The veiw from a treadmill

We bought a treadmill at Christmas time and consequently I've been spending some time on it trying to keep my sanity and fit into regular clothes.  My maturnity clothes are getting warn out.  The other day I had cleaned up throw up and been pooped and peed on and I was just working out some of the tension that bodily fluids invokes on the treadmill and I had some thoughts and since you're reading my blog, you get to hear them.

There are several things that people use to measure their lives and the changes that are inevitable.  I thought about the views that I have had from a treadmill.  For a while I boycotted treadmills because I thought they were so boring. 

When I graduated from college I saw the light and goodness that a treadmill can be.  Don't get me wrong, I prefer to run outside, but when life changes you have to take the best options.  For a while the view from a treadmill was other people working out.  I worked in the laboratory and I would go and run in the morning before heading into work.  It wasn't a boring view, people watching at the gym is a lot of fun, but it was forgettable. 

As my profession changed the view from the treadmill changed.  My view changed to a hotel wall or a mirror.  Again, utterly unforgettable with the exception of horrible equipment that I would try and get a good run on. 

Fast forward to today ... the view from the treadmill is a dark, unfinished basement.  There are cars, trucks, train tracks, and a little boy that at any moment could be sporting just his diaper and a smile.  Needless to say this is the most memorable of the views to this point in life.  It is the hardest, most challenging, most motivation, and the best.  At any given moment I could be required to get off the treadmill and fix the train track, kiss an "ouchie", or watch my little man run as fast as he can and yell " I nuts ... I nuts!".  I see him and I know that families are so important.  My role in my little family is very important and this is the view that I will never forget and I will be sad when it is gone. 

The funny thing about kids

Okay, so I've only been a Mother of 2 for 2 months.  We survived:

• Insane poopy diapers from Embree.  Such a little girl with so much poop to share.  We had to throw away 3 outfits because they will not come clean.
• A matchbox car stuck in Preston's hair and subsequent hair buzz where he screamed "All done" the entire time.
• Lack of sleep for Mommy.  Embree is a good sleeper at night, but still at 1 feeding and that interruption wares on ya after a while. 
• RSV.  We don't get sick a lot, but Preston got RSV for the second time in his life.  Luckily the baby didn't get it and he recovered quickly.  Hard part of that was giving him breathing treatments and all he would eat was noodles and hamburgers.  This kid can eat an entire cheesburger from Wendy's and luckily they are 99 cents. 
• Christmas.  To all Mom's out there ... enough said!

It's so funny how an ordinary day with these two kids can turn into fun.  Sometimes its "fun" and sometimes it's "F-U-N"!  How I do love and adore these two.  The funny thing is that they are so free with their own little expressions of love, even when those expressions of love range from being tackled, to holding my hand, or giving smiles.  Let the fun continue ...

You Know You're a Parent When ...

Life is interesting with children under 2.  It's full of energy and every moment seems to be teaching them and the parents something new.  We have several "things" in our home that have been destroyed by our ever-learning boy.  He is so curious and so many "things" in the house are so very temping to break open and see how they work.  Our Christmas tree is no exception. Look at the picture and you can see just how tall Preston is.  Looking at our "things" that have gone the way of the trash.  Or in the case of our tree, limp along with missing parts, I wouldn't trade any of it for a second away from Preston.  Most of the time I just laugh and clean up the pieces.  I guess that's when you know you're a parent.  Maybe someday we can have a whole tree again, instead of just a half. 

A Little Bit of Embree Love ...

A fabulous photographer and good friend, Tiffany Buckmiller, took these pictures of Embree when she was 4 days old.  Thought that I share a few of my angel baby.

Mother of Two

Lots of people have asked me about being a Mother of two children under the age of 2.  While I was still pregnant I didn't have a lot to say only because I was anxious and worried about it.  Here is a little of what I thought about late at night...

