Happy Birthday Uncle Brent!

WELL, I am really behind on blogging.  We have been really busy the past 6 months and frankly just trying to cope and function with three kids under three.   Life is full and FUN and very busy and at the same time really challenging for me as a mommy with a strong willed Benjamin and Lainey Ann who cant really communicate all her needs yet.  Claire is a delight and finally at 5 months sleeping through the night, praise the LORD!  Here are some pictures from our adventures in Pebble Beach, CA and our family reunion to celebrate my brother Brent's 40th Birthday.  What a special and significant time with the Harman clan to celebrate Brent in one of his favorite places on earth.  Pebble Beach, CA for a golf vacation.  It was beautiful and surprisingly to me there was a lot to do with the kids.  And at 34 weeks pregnant it was a wonderful destination to relax and prepare for Baby Claire.  I had the most amazing SPA experience at the Lodge at Pebble Beach.  It was like a movie scene.  There was an outdoors waiting room with views of the Pacific Ocean.  Here are some other pictures from our travels from Thanksgiving.  I am so very thankful for my parents and the generous offering of this incredible vacation.  We rented a beautiful home in walking distance to Pebble Beach Golf Club.   What a dream! Thanks for having a birthday Brent!  We love you.

The most Amazing Sunset on 17 mile drive

The Lone Cypress a famous tree
that is a spectacular site to see on 17 mile drive

Walker Sr. and Bryce on the Spanish Bay Golf Course
Bryce said it was one of the most amazing experiences of his life.  They were the "dew sweepers"
 and had incredible caddies to help them play the course.  

Lainey Ann and Benjamin getting ready for our trip and for baby sister.  I got out the bassinet to get it ready for the baby and they climbed in with all of Benjamin's "friends"  (his stuffed animals)  They were hilarious, both stuffed in the baby bassinet playing peek-a-boo with the teddy bear!

Daddy and our "Daddy's girl"  Lainey Ann on our flight to California.  

They both did great thanks to Finding Nemo and lots of snacks!!

Here's my VERY large belly on our road trip to the state park north of Pebble Beach

 We went to this awesome hotel The Post Ranch Inn and ate at their restaurant and it was literally on the side of a cliff.  It was so stunning.  I see now why people LOVE California so much. The scenery was so spectacular.  It was in the Big Sur National Park area and it was worth the drive down from Carmel.

We wreaked havoc on the Lodge at Pebble Beach's Bar area for our Thanksgiving Lunch.  It was delicious food, but no cornbread dressing or pecan pie.  We missed our Southern Favorites!

 Ainsley helping me chase down Lainey Ann and Benjamin

View from the 17 mile drive

 Playing in the Sand....hey what is this stuff Lainey Ann seems to say with her bewildered look

 Benjamin "helping"  LaineyAnn at the Beach.  It was a beautiful but quite chilly November Day at the beach but it was our first Thanksgiving to walk on the beach!  So fun!
 Here we all are on our Adventure to "Seal Beach"- hundreds of Seals on the rocks it was so fun for kiddos to see all those seals so close up.

 Here are Benjamin and Lainey Ann helping mommy "Cook" at our rental house.  They made a complete mess but on this rainy afternoon it provided mommy with an activity for the Erickson crew.  There were not many baby or kid toys at the rental house:)

 Finally heres our final night at Spanish Bay the famous bagpiper at sunset which is a nightly tradition at Spanish Bay Golf Course.  We met the golfers for a cocktail and had a chilly,  but fun sunset experience on the 18th green.  For some strange reason I do not have a picture of Brent and Elle from this trip??

