Marla's favorite toy

It's been a while since we've posted anything

new Marla photos

Angela's labor story

Marla Iyoko Ericson

Marla was born 20 minutes after we got to the hospital today. Had we left our apartment any later she could have been born in our new Mazda.

7lbs 15 oz, 19.5".

She and Angela are doing great.

Day 54 Happy Mother's Day

I awoke this morning to a my favorite Jack Johnson singing Banana Pancakes and Loyd cooking breakfast. We had waffles, eggs, and turkey bacon. Yum yum! It was a great way to wake up and I suppose our first Mother's Day. He's so dang cute!

Day 53 May 7 2011

38 WEEKS! Hot dog! I could just pop at any minute! But I am not ready for my Lil' Dirty yet. We still have so much to do, and honestly a baby will make things that much more difficult. But I am excited. Loyd likes May 11th. I think May 13th would be cool - Being Friday the 13th and all.

Anyway, This is me In all my pregnant glory!

Day 52

This was a baby shower gift. I do not remember the first time I read this book, but I remember loving it and crying. I read it again last night and cried. Now that I am having a son, I was more emotional than ever. I hope I have a good relationship with my children, always.

Tuesday May 3 - Baby Shower and We Love Claudia Party

This is the talented, beautiful, brilliant, exceptional, accepting, and inviting, and any other wonderful adjective you can think of Claudia Bushman. She is an incredibly brilliant and intelligent Historian who was one of the first to start looking at Mormon Women's History. She is also key to the continuation and growth of the interest in Mormon Women's History. She is amazing! The first time I met her, I just sat star struck! But she is so kind, and easy going that it is impossible not to feel comfortable chatting about everything and nothing in between. While living in Claremont I have audited 3 of her classes and have done just a little with the Claremont Mormon Women's Oral History Project that she began. Her classes and the project have been enlightening, educational, interesting, and fun.

Several weeks ago it was proposed that we give a little goodbye gift to her. I was told a little later that we would make a party of it. Of course this was a surprise for her.  I walked into class on Tuesday and was greeted by the most delicious and delicate spread of goodies! It was lovely. And then I was informed that this was MY party! WHAT?!!??  How kind and thoughtful and wonderful and unexpected! I was getting all teary eyed, and I am right now too! I have become friends with these exceptional ladies in my class and it has been great learning with and from them. I just audited the class, but the majority of them were taking the class for credit and I can tell you they worked HARD!

Come to find out the shower was Claudia's idea. That just made my heart melt. I have a deep and profound respect for her and she wanted to give ME something?! Seriously, I feel that is a great honor.

Thank you to all my friends that provided the treats and decorations, and time to organize this! And thank you so much for the gifts! I love them all!

The story gets better - class rolls on - by the end I was wondering what had happened to the money I put in for the scarf for Claudia. I thought " Now I know I didn't put in for myself." ahahahhahahahaa! (that would have been fine too)  I seriously was inches away from asking what happened to the scarf and then the announcement came that this was in fact a party for Claudia! And Mrs. Claudia was surprised and pleased. A wonderful collection of some of her sayings and teachings were quoted as well as the appreciation to her and the class and the project that she started. It was lovely. Claudia was presented with her lovely scarf that was "oh so Claudia" and she posed so sassy like for a few photos. It was a lovely afternoon, and I am so happy to have been a part of Claudia's class and project during my stay in Claremont.

Lovely!

Day 51

These chocolate pops were on the diaper cake. How cute! I don't want to eat them, they're too cute! (but I will) ;)

Day 50 - May 4th

The Claremont 1st Young Women rock! My YW planned and threw us a baby shower last night with the help of all the leaders and other amazing women in the ward. It was a blast, and I have to say that having teenagers and pre-teens at a baby shower adds excitement and vitality that is normally absent. It was so fun! This is a "diaper cake" made by one of the Beehives. Sooooo cute! I can't wait to go to a baby shower so I can make this.  Such a fun night!!

