Personal Updates

Here's a look into our lives and what is happening to each of us individually.

Jace has a one track mind these days and I hear this question WAY too much: "Mom, can I play the Wii?" He and Cole got a Wii for Christmas and they are loving it. Star Wars Legos is his favorite game to play. We love to watch both of them play the active games because it involves both of them jumping up and down the entire time - no matter what game they're playing. The games don't require jumping, that's just how they show their excitement. How can I deny them playing the Wii for a couple of hours when they are getting more exercise than me?

(Here's an action shot of them playing. Notice how red and sweaty Cole is.)

Also, something else on Jace's mind are his upcoming kindergarten shots. He has his appointment this Friday and already there have been multiple break downs about getting shots. Remember last time he got a shot? Ugly. I don't know how I'm even going to get him into the doctor's office on Friday. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Cole. Oh that Cole. This child is something else. He has been quite the stinker lately. He is so naughty and then so adorable and sweet the next minute. He truly is too cute for his own good. He is all boy and is always playing with a gun, sword, wrestling, or hitting someone. Oh, and he is obsessed with my "booties" aka boobs. See? All boy I tell ya. He is so sweet and is always telling me, "I wanna hold you" which actually means, "I want you to hold me." And he tells me "I your Snuggle Bunny." He drives me crazy and yet melts my heart.

Lily is now three months old. She still seems pretty petite to me which I am grateful for because I can't handle her getting big. It's hard to see your third baby grow so fast. She has developed a few of things since she turned three months old:

1. Thumb sucking. I love it and dislike it at the same time. It's adorable, yet you can't throw away a thumb at 15 months old. She still does take her binkie, but she prefers her thumb.


2. Hair loss. She had so much hair for so long and then in about a matter of a week or two she lost SO MUCH HAIR. It saddens me. Deeply. And it's not just the back of her head, she has lost so much on top and on the sides too. Sigh.


3. CHUBBY cheeks. Need I say more?


Bryan is still staying busy looking for a job and also with his church responsibilities. With some of his down time he has picked up a new read, Twilight. I'm not saying he likes it, he's just interested to know what all the hype's about. It's been fun to talk about the book with him because he points out how silly it really is. He's not yet finished so we'll see what his final opinion is.

(This is a picture of him showing one of his Christmas presents. I thought he looked really cute in it.)

I am working on a resolution of becoming more organized and clutter free. I can't stand clutter and so my goal is to go through every closet and cupboard and dejunk and reorganize. Fun, huh? Bryan and I have found a new activity for date night: playing Star Wars Legos on the Wii. Shortly after we got it we played it together for 4 hours straight which kept us up until 1:45 am. I won't admit how many hours total we've played it together. Shameful. Who would have thought that me, out of all people, would get addicted to a video game?

And since I don't have a picture of myself, here's the kids in their Christmas outfits.

So that's a quick update on each of us and a few pictures to show it too.

Ringing in the New Year

As one of my resolutions for the 2010 year, I am resolving to be a better blogger. I use to do so well, and then the third pregnancy and third child came along, and the blogging thing dissipated quite a bit. But, I am vowing to change that. I need to do a better job of recording the happenings of our family and also I really want to jot some of the thoughts and ideas that float around in my head. So here's to a better blogging year....

I know that 2009 was a very difficult year for many people and families. The economy affected many people on many different levels, and every night as we knelt down together as a family and had family prayer, the thought didn't escape my mind that when so many were suffering with the loss of jobs and other trials, our family was very blessed.

Here are a few things that I was so grateful for in 2009:

Bryan's job was going well - we were employed when so many were not
We were settled in a beautiful home with a beautiful yard that we loved and worked hard in
We were blessed financially
Bryan was put into the bishopric which has brought added blessings
We had a beautiful, healthy, and happy baby girl
We were all healthy - and...no broken bones!!

These blessings were reiterated in my mind that first Sunday of the month when many people stood to bear their testimonies of the hardships and trials they faced this past year and how it shaped their faith. Man, 2009 was a good year to our family.

And then the looming thought of: "If 2009 was such a good year for us, what will 2010 bring? Something's got to be coming."

