oh how i'm

hoping for giveaway karma on this one.

the goods

ok, ok, i know that at least 4 of my 5 readers don't give a care about anything i have to say, but just want to see pictures of my "ridiculously good-looking" children and hear about how wicked smart and talented they are. and so, i deliver:

granted, all of these pictures were taken all on the same day and about a month ago (turns out when you don't blog you don't take pictures either) BUT, i still love them because they are such a snapshot of our lives. owen and henry are just the cutest brothers. henry wants to be where owen is and owen wants to be where henry is. except of course when they don't. but you know - they get over it. 

i absolutely love the stage owey is in right now. well, ok - there are days when being 2 isn't so grand, but all in all he is learning and growing so fast and i looooove to sit back and watch. he is speaking in full sentences that more often than not completely crack us up (like when he looked up at me mid-diaper-change and said "mom... this is the best day EVAR!!!" such a spaz.) he is such a smart little cookie and knows all of his letters by sight, what sound they make, and of course loves to sing his abc's. counting, not so much - he's pretty good up to about 8 and then who knows what you're gonna get. shapes, check! colors, check! still obsessed with cars, check! and though i may curse it one day, when mama needs to get something done (you know, like 250 items in 2 weeks), owey is all about spacing out in front of nick jr. he still loves to dance (i gotta feeling is the latest fave) and should you ever call me on the phone you may be lucky enough to get an owey serenade (currently his repertoire includes twinkle, twinkle, abc's, itsy bitsy spider, i am a child of god, wheels on the bus, and silent night. more to come, i'm sure.)

this is what owey does when you tell him to show you his happy face and i just go crazy for that little scrunched up nose. i think he actually learned it from henry who started doing that a few months ago. o still loves to read and color and would stay in his "jammas" all day if i would let him - which sometimes i do. because sometimes i stay in my jammas all day... why shouldn't he? bathtime is the best - and can be used for bribery to do any of the following: diaper change, eat dinner, clean up toys, vacuum, mow the lawn. just kidding about the last 2, but you get my drift. o thinks taking a bath is the bees knees. but owey will hear nothing of bathtime without henry, because that's just bo-ring.

speaking of henry, check out these locks:

if you didn't know before, now you do. our boys have some serious curly hair. this is how it looks just out of the bath, and while i love it, i'm not sure he'll be able to pull of the long look like o does. because henry may just have an afro. it was bound to happen. both his mom and dad sported one at some point. it is much tamer after sleeping on it and sometimes you would hardly know it's curly, but we know the truth. good thing i'm well versed in the language of curl. and his hair doesn't normally look like this either:

maybe i'll get a normal picture of him someday.


i mentioned forever ago that henry is our little walker baby. o walked early too, but we couldn't believe it when henry started really walking around christmas time. by the time new years came, he was a walker. crawling was for babies. but along with early walking comes some bumps and bruises: too little to understand that standing up underneath the table doesn't really work and doing it over and over, but big enough to stand up under the table and hurt himself over and over. poor kid. he is quite the giant as well - has been in 12-18 month clothes since november, is in the 97th percentile for height, and currently only weighs  5 lbs less than his big brother.  my little baby's birthday is less than a month away and i am just dying to know where the last year has gone. it is INSANE how fast it has flown by.  henry continues to be an absolute joy - the most social baby i've ever met. he will go to anyone and woos all with his heartbreaker smile. he loves everything big brother does - cars, books, bathtime, dancing and more cars.

love these 2 guys and i'm so glad they have each other. i promise i'll be better about pictures. pinky swear.

a photo essay in explanation of my non-blog-i-ness

just when you think life is going to slow down...

ok, so the pictures don't even do it justice, but this is a sampling of what i've been burning the midnight oil for the past few weeks. i was asked last minute to supply 100+ items to shade clothing to be featured in 5 of their utah stores from mid february to may. super exciting opportunity, but it was a serious stretch to get it all done in time. i am also at the local patina market for the next few weeks, so all together i probably made 250 pieces. yikes! add to that the surprise 24 hour trip to LA for my niece's baptism, a week of watching my friend's 4 kids, all of us getting sick, sick, sick as dogs, and i'm pretty much pooped. in fact, i think i slept more yesterday than i had in the last 2 weeks combined. lets' pray that march isn't as crazy as january and february have been!

words cannot express...

