Merry Christmas 2013!

A very merry Christmas from our family to yours!

A few updates on our family from 2013:

-Added a new member to our family

-We moved!

Sean: moved into his first real office, tried wind surfing for the first time

Jenny: had a baby. Need I say more?

Jackson (4): preschool, tee ball, soccer, learning to read, playing with friends, helping mom

Bode (2): jumping/running/moving non-stop, trying to be just like his big brother, first broken bone (wrist), Lightning McQueen obsessed.

Davis (4 weeks): figuring out day/night, trying to survive, snuggling with mom and dad 

A new stocking

I knew the newest member of our family would need a stocking this Christmas, so I got to work one quiet afternoon when Sean and the boys were at Lagoon. 

I think it turned out really cute! 

We're excited to be able to hang our stockings from an actual mantel for the first time! 

Hard to believe there are five stockings to hang this year. I know I have mentioned this before, but for a long time there were only two, and we are so grateful our family has expanded so much since then.

When I first made stockings for Sean, Jackson, and I after Jackson was born, I patterned them after some I saw in a Crate & Barrel catalog. I have held on to that Christmas 2009 catalog ever since because there were so many cute things and ideas in it. One of the things I've always loved and had bookmarked is a felt tree skirt that matched our stockings. Crate & Barrel wanted $80 for it, but there was no way I was going to pay that much. I have always wanted to re-create it, but year after year I never got around to it. Now that we are in a bigger place and I had a space to work other than a tiny kitchen table, I decided this would be the year. I spent quite a bit of time working on it through November.

Here is the picture of the one in the Crate & Barrel catalog: 

And here is mine!

I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work cutting out those little circles and embroidering stars, etc. on them (especially since I have zero experience with that sort of thing), but it was good for me to have a project to take my mind off of worrying about the end of my pregnancy with the whole cholestasis business. I'm loving how cheery it makes our tree!

Our first real Christmas tree

Sean and I have always had a fake, pre-lit Christmas tree. Ours is pretty small and has traveled with us since the first Christmas we've been married. We bought it as poor college students and it served us well throughout the years. 

In our new house we have vaulted ceilings in the family room where we wanted to put our tree. Our trusty fake one would have looked pretty small. We've always wanted to try cutting one down and decided this was as good a year as any to try it. 

Sean and our friend Darren woke up insanely early one morning in November and made the drive to Heber to get in line for a tree permit. The number of permits is limited and Sean estimated there were already around 700 people in front of them by the time they got there. Lucky for us, their drive and sacrifice of sleep was not in vain!

We decided to go cut our tree down the weekend before Thanksgiving since we weren't quite sure when Davis would be arriving. We drove up past Heber in what looked like a winter wonderland and searched a few spots before finding "the one".

Unfortunately, this is the only picture we got-- I should have taken one before we cut the tree down!

Here is our tree all decorated!

I love having a tall tree! This one is about 12 feet. It is sort of Charlie Brown in spots, but honestly, that is my favorite kind. I think we will continue the real-tree thing for awhile :)

I had some fun taking a few pictures of Davis in front of the tree the other night. Here are my favorite: 

It sounds corny, but these pictures give me a sense of peace and reverence. I just love the purity and innocence of babies. Love this little guy and loving this time of year!

Davis

Our newest addition has arrived! Davis Harrison Ricks was born one week ago today-- Wednesday, November 27 at 4:01 pm. He was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 19.5" and exactly 38 weeks. We already love him like crazy.

Our plan of induction on December 4 changed after my last blood test showed my cholestasis had gotten quite a bit worse. Normal reference range for bile salts in a person's blood is 1-10 and mine jumped from an 11 to a 31. My doctor felt the risk of waiting to be induced was not worth it and Sean and I agreed.

I was admitted to the hospital around 10:30 am. My doctor showed up and broke my water around 1pm and Davis was born at 4:01pm. I went from a 5 to a 10 in less than 20 minutes and had the easiest delivery ever. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures we took at the hospital:

Jackson was really excited to hold him...