Day 49

This lovely little darling was a birthday present. It sits beside the computer and really adds a touch of beauty to our hi-techish living room. I'll try to keep it alive, but the odds are against me with moving and...me. I can keep ivy's and bamboo alive. Anyway, a few weeks of its beauty will still suffice.

Day 49

Loyd at 37 weeks....

Day 48

My friend Aubrey, used to always have her 1 pinky nail painted. Every once in a while I do it too and it reminds me of all the fun we had. Loyd let me paint his pinky too! I love it so much, especially when he's typing and I see this flash of red. Loyd also lets me paint his toenails sometimes, but only with the light glittery color. hahaha My husband is so fun. I'm thinking of painting Durden's pinky red as well, ya know it'll be a family thing ;)

Day 48

Ok- Todays post. These are the little shirts I bought for Durden in LA. I wish they would have had a bigbird shirt in 12 months, but the smallest they had was 24 months. I would have lost it by the time he could wear it. Anyway, I just love the bright colors of these shirts! So fun and happy.

Day 47

San Diego Here We Are! Tuesday April 26

Mom and I went on a day trip to San Diego. It was only about a 2 hour drive from Claremont. I can not believe Loyd and I haven't gone. It is seriously amazing! All the bays are beautiful! It has such an old country feel - like an old city in Madrid. I loved it! We spent the day with one of my mom's friends in Balboa Park. AMAZING! You could easily spend 3 days there. So much to do for every age! Oh man, was I so tired after all that walking, but it was fabulous! I definitely want to spend more time in San Diego.

Day 46

Monday was a pretty chill day. We ended up going to the Botanical Gardens behind my apartment. We walked around most of the 80 something acres and then took a riding tour of the more cared for area. They have plants from all over California even a few redwoods. The redwoods do not grow to their potential because they need higher altitudes and cooler weather, but they grow and are surviving. My mom was excited to see the redwoods. I'm trying to convince her to just plan a vacation to the Sequoias or the Redwoods and not give my dad a choice, but to go!

Day 45

Happy Easter Sunday! April 24

Loyd said we look like 2 fatties mashed together. I say I'm hiding  half his body with my gigantic belly! Easter was nice and relaxed. Loyd gave a great talk. (Which he should be posting online.) And for dinner we ate at the Brown's house (great couple in our ward). Happy Easter!

Day 44

Saturday April 23 my mom and I were escorted through LA's garment district by my friend Angie. And boy wow! So much stuff to look at. I bought these cute little shirts for Durden. I'll post a pic of them. My favorite part was the street vendors. We had these great hotdogs that had guac and pico on them and onions! so good! And we had churros and also fresh fruit with chilli pepper. The only thing I would have added was the corn on the cob with the sour cream. I've always wanted to try that!

Day 43

My mom, cleaning away. On Friday April 22 we had my birthday party. Alas I didn't get any pictures of it. But my mom made cinnamon rolls and bread and a chocolate trifle for my b-day cake that day. Holy cow!  It was a whole lot of fun. Loyd slaved over the grill cooking hotdogs and hamburgers and I mingled with my friends. We had the party in our apartment clubhouse and another group was having a party at the same time. My mom got everybody - even the other group to sing happy birthday to me. HAHAHA it was the loudest, best, most awesomest happy birthday song ever!

Day 42

Thursday April 21 we went to DisneyLand! We had a great time. We arrived at about 1:00pm and left at midnight.  My mom loved it! I am so happy she had fun. She rode Thunder Mountain by herself and it was too much rollercoaster for her. I wasn't sure what her level was, because I rode it when I was 6 months pregnant.  I waited in line with my mom for Thunder Mountain and people kept looking at me with worried expressions. lol!

365 Days of Pictures Day 41

On Wednesday April 20th we went to the Redlands Temple for the Claremont RS Temple Trip.

365 Days of Pictures Day 40

April 19 - Happy Birthday to me! My mom flew in and spent a week with me. It was a lot of fun, but man was I tired! On her first night here we went walking around the campuses - mainly Scripps. Which is an incredibly beautiful campus. My mom was so excited by the fruit on the trees just there for the taking. She had to get some! This orange ended up being SOOOO sour. All that work for a sour orange.

