Our Rock Garden

Issac's First Haircut--5 Months Old

2009-11-16T18:53:00.002-05:00

Well, Issac has the hair of a mad scientist as of late and since he has started eating solids, I am having to give more baths each day than I have time for. Sean and I decided that even though Issac was only 5 months old, it was time for a haircut.

Here is the before picture:

And here is the after:

This is the final product. Everyone got their haircut and are all looking pretty spiffy!

Locks of Love

2009-11-16T17:21:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, we've had a "cleaning up" session going on here at our house. Out with the old, in with the new kind of stuff. About a month ago, I had mentioned to Abby that we should cut her hair and we could donate it to Locks of Love and help some kids who don't have hair due to health problems. At first, she wasn't interested. But I showed her the website and we've talked about it at different times and I could see that she was warming up to the idea. Well, today we took the plunge and she had 9 1/2 inches cut. I cried. I'll be honest. After she had it done, she said, "Now I can send it to a kid who really needs it, Mommy!" My heart was bursting! What a selfless act!

BEFORE

AFTER

Little Guy Growing Up

2009-11-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

It's Bath Time with all the little Rocks!

Issac hanging out with Daddy

He is such a HAPPY baby! Issac love to play with all of his toys and Abby and Jaxon make sure he has plenty to play with!

Missing You

2009-10-08T14:37:00.002-04:00

Today, I had an epiphany of sorts. I had dropped Abby and Jaxon off at preschool and on Thursdays, they get to stay for an extra hour for Lunch Bunch. I ran a couple of errands and while I was driving in the parking lot, I saw a bright yellow truck with a bumblebee on it and I shouted out, "Look Jaxon! There's a bumblebee truck!" He wasn't in the car. It was just second nature to point something like that out to him. I realized in that moment that I missed having Abby and Jaxon with me all the time. They are now in the care of someone else for a few hours each day and I miss them. I miss the fighting, the hugs, the smiles and giggles, the begging to go to the toy aisle just for a moment. I have looked forward to the day when both of them would be in school and now that it is here, I miss them.

My little guy

2009-09-20T21:47:00.002-04:00

My little guy

Issac Jeffrey Rock

My little Picasso's

2009-09-20T21:43:00.005-04:00

We told the kids that when we moved into our new house, they would be able to pick colors for their rooms and we would paint. Since my appendix decided that it just HAD to come out the week before we were supposed to move, the painting didn't get done. It's been 2 months now since we've been in this house and we are finally getting around to painting. This was Abby and Jaxon painting Abby's room. They were getting paint all over themselves so we stripped them down to the bare minimum and they had a ball! Sean was such a trooper--I seriously thought he was going to go nuts with all of the "are we going to paint yet?" questions he was getting!

First day of School

2009-09-20T21:31:00.004-04:00

So, it's our first day of preschool and the kids were so excited! And to be honest, so was mom!

Jax could hardly wait to see Mrs. Bachus and Mrs. DeLoca and to play in the sandbox. He's been waiting a whole year!

Abby was so excited to be in the 4's class! She was a little nervous to meet her new teachers but she had so much fun once she got there!

Getting ready to walk out the door

Issac on the first day of school. He was just chillin' and waiting to hop in the car. He's such a mellow baby!

It's been a while.......

2009-09-20T20:14:00.006-04:00

Wow! Where does the time go? It's been 3 months since I last posted and I can't believe that it has flown by so quickly! Issac is now 3 months old, Abby and Jaxon have started preschool and Sean is super busy at work. I'm just plugging along, trying to keep up with all of them and trying to figure out what to do with myself.

So, an update as to what has happened over the past few months:

June: Issac was born on the 9th and we had the wonderful opportunity to have my mom come and be here to help for that first week. How great that my mom was able to drop everything she was doing to come and help us out on such short notice. We really appreciated it! Then, Sean's mom, Georgetta, was able to come out and help us for 2 1/2 weeks. We were very well taken care of with meals being prepared and the kids were entertained. I think that the reason that I heal so quickly from my c-sections is because I have such incredible help so I am able to focus on the baby and healing.

July: Georgetta left on July 4th and we had a very quiet day. The following week on the 9th, I wasn't feeling very well and came home after a very busy day and just collapsed into bed. My right side and back were hurting really bad and I could barely breathe. I tried to get some sleep through the night but by the next morning, I couldn't hardly move. Sean ended up taking me to the ER where they told us that my appendix was inflamed and needed to be removed. Between the time that I had the CT scan and the time that I went into the OR, my appendix ruptured. Here I was, just barely 4 weeks out from having a c-section and I was back in the hospital having a useless organ being removed. What a joy!

The best part about all of that was we were scheduled to move the following weekend. We had just started packing things up and then all of that happened. I made a call to my mom and she was on the next plane back out here. Again, we were so grateful that she was so willing to come and help us and for my dad and sisters who picked up the slack with mom being gone and took care of Grandpa Smith. My mom not only cooked, cleaned, packed and took care of my children for us but she allowed me to heal, physically and emotionally. She was here for 10 days and then she left. Meanwhile, I had also made a call to the 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency and told her of my predicament and she told me not to worry--she would take care of everything. The next day at church, Sean was given a list of people who would be providing meals for our family for that week as well as she had arranged for a sister to call every morning to see what needed to be packed or cleaned so that we would have an extra set of hands to be able to get our house packed up. It was amazing! By the following Saturday, our house had been packed up, loaded up, moved and unpacked within a couple of hours plus the Falk's had mowed our lawn. It was a very humbling experience. Never have we lived in a ward that has been so efficient and willing to serve! I can't begin to thank them enough!

