One Month

I am one month old today.  I look at momma and Daddy in the eye.  I am practicing my smiling and sleeping 4 hour stretches at night.  Momma and Daddy call me sweetums because I am so sweet and delicious. 

Momma is hoping I get Daddy's pretty green eyes.

 I like to stare at bright lights and stay awake for more hours during the day.  I am a great flyer, I love getting my hair washed and I only cry some of the time when I get my diaper changed. 

my cute little one month old toes

Winter Wonderland

There is no dreaming of a white Christmas for the Erickson's this Christmas. Tahoe has been blanketed by a beautiful white sheet of snow since our arrival. But, like two idiots Kevin and I arrived with NO snow gear. Good thing Bob and Kathy have us covered so we could play in the snow.

Evangeline was introduced to the snow and we went for a blizzardy walk.

Kev took me up on a dare and ran through the snow barefoot.

We tested out our survival skills and built a snow shelter. Kev and I, of course, had to build it big enough for us both to fit inside. Kathy wouldn't let us bring Evangeline inside our shelter, maybe next year baby.

Kev and I have been enjoying every minute of this winter wonderland!

See Bob in the background blowing the snow?! He did this for hours, literally HOURS!

We had Evangeline well bundled and covered!

Notice the barefeet

doesn't this make you claustrophobic?!

Snuggling inside our cave!

She Won Them All

Yesterday we decided to take Evangeline on her very first adventure. We booked tickets for Tahoe to visit Kev's parents while I was still pregnant in hopes Evangeline would be born just in time to travel for Christmas. As with everything else, Evangeline has been the perfect baby and came just in time to travel (SouthWest won't allow babies under two weeks to travel, she just squeaked by at three weeks).

We packed everything up, including a whole bag of cloth diapers and reusable wipes. We tried to only back the essential things but somehow babies still need a lot of things! Kev and I even managed to pack for ourselves. I asked for prayers from everyone I knew asking for easy traveling. (Big thank you to My parents for helping load everything up and driving us to the airport. We are still too cheap to pay for airport parking)

We made sure she was fed and in a dry diaper and I sent up more prayers as we entered onto the plane. I thought we would be sneered at. People would avoid eye contact not wanting us to sit near them. But instead we were greeted with oohs and awes. We even heard a few, "hi baby" coming from passengers. Lots of questions about her age, name, etc. To top it all off Evangeline slept through the whole flight and a dirty diaper. Once again, perfect baby.

Now we can enjoy our white Christmas with Noni and Papa in Tahoe!

Cloth Diapers

I have not idea why, but I have become very passionate about cloth diapers.  When I am up with Evangeline at night I find myself reading cloth diaper blogs and forums.  I am also very lucky to have a couple mama's on my life who also use cloth diapers and I am constantly picking their brains about what brand, method and style they use.  There is so many different styles it is overwhelming.

 When Evangeline's umbilical stump fell off Kev and I decided to plunge right in.  Of course I was VERY stressed and worried about it.  But, she started to develop a little rash in her disposables so I was hoping the change would clear things up!

Kev and I seemed to catch on pretty quickly and we are becoming very creative on how to get everything, folded, snapped and tucked into place on this wiggly worm.  We are learning.  My good friend, Brie(and cloth diaper mama) told me she makes her own wipes.  So, now I am passionate about making my own wipes!  Who know I would be such an earthy mama.  I apologize in advance to anyone who watches Evangeline in the future.  We will give you cloth diaper 101.

 Current Wipe Recipe we are trying:

Olive n' Tea Tree Oil

Container ( I used an empty wipe container) 1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary) 1/8 cup gentle baby bath~ (I use Druide baby calming baby soap, for now.) A few drops tea tree oil 4 cups water

Bath Time

Let me be the first to reveal to you, Evangeline's belly button!!

Uncle Dan, I think she got your belly button!

Isn't it cute?  I show this to you because when it finally fell off at 12 days old I was so relieved!  I just stared at that little umbilical stump wondering, "is it getting infected?" "Is it healing right"  "is it staying on too long?" "Should we clean it?" And the worrying goes on.  I was so excited when it happened I made the announcement to Kev at 3am. I couldn't understand why he wasn't jumping for joy with me.