365 Days of Pictures Day 39

This was taken a while ago - but I can't quite remember when. My feet became way more swollen yesterday! So gross. you can tell I was wearing my flipflops.

365 Days of Pictures Day 38

Durden's first baby room decorations. Dinosaurs aren't the theme for his baby room - there isn't a theme. I just want to decorate with bright colors. I cut these out on my friends Cricut. (Awesome machine by the way!) Dollar store frames and poster board and here you go....cuteness. 

The dinosaurs started because a good friend made Durden a baby blanket and burp rag with dinosaur pattern material. Super cute! I also have a Paddington Bear with a bright yellow rain jacket and bright blue hat.

365 Days of Pictures Day 37

It's been a while since I've posted a pregnant shot. Here you go. And you can see my new glasses!

This is between 32 and 33 weeks.

365 Days of Pictures Day 36

Up close and personal!
My in-y-out-y. Loyd thinks my button is gross because it won't make up its mind if it's an in-y or an out-y. I have a really deep belly button. On a normal, non pregnant day you can't ever see the bottom it. It's like my belly button is turning inside out, but there is so much inside to be turned outside, that it's not quite making it. hahaha

365 Days of Pictures Day 35

OK - I know I fell of the wagon with my pictures. I'm not going to skip any pictures - even if takes me 2 years I will get 365 DAYS of photos! Hahaha! So i'll just continue on like there was never a break.

My friend Laurie painted and decorated my toes all fancy. Now even when my toes are swollen, I feel ok about it - cuz they are super cute!

Oh... and April Fools

Durden is still in Angela's belly. And hopefully he stays there for another month and a half.

Durden Isao Ericson

A bit earlier than we were expecting, but Durden is healthy! Angela is doing good too.

More details later.

Durden's ultrasound Feb 4th

My life before marrying Angela

Day 34

More than 6 months ago I made bran muffins. Loyd loved them so much that 2 dozen muffins would be gone in under 2 days and I would have eaten 2 or 3. So I stopped making them. Tonight I decided to make them again. I made regular sized muffins and mini bran banana muffins. I would have added nuts but I'm out. Loyd is so happy and promises to eat no more than 2 a day. LOL. We'll see.

Day 33

Wednesday I volunteered to help babysit for the mothers who are in cubscouts. Aneta and I had a great time with the kids. We played hide and seek the music makers, simon says, and we made music with the little tambourines and bells. The kids were super cute.

Day 32

Every Tuesday I attend Claudia Bushman's Mormon Women's History class. It is very interesting, and we never cease to have great discussions. If you look in the corner you will see the one lone man in the class. Last semester we had 2 men. This class keeps my brain wheels turning for when I start school again as an enrolled student.

Day 30

We have a new favorite comedy called Community. We are working on the 2nd season now. It is really very funny. It is set at a community college and 7 classmates form a spanish study group. Sooo funny. I think we watched the first season in under a week. Yeah - we are hooked.

Day 29

Well, today marks the beginning of my 3rd trimester. Durden aka Lil' Dirty, is kicking and wriggling all the time. I think he kicks to the beat of music he likes as well. When I have Jack Johnson playing I feel tiny little kicks in the same place. Funny.

Day 28

Oh no! Our first broken plate. I was at the computer and heard a crash and crunch. I thought it was one of our good pyrex dishes. No, just a small saucer. Whew! I thought we should record the beginning of the end of our complete set of dishes. :)

Day 27

I was so happy to come home from the eye doctor today to a clean bathtub! Thanks Loyd. I have to say for Loyd's sake, that he does clean up around the house. Buuuuuut when it comes to cleaning the toilet, bathtub, or mopping, or any kind of deep cleaning...ummm...let's just say he hasn't graduated to that level. Now it is becoming more and more difficult and uncomfortable to bend into the tub to clean it, so Loyd will have to take over tub duty. P.S i knew he didn't deep clean before we were married - Nancy can vouch for the state of his bathroom in his single days. yikes!