 But I do have this PRECIOUS picture of their little boy DOC.  He was 7 months old in this picture I believe.  He looks like Elle I think but he has the most expressive Harman mannerisms, which is quite fun because he looks like Mckay sometimes.  8

Lainey Ann 8 months - Lots of Firsts

Eight months ...I cannot believe she is 8 months old. It is flying by. She is still a total delight to our home. She loves her jumper still and is totally entertained in that especially when I am cooking dinner and Benjamin is "mowing" around the kitchen before dinner. Praise the Lord for that little johnny jumper! She loves food and just like Benjamin I have to keep a steady pace of shoveling the food in her mouth or we will hear her scream. She really only cries when she has a dirty diaper or the food is not coming fast enough... she is a true Erickson as well. She is passionate about food!! She loves her new little toy "my Pal Violet" that talks to her and plays music to her as she is going to sleep at night. Uncle Brent and Aunt Elle gave it to her and we are so grateful! She is still nursing and doing great. She eats 4 times a day and is still a great sleeper although she is waking up earlier the past few days as the mornings are a little brighter. We cannot complain she sleeps until 8:30am or an early morning for her is 7:45am. She likes to sleep like her mommy and daddy and that makes us happy! She is enamoured with Benjamin and they are really becoming friends, which makes me so delighted. He calls her "baby" and she thinks that is her name. She turns her head when we say "Baby" but not Lainey Ann. I wonder why? Benjamin screams "baby, baby" all day long.... Oh well she will learn it eventually.

Her first car ride at Benjamin's play group. She is one of the only girls in a group of boy second babies of our group. She will have her pick of all the cute boys to play with! There's Harrison, Henry, Mills, and Anders just to name a few!

Lainey Ann in one of her favorite places... Her Jumper!

This is just a cute one that is just so her - mouth open wide and smiley!! She's all bundled up in her winter hat for the January Snowstorm we had in Dallas. It was too icey to "play in the snow", but fun to look at it and watch Benjamin run around saying "WOW"...Snow!

I don't know if it is because we have been so busy with Benjamin or if it is because Lainey Ann is the second baby, but she just now started holding her bottle. Frankly, she has not had a lot of bottles, so this is just a new fun task that allows mommy and daddy to have hands and feet to chase Benjamin! Here's Lainey Ann hanging out with Daddy in the office. Yippee, I can hold my own bottle...

Lainey Ann sitting up. She is getting really steady at sitting up and she first did it with Grammy and Grandpa Erickson while we were at the Baylor Bowl game in Houston about December 29th. But throughout January she has just gotten stronger and more steady and will sit and play with her toys. This is revolutionary for me, because Benjamin only "sat" for 4 days before he started crawling. Lainey Ann will roll over to get toys, but she does not have any real interest in going anywhere. Wherever she is sitting and playing at she is happy...as long as we are in the room. THIS IS NEW...she is starting to cry when we leave the room - this actually just started a few days ago. She is very happy with her brother and mommy and wants to be with the family. She especially loves her Daddy time too at night snuggling watching Basketball.

My first tea party at 7 months old.... At Christmas my mom invited me and Lainey Ann to a Christmas tea party. It was so fun showing her off to my mom's friends and Ainsley and Lainey Ann got to to a craft and got to take pictures with Santa.

My first walk with Benjamin and Lainey Ann in our double jogging stroller. It was SOOO Much fun! We use our everyday stroller most days, but this one Daddy can attach to the back of his bike. It converts to a double stroller. Benjamin was sweet with her and he read her books while we walked.
Our first trip to the Lake together as a family

Silvia is with us for three weeks until she goes back to El Salvador and she dressed Lainey Ann this day and she said she looked like "Dora The Explorer" with her hat and her jeans and browns sandals. She's ready for an adventure! Go Dora Go!

We propped her up on the picnic basket and then she proceeded to plop down on her head - ooops. It was a really cushy picnic blanket :)

Lainey Ann's first swing ride - I think she looks a little like her BIG DADDY in this picture. It is a very Harman expression. She was a little tentative, but then she really liked it!

Benjamin 21 Months

We strategically placed all of our non-breakable ornaments down low so Benjamin can "explore" the tree with delight and it has worked out pretty well.

