rest assured...

dear friends,
just wanted to be clear on something.
i am not pregnant.
owey is only 6 months old remember?
i know i'm old, and i'd better start popping 'em out quick if i want to be done before i am a senior citizen, but give a girl a break.
and last time, rather than just 12 hours of H-E- double hockey sticks, it was 5 months of it.
so, for now, i am enjoying not puking as long as it can possibly last. (and actually, the sick day brought it all back to my memory - pretty good birth control if you ask me.)
thanks for your concern,
the-NOT-prego-jess

puke-iversary

the anniversary date with the mr. was so fun. to dinner, a stop at the beach to watch the sunset, and then to pick up the boy at grammy and papa's house. nothing fancy, but just enough to celebrate 3 great years together.
if only the day could have ended there.
unfortunately i spent the rest of the night and most of the day yesterday reliving that lovely dinner.
clint stayed home from work and had so much fun playing mr. mom that at one point he said "this is the best day of my life!" and then, realizing what condition i was in took it back quickly and just reminded me of how lucky i am to stay home with owey everyday. it's true.
i was also reminded of how ironic it was that the last time i had felt this terrible was all due to that little bean-boy inside my belly. so glad he's out, so glad i don't have 5 more months of this sick-stuff. at least not anytime soon.
glad to say that today is a better day and am happy to have gotten out of bed and even eaten a little something.

the big 2-6

happy birthday bud - sorry i missed out on the festivities! we love you and hope you have the best year yet!
xoxo, erickson 3.

happy day.

When somebody loves you
It's no good unless he loves you
all the way

Happy to be near you
When you need someone to cheer you
all the way

Taller than the tallest tree is
That's how it's got to feel
Deeper than the deep blue sea is
That's how deep it goes if it's real

When somebody needs you
It's no good unless he needs you
all the way

Through the good or lean years
And for all the in-between years
come what may

Who knows where the road will lead us
Only a fool would say
But if you'll let me love you
It's for sure I'm gonna love you
all the way
all the way

So, if you'll let me love you
It's for sure I'm gonna love you
all the way
all the way

happy anniversary loverly! i am so happy that we are in this together "all the way" and i love you with all that i am. xoxo.

this is what it's all about

happy half birthday my little one.
where has all the time gone?
i can not believe that it was half a year ago that this little ray of sunshine came into our lives. i felt i had waited all my life for that day to come, and now it seems like it was in fact a lifetime ago. how could the time fly so fast? when did he get so big? and who said it was ok for him to grow up? how did i ever live without those deep brown eyes, and what in the world did i do with all that room in my heart that is reserved just for him before he was here?

motherhood has been so different than i expected. but one thing has gone way above and beyond any expectation i could have ever had: how much i love this little angel. i never knew my every emotion could be so tied up into another tiny little life. i had no idea that his smile would absolutely fill my heart so full that i was sure it would burst. i could not have imagined how much it would hurt to hear him cry and how desperate i would feel to make everything better. i had no clue how much he would consume my life - every thought, every action, every prayer with him in mind.

there have also been days when being a mom was not easy. sometimes i get overwhelmed that this poor little guy will have to suffer so much because of my weaknesses. why can't he just have a perfect mom? he deserves it! and other days i think that there has got to be more to life than poopy diapers, laundry, the dishes, breastfeeding, and not getting a decent night's sleep. and then i remember, this is what it's all about.
it's all about learning and growing together.
it's all about seeing the world through his eyes and catching the wonder of a new life in an undiscovered world.
it's all about loving so hard that it hurts and knowing what it feels like to give all you have for someone else.
it's all about seeing your weaknesses and knowing that you can not do it alone, nor are you expected to.
it's all about relishing every last second of every single day because they go so fast.
it's all about the snuggles and the belly laughs and the bubble blowing and the chunky legs.
this is what it's all about.

