My Funny Girl

Yesterday while sitting on the floor playing with blocks:

Me to Selina: "My foot's falling asleep" (I adjust my position)

A few minutes later: (Selina stands up and sighs) "My foot's falling asleep, I think it's trying to take a nap...Yeah, my foot is trying to take a nap."

My Babies

Chloe turned 3 months old today. Wow, how time is flying. She is such a sweet baby and will smile at anyone who talks to her. It takes quite a bit of effort to get her to giggle, but it is happening more and more often these days. She only gets fussy when she is hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change. Chloe even sleeps 9-10 hours at night. We moved her into her big crib in Selina's room last week, so now they are officially roomies. I have to admit that when it came time to pack up her bassinet that was next to my bed, I actually had a hard time and got a little teary. Part of me wanted her to wake up a lot that night so that I would have an excuse to move her back to be close to me. I had no such luck.

Selina seems so old to me these days. Before we brought Chloe home she was still my little baby, but ever since Chloe has joined the family Selina has suddenly become this big girl. Selina loves her baby sister and loves helping take care of her. She gets very concerned when Chloe starts to cry, and informs me of the fact that Chloe is crying even if I am right there. She loves to dance. We try to take time each day to dance, usually it is to the music on her Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella movies. The girl has quite the imagination and I love to see her taking care of her dolls and stuffed animals. She talks to them and even puts them into timeouts sometimes. She also likes to "make" dinner for Jeff and I on her little play stove, "dinner" is usually cake.

A couple of nights ago I couldn't fall asleep. I had this desperate feeling that my girls are growing up way too fast and that I need to slow down. So I have decided that I am no longer going to stress about the fact that, try as I may, I can not keep my house totally clean. I am not going to stress anymore that I have baskets of clean laundry that need to be folded, or that my sink is full of dishes waiting to be cleaned. I am going to sit down with my babies and enjoy playing with them instead of worrying about everything that I have to get done. I am never going to get these sweet little moments back. Those other things can wait.

Feeling Good

I have been doing Couch to 5k for about 2 weeks now and I can feel that it is working. As I ran earlier tonight, I was able to run faster and finish without being sore and too tired. Some nights have been hard getting going, but once I am doing it I actually enjoy it because I get some alone time and I get to listen to my music. I also feel great when I am done. If anyone is interested in getting into running, I would definitely recommend this program. It makes the task much less daunting, and it is free!

BRING IT!

Tonight I started Couch to 5K (those that know me well, control your laughing please). I am determined to get into shape. There's nothing like feeling pretty yucky for 9 months to get you motivated to feel good again. I have never been a runner, but I am hoping that starting off slow and working up will help me to not get discouraged. Wish me luck, I need it!

Fall Pictures

Picture Post

I need to do an update on everything going on here, but I really should be sleeping right now. So for now I am posting a bunch of pictures of the girls that I took a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy! I will be back soon with a big update.

Chloe at about 3 weeks

Selina really didn't want to cooperate on this particular day!

Introducing Chloe Elizabeth Erekson

Chloe Elizabeth Erekson was born September 8th at 8:02 am, and weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 inches long. For those of you that were placing bets, Chloe has auburn colored hair. She is such an amazing baby and is happy and contented most of the time. Selina loves her baby sister and loves helping out with whatever she can. We have been so thankful to have Grandma Dallin here to help and we will be sad to see her go home on Saturday.

Getting ready for surgery

Chloe's here!

All tuckered out

Selina meeting her baby sister for the first time

Dad and his girls

Happy to be going home

As Big as a House

While I was on the phone with my parents tonight my dad asked "So, are you as big as a house yet?"...Well, I sure feel like I am as big as a house. I now have less than a month, though, my c-section is scheduled for 3 weeks from Tuesday, on September 8th (WAHOO!!!!).

This picture was taken a couple of days ago:

Jeff's New Airplane

So my crazy husband decided a couple of months ago that he wanted to get back into flying again (he has been flying ultralight airplanes since he was 13). He has been taking some flight lessons so that he can get a license to take other people flying with him. About a month ago he found an airplane that was for sale in Tennessee that was in our price range, so he jumped all over it and the next thing I knew he and our neighbor headed to Tennessee to pick it up. Yesterday we went out to the airport to see him fly it. It was cool to see him fly finally, but at the same time it made me very nervous especially because it was a very windy day and the plane seemed to rock a little bit too much for my comfort. As Jeff put it "Liz almost had a heart attack, or a baby." Jeff admits that it may not have been the best day for me to see him fly for the first time, with all of the wind. I was just relieved to have him back on solid ground, where I wish he would stay but I know he will be right back in the air the next chance he gets.

