The men in my life

And here are a few more of Jackson because I can't help myself:

Black & White Cookies

We went to Paradise Bakery for lunch the other day and they gave out little samples of their black and white cookies (chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips). I don't know if I was sugar deprived or what, but I had to have more. I made up a batch from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and they were AWESOME! My favorite part is they stayed chewy and they aren't overly rich. I followed the directions exactly and they came out perfect. Thought I'd share!

Black & White Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are set. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Free stuff!

Did you buy cosmetics or fragrances from Macy's, Dillards, Nordstrom etc. any time between 1994-2003? Well, if you did you are entitled to a free high-end makeup product! Read this article for more info. I didn't really believe it at first, but I ended up in Dillard's tonight while waiting for a table at Red Robin--it is legit! I knew I had bought both makeup and perfume during that time period so I qualified. There was a big sign walking into the store that validated what I'd read. All I had to do was sign a little paper that said I had purchased cosmetics or fragrances between those years and they gave me a bottle of Clinique moisturizer for free! Sean was with me and he had bought cologne during those years so he signed the paper also-- he got some sort of face serum from Estee Lauder (obviously he's giving it to me). Anyway, very fun to get free stuff and even better that is high-end. The deadline to get your free product is Monday so head to Macy's, Dillards, Nordstrom or any of the other participating retailers if you qualify!

30Rock

Do you watch it? BEST show since The Office. I don't know why it took Sean and I so long to start watching, but I can't even tell you how much it makes us laugh! Nursing has provided ample time to watch an episode here and there :) We've been watching the first few seasons through Netflix online and it is hilarious! Seriously every character is a crack up, but our favorite is Jack (the boss) played by Alec Baldwin-- pure genius. Very witty writing and our style of humor. If you haven't seen the show before, give it a shot and tell us what you think!

Parenthood...

is great! Today was Jackson's original due date and I cannot even imagine him staying in my tummy this long! I'm happy our little man is already here and I don't have to go through labor again. We went to the pediatrician for his 2-week appointment today. He is now 22 inches long and weighs 8 lbs 8 oz. He's almost back up to 9 lbs which is great since he lost so much weight after birth. He's in the 39th percentile for weight, 84th percentile for height (surprise surprise!) and 42nd percentile for head circumference. Here's a little video while he is awake:



And I have to include this picture because I think it is just too cute. We went to Sean's basketball game last night and Jackson wore his Jordan beanie for the occasion.

In the newspaper!

The story of Jackson being the New Year's baby came out in the local paper today and we made the front page! I was terrified about how the picture would turn out since I had about two hours of sleep, was exhausted and in my bath robe-- I think it could have been a lot worse though. At least Sean looks good!

Here is the link to the article: http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/295398/13/

I think the article turned out great and I was happy they gave a shout out to our awesome doctors. There were a few factual errors-- such as them saying Jackson was 3 weeks early instead of 2 and saying I arrived at the hospital at 12:30a.m. when it was really 12:30p.m. the day before. It's all good though! I think this will be something really fun and special to have to remember his birthday. We went and bought a bunch of copies and I am planning to get one framed to hang in the nursery.

Parenthood is treating us well so far-- we'll post some updates and pictures in a few days!

Introducing Jackson Ricks!

We had a New Year's surprise-- the arrival of our son! Jackson Sean Ricks was born New Years Day at 3:29 a.m. We got to bring him home last night and he is doing great. He was 20 inches long and weighed 9 lbs. exactly. We were all shocked at how big he was since he was two weeks early! Looking at him now, I seriously don't know how he fit in my tummy. Obviously we think he is the cutest thing ever. He has lots of light brown hair and dimples on both cheeks :)

Jackson was also the New Year's baby for American Fork Hospital! Being the first one born brought with it some pretty awesome perks. The hospital gave us the epidural for free! We also got gift cards for Costco, Visa, Rod Works, Paradise Cafe, massages, microderm abrasion, two huge packages of Huggies diapers, flowers, cash, blankets, nursing stuff, etc. A lady from the newspaper came and took our picture and interviewed us and I guess we are going to be in the American Fork newspaper on Thursday (it is a weekly). It was all a pretty awesome surprise since we had no idea he was going to be born so early. We absolutely LOVED everyone and everything about delivering at American Fork Hospital.

My original due date was January 17, though my doctor had decided to induce me January 9-- long story. Well we went to our weekly doctor's appointment on New Year's Eve figuring this was still the plan, but when I got there they were worried about my blood pressure. To make a long story short, my doctor decided it was best to induce me right away. In fact, we went to the hospital straight from the doctor's office! I'll leave most of the labor details out, but it wasn't too bad since I had an epidural. Total labor time was 15 hours.

Anyway, we are so excited to have Jackson here with us and are happy to share our good news!

Proud papa

Check out all of his hair-- already stylish!

Getting ready to go home

Proud mama

And here is the final belly picture we took about 15 minutes before they induced me. I'll post more pictures within the next few days when I can find more time!