December

I'm slightly behind on posting. McCoy is 10 weeks old today. On December 5th he had his 2 month well-check appointment. He weighed in at 10 lbs. 10 oz. He was 22 1/4 inches long and his head circumference was 15.5 cm. He is just a little guy but to us he has gotten so big! The doctor says that he is growing really well though. With the chubby cheeks he has gotten I can't imagine that he wouldn't be gaining weight well. We also switched to a different medicine for his reflux. The Axid was helping but the Prevacid is working so much better. I have my baby back finally.

For the last 2 weeks we have been having a hard time napping. Just after his morning feeding he takes a pretty good nap for 2 to 3 hours. The rest of the day is a different story. As long as I'm holding him he will sleep. I will lay him down and within 15-30 minutes he wakes up. I have tried laying him in different places, putting him back to sleep and laying him down again. But each time he does the same thing. Does anyone have any advice? It makes it very hard to get much done during the day. The only time I can do things around the house is when he is playing. Now with that said he has been a champ at sleeping at night. On his usual nights he wakes up 1 or 2 times a night. On Wednesday night he woke up about 7 times and that was really hard for me. Lucky me Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night he has slept the entire night. I lay him down at 9 and he wakes up at 8. It is crazy, but oh so nice. Who knows it might be a faze but I'm loving it!





McCoy loves his bath time. It is a nice end to the day. He has been starting to figure out his hands and arms. While I change his diaper he will sit and stare at his arm and move it around. He has even started to hit his toys on his play mat on purpose. One of his new favorite things to do is suck on his fist. He does it during his entire bath. He enjoys laying on his play mat which has this fun star that flashes different colors and plays music. He loves his bouncy seat which also lights up and plays music but his favorite part is the dog face on it. He is growing up so quickly!



It snowed a lot these last 2 days. I was a little nervous about how Cede would react to the snow. Living in St. George she really hasn't seen much snow and she definitely hasn't had to go out in the snow to go potty. She was a little tentative in the beginning but then she just started running through it. She looked like she was chasing something. We figure that the snow must fly up as she runs so she thinks she really is chasing something. It is so cute to see her come in with her legs and face covered in snow! She also has found a new favorite treat, peanuts. As you can see in the picture she has found someone that will happily give her some!









As you can tell most of my life revolves around McCoy. It is wonderful. I love being a mom and never knew I could love my baby this much. I have been out and gotten most of my Christmas shopping done. Julianne has been a great shopping companion! Jeff has of course been working. He has had a lot to do at work this week and we are happy that he has finished up the presentation he was working on. McCoy lights up the second he sees Jeff. I have to say Jeff is one of his favorite people, Jeff can get him talking! Jeff has also been spending a lot of time wrapping gifts. He is so much better at it than I am. So I label and put a bow on top. I do have to wrap Jeff's presents though. We are very excited for Christmas to be here. I know it won't be very exciting for McCoy this year but it is exciting for us to have McCoy for Christmas this year. He is the best gift we will receive this year. I'm also so happy that we live up north close to all of our family this year. We aren't missing out on family parties because of the weather or work. It is great!

Erickson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

I tried this on 3 different pictures. One right after he was born and then 2 that were taken around the same time. I used the same pictures for Jeff and me. The one from right after he was born said he looked more like me by 9%-this is a surprise to me because I thought he looked so much like Jeff in the beginning. The next said he looked more like Jeff by 4%. This came back in between and since I love this picture and because I think he looks equally like Jeff and me I decided to use it. What do you think? Does McCoy look more like Jeff or me?

Busy Busy

Things have been busy around here lately. Well I guess it hasn't been necessarily busy but I definitely have one little guy that holds my attention all day. I can't complain though. I love him to pieces.

Here are a few things that have been going on:

My parent's basement is finally finished! They have been waiting months for it to be done and now we are living down there.

Jeff went to St. George the weekend that the basement was finished and picked up our furniture and our other things that we were storing. I'm glad he went because I didn't have many winter clothes and it was beginning to get cold.

McCoy has gotten so big! Just over a week ago we took him to the doctor because I was sure he had reflux. I was correct. We are trying one medication right now but may be changing to a different medication at his 2 month well check this Friday. The medicine has been helping but not completely taking it away. It is very sad to see him in pain. At that appointment he weighed in at 9 lbs. 14 oz. He had gained 14 oz. in just over 2 weeks. He is becoming more alert and talkative every day. He coos constantly and is quite a happy boy, when he isn't in pain.

