You're growing too fast!!

Dear Jay,

You are growing entirely too fast. We cannot believe you are already two weeks old! Your cord fell off a couple of days ago, so today you got to take your first real bath with your big brother, Cade! You both loved it!

You are also already starting to get some chubs...which we LOVE, but you don't feel quite as dinky to us anymore. And Cade, you seem so big now, too! Please slow down and let us enjoy you both!

Love, Dad and Mom

p.s. Look a few posts down to hear about Cade at age 2! ( I just posted it)

Brynne's High School Tag

1. What year did you graduate? 2003

2. Did you date someone from high school? Ryan Crandall, Aaron Fenter and Michael Park. Then kind of others here and there unofficially.

3. What kind of car did you drive? A 1988 ford F250. Then a toyota land cruiser my junior year, then a honda civic thereafter thru frosh year of college. Wow. Is that enough??

4. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school? Hmm....maybe doing the dumb dance with the lunch ladies while interviewing them for video announcements. I'm sure there were many others.

5. Were you a party animal? Always was, just in different ways at different times. :)

6. Were you considered a flirt? Um yeah.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? None of the above. I did do one semester of theatre though!

8.Were you a nerd? No....but I did act like a retard with Andrea Roetter and Amy Paulsen a lot. :)

9. Where you on any varsity teams? Basketball and soccer. I miss organized sports!

10.Did you get suspended/expelled? Nope. Thank heavens.

11. Can you still sing the fight song? Oh yeah!! Know every word and I'm one of the few thanks to my mom and my bball coach.

12. Who were your favorite teachers? Clute and Peebles. Pimps.

13. What classes do you wish you would have taken? Shop. I took some sweet classes though.... design, arts, communications (make videos, screen print and do announcements) spanish, etc.

14.What was your school's full name? Coeur d' Alene High School

15. School mascot and colors? Vikings!! Blue and white baby...with a little red mixed in.

16. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? Yeah I was junior year homecoming princess with Phil Giesen. Other than those nominated, you don't take a date or dress up. Kinda wierd.

17. Where did you go on "Senior Skip Day"? Went to Tubbs hill in downtown Cd'a cliff jumping with Jenn Crain, Matt Church, Brennan Best I think? Maybe Jake Troutman? Can't remember everyone else. It was freezing, though....I remember that!!

18. Were you in any clubs? Idaho Drug Free Youth.

19.Who was your prom date? Jeremy West, Scott Hamilton and Chris...can't even remember his last name. Worst senior prom date ever!! He was nice though. Too nice. Anyway...

20.What do you remember most about graduation? I remember my family all yelling like crazy for me when they called my name. I also remember the after party. It was a good time. We pretend gambled and I won a small bbq that I made lots of burgers with on camping trips at USU.

21. What advice would you give yourself? First of all, work harder in school! Then, don't care AT ALL what people think. Just be who you want to be and people will love you.

.22. Are you planning on going to your reunions? Yeah, I think it will be fun to see everyone where they are at those times.

23. If you could go back and do it again would you? No. It's funny how they say that is the best time of your life. It seemed like it at the time, but now moving on you realize that life begins after high school.

I tag Mikin, Cassie, Mom, Tom, Cassie Daines and whoever else wants to do it!

My Boys

This was one of our classic chill/movie nights. Cade always cuddles with Dad but this time he wanted to hold Jay, too. So cute! Aren't I a lucky girl??

Jay Marshall Erickson

Wednesday at 2:40 p.m. (1/14/09 and Cade's second birthday) this amazing little spirit joined our family. We were so anxious to meet him and he is everything we imagined.

Below: In labor faking a smile. Had contractions for a couple of days before and went in all the way effaced and dialated to a 4 and they broke my water about 12:30 p.m.

His first moments of life...and the most amazing feeling as parents.

7 lbs. 1 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Beautiful, light, spikey hair

First looks at Dad

And finally,below, our family all together. Love this picture because it's all eyes on Jay.

