A little catching up to do

First up, Kenya update-Our yard sale was a huge success! We made $1,000 which was a lot more than we expected! A lot of people from our Bible Fellowship class at church were up at 5 a.m. and gave up most of their Saturday to help us. Paul and I were so humbled and grateful. We have had a lot of people give generous donations (one of which was very large and also given anonymously) so between that and the yard sale money, we actually have more than we need for our trip! I'm not surprised, but am amazed at God's provision and His confirmation to us that we are supposed to be going to Kenya. We will be able to take the extra money there and help provide a need or needs, which is always so awesome to see (like the last time I went and we were able to pay for Thomas' surgery). Paul got all of his shots a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately he had a terrible reaction and was out of commission for three days. He said if that's what the vaccines made him feel like, he is super thankful for the protection against those crazy sicknesses and diseases that so many people suffer with in Africa. Our plane tickets have been bought so there's no turning back now! Our flight leaves from Charlotte at 7:00 in the morning the day after Christmas. Which means we will have to leave by 3:00, which means we will be getting up around 2:00 A.M.!!! I was not expecting that but since we aren't going to actually be in Kenya all that long, it's best to maximize our time. We've always left in the late afternoon and I had it in my head I'd be able to see Gray all morning. Now I'll be telling him goodbye as I put him to bed on Christmas night. I've had a hard time with that and as it gets closer, I know I'm going to be a mess! Paul and I have quite a bit of preparing to do for the trip and I want to get it done before all the Christmas craziness begins so we can just soak up time with our sweet boy before we leave.

Soccer season ended about two and a half weeks ago. Paul's team came in second place for their conference and made it to the second round of the play offs. He was very pleased with how to season turned out. It has been SO exciting having him home more. I've picked up more tutoring now that he can watch Gray but we still usually have at least two afternoons together and it is soooooo nice being able to spend time together as a family during the week. And also nice for this mama to have some help with our busy boy. Time apart truly does make you even more thankful for the time you have together! You may need to remind me of that come next July when soccer starts again ;)

Gray is in full toddler swing. He is so strong willed but is also really sweet and so much fun (usually). I've had some challenging days with him off and on the past few weeks and although I wouldn't trade my job for anything in the world, some days I am desperate for Daddy to walk through the door. I continue to (try) to pick battles wisely and pray for help in raising him everyday. We want so bad to discipline him effectively, though we know we will fail at times. He has been even more into books than usual lately. Some days he barely even plays with toys and just reads book after book after book. His favorite place to be is in our lap reading a book and I am so thrilled about that! His speech is starting to be more intelligible and he often repeats words and phrases that we ask him to. He loves pretending to talk on the phone and even has conversations with Siri on my iPhone, which I always hilarious! He has pretty much busted through his 18 month pajamas and has moved up to 24 months. It's usually hard for Paul or I to tell since we see him every day but we both feel like he has grown a lot over the past month. I can't wait to find out next month at his 18 month check up.

Not much to report on my pregnancy since I just posted yesterday. I am working out 4-5 times a week and feeling pretty good now. The nausea is gone unless I let myself get hungry or smell something bad and my energy level is so much better! We go to the doctor a week from tomorrow and cannot wait to hear that sweet heart beat!

Have a good Tuesday, y'all!

There's a good reason for my blog hiatus

The 'ol blog has been neglected lately. But I've been tired. Like really, really tired. And feeling a bit sick for several weeks. Because this Mama is cooking baby number two! Yep, the Hicksters will become a family of FOUR right around Gray's second birthday. I was 11 weeks on Thursday. We found out right at 4 weeks and told our family and several friends but wanted to hear that heart beat before any public announcements were made. Our desire was for this baby and Gray to be about two years apart and my due date is June 5th and Gray will be two on June 10th! We feel just as blessed and humbled this time around, if not more. Though it seems to happen to people all the time, conceiving a child is a MIRACLE from God! We know of several friends who are desperate for their first child or adding to their family and although we know they wouldn't want our joy to be stolen, it is with humility that we make this announcement.