how incredibly grateful and overwhelmed I have been since early wednesday morning. my heart and my tearducts have been overflowing. when i decided to host a benefit for jonathan's birthday, i had no idea what i was in for. so much love, generosity, and support has been poured out in our direction that i am simply in awe. thank you.

thank you for making this week one of the best i have ever had.

thank you for helping little insignificant me do something truly amazing.

thank you for taking on a cause that may not impact your life daily, but certainly impacts the lives of those closest to me.

thank you for your friendship and for your encouragement.

when i started allora handmade, i had no idea what a blessing it would be and i am so thankful for the opportunity to give in a way that was otherwise impossible.

do you want to hear what we did this week? drumroll please....

with your help, we raised over $1300 for Autism Speaks.

can you believe it? i know. AWESOME.

my sister has been in tears. what a blessing for her to feel supported through you in one of the biggest challenges she has ever had to face. and though J may not know of your willingness to contribute to a cause that will affect his life, his family will. so, thank you.

i can't think of a better way to start off the year. i feel as though my heart has been changed, and my mind has been opened to the possibilities that are out there as long as i am up for the challenge. i hope that 2010 will be a year of change and growth and giving. i know that it will be an amazing year if i can learn to look outward instead of inward and give more of myself, my time, and my talents.

thank you. thank you. thank you for making that possible. those words just don't do it justice!!

Happy Birthday Jonathan! well, a day early...

Hello friends! I am so excited to announce a really cool benefit going on in my shop today through friday.

I love how December is so full of the spirit of giving. The feelings I had this season have helped me to make a goal in 2010 to give more: of myself, of my time, of my talents, and my resources. My first opportunity starts today! January 14th is my nephew, Jonathan's 10th birthday. He was diagnosed 8 years ago with Autism, and that diagnosis has drastically changed the life of my sister and all the rest of our family - in so many ways.

Every Christmas and birthday I struggle with what to get him that he will really enjoy. Since buying gifts for Jonathan is so difficult, this year for his birthday I am having an Autism Awareness benefit sale in my shop. The shop is loaded up, and from today, January 13th through Friday the 15th, I will donate 100% of the proceeds toAutism Speaks. I figure the best gift I can give him (and his family) is a chunk of change to help solve the puzzle that is autism. If you'd rather donate directly to Autism Speaks, go for it! Every penny helps!

Here is where I need your help. I would love to shout it from the rooftops, but my corner of the blogosphere is only so big. If you are willing to post about the benefit and the opportunity to help out my nephew and millions of others (the statistic is now 1 in 70 boys are diagnosed with autism in the U.S.) I would greatly appreciate it.

Here are the details:

• 100 % of the proceeds for the 13th, 14th, and 15th will go to Austim Speaks
• For every $10 you spend in the shop, you will be entered to win $40 towards a purchase at Allora Handmade ( So, if you spend $50, that's 5 entries).
• I will not be taking custom orders during the benefit so as to get purchases out the door as soon as possible.

I think that's all. If you have any questions, please let me know. It means so much to me to be able to use my time and talents to be able to give back to a cause that is so close to my heart.

So, if you've been dying to spoil yourself a little, or need a gift for someone else, now's the time - for a great cause! Guilt free shopping!

THANK YOU!

santa also brought...

a new house! well, not our house, but you know - a new place to live. so, while i have every intention of blogging about a great christmas and all of my new years resolutions, the truth is, we moved. with 24 hours notice. and while i'm so excited about our new place, i'm all discombobulated. (that was a big word for 8am.) so, let me catch my breath for a minute and soon enough i will tell you all about:

henry the walking baby

christmas in the frigid north pole (i mean evanston)

the new digs

owen and henry get a bathtub (glory, glory hallelujah!)

all the things on my list for 2010

owen's ridiculously long hair that i can't bring myself to cut but i think i might have to

allora updates

and whatever else i feel like. it is my blog after all. (my 2 year old is rubbing off on me i guess.)

the LIGHT of the WORLD

tears well up in my eyes as i think about all that Christmas means to me and what a joy it is to now share it with my boys. more than jingle bells and mom's cheese danish, new pajamas on christmas eve and cookies for santa, more than evergreen trees and pretty packages, Christmas is Christ.

strolling the grounds of temple square in salt lake with every limb and branch aglow took my breath away. though i have been there many times at Christmas, it was the first time i'd seen the magic of millions of lights through new eyes as a wife and as a mother. the illumination impressed me greatly. not only was it breathtaking and enough to make one giddy and drunk in the christmas spirit, its' symbolism has been burned into my heart.

