The Return of Pacman

For Halloween this year, Dave was Pacman, I was Ms. Pacman, and the girls were two of the ghosts from the Pacman games, Pinky and Blinky.  Thanks to my mom, who helped with the girls costumes, they turned out cuter than I'd imagined.  Dave and I's costumes turned out fine but I didn't make them how I originally planned.  We had to simplify since I ran out of time.  But they still worked.

First, here is a picture of our girls in their Halloween shirts and bows.  So cute!

 

Pacman family.

 

Woah Baby!

Emma Joy Ricks joined our family on October 17th at 3:05am.  She weighed 8lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.  She came with a full head of dark hair.  We love her and she fits right in with the family.  My mom was here that first week which was SOOOOOOO nice.  I wish I could have her live here permanently.  Dave took the week off after my mom left and took a couple days off the week after to slowly help me transition into being a stay-at-home mom of two little girls.  It's tough.  We definitely have good days and bad days but I know it will only get better.

I probably won't ever write about the birth story. I never did with Jocelyn either. Both were pretty easy and uneventful. Though we have discovered that I have what Dave calls, the worst super power ever. I have the ability to make my epidurals wear off. Yes, with both my girls I had issues with them wearing off. With Jocelyn they were able to sort of fix it by giving me boosts or changing dosage but with Emma nothing worked. I was dilated to a 9 and screaming like a banshee. So they removed my epidural and redid it. Thank heaven for drugs when they work correctly!  I hope my super power goes away though before we have any more children.

Now enjoy some pictures.

 

 

 

It's That Time Again!

Yes, it's time to play catch up.  I figure I need to do it before the baby comes or else I'll just get more backed up.  So here is what the Ricks have been up to the last couple of months.  Enjoy!

Fog Willow Farms

This past weekend we headed to a pumpkin patch at Fog Willow Farms.  Such a cute little place.  It wasn't a true pumpkin patch.  They basically just had a ton of pumpkins lined up or in crates for the taking but it was still fun.  Our friends and neighbors, the Holts joined us too.

There was a large haystack play area for climbing that was surrounded by a little balcony where goats lived. Genius. The girls went on pony rides which they loved. It's a good thing Jocey's friend Lizzie was there because I don't think Jocelyn would have gotten on that pony if Lizzie hadn't first.

After the pony rides, we went on a tractor ride around the farm. Again, the kids loved it, especially how bumpy it was. Then we went to the animal petting area. We saw a really fat and lazy pig, bunnies, and got to feed goats. The goats were a little aggressive trying to get the food but Jocey eventually warmed up to them.

That's some pig!

 

After feeding the animals, we looked at some llamas, chickens, and more pigs and bunnies. Then we headed over to some toys. Jocey learned how to rope a steer.

 

Also, Jocey, along with daddy, participated in a rubber ducky water race. Pumping that water is hard. After playing, we had lunch and then played on the playground. On our way out we grabbed a couple baby pumpkins to decorate and headed home. I love this time of year and can't wait to start baking pumpkin goodies and celebrate Halloween.

Labor Day in Rancho Cordova

The last couple of years, we have always travelled down to Monterey for Labor Day weekend and stayed with our friends the Gieslers.  Well, we changed things up this year and they came to us.  It's nice that we can actually have visitors stay with us because we have the space now. 

While they were here, we obviously had to watch the football games of Dave and Jordan's teams.  Yipee (insert sarcasm)!  We were able to get them away from the TV so we could take the kids to a splash park.  We BBQ'd that night and played games once the kids went to bed. 

On Sunday we went to church and then surprised the Gieslers by also inviting our friends the Wiests over, who we knew in Monterey as well but have since moved up north by us.  We had dinner and chit-chatted a lot.  It was nice to catch up.

On the last day of their visit, we headed to the Fish Hatchery.  It is the perfect place for children.  They loved it even though it rained on us and then poured on us.  Thankfully, they have a visitor's center where we waited out the storm.  But it kept raining so Dave went and grabbed some umbrellas so we could finish feeding the fish.  P.S. Right now is an even better time to go to the Hatchery because the Salmon ladders should be up and running.  So cool.
 

Jordan and Sunshine feeding the fish.

 

It was nothing but squeals of joy from Ames and Jocey.

 

 

Sitting in a fish egg.

 

We parted ways at the Hatchery and our friends headed home.  It's always fun to see the Gieslers and we can't wait for next Labor Day!

Trip to Tahoe

I finally made it to Tahoe.  We've lived here for four years now and just made it there.  Earlier in the summer, we had talked about camping with our friends, the Oakes.  Well, the Oakes finally took the initiative and planned a trip.  It wasn't camping but we did get away from life for a couple of days.  We stayed in a rental condo type place.  It was nice except for the 1000 stairs you had to climb to get to our place.  Ok it wasn't that many, but sometimes it felt like it. 

