Merry Christmas!

 

With an almost-two-year-old and a new baby, Christmas was especially fun this year.  Santa brought Olivia a new kitchen.  It has a light above the sink, a burner that makes boiling and sizzling noises, and a microwave, oven, and phone that all make noise.  When Olivia first came out into the living room on Christmas morning, she stopped and stared at it in disbelief.  She slowly inched towards it and hesitated even touching it at first.  After about a minute she couldn't stop exploring everything about it.

For the second year in a row we have had a baby's first Christmas.  Madison didn't get nearly as much out of her first Christmas as Olivia did, but it was fun for us to have her around.

 It was fun dressing the two girls up for church the day after Christmas. 

 

Olivia is already looking forward to next Christmas.  She now knows that Santa Claus is a really cool guy that brings fun gifts.  She doesn't understand Christmas being a year away so she calls Santa once in a while to see if it's time for him to bring her presents again. 

She's Two Weeks Old

I can't believe it has only been two weeks since Madison joined our family.  It's hard to imagine our family without her sweet little personality. 

At her two-week appointment she weighed 6 lbs 12 oz. and measured 20 inches long.  She is consistently sleeping well at night, only waking up twice to feed.  And unless she is hungry or tired she is always happy.  She is definitely a California baby: easy going.

My parents came to visit for 10 days.  Amazingly, my dad had work to do in Southern California from October 13th through the 22nd.  My mom hung out with us during the days and my dad joined us at nights.  The timing of his trip couldn't have been better.

 Olivia loved all the extra attention.  In her words, grandpa is so silly and grandma is so sweet!

One of Madison's favorite places to sleep is in her swing.  For the first few nights home it was the only place she would sleep for us.  Her other favorite place to snuggle up is wrapped up in the soft pink blanket Daniel's mom made for her.  (The one she's sound asleep in in the picture above)

Unlike her older sister, Madison won't have anything to do with her binky.  Every time we try to give it to her it makes her gag and she immediately spits it out.  Luckily, she doesn't really need it. 

My mom helped me give Madison her first bath.  It's amazing how quickly you forget how to hold something so small and slippery. 

 I love the smell of a freshly bathed baby.

Daniel's mom came to help out from the 23rd to the 27th.  Here is a picture of Madison looking at her grandma adoringly.  Daniel's mom had just given Madison a bath and then rubbed her down with lotion.  Madison was in heaven and was completely frozen while her grandma was rubbing her back.  It was really cute!

 Madi and daddy.

 She already knows how to wrestle with him.

 And she adores her big sister Olivia, although Olivia isn't quite sure what to think yet.

On Monday, October 18th, Daniel started his first official job.  It has been rough transitioning to a full-time work schedule after his temporary retirement the past year, but it looks like we are going to survive.

And Now, Back to Olivia!

On Thursday, Olivia went with some of her friends to a local pumpkin patch. It was so nice of my friend Ali to pick Olivia up and keep an eye on her. It gave Daniel and me a chance to catch up on some errands and, more importantly, some sleep. And it looks like Olivia had a really fun time hanging out with the boys! 

Home from the Hospital

Olivia and I brought Andrea and Madison home from the hospital yesterday. Olivia brought one of her teddy bears to share with Madison for the big occasion. Olivia was very interested in watching Madi get dressed. While it was hard to leave behind the gorgeous hospital view, it is good to be home.

The going home outfit--newborn size--was still a little too big.

The first thing Olivia did upon arriving home was to run into the girls' room. She was excited to show Madi which bed was for her and which one was Olivia's.

Madison has continued to be a good eater here at home. Andrea took her into the pediatrician this morning. She has already passed her birth weight and is now up to 6 lbs. 1 oz. 

 

We are all excited to be home together as a little family of four.

Olivia Meets Madison

 

Yesterday afternoon, I brought Olivia to the hospital to meet her baby sister. For most of the time we were there, Madison slept. So Olivia was more interested in the hospital bed, the new Elmo movie she received as a gift at the hospital, and looking at the ocean, boats, and cars out the window. But once Madi woke up, Olivia quickly became intrigued by the squirming baby. She wanted to get as close as she could when Madison opened her eyes. And then when Madi started to cry (she was hungry), Olivia's lip began to quiver. It was really sweet. We are thrilled for these little girls to have each other and to look out for each other.

 

Madison Ricks: Born October 11, 2010

Madison Ricks was born at 8:01 a.m. on Monday, October 11, 2010. At birth, she was 6 lbs. 0 oz. and 18.5 inches. Very petite little girl.

