Our 2-year Anniversary - June 16, 2008

In June, we celebrated 2 fabulous years of being married!  Neil took me to Forever Fondue restaurant in La Jolla.  It's been a fun, event-filled and joyful 2 years.  We love each other, we enjoy spending time together and we can both truly say that we married our best friend.  We are so grateful that we have each other after so many years of being single!  Two years is just the beginning and we look forward with excitement to what the coming years have in store for us.

My Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary September 15, 2008

     We did a family reunion trip to Big Bear Lake, CA to celebrate my parents' 50 years of marriage.  All the Ricks family members in California were there.  We had was a fancy cake, decorations, and a slide show.  The girls were in charge of decorating the car.

     My sister Marilee, her husband Ross, Mom, Dad, Neil, and I went on a hike around the lake.  Don't Mom and Dad look like a happy couple after 50 years of marriage?

     Lastly Elaina was 4 months old, and it was time to feed her solid foods.  My nieces Rachel and Haylee did the honors.  She did pretty well. Grandpa also got her to laugh for the first time.

Elaina Carter Is Born, May 9, 2008

The big day was finally here! My water broke at noon on Thursday, May 8.  I didn't go into labor until 1:00 am on Friday morning, May 9.  I experienced strong contractions for 2 hours and then I got an epidural.  It feels like your mouth does after you go to the dentist, except it isn't your jaw that feels it, but your legs.  I couldn't move my legs.  Neil had to move them for me.  I pushed for 2 hours and then Doctor O'Hara came in and suctioned the baby out.  I have a prominent tailbone.  I'm sure that is why my tailbone hurt during pregnancy.  He delivered the baby, the placenta, and had me sewed me up in 12 minutes.  I kept thinking, why couldn't he have done that sooner!

We decided to name our baby Elaina Evelyn Carter.  Evelyn was Neil's mom's middle name, and Elaina was the only name that both of us could sort of agree on.  Elaina got a 9 on her ABGAR test, which means she was really healthy.  Unfortunately nursing didn't go so well and Elaina lost weight the first couple of days.  This brought on jaundice so she got ultra violet light therapy.  She looked like a baby superhero with her ultraviolet goggles.  Fortunately, she is fine today.