Of course there was Thanksgiving this last Thursday. We had a great time at Jeff's Dad's house. It was so fun to be able to see the majority of Jeff's siblings. McCoy was able to meet some family members for the first time. He was such a good boy that day, I was so grateful! I wish I had pictures but my camera was dead when I went to get it. Hopefully I'll be able to get some from Angie or Annette. I love Jeff's family. I have always felt completely comfortable around them and they are so much fun!

Friday I didn't go out early to face the crowds. There really wasn't anything that was worth getting up that early for. I did go out later in the day for a few hours to get some things but the crowds were gone by then. The good news is that I don't have much more to get for Christmas. I don't enjoy going out shopping at the malls and things around Christmas because it is so busy so I'm happy to know I only need to make 1 or 2 more trips.

Saturday we spent the day trying to organize our things in the basement. Moving isn't fun, even if it is just from upstairs to downstairs. We also needed to get the house clean for Sunday because...

McCoy was blessed today. It was so wonderful and I will do a whole separate post about it. All I can say is Jeff did a great job! Thanks to all those who were able to make it. I will have pictures of McCoy in his cute blessing outfit, but I have to get them from my sisters.

Here is a cute little video of McCoy and Aunt Ju Ju. She can always get him to talk a lot and smile so much. She is such a great aunt and I don't know what I would do without her. McCoy loves her and she is practically his second mom. He was just beginning to coo really loud instead of the soft little coos and now he can really go crazy. I'll have to try to get another video, it is quite cute. Sorry it is crooked. I'm just now getting this posted (Dec 9th) because I had a hard time getting the video up.

One Month!

"Cool just like daddy"

My baby is a month old! I can't believe how fast time goes by. He is getting so big too. I took him into the doctor on Tuesday because I was afraid he had Thrush, which he does, and he weighed in at 9 lbs. I can't believe he is that big. As for the Thrush, we caught it really early and so it has already cleared up, we just have to continue the medicine for a few more days. Our time with McCoy for the last few weeks has been so fun. He is typically a very happy baby. Not too difficult until he got the thrush but he is already back to normal. He likes to lay on the floor and talk. He tries so hard and it is so cute when he coos. He has been smiling since he was 2 weeks old. He also thinks he is so strong and likes to hold his head up to look around when you hold him. He is a good sleeper so far. He is definitely a binki baby. He recognizes the voices of Mom, Dad, Grandma McGuire, Grandpa McGuire and Aunt Ju Ju. The other day as Grandma was holding him I walked up to say hi to him. The second that he focused on my face I got the biggest smile. That just melts my heart. He definitely loves his dad and gives him lots of smiles. He loves his swing, and I love his swing! Today he found the mirror that is directly above him and he was smiling and talking to himself all morning. We are so grateful to have this little blessing in our lives. We love you McCoy!

Showing how strong he thinks he is, holding up his head.

If you touch him at all he throws his arms out like this.

Smiling at himself in the mirror.

Halloween Weekend

We had a really fun Halloween weekend. On Thursday night we had our ward Halloween party. Jeff and I are part of the activities committee but because of the new little one we didn't take part in planning this activity. It was a hit though. All the kids dressed up and some of the adults did too. Jeff went as Luigi, I went as a devil (not sure that is the best costume for a ward activity at the church, should have thought it through), and McCoy was a chili pepper. They had games in each of the classrooms for the kids to play where they would win a toy or treat for playing. There were glazed donuts and homemade rootbeer for refreshments. It was fun.

On Halloween we had a family party at my parent's house. Even Kris and the family came. It was so fun to have the kids here. First we went out trick-or-treating. This neighborhood reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up in. There are so many kids and it's a close-knit neighborhood, we know everyone. I remember going to every house in our neighborhood growing up but the kids only hit a few houses. I guess usually they do a trunk or treat and so this house to house thing is different. When we got home we had dinner, soup in cute pumpkin bread bowls and salad. Ju Ju and I planned some fun games. First we played pumpkin bowling. We had 2-liter bottles lined up as the pins and a pumpkin for the bowling ball. The kids really enjoyed this. Brody wanted to play with the pumpkin all night. I was surprised that he could pick up the pumpkin. Peter was being so funny and kept walking over and hitting down the bottles. Every time we would cheer for the person bowling Peter would throw his arms up and make his "proud" smile. He was very tired and so he was absolutely hilarious. Next we played Halloween bingo. Then a game called Trick-or-Treat. You had to pull a piece of paper out of the pumpkin and you would either have to do a trick to earn your treat or you would get the treat paper. It was so funny. I had to do a somersault, which let me tell you was strange. I don't know the last time I did a somersault and I was dizzy right after. Erica did a cartwheel, even though she is pregnant. Bob walked like a spider. Bracken danced like a fairy, it was hilarious! Dad walked like Frankenstien. Jeff flapped like the wings of a bat. Emma made a scary face. Nate made a silly face. Sadly I don't remember what Kris and Mom did. The kids wanted to play again so we let them draw again a few times. Jake got the flap like the wings of a bat. He ran around and started pretend biting people and yelling "Now you have rabies." I have no idea where that came from, kids are funny. Last we played Pumpkin Toss. We tied a plastic pumpkin around the waist of one spouse and the other had to try to throw as many candy corn in the pumpkin as possible in 1 minute. Brack and Ju one, no surprise. We then went back upstairs for dessert, Spider Oreos, Witches Hats and a Pumpkin shaped cake. All in all it was so fun!

