Ashley's Wedding Dress

Ashley went dress shopping with Heather and a friend and found her perfect dress so Ash and I went back tonight and closed the deal! It was even 100 less than she was told last night! I will have to work my magic to make it "suitable" by adding straps and making a bolero (the one she has on cost $129!)...but with 4 inch heels she doesn't need it hemmed! She looks like a princess!

More Kitchen Redo

This by far was the hardest part! Probably because there was 6 doors and 8 drawers but I was very exhausted by weeks end. It was then that I decided that my goal to have them done by Christmas was very unrealistic, especially if I wanted to ENJOY the holidays!

So I decided to just do the Island counter and call it quits for awhile. The base cabinets are done and the ones over the desk.

I also decided not to do the bead board on the front face because it would entail more work and expense and I would have to wait for Roy to put in place for me. But I like the results anyway.

The colors in the pictures are a bit off...the lighting I guess. But all in all I love the new look! and I can't wait to get it all done! I also think that I may not do the fireplace mantel and stair railing...at least not until maybe after I have recuperated from Ashley's wedding!

Kitchen Redo

We've decided to refinish the cabinets in our kitchen. It all started with wanting/needing to refinish our 20-year-old kitchen table and 8 chairs...the varnish was peeling and turning yellow. It took two weeks! That included doing the table top twice (I forgot to stir the stain and the top wasn't as dark as the 2-leafs!) Then I "practiced" on the 1/2 bath off the kitchen...learned a few tricks...then started on the desk area in the kitchen...learned some more do's and don'ts...and now there is no turning back. My goal is to have the kitchen done by Christmas...not a very realistic goal but what the hay, shoot for the stars, I say! Here are the pictures so far, starting with the "before":

Dark Walnut

Early American

The pictures don't really tell the true story on the colors (the table looks darker in person) and I think we may have to have the trim match the cabinets and not the floor...One thing leads to another! I'd like to do the fireplace mantel and railing going downstairs, too..Oh what have I gotten myself into???

Disneyland, Prom and Graduation

Our baby is a Senior so that means a "Senior Trip". In our family the graduating senior can take a friend to Disneyland but they have to take along the family as well. This trip meant just mom and dad since all her siblings were either working or in school...so Heather took her friend Ashley Ontiveros and us in January. We went from the cold and the snow to sunny and temperatures in the 70's! It was a fun trip!

The traditional tug on the Sword in the Stone!

Has to be Ariel, right?

The newest "ride" in California Adventure was "Toy Story 3" (I think that's the name)...fun but too long of lines.

What a Princess!

Hamming it up.

And what is your Senior Year without Prom! Final touches by her favorite "stylist"...Ashley B.

And sorry I didn't get this rotated before downloading it....

Her date, Daniel Goodrich.

Promenade at the clubhouse at Sleepy Ridge Gold Course

And finally, Graduation Day! May 24, 2011 at UVU. She made it!

We love this gal! Proud of you, Sis!

(Almost) The Whole Family

She is working at Art City Nursing and Rehabilitation for the summer then off to BYU in the falling hoping to become an RN.

Andrew

Mom wanted me to repost some of my blog her so more people could see it, so here it is!

We are happy to introduce Andrew Roy Erickson to y'all. (We are in Georgia and it's starting to show!)

He was born on Sept. 28th, at 5:15 am. He beat the doctor here and was delivered by the nurse. We are so blessed to have him in our life and are grateful for the time we were able to spend with his amazing birth mom. He showed up sooner than expected but after her water broke took a couple days to get here, but he was just waiting until he didn't have to share his birthday with his mommy. :)

He weighed 4 lbs. 13 oz. at birth and is 18 inches long. He is in the NICU right now, but is doing wonderfully. He is eating well, and is doing so well that the doctor wonders if the initial due date was a couple weeks off and that he is actually 35 weeks instead of 33. He is under lights right now for jaundice, but that is normal. He will be moving to a regular bassinet tomorrow, which I can't wait for since it means I will be able to hold him more. Pretty much now he just has to prove to the doctors that he can maintain his body temp. and gain weight at the same time and continue to eat well and then we can come home! We are excited to show him off and he has 2 big brothers that can hardly wait to see him! But until we can show him off, here a some pictures. There are a lot since when we aren't holding him, we are taking his picture!

We were lucky enough to be there for the birth. He came out hollering! Best sound in the world!

This is just after his first bath.

I got to walk him down the hall to the NICU, but we didn't get to really see him until an hour or so later.

Here is the first time I really got to hold him. Love is amazing! The instant I laid eyes on him, I was flooded with an over whelming love for him, and the motherly instincts just kicked right in!

First time Daddy got to hold him.

Can't wait to bring him home!

He has to wear a mask under the lights for jaundice, so you can't see his cute face. Still cute though!

Love his little feet!

And his little hands!

The white thing on his arm is an IV. They took that out yesterday.

First time I fed him a bottle. He is a hungry boy!

He does the cutest things with his eyebrows when he eats!

Daddy's first bottle. He will get to help out with the feeding with this one!

The rest of these are some of my very favorites! I can't wait to get him out of this bed and unhooked from all the wires to get some more!

Leaving the hospital! For coming at 34 weeks it is pretty amazing he was only in the NICU for one week.

I had gotten him one of those bouncy type chairs, thinking he could just sleep in that since my pack and play was still in MO. But he was too little for it. So I made him a bed in the laundry basket. Do you think I've scarred him for life? :)

I was stuck in GA for a week while all the inter-state paper work went through and was delayed due to a state furlough in GA. SO I pretty much just held Andrew and took pictures of him. I've got about a hundred pictures of him that looks pretty much just like this one. But he is just so cute!

When we found out the GA state offices were closed for the weekend Tyler, the boys and my parents came to visit us. They boys were so excited to meet Andrew. They kept saying, "He is so cute, I just want to keep looking at him!" They will be awesome big brothers.

We took the boys down by the river for a hike. It was so good to see them. That is by far the longest I have been away from them!

For the last half of my stay I was able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. It was a huge blessings, saving us lots of money! They boys thought it was pretty cool that they got to stay at Ronald's House! :)

Four become five!

Finally home. Luke loves holding his baby brother!

I have some truly awesome friends that threw us a baby shower on Friday. My friend made this diaper cake. So cute. Thanks so much for the shower!

Luke and Isaac brought toys over for Andrew. They are such good big brothers. They can't wait until he can play with them!

Here is our cute baby in some of his new clothes. Isn't he the cutest thing EVER!

I feel so blessed, grateful for my family, and grateful I can finally say that I am grateful for the trials we've been through. It that is what had to happen to get this precious baby boy to our family, it was so worth it.

This has been a truly amazing experience. We are so grateful for all 3 of our boys and the very special way they each came into our family.