Christmas 2011

The festivities began with a trip to Salt Lake on Friday night. Allan's parents got everyone a hotel room so we could spend some time together after the Scarlet family party. After turning the wrong way on a one way street -thanks Marcus :) we made it to the hotel then we got to go downtown to Temple Square and see the pretty lights. It was very pretty but also very crowded and cold. We had a little adventure on our way back to the hotel we were staying at. We missed the exit getting off the train (it was crowded and couldn't make it to the exit in time) and just figured we'd get off at the next exit and come back. Well that next exit was not a place that gave you warm fuzzies it was more of a fight or flight instinct settling in. Regardless we made it back safe and sound and decided to go to bed. Everyone else stayed up and made gingerbread houses.

In our hotel room there were 2 beds but Allie decided she wanted to sleep on the couch. I was tired and couldn't have cared less about where she slept as long as she went to sleep. Kendall did pretty good sleeping in the pack and play. When we woke up we got some breakfast and then hit the pool. Yes that's right we went swimming on Christmas Eve morning in Utah! Thankfully the pool was indoor and heated. Then we went up exchanged some gifts and checked out for the day. Thank you Allan's parents for the fun adventures!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!
Again Allie slept in on Christmas morning. I think she is the only child in the world who sleeps in on Christmas morning. I don't know if she just goes sound to sleep so Santa comes or because she's so excited it wears her out but whatever it is I don't mind it one bit. Kendall was up at 7:00 and she didn't wake up until almost 8:00. It was fun seeing her get excited again about presents, but I think it's really neat that she gets even more excited about seeing other people open the gifts that she got for them. At least it's not all me, me, me she likes to give. I even got a very nicely used sleeping beauty doll all wrapped up from her :). She got these pretty cool fairies that light up with a wand and Kendall got some car rattles and food. His favorite was a little ball Grandma Too gave him. He squealed at that all day. We then went to church and then had Allan's parents, brother, uncle and future sister in law over for dinner. It turned out pretty yummy. All in all it's been a fun holiday season and now we get to wait for my parents to come for a visit.

Christmas picture fun

Allie teaching Kendall about the story of Jesus' birth.

Snow Day!

It's the most wonderful time of year....ok so it is if your name is Allie. She jumped in the snow. She rolled in the snow. She even fell off her slide backwards into the snow (then said "it's ok the snow caught me"). She loves the snow. Kendall had fun sitting in his car seat all nice and bundled up. I think he's going to like the snow too. Crazy kids don't they know it's cold.

Pics from Cali

FALL

WHERE'S ALLIE?

Fall Fun

Allie loves Fall because she can jump in leaf piles, throw the leaves that I raked up, drink hot chocolate. The biggest reason why she loves Fall is because that means snow is on the way. Can she really be my daughter?

Nerdy 30

Allan is the big 3-0

Allan had a birthday and turned 30! 30 on the 30th so I decided to surprise him by having his sister and her family and his mom join us at our house for a nerdy 30 party. Let me just clarify that having a nerd party was actually his idea. He thought we were going to do something at his mom's since his sister's family was coming up to watch conference but we changed the plans to make it somewhat of a surprise. If you search for nerd party games online all it comes up with is to play video games so we didn't really play any games it also said to decorate with science and math things so I decided to let the kids play with vinegar and baking soda with watercolor paint and that kept them entertained for literally 2 hours. Now that kind of science is cool. We went through an entire bottle of vinegar and that's when we had to stop since there wasn't any left. It was fun to watch how excited they got over it so if you're looking for a cheap way to entertain your child this is it.

1 month old

sleepy little guy

3 weeks down & first day of preschool

Family Photo
August 28th, 2011

It's now been 3 weeks since our family has grown and it's nice to be able to say we've survived. Allie has been a very big help with Kendall and is very loving and gentle with him. She likes to feed him his bottles and even stops after awhile to make sure he burps. She has also tried to make his bottle for him when he cries even if he just ate so I have to keep an eye on that. The last bottle she made was quite watery. The first little while she was having a few melt downs but really I think the biggest issue was the lack of routine. She was going to bed much later than usual and then throw in the whole idea of having to share mom and dad and that made for some pretty big tears. Thankfully we have been able to get back on schedule and she has been doing much better which also means that mom and dad have been doing much better as well. Kendall is a very good baby not that you can have a bad baby but he does have his schedule and sticks to it pretty good. He eats every 3 hours pretty much on the dot. He has been sleeping pretty good at night too (knock on wood) there has only been a few nights when he's decided that he didn't want to go back to sleep after eating at 2:00 in the morning. At his 2 week appt. He weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21 3/4 inches. He'd gained a pound and grown 1 3/4 inches in 2 weeks. Crazy boy already had a major growth spurt. The dr. said that he must be a good eater (which he is) because he's growing faster than normal. I guess most newborns grow 1/4 of an inch each week not 3/4 like he did. Maybe that's why he has an extra feeding during the day when compared to the guidelines for formula fed babies. All in all we are doing good and loving the new addition to our family.