But, as soon as the belly button exposed itself I knew we could now give her a bath...her first bath.  I didn't know how to bath a baby.  What if she doesn't like it?  What it I clean something wrong?  What if she has a reaction to the baby wash...and I found myself worrying about something else. So, the next morning we decided it was bath time.  I was so stressed about bath time I could not even get a picture of anything passed the set up.  Good thing I have Kev, he mastered the bath just like he mastered the swaddle, diapers and fatherhood all together really.

Belly button gone, bath- accomplished, now on to the next worry... the beginning of a diaper rash.  I don't know how I will survive as a mother with all this worrying!  But, one thing I am learning is I don't have to learn it all at once.  Work on one worry at a time.  I am sure I will be looking back in 15 years and wish my biggest worry was a belly button! 

All Alone

After two weeks of constant help Evangeline and I are flying solo today! My parents were here for a week, Pippa was here for 4 days, Kathy(Kev's mom) was here 4 days and Kev-o was home for two weeks and went back to work today.  

Now, we are alone...

Somehow without our village we survived the day. I managed to not only feed Evangeline but also feed myself.  She was also kind enough to let me take a quick shower and even throw on a little make up.  We even had our first outing to go visit Dr. Grant.  I also discovered the Moby to be incredibly helpful.  Not too bad for our first day!

Now, we are anxiously awaiting Kev's home coming.  We missed him terribly all day.  

I mean look at this sad face. I am so glad it is Friday so we get Kev home for two more days! We like it best when the three of us are all together, it is best that way!

We Party Hard

Here in the Erickson household we have been doing a lot of sleeping and mostly during the day.  It is mainly due to how hard we party at night.  There is lots of bouncing, swinging, singing and outfit changes. Evangeline throws one crazy party at night.

Oh, How Things Have Changed

We are only 11 days into this parenting thing and it is amazing how things have already changed.  Our bedroom now contains a co-sleeper, a swing, a exercise ball, and several burps rags. Our pretty decorative bed pillows are now used for the perfect feeding position.  Kev's "no tooting under the covers" rule is out the window as Evangeline has decided pooping in our bed is OK. I spend more time watching someone sleep than sleeping myself.  I have become a bodily function cheerleader and good latch praiser.

My love for Kev-o the super hero and my dependency on the Lord's strength have also changed, they have increased.  Oh, how things have changed.  And oh, how wonderful it is.

Helping Hands

We arrived home one week ago.  I don't know where the times goes but days zoom by! I tell Kev that he makes my heart want to burst and Evangeline makes my heart want to melt.  I am so overwhelmed with love for my family.  We have been showered with blessings and helping hands.  First my parents and their truck load of food.  They cooked, cleaned, loved and taught while they were here.

In the hospital Linds came to visit along to Katie and Michael.  My long time friend, Brittany, came with a bag full of treats and coffee for Kevin (she is a wise woman).  We even got a surprise visit from Great Aunt Traci, God worked things out just perfectly so Traci could come meet the newest family addition. Our good friends, Nicole and Leondre stopped by to meet Evangeline last Sunday.  Nicole came bearing "lactation" bars.  Which were delicious and packed full of ingredients to help bring my milk in (oh and I have plenty of milk, trust me!).  Great Grammy and Great Grandpa Bob came by with lots of cuddles, love and tangerines (my favorite).  A package arrived from Great Betty Sue and Dan, Sarah and the little bug came for dinner.  I quickly grabbed nurse and experienced mommy, Sarah, and asked her to look at my nipples. (I no longer know the word modesty.)  Christian was a entertaining as always and made us laugh until our sides hurt. My work girls came by, and Erin and Jesse (they came while Erin was still pregnant, but as soon as she saw my empty stomach Lincoln was born 24 hours later). 

