Spring Break 2012

Well, it's Spring Break here in Colorado. Actually, the 2nd week of break. Because of the modified schedule Linnea is on, the one that had her starting school on August 3rd, they have 2 weeks of October Break and 2 weeks of Spring Break. Go figure! I'm been trying really, really hard to keep the kids busy. Week 1 went pretty well. The weather was warm and sunny and we went to the Botanical Garden and the Art Museum, along with trips to the park and a family hike/picnic at Castlewood Canyon. Yesterday, Linnea had a nice day long play date and Sonja actually went to preschool (they are on a different school schedule), so it was just me and my little buddy, Mira, running errands and snuggling down as the temperatures dropped from a comfortable 83 degrees to the 40s and then 30s. This morning we woke up to an inch of snow on the ground! Colorado definitely has the most bizarre weather I've ever seen.












Today we colored eggs. Some of us also colored our hands.

Easter and Spring Happenings

Time just seems to be flying by. Mira was 5 months old yesterday and Linnea's 6th birthday is coming up in just 2 short weeks. Sonja turned 3 back in March. Things have been really busy leading up to Easter and now we are all looking forward to getting back to our regular routine.

The girls had a great Easter - got a little too much candy, but mom and dad helped out with that problem. The weather has been pretty crazy. Some days it's warm and sunny others cold and rainy and other where the wind blows so hard I'm afraid the roof is going to fly off. We've seen days in the high 70s and then just the other night we got a light dusting of snow. Colorado, who knew it could be so unpredictable?

The girls are doing well. Sonja and Linnea are starting to compete more and more for the same things so I'm having to break up fights more often than before. I'm glad that they are not together all day every day. It seems that the time apart from each other does them some good.

Mira is the loudest baby I've ever heard. We joke that she is part pterodactyl. She is loud, likes to sing and gurgle and even occasionally screech. I try to get it on video, but she always seems to clam up with the camera on her.

Linnea's new do - curls!

Mother's Day Tea at Sonja's preschool

Can't hardly find the baby amongst all the presents

Daddy's girl #3

Easter morning

All the girls in their Easter clothes

Practicing their curtsies

Mira's faux hawk curl - it's natural: aren't you jealous?

Coming up we've got Linnea's birthday party, the end of Sonja's preschool year, and Linnea's kindergarten graduation. Then our summer starts June 3rd and I just know it is going to fly by!

Mira Hope

Our little Mira Hope arrived on Sunday morning, the 28th of November after 12 hours of uncomplicated labor. She is a beautiful addition to our family and already has numerous adoring fans, her greatest admirers being Linnea and Sonja. I say "little" because she was our smallest baby yet. She weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces, 21 inches long. Still a pretty good size nonetheless. At her 2 month check-up last week, she was 11 pounds and 23 inches long. By comparison, Linnea was 11 pounds at 1 month and at 2 months, Sonja was nearly 13 pounds. So she still remains our little Mira.

Her adoring fans

Our first significant snowfall last month

Linnea and Sonja both continue to enjoy school. Actually, they were bummed that today turned out to be a snow day. I'm not quite as exciting as school. We can't believe that Sonja's 3rd birthday is right around the corner. How times flies! Sonja has a great sense of humor and cracks us up daily. She's our little spit-fire. Here she is at her school's Christmas program.


Linnea is growing like a weed. I think she must have grown about 3 inches in the last 2 months. Most of her cloths are now too short and she just looks so long. Must be the long legs!

Linnea, the roving photographer, takes a snapshot with her baby sister

Mira is a really great baby. She sleeps well at night, nurses well, travels well and is a happy, smiley baby. Must be because she's the 3rd child. I don't remember getting this much sleep so early on with Linnea.


In about 3 weeks we are taking our first vacation as a family of 5. We are driving down to Pagosa Springs to meet up with my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law for 3 days of skiing at Wolf Creek. Linnea is going to try downhill for the 1st time and maybe Sonja will too. The best part next to seeing family and skiing is that Pagosa has wonderful outdoor, natural hot springs. I can't wait for a nice long soak. We'll let you know how it goes!

Our Move To Colorado and the End of Summer

Well, we've been in Colorado for over 3 weeks now and are really feeling comfortable and settled in. The move from Minnesota was not exactly fun (when is packing and moving ever fun?), but the 2 day drive to CO went off without a hitch. The girls were just fine and even got to ride in Daddy's big, yellow truck!