August: We were able to have Grandpa Rock come out to visit and he took the kids to the aquarium and to Terhune farms. He helped Sean organize our garage and he helped to get the yard looking nice. It was great to have him come and visit us and to meet Issac. He's so proud that there are now not one but TWO little boys to carry on the Rock name.

The first weekend in August, we blessed Issac. It almost didn't happen due to massive rain and flooding. We woke up on Sunday morning to rain, which wasn't a big deal. But then we looked outside and in front of our house was a lake. We couldn't get the cars out of the driveway without them getting caught in all of the water. There were police outside, blocking off the street with barricades. It was insane! Sean decided that he was going to drive the Civic across the lawn and onto a street that wasn't flooded so that mom, Issac and I could get out. He then piled the two grandpas, Abby and Jaxon and himself into the van and told the officer that he HAD to get to church and he was willing to risk getting stuck in the water. So off he went and was able to get through the lake without the van flooding. He was able to get to the church before mom, Issac and I did and then he had to tell the Bishop that the baby wasn't there to bless. Could he just hold on a minute? I got a frantic phone call from Sean telling me to just pull up to the front door and hand the baby to him while I parked. I told him no, that I wasn't going to miss Issac's blessing so I could park. I was pretty sure that Bishop Welch would understand (and he did). Sean gave Issac a beautiful blessing and I really felt that the Lord was watching out for us that day.

We were able to go on our annual Utah trip to visit family and this year was an extra special trip because we were able to celebrate my Grandpa Smith's 90th birthday. What a wonderful time we had! The kids got to play with their cousins and spend one on one time with Grandpa, whom they affectionately call "Grandpa Sniff." We were able to introduce Issac to Grandpa and I got some wonderful pictures of the two of them. It was a great trip!

More Baby

2009-06-15T14:56:00.003-04:00

Our first day home The proud big sister

Getting ready for bed

Grandma Erickson

First introduction to big brother and sister

Seeing mom for the first time in the hospital

What a whirlwind week it has been! I can't believe that Issac is almost 1 week old already! Sorry the pictures have been a little slow in coming. We've been a little busy adjusting to life with a newborn again.

Holly was able to come home on Thursday evening. Her "numb bum" couldn't handle the hospital bed for another night! Recovery is going really well and the kids have been wonderful little helpers. It has been so fun to watch them become more comfortable being around Issac. We were a little nervous at first but they are doing great.

Issac is such a mellow baby! He has allowed us to sleep for 6 hours straight at night--maybe he knows just how much his mama needs the rest to recover! However, Holly's chest isn't so grateful! No explanation needed on that one.

We feel so blessed as a family for the wonderful love and support that has been shown to us by family and friends. We don't know how we would have been able to pull this off on such short notice if we didn't have such an incredible support system. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Welcoming a New Little Rock: Issac

2009-06-10T12:58:00.010-04:00

On Tuesday, June 9th we welcomed another pebble to our Rock Garden. We do live in the Garden State now and this is my first post:

Issac Jeffrey Rock was born at 8:38 am at the Princeton University Medical Center. He weighed 8 lbs 9oz and was measured at 20 inches long. Sounds like a rock to me, albeit a soft, squishy, pink one with a full head of dark brown hair and blue eyes, too. He has the smallest feet of all three of the kids, but the biggest cheeks and neck roll like our dog, Sadie. See below:

It not what you think! We have also recently welcomed a pink unicorn into the family, a gift Abby earned for being so brave while having new tubes put in her ears last Friday. That's right Dad has finally got the password to the BLOG:) Beware!

Mom is doing well recovering and we will all be back together at home by week's end. Abby and Jaxon are very excited to have a baby brother. In fact, Abby is already trying to take charge as the new mommy...

and Jaxon can't wait to to introduce Issac to one of his favorite superheros.

We will continue to keep the photos coming over the next few days, weeks, and months as there will be much more to share, so do come back and visit us again soon.

My Little Girl is Growing Up

2009-06-01T20:08:00.002-04:00

So, Abby gave her first scripture in primary yesterday. We were so proud of her! She got up to the microphone and repeated the scripture about baptism and repentance without laughing (as she had been doing when we were practicing at home!) She was so excited to be able to do this and we are so well pleased with how well she is doing in her Sunbeam class.

She also has completed her first year of preschool and her first full year of dance class. She is so excited about next year, especially since she AND Jaxon will be going to the same preschool. She keeps telling Jaxon that he will get to have her teachers, Mrs. Bachus and Mrs. DeLoca in the 3's class while she gets to go to the 4's class. She has absolutely blossomed into such an independent little girl and I am so excited for her!

My Little Superman

2009-05-17T10:13:00.003-04:00

Jaxon has become very enthralled with superheros as of late. This is evidenced by the Superman, Batman, and Spiderman costumes and pajamas that we have accumulated. There are days when I can't get him out of his pajamas so we go out in public with him dressed as a superhero. Oh, the comments we get!

Since Jax has been potty trained, we have also invested in Superhero underwear for him. He has decided that he doesn't like the fact that the pictures are on the behind instead of in the front, like his sister's. So, taking matters into his own hands one day, he put his underwear on backwards so he could see the pictures and that's how he wears them now. That's my boy!

