March 2018

Dear friend,

Things have been a little nutty around here, so even though I uploaded these pictures on April 2nd, I haven't gotten around to writing anything.  Today seems like a good day to write because I'm feeling a little fried.  Joy has been sick lately and she insists on being held.  Of course Rose is now sick and we just got antibiotics for everyone.  So even though these past few days haven't been bad days per se, they have been a bit smothering.  By the time Elias arrives home I feel like I have been yelled at for 12 hours and I don't want anyone to touch me.  Elias is the best.  I don't know how he takes care of all of us in addition to his job.  

Anyway, these pictures seems like a lifetime ago.  

Our dear little Rose has been a dream!

The month began with my parents coming to help for a few days.  

It was great to have some extra hands around

and the kids loved learning 

and trying new things that Nana and Grandpa Peter taught them.  

One night they taught everyone some new games like "Penny, Penny" and "Do you love your neighbor?".  It was a riot!

The big kids are loving school

and gymnastics.  

Joy insists that she is one of the big kids  

and was thrilled when she was included on a bedtime sledding outing with Daddy.  

But while the big kids are at school, it's this girl trio at home.  

I love raising my kids in an area that have large families.  

I couldn't believe it when the pediatrician's office actually spots for the names of FIVE kids!

Joy continues to dote on Rose.  She really is such a sweet big sister.  (This picture on the right shows Joy showing her sharing her beloved blanket which is a huge deal.)

Rose is such a great sleeper.  She likes her evenings alone with Mom and Dad, but since she doesn't go down until 10, I only have to wake up once.  She will give me a five hour stretch, I'll feed her for twenty minutes and then she goes right back down for another five hours.  She really is a dream.  

I love this stage of funny faces!

And she has started to smile!

Even though they have all taken their time to talk, my kids have always smiled early!  I love it.  

Such tender feelings toward this dear girl.  

Joy is a powerhouse.  

I hate to admit it, but she is kind of running the show these days.  

She now has enough hair for pigtails and she is so proud of them.  This stage (when they think they are both verbal and capeable, but in reality they're neither) has always been hard for me, but Joy has so much fire in her that I think she's more challenging than twins.  She is always getting into something and always has her own agenda.  The fact that she's a total ham only adds to it.  

Man, I sure love her though!  She is always anxious to cheer up a sad face (which makes timeout a challenging discipline).  She and Boyd continue to have a special bond.  They love chasing each other.  

Boyd is such a sweet big brother.  He is always quick to help with Rose (but for some reason always refers to her as "the new baby").  Elias gave the boys great looking haircuts but these pictures are really making me miss Boyd's curls.  I don't know why, but Boyd has always disliked his curls and was constantly trying to flatten them.  

Smith cracks me up.  He's such a sweet kid, but he is constantly hitting his head on things.  When we took them to the ward Easter party, I found him like this...

Summer is growing up before my eyes and it is breaking my heart.  

She has embraced our new life here, but it made me smile when she brought home a picture that she had painted of the Santa Fe plaza.  

Elias took her to a Daddy-Daughter dance at her school and she was in heaven.  

Elias continues to save us all!  He has mentioned that getting on and off the train with hundreds of people every day has reminded him of his insignificance. For better or worse, no one worked in finance in Santa Fe, but here practically everyone does.  Elias is just one of the "ants that go marching" in and out of New York everyday.  But everything changes when he walks in this door.  He is the only one for whom we are waiting to come off that train.  

It's all we can do to wait for him to change out of his work clothes before everyone dog-piles on top of him.  

I've learned that it's best to reserve any real conversation until after the kids are in bed.  

Everyone wants Daddy's attention and 

it blows my mind when he still has the energy to take them on an outing.  

The kids learned all kinds of things about St. Patrick's Day at school.  Unfortunately some of the messages they received were conflicting and turned into some heated arguments at home.  Here are pictures of Boyd and Summer defending their reasons why you should or should not set out traps for leprechauns.  

They came to the conclusion of making a happy leprechaun home (with a paper friend included) that the leprechauns can move into if they so choose.

They made lots of crafts

and then woke me up on the 17th totally perplexed as to why the leprechauns didn't follow protocol.  (I had no idea, but I guess they had hid coins all around the house and expected leprechauns to exchange the coins for candy...)

One day I took the kids to a local grocery store for an Easter egg treasure hunt.  I was about to document it as my first successful outing alone with five kids, but Boyd misunderstood what would happen at the end and threw a huge fit when reality struck.  So yeah...it ended with me literally dragging a child or two to the car.  

I have to document the pictures below because I put on make-up and did my hair.  When Boyd saw me he exclaimed, "Wow Mom!  You look so much better!"  I responded, "Thanks Boyd.  I actually got ready for the day."  He looked at me for a moment and said, "But do we still have the new baby?"

That about sums up March 2018 for the Erickson clan.  Love you all!

Always,
Brittany et al.