Sleep Walking?

So this past weekend we had our first confirmed sleep walking incident from Carter.  Steph and I were watching a movie on Saturday night about 11 when Carter came walking up the stairs.  Once he got upstairs, he laid on the couch for about ten seconds, then he got up and walked into our room.  Mind you the whole time he is doing this he is holding his nether regions.  I get out of bed and lead him to the bathroom where he attempts to pee on the sink.  After completing his business he climbs into our bed only to have Steph attempt to wake him up and walk him back downstairs.  This is shortlived as he gets to the top of the stairs and laid his head down and goes back to sleep.  We get him to the couch and he slept the night through, in the morning he had no idea what had happened.  Carter had a sleep over on Friday night with his friends Jack and Cole, of course they stayed up late playing video games and watching movies.  Of course on Saturday morning they were up bright and early to eat their pancakes and bacon.  Carter enjoyed his week off for spring break, but I don't think he was ready to go back to school.  He spent a lot of time over break playing with his friends outside and the weather cooperated.  Hadley has her 6-month check up this week, so I will update her height and weight later this week.  She has been eating about two foods a day and is doing really well, even getting upset at mom and dad for not getting the food into her mouth fast enough.  She is still sleeping through the night and allows her dad to get his work done during the day.

Half Birthday's

So Carter has learned about half birthday's this year and has tried to capitalize with gifts. Little does he know that his dad is one of the cheapest men alive. When he asks for gifts I start in about how there are people in this world who don't even know what television is and here he has one in his room. He then tells me that those people should work harder so that they can afford a T.V., at that point I have no rebuttal. Hadley turned 6 months last week and is rolling all over the place, there are times that I catch her rolling multiple times in a row to get somewhere. She tries to sit up, but is still pretty top heavy. She is mesmerized by her brother and Jax the cat, if either one of them are in the room she is fixated on them. Of course we had a photo session last week to commemorate her six months, but she spent more time staring at the camera than smiling at it. That is of course until the camera was put down, then she wouldn't stop smiling. There were some good pictures, but we are going to get them done in a month or so when she is hopefully sitting up. She has moved on to foods now, we do food twice a day and so far she hasn't found a food that she doesn't like, however, peas did do a number on her "pipes," so we probably won't be doing those for awhile. Carter found out that his baseball team this spring/summer will be the Pirates, he even got a hat with the Pittsburgh logo on it and hasn't taken it off since Saturday. Hadley had her first church experience this last weekend as we went to our neighbors son's baptism. She did pretty well and probably would have made it through the service, but I think Steph pinched her leg so that she could get up with her.

Steph's job has been going great, she is busy as every, typically working 55-60 hours per week. Hopefully it ends soon as she has been covering for a position that a new person is starting next week. She did go to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago, so I was flying solo as a dad, wasn't too bad, Carter and I got to have the meals that we like and Steph doesn't. Carter liked it because I think I am a little bit more lax with the rules than Mom is and he thinks he is getting away with something.

My job got interesting a while back as our partners from Israel bought out the other partners, so there were some tense moments where I thought that I would be updating my resume, but they retained me. There is about an 8 hour difference in time from there to here, so we only cross over a couple of hours in the office, so a lot of communication is done via email. It is an interesting way to work to say the least, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Basment Update

So it has been a looong time since I updated this, sorry.

The basement renovation is complete, it was a long process, but so worth it when we almost double the size of our living space. Carter and his friends fit a lot better in his new room as opposed to four boys trying to squeeze into a 10x10 room with furniture. Even though she didn't know it, Hadley is happy to be out of our closet and into her own room as well. It is nice to work on my desktop computer again instead of the laptop. In the future we are hoping to get a new TV down there and new furniture upstairs so that the furniture upstairs can move downstairs. We really appreciate all the help from friends and family to get it completed.

Big day for the Erickson's

So today turned out to be a big day in the Erickson household. We had Hadley's two month appointment, she tipped the scales at 10 lbs 2 oz and was 23 inches long. The put her in the 45% for weight and 75% for height. She also got three shots, which she was not a fan of at all. Everything checked out fine and she got a clean bill of health. Of course her Nana had to take her around and show her off to everyone in the office and naturally she was dressed for the occasion. After that Hadley and Steph went over to Steph's work so that she could put her two weeks notice in as she has taken a new position with Wesley Life in Johnston. She will be the health services director and oversee 8 marketing departments, needless to say she is excited for the new challenge. If all of that was not enough for a day, Carter came home from school with the announcement that he had lost his first tooth that had been loose for several weeks now. He was super excited as he gets to put his name on the poster at school for lost teeth and his teacher gave him a treasure chest to put his tooth in. On the way home from school I asked him how much money he thought the tooth fairy brought. He thought about it for a minute and said that he thought she brought $100! He is his mother's child. I remember the days when I was excited to get a quarter from the tooth fairy.

Renovation update: We have about 60% of the drywall hung and everything that is hung has been spackled and taped. We are hoping to have all the drywall hung by the end of the weekend and my goal is still to have a Christmas tree down there, even it happens on December 24th!

October Events

October had several significant events for the Erickson household. Carter spent a night in the hospital for dehydration. He came home from school on a Tuesday complaining that he didn't feel well and stayed home from school on Wednesday. He acted fine, but wasn't eating very much and wasn't going to the bathroom. Wednesday afternoon Steph took him to the doctor and I began to mentally prepare for him being admitted to the hospital. He was admitted, but only on an observatory 24 hour period. Thankfully he was discharged after his 24 hours of being in their. Of course by the weekend he was fine and attended the Iowa Hawkeye game with Todd and I. It was kind of a different game as instead of going early and tailgating, we left later and parked and took the Hawkeye Express to Kinnick Stadium. It was kind of fun, not something that I would want to do every weekend, but I know that Carter enjoyed it, so it was well worth it. Carter has started basketball, something that he has been talking about non-stop. His games are on Saturday's and he has practices on Sunday and Friday nights. He enjoys it so far, so hopefully he sticks with it and has fun. This month has seen Hadley grow like a weed. She is really starting to smile now and is staying awake more than she had been in the previous weeks. Carter is still a great big brother, he even has a big brother voice. He still helps out as much as possible, aside from changing diapers. Steph is still on maternity leave, and we are still married with her being home with me all day every day. Tomorrow is Hadley's 2 month appointment, so I will update again after that.

Family Pictures

Last Sunday we had our family pictures taken. You can go to the below link to view them.

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20 Days

Hadley is now 20 days old. So far she hasn't lost any of her hair, that was one of Steph's biggest fears. She is still breast feeding and staying on a schedule for the most part. Last Friday, she slept for five straight hours for daddy! Last week was her two week appointment and she weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz, 2 oz heavier than when she was born. Her neck is getting a lot stronger as she is trying to hold her head up when she is getting burped. She went on her first salon visit today with Mommy and did great, like usual. Steph had her first alone day with the kids last Saturday as I went over to Iowa City for the football game. Not only did she survive the day, but cleaned the house top to bottom and gave both kids baths. Carter has continued to be a great big brother, he loves to hold his sister and always has to have her in the room when it is reading time. He loves school so far, of course he has made several new friends. His favorite school day is Friday, because it is show and tell day. Steph is doing great, but she is not looking forward to 9 weeks from now when she has to go back to work.