Thursday, October 25, 2007

happy one month baby owen!


i can't believe how fast the past month has gone by - but it's official - owen is one month old today. (am i supposed to kind of know what i'm doing by now or can i still stick by the "i'm a new mom" thing for a while longer?) it has been a crazy month indeed, but awesome. he had his one month check up today and all is well - he is now almost 10 lbs and 22 inches - in the 50th percentile in all areas. we love our little rookie! (clint and i are the ones who really need shirts that say "rookie" on them!)

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

safe and sound... counting our blessings


it has been quite a ride around here the last few days and i want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers headed in our general direction. as you may know - (if not, where have you been?) san diego county and southern california in general have been hit hard with wildfires that have come a little too close for comfort. we are home safe now, thank goodness.
monday morning clint came home just 15 minutes or so after he had left for work and woke me up. i was confused because i thought he had just left and he informed me that our friend aaron had called him to see what we were going to do about the evacuation. we obviously had no idea what was going on and soon found out that we were in an evacuation zone and that the witch fire that had seemed to be no threat at all to us on sunday was heading quickly towards us as the winds blew southwest - straight for us. we had a bit of time to get some things together and assess what we really needed and what had to be left behind. we really felt like we would be coming back home to find everything safe, but we had to be prepared and if nothing else have all that we would need to be away from home for a few days.
my mind quickly went back to the harmony grove fires of 1996 that happened just a week or so before homecoming my senior year of high school. we voluntarily evacuated our house at that time and besides pictures and my baby blanket, my homecoming court dress was the only thing i wanted to take! silly jess. after all, if my house burned down, at least i would look good for homecoming! i guess i've matured a bit because there really wasn't any material possession i could think of that i couldn't live without. especially now with little owen - life changes a lot. all i worried about was having everything we needed to keep him comfortable and safe. i remembered scenes from hurricane katrina of women with little babies that didn't have diapers, clothes, food, etc. and that kept playing through my mind. i can't imagine how heartbreaking it would be to not be able to keep him safe.
clint was a rockstar - super calm, but very productive to get together food, water, blankets, all of our documents, etc. and load up the car to the hilt. we said goodbye to carmel valley and headed to my parent's house about 15 miles north. when we got there, my brother and his wife were also there - they had been evacuated from another part of the county early that morning. come to find out, my sister was also evacuated from her home up in santa clarita from a totally separate fire that came pretty close to them as well. we spent the day glued to the news to see the progression of the fires and to get all the information we could about friends and family that might be affected. later that day my parents house officially became hotel mendioroz when they opened their doors to 4 missionaries and one member of our church who had all been evacuated from ramona. the house was full and buzzing and my sweet mom made sure we were all fed, showered, and entertained as we waited things out.
at one point we were very worried that we would have to evacuate my parent's house as well since the fire seemed to be heading their way as well. their area was under voluntary evacuation, but we decided to stick it out and have a bed to sleep in rather than leave. thankfully, encinitas was in the clear and we didn't have to flee again.
so, here it is, wednesday afternoon. the fires came dangerously close to our little condo- not in our backyard or anything, but about a mile away homes were destroyed. within our stake boundaries i believe there were about 15 or so homes that were burned (i have no idea if any one from our stake actually lost their homes- but their neighbors did!). we got the notice this morning that the winds had shifted and that the evacuation was lifted for carmel valley and we were free to go home. although we were so grateful to have a place to stay and to be with family, it was nice to be able to come home and relax a bit.
i must say that i am proud to live here in san diego - i have been so impressed with the organization, the generosity, and the general sense of "everything will be ok -regardless of what is lost" of the people who have been affected. again, everyone keeps comparing this to katrina and it seems to have been the antithesis of the chaos that accompanied that disaster. i am glad that we have not had that to deal with on top of everything else.
i have been emotional most of the day just from the stress of the situation and the lack of real sleep in the last couple of days. clint and i keep saying we never feared for our lives or anything, it is just a big wake up call to realize the things that are really important and the things that really aren't. we are so grateful that we already have a knowledge of how our lives should be prioritized, and situations such as this keep us in check to make sure our hearts are in the right place.
the fires are far from being contained and my heart goes out to all of the families that are uncertain of their fate, but for now i am grateful that we are home- safe and sound.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

firsts

of course there are plenty of firsts around here lately... here are a few that we actually managed to document:

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

strongman!



