Winter in Tahoe

This week we decided to take a quick-mid week trip to Lake Tahoe for a few nights. The first day we just stayed in the condo at the Ridge Sierra and enjoyed the snowfall from the warmth of the fireplace. The boys stood at the window to watch the snowflakes fall, Eric spent the day working in Tahoe doing home inspections, and I did many loads of laundry because we found out the hard way while driving up to Tahoe that Carson gets car sick.

After the snow stopped falling, we went out to build a snowman. The snow was such soft powder that it was impossible to pack the snow enough to build our snowman, so we made snow angels instead.

We tried a little sledding too, but that was short lived because as soon as the boys got snow up their sleeves and in their boots, they decided it was time to go inside.

Carson wouldn't stand up in the snow and he repeatedly said, " I stuck". Even though he really wasn't stuck in the snow, he seemed to think he was, and therefore wouldn't even try to stand up.

Carson was not a big fan of the snow. He told me many times, " I go beach". He loved going to the beach in San Deigo in October and he was wishing this Tahoe trip was to San Diego trip instead. I think he is much more likely to someday be a surfer rather than a snowboarder!

Holly enjoyed the snow from the comfort of her car seat.

Holly spent some time with dad while I played with the boys in the snow.

Tate suggested that we should have tennis rackets (snowshoes) for our feet to make it easier to walk in the snow.

Breakfast with Santa

Carson was not happy to have any time with Santa. I had not planned on being in the photo, but it was the only way that Carson would be anywhere near Santa. Tate asked for a rocket, candy and a skooter for Christmas.

Out front of the Sunset Center in Rocklin waiting for our turn to go in for breakfast

We had breakfast with Santa and our friends Owen and Rhyan and their mommy Julia Arreguy. Owen is one of Tate's best pals and they had a fun time together at the breakfast.

Thanksgiving time

Holly's first trip out and about (other then to the pediatrician) was to the park with mommy and Carson. We love to go the the playground and park behind the Roseville library. She slept the entire time we were there, but I think it still counts for her first outing.

Carson sat for this photo after a tremendous amount of bribery and promises of candy.






Tate was a bit more compliant then Carson to have his photo taken, but not much more. He was promised a sucker if he sat nicely and smiled.

Baby Holly on her first Thanksgiving. She had milk for dinner instead of turkey!!!

Now at 10 days old, she still sleeps the majority of the day. With two noisy brothers who yell, sing, and crash toys all around her, she can sleep through anything.

Tate thought it was so great to be able to hold his little sister all by himself. We got cozy on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner and relaxed all together. He was really excited to be wearing his new Merry Madagascar pajamas that Mimi bought for him.

Tate really loves to help cook. Mimi came over and we all made sugar cookies and Tate got to help roll out the dough. Then at frosting time, he was in charge of the sprinkles. We frosted with green, red and orange and had as many sprinkles on the floor as we had on the cookies.

These are the finished product!!! Tate was so proud of his hard work that he had to be rewarded by tasting a few cookies. Holly slept through the entire baking event all while in her little baby sling that she really loves.

After baking, we did some Thanksgiving creative craft projects. Tate and Carson each make a pine cone turkey with pipe cleaners and pompom balls. Then we make a turkey appetizer to eat out of grape and cheese tail skewers and bell pepper feathers.

Baby Holly has arrived- November 17th 2009

After having dinner and a second large slice of pumpkin pie at Eric's parent's house, the contractions began around 8:00pm. Eric's mom decided to come over to stay the night at our house just in case we needed to leave in the middle of the night. Turns out it was really great that she did because finally around 1:30am, I decided it was time to head to the hospital.

My friend Autumn (who is also expecting a little girl in January) came to be with us at the hospital too.

Eric's dad came to our house to be with the boys in the early hours of the morning so that Eric's mom could come join us at the hospital. She and my friend Rebecca (with the help of coffee) patiently waited for the arrival of the new baby.

My mom quickly came also to meet her new granddaughter.

Finally after ten hours of labor, one epidural and five pushes later......Holly Marin Davis arrived at 6:04am !!!!

Dad watched while the nurses checked her over to make sure all was just perfect, and she was!!!

She weighed 8lbs 4oz, and 20 inches long. (Carson weighed 9lbs 10oz when he was born, so this was a pleasant surprise to have her be only 8lbs.)