We found out pretty quickly what 2010 was going to bring to our family. It brought to us what it brought to so many other people in 2009: unemployment.

On January 7, Bryan was quite surprisingly laid off. He knew that there were going to be changes in the company; sales territories and quota changes were coming but he wasn't too worried. Things were being shaken up a bit, but this? This was quite a shock. Neither one of us anticipated it.

Bryan has been home all day for only a couple of days, and it's been nice to have some lazy days with him and the boys. (Today is one of those days!) But for the most part he has been out of the house working at the real estate office updating his resume and job hunting. He needs to stay busy to keep his sanity and so far he's been doing a great job of keeping it together.

With this change, amazingly both of us have that calm peaceful reassurance that things will work out for the best. We don't know why this happened or for how long this will last, but we know that we're going to be just fine.

Faith is a comforting thing.

Today I Decided....

That I could hold Lily in my arms and we could stand there staring and smiling at each other

all

day

long.

And it would never grow old.

A BLESSED Day

On Sunday, December 6, we blessed Lily. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we cannot express enough thanks and love to all of our family members and friends who were able to be a part of it.

Lily Grace Erickson.

That is our daughter's official name, and yes, it is different than her name on her birth certificate. There will need to be a change made down at the Vital Records Office. We even surprised our entire family and didn't tell them what her name was going to be until they heard it in the blessing. When discussing what her name should be, Bryan put it so perfectly, "I like Lillian, I think it's pretty; but that's not my daughter's name."

He's right. It just didn't quite fit.

Grandma Pam (Bryan's mom) was gracious enough to make Lily's blessing dress. Almost eight years ago when my neice was blessed, Pam made her blessing dress and then and there I begged Pam to one day make my daughter's blessing dress. She does amazing work, and this past Sunday she didn't disappoint. She finished the dress at 2:30 AM Sunday morning and she brought it to the church where we dressed Lily. It was worth the anticipation. It is simple, yet elegant.

Bryan gave Lily an incredible blessing, one to be remembered. My favorite part: the very beginning when he said, "We take this beautiful girl in our arms..." with emotion in his voice. I love that man and I love that he adores our daughter.

Lily was so content, happy, and alert the whole day. She was perfect and the day was perfect as well. Thank you again to all those who helped make it so special.

A SUPER Halloween

We had a great Halloween week around these parts. Our superheroes had a great time at their grandparents' houses celebrating the festivities early in the week, and of course enjoying the actual day with a Halloween silly lunch at their cousins' house, trunk-or-treating and trick-or-treating.

We started the week at the Erickson's to have dinner with the cousins and show off the costumes. We had the traditional chili and scones, painted pumpkins, and modeled costumes.

(Wonder Woman, Wolverine, Captain America, Tinker Bell, Wendy holding the Crocodile, and Anakin Skywalker)

Tuesday we were at the Turner's to celebrate. We had white chili, played Halloween games, decorated cupcakes, and modeled costumes.

(This is a new game my mom had us play. Joslyn drew this witch and then my mom had us chew bubblegum and then we stood back a few feet and "threw the wart on the witch's nose" Dallin won)

(A Kung Fu Master, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, and a cute Monkey)

Jace wanted to be Wolverine for Halloween because of the awesome claws. Yes, the claws were the deciding factor. Cole wanted to be Superman, but we liked the Captain America costume better, and I must say he looks pretty dang cute all muscled out. And to fit the Superhero theme, I made Lily a Super Woman costume. I think they look pretty dang cute. I love the fact that my kids are still young enough that I can base their costumes around a theme. I'm sure that won't last much longer.

Life With Three

A lot of different people have asked how life with three kids is. Truly life with three is really not that much different than life with two. I haven't felt that it has been a big adjustment for me. The only difference for me is time - or the lack thereof.

On most days I feel like there are less hours in the day and I am no longer able to accomplish all that I would like to do. So I have decided that I need to give myself one assignment a day and be glad when that item is accomplished. When I do have a free minute, I find myself vegging and doing absolutely nothing so that I can enjoy some down time. Thus the reason I haven't updated the blog or even been on the computer for a week and a half.