 

So far, Madi has been a very mellow baby and has not cried very much. She has eaten really well and has now been sleeping for almost 4 hours straight.

 Andrea is recovering well. We are so excited to welcome this little angel into our family!

Olivia at 20 Months

Yesterday, Olivia hit her 20-month mark, the last month mark she will hit as an only child. Although she is growing up quickly and is downright delightful, we are all too aware that we will really have two babies at home when Olivia's sister shows up. Since it may be awhile since we focus a post solely on Olivia, here is our chance to remember the cute things she is doing these days.

Olivia really enjoys talking, singing, and dancing. Here is just a flavor. (OK, maybe a few flavors. It's so hard to pick which videos to post!)

 

 

September 30: Our Fifth Anniversary!

In honor of our fifth wedding anniversary, we've finally posted some wedding pictures. 

You can click on the picture of us on the left, or go to this link.

Our Baby Has Arrived!

At 700 pounds, 73 inches, our piano finally arrived in California last Saturday. We are so thrilled to have it here!

Well here is an (overdue) update on our family. I am 36 weeks along and looking very pregnant. We are looking forward to welcoming our new baby girl sometime in October. So next time you see a blog post title that says something about our baby arriving, it will probably be the real deal. :)

We moved to Orange County, California, at the end of August. When the movers showed up to load our belongings at my parents' house (which is where most of our stuff has been stored for the past four years), they were astounded at how little work it took. The three movers had planned to be there all day, but it only took an hour. We had already boxed everything up and moved it to the garage. They brought a truck big enough to carry 10,000-15,000 lbs. and we only ended up having 2,400 lbs. to load onto the truck. I guess we didn't need to load up our cars so much. :) Even though we didn't have much to move, it still seemed overwhelming when we unloaded all those boxes in California.

Daniel had his birthday last month, and I made him a coconut cake. We had two parties for him--one with my family and one with his. Those parties also kind of doubled as our goodbye parties, since we left just a couple days later for California. Daniel doesn't start work until October 18, but he has still stayed pretty busy. He ran a half marathon and participated in a sprint triathlon in August. We also went to Daniel's 10-year high school reunion. And yesterday, we found out that Daniel won first prize in a student writing competition that he had entered earlier this summer. His article will get published in a few months.

Olivia has had a great few months. With Daniel and me both around all the time, she has been soaking up the attention. Unfortunately for her, that is going to come to an end here soon with me having a new baby and Daniel starting work.

But in the meantime, we'll continue to enjoy fun things every day like going to the beach.

Growing Up Too Fast

As our families keep reminding us, we've been due to post for some time now. We'll get our moving pictures up soon, but in the meantime, here are some cute videos of our little Olivia, who is loving it here in sunny California.

Wood Badge: July 26-31

Wood Badge was one of the best leadership training experiences I have ever had. I am glad I took six days out of my summer to participate in the camp. I was a member of the Antelope Patrol with, from left to right, Clark, Richard, Dennis, and Celeste. We had a great time together and we learned a great deal about helping boys become leaders and men of character.

While most Wood Badge courses are held over two consecutive weeks (Thursday-Saturday), I participated in the week-long course at East Fork of the Bear in the Uintas. The facilities were great--we even had warm showers! And it was nice to have our classes outdoors in a giant tent.

On Friday night, our last night, Andrea and Olivia came to visit me. They were camping with Andrea's parents just down the road that night and they decided to surprise me. Unfortunately, Friday night was the night that the patrols went camping out into the woods on our own, so I wasn't in camp when they came. But the Wood Badge staff, who stayed behind in camp, sure enjoyed meeting my girls. I wish I could have been there to see them, especially since I hadn't been able to speak with them all week. I am pretty sure that this six-day stretch without cell phone service was longest amount of time I have ever gone without talking to Andrea since we began dating nearly six years ago. By Friday night, I was really starting to get homesick!

I would recommend that all Latter-day Saint adults participate in Wood Badge training. It is more than just learning how to run a boy scout program; it is about becoming a better leader at home, at work, in the community, and in the church. Plus, it is fun to spend a week in an adult-only camp acting like a bunch of 12-year-olds. :)

Former Young Men General President, Charles Dahlquist, said this about Wood Badge: "It is vital that we, as Priesthood and Aaronic Priesthood/Young Men leaders take training seriously. We are part of this great partnership with Boy Scouts of America for very specific reasons: If we fully participate, our young men will be blessed and better prepared for missions and for the blessings of the temple. Part of the participation is training–especially Wood Badge training." Click here for the remainder of his message about why you should go to Wood Badge.

"Back to Gilwell, happy land,

I'm going to work my ticket if I can!"