Erik's First Swim!

So, as soon as we moved up to live with Sandy's parents we went on a vacation with the rest of Sandy's family. It was a blast and you will be seeing many blogs and photos from our experience. The night we got to our condo in central Oregon we went to the swimming pool. But first we had to get Erik all dressed up in his swimming suit and Pooh Bear robe with matching booties. Oh and we can't forget his new swim diapers provided by aunt Heather. So we were all excited to go as you can see in the picture...

Then when we got to the swimming pool Erik decided that it would be a good time to take a nap. Mom and Dad were having none of that and after a little hesitation we woke him up and took him into the pool with us.

Erik, at first, was not sure what to think of the water, but all of us had fun holding him and walking around with him. Check out how Dad and Baby match.
We all thought that this face meant that Erik wasn't sure why everyone was in the bathtub with him, but throughout his first swimming experience he seemed to have this look, probably wondering what was going on.
By the end, Erik began to enjoy himself in and out of his floatie and especially while he was being held by his mom. He also started splashing in the water with his hands and getting his own face wet.
By the end of the trip Erik was in the kiddie pool walking along the bottom while being bouyed up by his floatie. He was also splashing with both hands, kicking his feet, and splashing to try to grab toys floating in the water. Erik is so much fun wherever he is and now we know that he even enjoys himself in the water.

Thank you so much!!!

Well we've moved and we would like to thank all the helpers we had for packing and cleaning. We must have had half the ward show up. (For those in the ward reading this, please find some way to tell the rest of the ward how much we appreciated their help. Make an announcement or something, because they were so helpful.) And when most of the ward had arrived most of the packing was done, because Sandy's dad and brother, Dave, woke up early and got to work. It was great to have so many people there to help clean up. It felt less like a stressful move and more like one last get together with all of our good friends. Then, by the time Pawly's family was there almost everything was done and they just had to help by playing with the baby. They also helped by cleaning our carpets. Thank you, Papa.

We didn't get many pictures of all the help we got, but we did get one. This is Pawly's sister vacuuming. Thanks again everyone.

We're moving and so is Erik!

For a few of our friends that don't live near us, yes we are moving. In fact, this Saturday we will be out of our apartment in Utah and into Sandy's parent's house in Idaho. We are way excited to be moving up to live near family, but will also be missing all of our family and friends here in Utah. Here's a picture of Sandy packing things up. We have a lot packed up already and have even sent a load of boxes up with Sandy's parents when they drove through Utah last week.


Oh, and Erik is also moving. We put him in the middle of the blanket and go around the corner. When we come back he is all the way off the blanket and getting into something.

He now roles from his back to his stomach without much thought. Rolling from his stomach includes getting on his toes and his forehead.

Then Erik will crawl his feet forward, which causes his body to go forward and his face to rub on the blanket or the carpet. We are sure that he will soon have a rug burn on his forehead and his nose. Eventually Erik roles himself from his forhead to his back and then roles onto his stomach again. He can travel pretty far doing this.

We decided in order to contain the boy, and since we have been boxing everything else, we would just box Erik up. He seemed to enjoy it.
For those helping to help us move, his box is the one with the air holes. Just kidding. Erik is not in a box. Please don't call CPS. He is next to me making plans to get off his blanket.

Never Say Never

Oh the joys of motherhood! Yesterday I was burping Erik and thought, 'wow, he hasn't spit up in a long time! That's great! I'm so happy he's been blessed to NOT have reflux.' Later when Pawly got home from work he and Erik were playing and Pawly was patting Erik's tummy and having fun. Then he handed Erik off to me and not a minute passed before I got dumped on with spit up! Yuck! Erik's so good at getting all his stuff on us and practically none on him, so I had to change my pants, and we all had a good laugh at the irony.
We went to a ward activity at the church that night too and I asked Pawly to change Erik's diaper. Before I knew it I saw a stream headed for me and felt my leg get wet. I popped out of my chair to avoid any further stream from the baby. Erik hasn't peed on us since he was 2 months old, or younger! I couldn't believe it! At least I got the sympathy/laughs of our friends in the ward, wait that made it more embarrassing. Oh well, a day in the life of a mom eh? I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything! Cept maybe clean pants. :)

Bath time! Told by Erik himself

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Erik Nielsen. I'm sure you've seen a few pictures of me, because my family takes a lot. I just want to tell you all about one of my favorite times...Bath time! Here I am just lounging around getting ready for mom and dad to wash me. My dad likes this one, because it looks like I'm just sitting down getting ready to tell a story. And guess what, I am.

Here I am looking away from the camra. I think that's called being coy, because for the most part I love when Mom and Dad take pictures of me and I usually pose really well for them. By the way, check out my long eye lashes. The hair on top of my head is getting longer, too.

Peekaboo!!! Bet you didn't see that coming. Sorry if I scared you. Elmo does this to me all the time and so does my dad and mom. I just thought I would give it a try.

Here's my dad pulling me out of the bath so that I can get all dried off. Look! I'm so clean and shiny you might even be able to see your reflection.

Then my mom and dad lay me on my back, lotion me up, and give me a massage. I am sooooo pampered. I usually try to grab the railing on my left and the sink to my right. When I get put on my stomach, to get lotion on my back, I usually laugh and play with the baby in the mirror. That kid is so cool. I'm going to be just like him some day.

That was fun telling you all about me. So come back and enjoy some more smiles everyday on my favorite blog... We'll see you next time. (I can go anywhere)

This is how we roll at our house

In the crib we be rollin in it. I wish I would tell you what "it" is, but at least we are rolling. Here's a few pictures of Erik in order as he roles from his back to his stomach. We don't have video capabilities yet, but you'll get the idea. Erik roles for just about anything now, but he first started out rolling for his binki (I probably spelled that wrong), which he loves to chew the side of. So he starts out on his back...

Then puts his legs in the air...
This gets him off balance so he can role onto his side...
Then he flips one leg over, which I don't really have a picture of, because at this point he was doing it so fast that I couldn't get a picture of all the steps, even after he rolled over several times.
And then he is on his stomach and happy as a lark as he chews on his favorite chew toy.
As you can see, he has one arm under his body right now. Sometimes it gets stuck, but most of the time he can pull it out. The funniest thing lately is that he will role onto his stomach and then start to cry, because he doesn't want to be there. We then ask him why he went there in the first place and why he doesn't just role onto his back again, which he learned a few months ago and hasn't done since. For some reason he just doesn't understand, so we role him back onto his back and he usually roles back onto his stomach and fusses again. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

Time to Eat!

On Sunday May 4, just two days before Erik turned 5 months we let him have his first taste of rice cereal! He's been so interested in our food and happy to chew and suck on his spoon that I figured he was ready for real food. I don't think a lot of cereal got to his tummy, but we all had fun with his First Food Experience. Hope you guys get a kick outta these candid shots.

He got distracted by the camera in this one

Oh, gimme that food daddy!

Yum Yum

Did I get any on my face?

Look mom, my hand tastes just as good

Open mouth, insert food. please :)