Light in the darkness. He marked the path and led the way. your Light in the wilderness. He is the Light which lights every man. Light which cannot be hid. my Light and my salvation. let your light so shine before men. bring up your children in light and truth. I am come to light the world.

i love the knowledge that we can always have a beautifully lit path even through times of terrible darkness if we will but rely on He who is the true LIGHT of the WORLD. and teaching my children that will be my greatest endeavor on this earth.

may we all remember that His birth and His life gives us all a reason to celebrate every day of our lives.

wishing His love and His peace to you and yours this christmas.

xoxo, jess and fam.

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful. It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it. It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord. We testify of His living reality. We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. This is what Christmas is really about. " Gordon B. Hinckley

god is not dead, nor doth he sleep!

soooo good. please take a minute to watch!

thanks to michelle for the link.

i'm dreaming... of a DIY christmas

so, i know most of you dear readers aren't poor college students like we are, but we could all use a little extra cash around the holidays, right?

so, i present to you our grand-felted-diy-extravaganza-christmas!

we got rid of our disgustingly cheap fake christmas tree in the big move and don't ever get real ones because we are never actually home for christmas. that and the fact that my boys stick EVERYTHING in their mouths. i know henry would be pooping pine needles for weeks! what's that? too much information? sorry 'bout that.

so, we went with something a little different this year:

do you see it? over there in the right hand corner? (yes, i know the glider is covering it up) oh, you need a closer look? oh, alright:

that would be 2 dead(ish) trees from our back yard cemented into 2 large galvanized pots we had lying around. leftover lights, a few PLASTIC yet festive ornaments, and a few diy felt and rik-rak ornaments (tutorial here) and voila... a fun and festive (and CHEAP) tree alternative. total cost? about $8.

and the stockings? oh the stockings. i'm in love. must admit, i saw them on etsy and while i am totally a proponent of buying things on etsy (obviously) i knew that a) i didn't have enough time to order them and get them here in time to enjoy them and b) i have mounds and mounds of beautiful bright felt that was begging to be used up for such a project. so easy, so simple, so funky. and that's how i like it. total cost? $0

owey loves them too. see his hand waving madly at the o? yep. he's pretty excited that the green one is just for him.

after i finished the tree and the stockings something was missing. aaaah yes, another easy way to use up that felt. a re-usable christmas chain. i love the way it looks, and i can use it over and over again. and my sis even pointed out that since it isn't made out of traditional christmas colors i could use it to countdown for ANY holiday! brilliant!

just cut strips of felt and ironed on some velcro i had in my stash. total cost? $0.

and of course we had to complete the mantle with a nativity. this is actually one of the few nativities we could find in CA when we were first married (it's embarrassing how difficult it is to find christ centered christmas items there). it isn't anything fancy, not an heirloom for sure. but does it remind us what this holiday is really about? yes indeedy. and i love seeing owey learn about baby jesus and his miraculous birth.

and don't forget about diego...

and there you have it. a diy christmas. owey approves!

and mom, if you're wondering why i am not in bed at this insane hour... henry is cutting yet another tooth. yup, 3 at once. i have a feeling i won't be sleeping much this week.

jingle bells, batman smells.

image found here
am sending out this year's christmas cheer complete with lovely picture of the erickson 4 (though getting o & h to both look at the camera AND smile, didn't happen this year. oh well. they're still cute.)

if you'd like to be on the nice list, send me your address asap to jessicamerickson(at)yahoo.com and i'll be sure your mailman delivers it with hot cocoa and candy canes. ok, maybe not the last part, but wouldn't that be nice?

don't you love december mail? me too! (hint, hint:)

in loving memory of fall... may she rest in peace.

these pictures are old, but when i woke up to 2 inches of snow this morning, i had to pull them out to remind me of happier times...

so long fall. we'll miss you. desperately.

poor henry.

i don't know how many times i've said that in the last 8 months. poor henry. yes, you heard that right - henry is 8 months today. can you believe it?

poor henry.

i was so diligent in posting all of owen's milestones back when i was a mom of one, wasn't trying to run a business and make sure no one dies before dad gets home. but if blogging was all you had to know of henry's sweet little life (which for some of you, it is!), you would think henry was only 4 months old. because that's the last time i did a henry post.

