Christmas has Begun in the Erickson Home!

This holiday weekend has truly been wonderful! I think it is our calm before the storm.  I will give you a play by play of everything we did when the weekend has come to an end, but for now I will share last night with you.

We stopped into Home Depot to look at diaper pails (I know, so romantic). We left with a diaper pail and a Christmas tree!!!  I guess I was in kind of a bah-hum-bug mood when I told Kev, "I don't want to get a tree this year."  "we won't be home for Christmas anyways." "They are so messy"  "If you really want one, lets get a small one."  Well, that all went out the window when Kev decided to walk me through the garden section of Home Depot... as soon as I smelt that pine, I HAD TO HAVE A CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

I think I smelt every tree in the whole garden area until I found the tree that I smelt the best!! The Grand Fir, hmmmmm!  It was delicious.  Though we felt a little un-festive buying our tree at Home depot, I couldn't leave there with out a tree on our car and bring that fragrance home. 

We, of course, drove our tiny 1993 Toyota Paseo, but that wasn't going to stop me either.  Call it a pregnancy craving, but I needed a Christmas tree.  My hero, Kevo, hoisted that 6 foot tree on our 4 foot mini car and tied it down tight.  She was coming home with us!

As Kev got the tree ready in the stand outside I put on the hot water for apple cider, blasted Christmas music and pulled out every Christmas decoration we have (one day I hope to have a whole shed full of Christmas decor, next to my mini barn full of my mini animals, I will have to tell you about this fantasy of mine at another time). By 8pm our house was full of Christmas cheer! 

One game a backgammon, hot drinks, stockings hung, tree decorated, candles lite, fire blazing and Kev finished the night by reading aloud from Charles Dickson's A Christmas Carol.  The calm before the storm.  It was magical.

Family Blog

Dan and Sarah started a blog when little Christian was born.  It has been a great way for family and friends to keep up on their happenings and enjoy cute photos of little Christian.  They throw a picture up here and there, write a little snippet about what has been going on in their lives and I know family and friends really enjoy it.

Some call it copying, some call it a source of flattery but Kev and I decided to do the same thing.  Do you see the button to the right?  Click on it.  That button will take you to our family blog.  On this blog you will get "a shortlist" of all the things happening in the Erickson household!  Oh, and on the day Evangeline decides to join us, Kev is going to do his best to keep everyone updated on her progress on "The Short List". 

This is not the end of "In My Hindsight" I will still be babbling on this blog, or maybe writing nothing at all.  You just have another source to check out our family on, luck you! We hope you join us and enjoy this life we have been given as much as we do!

I Think We are Ready

The last several weeks, no months, have been a whirl wind! Between getting pregnant and moving it seems like Kev and I have barely had a moment to just sit and ask each other, "What do you want to do tonight?"

With every free moment Kev and I have we have been settling into our new Vancouver house, getting used to living in a house, putting together the nursery, finishing projects around the house, getting ready for the holidays, working on the nursery, washing baby clothes, tying up loose ends, picking up those "must have" baby items and finishing the nursery. I always heard that  babies need a ton of stuff, but I really had no idea. 

I finally picked a crib after much pressure from my parents.

Intently reading the manual

Testing out the co-sleeper

I will do a whole post on the nursery soon!

Today, I am sitting at our kitchen table waiting for a pot of water to boil.  I am not talking figuratively, I am actually waiting for the water to boil for our Thanksgiving's mashed potatoes.  I am able to sit here and blog because I don't think there is anything left to do... I think we are ready.

Our bags are packed, freezer meals in the freezer, nursery complete, last load of sweet little baby clothes folded, car seat in the car, and ever baby gidget and gatget has been played with and mastered.  We are ready. Come and meet us sweet little Evangeline.

The problem with Blogging

Here is the thing.  I have a problem.  I am a terrible blogger.  And, even more I feel terrible when I don't blog.  Like I am neglecting a relationship.  I don't like this wishy washy stuff, I would consider myself an extremely dedicated person (thanks Mom and Dad for modeling that to us kids).  I said to Kev the other night that I need to either "go all in" or "drop it completely".  But, the wise man I am married to reminded me that blogging is a hobby and you work on your hobby when you have time or when you feel like it.  This isn't a career, it isn't a relationship, it is a hobby.  So there, I will blog when I feel like it.

And, today.  I feel like it.

So, what has been going on in the lives of the Ericksons since we returned home from our vacation last month?

