Lovin' Lefty...

Caroline has found her feet...or should I say foot. Her left one to be exact. She is completely fascinated by it. She just stares at it and moves it around; it's hilarious. Her expression is one of complete confusion. I tell her it's her foot, and I explain what we use our feet for (walking, jumping, dancing, etc, etc), but she hasn't quite figured it all out yet. I have also tried introducing her to her right foot, but she is not the least bit interested. I guess she is a one foot kind of gal, and for now she only has eyes for "Lefty."

Here she is posing at Mimi's house last week. It was hard to get a good pic since she was obsessed with staring at "Lefty" :)

In other news, we recently busted out the Bumbo for the first time. She likes being able to sit up and look around, but she can only hold herself up for so long before she slumps over. We'll keep working on it :)

Quick Trip to Big D

While Jon headed up to South Dakota for a pheasant hutning trip with his dad and brothers, Caroline and I decided to hop in the car and head to Dallas to spend some quality time with the fam. It was a quick but fun-filled trip!!! We had lunch with my mom at work, and Caroline got to meet the lovely ladies on my mom's team. We visited my dad at his bank, and had lunch with he and Sherri. Grammy baby sat while I helped Aunt Elizabeth with her baby registry, then Minnie baby sat while my dad and I went car shopping, then Papa Al baby sat while Mimi and I went to Kohl's. We hung out with Aunt Brittany, cousin Emma, Grammy, and Mimi, had lots of quality time with GGma and GGpa! Oh yes, and we got to have a yummy sushi lunch with Uncle Paul!

Here are a few pics...

Helping Papa at the bank

Posing with the pumpkins on Mimi's porch

I thought this expression was hilarious... With my Mema and Papa (Caroline's GGma and GGpa)
With Uncle Paul

Happy Election Day!

We went to vote bright and early this morning! Caroline was dressed in red, white, and blue for the occasion and she got her very own "I Voted" sticker...She promptly spit up all over her blue shirt...I guess she prefers red ;)

Happy Voting!

Halloween, Homecoming, and the Hospital...

Whew! We had a very busy weekend!

HALLOWEEN...

First, we got together with our BFF Matelyn to take some pictures in our costumes...

Mommy, Caroline, Matelyn, and Ginny

Mommy and Caroline
Caroline in the pumpkin hat that Mimi gave her...It was VERY tight on her big ol' head...Trying to squeeze it on gave me flashbacks to my own childhood. She is also wearing the pumpkin bib that Jon's friend, Greg, sent us...cute!

Then, it was off to Waco for Baylor Homecoming Weekend. We stayed with Kristin and Jared, and helped them hand out candy on Friday night.

Our little strawberry!

Caroline "trick-or-treating" at Kristin's house...Thanks for the yummy candy!

HOMECOMING...

Saturday was the game against Mizzou. Jon organized a tailgate for a bunch of his friends...it was so much fun! We'll be tailgating again for the BU/A&M game in 2 weeks :)

The guys with 2 of their former coaches...Don, Greg, Luke, Jon, Coach Firch (their former O-Line coach), Derek, Joe, Coach Meyer (their former Offensive Coordinator), and Andrew.

Caroline and Matelyn getting a quick diaper change on the tailgate before heading into the game...Of course, the girls were wearing matching BU outfits and yes, Ginny and I also have the same diaper bag :) (well, almost the same...I mean, hers is pink, brown, and green, and mine is just pink and brown ;))

Since Jon played at Baylor and his brother, Steven, played at Mizzou, the BU/MU game is big excitement for the Erickson clan. They all came down from Dallas for the game (with the exception of Steve and family, because they live in Kansas City)

Bryce and Elizabeth (also BU alum, expecting Baby BOY Erickson in March...YEA!), Nina, Jon, Me, Caroline, Don, Brittany, Clark, and Emma. It was so much fun to see them...thanks for coming to cheer on the Bears!!! (and the Tigers, too, I guess) It was a GREAT game, hopefully next time the Bears can pull out the win :)

Last, but not least....

THE HOSPITAL...

After the game, we stuck around to clean up the tailgate. We finally left the stadium at about 6:30, as we were cruising down Valley Mills Rd. towards Kristin's house, we were rear-ended by another car! The people in front of us had stopped to turn into Popparollo's Pizza (for those of you who are familiar with Waco), we were able to stop, but the woman behind us wasn't paying attention. We were in Jon's truck (luckily) and she was in a small Honda, so her car sort of went up underneath Jon's bumper. The police, fire dept, and ambulance all came. The woman who hit us broke her hand and banged up her legs, but Jon, Caroline, and I were fine, just very upset, but not hurt. However, the firemen and paramedics recommended we take Caroline to the ER to have her checked out by the doctors, just in case. :( Of course, this is all happening at Caroline's usual dinner time (7:00 pm) so she was even more upset because she was hungry! But off we went...She checked out just fine and seems to be acting like her regular sweet self, but it sure was scary for both Jon and I. Certainly not the way we would have liked to end our weekend, but we are so thankful that everyone was ok.

The damage...not too bad. (The other lady's car was totaled)


It really was a great weekend with great friends (despite the ER visit, of course). Looking forward to the BU/A&M game!

2 Months!!!

Caroline is 2 months old today which absolutely amazes me. It's going by so fast! We started out the day with our check up at the pediatrician's office, complete with her first set of shots :( She did pretty well, lots of screaming, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She is healthy and doing well! She weighs 11 lbs. 12 oz. (75th %tile) and is 22 1/2 in. long (50th %tile). Apparently she takes after me, because her head circumference places her in the 97th %tile :). We spent most of the day napping after our traumatizing morning, but all in all it was a great day!