This is how the plane was transported from Tennessee to Texas:


Here is Jeff ready for takeoff yesterday:


Here is a link to a video from yesterday of Jeff taking off:
http://ereksonfamily.org/familyuploads/minimax_takeoff.MOV

I took another video of him landing, but that was the moment that I almost had a heart attack, so it didn't turn out too well. At the end of the video, you can hear me saying something like "did he mean to land there?" He landed on the grass (which he meant to do for a softer landing), but I was expecting him to land on the runway so it worried me a little. Here's the link:
http://ereksonfamily.org/familyuploads/minimax_landing.MOV

Selina Talks About Baby Sister

Here is a little video of Selina talking about her sister, who will be here in less than a month. We will see how much she really understands what is going on when we bring the baby home.

http://ereksonfamily.org/familyuploads/selina before choloe.AVI/

July in Texas

Seven days above 100 degrees....Seven and a half months pregnant...'nough said!

Summertime Fun

I know...I know, I have really been slacking at this blogging business. Maybe I will do better once the baby comes...maybe not.

Here are some pictures from our summer so far. We have had some fun times, including a road trip to Chicago to see Grandma and Grandpa Dallin and their new home there. My brother Michael was able to fly in from New England to spend some time there also. We had a great time!
My parent's new house is in a really cool old town, that we enjoyed walking around. Here is Selina posing with Uncle Michael, Grandpa, and Grandma in front of a fountain in town.


Jeff and Selina

I can't remember now if this is the view from my Dad's new office, or from his downtown apartment. Either way, we were really high up, which made me a little nervous! On the left there is the Sears Tower.

On the way back from Chicago we took a slight detour and spent a few hours in Nauvoo and at Carthage Jail. It was neat to go back there with Jeff and Selina.

The Nauvoo Temple


We spent the 4th of July weekend here in Texas. It has been VERY hot here, but we managed to make it to the beach at the lake by our house and to see the fireworks.

Selina has come a long way from last Summer when we spent some time at York Beach in Maine. She wouldn't touch the sand last year and cried because she was getting dirty, this year she is right there in it digging away.

And last but not least, I have to post a picture of our chickens. In addition to providing us with fertilizer, eggs, and pest control they also provide us with some great entertainment. Chickens are very funny animals, and we often find ourselves watching them out the back window while we eat dinner.

New Ultrasound Pictures

I had another ultrasound yesterday and we got some good pictures this time. The first one is a cute profile shot. The second one may be hard to figure out, but she was folded in half with her feet by her face and she was holding on to her toes with her hand. The last one is of her legs. And there is no question that it is still a girl!

It's a GIRL!!!

We had our ultrasound today and found out we are having another girl!!!!
I am so excited to bring home another one of these bundles:

Selina is going to be a great big sister and I am sure they will be great little buds!

Selina's Birthday

Ok, this is really late, but here are some pictures from Selina's Birthday party last month.

The big 2 year old!

Blowing out the candles!

Round 2 of blowing out the candles.

Selina has been doing this same face for the past month, and she always says "Tessa's funny face!".

Selina was very happy to get some new books from Andrew, and a My Little Pony from Tessa! Thanks guys!

Selina had lots of help opening presents!

"Tea party" with Selina's new tea set.

Ultrasound!!!

We had our first ultrasound today. Everything went well, and it was very fun to see the baby so early since we didn't get to see Selina at this stage. The first two pictures are some cool 3D pictures that really show the head and the nub arms. The bottom one is a regular ultrasound picture that shows the growing brain. Isn't it amazing?!

Miracle Drugs!

Today I am so grateful for modern medicine! About 2 weeks ago I started in on the morning sickness faze of pregnancy, not fun. It started getting progressively worse everyday and last week I could hardly get out of bed. To spare you all from all of the details, let me just say that by Thursday of last week I was not keeping anything down. I had given into the fact that I would be sick for the next 7 months, like I was with Selina. I finally got into the doctor on Friday and was given some miracle prescriptions! I am feeling SO much better now, and more importantly, Selina has her Mom back. The medicine makes me a little drowsy, but it is amazing how much better I feel! Now I'm just mad that my last doctor did not give me the same drugs! :)

Another thing that I am so grateful for is my wonderful husband. He was a huge help to me the past 2 weeks by picking up the slack here, doing laundry and cooking all of the meals, without one complaint. We are very fortunate that Jeff can work from home a lot or else I do not know what we would have done.

Really Big Announcement

Here is a little peak into the future of what I will look like in about 6 months:

This was when I was about 7 months along with Selina

You got it, we are expecting! We are excited for Selina to have a little brother or sister. I am due in September, and will be very pregnant for the hottest part of the year in Texas. Good thing we have central air!

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

Today we celebrated Jeff's 26th Birthday! This morning I asked him what he would like to do today, and he said "get some projects done around the house", so he worked all day in the garage, in the shed, and on his saltwater fish tank. For those of you who know Jeff well, you know that he is somewhat of a work-a-holic, and this was really what he wanted to do today. So I resisted the urge to make him go do something fun and allowed him to do what he wanted. We had our neighbors over for cake tonight, and had a great time!


Don't make fun, this was the first cake I have ever completely decorated on my own!




Selina and I gave him a tap and die set and bar clamps. Isn't that exciting? He had hinted at what he wanted but he didn't know what he was getting.


After Jeff blew out the candles, we had to light them again so that the kids could blow them out.

YUMMY!

Our pets. (This is one of the projects that Jeff worked on today)