This is actually from earlier in the fall but I just could not resist it. He looks like such a "big kid" in his backpack and his glasses.
This is Benjamin in Grandpa Don's hat over Thanksgiving. It was really COLD and he needed a hat. Thanks Grandpa for sharing.
Benjamin loves to help cook or see what's cooking. Whenever I am cooking he wants to be lifted up to see what is on the stove.
This is my ring tail tooter in the raspberry standoff. He managed to sit in his chair for hours and finally at 3:35 in the afternoon he ate the raspberry and then proceeded to eat 15 more!! Clearly, it was NOT about liking raspberries. Needless, to say I have started reading the Strongwilled Child by James Dobson - great read by the way.

Benjamin is 21 months going on 5. He loves to chase the older kids at the playground and Bryce even said that he joined in on a game of tag with some 10 year old girls this past Saturday!

He talks a lot and loves to play the game where is?? All day long he says, "Mommy, where did lovey go or where did Daddy go? Or where did the cow go? etc. Sometimes he goes and hides his lovey in the oven in Lainey Ann's room in her play kitchen just so he can come find me and ask his question.

He still loves to eat black beans and rice and most veggies although he is getting a bit more picky about foods. He absolutely loves being outside and points out all the swings in Dallas when we drive by a park.

After a fun filled time with all his cousins at Thanksgiving, most especially his potty trained cousins, Wyatt and Caroline, he has been asking to go Potty. He has successfully gone number one ONCE. We shall see. I am not holding my breath. It feels way too soon to me. I am thinking its a novelty and that its really about flushing the toilet, but we shall see.

Lainey Ann 6 months

Lainey Ann is six months and I have no idea where the time has gone. She is growing way too fast. She is a healthy, chunky baby girl. She is a really happy baby. She smiles, laughs, and coos most all day. She only cries when she is hungry or dirty and as her Uncle Walker recently called her....she is a doll. We took her to Sevy's for a "Sonny Bryan's Board Meeting" aka family lunch. She smiled and just chilled with the family.

She rolls over from back to front and from front to back but she does not like to perform very often. As her daddy says she is in no hurry to go anywhere. She is most happy in one of our arms, chillaxin!

She loves her jumper and she hangs out in her exercauser although she does not LOVE it like Benjamin did. She rather tolerates it while mommy needs to get some things done like laundry or cooking.

Here she is in one of her favorite places, her swing. It is the best vantage point for watching her brother run around. She seems to be more interested in Benjamin and he makes her smile on a daily basis.

Wonder why??
My first bath with big brother....she is saying What the heck is he doing??
Yummy rice cereal....

Christmas Fun and Santa!

Lainey Ann tried rice cereal for the first time and she LOVED it. She opened her mouth up like a little bird and I could not feed her fast enough.

We went by Grandmommy and Big Daddy's house last Saturday after Santa to show off our fancy Christmas duds!
We attempted to get a shot of the kids together; however, Lainey Ann had had enough and she was not in the mood to sit and smile in her brother's lap. All the Santa fun and no morning nap and she was DONE. Here's the attempt :)

Daddy and Benjamin before School...
This is Benjamin's outfit that I put him in for school that was filled with sand when he came home last Friday. We got a bunch of Christmas hand me downs and I realized it was Dec. 10th and we had not worn any!

We went see Santa this past Saturday and had a really fun time. We went to the DCC and there were Donuts and balloons and the most fun part was the mimosas and the hot coffee for the moms and dads. I say this is the best way to see Santa. No mall lines and refreshments!!

Pumpkin Patch

We recently went to the pumpkin patch at the Arboretum. It was a really fun time especially for Benjamin. He got to run around for hours and chase other kids and play with pumpkins.

I attempted to get a picture of them together. This is a difficult feat because frankly Benjamin does not sit still long enough to "hold" his baby sister and she does not sit up yet so it was interesting.

Holding his sister

Mommy and Benjamin
Here's the best I could do at capturing the both of them.
Benjamin exploring the pumpkin house
Most of my pictures of Benjamin were him running the other way, he was just too excited to stop and post for many pictures.