First Day of Preschool
September 7th, 2011
I love the pose. I can't take pictures of Allie now without her either doing some type of pose, making a really cheesy smile, or not smiling at all and giving me the evil eye. She has been "patiently" waiting for preschool to start again. There's a group of moms from our church that take turns each week doing the preschool. It's just one day a week, but Allie loves it so much. She can't wait until she gets to go to "real" school though and that will have to wait another year.

Welcome to the family Kendall

On August 18th, I had an appointment with my dr. for my 38 week check up. It was also the last appointment before my scheduled c-section which had been scheduled for the 24th (you have to be 39 weeks before they will do a scheduled c-section). Allan decided he wanted to come with me to my appointment just so he new what the plan was going to be for the following week. We were also going to go to lunch with his mom after my appointment. Allie and I went and picked him up from work all covered in oil and grease and went to my appointment. I didn't tell Allan at the time but I had felt a little dizzy waiting for him in the car but it went away so I didn't worry about it. As we were sitting in the waiting room I got up to get a magazine and the same thing happened I sat back down and told him the room was spinning. Again it went away and I wasn't too concerned. They called us back and took my weight and blood pressure (part of the joys of being pregnant) and the nurse said "huh your blood pressure is high today". It had been a little high the week beforeand I went up for a non-stress test, but everything was fine. Baby looked good and my bp went down while I was laying there. At this appointment my bp was 160/94 I guess this was a little more concerning to the doctor since Allan told her I was feeling dizzy in the waiting room. So she looks at us and tells us that since I had a couple high bp readings and with being light headed we were just going to take the baby out then. Allan's first thought was she's joking but then she continued to tell us to go up the elevator to the 2nd floor and she would call to let them know we were on our way. i think I was still in a little shock too since I had planned for the weekend to finish getting the baby room together, pack a bag for allan and I at the hospital, get a bag for Allie to stay with my sister and Allan's mom, do the dishes that were still in the sink you know all those things that you think you have all the time in the world to do. Allie also looked at us with a panicked looked because she was concerned with seeing blood and now the dr was sitting there telling us he was coming out right now. We assured her we would call Grandma to come get her so she wouldn't see anything. We went out called Allan's mom to tell her we weren't going to be able to go to lunch and could she get Allie. Thankfully she was able to take the rest of the day off of work. I called Erin to let her know what was happening and called my mom to tell her I was having a baby. The dr had told us that since I had eaten breakfast the anesthesiologist wouldn't do the c-section until later probably around 4:00 or 4:30. So that's what I told my mom.
We went upstairs got hooked up to the baby monitors, but then about 4 nurses came in to draw blood, start an IV, take my history and one gave Allan some scrubs. We were thinking he could run home quickly to pack our bags fast and come back before anything would happen. Erin had been in the area and so she was able to come in to see us I thought it was funny that Colby laughed at the fact that I was in the hospital bed. Another nurse came in and asked him if Allan needed scrubs he said no he already had some and she said well you better get them on we're going soon. We asked how soon and that's when the anesthesiologist came in to get me he said he would just give me some stuff so I wouldn't get nauseous from eating breakfast and we were going to go in right then. It all happened so fast I didn't even get to call my mom back to tell her. We went back, I got a spinal block laid down and they had Kendall out at 12:32 (just 2 hours after my appointment). He was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. That was the same length that Allie had been when I had her at 37 weeks but a pound and a half heavier. I think I was still in a little bit of shock because I just kept thinking but it's not the 24th and I'm not ready but there he was our handsome little (big) boy, Kendall Bruce Erickson, had joined our family.
Allie was so excited she even got to help the nurse give him his first bath later that night. Kendall tried to give us a little scare he wasn't really eating and he was kind of turning a gray color so they did a sugar test which came back low, borderline needing to go to the nicu for an iv of food. They ended up putting a little iv in his hand they could draw blood from so they wouldn't have to keep poking him since they had to keep checking his levels. They were able to get him to eat a little and the pediatrician said they could hold off sending him to the nicu and just keep trying to get him to eat. Thankfully he did and began to look better. Each feeding he started eating more and more so they were able to take the iv back out and we were able to go home on Saturday.
And that's our crazy story of how we went to a check up appointment and came home with a baby. I told Allan that maybe that's what the excitement of going into labor is like. You never know when or how long it will last. It all just happens.

What we've been doing

Wow so since Easter was my last post I guess I have some catching up to do so this is what we've been doing since then.

JAHNNA'S BAPTISM

My niece, Jahnna, turned 8 and was able to be baptized. Allie was probably almost as excited as Jahnna was and even figured out that she has to wait 4 more years before she can be baptized herself.

Thank you Jahnna for setting a good example for your cousins.