Day 26

Our apartment is beginning the metamorphosis process from a habitable location into a packing zone. Actually, we really haven't begun the packing phase, we just have been too lazy to put these boxes under the bed or in the storage unit. Beginning after my mom visits we will start packing up for the move back to Utah.

Day 25 Valentines Day

It is our Valentines tradition to eat sushi. This is our 4th year celebrating sushi Valentines Day together. I still would like to receive flowers one of these days. Maybe next year.

Day 24

On a previous post I talked about Harvard Ave and how one of the great things about it, are these trees and their gi-normous roots. I had to share. I wish you could tell from this picture just how great these trees really are.

Day 21, 22, 23

I can't believe I went 5 days without posting a picture. Well...I have been out of it!
Top Picture - I started getting all snotty and drainagee and sinusee - so I kept my sinuses cleaned out and in 2 days filled up the garbage can with all my snot rags! 

Well, then I developed acid reflux, which is now my constant companion. I thought it would get better, or I could ignore it, but then I developed this racking cough. So now I am coughy, and acid refluxee, and still snotty. Just today did I decide I should get something for the acid reflux. I am also cutting down on the common acid reflux culprits like dairy, fried foods, sugary foods, tomatoes, juices and citrus fruits. I don't know what I'm going to eat. I have been loving yogurt, oranges, and any kind of juice I can find. Sad.

And Finally, the 3rd picture. I began working on a quilt for one of my nieces several months ago and then grew bored. Well, her birthday is coming up here soon, so I need to get it done. I finished cutting out all the squares (164) and paired them up. I am making a quilt as you go quilt. Basically, each block is a miniature quilt. Then you put the pieces together with sashing - so lines of quilt in between each block and then the border. WOW! It is a project for sure. I feel bad giving away my first quilt...I have no idea what I'm doing, so it will no doubt be crazy looking. I hope she's not insulted. 

Day 20

For those of you who didn't know, I am teaching myself to play the piano. I have the regular practice books that I spend a great deal of time on, but to keep it fun and to keep myself challenged I practice a few other songs as well. This is one of the songs I am trying to learn. It is the simplified version ofcourse. I attempted the regular version...uh not yet. I was so frustrated. But this is just difficult enough. This is one of my favorite songs and I like to sing it to my belly. :)

Concerning the previous post (day 19)

Yeah, I just crushed Angela 47-13.

365 Days of Pictures - Day 19

This is our newest game. A Christmas present from Bobby. It is extremely simple and yet fun. And it is one of the only games...ok. The ONLY game that I consistently whoop Loyd's tail. He has won once and by only 1 or 2 points. We just played  and I won 70 to 52. HAHAHAHAHA!

365 Days of Pictures - Day 18

Aaaaah. Loyd giving my feet a nice rubdown. I guess I didn't drink enough water today cuz my feet were so swollen today. Yuck!

365 Days of Pictures - Day 17

For Christmas we received an electric kettle. It boils water in under 90 seconds. It's awesome! My consumption of hot cocoa has....remained the same. But! It is so much easier, faster, and cleaner now. Love it!

365 Days of Pictures - Day 16

Hey I'm starting my 25th week of pregnancy today! Loyd looked at me this afternoon and said "Wow! You're HUGE!" Not compared to other pregnant women - I fit perfectly inside the averages. but compared to what I normally look like. hahaha, uh, yeah I am very huge compared to 6 months ago. hahahaha! There are pants that fit me a week and 1/2 ago that no longer fit me now. Shirts that I bought for the between stage to medium baby bump are just beginning to get a little tighter (not bad yet). Today, walking up stairs really winded me. That hasn't happened in a while. Yep, I am definitely entering the next phase - the so tired of carrying around 30 extra pounds phase, and I can't quite get my breath phase. (No, I haven't gained even close to 30 lbs yet!)

365 Days of Pictures - Day 15

Look at our little boy. We captured some good shots during the ultrasound today. My doctor let us video tape it. So funny. I love watching his little heart beating. Here it looks like he is sucking his thumb. His "business" was difficult to locate because he is breech; they had to look way down between my pelvic bones for his bum. So I guess he has graduated from Angeloyd to Durden.