Anyway, our first evening there we went swimming.  It was actually a little chilly so we hung out in the hot tub most of the time.  And it was smoky from the fires but it cleared our last day there so we could enjoy the lake.

After swimming we had dinner.  The next day we played mini golf, went to a park to let the kids run around, and ate at a buffet.  Each night after putting the kids to bed, we played games.  So fun!

 

Our last morning there, we cleaned the condo and headed to the lake. It was so beautiful but cold. It was a quick trip but a nice little break.

 

 
When's our next trip Oakes?!

Summer Vacay

As mentioned in the last post, Jocelyn and I got to visit my family for two weeks this summer.  We had a blast.  Here's what we did (with picture overload included).  We went to a Naegle Family Reunion, hung out with my friends and their kids, went shopping, played with cousins who joined us a week into our vacation, swam at the Aquatic Center, went to Lagoon and Temple Square, visited BYU briefly, and just enjoyed being with family.  Now here comes the picture overload. Enjoy!

 

Cousins at the family reunion.

My friends, Chamrie and Holly, and their boys.

 

Playing with the water ball.

 

This is how we spend quality family time.

 

Safety first.

 

Girls night.  Grandpa and Max got to eat the popcorn with us.

 

These sweeties got their nails painted by Aunt Melanie.

 

Fun at the Aquatic Center.

 

Lagoon's Stroller Brigade!

 

Driving with cousin Jack.

 

All aboard!

 

I was so impressed with Jocelyn.  She was so brave on all the rides.

 

I can't believe how much Jocey loved this ride.  She went over and over again.  It's the kind that goes up and drops you.

 

Salt Lake Temple.

 

So precious.

 

My first encounter with a tarantula.  So sick!

 

As you can tell, we had lots of fun on our trip.  It's always so hard to leave but we know we'll be back and we'll have LOTS more fun again!

Home Improvements

Jocelyn and I went to Utah for two weeks to hang with my family (post coming later). Poor Dave had to stay and work but work he did. He put tile in our dining room. Seriously, why do people build houses with carpet in dining rooms? Our house was built in 2008 so it's not old. Anyway, Dave enlisted the help of his dad and some friends and their tools and the tile went in. They did a great job. See, take a look.

 

 

After we got back from Utah, all that was left was to put the baseboards back on and do some touch ups. It looks professional. Seriously who needs to hire help when you have such handy family and friends. Thanks everyone, we really appreciate it!

The Adventures of Jocelyn

Jocelyn's life is way more entertaining than mine and so here is a post all about Jocelyn and her most recent adventures.

 

Train Museum

We went to the Sacramento Train Museum last week with our friends. Jocey enjoyed parts of it but just wanted to play. Luckily, they have a children's play area upstairs that satisfied her desire.

 

 

 

Hide N Seek
Every day when daddy gets home Jocey does one of two things. She either runs and opens the door to the garage or she hides. Usually her idea of hiding is her putting her hands over her face. Clearly, daddy won't see her. Here is a new hiding spot she recently discovered.

 

Swimming
Jocelyn loves the water and the last couple of times we have gone to the pool, we have gone to the big pool. Now that she has floaties, she has become way more courageous in the water. She loves swimming by herself. I love it too.

 

First Haircut
Jocelyn got her first haircut this week. Our friend Miss Jen did it for us. Jocelyn sat on my lap while Jen cut it and she did a fabulous job (both of them). After the cut was finished, Jocey looked in the mirror and cried and cried some more. She didn't like it. Actually, I think it was just the shock of it because a few minutes later she was fine and now she loves it. The rest of us all loved it especially with her curls.  So cute.  But it was sad to see Jocey upset and it's hard to make a 2 year old understand that it will grow back. Here's the before and after shots.

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

Computer Discovery
Jocey recently discovered our games on the computer but most are too difficult for her. Enter Disney internet games. Jocey loves Disney Junior and they have lots of free games to play.

 

Bounce U
Today we went to Bounce U. It's a place filled with bounce castles. I thought Jocey would love it. We have been to a trampoline place and she had a blast. So why wouldn't she love this? Well we got there and she instantly covered her ears and cried. It was too loud. The attendant turned down the music multiple times but it turned out it was all the air pumps blowing air into the bounce places. We only had an hour and a half to play so I was frustrated. She pretty much clung to me the whole time. We moved to a second room full of toys and she calmed down a little more and then when her friend's daddy got there, Jocelyn finally left my side. That was with only 20 minutes left. I guess she needed the strong daddy figure to help. Oh well at least she played and next time hopefully she'll play right away.