It was a fun event. Most of my family from California was able to come celebrate with Jahnna so it was fun to see them. Nicki drove out with Tessa and Hudson so it was fun to see them get to play with the cousins. I couldn't believe how much Hudson has grown up. Nicki also brought us some much needed boys clothes which was a huge relief for me and she made the drive a month before she was due with their third baby. Now they have Felicity who has joined their and is very cute. Congrats guys!

CAMPING TRIP

Allie has been a deprived child thinking that going camping meant having a fire in the backyard and roasting marshmallows. We were going to go somewhere and actually go camping, but ended up having a campout in Grandma's backyard. Hey at least we set up tents and slept outside but the benefit of having the house and bathrooms right there was definitely a plus for those of us (me) who have a baby growing inside thinking bladders are supposed to be trampolines. We had BBQ, a campfire with lots of smoke, smores, a night sleeping on a deflated air mattress, and the kids had lots of fun playing outside. I'd say it was pretty close to the real thing and I would definitely recommend backyard camping as a great alternative to actually going somewhere. Someday we will have to do a "real" camping trip though to let her have the full experience.

yes those giant marshmallows are good to eat, but if you try and make a smore with them they become very messy. I had to laugh when I woke up and saw Allan and Allie sleeping. I always tell Allan how much Allie is just like him and look they even sleep with the same arm crossed over in front of them.

4th of JULY

Like last year we decided to travel down to the Wager's house to watch the hot air balloons go up and like last year they got to blow them up but do to the weather they weren't actually able to fly. It was still pretty cool they let you get right up next to them....that is until the wind picks up and starts blowing them all around. Then they tend to try and get everyone away as quick as possible. We also go to go watch the parade that had lots of floats and people from different areas of the military. Allie was so proud to tell everyone that her Uncle John was in the army and he helps keep our country safe. They had talked about the 4th of July being the birthday for our country at church so she was very aware of all the American Flags and people in the military. She is definitely "proud to be an American!"

CARNIVAL TIME

Preston has a rodeo which is apparently a very big deal, "The Famous Preston Nights Rodeo", which includes a parade not once but all 3 nights of the rodeo. The first one is your typical parade but they throw candy to all the people watching, the second night is an all horse parade with not so much candy and the third night is crazy everyone throws candy, passes out coupons, otter pops and even water bottles and chocolate milk. It's a good thing one of the Dads from our ward at church was sitting next to us helping Allie out with her candy collection or she would probably have had only 1 or 2 pieces. She kept watching all the other kids push and shove to grab as much as they could. I could say thank goodness she has manners but really I think it was just to intimidating for her. She got candy though and was happy with that.
I saw in the paper that they had a 'lil bucakroo roundup hosted by the medical center with games and activities for the kids and best of all it was FREE!!! The thing that really caught my eye was that they were doing pony rides with the Rodeo Queens and their horses. I had a dr. appt. that day and not wanting to disappoint Allie if we didn't get to do the pony ride just told her that I had a surprise for her. I thought at least she could do some of the games before we had to leave. Luckily we had time and she loved all of it. She's been dying to ride a horse again so it was fun to see her get to do that.

Allan was also given 2 free tickets to the carnival for unlimited rides. He helped a lady with her car at work by checking her tires and told her she didn't owe him anything for it and when he went back from lunch she had brought him the tickets. Turns out she's someone who helps coordinate all the activities at the fairgrounds. Allan being the trooper he is and me being 8 months pregnant went on the rides with Allie. Of course they had the little kid rides that are typically at a carnival that she enjoyed...

but of course her favorites were the Ferris Wheel (not a little Ferris wheel but a full size one) and one that I think is called the scrambler. She told Allan that it was okay she was right there with him so he didn't need to be worried. I think we have a little adrenaline junkie on our hands which makes me a little worried for when she gets older.

COUNT DOWN TO BABY

It's finally August and baby time is just around the corner. I had been measuring a little big so the dr. had me do another ultrasound at 32 weeks which confirmed that our "little guy" is not going to be so little. All his measurements said he was as big as a baby who was 35 weeks along not 32 and they had put his weight at a little over 5 lbs. already which they then told me means he was the potential of being over 9 lbs if I go the full 40 weeks (august 30th). The dr. said with his size and having had a c-section with Allie she was concerned with doing a vbac and the possibility of complications. So she said if he doesn't come by the 24th on his own then we'll take him out whether he wants to come out or not by c-section. She assured me that there are many people who have multiple c-sections without complications so if we want to have more later on that would still be possible. Meanwhile I've been going crazy with not having a "space" for the baby ready so Allan has worked really hard to turn the basement into a play room so we could have to room where all the toys were for the baby. Allie has been just as anxious to get ready for the baby. We finally went through the boxes of clothes that Jason and Nicki gave us (thank you guys so much you are awesome) and Allie had to look at each one with the "awww mom look at this one it's so cute" needless to say it took a little longer than I had wanted it to. Regardless we finally have his crib set up, clothes sorted by sizes, diapers ready and now we're playing the waiting game to see if he'll come on his own early (wishful thinking....probably) or on the 24th!