one of my favorite things to do is sit in the rocking chair right before nap time and hold my little o tight as can be all wrapped up in his blankie and sing primary songs. i love that he cuddles up to me and lets me love him. i love when he falls asleep in my arms and i love that moment of tenderness. in that moment it takes everything out of me to put him down to sleep. i just want to hold him and enjoy every second while he is still in my arms. these days will not last forever, and before i know it he will be too squirmy, too old, too heavy, too embarrassed to let his mama hold him. so for now, this is what it's all about.
love you owey. could not be a prouder mama.

hiatus.

i'm back. sorry for the lapse in blogging. i wish i could say i was off on an exotic vacation or i won the lottery and just didn't have time with all the millions burning a whole in my pocket, but nay. tis not so. as you may know by now, i suffer from blog binging. you know, putting it off and putting it off and then trying to cram 5 million posts in all in one sitting? that's me. the problem is that i blog in my head. i find myself authoring a post each time i take a picture or something funny happens. and then, since i have already done it in my head, i forget to actually do it. so, i ask for your forgiveness, promise to be better, and here you have all the updates and gazillion pictures. and by the way, there will be no more binging this week as it is a week of exciting events and celebrations around here. you may just have to check back to know what i mean.

eggsellent...

hope you all had a very happy easter! it was such a blessing to be able to know that the reason for the celebration goes far beyond bunnies, jelly beans, or mom's deliciously scrumptious carrot cake. i am so grateful to know that easter is a celebration of the Living Christ! i know that He has made it possible for all of us to live again and i am humbled by the thought of all He has given to me and my family.


we got to spend the afternoon with grammy, papa, unk t, and my uncle rick. i love having so much family so close by and only wish the rest weren't so far away.
some of my favorite things about easter this year:
-clint humoring me to let owey wear this bunny shirt and even agreeing that yes, someday our little girls can wear matching dresses (you must know that clint is a children's fashion critic and generally oposes anything cutesy, or matchy-matchy and insists that owey not wear anything that he himself would not wear.)
-getting to go to the last half of relief society for the first time in MONTHS and really feeling the spirit as we sang "i stand all amazed"
-playing "chit chat" with the fam and finding out interesting facts about every one
-did i mention that carrot cake? yummy, yummy in my tummy.
-eating dinner out on the back porch- it was the most beautiful spring day!
-reading brooke's blog and being reminded just how important this celebration is
-hearing the rock-concert-like church service going on down the street from us and being grateful that we get to go to church once a week instead of twice a year.
thanks for a great day, family!

little fishy.

on saturday i had the itch to take my little o fish swimming. he has always loved the bath, and i was just certain he would love the pool. saturday afternoon we headed up to the pool and realized the freezing water would probably not be the best way to introduce owey to swimming, so into the spa we went. clint played photographer while i splashed away with my little man.


would you look at those rolls?!? love 'em!! how come my rolls aren't that cute?



all smiles...

we were only there for about 1/2 hour, but clint got so many good pictures and i just can't get enough of them! i love the contrast of the bright crystal blue water and owey's oranger than orange shorts.

i also love how happy he was to experience something new and exciting and am glad that i have a little fishy of my own. he is his mama's boy.
(i love wet eyelashes!)

proof.

he really does have teeth:



and they really do hurt:


he really can sit up:


and he thinks he can crawl:(heaven help us!)



he loves his puppy:


but mostly his puppy's ball: (no, he does not stick that in his mouth)

and he is still the cutest boy i have ever seen!

busy boy...

did i mention that i have the busiest little boy i know? these days he just can't hold still for a second! it is so fun to see him so excited to explore the world around him, but man, i'm getting ner-vous! once they start moving, they just don't stop! sorry for all the blurry pics, but as grandpa always says, he just wants to "get up and go!"

