I haven’t been feeling like the most beautiful Erika on the planet recently.  I understand that this weight gain is good and that it is for a good purpose, don’t get me wrong, but I sure do hate it.  I don’t enjoy feeling bloated and heavy.  I don’t enjoy wearing my jeans unbuttoned as if I can’t button them.  I don’t enjoy feeling self conscious in a tight shirt.  I don’t enjoy avoiding mirrors.  So today I decided that I would dress up and make my 365 post a pretty Erika, one that I felt gorgeous in my skin.  (Obviously that would not include a whole body shot either).  I think I spent two hours getting ready. Just took my time putting on makeup and blowdrying hair.  Nothing really that special here but I feel beautiful and that’s what’s important today.

ENJOY!

-erika

So I was browsing the internet today for some inspiration on my 365 project.  I came across this website that is providing mini challenges.  I decided to take part!  Today’s was “Mouth”.  This is what I came up with.  I can roll my tongue and do this clover thing.  (weird fact: a girl from middle school, Rachel Rivkin, taught me how to do this at her aunts house, I sat in front of the mirror for hours teaching myself this!)  Another fact…..did you know that my husband can’t even roll his tongue!?!?!?!  Hey wasn’t there something about this in Biology where your kids either will or will not be able to roll their tongue according to the parents?

Enjoy!

-erika

Today is 18 weeks.  I really can’t believe we are about to find out what we’re having in 9 days!  That seems so crazy.  It felt like so long ago when we first found out and like agony to wait that long!!!!  Now it feels like we just found out yesterday in the hotel room all over again!  I’m pretty excited and we’ll for sure keep you posted.  I have an appointment on the 14th and we find out the 15th so I’m sure there will be lots of news floating around.

Week 18:

At five and a half inches long and five ounces in weight, baby dotson now may be large enough for me to feel twisting, rolling, kicking, and punching around the womb, that I’ve yet to feel. It is also developing yawning and hiccupping skills (supposedly I may feel those soon, too!) and has a very own unique set of toe and fingerprints.

And just a quick inside look!  Wow…..

Enjoy!

-erika

Alright today I kept wondering what in the world am I going to do a self portrait about, I couldn’t think of anything good.  Then as I was listening to the radio 101.9 they ask That Darn Question and I thought I knew the answer so I called in.  Now if you heard the answer today you heard my voice on the radio!  Which means YAY I won!!!!    If you didn’t I would like to hear your guesses as to what the answer is.

Here’s the question:

Fifty percent of dog owners give their dog what?

Just comment below with your guesses!

Enjoy!

-erika

I often ponder the idea of my grandchildren sitting in my attic and reading all about my life and having all sorts of questions about who I was.  This may be a weird thought, but I remember times when I was able to read something a family member had written when they were much younger and it was fun to slip into their life for a moment.  Today I felt inspired to do a little journal writing.  Hopefully someone one day will read all these things I write and think I’m super cool!!!!  Ok sorry I would write more but there is a fly in my room that is driving me NUTS!!!! Gotta go sorry!  I’m on a fly killing mission now!

Oh and PS.  Happy Easter Everyone!

Enjoy!

-erika

I love my husband but he always seems to get hurt when I have plans to hang out with my momma.  For instance last time we were going shopping and he got kicked in the chin and went to the hospital to get stitches.  Then we turn our attention to this time…….I planned on going over to moms and dying Easter eggs, just something I enjoy doing with my mom the day before Easter, well I get a text from TW telling me that he got bucked off a horse pretty hard today, followed by a picture.  So of course (after chatting with my mom a bit ok more like a lot of bits) I rushed home to play doctor.  Last time apparently I wasn’t very concerned so this time I made sure that I ran in and went straight to him and checked him out.  Now please don’t think I don’t care about him or love him but he as do many boys has a tendency to sorta milk it when he doesn’t feel on top of his game.  So yes I babied him.  And now he’s happy. …… well as happy as you can be with huge swollen knots, a cut in your eyelid, and bruises and scratches all over your head and I’m sure there’s a nice accompanying headache to go right along with that, oh and not to mention the back pain I can imagine from landing wrong.

