Start Each Day with a Grateful Heart.

I've started a Gratitude Journal and it has been one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself. I think that everyone in the world should have one! We all have something to be grateful for, no matter what our circumstance is. Through keeping a gratitude journal, I have been able to see my life differently. Things that once kept me from being happy, are now bringing me happiness.

Here's how it works:
+Write down something that is frustrating or negative in your life.
Example: A messy home.
+Follow that something with a positive that comes from that negative.
Example: A safe place to live and call your own.

If you have found yourself in a rut in life, like so many of us do. I would challenge you to keep a gratitude journal. It will change your perspective and make you appreciate the simplest of things.

I also like to add a Motto of the Day to my gratitude entry. I find a quote or write down a word that I need for that day.

I know a lot of us are busy and free time is a luxury for most. However, this is something that does not require much time. I can write a quick entry in a matter of 3 minutes. And those 3 minutes make all the difference in the next 24 hours.


Start each day with a grateful heart, it will make all the difference in your day.


x Katie Anne

Motherhood.

Being a mom is hard. Between the sleepless nights, never ending laundry, diapers, and feedings...it's just, in one word: exhausting. It's funny, when people find out I'm a stay at home mom they often ask questions like: "do you ever get bored?" "what do you do all day?" "are you going back to work anytime soon?" These questions used to bother me a lot. Because I would not really have an answer to them. But now that I am a seasoned mother of 8 months, (I hope you sense the sarcasm...) these questions no longer bother me. I have an answer to them. *eyeroll No, I am never bored. I spend my days with one of my favorite people in the whole world. We do everything together. We make a great team: he makes messes, I clean them up. He's hungry, I feed him. He needs a diaper change, I change it. He needs a bath, I bathe him. He wants to play, I play with him. He's kind of a needy friend, but I don't mind because when I need love, he loves me. And there is nothing better. I have the greatest job in the world being his mom. I would not want to be doing anything else with my life right now.

I didn't think I could love my husband any more when we first became parents. But as I have watched him grow as a father, my love for him has grown stronger. I don't want this to be a post of me bragging about my great life. But I just couldn't not (double negative) say something about him. His love and support is the only thing that gets me through most days.

I hope to be back to blogging regularly. So until next time!

x Katie Anne

February 5th

On February 5th, 2015 at 7:49 a.m. my life was forever changed.

You're given 9 months to prepare for your baby to enter the world. Which, you know, sounds like plenty of time. 9 months should give you time to a) prepare yourself mentally for the fact that you are about to be responsible for a life other than your own. b) get all of the things you need to take care of that little one (and the things you don't really need but think you need because Pinterest and all the mommy blogs say so...) And c) turn your home into a baby friendly environment & completely change your life to accommodate the little one and all their wants & needs.

I found that 9 months was not enough time for any of that...I don't know if there is enough time in the world for all of that. 9 months came and went in the blink of an eye. And on the morning of February 5th I was so thankful for the swift passing of time because in that moment I couldn't imagine living another minute without my sweet little boy.

The delivery was not at all, in the slightest, even a tiny bit how I imagined or prepared myself for it to go. I was induced on Wednesday night due to concerns with the amount of nutrients the baby was receiving because of lack of growth in the last few weeks of pregnancy. The doctor notified me of the plans to induce Monday, my angel of a mother arrived Tuesday, and I was in the hospital Wednesday! It was a little crazy how quickly everything happened. 

 There was something about being induced that made me feel safe because I thought it would mean that there was more control over the delivery and that everything would go smoothly and as the doctor and myself had planned. But as soon as the induction began things moved so quickly that any and all plans (besides delivering the baby) were out the window. One of which including an epidural...which looking back (obviously not in the moment) was a wonderful thing. To have gone through this experience with my sweet husband was amazing. I'll be honest, my entire labor and delivery--kind of a blur (whether that is by subconscious choice to erase the memory of the pain or just the nature of child birth.) But the things that I do remember clear as day are my sweet husband, through teary eyes, holding my hand tight, telling me how much and he loved me and lovingly coaching me through it & the feeling of holding my baby boy for the first time with a heart full of love and gratitude for the sweet little spirit God sent to me. 