I had a hard first couple months when Preston was born so how was I going to do with 2 kids?  Would I be able to love and care for both of them at the same time?  Did I have the knowledge to do this?  Did I have the energy to do this?  What were we thinking?  Are they going to hate each other? Am I going to be able to handle staying at home with both of them all day everyday?  What were we thinking?  Will I be able to be the Mom that I want to be?  Shouldn't there be some sort of test to have children?  Would I pass that test if it existed?  What if this new baby cried all the time and I slept for only 30 mins/night, what am I going to do with Preston?  He deserves to not have a zombie Mom.  What were we thinking?  How is it that people have more than one child?  What do they know that I don't?  What were we thinking?

The anxiety really started to build until about June and that's when I decided that there was nothing that I could do, this was happening and so enjoy the summer with Preston.  Preston and I did just that, we had a really fun Summer.  We swam and played and enjoyed it just being to two of us at home during the day.  I love my little boy so much, and watching him learn and grow is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my life. 

Fast foward to November when the doctor told me she would induce me on November 6th. All of those fears and questions came flooding back.  Finally, I thought "This is happening and I have to deal with whatever cards are dealt.  So stop worrying and start experiencing.  I told myself that I need to enjoy every minute because this will only be a small portion of my life, but it can enrich the rest of the days that I have here on this earth. 

Now that Embree is 4 weeks old I feel as though I can safely say that we are managing well.  She has fit into daily life so well, she is so mellow, and Preston LOVES having a little sister!  I didn't know that I had such a capcity to love these two amazing little people as much as I do.  It feels as though she is meant to be here and be a part of our family all along.  I don't feel like a zombie even though the longest stretch of sleep I've had since she was born is 4 hours, and we still have a lot of fun around here.  I have been given strength and endurance that I didn't know that I was capable of, and I'm so very greatful for that!  Has it been easy NO WAY, but it doesn't feel as though it should be any other way.

Here is my adorable little family.  Preston showing us where Embree's nose is.
He loves his little "Sassy" (that's Prestons word for Sister)

The Great Room Shift

I have found out a couple things about pregnant Haylee ...
1) I'm not a fan of being pregnant.  I have heard several people say that they really don't mind it, I"m not one of those people.  It's hard to spend 9 months waiting and living through the craziness of your body not being your own.  It feels as though it has been high jacked.
2) I'm not a very good pregnant person.  The hormones are not my friends and Brock is the best for putting up with me.  I would say and do things and think "What am I doing, that's not me". 
3) I get a lot of nervous energy when I'm pregnant, which is not a good thing.  So, in the spirit of trying to contain the nervous energy and thinking about the best sleeping arrangements for the kiddos, we moved Preston out of the room that he had, and turned it into the nurseryfor our new little girl. 

Preston got a the bigger room, that was our guest room.  Of course I wouldn't just move him, that would have been way too easy.  I felt the need to make his room special for him.  I decided that I was going to paint a stripe for him.  Easy enough, right?  Well, after a TON of pencil marks on the walls, telling myself at least 3 times that "A stripe is not worth all this", and finally putting on my big girl pants and getting it done, Preston got a really cute Brown stripe in his room.  I was glad when I finally finished it and I really like it, but trying to put a stripe on textured walls can make a grown woman weep ... and I did ... a couple times. 

Embree's room was a little bit easier.  After resigning myself to the fact that there will most likely be a lot of pink at our house, I decided to embrace it and paint her room pink.  I tried to mix things up with purple curtains, but it just made the room that much more girly.  That said, it is super cute ... for a pink room.

Preston's room, the brown stripe at the top ...

It has a certain Easter/Spring feel ...