1. Kev's motorcycle got stolen- lameo. (I should write this story out sometime, it has been an exciting ride involvig Kev helping bust a meth house and I am not even joking.)
2. Kev's parents and Abbey came to visit.
3. Kev ran in the Portland marathon.
4. May parents forced me to start working on the nursery(thanks for the needed push)
5. It started to rain again in Portland
6. I finally feel seattled in our new little Suburbia house
7. Kev started the nesting process
8. I am 35 weeks pregnant!!! (that's right, only 5 weeks until we meet our little baby!)

I look like I am going to burst, sleeping through the night is over (for the rest of my life, I fear), my stomach contorts into strange shapes as little babe wiggles around, my ribs constantly feel like someone punched me as hard as they could, I now officially have an outie belly button which I have named Piglet, and people seem to smirk every time they see me go to the bathroom (even non-pregnant people pee, I don't see what's so funny). But, our baby is coming.  She is healthy, and I feel so blessed that the Lord decided to entrust Kev and I with this precious gift.

This little baby looks like she is ready to burst out.  What do you think?  Does she have enough room to grow over the next 5 weeks?

Can you spot my Piglet?

 Until, I feel like it again!

The Circle of Life

Wednesday morning I headed down to the beach to watch the sunrise. I had been awake since 1am unable to sleep(stupid sunburn) and decided I wanted a change of scenery from the bathroom floor and our room's balcony. I laid on the lounge chair on the flour like sand and admired God's beautiful  work. I was bummed that in my sleepless diliria I didn't bring a camera with me.

My growling tummy and small pregnant bladder tore me away from the beach and I headed into the nearest bathroom where I was even more bummed I didn't have a camera. Inside this beach bathroom I found myself a little baby sea turtle! I squealed in delight when I saw the little bugger! He obviously had become lost and found himself on the slippery floor of the bathroom! I quickly scooped him up and ran him to the sand! I walked him down to the water's edge and gently placed him on the wet sand. If this scene was in a movie I would imagine there would be soft, heartwarming music playing as the mom-to-be returns this baby turtle to his home. I stood their and watched the little guy scramble to the water,"you are home little one, you are home" I thought. I took in the rising sun, breathed the satly air and probably could have even mustard up a tear as he neared the ocean water. He was so lucky I found him!

Then all of a sudden, the music stopped, a record scratch and a pelican swooped in and picked up my baby turtle!!!! I let out a scream and quickly, looked around for something to throw at this murderous bird! But, it was too late. The pelican was gone and took his breakfast with him. Poor little turtle had probably just made it into the beach bathroom to wait safely until nightfall to try and get back to the water. I hated that I interfered with Darwin's theory, but I guess this is the circle on life. R.I.P little turtle. R.I.P

Anniversary Trip

Hello from Cancun Mexico! Kev and I are celebrating our 3 year anniversary in Cancun. An added bonus is we are also hanging out with brother Dan and new wife Sarah on their honeymoon! (we were actually invited to come on their honeymoon with them and we sure are glad we did!) When we showed up at our Resort on Monday morning, cousin Jakey and girlfriend, Laula, were also here to surprise the newlyweds!

Kev and I honeymoon at this exact resort three years ago and it feels so good to be back! We are flooded with fun memories and we are eager to make more! The weather has been great and I have been extra careful to lube up my buldging belly. Despite my efforts I am a little lobster and basically missed all of our snnuversary avoiding the sun. Silly pregnancy! Kev was very sweet and spent most of the day with me inside the air conditioned hotel.  Luckily, after almost two whole sleepless nights of fighting my itchy, hot skin I am able to brave an umbrella by the pool today!

Kev, Dan, and Sarah are all out zip lining right and Jakey and Laula are visitng Tulum. I helped myself to a massage and facial. Though, I would have loved to fly through the jungle treetops I think the spa was a pretty nice alternative!

So far our days have consisted of going to the beach, eating, go to the pool, eating,getting something yummy to drink, going to the beach, eating and sleeping. Quit the vacation if you ask me. We are getting all the lounging out of our systems and then we have lots of adventures and activities planned for our last few days!  I will post pictures when I get back.

Blogger, please make an app that is better for the iPad,  your current one is no bueno!

Before the Internet

One thing I really appreciate about my hubbalub he is LOVES to learn.  And learning we have been doing in the last few weeks.  We have been busy learning all sorts of new hobbies.

We learned how to Make Pulled Pork Sandwiches:
Kev and I have had a traeger bbq for about three year but we just got a house where we could use it! Kev got on the internet and learned how to make pulled pork.  Did you know it take 12 hours to smoke?!!

Kev getting the pork roast ready.  If we were able to see the clock in the back ground you would see it was 11:00pm

Kev got up several times in the middle of the night to do whatever he learned on the internet he needed to do.

There she is....several hours into her smoking process!

