rock Band, which includes a mic and drums. We were in gaming heaven. Grandma C equipped Rocky this past Christmas with his own guitar, so he can jam along beside us, though he favors the drums on Rock Band. We are counting on our next little boy to take over as the singer or bassist. Yep, we are growing our own band.

We've joined the Blogging Nation!

It's about time. You have all finally convinced us that we need to start a blog. It took several months of coercion but here we are. I will do my best to keep you updated on the Sorenson family, though this will just be another opportunity to show off our incredible kid. Isn't that what these are really for? I'll start with an adorable picture..