As of late

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I have been babysitting for some friends quite a bit here and there. My friend Ashley's little girl, Selah, is only about two and half weeks younger than Gray so keeping her kicks my butt and helps me to be even more thankful that I can tutor to make some extra money for us ;) My tutoring has picked up quite a bit and I am so thankful for God's provision with it. The money is very good for the amount of time spent and I really enjoying most of my students. Between tutoring and soccer, we don't get much time as a family of three during the week but it's such a small sacrifice to pay for me to be able to stay home with Gray. On Mondays and Wednesdays I leave the second Paul walks in the door and sometimes we are even exchanging a baby in the parking lot. Gray is usually in bed by the time I get home but some evenings I get home just in time to kiss him goodnight. Paul is doing skills coaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He is usually home for about two hours before he goes but it's normally during Gray's second nap. I have gotten another tutoring student that I don't have room for on Mondays and Wednesdays so I am now doing that on Thursdays during the time Paul is home between work and soccer. So it makes for some crazy days but we are VERY thankful for the income and it makes us cherish our weekend time even more.

Speaking of weekends, Paul and I got to have a date day/night on Saturday. My mom watched Gray and we went to the Easter celebration at our church and then out for sushi. We rarely eat out now that we are on one income but I babysat a few times last week so we used some of that money to justify it. And the place we went has buy two rolls get one free on Saturday nights (Oriental Cafe for all you sushi fans)! I am so thankful we have family around to love on Gray so that Paul and I can go out by ourselves sometimes. I think it is so important and I hope we will always make it a point to have time together, just the two of us.

Paul and I just joined the Y. I am ashamed to say I haven't worked out consistently since before I was pregnant. Last school year was so rough and I worked many 12 hour days and was already exhausted from growing a human inside of me so that was my excuse then. We've been talking about it for a while now and finally decided to use some money from our tax returns to pay half a year in advance. Also, the Y offers financial assistance for teachers (but not limited to teachers) and we got a 40% discount-holler!!! Although there isn't a Y very convenient to us, we needed somewhere with child care, and one that we could feel comfortable with. I also wanted to work out where there was a pool since my bad knee limits so much of what I can do. I am so excited and motivated to get in shape. I am a few months too late to try and get the bathing suit body I've wanted for years now (haha) but better late than never, right?! I work out mostly in the mornings but Paul and I will go together on Fridays and weekends. It's going to be so good for Gray to get even more social interaction and be without Mama for a little while most days.

Gray has added a new word to his vocabulary-"no!". A few days ago we thought he was saying this but it has become perfectly clear now. And he says it a lot. I really don't know what to think about it, not that it matters anyway. He has been hearing the word a lot because we are trying to teach him that there are certain things he can't do or touch. He definitely knows what the word means and a lot of times he is obedient to it. But yesterday he started saying it when he would get frustrated or mad about something. Today he was not really into his baby food (is becoming less and less interested in that and more interested in table foods that he can feed himself) and when I went to try to give him another bite, he swatted at the spoon and said "no!". He is too young for us to be able to explain to him that he doesn't get to talk that way to Mama and Daddy and clearly he has picked up the word from us. But it's still not what I want to hear every 5 seconds from our 9 month old. "Mama" would sound so much sweeter! I find myself praying more and more every day for wisdom on how to teach, correct and discipline, and for grace when we don't get it right. Have I mentioned that this whole parenting thing ain't no joke?

Lindsey took Gray's Easter/9 month pictures two Saturdays ago. Boy did we pick the right Saturday because it was 75 degrees and perfect outside. He was a complete ham as usual. I am hoping there are at least a few pictures in which he does not have an Easter egg in his mouth. I got a sneak peak last week...

I cannot WAIT to see the rest!!

On a completely random note, my car hit 200,000 miles this morning. Us Hicks believe in driving cars until the wheels fall off, especially Hondas, so we are hoping and praying for another 100 thousand miles.

I ordered Gray's first birthday shirt off of Etsy last night. That is about all I have done as far as planning goes. I have a lot of ideas but have yet to go into full planning mode. We are thinking we want to have a small, simple party for just family and a few close friends. I'd thought about reserving a room at church and having a big throw down but it's honestly just not what I want and we really can't and don't want to put a lot of money into a birthday party that Gray will never remember. Plus the more we thought about it the more we really wanted the party to be at our house and we can't accommodate many people at all. But I am excited to start working on the details of it and I just can't believe that soon we will be celebrating one year of life with our sweet miracle. God is so much better to us than we will ever deserve.

After tomorrow, Paul is off work until the following Monday. We aren't traveling this year for Easter and I am quite happy about that. Paul's parents are coming to spend a few days with us after Easter but it will be so nice not having to go anywhere. I can't wait to spend a solid week and a half with my two favorite boys!!! So even though it feels like winter outside, happy almost spring break!