That's Not How Daddy Does It!

2009-05-17T09:55:00.004-04:00

So, Abby came to me and asked me to help her wrap her baby in a special blanket. Of course, I said okay. So, I carefully wrap the baby up, using the method that I've used since I was a little girl and gently swaddled the baby with care and handed it over to my little 4 year old. She immediately says, "That's not how daddy does it!"

"Well, how does daddy do it?" I asked incredulously.

"He wraps her in a circle. You need to do it like daddy does it!"

I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. I'm the mom. I should be able to wrap a baby doll and have my little girl be okay with the job I've done for her.

So, I immediately head into the room where Sean is at and ask him how he wraps the baby.

"Well, it's not that hard, Holly. You just put the baby on one side of the blanket and roll it, like in a circle" and he and Abby proceed to educate me on the finer points of wrapping a baby doll.

I've learned something new today.

Baby Rock the 3rd's 3-D Debut

2009-05-09T16:57:00.007-04:00

Well, we still don't have a name for this little guy. And for those of you who are desperate to know, we will probably be keeping you guessing until he is born. Gotta have some surprises! Sean was so sweet and for Mother's Day, this was my gift--to see our little man in 3-D! We've had the opportunity and privilege of being able to do this with Abby and Jaxon and we couldn't NOT do it with this last one. So, we took Abby and Jaxon with us and our whole family had the opportunity to meet our little guy. It was a lot of fun for us, however, the baby wasn't overly cooperative so we weren't able to get fantastic pictures but we were able to see him nonetheless. He definitely is a Rock! He has a head of hair (which I didn't have until I was almost a year old) and he has the Rock nose. It's amazing to me how seeing him in utero makes it almost surreal. I am getting so excited to meet him! This video is of his hands and feet all wrapped around his head.

This video is of his face (it starts upside down and then flips over) and of his hand waving.

In this video, you can see his face pretty well and the white thing in front of his face that he is playing with is the umbilical cord.

Baby Rock the 3rd is a..........................

2009-02-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

So, here's our little guy! We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are expecting another little boy and we are so excited that he is healthy, strong and finally not making me so sick!

Jaxon was able to come to the ultrasound with us and the u/s tech was awesome! She made sure to point out all of the parts and Jaxon was absolutely fascinated by it. She even gave him his own little picture that he has carried around and makes sure to tell people that he is going to have a little brother.

The kids have been great throughout this whole pregnancy. They have been so sweet and understanding when I've been really sick and they've even helped me when I've had some really bad low blood sugars. It's amazing to me that they know what to do when mom needs some help. I couldn't ask for better kids!

We've been really swamped this past month with Abby and Jaxon's birthdays and gearing up for Valentine's day. We've also had some amazing success in the potty training department with both of the kids. Abby is now sleeping through the night and not having accidents and Jaxon is fully potty trained during the day and is trying to catch up to Abby where the night time is concerned. They are so helpful and supportive of one another. I love to watch them encourage each other!

Sean is doing amazing at work. He has received a lot of praise from his bosses about the work that he does. In turn, they are continually passing on more responsibilities to him and he is doing an amazing job. We feel so blessed to have a job and one that is constantly providing Sean with a challenge--there's never a dull moment!

Hopefully, I won't go so long between posts. We'll see!

Just a Little Scare

2009-01-14T13:38:00.002-05:00

So, now that we've let everyone know that we are expecting, let me give you a little update as to what has been happening to us since we decided to embark on this little adventure we call pregnancy. We all know the history of how we were stationed with the Coast Guard in Puerto Rico and there was not adequate medical care to handle my diabetes and a pregnancy there so I was shipped off to my parents home for both pregnancies while Sean stayed in Puerto Rico, visiting when he could. This was not optimal but it made it possible for us to have two beautiful, healthy babies which was what we were after. This time around, we figured that since we were stateside, it would be smooth sailing and that especially since we were back East, it would be really easy to find an OB and an Endocrinologist (diabetic doc) who we felt comfortable and confident in like we did there in Utah. But, oh no. This has not been the case! After a very frustrating, emotional first 10 weeks of me being emotionally battered (okay, that might seem a little drastic) because of my choice to have a (GASP!!!!) third child, we decided that we were going to look elsewhere for an OB who used modern technology and who didn't use archaic ideas of how to treat a diabetic pregnancy that were from 20 years ago. After much searching (and lots of praying for me to humble myself and realize that I can't have the perfect team like I did there in Utah) we were able to get into an OB yesterday whom I love! He is so laid back and figures that his specialty is delivering babies and not diabetes and that is why I was employing an endo to help me in this journey. We were so pleased with his happy personality and willingness to listen to me and that he realized that I really did know a thing or two about being a pregnant diabetic. So, we go into the exam room and he wants to check the heartbeat using a doppler that allows us to hear it. Well, after about 5 minutes, he couldn't find the heartbeat. Let me tell you, he searched hard, going all over my belly and while doing that, he was quietly reassuring me that this happened all the time but I could see the look of concern start to come over his face. I was beginning to cry and feel like I had failed and a million thoughts started racing through my mind about how at the beginning of the pregnancy, I had told Heavenly Father that I couldn't do this again and to please take the baby back. How selfish could I have been! Out of sheer frustration with the doctor situation and my irritation at trying to figure out how I was going to logistically get to all those appointments that were being scheduled and take care of Abby and Jaxon at the same time, I had pleaded with the Lord to please just allow me to miscarry. As I think about it now, I am shocked that I could have had those thoughts. But as I was laying there on that table, crying because what I had asked for was potentially happening, I was devastated and angry at myself. As the doctor left the room to go and get the ultrasound machine, my sweet husband leaned over and took my hand and whispered that it was all going to be okay, that the Lord may have just needed us to get pregnant so this sweet little spirit could gain its body and that was all it needed--nothing more. It is so hard when you know that this is the Plan--it doesn't make it any easier. But to have my husband remind me of that and know that he was just as scared as I was, it made it easier to cope with the potential outcome of the ultrasound. The doctor came in and started the ultrasound and to our surprise and relief, there was our sweet little baby, waving to us with a very strong heartbeat. It had been hiding behind the placenta which was in an anterior (frontal) position which made it so we couldn't find the heartbeat. We couldn't find out the sex of the baby but to see it there and know that it was just fine, it made us both very grateful for the knowledge that we have of the Plan of Salvation and that no matter what happens during this pregnancy, we will be grateful for the opportunity that we've been given to help this little spirit accomplish whatever it's mission on this Earth is.