Brynne's parents were in the room taking pictures. They were very supportive.

Cade absolutely LOVES his "baby Jay". He wants to hold him all the time. :) It's a good thing he loves to share, too, since now he shares a birthday with his brother!

One of his many aggressive kisses...Finally, Jay's take home outfit.

We had a scare toward the end of laboring that we are grateful we got through. Jay's heart rate dropped to the 40's for 4 minutes (normal is 130's to 160's) and we almost had to have an emergency C-section. It was VERY chaotic in a short amount of time. We are sure it is because of Jon's blessing to Brynne that morning and prayers in that moment that everything turned out okay and none of the possible negative outcomes happened. We still had to get him out quick, and the cord was wrapped around his neck. It made us extra grateful for our healthy baby boy.

We are also VERY grateful for the many family members (including Jon's parents who came back early for the baby) and friends who came to visit and brought us cute gifts. We are so lucky to have you all.

p.s. Here is a picture of me contracting the night before I had him. Wowza.

Happy (official) Birthday Cade!

You're 2!!
Cade, you have brightened our lives and taught us so much. We can't imagine life without you!

Here are some fun things about you at 2:

-You LOVE to SING. Your nursery leaders tell us every week how into singing time you get. We also can always calm you down singing songs together in the evenings.

-You are a SOCIAL man! You love to crowd please (hand out fives and knuckles, smile at ladies, give out your cheesy grins). You also love playing with other kids whether it's cousins, friends, or random kids at the gym or park.

-You have your Mom's love of chocolate and your Dad's love of soda. It's a good thing...(refer to the next one)

-You are a natural ATHLETE and you love SPORTS. You have an awesome baseball swing already, you can shoot a basketball pretty well in your little hoop, and you can throw and catch. You love talking about balls, hoops, games, etc. You love attending live basketball games and even watching bits of football on T.V. You swim like a fish with arm floaties. Also, sometimes you will just run laps in the house and tell us to watch how fast you are!

-You love to come into our room at 6-7 a.m. (give or take) and cuddle with us for a second and then DEMAND BREAKFAST. You love to eat!

-You are a SMARTIE PANTS. You know all your colors and can count pretty well. You know all of your animals w/ sounds, and can draw a football! You LOVE to READ BOOKS, and soak up everything we take the time to teach you. You also are realizing that you can have a mind of your own before we want you to!

-You might have your mom's ARTISTIC MIND. Twice you have gotten into paint (once nail polish, once acrylic) and both times you never got it anywhere but right where it was supposed to go! WOW. Lucky us.

-You LOVE your new BABY BROTHER to pieces that came on your birthday. You are a big helper...but we have to watch you...you also love to maul him with rough KISSES!

-You love Mom and Dad. (We wont say Dad a little more...) You love to give us kisses and hugs, play with us, and you get sad when one of us leaves.

-And lastly, you love JESUS. You love to say prayers each day and go to church. We feel your strong spirit.

STATS: At your your two year checkup you were 45th% in weight, 65th% in height, and 85th% for getting your Dad's head. ;)

We can't wait to see what year 3 will bring us!!

Cade's 2!!

He wants to have a "BALL" with you!

We can't believe our little buddy is 2! We had a small "ball" themed birthday party with his good friends a little early since we are anticipating his little brother any day! He had a blast and even sang to himself with everyone!

Below: Cade with his soccer ball cake. Trying to show he's two...or 4...same difference. :) We also had ball treats (donut holes, gumballs, whoppers)

Below: Gatten tradition... he took a bite after he blew out the candle and Papa pushed his face in!

LtoR: Austin Simon, Sally Gatten, Ella Morton and Cade. This was after all the kids had played a bowling game, a ball toss game, and learned to swing at a tee!

Cute little mommy moment...

Cade and Mom

Nana and Papa Gatten

Uncle A.J. and friend Louis

LtoR: Dad, Zack Simon, Grandpa Erickson, and Lizzie Simon

Opening presents

He LOVED all his balls

And even more...his new basketball hoop!! The kids all played together and then the next morning, Cade came into our room carrying two basketballs talking about his "basetball hooop"! (Good job on the shopping, Dad) ;)

This party was PERFECT for our little natural athlete!