I was 9 weeks and 1 day at our first doctor's appointment which was on Friday, November 1st (which happened to be the same exact date we went with Gray for the first time). With Gray I was only 7 weeks and we were so amazed at what a difference two weeks can make. At 7 weeks although we could see the heart beat fluttering, nothing resembled a baby and it was so tiny. With this baby we were able to see a head and little arms and legs! We even saw sweet baby moving around quite a bit at one point. The heart beat was 176; Gray stayed around 135-150 the entire time. Of course some of our family thinks that has to mean it's a girl, but I don't think I have a feeling one way or the other yet. With them being so close in age, I'd love for Gray to have a brother but we would no doubt be thrilled to welcome a little girl into our family. We just can't go wrong either way! :)



Baby Hicks #2 at 9 weeks, 1 day

Everything checked out great with the ultrasound and exam and we will go back again the day before Thanksgiving. Oh and in case anybody is wondering-yes we are still going to Kenya! I had met with my doctor before I got pregnant to tell her we were thinking about this trip but were also ready to try for baby number two. Assuming no concerns arose with this pregnancy, my doctor was completely comfortable with us going. Since I've been to Kenya three times before and have been pregnant once already, it helps me to be comfortable with it too. We went to Cancun when I was 27 weeks and had no issues. Granted this is quite a bit different, but I'll be 17 weeks and feeling great (I assume) and we know God will protect us.

So far this pregnancy has been very similar to mine with Gray. I think I am already done with the first trimester nausea and crazy tiredness, which is right about the time I started feeling better with Gray too (around 10 weeks). I had some bad nausea for a few weeks but never threw up (never did with Gray either). It kicked in a little later this time and when I felt sick, it seemed worse but I didn't feel sick quite as often, if that makes any sense. I was soooooo tired, sleepy and overall very fatigued. I took more naps the past few weeks than I have since Gray was born. I am NOT a napper but for a few weeks I just felt like I couldn't make it through the day if I didn't take one. I haven't been napping the past week or two but can barely hold my eyes open past 8:00 most nights. Soccer season is over now but it was really hard not having Paul home much with me being so tired and feeling sick. There were days I lived for Gray's nap and early bedtime because I just felt like I had NOTHING left in me. I have had a lot of food aversions and have seemed to have more cravings this time. I've mostly wanted carbs and have probably eaten more bread in the past 5 weeks than I have in the past 5 months. I switched to decaf coffee as soon as I found out I was pregnant but stopped wanting it altogether a couple of weeks ago (same timing with Gray). I have still been working out a lot, though I missed a couple of days early on because I felt too sick or tired to go. I wasn't working out at all with Gray and I am hoping it makes this pregnancy better and healthier. I am about 10 pounds lighter than when I got pregnant the first time and I hoping not to gain as much this time around. I certainly have not eaten very healthy so far but I'm hoping since I'm not feeling sick anymore I'll be able to make better eating choices (with a few indulgences, of course!). As of my first doctor's visit, I'd managed to not gain any weight yet, but you wouldn't believe that if you saw my bare belly. They weren't kidding when they said the second one pops out sooner. I was showing at 12 weeks with Gray so I should have known I didn't stand a chance in hiding this one for long. I finally busted out some maternity pants a week or two ago and I'm not gonna lie, they felt soooo good! I wish I'd taken a picture before I got pregnant so I could remember how quick I popped out. Here is a picture of me at 11 weeks with baby number two...

And here was me with Gray at 13 weeks...

And the comments have already started. "You're only HOW many weeks?!" That's ok, I'll just embrace it and enjoy telling people there are three in there ;) I definitely won't be posting about this pregnancy every week like I did with Gray but I do want to remember and cherish this one too. I'll post after our next doctor's visit for sure.