 Everything came off the BBQ just in time for Rachy, Brant and little Zoe to have lunch with us!

And seriously, such good pulled pork sandwiches!

and then a nap was required and well deserved!

We learned how to play the Harmonica:
Next, Kevin learned off the internet how to play Taps on his harmonica.  Yes, he had a harminica that he likes to take backpacking and snowboarding.  I know, he is so cute!

He also learned proper hand holding techniques.  He ended each of our camping nights by playing his newly learned tune by the campfire!

isn't he hot?1

We learned how much flags cost:
I love estate sales and a few weeks ago there was one down the street from our new house.  We went in and saw an american flag for $5.  WE jumped on Amazon and saw that $5 was a steal of a deal with the pole. So, we bought it! 

We are so patriotic.  Remember our awesome pumpkin from Halloween?

We learned how to fly fish:
I am seriously so mad I didn't capture any pictures of this.  Kev and I in the backyard learning fly fishing techniques from YouTube.  I also watched the neighbor girl get picked up for a date.  She was back promptly by 11:00pm (yes, I am that nosy neighbor)


How did we survive before the internet? 

Camping Champions

Kevin and I love to camp and it just so happens that my parents own a fishing resort in Oregon and it has some of the best camping spots.  Kev and I had the brilliant idea of putting together a little camping adventure and inviting some of our favorite people to join us (minus our Schelubes as a trip from Boston might be asking a little much).

So here is the story.  Erin, 6 months pregnant, and I, 6 months pregnant decided to venture down to East Lake before our hubbys were off work. And, surprisingly we only stopped once for a pee break.  We stopped at  Ray's Food Place which may have been a bad idea because EVERYTHING looked delicious and we didn't have our nagging husbands with us to stop us from eating a bunch of crap! For example I decided a Pizza Stick was a good idea, which it was. 

 Anyways, we made it to East Lake in one piece.  With our tummys full we decided we would have our campsite all ready for when the boys pulled in!

Look, we lite built a fire!  Rob who? Oh, OK.  Maybe one of the Resort workers build our fire.  But we lite it!

And look, we put up the tent!  Ok, maybe Katie and Michael helped a little.  But, just a LITTLE

Happy Campers sitting around the fire we lite built.

When the boys pulled up at 9:00pm to see a fire going, tent set up and dinner ready to heat, they must have been impressed!

Friday night was a success.  Lots of adventures were planned for Saturday!

Leandre was the first in the water hoping to catch some dinner.

The rest of us tried to thaw by the fire.  I was a COLD first night!  Especially for those who get up a million times a night to pee.

Cousin Katie and me!

Jesse cooking up some breakfast grub.  Can you see Leandre still in the water?

 After we were all fed and somewhat warm.  The girls headed out for a hike and the boys grabbed their fishing poles!

Paulina Falls

Obsidian Flow

I didn't think it was warm enough.  But, Kev and Leandre went for a swim!

The rest of us watching the crazy kids in the water

Kevin teaching baby Richie to swim.  Richie peed on Kyle in the middle of the night.  I think it was because Richie heard Kyle liked cats.

After lunch the boys headed off to try and catch us some dinner.  Us girls went to the cafe to grab a drink.  Erin and her horse dog made friends.  And then he swiped their hamburger later because he thought they liked him so much!

How do you think they did at providing dinner?!

Success!

Look at all those fish!

Sweet puppy Richie snuggling with Bobby!

I hope these picture help show how much fun we had.  And, I really think that EVERYONE had fun, I hope... oh well, if not, I had a BLAST!

26 Weeks

It was a HUGE awakening for me when my friend Erin informed me that I only had three, 3, tres, months until this little girly pops out (right, that's what happens?  The baby pops right out of me?)!!

Kev and I better get on it!  Right now all she has in her room are a few adorable outfits (thank you friends and family) and a rug!!  Oh and her name...we don't know...we can't decided.

Three months, I don't know if I am ready for life to change so dramatically.  But, I guess I should have thought of that before Kev and decided to have a little "fun" one night!  YIKES!  See you in three months, baby!

Wanna know why I think she is going to pop out? Check out the first couple seconds of this video.  Please excuse my piglet bellybutton!!

 She was much more wild until I turned the camera on.... how does she know?!!

half a year

Pretty nutz-o that I have been pregnant for 6 months already!  Oh, and I was thrilled to hear it will be several months after the babe is born that the dreaded "monthly gift" will show its ugly face again!  
Definitely a plus side to pregnancy!