Crazy Cousins

Amongst all of the family time we had over the holidays, Cade LOVED spending time with his two cousins he is pretty close in age with, Ryder (Tom and Brooke's son), and Sally (Tim and Liz's daughter). Cade learned a few fun tricks and, basically, these 3 were partners in crime!!

For example: They look innocent, right???!

WRONG! We take our eyes off of them for a couple of minutes and they are found buck naked jumping on the couch! Cade proceeded to get naked NUMEROUS times afterward.

(LtoR below: Cade, Ryder, Sally)

Welcome 2009!!

Happy New Year!

We started out the night with an hour and a half on contractions 2-4 min. apart that just decided to stop right before we were going to go to the hospital! (In the mean time we went to Pizza Hut to get a good meal :) This baby is a teaser! We had more fun, though, hanging out with family and friends.

We were able to go to the Simon home and play bunco and singing wii with lots of friends. Cade and Austin, of course, had a blast together like always.

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We then party hopped to spend the rest of the night with family. We played UNO with all the little cousins and then rang in the new year with all these party animals (not everyone lasted until the ball dropped)!

(below: Brett and Wyatt)
Sophia, Mylee and Tom

Tyler and Steve tappin' the good stuff

US!

We ended up playing games and eating munchies until odd hours of the night and when we woke up at 7:30 am, there were adults and kids scattered everywhere in the house. Looks like we weren't the only ones who didn't make it home! It was a fun time!

We are so excited to make 2009 another awesome year!

We Wish You A....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
We had an awesome Christmas this year. It was our first time having it in our own home, with just our little family and it was the best feeling in the world. It really made us appreciate eachother and what a blessing it is to have a family of our own.

Jon and I had to do some negotiating with our different traditions. Here is what we came from:

Jon's family:

No Santa (didn't feel jipped)

Luke 2 Christmas Eve

Open all presents Christmas Eve

Finger foods Christmas Eve

watch "It's a Wonderful Life"

Sleep in Christmas morning

Big, nice breakfast

Nice Christmas dinner

Brynne's family:

Santa (made Christmas magical)

Luke 2 on Christmas Eve

watch "Christmas Vacation"

Nice Christmas Eve dinner

Wake up early Christmas morning with 1 unwrapped gift and a stocking from Santa you could play with until it was "time" to open the rest of the presents

Brunch

Nice dinner

Here is what we did and it felt perfect!:

Christmas Eve:

Read Luke 2.

Had a blast shopping for, making and enjoying finger foods and bubbly together.

Opened 1 present on Christmas Eve, which happened to all be P. J.'s. :)

Watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and fell asleep together on the couches. (Side note: we decided since we will watch both movies with either of our families in prep for Christmas still, we will watch "Nativity Story" with our family in the future.)

Christmas Morning:

Santa had come and cleaned up, filled stockings, and laid out one open present for Cade to find in the morning (after "everyone" fell asleep). Woke up when Cade did to open the rest of the presents.

My parents (Steve and Jean) also stopped by Christmas morning to say hi and see what we had all gotten. Cade absolutely LOVED opening presents and loved watching us open ours equally as much. It is funny, once you have a child, you realize how much more fun it is to give than to receive. (Although we all got awesome stuff!)We also enjoyed a nice, big breakfast.

Later that day, we had the chance to talk to my brother, Spike, who is in Brazil a little over a year in on his mission. His accent was already SO thick, he sounded like English was his second language. It was amazing to hear how much he had changed not only that way, but his relationship with God and his understanding of what this life is about. We are so proud of him! He has eaten about everything in the book, lived amongst people a lot less fortunate, and couldn't be happier!

My brother Tom and his family came the day after Christmas, so we had a WONDERFUL Christmas dinner after they arrived. We have had lots of family time since!