Ju Ju and Bracken-Hicks

Erica-Ballerina Witch, Bob-Biker, Brody-Ninja

Nat-Devil, Jeff-Bull Rider, McCoy-Chili Pepper

Kris-Cat, Jacob-Anakin, Emma-Hannah Montana, Peter-Monster

Mom-Cruella De Vil, Dad-Indiana Jones

Smiley Boy!

I just thought I'd share a few photos of McCoy that we have taken over the last few weeks. Things have gotten into kind of a routine and that has been nice. I have to say that I'm quite spoiled because McCoy gets up only once a night now. Seriously, the other night he slept from 10 to 5. I couldn't believe it. I know that there is a chance that will change so for right now I am definitely loving it. He truly is a good baby. The evenings are a little hard right now. He tends to cluster feed, meaning that he wants to eat frequently in the evening and is kind of fussy until he is fed. Maybe this is why he is sleeping so well at night. He is a very happy boy first thing in the morning and just after he eats. He gives us lots of smiles and they are truly smiles. He smiles as a reaction to me, Jeff, Aunt Ju Ju, Grandma and Grandpa. In fact I can tell now by looking at his face when he is going to give us smiles. I know it seems early but as you can tell in the pictures, it truly happens. I love being a mom. It is nice when Jeff gets home though in the evening to relieve my arms. Also I am spoiled rotten because I have Aunt Ju Ju here all the time and she has been a life saver through my recovery. McCoy already loves her and can recognize her voice. Another good thing is that Cede loves McCoy. She thinks she needs to be by him all the time. Every time I change his diaper she has to come over and give him kisses. A good majority of my day is spent holding the boy and the dog. We are happy that the transition has gone well for her though because she is part of the family. From what we can tell McCoy seems to like Cede too. He just stares and stares at her. It is so cute, a little boy and his dog.

McCoy Jeffrey Erickson

I'm so sorry it has taken so long for me to finally tell about the birth of our little one. Recovery has been hard and I've decided that this being a mom thing isn't for the weak. First of all his name is McCoy Jeffrey Erickson. We had a few names picked out and that one topped the list. Thank goodness he looks like a McCoy.