Packing boxes in Minnesota

Sonja in the moving truck

Some sister time

Sonja and Daddy in the truck

Just a few days after we moved in, Linnea started kindergarten. The kids actually started a week earlier, so Linnea had her own "first day". The elementary school is very close by and I have been enjoying walking her to and from school. She goes to school 2 and 1/2 days a week and she has so much fun!
Little Miss Linnea ready for her first day!

Outside on our front porch!

The following week, Sonja started preschool and really loves it. She goes 2 days a week, which seems like just enough for her. On her first day she came home all smiles and covered in paint. Here she is getting ready to drive with Daddy to her first day of preschool.

We really, really enjoy living in a house and feel truly blessed. Since we've arrived in Colorado, we've felt welcomed and loved by the church community. We feel like we are fitting in well and are looking forward to the next couple of years.

On a pregnancy note, I've been feeling just fine. I'm starting to feel the tiredness that comes with the third trimester, but with both girls in school a couple days a week, I've been able to take rests and relax a little. When both girls are home, however, there is little relaxation; they certainly like to keep me on my toes! I was excited to pass my 1 hour glucose tolerance test (a first for me!), so I don't have to go through the undesirable 3 hour test. We are all getting really excited about meeting are new little girl!

The weather since we've been here has been hot and sunny, but not at all humid, which is a nice change from MN. Now that the evenings have been cooling down considerably, we are looking forward to what Fall in CO has to offer.

We're hoping to keep you updated on a more regular basis, but we'll see what happens!

What's New?

So, I've been really, really behind on the blog posts. But that's good news! That means that we've been super busy and will have lots of exciting news to share. The first batch of pictures I took about a month ago and thought they were super cute. The photos at the end are of Linnea's 5th birthday party back on May 15th. Once again we had beautiful weather.

Now, on to the news. We are moving to Colorado for two years in August. Matthew was assigned an internship at a church in Littleton, CO. We are all very excited about this decision, as this was his first choice of internship sites. The other news is that we will be adding Erickson baby number 3 the the family right around Thanksgiving. We will find out next month whether we're having a boy or a girl. The girls really want a little brother, but I think they'll be just fine with another little sister as well. They are both very excited about the new addition to our family.

I recently took the girls with me back to Massachusetts to visit my family and we had a great time. It was great to see all of the family and for the girls to visit with their cousins. I will have to post some of those pictures soon.

Back in Minnesota Again

It's been so long since our last post and a lot has happened. We spent 3 weeks in Mass and the another few weeks in Washington before our half- country trek back to the cold, snowy Mid-West. On our way back we stopped at beautiful Yellowstone National Park for a few days. There we went on a snow-coach tour of the park and saw some amazing things like Old Faithful and bubbling pots of mud. It was really amazing and the girls enjoyed the trip. We also went cross-country skiing and outdoor ice skating, and took advantage of the indoor pool.

Since we've been back here, it's been pretty cold (compared to what we were used to in Sweden) and we've had a decent amount of snow. And we're loving it! It is so sunny here most days and that I really enjoy. The girls and I have been outside almost everyday (sometimes twice a day) playing in the snow or taking trips to the local libraries. I love to keep these kids busy. We've also been reconnecting with our friends we met here over a year ago and it's been fun to catch up with all of them.

Now Matthew is in the process of interviewing for internship next year. We won't find out where we will be moving to next until after April 1st. Seems like a long time off, but I know it will go quick. I've signed with girls up for swim lessons starting next week and I have a feeling that they'll love them. These girls really love the water and I love how it tires them out!

I've been working on doing a lot of homemade projects in addition to the regular cooking. That means all of our bread (gluten and gluten-free), yogurt, buttermilk and granola is homemade. It's fun to do with the girls and they really enjoy the food. Today we made homemade play-dough, which we didn't eat. ;-)

I'll end the post with a few pictures of the girls and our adventures. Check out the video as well. Enjoy!

Linnea bowling back in Mass

Sonja snoozing

Hiking with farmor in Washington

Linnea on the mountain (Mt. Baker)

Snuggle time

Yellowstone at sunset

Skiing out

Skiing with Sonja

Our snow-coach

Eating ice outside our building

In the tunnel