Making it Official

2009-01-05T16:04:00.004-05:00

Well, since I'm starting to show, I guess that it is time for us to make it official and announce that we are expecting Baby Rock the 3rd! I'm 16 1/2 weeks along and we wanted to wait until after Christmas to start telling people because we were using the announcement as our Christmas gift to our family and didn't want to spoil the surprise. We are so excited for this new baby! Abby and Jaxon have been so cute about it. Abby tells everyone that we are having a baby sister for her (which, we don't know the sex of the baby yet so she's confusing everyone by saying this). Jaxon then will argue by telling people that we are having a baby brother for him (and I just want to clarify that we are NOT having twins!) so they are very excited about having a baby around. Jaxon has been very cute in the morning when he comes in at the crack of dawn, crawls into bed with me and puts his head on my belly and tells the baby to "be nice to Mommy." I've been really sick with morning sickness and it hasn't abated yet so this is so sweet for me to hear him coaching the baby already! We hope that everyone has a wonderful 2009 and we are certainly looking forward to all that is coming our way for the Rock family!

Making Our Own Snow

2008-12-23T04:03:00.005-05:00

Well, thanks to Grandpa Rock, we were able to make our own snow in our house for the kids to play in! Two HUGE boxes arrived this past weekend and they were stuffed with the styrofoam peanuts. What are you supposed to do with mounds of them at your disposal? You make snow in your living room! The kids played for HOURS! They were sad that they couldn't make snowmen but they had a lot of fun making snow angels and throwing it at each other. We just wanted to tell Grandpa THANK YOU!!!

Now, if I could just figure out a way to clean up all of the little tiny pieces that are now all over my house............

Making Snow Angels

New York City, Here We Come--Almost!

2008-12-23T03:36:00.007-05:00

This past weekend for my birthday, my sweet husband took us up to New York City--almost. We stayed in a hotel on the New Jersey side (the kids LOVE to go to the hotel--they would live there if they could!) and while we were on our way up there, it began to snow. We've had flurries here where we live but so far, nothing has stuck to the ground. We were all pretty excited about the white stuff, especially since we had packed all of the winter gear to take with us.

Sean took us to Panda Express for dinner at my request. He is so wonderful! We had to navigate almost 10 miles out of the way to find this place but it is what I've been craving and we don't have one ANYWHERE close by. We hung out at the mall, did a little shopping and then headed back to the hotel since that was all we were hearing from the kids--"Can we go back to the hotel, pleeeaaassseee????" The kids got ready for bed and snuggled in to watch a movie while Sean and I tried to figure out what buses we were supposed to take into the city.

Well, the next morning, we wake up to bitter, and I mean BITTER, cold weather with lots of wind and we both looked at each other like, "Are we back in Chicago?" After checking out the weather reports, we made the sad decision that we shouldn't even try to go to the city because we would probably get there and have to turn around and come right back due to our children's lack of tolerance for cold, windy weather. I was bummed but hey, what's a mom to do?

Well, I'm so glad we came prepared with our winter clothes because that is what we did--we got the kids all bundled up and we took them out to the back parking lot where they had piled snow up from plowing and we let the kids loose. It was so fun to watch them play with each other and then they started a snowball fight with Sean. Jaxon is one to watch out for! He's very sneaky and was having a ball throwing snow at Abby and hunting down his dad. After almost an hour, I was totally frozen and insisted that my little popsicles head back inside. We got them warmed up with a hot bath and then we loaded up and headed to the biggest Toys R Us store I've ever seen! The kids went crazy and so did Sean and I as we tried to navigate around all of the insane people there. I need to make a note to self to NEVER shop on the Saturday before Christmas at a toy store! We had a lot of fun and finally were able to convince the kids that we needed to head home. They were so tired that they both fell asleep in the car. The picture was priceless!