one of the things that constantly surprises people about little o is how strong he is already! since the day he was born he's been lifting his head up like it was nothing! today a nurse came to the house to answer questions and weigh him again and she couldn't believe how strong he is. also - he is now 9 lbs 6 oz! wow- guess we don't have to worry about how he's eating! love this picture - also taken by my sis - so wrinkly in the cutest way possible!

daddy's boy...

here are some more pictures from last weekend's photoshoot with my sis. (i got the package miq - thanks!) by the way - i am realizing that some readers don't know that my amazing sister did actually TAKE these pictures. i know - lucky us! anyhow- these are of course my favorites because they are of my 2 favorite boys in the world and my post-pregnant face is nowhere near!



one of the neatest things about being a mom is watching my sweetie be a dad. i knew that this experience would make me fall in love with him all over again and it certainly has. i love the look in his eyes when he holds his boy and the way he can't get enough of him. i love that he reminds me of how incredible this miracle is (being mom 24 hours a day means you get used to it - since he is gone at work all day he gets excited by every little thing and it helps me to soak it in). i love the glimpses i get of what the rest of our lives will be like together. i love seeing the traits of his own father come out in him knowing that he will also pass them on to our son. i am so glad to be on this new path with you, love!

Monday, October 15, 2007

thank you daryl!!!

those of you who were at my shower may remember my mom's cute, spunky friend daryl who gave me some fabric and then took it back so she could make a quilt for owen. well, i had NO idea how talented she was and soon found out when my mom delivered the finished product on sunday. take a look...



isn't it adorable? check out the details!



she did all of this embroidery and quilting!!





l0oks like owen approves too!







thank you daryl!! WE LOVE IT!!

Friday, October 12, 2007

confessions of a new mom...

so, i haven't had much time to actually write anything here in the last few weeks - i figure most people just want to see cute pictures of the cute baby anyways! and to be honest, that's about all i've had time to do! this new mom thing is quite an adjustment! here are some confessions of a new mom...
1. i can't tell you what a thrill it was to sleep for 5 HOURS IN A ROW last night! it was heaven sent and i get just giddy thinking about it. hopefully it won't be just a fluke and little o will start realizing that sleep is a very very good thing.
2. i find myself singing songs and talking to this little boy and then realize he has no idea what i'm saying - and I DON'T CARE!
3. i am embarrassed to say that i have put makeup on/done my hair maybe 3 times in the last 2 and a half weeks. sorry for all who have dropped by to see the baby and have also gotten a shot of me in all my glory. hopefully you can get the image out of your heads and replace it with something much cuter like my son.
4. i took a walk today and at the end of 20 minutes i thought i was going to die. so recovering from a c-section is easier than i thought, but not that easy!

(it is freaky how much this looks like us today - stroller is almost identical, little dog in tow, me with a bun in my hair... it's like they know me....)
5. umm... can you say stretchmarks? sick. will my stomach ever be the same again? don't answer that.
6. he didn't come with instructions! i am starting to figure out what he needs when he's crying, but man it is hard to have this precious little one that you would do anything for and not know what is wrong. i think as we get to know him better it will get easier, but it can be heartwrenching at times!
7. it is so fun to see the love that is poured out from all over towards this new little guy - i know he is so lucky to have so much family and friends that already love him so much. as such he/we have been the recipients of so much kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity. we are so blessed!
8. how do you ever do this with other kids? when do you sleep if you have a two year old and a four year old too? i have a new found respect for all you supermoms out there!
9. thank goodness for a good husband. did i say good? i mean great! amazing! wonderful! fantastic! i am so lucky to have a man that doesn't want to be "one of those dads" as he calls it. he does everything he can to be loving, supportive, helpful, involved, and in love with the o-man even after a long day's work. his only complaint is that he doesn't get to see his boy enough. thanks babe!
10. my last confession is that although motherhood is sooo different than i had expected in so many ways - one thing is not different at all - i love it! in spite of the lack of sleep, the sore back (amongst other things), the crying, the feelings of inadequacy, and whatever else - this is the greatest gift! i feel so lucky to be able to soak it all in and enjoy this time with my sweet baby boy!

mr. mischeivous



just look at that face!! can you believe such an expression could come from such a little guy?? makes me wonder what i'm in for!!
(really though, this is one of my FAVORITE pictures! so much personality at only 2 days old!)

who do i look like?

there has been some debate around the erickson/mendioroz households about who this little guy looks like. my mom insists that when owen was born he looked exactly like i did when i was born, and most of my family agrees. however, we just got these pics from dave and shelly (clint's parents) and i must say- he does look a bit like his daddy when he was little... what do you think?


love the decor by the way... sweet!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

erickson 3

so i'm totally stealing this from my amazingly talented sister mique's blog because ... well, look at it! it's amazing! thanks miq for letting me and my family take advantage of your amazing skills. we owe you!



a weekend photoshoot with our new little man. couldn't you just eat him up? and the hubby looks pretty hunky too! i lucked out!