one of those days

last week i started to feel the effects of the "used-to-sleep-through-the-night-but-not-any-more-so-take-that-HA-HA!" baby in our house. i felt like a zombie (and still do, mind you) after not getting my 8 hours several days in a row. and then wednesday, was just one of those days.
it all started when amy picked me up to go visiting teaching. and i locked myself out of my own house.
how you ask? how could you possibly lock yourself out of your house? well, let me tell you. i am the expert afterall. first, lock the front door, and exit out the garage. then leave both house keys and garage clicker inside. third, shut the garage door and run under it hopping over the sensor so it doesn't stop halfway. lastly, realize what you have done when the door is inches for the ground and try to stop it with your foot to no avail. genius. hey- at least i didn't leave owey locked inside! so, amy was kind enough to take me up towards clint's work after vt-ing and we met up with the hubbies for lunch at costco. don't knock it. that pizza is pretty dang good for $1.89.
anyhow- hours later i was finally at home and ready to get started on my crockpot masterpiece for the relief society cooking group i was supposed to attend that night. creamed corn, yummy yummy. only one problem. i am a total idiot when i get no sleep (reference above anecdote for proof). in pulling down the crockpot (that i NEVER use) i was sure to be careful. i had owey strapped to me in the baby carrier and had visions of the giant metal contraption landing on his head. so, i was sure to be extra careful to take it down slowly. what i did not envision however was the lid flying over my head and crashing down onto the tile below. and oh did it crash. and shatter. and fly EVERYWHERE.
lovely.
this is what was left of the lid:

now, correct me if i'm wrong, but it seems that a crockpot is a little pointless without a lid. and since that cooking group was specifically "crock pot cooking" i couldn't just make something else and forget about the whole mishap. so after sweeping up the floor 15,264 times (and we are still finding glass) i figured i had to improvise. i mean, afterall, that's what a good chef does, right? so, in the ingredients went, and i came up with a brilliant plan:


yes, layers and layers of saran wrap topped off by a skillet thinger-ma-jigger. so now you know- if your crockpot lid ever breaks, all is not lost. (just know you might find plastic melted to your beauty-ful crockpot afterwards. no biggy.)

so, does anyone know where i can find a crockpot lid?

brrr... wyoming!!!

we had to stock up on these (beanies):


to prepare for this (snow):


and should have stocked up more on this (sleep):

cuz it was a whirlwind of a weekend with a baby that didn't want to sleep!
so we're finally in recovery mode (even though owey totally got sick and i still feel like i haven't slept in days) so bring on the pictures!!! (and there are a LOT of them, be warned!)

da plane, da plane!

here was sweet little o on my lap on the flight there...

the sleeping didn't last long, but at least he was happy to look out the window...


and i won't even go into detail about the plane ride home. let's just say this: remember my post about how teething bites? yeah-- well, i had no idea! and why owey decided to figure out his new little trick on the plane is beyond me!! this kid may get weaned sooner than i had planned!!!

the reason for the trip:

why head out to wyoming in the middle of winter? you ask...
to surprise grandpa! (clint's dad)
dave's birthday is tomorrow (happy birthday dave!) and we thought we would surprise him by showing up unexpectedly. he came home from work early on friday thinking he was heading out to salt lake with shelly and when he came home he found the house decorated with happy birthday signs, balloons, and grandkids yelling "surprise!" he was a little confused (since his birthday wasn't for another week) but he had no idea that clint, owey and i were waiting in the other room. we waited a minute and then walked out. clint said "happy birthday dad" and dave said "thanks" not realizing who had said it. when he turned and realized it was us, he about had a heart attack!! he was so excited and emotional and i think we got him pretty good. he was so happy to hold owey all weekend (even though the teething and traveling made him a little cranky) and just couldn't believe we were there.

the next day we surprised him again when his family all came out from utah to celebrate. grandma and grandpa davis, grandpa erickson, aunt kathy and her kids all joined in on the fun. (and food)

just look at all these sweets...


we hope you had a great weekend dave! we love you and are so grateful for all that you do for ALL of us! happy birthday!