A Very Grateful Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T16:04:00.005-05:00

This year we didn't have any family around to either go and visit or to visit us (which made it so I didn't have any desire to do my annual Black Friday Shopping trip, but I digress!) but we had the opportunity to have Sean's boss and his wife come over to our home for a combined effort Thanksgiving dinner. It turned out wonderful! It is a tradition in the Erickson family to have Granny's rolls at Thanksgiving dinner. Every year, my mom would re-create Granny's rolls and now the responsibility has been taken over by my younger sister, Jennie (who makes a mean roll!). Since we haven't been able to make it back to Utah to my parents house the past two years, I have tried to carry on the tradition with some pretty tragic results. Last year, it was my first time cooking with a gas stove and I had no idea the damage a stove like that could do to rising dough. Because I was running short on time, I thought I could speed up the rising process by setting the dough on the back burner while the stove was on and cooking the turkey. Instead of the dough rising, it got cooked! I didn't realize that there was a vent right there by the burner that allowed the heat from the oven to vent. Duh! We had a massive cooked ball of dough that was not able to be made into rolls. It was very interesting to look at but I was mortified that I had ruined the rolls! My poor niece, Hilary, who was visiting us, had never seen something like that before in her life! This year, since we had Sean's boss and his wife here, I was praying that the rolls would turn out and we wouldn't have a catastrophe like last year on our hands. I am proud to say that the rolls turned out beautiful and they tasted fantastic! Sean's boss was so impressed, he took a picture with his camera phone so he could remember them! (Actually, he took the picture so he could send it to me for the blog.) Here they are! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We are so grateful for all that we have been blessed with this year and look forward to the next year!

Visit to Palmyra, New York

2008-11-24T15:47:00.004-05:00

This was walking up to the Mormon statue that is at the top of Hill Cumorah. What an incredible sight it was looking out over the valley! We had a lot of fun even though it was freezing cold that day! This was at the Smith Family Farm just outside of the Sacred Grove. We walked all through the grove and the kids were amazingly reverent. Before we walked into the grove, we told the kids that this was a quiet place and that we needed to be quiet. We also reminded them that this was where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited Joseph Smith and suddenly, Abby started freaking out, saying that she didn't want to see Jesus that day. After trying hard not to laugh, we got her calmed down and told her that she probably wouldn't see him that day but she might feel him. That seemed to work for her. Oh, out of the mouth of babes! In the Sacred Grove Sean, Abby and Jaxon on our walk through the grove.

Holly, Abby and Jaxon in the Sacred Grove

My Little Kitchen Helpers

2008-11-24T15:41:00.003-05:00

Jaxon wouldn't give up the oven mitts, even when

string cheese was involved. So, this is how a two

year old does it with oven mitts on!

Abby mixing the cookies

Abby blowing on the cookies

Abby tasting the cookies

My kids LOVE to help out in the kitchen. I love it, too, but sometimes there are just one too many cooks in the kitchen. But we always have lots of fun and make the BIGGEST messes!

Halloween--a little late

2008-11-24T15:35:00.004-05:00

Grandpa Rock came to help daddy out while I was in California for my niece, Ryanne's, wedding. They had so much fun! This is Abby's preschool class all dressed up Abby and Jaxon had to have orange hair--it totally made their outfits! For the ward trunk or treat, I spiral curled Abby's hair and then we painted it all orange. It was VERY cute! Have you ever seen such a cute little witch and Batman with orange hair? Jaxon wouldn't put the mask on so we had to do SOMETHING--why not paint the hair?

Long time, No Post

2008-11-20T23:55:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that 5 weeks has gone by and I haven't posted ANYTHING! That is so unlike me! We've had a lot going on--we've visited Palmyra (I'll post pictures soon), found out that my mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer (only stage 2 which is a REALLY good thing), sent Sean to Alaska for 5 days (and luckily, he returned home without freezing or getting eaten by a bear) and gearing up for him being gone for 2 weeks to Greece. Thank heavens for Grandma Erickson who is going to come and rescue me for a week! I'll make sure to post some new pics and stuff by this weekend.

It's Pumpkin Time!!!!!

2008-10-14T00:01:00.012-04:00

This past weekend we went to Terhune Farms on our annual trek in search of the perfect pumpkins and had so much fun! Abby, Jaxon and Sean were able to pick out their pumpkins, the kids got to go for a hayride, ride a REAL pony, eat lots of fun, homemade goodies, and jam out to a local band. We also took them through their first corn maze (check out the video) and they got to play on the dirt hill, sliding down until Mom couldn't handle seeing so much dirt on their little bums! The best part was tasting the warm, homemade apple cider donuts and fresh squeezed apple cider. I love this time of year! It has been so fun to see the leaves changing here--they are beautiful! This is Jaxon's only picture of his pony ride This was Abby's revenge for me making her sit still while I did her hair--she was the dirtiest of us all! The kids had a ball riding around in the wagon and taking their pumpkins for a ride.

Video in the corn maze--CAUTION--may get motion sick!

Monday Night MisAdventures

2008-09-29T21:08:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know you are probably wondering why I'm posting pictures of our air conditioner, upper level windows and Jaxon's bedroom window. Well, here's the story...........

It's Monday night and it's beautiful outside. For FHE, we decided to go to the park and play. The kids are excited, raring to go. Sean gets a phone call and is outside talking and I get the kids ready to go. They head outside, just as Sean is finishing up his phone call. The conversation between he and I goes something like this:

Holly: Are you ready to go yet?

Sean: Yes, give me just a minute.

Holly: (walking out the door) Do you have keys?

Sean: (shutting the door as he speaks) Yeah, I've got the house key.