Here are few things about Caroline at 2 months...

-She still doesn't love tummy time, but we continue to push through. Her dr. says her head shape is still nice and round, so we must be doing ok :)

-She loves her mobile and her rain forest play mat. She also loves her swing and bouncy seat. She really just loves to sit and look at everything around her.

-Still loving the paci for sure...Don't know what we'd do without it!

-She is still getting up once at night to eat, but she has slept through the night a couple of times. We are hoping it begins to happen more frequently very soon!!!

-She smiles and coos and goos all the time, and I LOVE it!!! So sweet :)

-She has already been on several road trips...to the lake house in Corsicana, Dallas, Waco, Fredericksburg...She is a great little traveller.

-Nicknames-Punky, Chunky Punky (she is almost 12 pounds!;)), Punkadoo, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bean, and Daddy's favorite...Pumpkin Butt

Here are some pics of Miss C... Playing with Daddy...he blows in her face and she thinks this is pretty hilarious.

Sweet sleeping angel. I love it when she is swaddled with just her little head poking out. So cute! She is quite the Houdini, though as she manages to wriggle our of her swaddle blanket (aka baby straight jacket).

The dr. also said he thinks her eyes will stay blue and that her hair will probably continue to get lighter. She is growing and changing everyday...we just love her so much!!!!!!

Fun in Fredericksburg!

Over the weekend we headed to Fredericksburg to visit our friends, Kyle and Megan. We made sure to attend the Wine and Food Festival while we were there :)

Having fun with the girls...Megan (who is expecting Baby Staudt due in May!) took such good care of Caroline :)

The boys sporting their wine glass necklaces...really cool, right?



The whole gang. (Kyle is pointing at the wine stain on Jon's shirt...apparently the wine glass necklace isn't spill-proof;))

Thank you to the Staudt's for a great weekend!!!

Just Hangin' Around...

Not too much to report around here! Here are some recent pics of Caroline :)

She smiles all the time, and I am obsessed with trying to catch it on film :)

All dressed up for our dinner date with Daddy...We went to Maudie's...Yummy!!!

Here eyes are still looking very blue, I wonder if they will change??? (I obviously need to adjust the red-eye thing on our camera)

She LOVES her Daddy...Can you tell by the huge smile on her face? :)
Happy!

Serious.
Little Flirt!

A sad day for football...

Our Saturdays typically consist of watching College Football all day long. Yesterday was no different.

We started out by watching College GameDay on ESPN (which was broadcasting from right here in Austin :)) We were pretty excited when Kirk Herbstreit picked Baylor to possibly upset Oklahoma State! Unfortunately that didn't happen, as the Bears lost to the Cowboys. BUT, I have to admit I am happy to see OSU having so much success!!! I come from a long line of Okie State Alum...my mom, dad, grandpa, the list goes on...so if we have to lose, I guess I don't mind losing to them ;)

We were hopeful that even though the Bears couldn't pull off the upset, Mizzou would be able to pull off a win against UT. Jon's brother, Steven, played football at Mizzou, so the Erickson clan always supports the Tigers! Not to mention, despite being Austinites, we are NOT Longhorn Fans. So, we put on our trusty Mizzou t-shirts and heading to our local watering hole to watch the game with some friends! It's actually a pretty sweet set up...they have a huge big screen set up on their patio. It was a beautiful day and we were ready to talk some trash as the only Mizzou fans in the whole place...

Unfortunately, an upset wasn't in the cards for Mizzou either...they lost...big time. SO SAD!

Here we are with our Longhorn-Lovin' friend Philip.

Jon decided the scarecrow was probably a Mizzou fan, too.

For the record, the place we went to watch the game is actually a very family-friendly establishment :) Caroline is at this great age where we can basically take her anywhere, and she just sleeps! We are trying to enjoy it as much as possible, as I am sure the older she gets, the more difficult it will be. For now, she is content in her little carrier wherever we go.

Caroline's First Baylor Game!

Caroline attended her first Baylor Football game this past weekend! On our way back from Dallas, we decided to stop in Waco and watch Baylor play Iowa State...Or should I say, watch Baylor BEAT Iowa State :)

We made sure she had the complete Baylor Football Expereince...

At the George's Tent before the game...

In the stands just before kickoff...

Eating dinner in the Letterwinner's Lounge (Notice she is mid-spit up...Awesome)...

In the SkyBox with Uncle Bryce and Aunt Elizabeth (and the next Baby E, due in March :))...

She loved riding in her Baby Bjorn carrier with Daddy! Somehow she managed to sleep through most of the game, even with Mommy and Daddy cheering and screaming for the Bears :) All in all, her first game was a big success! We are looking forward to Homecoming in a few weeks!!!!

SIC 'EM BEARS!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Mimi and I thought it would be so cute to take Caroline to the pumpkin patch to take her pictures. She had the perfect "Little Pumpkin" outfit to wear, so we were all set!

Well...she fell asleep in the car on the way there, and was not too happy when we began propping her up every which way to take pictures. Enter, The Paci Technique, which goes something like this...Put the paci in, let her get calmed down, count to 3, Mom removes the paci while Mimi snaps the picture.

Here is an action shot...not sure if the paci is on its way out or on its way back in.

Whew! We had to take a break after all that hard work!!!

Happy Fall!!!