Novemberness

So I didn't know what to call this post.  I have a bunch of random pictures I want to show you. So here are pictures from our November.  Enjoy!

One of our first, if not THE first, family outing as a family of four was to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Jocey loves to feed the fish. The girls and I actually went back a couple days later to watch the spawning process. Super fascinating!

Here's some shots of Emma during a couple photo shoots.

Jocey is a really big help with Emma. One day she "helped" by bringing different binkies for Emma to try out. She had a good pile to choose from.

I love buying holiday clothing. This is Jocey and Emma in their Thanksgiving outfits. I love it!

And last, is what happens a lot to Emma. She spits up a lot. And when she spits up in her bed with her face down, this is the product. Poor thing. (Update: We have since discovered formula specifically for spit up issues and this doesn't happen much any more.)

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?!