Two weeks old


Our family has adjusted very well. We love having Lily in our family, and I believe that it is fair to say that we are all enamored by her. The question of the year from the boys is "Is Lily awake?" They always want to know if she is awake so that they can kiss and hug her. Jace has countless names that he call her: Pretty Girl, Baby Doll, Cutie, Lily Sweetie, and on and on. Cole calls her "Baby Lily" but it comes out sounding like BabeLily - all as one word. It is fair to say they absolutely adore their sister and she is going to be one watched over little girl.


I love having her around. I have to admit it is fun to dress her up and make sure she has a matching bow or headband for the day's outfit. And it is reassuring to know that I have another female in the house. There was one day last week when the boys were giving me a run for my money. I put them down for a nap and went and got Lily and told her I needed her to snuggle with me and hang out with me. I needed some girl time. Bryan has recently bonded with her and I believe he loves having her around too.


Lily is five weeks tomorrow! I cannot understand where time has gone. She is an amazing baby. Truly. Here are some facts about her within the first month of her life.

Four weeks old

• She rarely cries. The only time I have heard her cry for longer than a minute straight was when she came out of the womb. Her cry is only one short little "wah" intermittently.
• She doesn't cry, but she is definitely a grunter and groaner. Oh my goodness can she make some noise grunting and groaning while she is asleep or awake.
• She sleeps, sleeps, sleeps. She is on the eating schedule of 10:00, 2:00, and 6:00 and after each feeding during the night she goes right back to sleep and that is that.
• She is now smiling!! She started smiling Nov. 3, the day after she turned a month old.
• She is so mellow and I hope this is a sign of her personality and of things to come. So far she isn't a high maintenance girl.
• We think she might have acid reflux. She spits up quite a bit and she moans and groans a lot after she eats and acts as if she is in some pain. I am trying to alter my eating habits to see if that will help. I am trying to give up chocolate to see if that helps her - and to be honest, I'm dying and it hasn't even been 24 hours.
• We are trying to decide what her name is going to be. We officially filled her birth certificate out as Lillian Grace, but I am having second thoughts. I was always set with Lillian, but Lily Grace is sounding better and better. I told Bryan he has the final say at the baby blessing.

This is her first dress, and I caught Dad and the kids reading together on the couch.

Lily, you are a dream baby and we absolutely love you!

Lily Grace Erickson

Our baby girl is finally here and we can't be more excited. Lily Grace Erickson was born Friday, October 2, 2009 at 3:59 pm. She was 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 18.5 in long.

I was scheduled to be induced Friday. Friday morning Bryan and I got up and started our day waiting to hear from the hospital to call us in. We were productive that morning while we played the waiting. Bryan mowed the lawn and I was able to tear out the frost-bitten garden and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

We got the phone call and arrived at the hospital at 11:00 am. I had to be put on antibiotics because I tested positive for Strep B and I needed to be on the medicine for 4 hours before the baby was born. I received that at about 11:40. I received pitocin at noon and we started the waiting game. I had my epidural at 12:45; not because I was in pain but because I didn't want to be in pain while the anesthesiologist took care of 2 C-sections and another epidural before he thought he could get back to me. So I thought I would get numbed up before I was in unbearable pain! Things were progressing so quickly they had to take me off the pitocin to slow me down a bit. Then by 3:59 she was here after about 4 pushes. There were no complications and labor was really easy and smooth sailing.

She really is a tiny little thing. They nurses in the nursery believe that she was actually 2 weeks early due to a few little signs they look for: the thinness of the cartilage in her ears, the lack of wrinkles in her feet, and the large amount of white goop she was covered in when she was born. As of tonight (10/3) she is down to 5 lbs. 9.9 oz. Just a tiny little peanut.

The boys are adjusting really well. They cover her in hugs and kisses, whisper little secrets to her, and bring her cute little "presents" that only little boys would bring. They absolutely love having Baby Lily here. Bryan is so cute to watch with her. I love hearing him call her "Baby Girl" and he just keeps saying over and over how cute she is. He's hooked.

I'm doing well and am excited to get back home and start our routine as a family. It gets a little boring and monotonous here at the hospital and I can't take any more sitting. Let's get this little girl home!