Holly: Okay. Kids, let's go!

Sean: Oh crap! I grabbed the old house key! I don't have the new keys! Do you have yours?

Holly: NO! I asked you if you had your keys!

Sean: Well, I've been too busy to change the keys around on my keyring. What are we going to do?

Now, mind you, it's 7 p.m. and it's starting to get a little dark. We make some very frantic phone calls--to the handyman who replaced our door last week (hoping he had our landlord's phone number, which he did), to the landlord who had the second new key to our door but who didn't answer, and to 411 to find a locksmith, who wanted to charge us $150 to come out and unlock our door. I have never felt so desperate in my life!

Well, lucky for us, I hadn't locked the van earlier in the day so the kids and I were able to hang out in there while Sean tried to figure out what we were going to do. Abby, Jaxon and I, while sitting in the van, decided to say a little prayer. We asked Heavenly Father to help us figure out a way to get into our house quickly so we wouldn't have to pay the $150. Not 5 minutes later, the doors on the van started opening and Sean came out with the keys to the van in his hands which could only mean one thing-- he had been able to get into the house somehow.

He had gone around the back of our townhome and climbed on top of the air conditioning unit and was able to climb up on the roof to check the windows to Abby and Jaxon's rooms. Apparently, when Sean had closed the windows yesterday when the rain started, he hadn't locked one of the windows in Jaxon's room and he was able to lift the window up and climb through into the house. Talk about an answer to a prayer!

As soon as we got in the house, we knelt down as a family and said the most grateful prayer we could offer. And right after that, our landlord called. Talk about timing.

I'm A Big Girl Now

2008-09-24T15:31:00.005-04:00

Abby and Jaxon on Abby's first day of preschool She would NOT give up the sunglasses or the notepad before going into school. What is a parent to do???? So, Abigail started preschool last week and this week, she gets to go the full three hours, twice a week. She LOVES it!!! She loves her teachers and I swear, they must have magical powers because they can get her to do things that I've been trying to get her to do for months! All in a couple of weeks! Jaxon has had a tough time not having his Abby around but I think he's starting to like this mommy and me time he's getting. We went the park today and he had my undivided attention for 2 1/2 hours. He was in heaven! Ahhhh, the price one pays for having their children barely a year apart!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

2008-09-02T20:43:00.012-04:00

Out of respect for the Amish, we didn't take any pictures of the people themselves, however, we were able to take some pictures of the buggys and wagons that they use as well as a picture of one of the homes that is used to show their way of life. We learned so much about these simple people and it really hits home the idea to "Simplify."

This was the final trip for the summer. We went to Lancaster County, PA, where we were able to have fun at the Dutch Wonderland park, visit some real working Amish farms and just have a fun time relaxing together as a family before we start preschool and Sean starts to travel for his job. We had a ton of FUN!

Sean, Abby and Jaxon were making smoothies with berries that we picked at one of the local farms here in New Jersey. The kids loved it!

Sean and Jaxon mowing the lawn at Grandpa & Gram's house in Iowa

Our Bathing Beauties! This was at the water park in Utah. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins!

Taking Grandpa "Sniff"(Smith) for a walk around the living room at Grandpa and Grandma Erickson's house. This was his exercise for the day and Abby and Jaxon loved to make sure that he did it, much to his chagrin!

New Blogs

2008-09-02T19:09:00.004-04:00

So, I've been a little MIA over the past 7 weeks since we've moved to New Jersey. We finally have internet and I'm slowly but surely getting things organized enough so that I can start to put some new pics up. Stay tuned..................................... I've been sent to a new blog that I think is one of my new faves: http://aroundthequiltblock.blogspot.com/ It is a fun blog and it really crafty (which I love). I hope you'll check it out! Thanks for the suggestion, Savannah!

Very Thankful

2008-07-17T17:22:00.002-04:00

As some of you know, we have been tossing around the idea of getting out of the Coast Guard for a while now. Sean has been looking for a job since the first of May and he has accepted a job with the O'Brien Group out of Plainsboro, New Jersey. So, a-packing we will go! It has only been 11 months since we moved to Naperville but we have felt very impressed that we needed to move on from the Coast Guard at this time. I'm not one for good-byes, so I hope that I haven't offended anyone but I couldn't cry because this has been a very difficult decision and true test of my faith because I haven't been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel like Sean has been able to with this move. We are in the process of trying to get to family reunions in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Utah in amongst all of this moving and I just have to say that I am so grateful to everyone who has helped or will be helping us as we try to accomplish this monumental task of moving for the fourth time in 4 years and doing it with a 3 year old and a two year old (who is cutting 4 molars at once!) while driving across the United States from Utah to New Jersey (Crazy, I know!) I have a bunch of pictures that I will upload once we get to our new place in NJ. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the help and prayers we've received over the past 6 weeks.

Fun in the Sun

2008-06-05T10:33:00.004-04:00

We got this awesome bike trailer and have been waiting for good weather to use it. We bought the kids new helmets and sunglasses and here is the end result. Every morning, I hear, "Can we go for a bike ride, Mom?" We've had a lot of fun exploring the fun trails around our house and it has really helped on the gas budget, especially since gas has been up to almost $4.25 a gallon here. Crazy!

Jaxon was trying to go through the sliding glass door and didn't realize it was closed. It was a totally "Bee Movie" moment. We bought this pool last summer for the kids and it was the perfect size. But apparently, it's not big enough for the two of them to play in now, especially with the slide in it. Abby was protecting her territory with the garden hoe.