poor henry.

i have had good intentions. i have the pictures, and at one point or another i've composed each of those other 3 month's posts in my head. oh well. you win some, you lose some.

but oh dear henry.

want to see what a love he is these days?

couldn't you just eat him up? though things were certainly a bit less chaotic before he entered our world, i just can't imagine life without that smile.

or those big blue eyes.

henry is anxious to be a big boy like his brother- and as a result the poor guy falls so many times a day i just can't help but say "poor little henry" over and over again. he crawls like a mad man, but would be walking if he had his way. he climbs over and onto everything, pulls himself up onto anything (stable or not -- he has a war wound right now from trying to climb up a little empty trash can by my desk) and is about as determined as they come.

henry is our little bouncer- and this is how i find him every morning and at the end of every nap - bounce, bounce, bouncing away with that big ol' grin on his face.

henry is seriously growing out of 6-12 month clothes. yeah, we grow 'em big around here.

i love this stage. it is one of so much exploration and figuring things out. it is a social stage, and henry is the most social baby i have ever seen. in a room full of adoring people, he is happy as a clam. and though he rarely gets upset, it is usually because he just wants someone to stare at him and smile. oh henry, how i would love to be able to stare at you and smile all day every day!

i mean, wouldn't you!?

my dear henry, you are a gift. i love to imagine all the things you will accomplish in your life and all the joy you will bring to ours. you brighten my day in an instant and help remind me to stop and soak in the world around me. you bring me around to what is most important and you make me so grateful to have the privilege of being a mother. i love you with all that i am.

i survived.

clint made my ice cream sandwich cake. sweet, huh? there were 30 of them...

so, i survived my 30th birthday. and to be honest, 30 feels no different than 29. guess i made a big fuss for no reason. sorry 'bout that.

thank you for all the bday wishes and advice, and i truly was spoiled this year (and am still celebrating actually!)

it was great to spend the weekend with family. festivities for clint's mom's 50th, halloween, and my 30th all in one weekend! squeeze in a little trip to the er in the middle of the night, and the weekend was complete. (owen wasn't breathing... nasty croup scared us half to death, but he was fine after a few hours.) anyhow... all in all, a good time.

the other night as we were lying in bed getting ready to fall asleep, clint cranked up this little tune on his ipod and let me soak it in for a minute:

think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done
Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears
And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many (root)beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here ,In my next thirty years

gotta love timmy mcgraw. got me thinking. what about my next 30 years? i think i have accomplished much and learned a lot in my first 30 years. but what next? i haven't finished my list yet, but i'm working on it.

what about you?

what do you want to do in your next 30 years?

...by this author's husband

My Thirty Loves... (in no particular order)

YOU!!!

your brown eyes, brown skin, and brown guts

your selflessness

your creativity

your efforts to cook, clean and (wo)man the home fort

your christlike love

your ever-enlarging heart

your ever-lasting patience with me

your bravery on our adventure so far

your ability to teach and engage with O and H

your tender mother-ly-ness

your california-ness

your incredible belief in me (crazy)

your concern for our family's health

your mad spelling skills

your intuition

your friendship magnetism

your loyalty

your entrepreneurial savvy-ness

your fashion sense and lack of bumped hair

your opinion

your hyperactive tear ducts

your consistent pursuit to be better

your (our) goal - all the way home

your forever forgiveness

your attempts to like what i like

your common sense

your help in EVERYTHING i do

your taste in husbands

the memory of our day in the sealing room

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

- Love your Loverly

the best thing

by far the best thing i ever did in my twenties (and in all of my 30 years i guess) was this:




and this:




and this:




what an amazing season of life.

the answers.

want to know why sometimes i seem a little insane?

1. how many countries did i visit in my 20's? 8
(england, france, italy, spain, argentina, tahiti, mexico, cayman islands. other fun trips in the good ole' usa - kauai, lake powell, key west, jackson hole)
2. what year did i graduate from byu? 2003
yes, i know that is 6 years after i graduated from high school, but with a mission in the middle and being in no rush to leave, that's the way it worked out.

3. how many roommates did i have? 30 (not including clint and the boys of course)
yes, 30. that includes 7 premish, 13 on the mission, 3 after at byu, and 7 in huntington beach. nuts.

4. how old was i when i got married? 25

5. how many cars did i drive in my 20's? 7
a few of which i wish i'd never laid eyes on. like this and this.

