Dad and Dolls

Tonight Bailey and Robert played dolls. Bailey brought out Ariel for herself and Belle for her daddy. Then the two dolls began a conversation...

Bailey's doll: Hi what's your name?
Dad's doll: Belle. What's your name?
Bailey's doll: Ariel. (Ariel then gives Belle a kiss)
Dad's doll: Whoa! Are we in prison?
Bailey's doll: (confused) No.
Dad's doll: Then let's keep it to hugs, alright?
Bailey's doll: Alright.
Dad's doll: Um, do you want to wrestle?
Bailey's doll: Sure.
(Ariel and Belle begin a series of quite impressive gravity defying moves and the match ends with them both crashing to the ground)
Dad's doll: That was fun.
Bailey's doll: Ya, it was. (Ariel then kisses Belle)
Dad's doll: Whoa! Hugs, alright!

There is something so sweet about a daddy playing with his little girl.

Back Home

We came home on Saturday and everything is back to normal. The kids thought it was so fun to have Jack join us for scriptures Saturday evening in his bouncy seat. So far we haven't had any requests to send him back, only expressions of tender love. We've come to recognize that each one of our children contribute something divinely unique to our family and are so grateful for this special new addition.

We have our Jack!

Jack Robert Ricker joined our family yesterday, January 22nd at 1:01 pm. He weighed 7lbs, 13ozs. and is 19 1/2 long. He's a beautiful little blondie who has bits and pieces, it appears, of all of our other children. It was so much fun last night getting to snuggle up to a newborn again to sleep. He is truly a blessing and we're so grateful for his safe arrival.

It has been such a treat having my brother John and his wife America up here in the hospital with us. Their little Mia was born on the 21st. The two little cousins even had a photo session under the baby warmer in the nursery together.

We're hoping to be out of here on Saturday. So far I'm recovering well from c-section #5 and Jack is doing great also so we should be able to talk the doctor into an early release.

Ballerina Bailey

Bailey has found her calling in life. To be a performer. Nothing puts a smile on her face like having an excuse to leave the house in a pink leotard and tights. And even better, to have an excuse to "shake her booty" in the sassy little tap routine her class has been rehearsing. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again. We would have been perfectly happy having all boys. Finding little pink ballet slippers amongst all of the trucks and trains does make us realize what we would have missed and reminds us how lucky we are to have such a spunky, little sister in our family.

Tyler's Baptism

On Saturday, January 3rd our oldest, Tyler, was baptized. It was so nice. We had tons of family and friends there for this special occasion. As soon as Ty woke up on Saturday, he started a list he titled "My Baptism Day". The whole morning he kept track of what he did and when he did it. It was pretty cute. After saying his prayers before bed that night, he asked for some clarification on how baptism works. After I answered his questions he said "I think I got one of my sins back" (apparently there was some misunderstanding of my explanation). Turns out he had said something unkind to Bailey and decided to say one more quick prayer to repent. I just love this little boy. He is such a good example to his brothers and sister and tries so hard to do what he knows he should.

Launch

So, since we're anticipating the arrival of #5 and have been "careerly" removed from so many friends and family, we figure we should give this a go. Please keep in mind that we were the last people on the face of the Earth to have cell phones (Robert still can't set up the voice mail on his) so we'll see how well two technologically inefficient people manage to keep this up. Wish us luck!