Now for the story. We were supposed to go in Sunday morning at 6:00 to be induced. Saturday morning I started having contractions but they were far apart. So I went with my mom to Target and Costco. My contractions became closer together. Finally around 5:00 we decided that I should go in since my contractions were 5 minutes apart. They took me and put me on the monitors to watch what was going on. Finally around 8:30 they said they were going to keep me because my contractions were obviously labor contractions so they put me in a room. Jeff had stayed home to make sure things were ready for the baby so he came in at that time. He showed up just after 9:00 as they were giving me my epidural. Yes, I immediately got an epidural while only being dilated to a 3. Around 10:00 they broke my water. About an hour later they came in and started a pitocin drip. They didn't have to increase the pitocin more than twice because my body was taking care of the contractions and dilating alone. We decided to get some sleep since it was going to be a long night. At around 1:30 I started feeling the contractions in my lower back. I pushed the button to give me a little more epidural and nothing was happening. I decided to give it about 20 minutes to see if it would kick in. When it didn't and I started feeling more pain I decided to call the nurse. She paged the anesthesiologist but she was in doing another epidural so it would take 45 min to an hour. I figured I could handle the pain for a while but it started getting worse. Eventually I wasn't numb at all anymore and was feeling the contractions that were coming about every minute and half. I was so upset because I had decided on the epidural so I wouldn't have any pain and now I was experiencing horrible pain. Finally the anesthesiologist came in. She said she was going to give me the strongest stuff she could and left to get some ice so she could check where I was numb and where I wasn't. When she came back in I told her that my legs weren't numb at all. This worried her. Sure enough with the check I was feeling everything. So she turned me over thinking she may have to start a new epidural and found that the tubes had come unhooked. This never happens, the nurse said she wouldn't have even thought to have checked that because it never happens. So the anesthesiologist sterilized everything and got me hooked up again. She gave me two shots of the strongest stuff she could, 2% Lidocaine and stayed around for a while to make sure it got better. I could still feel pressure in my lower back but it was so much better. Just after this they checked me and I was to an 8. When the 2% Lidocaine was wearing off I asked for some more because of course the regular stuff wasn't going to work for me now. After I got another shot I became really worried because I couldn't feel my legs at all. I couldn't wiggle my toes on my left leg. Jeff was going to die because I was in so much pain that I needed the strong stuff and now I was complaining about being too numb. I fell asleep for about an hour then the new nurse came in to check on me. I had a fever so we started me on an antibiotic. Shortly after I was dilated to a 10 and at +2 station. We decided to try a few pushes just so I knew what was coming. The doctor said that if I could stand it we should wait a while longer and try to get to +4 station. I was feeling some pain but I knew that there was a good chance that once he was so low the epidural may not work completely. After about a half hour I decided that I would rather push through the contractions knowing that I could be pushing for a long time since he wasn't all the way down. After about an hour and a half of pushing the nurse said I was almost to +3 station. This was a little sad because I was pushing hard. By this point I was feeling every contraction and wasn't numb anymore, although the epidural was still hooked up. We got the doctor to come in and check me and she said that he wasn't coming down, his head was coning. My pelvic bones had not separated and so he wasn't going to come out. Wish I had known this before being in labor for 18 hours. So she went to consult with a different doctor about a c-section, telling me that most likely that was what we would be doing. I started to cry, not because I was scared but because I was so ready to have the baby out and was happy to be going in for a c-section and asked Jeff to go get my mom. Both my mom and my sister have had to have c-sections so I was completely fine with the decision. We had to wait for the anesthesiologist, who was finishing up an epidural, I know my luck sucks when I really need something. The contractions now were continuous with no break between and I was feeling each. Thank goodness I had the best labor and delivery nurse. Seriously I couldn't have made it without her. She was pushing on my hips and talking me through the breathing. I'm serious, amazing. Finally the anesthesiologist came in and she and the doctor talked to me about everything and I signed all the paperwork needed. I was given some of the strong medication and I was feeling so much better. After they wheeled me into the OR I started to smile because I was feeling so much better. The doctors and nurses commented on how they thought they would never see me smile again after all the pain I had gone through. I was all prepped and they let Jeff come in. Jeff watched the entire c-section. The anesthesiologist kept me notified on what was happening and told me when I would be feeling pressure. She said some women find the pressure to be so uncomfortable it may be painful but really it didn't hurt at all. My c-section of course couldn't be normal because what else had been normal during my delivery? The baby had been pushed so far down and was wedged in my pelvic bones. Sorry to be graphic but the nurse had to push from the bottom as well as the doctor pulling from the top. The nurse couldn't even get a good stand on the floor while she was pushing. They thought they were done but she ended up having to push again but this time the nurse had to use a fist because the finger tips weren't giving enough pressure. Poor McCoy. Jeff said he thought newborns were incredibly fragile until he watched them pull him out of my stomach. It took a moment for him to cry, they said he would eventually and the second he did I started to cry. I was so happy to hear my son and know he was there. They brought him to Jeff and he showed McCoy to me, since I couldn't move my arms. He was so beautiful. There were complications with my uterus because it had thinned with my pushing him down so far so they had to do a few extra tests and things causing my c-section to last forever. Part way through I ended up falling asleep because I was so exhausted.

Jeff left shortly after McCoy was born to take him to the nursery. He said he would stay with me but I told him to go, knowing it could take a while, not knowing it would take that long. My parents and sisters were waiting for us in the labor and delivery room we had been in. Jeff walked right passed them, not realizing he did because he was so interested in holding his boy. They all got to go up to the nursery and hold the baby while they waited for me. I guess he had a horribly coned head. I finally came out of surgery and was so out of it. Unfortunately I lost a lot of blood, more than they like but not enough that I needed a blood transfusion. So I'm still trying to build my red blood cells back, I have horribly pale skin. My family left so that I could get some sleep and they brought my baby to me. It was so good to see him. We were taken to our room where we stayed for the next 4 days.

We are so happy he is here and love him to pieces. I won't lie, the adjustment has been hard. The recovery from the labor and delivery has been hard and then learning how to take care of a newborn has been difficult too. Every day gets better and just looking at my son helps me to remember why it is so worth it.

The other exciting news is that my brother Billy and his wife Jacee had their second baby, a boy on the same day McCoy was born. Jeff and Billy had both said we should just have our babies on the same day since we were being induced just a day apart. Jacee happened to go into labor a day early and had him quickly. So we have two boy cousins with the same birthday. So fun.