6. what was the longest i was in one place, and where was it? carmel valley
in the last 10 years, the longest i've been in one place was carmel valley. a whopping 15 months. i'm just a regular gypsy i tell you.

7. how many times did i move? 22
seriously. now you might understand why i hate moving so much.

8. how many full time jobs did i have?3
or 5 if you include being a mom and allora (believe me, they are both full time.!)

9. how long did clint and i date? 1 year

10. how many states did i live in?4
california, utah, wyoming, idaho (plus 3 provinces in argentina: mendoza, san juan and san luis)

yes, it's been quite a ride.

there was once a time when walmart was the staff of life.

i once remember a friend in college saying that walmart was the staff of life. i thought she was nuts. having grown up a target kind of girl, you may as well have tried to convince me that the earth was flat rather than try and tell me that walmart could be anything close to the staff of life.
and then, there was argentina.
i served a mission for a year and a half in mendoza, argentina and for the first 9 months of that mission i was in an area where there was a walmart. and that.was.gold. rare commodities such as peanut butter, maple syrup, and even tortillas were only found at walmart and i was lucky enough to not have to go without. though in the 21 years of my life before my mission i had never cared for the place, there was something about those wide open aisles that felt like home.

(can you find me?)

the walmart in mendoza really has nothing to do with anything i experienced or learned in argentina, except for the fact that my desire to venture there weekly illustrates how completely upside down my world was at the time. everything was different, uncomfortable, hard, and new. yet, it was incredible, rewarding, happy, and life-changing. that year and a half in argentina has largely shaped me as a person. it is what i remember most about the first half of my twenties, even though now it seems like a dream. it is there that i learned that with change comes growth, with hardship comes joy, and that success usually lies just outside of your comfort zone. it is there that i learned the kind of wife and mother i want to be, the kind of man i want to marry, and the kind of instrument i want to be in god's hands.
it is there that i learned that walmart is not THAT bad. (don't get me wrong - would choose target over walmart any day of the week!)

did you know i lived in 2 more places that only had a walmart? any guesses?

a quizzle fo shizzle (again)

let's just see how well you know me, or how much of my twenties you were a part of.

take a guess, I dare you:

1. how many countries did i visit in my 20's?

2. what year did i graduate from byu?

3. how many roommates did i have?

4. how old was i when i got married?

5. how many cars did i drive in my 20's?

6. what was the longest i was in one place, and where was it?

7. how many times did i move?

8. how many full time jobs did i have?

9. how long did clint and i date?

10. how many states did i live in?

this may just give you an idea of how crazy the past ten years have been...

real quick.

sorry, no funny anecdote here.

just wanted to make sure that you, my beloved family and friends are in on the action.

would love it to go to you....

i once lived out of my car.

yep. you read that right.

actually, it probably should say "more than once, i've lived out of my car."

aaahhh, the life of a 20 year old college vagabond.

you want the story? well, ok.

i started working as an efy counselor in the summers when i was 18. the summer of my 2oth year i decided that it would be silly to pay rent all summer if i was going to be in the dorms all week. all i needed was somewhere to crash for the weekend. oh, and somewhere to store all of my junk. hence, i lived out of my car.

i usually crashed on brooke's couch (thanks brookie!) or whoever else would take me in, and since efy was 5 days of hyper teenage girls that didn't sleep, i use the term "crash" rather literally. man i used to be able to survive on so little sleep back when i was a spring chick.

so, the living out of the car thing would not have been that bad really, except that i happened to drive what i referred to as "white trash" (an old white jeep cherokee) that may or may not have started every time i wanted it to. which meant that my portable closet/house/ was not so portable. the battery died so often (and yes, i replaced it more than once, and the alternator, and...) that i was on a first name basis with the AAA tow truck guys. once i asked the guy what i should do and his response? classic: "honestly? drive it off a cliff." perfect.

anyhow, being an efy counselor was such an incredibly rewarding experience and so much fun - definitely one of the highlights of my early twenties. living out of my car? not so much. apparently i didn't learn my lesson because i did it not once, but twice. glutton for punishment i suppose. but it makes for a good story, right?

wish i had pics for all these things... who knows where they are.

tune in to find out:

1. how many roommates i had from age 20-29

2. how many times i moved from age 20-29

3. how many cars i drove from age 20-29

and so, so, so much more. (more than you care to know- i guarantee it!)