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!

wii... bridging the generational gap...

it seems everyone but us has a wii. we had so much fun playing this weekend and i must admit, i felt the burn of wii arm more than once! somehow, this game can get everyone involved - from grandpa erickson
(bowling, of course)


to dave and shelly
(singing to american idol)


all of owey's cousins and aunts and uncles can't get enough of the wii too(sorry... no picture)

and of course owey was there to cheer them on (check out clint's face... LOVE IT!)


speaking of generations... here we have our own 4 generation picture

go team erickson...

SNOW!!!

we had to take advantage of all the snow and take owey sledding for the first time. we just bundled up, went out back, and headed down the hill! owey pretty much had no idea what we were doing to him (notice the chill face in every picture), but clint and i sure had fun! snow is nice to play in for a second, but we were happy to go back to our 75 degree weather!

some favorites of me and my little o

and more of owey (can't help myself)

looking out the snowy window



yummy fingers


look at all these toys!!


doesn't this pic just look like christmas morning?

"mile"stones

this week has been a week of "mile" stones. first we'll start with me (i'm selfish like that). if you take a look to your left on the sidebar where it says "miles run this week" you will notice an amazing thing. see in red where it says total miles to date?? see where it says 103 miles??!! yes my friends, this week i ran right through that 100 mile mark and i can hardly believe it myself.
there is a lot that i've learned on this journey. those of you who've kept up with our training (i know it's a longshot) will know that for us, this experience has been nothing short of life-altering. and since i know you don't read the other blog, i bring you one of my favorite posts in commemoration and celebration of those 100 miles:

welcome to the club!
is it just me, or do you also feel like you have just joined some elite club of sorts?
not just anyone can get into this club. it is not for wimps or wusses or whiners. it is not for cry babies, fair-weather fans or pessimists. it is not even for people who have great intentions but just can't seem to follow through.
yes, the admission price is steep. it will cost you valuable time and effort, lots of sweat, maybe some blood and definitely some tears. it will require doing things you think are crazy, impossible, and maybe just not worth it. it would be much easier to sleep in, to make excuses, and to act like you think members of the club are out of their minds (but secretly you'd envy them.)
you may even get excited about things you had never even heard of (gu, pr's, waterbelts, etc.) and you run the risk of driving people who are outside of the club crazy with your obsessions. they just don't get it. you may chafe in places you didn't know it was possible to chafe, you may swear off cotton for life, and at some point, you may even have to pee on the side of the road (hopefully not in your pants) . you will get pumped up by music that you normally would NOT listen to, and you most likely will plan your entire life's schedule around club activities.
BUT, as a member of this club you will also go farther, work harder, get stronger, run faster. you will find muscles you never knew you had. you will find strength (and not just physical strength) that you did not know was in you. you will find peace in pushing yourself beyond your limits time and time again. THAT is powerful. every week you will do more than you ever thought possible. and the next week, you will go farther still. you will gain confidence with each step you take, and you will walk taller (in spite of the sore muscles) and smile wider.
caution: you will get addicted. you never thought you could, but all of the sudden, YOU ARE A RUNNER.

and if you think you are not a runner, i dare you. it will change so much of you! (it will not however change the fact that you are a total dork- see picture of gatorade tongue for proof)
(for other milestones, read on...)

teething bites!!

seriously, is that the saddest face you've ever seen??!!
when friend brooke told me last week that her little boy (2 weeks younger than owey) cut his first tooth i really felt bad for her. i mean really, isn't 4 months way too young to have to endure such torture?
to my surprise, i noticed last wednesday something VERY sharp in o's mouth. could it be??
i was actually relieved because he already had a tooth coming through but had not seemed to be fussy at all! "what a good boy!" i thought.
i thought wrong. oh so wrong.
this week has been quite a different story. he is miserable with a capital M! yesterday he cried for 4 hours! that is just not like my owey o. for the most part, he is a very happy baby as long as he sleeps and eats. now, not so much.
i mean just look at that little face!! and he looks at me like i'm the one causing all the pain and why can't i fix it!!??! oh i wish i could! we've tried tylenol, we've tried orajel, we've tried cold teethers (i've tried taking pictures - not so effective)... what more can a helpless mom do? to make it worse, he is not taking good naps (thank goodness he's still sleeping well at night - knock on wood) and so he is cranky all day long. poor guy! any experts out there to help a sister out?
or are you going to tell me what i dread - suck it up.... teething just bites.