Embree Jane Erickson

On November 6th, and 12:36PM, Embree Jane joined our family.  We couldn't be more excited to have her with us.  My due date was November 11th, and my problem was that Preston was born 10 days early and so I was waiting for Embree to make and early appearance as well but she was choosing to stay warm and cozy inside my HUGE belly.  At my OB appointment on Friday November 3rd, the doctor could tell that I was pretty miserable, which I was.  A stomach bug had plagued me for 4 days prior to the appointment and I was worn out.  My doctor said " You look miserable, do you want some help or do you want to wait and see at your next appointment."  I asked for help and she let me know that she could induce me on Tuesday November 6th.  I have to say that I was scared to be induced because it was new to me and I was unsure about how everything would go, but now that it's all said and done, I am a believer!  I got up on Tuesday morning, took a shower, got dressed and walked cool as a cucumber into the hospital.  They started me on the pitocin by 7:30, I got an epidural at 10:30, by 12:15 I ready to push and after 3 pushes here she is!  She was 8lbs 11oz and lots of dark hair, not as much as Preston but she has plenty of it.  She was and is healthy and I have been able to recover quickly.  It amazes me the energy, vibe, spirit, feeling, whatever you want to call it, that is present when a baby is born.  It's a very quiet excitement, almost electric, as you see and hear a little body take its first breath.  It truly is such an amazing thing and I'm a very lucky woman to be able to have this experience twice! 

Lots of people have asked us about the name, and it's a pretty good story so I'll share it.  When I was pregnant with Preston, Brock had a dream and there was a little girl in it, and her name was Embree.  So, we put it on the list for potential names back then.  I have to admit I wasn't totally sold on the name, I was really liking the name Eden.  When it came time and we saw her, it was clear that Embree was her name.  We chose the "ee" on the end because of the "ee" on Haylee.  Jane is my great aunt, my mom, and my middle name.  She already has a lot of nick names Pinky, Sissy, Sassy (that's Preston's version of Sister), Princess, Emmy, Bree, Love Bug, and any other girly nickname that pops into our heads.  She sports a headband with a bow on it everyday and wears pink pretty much all the time.  She is one loved little lady.

Ready to be done!

For the first hour or so, she had her fingers in her mouth.  It looks like she's crying but she didn't really cry very much.

She's about 15 minutes old and just got all dried off from the bath. 

Dub-Dub and He-He

Preston is a fun and social boy.  He loves to be around people, play, and have fun.  Preston has a little friend that is 4 months older than him and she comes over to play.  As they have grown up together it's been fun to see them interact more and more with each other.  Both of their vocabulary grows daily and sometimes I have a hard time understanding exactly what is being said.  For example, Preston says "Shiiit".  I'm sure it's a part of some other word.  He always says it when we're walking in the garage, and I laugh everytime that he says it.  Yep, I"m one of those parents.  Preston's little friend, Brynn, calls Preston "Dub-Dub".  When she says it, he looks around like "You talking to me?".  Brynn likes to run around our island in the kitchen and that just so happens to be one of the Preston's favorite things to do.  So, Brynn starts running around and Preston starts to chase her.  She stops and he runs up to her with the biggest smile and gives her the biggest hug.  She looked a little shocked but then she laughed and started running again yelling "Dub-dub.  Dub-dub.  Dub-dub.  Dub-dub."  When all the chasing was over she came over to me and said "He-He" and pet my arm.  Preston and I plan on changing our names to Dub-Dub and He-He within the next couple weeks. 

Preston, the Zoologist

The other day we went to Littleton Historical Museum where they have animals that the kids can get up close and personal with.  We walked over to the donkeys and in less than 5 seconds he had slipped through the fence and was running toward the donkeys.  So me, being 29 weeks pregnant had to jump the fence and run after him ... I was laughing the whole way.  He wanted to get as close as he could to the donkeys but lluckily I grabbed him before anything serious happened.  As I was carrying him back to the fence he pointed and said "Ma Ma".  I turned around to see the donkeys following us.  We got out of the donkey pen and there were 2 donkeys waiting for Preston to pet them.  He loved petting them and pointing to the ears, nose and mouth.  The other kids were so happy that Preston got the donkeys over close, a couple of the boys gave Preston "5" for his deed. 