Today, Van is 1 month old. It has been 1 month since the happiest day of my life. 

And every day after has been just as happy. In Van's first month he spent 1 week in the NICU where he made friends with all the nurses and taught mom and dad a lesson in patience as they anxiously waited to bring him home. That week was the longest of my life. Having a child in the NICU is one of the worst feelings in the world. I'll be honest-- it felt more like a week long parenting class given by the nurses. Which was both a wonderful and obnoxious experience. 

Following that long week, Van came home and has been the center of our world since. 

Van loves to go for walks, dance around the house and play with mom & dad, cuddle, take baths, and eat...non-stop.

I am absolutely certain that there is no job more rewarding than that of being a mother. (I am also absolutely certain there is no job more demanding!) And there is no one in the world I would rather raise this boy with than Dave. To watch him with Van just melts my heart. His love for that boy is evident in everything he does. The three of us have all grown so much in this past month. February 5th will forever be one of my favorite days. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our little family & all of the adventures that await us.

2 Months to Motherhood

Apparently I've forgotten how to blog...

That & to be honest this whole pregnant while trying to finish school thing has been slightly more demanding than I had thought it would be. Thankfully, I will be finished (with school) in just 4 short days. 

I've had so many wonderful things happen to me these last few months as I have been preparing for baby to come. The most exciting was my trip home to Virginia for the most precious baby shower thrown by my extremely talented mother. 

My biggest regret is forgetting my camera...these iPhone photos hardly do this shower justice,  but they will have to do. 

The cute dessert table. (I so wish I had more pictures to show just how adorable.)

 The guests were provided onsies, bibs, and a variety of materials to create personalized items for baby. 

 The most adorable treats. 

 & what's a party without a photo booth?

I received such adorable gifts and thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend time with family and friends. I'm a lucky girl to have so many wonderful people in my life. 

Coming up next...

• Graduation (this weekend)
• Moving (this weekend)
• Christmas ( 11 days)
• Baby (2 months) 

Despite being the most overwhelming time in my life, it's also the most exciting. Can't wait to spend my days kissing little toes and holding that little guy in my arms knowing this has all been worth it. 

oh BOY.

It's a BOY! Looks like my "maternal instincts" are malfunctioning...I was almost certain my little "it" was a girl, but I was wrong (fancy that.) And I am completely okay with it! We could not be more excited, really I don't think we could be. 

My sweet as can be sister put together a little "gender reveal" for us as opposed to the traditional finding out in the doctors office. It was PERFECT. She, with the help of some friends, put together a little box full of blue to tell us that we're having a boy. I must admit, from the time I entered the doctors office to the moment we stood beneath that tree seemed like the LONGEST 3 hours of my life. Dave and I almost gave in and told the nurse to just tell us already, we were so excited. But I am SO glad we decided to do it this way. We were able to share the moment with family via FaceTime and close friends. One friend was good enough to catch the moment on film for us:

Now knowing that he is a he, this whole pregnancy thing seems SO much more real. I feel bad because I've been calling him her for a while now and singing Taylor Swift's Shake it Off telling her (who is really a him) that I can't wait to have dance parties with her (him.) Hopefully he'll still be down for that...

I've become one of those women who start their baby shopping the moment they find out the gender. I've already picked out the majority of what I want for the nursery (Peter Pan themed, obviously,) and I have a bunch of adorable little outfits in my basket online on numerous sites. My next step is to create a registry! 

Now it's just a matter of us finding the perfect name for our little guy. I can't wait to see you in just 4 months my little man! (Ah, I'm going to be a mom in 4 months...is this real!?)

Just a little DIY

Lately, I've been in love with the idea of DIY projects. My Pinterest board is full of wonderful & beautiful things that I dream of one day creating for my future home. 

While I've dabbled in projects here and there--(most of which including the simplicity of mod podging scrapbook paper to wooden objects & feeling so artsy)-- tonight I completed a project with the help of some friends that I am in LOVE with.