365 Days of Pictures - Day 14

Tonight for RS meeting we made bread knots. I really liked the bread knots. We made them with cinnamon and sugar, but I started imagining garlic and butter and Parmesan cheese knots. Oh my! The possibilities are endless! Here is their dough recipe and directions.

2 Tab. Yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1 cup oil
4 eggs
7 to 8 1/2 cups flour

Tear small pieces(golf ball size) of dough. Roll into a snake shape. Roll and coat in melted butter, then roll into Cinnamon and Sugar mix. Tie dough into a knot and place in a muffin tin. Allow to rise until doubled. Bake 10-12 minutes or until brown.

365 Days of Pictures - Day 13

In my neighborhood is a street called Harvard. It is probably my favorite street in Claremont. It is residential and just great. Every house has it's own personality - every yard is unique. And there are also these great big trees with hug bulging roots. I love this street. I love this yard b/c it is a jungle. I promise there is a house somewhere inside all that foliage!

365 Days of Pictures - Day 12

Typical meal in the Angela and Loyd home. Well, asparagus isn't typical, but meat (usually chicken) with onions and some kind of vegi is very typical. The other day my mom asked me what I cooked- so I thought I would share. The asparagus was tasty but only cooked  half way down the stalk. I was way to impatient and instead of cooking it in shifts, I just dumped the whole bunch of asparagus in the pan. Other than that, it was mighty tasty.

creepy

I just received this email. And if it is sincere then I feel bad, but it was a bit...unusual, so I thought I would share. I wonder if this person just spams random profiles or just women...I don't know. But did he not see that I am married? Dunno.

Email:

Adebayo Eddie February 1 at 2:28pm Report

Hello..

How are you doing? I shouldn't have email you this way but I believe this may come to you in a way you won't like but please I don't want you to think of it that way. I want you to know I have no other choice than to email you and make my point. that why am going to make this clear to you and I believe you will understand.

My name is eddie from ohio. I am a deaf man. Am 6'5 tall. Average body. I am a lonely and also a single deaf man with no kids or woman. I am in this world alone. I lost my parent 8 years ago and since then I have been left with no family but then I have a girlfriend which I didn't know she's a cheat. I cought her in bed with my old friend david it was very painful experience. since then I have stay away from ladies. I use to believe that all woman are same thing. But some months ago I notice am not getting any younger so I change my mind to find a nice and caring lady that I can trust.

That why I came on here to look for someone. that how I came acrose your profile .reason Why I stop at your profile was because all the people I know that was called that same name you call are all nice people even my mom was call that name too and she's a very nice person.
I want you to know am a nice,caring,loving and giving person and I can gauranty you that you will be so happy to know me.

I don't mind to relocate in future that was my plane. if you think ohio is far to you.no plm at all I can move nearer to ur place in future..

Please reply me soon. I believe you are a very nice and sweet person. Reply me soon to brace91@yahoo.com so we could starte to chat and know more things about each other smiles...

Thank you so much smiles...

365 Days of Pictures - Day 10-11

ummm - so it is much more difficult than I thought to take a picture everyday. We just do ordinary things that really don't seem picture worthy. So maybe that is what is so special about this goal after all - to appreciate the ordinary things and find what is special and unique in those moments. Here are 2 for today - even though yesterday I didn't take a picture.

Top Photo
For several days Loyd and I have been wanting pizza. We finally broke down. I ate all but 3 slices of the cheeseiest of cheesy medium cheese pizza. I could have eaten the entire thing, but I started getting a little heartburn. I figured even though I could fit more in, I probably shouldn't. Oh, but it was soooo good!

Bottom Photo
Since I no longer tutor, I have begun working for the publishing company Loyd works for. This is our office situation - view from the kitchen. There are pro's and con's working from home and working with/for your spouse. Luckily, it's not one of those "I'm your boss, do what I say" type dynamics. I am nowhere near humble enough to handle that. Basically, I just do the stuff that Loyd would have done, but now he has me to do those smaller, easy yet time consuming tasks.