I was so happy to have her finally meet us and meet the world.

I would imagine that all the bright lights, needle sticks and noise that come just after being delivered would be very jarring. She calmed down immediately and contentedly after being bundled up and placed on my chest.

The next morning, Holly's grandpa and great grandpa came to the hospital for a visit with their new grand baby!

This was the little label on her bed there at the hospital.

Holly Marin Davis

We named her Holly just because it was one of the few names that we both liked. Marin because a few weeks before she was born we were driving back from Ft. Bragg and drove through Marin County in the bay area. We thought it would make for a good middle name and decided to go with that.

We stayed at the hospital just over 24 hours and were ready to head home.

Daddy loaded her up in our Explorer to go home to meet her two brothers Tate and Carson, and our household of pets (dogs Webber and Woody and kitties Zinger and Cheddar).

Carson took a little time to warm up because he has been very used to being the baby of the house. Tate was immediately interested and intrigued with every aspect of his new baby sister. He wanted to see her tiny hands and feet. He thought it was very strange that she only has milk for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack.

Halloween- October 2009

We went to Mimi's house to carve our pumpkins out in her front yard. A few weeks earlier we all went to the Davis Family Ranch (no, there is no relation) in Sloughhouse and picked out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Tate drew on the jack-o-lantern face with a sharpie pen, then the boys helped supervise during the carving and seed scooping. They thought the pumpkin insides were "yucky" and didn't want any part of touching it themselves.



This is Tate's jack-o-lantern.

Tate showed Mimi's dog Newt the spooky Halloween bat that she gave us to take home to hang in the tree in our front yard. The bat's eyes light up and it flies around in a circle. Tate thought it was very cool, Newt did not.

Tate's jack-o-lantern is on the left and Carson's is on the right. Tate designed his pumpkin's face all by himself, but Carson needed some creative guidance. They were both very very happy with their finished pumpkins.

Carson was Ratatouille from the Disney Pixar movie. He wasn't too excited ahead of time to wear it, but when he figured out that it was a way to get candy, he decided to put it on. His trick-or-treating bucket is the same bucket that I used when I was a kid....its been around for a really long time!!

Tate was going to be the same blue monster that he wore last year, but when we saw this shark costume at TJ Maxx the day before Halloween, he changed his mind.

The boys reluctantly posed on our front porch for a quick picture before going out for some candy. We just went trick-or-treating to some of the neighbor's houses that are on our street. We probably stopped at about 10 houses all together and the kids were delighted with the amount of candy that they returned with.

As soon as this picture was taken, they both immediately took off their costumes and put on their pajamas so they could be comfy and check out their new supply of candy. They both spent the rest of the evening answering the door for our trick-or-treaters and happily handed out candy to them in the Halloween spirit!

Ft. Bragg - October 2009

We took a quick trip to visit my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Mike at their house in Ft. Bragg. They have a beautiful backyard with a great garden.

We spent the mornings out in the garden picking gourds. Tate and Carson had such a great time looking under the leaves for the yellow and green gourds. I someday hope to have a backyard large enough that we too could have a garden for the kids.



We found just the right one here.

The kids discovered the huckleberry bushes in the yard and spent the rest of their morning outside picking and eating tons and tons of the little berries. We had to take their shirts off so they wouldn't be covered in berry juice.

Apple Hill- October 2009

We took the boys for some fall festivities at Apple Hill. The boys worked hard walking all over the hills and through the orchard to find just the right apples to put into their buckets.

We stopped at three different orchards to make sure we didn't miss out on any good apples.




At Denver Dan's orchard, the boys each picked out their own apple picking bucket. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, Tate chose this Halloween bucket.

Carson loves tractors! As we drive in our car around town, he always points out EVERY tractor that he sees. He was very excited to see this one up close and personal.

We could not go apple picking and not expect to sample any of them!

Eric and I had to make sure the kids knew to only pick the apples off of the trees and not off the ground. There were many half rotten apples on the ground that Carson was very tempted to pick up.

Carson was getting the idea of how to pick the perfect apple.

By the time our afternoon was over, we had a whole bag full of apples to take home. The next day Tate helped me make an apple pie and an apple cake.