Even the dog gets into it

2008-05-19T23:00:00.003-04:00

The kids love to dance to music and I had the soundtrack to "Curious George" playing in the background. Our dog, Sadie, loves to "dance" with Sean so he and the kids, plus the dog, were getting their groove on.

Endless Entertainment

2008-05-19T22:50:00.004-04:00

Who says you need to buy expensive toys for your kids to play with? Just give them a broom and a mop and let them go to town "cleaning"! Abby and Jaxon would "clean" the kitchen floor and then fall down because they were "so tired" (as Abby put it!) They literally played this way for almost an hour--I got so much done!

Trip to the Zoo

2008-05-19T22:30:00.007-04:00

We had the opportunity to go to Brookfield Zoo with Sean for one of his work "Morale" days. We had a lot of fun and the kids loved being able to go in and pet the animals whenever it was possible. From the "giraff-es" that we saw to the goats that we got to pet, it was a very fun day and the best part was getting to spend a "work" day with Daddy!

Our Sunday Easter

2008-03-23T19:48:00.005-04:00

Hunting for eggs at our home today was hilarious! Sean had hidden the eggs the night before and had them hidden all over the place--in the couch, on the bean bag, in the plants, in the kids' boots--you name it, there was an egg in it! Abby knew what to do and wasted no time in hunting for the eggs. When it came time to open the eggs, she got really mad and wanted to know why there wasn't any candy in them. We had made the decision to not do candy, but to do stickers instead and that wasn't good enough for her. But once we got going with putting stickers on things, she totally forgot that she didn't have any candy in her basket. However, I now have stickers all over my house!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and was able to reflect on the reason behind it all. It's not about the Easter bunny and the candy but about how our Elder brother, Jesus Christ, gave his life for each and every one of us as payment up front for our sins. How grateful we are for His sacrifice and we hope that we can, in some small way, begin to pay back the debt we owe Him.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T19:38:00.003-04:00

We did an Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's house this year and had so much fun! Abby was totally into it, especially when she figured out that candy was involved. Jaxon was having more fun playing on the swingset and in the mud but once Sean showed him the chocolate, he was out to hunt for the eggs.

2008-03-16T18:01:00.002-04:00

Jaxon stole my Diet Coke and took off with it Jaxon sucking my Diet Coke down as fast as he possibly can Playing on the slide outside Muddy boots and all Abby in her pickup

We have had some beautiful weather the last few days and it has been so much fun to be outside with some sunshine! Abby and Jaxon found a mud hole and thank goodness for our rainboots that we bought last fall! The kids have been tracking all kinds of mud through the house but it's been fun to watch them playing with one another and having fun. Here's looking forward to lots of sunshiny days!

Sock Monster

2008-03-06T01:27:00.003-05:00

I bought new socks for Abby and Jaxon about a month or so ago and slowly, they have been disappearing. At first, I thought that because I had been out of town for a weekend, that Dad might have had something to do with it (misplacing the socks in the drawer or tossing them behind the washing machine) but then I was changing the sheets on Abby's bed yesterday and because of the enormous amount of toys that were surrounding her bed, I had to actually move the bed away from the wall in order to make it and to my surprise, I found 6 pairs of socks stashed behind the headboard of my 3-year old's bed!

Apparently, Abby doesn't like to wear socks when she is in bed so she's been taking them off and "putting them away" as she told me. I'm just glad I found them so I don't have to go out and buy new ones! Now if I could just find Jaxon's......................................

Snow Days

2008-02-04T01:54:00.000-05:00

Last week, we got slammed with a ton of snow. It was great in that we were able to go outside and play in it. However, it made it so that we missed the opportunity to go to the temple with Mom and Dad (Erickson) and then on Thursday, Sean got sent home from work at noon. To top it off, he got a call on Friday saying that he wasn't to come in to work due to the weather. Who ever heard of a snow day for work??? But it was okay with us. We got to play with dad and he was able to go to ballet and tumbling with us. Who knows, the way the weather has been acting this weekend, he could be home again tomorrow. I guess I'll have to put him to work myself!

Birthday Season Is Upon Us!!!!

2008-02-04T00:51:00.000-05:00

Build-A-Bear

For the kids' birthday party, we took Grandpa and Grandma Erickson and a couple of their friends to Build-A-Bear and everyone got to make their own bear. The kids had a ball and Gma and Gpa even got to make their own souvenir bears! We had so much fun!

Todd stuffing Abby's Princess Bear

Todd stuffing Jaxon's Curious George

Grandma Erickson making her Koala

Abby helping Grandma

Abigail's Birthday (01/19/08)

Testing out the birthday cupcake

This is fantastic!

Give me moooorrrreeee!!!!!

Abby opening her presents

Jaxon opening his present

More music toys! YEAH!

More card confetti???? It will come back to haunt those of you who put it in your cards! You'll just not know it's coming!

The kids have had so much fun with this toaster--who knew?

Jaxon's Birthday (01/27/08)

So excited for the cake!

Jaxon ate all the frosting first--then the cake

Grandpa and Grandma Erickson picked out a great cake!

Abby inhaled her piece

Gimme more!!!!

Abby Getting ready to DANCE!

