September has been a wonderful month of adventure,
cooking,
exercise,
performing on the piano at church,
watching pizza-making at Dions,
dancing,
cleaning,
monkeying around,
reading
(I love these people),
and of course, the occasional "bring a roly-poly inside and then lose it" activities.
We have also been riding our bikes a lot. We put training wheels back on Smith's bike and he now enjoys riding again. Though every once in a while he does get off his bike and plop himself over it as though he has been totally defeated by the journey. (This time it happened 1.5 houses away from our own.)
We finally broke down and bought a baby cam, so watching that has been a new favorite hobby for me and Elias.
The kids are really enjoying school and I couldn't be more thrilled with their schools and teachers.
Summer is still trying to find her emotional equilibrium while adjusting to full-day kindergarten, but we are moving in the right direction and she is thriving.
One Friday evening we invited 25 people over for a chocolate fondue party. When no one had arrived 45 minutes into it though, we were beginning to question ourselves. Fifteen people ended up showing up, so we had fun, but we had still everyone out by 8:15. (This mama needs her sleep.)
One Saturday I got to take the big kids out on an adventure while Elias stayed home with a napping Joy. I took them to the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair and Fairy Village. (Summer wanted to dress as a fairy, so yes, Smith wore his Spiderman costume.)
We had a ton of fun and it was exciting to be out and about with big kids and no baby.
We've been working on being kind and helpful in our house, so we had a "Take Us to the Pumpkin Patch" chart that was filled with stickers one-by-one with each kind act.
The kids worked hard and loved their reward of going to the pumpkin patch.
We watched pig races,
petted animals,
visited the Pumpkin Princess,
drove tractors,
jumped around,
climbed around,
rode the cow train,
went swimming in corn,
and raced ducks.
It was the perfect small town fair. The weather was overcast and hardly anyone was there. There wasn't a single line and the kids could do every activity to their hearts' content.
The big announcement of the month...we are expecting Baby Erickson #5 on February 23rd. This little miracle came to us naturally (or as Elias says, "at a great discount") and we feel so blessed. While our community has given us mixed responses to the news, we couldn't be more thrilled. And the kids are so excited.
As far as pregnancies go, this one has been a dream. I haven't thrown up once. Not Once!!! The kids and I drop off Summer for school at 8am and then come home and promptly eat a plate of nachos covered in salsa. I guess that's the trick.
So there are now five kids in the bed during morning cuddles.
Joy's little world is going to be rocked when the baby arrives.
She rules the roost around here and we're all pretty cool with it for the most part.
She is such a ham and the most joyful baby,
but she is growing up so quickly and it breaks my heart.
Elias had to go to Europe for a week-long work trip.
The kids and I drove up to Denver to meet him there afterward.
They are great little travelers
and they were all so thrilled to see Elias
when he arrived.
From there we headed up to the cabin with my parents to enjoy OcTOBER conference.
I absolutely loved this session of General Conference.
There were even a few sweet moments watching it with four kids.
And Tober was beautiful with all the leaves changing color.
Joy was so somber out on the canoe.
But I guess she didn't know Elias was steering us from behind and all she could see was this scene in front of us, so...can you blame her?
My parents have been working on building a two-story secret fort.
My kids think it is the coolest thing ever.
It's clear the fort-fun is just beginning.
My mom taught them the art of pulling out old trees and they loved it. I am sure grateful for my parents and the relationship they have with my children. Thanks Mom & Dad!
Love always,
Brittany et al.
1 comment:
Hooray hooray! BIG congrats on the pregnancy! Our due dates are like a week apart! So amazing this was natural and so happy that you're feeling well! I love how bald baby Joy still is. Darling kiddos as usual!
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