As we were walking past the pig pen Preston noticed that the sheep were getting out of their pen.  There were several kids that were running in the opposite direction of the sheep.  Not Mr Preston.  He starts running directly toward the sheep and waving his arms.  He didn't say anything just ran toward sheep.  I was hurrying up the hill as fast as I could, laughing all the way, and as soon as I got there Preston had gotten all the sheep in the pen.  I was able to shut and lock the gate.  I picked Preston up and he had the biggest smile on his face and pointed to the sheep and said "Baa Baa".  As soon as we turned around there was quite a line of spectators.  Preston started clapping. 

He keeps me running, A LOT, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  He is such a fun boy, he's fearless, and loves animals. 

The Growing Boy

Preston had his 18 month check up last week and we had confirmed to us what we already knew ... He's healthy and strong!  He is 36 inches tall (off the charts percentage) and he is 28lbs and 2 oz (75th percentile).  We transitioned to the one nap per day, and that went really well, thank goodness!  He's a smarty pants (He's my son so I can say that).  He can say about 30 words and is starting to put words together like "Ready, Set, Go", "Hi Dad", and "Me see".  He's all around a super fun boy.  He's very active but luckily for his 7 month pregnant Mom, his energy is contagious.  He loves to run, swim, run, play, run, climb, read books, dance, eat dirt, eat and throw rocks, and hand out kisses to anyone and everyone.  He loves to watch Bob the Builder while he holds on to a screw driver and a tape measure.  His little personality is just so much fun.  He has learned that there is a baby in Mom's tummy and so, usually at the most inappropriate times, he pulls up my shirt, kisses my stomach and says "Hi Baby". 

His favorite toy is my car :)

My hazard lights are pretty much on all the time because he loves to push that button





Van Wagenen 2012 Family Reunion

Every two years all of my family gets together, which is no small feet.  There ends up being a total of 22 of us, with all my siblings and their families.  It's a lot of fun to see everyone.  We are scattered from Idaho, Utah, Colorado, down to Texas.  Each two years one of us gets to plan it.  Previously we've gone to Jackson Hole Wy, Park City Ut, San Diego CA, Durango, CO.  This year was the Erickson's turn to organize, so we chose to rent a cabin in southern Utah in between Zion's National Park and Bryce Canyon.  We stayed at a place called Zion's Ponderosa Ranch.  It was a great time with so much to do.  The ranch has lots of options for activities (i.e. ATVing, skeet shooting, Zip lining, Swimming, Mini golfing, paintballing ect).  I had planned all this last summer, not thinking that I was going to be 5 months pregnant but it was still a lot of fun.  Brock's favorite activities were ATVing, Zip Lining, and paintballing.  My favorite activity was nap time :)  Preston and I had a great time at the pool and hiking in Zion's national park.  Preston's favorite activity was playing in the sand/dirt and occasionally sneaking little tastes of the delicious red dirt. 

My handsome boys!

I love the dirt

If you look close enough you can see the dirt on his face and his lips ...

He just got done throwing dirt at me ... that's one of the most fun games ever!

He's our little giggle bug

There were mounds of wood chips all around the cabin that he loved to stand on

The Suprises Continue

We moved into our new home in December and just as we got settled in, we found out that we have another member of our family on the way.  That was a bit of suprise.  I was then certain that the new member was a boy and Brock has been dying for a little girl.  There were months of debate between the two of us.  About 2 weeks ago we got the final word that a girl is on the way.  The ultrasound showed that everything looks fantastic, she's health and big.  It was a great suprise.  When the doctor came in to visit with us, the first comment she made was "Brock, you are beaming."  It's true, he was beaming with excitement.  She is due on November 11th, I'm hoping that the suprises continue ... with an early arrival ... say October 31st. 

Prestons Growth ...