Abby in her ballet outfit

Using EVERY piece of dress up clothes she owns

Just Chillin' on Super Bowl Sunday

The kids have taken over Sadie's (our dog who isn't living with us at the moment) new dog bed that we just bought for her. They think it is their mini bean bag that they can sleep on.

Jaxon got a hold of the peanut butter jar and was handing out spoonfuls to everyone. If he could, I think he would live off of peanut butter!

Our 2007 Christmas

2008-01-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We were able to visit with Sean's side of the family and we were able to introduce Abigail and Jaxon to Great Grandpa and Grandma Leak and Aunt Lynn. We had lots of fun in the snow, enjoyed the many presents we received and most of all, were grateful for our family and that we were able to spend the holidays together. Here are a few of the pics that we took:

2007-12-25T00:34:00.000-05:00

Sean, Abby, and Jaxon were decorating cookies for Santa. They turned out beautiful!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Potty Training Rears Its Scary Head!

2007-12-25T00:13:00.000-05:00

We have been trying (maybe a little too hard) to get Abby potty trained. Jaxon took it upon himself to show us how it is really done. He put them on all by himself and boy, was he proud!

Jaxon got a hold of Abby's "Ariel" panties and decided to try to make "heads" of all of this potty training business. It was too funny!

Cookies Anyone?

2007-12-14T09:43:00.000-05:00

Abby was helping me to make cookies yesterday and she was hilarious! She's at a stage where she is trying to be so grown-up and "be like mommy" so that is why we were baking--so she could practice.

Abby is helping me to clean up (or so she thought). Instead, I think she made an even bigger mess for me to clean up! But we had a lot of fun baking cookies and muffins!

Jaxon in the snow

2007-12-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Getting a little cold

First Snow

2007-12-09T22:35:00.001-05:00

We spent 3--yes 3--hours outside in the fresh snow. Jaxon wasn't sure what to do with it at first and he wasn't too happy about having to walk around like the abomidable snowman but he got used to it and enjoyed himself. Abby had a ball and didn't want to come inside. She was all about eating the snow, building Misletoe Mountain (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and trying to shovel the sidewalks by herself. It was a lot of fun and they took a fantastic, 4 1/2 hour nap afterwards! We'll have to do this more often!

Super Fast!!!!!

2007-12-09T22:26:00.000-05:00

Abby and Jaxon got new pajamas and Abby figured out that she could slide down the stairs super fast in them. She and Jax spent over an hour playing on the stairs running up and sliding down.

Might be a little tight this year!

2007-12-01T04:14:00.001-05:00

More Free Graphics at pYzam.com

We got Elfed

2007-12-01T03:59:00.000-05:00

Okay, so Savannah sent this link the other day and I was laughing hysterically! So, I did my own. Take a look: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1120449051

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet

2007-11-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

I was teaching Abby how to say "Trick or Treat" and I let "Smell my feet" slip and she caught on to it really quickly.

2007-11-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

This was the Fall Family Gathering for Sean's work. We had so much fun helping the kids pick out their pumpkins! It was a lot of work but we found the perfect one!

2007-11-09T14:46:00.000-05:00

This was for our ward's Trunk or Treat. The kids were dressed up as Iowa Hawkeye fans and they were all decked out in a cheerleading uniform and a football jersey and hat. They were adorable with the pom poms--way too much fun!

2007-11-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's been almost 2 months since I last posted! So much has happened! Halloween was so much fun! The kids were adorable and it was a riot to take the trick or treating. Abby really got in to the spirit of getting candy and she was running from door to door. Jaxon was just excited to get the candy and when given the opportunity, he would take a whole handful--and then some. But he always said "Thank you!" For Halloween, Abby was an Iowa State Hawkeye cheerleader and Jaxon was a little dinosaur.

Your buggin'

2007-09-18T23:35:00.000-04:00

I think that I was so excited to have the kids back after this weekend that I've been smothering them--a little too much attention and affection--because today, Abby put her hand up and said to me, "Mommy, you're buggin' me. Mommy, you're really buggin' me." I just sat here and laughed--hard. How is it that my sweet little two and a half year old is talking like such a grown-up? Where does she come up with these things???????

Missing What?

2007-09-17T09:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend, the kids were at grandma's house and the house has been eerily quiet. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself without having to pack a diaper bag, make sure the stroller is loaded in the car, put 2 kids in their car seats, ask myself, "so I have enough snacks?" or hear the words "chicken nuggets and fries mommy?" Yet, I have missed them--terribly. It's nice to get a break once in a while but I have to say, I do like being a mom and I can't wait for them to get home! It was fun putting this together because I got to look at all of their pictures, etc. and remember (quietly) how much I love them!

Not Homeless Anymore

2007-09-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

We have finally moved into our new home. Abby and Jaxon have been such troopers this summer and we are so glad that they look at everything we do as an "adventure"! They have been shuffled from place to place and everywhere we have gone, they have adapted so quickly and for that, I am very grateful! Sean has started work finally. He has a rough life--taking 2-3 weeks here and there for vacation time, but it has been well earned. But I have to say, I was ready for him to return to work. We needed to get back into our routine here at home and that includes him going to work! We are now living in a town home and are really getting settled. This weekend the kids are at Gram's house and we've been able to get SOOOO much done! We decided to get brave and we stained our furniture--but to our chagrin, it has yet to dry! The weather here in Chicago isn't cooperating! But we'll get 'er done before the little ones arrive back here!