We started with some old barn wood, nails, a hammer, & an outline of Idaho. We simply taped the outline where we wanted it & began hammering away along the outline. (This took a little bit longer than expected...but, in the end--totally worth it.)

After hammering nails along the outline of the state, we hammered nails along the outline of the board. (& this took much longer than expected...mostly because I was too focused on aligning them perfectly. Which was very unnecessary in the end because, with the yarn you cannot even tell how well aligned the nails are.) 

After hammering all those nails in the wood, we took some colorful yarn of our choice and began weaving it back and forth between the outline of the state & the outline of the board. (Naturally, I struggled with this and many times ended up morphing my Idaho becoming to weave crazy...so if you're planning on trying this out--don't do that.)

We decided to add a little heart where we live & met our sweethearts to add a little personalized touch, which is my favorite part!

I think the reason why I loved this project so much is because it was SO simple, and turned out SO adorable. If you're looking for a fun & easy DIY project, give this a try!

PS- I can in no way take any credit for the creativity behind this project. That pretty thing in the middle, Aubree, is basically a DIY goddess. I mean, check out that wall behind us, all her. 

Bun in the Oven

Yes, the title means exactly what you think it means…I’M PREGNANT. While some of you may be surprised by this, I’m sure none of you are as surprised as we were…While this was not a planned pregnancy, we could not be more excited & the timing is kind of perfect. I just finished up all my classes at BYU-Idaho (after taking 18 credits 3 semesters in a row I could not be more relieved). And I will begin student teaching here in the this week where I will intern until December 19th. Baby Sorensen will arrive in February.

It’s funny because just one week before we received this news Dave and I had a serious talk about what our plans were short term. We’re getting ready to spend a couple years in northern California and I decided I wanted to go to graduate school to pursue a masters degree in speech and language pathology. We were going to spend our summers vacationing through Europe and preparing ourselves mentally to start a family within the next 2-3 years. Clearly God had different plans for me. 

Since the day Dave and I decided to get married I thought about what it would be like to start having children, and how I would feel when I found out I was pregnant. I thought about all the cute ways I would tell Dave the news and how excited I would be. However, nothing…and I mean nothing went as planned. Poor Dave came home to me sitting on the couch balling my eyes out with two positive pregnancy tests in my hand crying vainly “I’m going to be so fat.” (I know, I’m a horrible person…I’m blaming it on the hormones…)  However it’s not like Dave’s reaction was any better. “Are you sure those things are right?” “It’s probably a false positive.” After letting it sink in for a few minutes. We looked at each other frantically and booked it to the grocery store where we stalked up on prenatal vitamins and any healthy food item we could get our hands on…we went a little crazy to say the least. I don’t remember much of the rest of that evening. I remember feeling scared and excited at the same time. I remember Dave holding me as I cried trying to laugh silently as I blabbered about how I’m not ready. At this point though, we were not yet completely sold on the idea that I was actually pregnant.

The next day we went to the doctor where the news was confirmed. He said “if you took 2 tests and both were positive, you’re definitely pregnant! There we sat in silence. Dave & I didn’t even make eye contact at this time. We didn’t really know what to say or how to feel. The doctor just smiled and said “oh, I see this wasn’t planned.” Gosh, was it that obvious!? We knew then the next step was to tell our parents because we were so scared out of our minds we didn’t really know what else to do.

I decided that because I blew it with David, I was going to tell our parents the news in a cute and fun way. So I sent them each a package and had my sister & sister in law video tape them opening them. 

Here are their responses: 

After seeing these, how could we not be excited about this!? 

We ended up getting an early ultrasound to make sure that I was in fact pregnant, and to see exactly how far along I am. Seeing my peanut sized baby with a tail for legs was one of the most special moments of my life. It really was a beautiful moment between David & I to officially come to the realization that we are going to be parents and entering this exciting time in our lives together. The nurses could not stop laughing at how much the little one was moving around. (It's definitely Dave's child...)

I am now in my second trimester and have been a little sick lately...but all in all I've had a healthy and happy pregnancy! I hope things continue to go smoothly! 

Thanks to all my family & friends for the love and support we have received so far. We're blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.