Preston is growing big and strong and here's a little update on the little guy:

• 27 lbs 3 oz (86%)
• Super tall (I lost the sheet that has his height on it, but he's off the charts for height)
• Healthy and Strong according to the doctor.
• He has 10 teeth.
• Loves Hot Dogs, Noodles, Milk, Kiwi, Peanut Butter ... but he eats pretty much everything we put in front of him.
• He walks like a pro, climbs stairs, walks backward, and he love to run.
• He's a social butterfly!  He loves to be around other people, and especially kids.
• He loves books, Bob the Builder, and his Giant Bear.
• He's learned how to dance, so now anytime he hears music he does a little dance.
• He loves all animals and he says "Moo" and points when he sees one.
• Loves rocks and dirt.  He puts both in his mouth on a regular basis.
• He's a dare devil!  He will climb up over the side of the couch, stand up on the coffee table, jump off of things. 
• He is an explorer of everything around him. 
• He can say several words including: Park, See, Truck, Stairs, Juice, Ball, Dog, Dad, Mom, Bath.
• He blows kisses, but will only give his stuffed animals actual kisses.

He's growing up so big and strong and he's so much fun, these days.  We couldn't love him more. 

He is sooo smiley!! 

At the Water Park

The weather has been beautiful, in true Colorado fashion.  Preston and I met our friends Brynn and Jen at a splash park.  It was a lot of fun.  Preston doesn't like to be splashed and so that is a little problem, because we were surrounded by splashing fountains.  He did have fun exploring and being around other kids.  It was such a beautiful day and it was so much fun out in the sun with my favorite boy.

And Then Three Becomes Four

Life has a funny way of going in unexpected directions.  Our life has taken an unexpected direction recently.  On (or around) November 11th of this year, our family of three will become a family of four.  We had a lot of doctor visits, medication, and bad news before Preston came along.  It was really hard for me and Brock as we were trying to add to our family.  This time, however, was more spontaneous.  We've been to the doctor and seen the heart beat and some days I feel terrible, but I'm still in shock.  It's hard for me to accept that this was so easy when the only comparison was difficult.  Needless to say that when it does seem real, we're excited.   Let the fun continue ...

The Petting Zoo

Preston loves animals in any form.  We have a field full of cows that everytime we drive up the road Preston says "Moo, Moo, Moo" until we actually get to the area where they are feeding and we can roll down the window and he can Moo at them.  Everytime we see a dog he points and says " Og, Og".  He also has several stuffed animals that he loves to hug and talk to.  So, now that the weather is nice I took Preston to the Littleton Historical Museum so that he could get up close and personal with some animals.  According to Preston, all the animals say "Moo", but he loved seeing them.   They have little wooden buildings that Preston loved to run circles around.  My Mom accompanied us on the trip as well, she's a good Grandma.  

Who knew that donkey''s said "Moo"

He may have circled this building 15 times, he waved at the sheep each time he passed them

He loved the sheep.  They said "Baaa" and he would reply "Moo"

He's all boy!  He loved the straw and dirt.

Buzz Cut!

Preston's hair has always been a point of discussion.  He was born with a ton of hair and some crazy cowlicks.  The poor kid has had 6 or 7 bad hair cuts, and two good ones from a profession, and he's only 14 months old.   When he wakes up in the morning, there is no amount of water, brushing, or hair product that can control his hair.  Today, after picking orange pieces out of his hair for the 4th time, I decided that the beast needed to be tamed.  The little guy got a buzz cut.  It makes him look older, but it also helps him look like his Mom takes care of him instead of letting him run around with food and other random pieces of who-knows-what in his hair. 

This was the amount of hair that got chopped off

He does smile often, I promise ...