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Thursday, October 04, 2007

six am sweetness...



my 3 boys... snug as 3 bugs in a rug.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

i'm in love...

for those of you who did not hear, he made it!! baby owen is finally here, and I'M IN LOVE!!!

just look...


have you ever seen anything more precious in your life?? ok, so maybe i'm a little biased, but i just think this little angel is absolutely perfect and i am sooo happy that he is finally here!
his entrance was a little dramatic... but so worth it.
here is a quick synopsis:
monday morning i woke up and thought my water had broken. i know that sounds weird to anyone who has ever had their water break, but i really didn't know if this was it or not. i'll spare the details. we decided we'd better go down to the hospital just to check it out.
sure enough, when we got there the doctor told us it was a false alarm and that they were sending us home. then 2 minutes later they told me that plans had changed: they wanted to monitor me a bit more. apparently i was having contractions (i didn't even realize that i was) and every time i had a contraction the baby's heart rate would drop. they wanted to watch it a little closer to make sure all was ok. the doctor told us it would be about 20 minutes and then we would go home. and then, not 5 minutes more the doctor came in and told us that there was no reason for us to go home- after all, i was already overdue (and still not dilated AT ALL) and she just felt more comfortable keeping us there and inducing. sounded good to me! i was so excited to have it all underway.
inducing is not very fun however when your body is totally not ready.
so, the long day began around 10 am when we got there, and by the afternoon i was having heavy contractions one right after another (and my family was all there to see me in major pain). around that midnight, dave and shelly (clint's parents) had pulled in from a long drive all the way from wyoming - they weren't sure they would make it in time, but turns out they had PLENTY of time to spare.
finally at 1 am my water broke (i will never confuse that again!) and 2 am they gave me an epidural. i had not totally made up my mind about an epidural beforehand, but at that point i was in so much pain and was already so tired and was only a 3!!! so epidural it was, and boy was i glad to get some rest once it kicked in.
all day tuesday i was in active labor. things were not progressing very quickly at all. my family spent most of the day there, but i was so out of it and focused on the work at hand that i hardly noticed they were there. after an incredibly long day (well 2 days) i was finally ready to push a little before 5 pm. i gave it everything i had for an hour when all of a sudden there were like 8 doctors all around me. they told me the baby wasn't moving down, did a quick ultrasound to see that he was sunny side up, and then gave me my options. i could continue pushing, but it would be another couple of hours, forceps would have to be used, and i would have to have an episiotomy. the other option was a c-section. this was what i was afraid of - 30 hours of labor only to find out they were going to cut me open. we decided to go with the c-section since they were still concerned about the heart rate dropping and the baby being under stress. i just wanted him here safe! i was relieved and upset at the same time - glad it was going to be over, but did i really have to go through 2 days of labor before major abdominal surgery?
at 6 pm they wheeled me into the delivery room and clint followed shortly in his OR gear. look how cute and nervous he was:


they numbed me up and strapped me down and within minutes, i heard that beautiful cry.


and of course... i started to cry.

owen david erickson
september 25th, 2007 6:13 pm
7 lbs 14 0z
20 3/4 inches long

we spent the rest of the week in the hospital recovering ( i thought i would never sit up on my own again!) and had lots of visitors anxious to meet baby owen. we finally got home friday and have been adjusting to life as a family of 3.

when i think about this little guy for more than a moment, i bawl. that won't surprise anyone who knows me well because i have what i like to call "overactive tear ducts." but really - this little miracle of a child has changed my life forever. i already feel more love for him than i ever knew i had in my heart and my love for my family has multiplied so much over the last week. my husband is a saint - i just can't believe how lucky i am and how lucky owen is to have him as a dad. i look at my parents and clints parents through different eyes now and realize how much they have sacrificed for us, their babies, and it makes me wonder how i could ever overlook that.

i wonder how any one could ever question God's existence after seeing a new life enter this world and it humbles me greatly to know that He has trusted me with one of His beautiful children.
we are learning and growing together, and i am so thrilled to be part of the best club on earth - MOTHERHOOD.


a few more pics... many more to come!








our first family picture...




sweet hands...




diego is still getting used to 2nd place...




daddy loves his boy...





can you blame me for being the happiest girl in the world?