Enjoy!

-erika

I am in love love love with Orchids.  This may not mean a whole bunch to a lot of people but it means alot to me.  When I was younger and we lived in Santa Cruz, California my great aunt whom I liked to call Grandma Sandy due to the fact that my mother lost her mother when she was just 18 years old meaning I didn’t ever get a chance to meet my true grandmother.  Either way Grandma Sandy was my grandma.  She was amazing, so friendly and sweet, everyone loved her, she was also an amazing artist and had the best personality of anyone I’ve ever met in my life.  In fact I can’t even remember a time when she was mad!  For me she was the most inspiring woman in my entire life.  The year TW and I got married December 2006 she was not going to be able to afford to come out and be in attendance, which deeply upset me, but since I was much older and wiser than my California days I was able to understand how expensive flights were around the holidays.  Grandma Sandy and my Uncle Norm (her husband)  :)  owned and operated a wholesale flower shop that I just loved to go to!  In fact I remember getting to go inside the fridge and getting to see all the flowers in buckets and that smell!!!!!  LOVE…..  All these years later I will catch a glimpse of that smell and it will send me back to those carefree days and I’m in my own little world, in fact when we first got married I was at the store and I smelt this candle and it was THAT smell…..yep bought it on the spot!  The point of that whole story is this, since they wouldn’t be able to attend our wedding they sent flowers as a gift.  I was so excited to have Orchids in Mena Arkansas during Decemeber!  I honestly don’t remember what anything else besides my bouquet looked like!  I was so greatful for that gift when she passed away the summer of 2007 following surgery complications.   I won’t go into detail about how devastated I was and how much it rocked my world, but she was honestly the first person in my life that had passed away that I was really close to, so I’m sure you can imagine.  So the point again is that I love Orchids.  All kinds, they are beautiful and remind me of Grandma Sandy.  So when we went to Dallas two weeks ago and I saw these beautiful flowers in IKEA it was definitely destiny!  :)  So now they have a happy home on our bookshelf where I can see them daily.  I love you Grandma Sandy!

Oh and PS>  I’m furious at you readers……..I made a post yesterday asking you to tell me who got April Fooled or pulled a really amazing prank on someone and guess how many comments I got………..ZERO!!!!  I even was going to give away a prize……but too late……instead I’ll share with you who got me real good!

My cousin Sean, whom lives in Hawaii and we all keep up with his life via Facebook posted a picture of him and his girlfriend and it stated “She said Yes!”   Oh of course Sean totally punked me!!!!  I texted my husband and emailed my mom!  Oh he got me good!  That punk……..pay back is in the future!

Enjoy!

-erika

I tried to play an April Fool’s joke on myself at the mall today and no one played along!  I made this sign and walked all around the mall.  All I got was a bunch of people staring at me as if I had no idea what was on my back.  Of this I can say two things, first of all where’s the fun in not playing along and secondly……apparently we have some really kind hearted people at the mall that were willing to stare and tell their friends and not give me a swift kick in the butt, but no one actually came up and told me I had the sign on my back.  Really I honestly don’t care though.  It was all really just for a self portrait anyways.  It was a fun little experience, and although I had originally packed my “real” camera for this shoot and the batteries died the second I took a test shot leaving me to revert to my “crappy” (meaning point and shoot) backup camera that I carry in my purse, I’m pretty happy with how this image turned out.  Although for a Thursday I really was expecting quite a few more people out shopping!

I would like to hear about your April Fool’s experiences today…..did you get someone really good today or were you on the receiving end of a hilarious April Fool’s?  I want to know!  Leave your comments below and I think I might just hand out a good prize for the best prank!  Please use the honesty rule here though as there is obviously no way I would really know as to if you were fibbing to me!  

Enjoy!

-erika