But he got a bit overwhelmed and shy about it :)

My THREE boys!

We are so happy he is here safe and sound and it seems strange it has already been a week. We feel very fortunate to have three children and are grateful to have Davis in our family! 

Nursery tour

We've had a lot of fun getting the nursery ready, and I think we're just about there. I used some of the same things as I did with Jackson and Bode, and switched it up a bit, too. 

Come on in!

The first thing we did was paint the wall on the left. It turned out to be just the shade I was looking for. Probably the easiest paint decision I have ever made!

I love floating shelves and got the idea to put them on either side of the window. Sean said they were a beast to install, but he did a great job and I love how they turned out!

I went to a Caravan Shoppe craft party a few weekends ago with my friend Keisha, and this robot was one of the crafts. It was so easy to make and I think it is so cute!

I am excited to have a nursery with enough room for a big, comfy rocker. We never had one in our townhouse because space was so tight. I imagine many hours will be spent in this chair. 

I have been eyeing this red wire basket for a long time and I finally bought it. It turned out to be my stuffed animal solution.

These pictures were a gift from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law at my baby shower for Jackson. I LOVE them. I knew I would use them in the nursery if we had another boy.

Finally, we hung one of Sean's childhood football jerseys above the crib and it's turned out to be one of my favorite things in the room.

I hope our baby approves of his new digs! :)

Baby update

Everything is moving right along with baby boy! I am now 36 weeks. Originally, I presumed I would be delivering the baby at 37 weeks (next week!), but the cholestasis showed up later than with the other two and so far is pretty mild. I know this is a result of a blessing I received and many prayers in my behalf. As long as things stay quiet, my doctor is planning to induce me in a few weeks-- sometime during the first week in December. 

I have never delivered a baby past 37 weeks so I don't know what to expect if that ends up being the case. Jackson was 9 lbs three weeks early, and Bode was 7 1/2 lbs three weeks early! I can only assume this is going to be a big boy, especially since it looks like he may get a couple of extra weeks to grow. I had an ultrasound Monday and they estimate he is already around 7 lbs, so we'll see how much he gains in the next couple of weeks. We always joke that because I am tall, our babies have plenty of room to fill out. I do love chubby babies...

My friend Keisha was nice enough to take a few pictures while our kids played at the park the other day. I thought they turned out really cute! I feel big as a barn (who doesn't at 8+ months pregnant?), but  it will be fun to have them and look back on them.

And lastly, one random pic Sean took last Sunday while we were out in the backyard enjoying the gorgeous fall weather!

Getting excited for baby boy's arrival!

Halloween 2013

We ended up having a great Halloween, even though the day didn't start picture perfect. Jackson woke up the night before with some sort of stomach bug and spent the first half of the day asleep on our couch. Bode had the same bug a few days earlier and it was very short-lived with him, so I had hope that with enough rest, Jackson would bounce back quickly. Luckily, that was the case! By the afternoon he felt much better, was eating fine, and was so excited about trick-or-treating.

This year the boys were ninja turtles! More specifically, Leonardo and Raphael. 

I thought they looked so cute in their costumes and I love that they got to be something together. They loved having weapons, even if they were sort of a pain trick-or-treating. I ended up making their costumes because I didn't really like any of the ones I saw in the stores. I figured I could make something that would be more comfortable, cost less, and last longer (and go in the dress-up box). The definitely aren't perfect, but they loved them and that is what matters. 

Sean dressed up as a race-car driver, and I put a pumpkin face on my baby bump at the last minute. 

Sean and I took turns taking the kids trick-or-treating/passing out candy. I started the first leg with them and we joined our friends, the Carrolls. 

 

It was really fun being in our new neighborhood and having tons of trick-or-treaters running around. 

After the kids had their fill, we made a stop by our friends, the Knights, to say hi, and headed home. Not quite done with sugar, Bode and Jackson sat on our kitchen counter with spoons eating the leftover slush from our "witches brew" we had with dinner.

We ended the night staying up late watching "Ghostbusters" together. It ended up being a pretty great Halloween.