Though I am FINALLY seeing the positives of pregnancy; feeling baby move, my hair is fuller, all the extra help/attention you get from EVERYONE (it's amazing actually how nice everyone is to a pregnant lady).  Even though my morning sickness is gone I am finding there are still a few down sides to pregnancy. I know I am not alone in this issue, I have talked to a lot of girls who have experienced the same thing while pregnant.  Still, I don't know how to talk myself out of the strange body image issues I am experiencing..

my face describes it all

When you step onto a scale in your home you hope to see the numbers drop.  Well, that feeling does not go away when you step on to the scale at your OB's office.  It is a strange feeling to be scolded with the scale goes down or stays the same. They want to see a weight gain, you don't want to see much of one.

It is a strange feeling to not fit into any of your clothes and the clothes that do fit, fit weird. I refused to buy maternity clothes.  I refused to buy a new bra.  But, when I am frantically undressing each night because I feel like I am going to bust my clothes at the seam (which has happened...) or that my bra's underwire is going to cut my boob off... I finally gave into the world of Motherhood Maternity. Thank you for Kev and Mom for helping me through this treacherous hurdle!

Can anyone tell me why so many maternity clothes are butt ugly?  I mean, we pregnancy gals already don't feel at the top of our sexy game and to put us in patterned tents and bras that look like turtlenecks isn't really helping us feel the pregnancy glow!

I wish I could just be excited that my growing body is holding a growing baby.  But, when I read she is only weighing about 1lbs right now, I wonder what the extra 9lbs are for!! I decided, weight feels like weight.  If you are growing a human or not!

When Kev and I were looking at my prego pictures from the last few months we both exclaimed at Weeks 14...we both forgot that there was a time that I didn't have a tummy!  But, on man, look at her grow!

So long, 1225.

Well, last night was our last night in our downtown apartment. We made a downtown night of it!  We walked to the Pearl and enjoyed a dinner at Trader Vic's. Super fun atmosphere and the weather was warm enough to eat in their open air dining! 

Look how yummy the food was! You can just tell by the was it looks that it was a party in our mouth!

From there we headed to moonstruck chocolates, and finished the night at Powell's Book store. I was trying to top off the night with a little Salt and Straw but Kev wasn't buying it.  It was pushing 9:30pm when we left Powell's and we are old timers. 

We crawled onto our blow up mattress, compliments of Kev's lungs (oops, we forgot to charge the electric pump) and slept our last night in our very first apartment together.

 Early this morning we headed to Besaw's and reminised over the last 5 times that we met there! Crazy it has been so many already!  We couldn't even remember all of our visits!  I am kicking myself that we haven't taken a picture every year!

The date of handing in our keys was actually PERFECT. Every August 9th Kevin and I head to Besaw's in NW Portland to celebrate the day Kevin FINALLY asked me out!(If you want more of an explanation read here.  Basically, in my mind Kev took about two years too long to ask me out!)  Anyways, August 9th, 2008 we meet for breakfast for our first date at Besaw's and we remember it every year by going back to the same spot.  So, today, August 9th, we said our goodbye while remembering our start.  Pretty cool, huh?

We enjoyed our delicious breakfast as always, walked back to our apartment, packed up our last few items and thanked the Lord for our time there.  As Kev prayed for that home I was a big cry baby.  We really loved that house.  We had so many fun memories.  We will always remember our first place.

I really dislike this picture.  If Kev wasn't in such a hurry to get to work I would have made us retake it!

Bye 1225, it was so so fun!!

A Blue Adventure

With all the moving that has been happening over the last few weeks poor little Blue has been neglected. Wait, do you even remember who Blue is?  Read about my new friend here!

Last night Blue and I finally rekindled our friendship and love.  (well, I don't really love her on hills...she kind of sucks at them).

Kev found a trail in our new city...Vantucky, I mean, Vancouver.  He needed to get a 6 mile run under his belt and I needed to dust off Blue.  The trail for the night was Burnt Bridge trail.  I tried my best to capture our little ride/run. Enjoy!

Pretty NW

Bridge, Burnt Bridge possibly.  This picture is blurry because I am TERRIBLE at riding one handed.

I passed Kev-0 on blue.  We must look like the funniest pair of runner/cruisers.

Found this little gem right close to our house.  We will be going back for some peaches!!

this is when the view started to get good!!

Blue really sucks at hills.  I am not just saying I suck at going up hills, Blue doesn't cruise up hills.  Oh, and I found out I not only suck riding one handed.  I suck riding standing up.  Which doesn't help the hill situation. Kev took her up the hill while I ran.  Running the hill was seriously easier.

We explored our new town.  Spent time together, exercised and still agreed that Blue was the best idea we had in a long time!  Well, besides the few times we ended up on busy main roads, going up hill, no bike lane, no helmet. Can you picture me on Blue?  Had to be a site.