The greatest surprise was on Thursday night I woke up from my 9pm nap and Kev told me someone came to visit me. To be honest I was a bummed, because I early told Kev how tired I was and didn't feel like any more visitors.  But, as I rounded the corner to the living room. I saw my dear friend, Pippa, sitting on my couch loving on Evangeline.  I burst into tears! What a fun surprise to have my bestie sitting on the couch holding Evangeline and not just talking to her via skype from Boston. 

Pippa flew out on Saturday morning and Noni (Kev's Mom, Kathy) flew in Saturday afternoon.  I think Evangeline might burst with all the love that has been given to her already.  

See, so many blessings.  So much love and so much help.  It will be very interesting when me and the little sweetums are left all alone. I'll let you know how it goes! Thank you to everyone for all your love and support!

We Are Surviving

We arrived to the house Sunday, late morning, where my parents were waiting to greet us.  My mom knows me well, or maybe it is just that I am my mother's daughter.  She had candles lite, Christmas music playing, the tree lights on and a little pink stocking hung above the fire place.  I haven't cried since little Evangeline entered the world but the sight of our cozy home coming brought tears to my eyes.

We have not been home for 4 days and so far we are doing great!  We are so thankful for my parents being here to help us figure out what the heck we are doing!! We have been well fed, there are many hands to hold and help, to diaper change and give lots of love. We all constantly bounce or sway (even when we are not holding her).

Days are going well, little Evangeline sleeps a ton and looks cute constantly.  Even when she cries she manages to look adorable (is it weird that I like the smell of her sweet baby breath?). Kev and I are still trying to figure out nights. We keep reassuring Evangeline that we will figure it out one of these days. We basically take turns holding her so the other can sleep.  My mom takes her each morning and loves on her so Kev and I could get a couple more hours of sleep until my boobs are needed.

We really love being parents so far and decided we would keep her.  Evangeline is pretty rad.

Lots to Learn

As we all know babies don't come with a manual and there is lots and lots to learn.  Why are you not sleeping?  Why are you crying?  Does that hurt?  How do I clean that?  Where does that go?  Am I doing this right?  Am I doing this wrong?  These are just a few of the questions that race through my head every 30 seconds.  We are learning each day and still enjoying ever minute.  really, I am not just saying that, we really are loving ever minute of this little babe.

While we are trying to learn all about our sweet little babe Kev is learning all about her toys.  He has become a baby gadget expert.  How did I get so lucky with such an amazing husband who dubs as an amazing father?

Thanksgiving Weekend

This was meant to be posted pre-baby, but labor kind of got in the way of me being able to push "post". 

One week ago today Kev and I started our Thanksgiving weekend and it was glorious! I don't know if I can even remember everything we did, but it didn't matter because we didn't HAVE to do anything! From what I hear it may be a LOOOOOOONG time until we feel like this again once kiddos enter our house.  Here is an over view of what we did!

Wednesday- got home early afternoon.  Hung out and put together my home office for work so I can be at home with Evie! Such a blessing!  We saw Dr. Grant, who we LOVE.  And, she checked me to find out I am dilating, effacing and baby is moving down. Oh, and I burst into joyful tears when she said she could actually feel Evangeline's head!  She is getting close to entering this world!! Oh, and we ate at Boke Bowl, so yummy!!


Thursday- Slept in, made mashed potatoes, headed to Grammies, tried to eat lots of Thanksgiving food(I failed, no room) and played with family the rest of the night!

Friday- Slept in, took our recovered and battered motorcycle into the shop(he was kidnapped and recovered, we missed him and are glad to have him back),laid around, watched a Band of Brothers, and went to bed early.  Oh, and Kev was a PRO at backing up the motorcycle trailer, he should really give lessons.  Up hill and backwards, very impressive if I do say so myself.

Saturday- Slept in,watched Home Alone, went bowling, got our Christmas tree, and had a real fire in our fire place.

Sunday- Kev has soccer practice, I made two freezer meals, we skyped with our beloved Scheeles for like two hours. Went to a class at church, went to church and finsihed the weekend with Little Big Burger.

I know, life was rough for us this weekend. But, what  A HUGE blessing and WONDERFUL memories with my all time favorite person before life changes forever.  Thank you for this gift, Lord!

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?