Baby Einstein

Ever since Preston was born, he has loved music.  I have a string quartette CD that Preston has always loved.  When he got bigger he would start making sounds that was him either mimicking or singing along as we would drive.  I'm not sure which one, but it is super cute to hear him and see him just looking out the window making these sing-songy sounds to the music.  I decided to buy a baby Beethoven Einstein CD to see if he would like it.  At first he was more interested in pushing the buttons on the TV and VCR.  Then he really started to like the puppets that will come on the screen.  So, I bought Einstein baby Mozart and Water Babies and he likes them a lot.  He plays with his toys and listens to the music.  He knows what songs show the puppets so he makes sure to look up then.  He will sit on my lap and snuggle with me for a mili-second, too. Sometimes he'll even stand up on our bed and sing along.  Only when he's super tired will he sit still and watch 30 seconds or more of the videos.   



We have a DVD player and a TV in our bed room, so I took a couple pictures of Preston sitting on our bed glued to the TV because the dog puppet on the screen.  He just got done standing and singing.    



He really is such a cute boy ... I'm not bias at all. 

Don't Tread On Me

Last summer I turned in my company car.  It was a sad day when we turned in the Jeep.  We loved the room and the 4 wheel drive in the snow.  It also really helped that my former company paid for all the maintenance, gas, and insurance.  It was a pretty sweet deal, but when I chose my family over my job we had to let a lot of those perks go.  In an attempt to keep debt to a minimum I made a deal with my Dad to buy his car with cash.  It's a 2005 Nissan Altima and it's a good car.  My Dad drove a lot in that car.  By the time I bought it, he had put 130,000 miles on it.  It's in super good shape just lots of miles.  He also chose to put on tires that are 70,000 guaranteed.  Which makes total sense when you're driving as much as my Dad.  The tread on the tires looks fine, but you can tell the rubber on the tires is some seriously hard rubber .  Once you get about 15 mph, there is a dull rumbling, and as you go faster the louder the rumbling gets.  It resembles pretty loud white noise.  It's so loud it's hard to have a conversation, in the car, while driving on the highway because it's so loud.  It's gotten worse as I've been driving around town.  Preston and I are used to it.  I'm pretty sure the rumbling is what mellows Preston out in the car. 

One day I had switched cars with my brother, Jason.  He was babysitting Preston while I went to the hospital to visit my Dad.  Jason was going to drive up to the hospital in my car and then we'd switch.  While I was in my Dad's hospital room I got a call from my brother in a panic (he never panics).  I had failed to warn him about the rumbling sound and he said to me "I really hope I"m not breaking your car right now".  The sympathetic soul that I am, I started laughing.  I then explained the situation.  Jason then told me that he stopped several times to make sure that the car wasn't smoking, or the emergency brake wasn't on, or there was a flat tire.  I still laugh about that panic that was in my poor brothers voice.  Yes, I'll be replacing them soon. 

My handsome boy, relaxing to the sound of the rumbling tires and eating his first sucker

This is "Andy", good car ... bad tires

They look normal, but seriously I may be going deaf because of these bad boys.

Here's looking at you kid!

A couple weeks ago, it was puke-fest 2012 here at Chateau Erickson.  While our sweet son got sick, he was getting sick all over Brock and I.  In turn we would take baths with Preston to get cleaned up, multi-tasking.  Since then Preston refuses to take baths by himself, so Brock and I take turns at bath time.  Meanwhile, I've been spending a lot of time visiting my Dad.  He had open heart surgery and all is well with him, but the recovery road is a long, hard one.  When I'm around my Dad I try and shine my light as brightly as I can to give good vibes and comfort to my struggling Dad. Consequently when bath time rolls around at night I’m exhausted but bath time still requires a Mom or Dad.  Brock is out of town this week, so it's all Mom, all the time.  Tonight we were in the bath tub getting Mr. Preston all cleaned up from his day of fun.  As I was grabbing one of his bath toys, Preston stood up, turned, and farted right in my face.  I started laughing so hard.  It was so funny to have such a crazy sound come out of my sons naked bum, right in front of me.  Since I was laughing so hard, he started laughing so hard that he farted again ... in my face.