This is what happens when I can't find anything better to post...

Well, we have had a hard time coming up with new adventures to go on lately, so I will now subject you all to another round of baby pictures. Thought I'd start with a nice set of before and after shots for you. This is Erik at about two weeks old.

 And this is Erik at almost 6 months old.

There's definitly been a little bit of growth going on here.

Erik is turning into a little acrobat. He's decided that the best thing in the world is hanging upside down. He'll spend as long as we'll let him hanging off of our laps. That is, of course, until his drool starts running up his nose. 

 He will also do anything it takes to watch the TV or the computer. I put him down on the living room floor facing away from the TV, and this is what happens.

 Alright, so this next set of pictures is from a while ago, but I haven't put them on here yet. Back in November Erik got his first haircut. We were tired of it getting in his ears and eyes, and he was tired of trying to figure out how to let go of it. He'd be playing on the floor and all the sudden he'd start shrieking. I'd run in to see what was wrong, and he'd have a hold of his hair and not know how to let go. He'd be pulling and yanking and trying to get his hand away and it just didn't work very well. So here's before...

 ...and here's after the haircut.

Don't you wish you had a physique like this? Minus the drool of course.

  Our new favorite activity is eating. Erik loves to eat anything he can get his hands on. Anything made out of cloth becomes a great toy instantly, a burp rag will entertain him for hours.

 Also on the menu are rice cereal, carrots, and peas. Carrots are definitly the favorite, but he'll eat the peas when there's nothing orange to chew on.  

Don't you just wish you could eat him up!

Erik's first Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! My family came all the way from New Mexico and we spent a week playing games, sightseeing, and eating more food than we ever knew we could hold. It was all so much fun! We took them to see the Waverly Plantation, Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, and several other of our favorite sights around here. The best part was just spending time together. Erik thouroughly enjoyed all the attention and has been pretty lonely for all his new buddies now that they're gone. This picture totally captures what it looked like in my living room for most of the week. The boys played lots of computer, Nina and Erik did lots of cuddling, and the rest of us just sat around and talked.

Staying true to Mower family traditions, Erik got to open a present on Christmas Eve. Actually, he opened two, one from each set of grandparents. First he opened his Christmas pj's and a bed time story from Grandma and Grandpa Mower.

Erik was totally willing to model his new jammies for us all, especially since he got to stay awake a little longer to do so!

Grammy and Grandpa Richins gave Erik an awesome Fisher Price nativity scene, so now I can have my pretty ones and he can have his to play with.

Christmas morning started with everyone's favorite Richins family tradition, dragging Dad out of bed. He actually managed to get away pretty easy this year, we just made lots of threats and he crawled out of bed on his own. Not like previous years when we've all grabbed a limb and picked him up and plunked him on the floor.

It was really fun to watch the younger siblings opening their presents. I don't think they had any idea what was coming, but once they got those presents open, they were pretty darn excited, although atleast the older two tried pretty hard not to show that all they really wanted to do was scream and yell and jump up and down.

They all got brand new ipod touches. Heber spent some time hugging his, while Nina was kissing hers. Yes Nina, I saw you do it! Brigham did the best at hiding his excitement, but still couldn't help himself!

Not to be outdone by the kids, Dad had to go and supersize his Christmas present. He lucked out with an Ipad for his present.

Erik made a pretty good haul. He got toys and books and clothes and all kinds of fun stuff. I think his favorite is the little blue ball thing towards the left of the picure. He'll spend huge amounts of time trying to eat it up.

It was so much fun to spend Christmas with my family and we can't wait until we get to see them again!