Five on Friday and Happy FIRST Birthday Walker!

1) May 29, 2014 was the day our sweet baby Walker came into the world. The day we had two sons. The day Gray became a big brother. The day our hearts became even more full. While a lot of days have been long and trying, especially in the first several months, I can't believe it's already been a year. I can't even remember what life was like before Walker came into our lives. He makes our family even more joy filled and we thank God every day for the gift of that precious boy. Gray and Walker have their three and one year well checks on June 8 and after that I will write a more detailed post about our boys and three and one. BUT, our boy did get his first trim yesterday. He was pretty close to rocking a mullet and I was getting my hair cut yesterday so I thought it was the right time for his first cut. I wish I had taken a before picture but things were a little crazy and I forgot.

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My gorgeous and talented friend, Meredith.

2) Although his birthday isn't for another week and a half, we already have a full blown threenager on our hands. Shooweee y'all! Gray has the sweetest heart in the world and for the most part he is such a good little boy but daaaaang he has made for some challenging days lately. We are pretty hard core disciplinarians; raising sweet, obedient, respectful and grateful children are extremely important to us, But at the same time we are very loving parents and try to choose our battles wisely. With that being said, I don't want to use "he's three" as an excuse for his behavior. But it's so hard. I know discipline is good for him and is one of the many responsibilities God gives us as parents but it doesn't make it easier. I'm so, so thankful the Lord has given me a wonderful, very hands-on and helpful husband to do this whole parenting gig with.

3) Our pictures could have gone a tad better on Sunday. Walker was in a great mood and was cheesing for the first few shots until I realized I didn't put his shoes on, which was pretty much my favorite part of his outfit. He hates shoes and pitched a down right tantrum off and on for 45 minutes after I put them on. We tried and tried to distract him and get smiles but instead all we got were screams and lots of tears. Thankfully Lindsey's dog came to the rescue and made for a happier Walker (our boy LOVES animals!!!). We still didn't get a ton of smiles or the back drop we were hoping for, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I had lots of ideas and another outfit we never got to but I think Lindsey worked her magic and was able to get enough good ones. I can't wait to see them!

4) One of my precious tutoring students got me a thank you gift of the sweetest card, a huge, super soft, beautiful beach towel and a Yeti thermos. Y'all, I had been wondering what the big deal with Yeti stuff was and now I know. My coffee stays hot for hours and until this week, I couldn't tell you the last time I finished a whole cup of coffee that wasn't cold. And I've heard they keep things cold and even frozen for days. I don't think I'll be running out to buy a $400 cooler but I consider myself a big Yeti fan even still. 

5) Even though it's a busy one, I am so looking forward to the weekend. We are going swimming and cooking out with some friends tomorrow and Paul and I are going on a date Sunday. In between that we've got a lot of party prepping and planning to do. I can't wait to celebrate both of our boys with our family and friends next weekend.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Five on Friday

It might be 10:30 at night, but this makes for two Friday posts in a row! ;)

1) Paul turned the big 3-5 on Tuesday. We celebrated with a quick, sushi dinner date night. Somehow it had been three months since we had been on a date. That may not seem like a long time to some of you but it is so important to date your spouse, especially to have time away if you have kids. So if you're a friend of mine that lives close by with no family in town, we will gladly babysit so you can have a date night! So once again, Happy Birthday to my best friend, best husband and best Daddy in the whole world! I know a lot of people who are thanking God for giving Paul Hicks to the world 35 years ago, especially me. After almost six years of marriage, I still can't believe God gave him to me. He just keeps getting better with age, y'all!

2) I am not wishing the time away by any means, but I am SO excited about some things coming up in late summer/early fall for Gray. Like his first "real" soccer team that Daddy will be coaching, hopefully also squeezing in t-ball and preschool for the first time (though right now that just makes me want to cry). Our big boy is growing up!

3) We are loving and enjoying our house so much! We have a lot more space and after coming from our small townhouse with a concrete slab for a back yard, we are just so thrilled to have a fenced in backyard. We have a little over half an acre, which is plenty big enough to play in without too much to take care of. Gray and Walker are both big fans of being outside and I have felt so thankful to have our own space to play in when we aren't out and about. We have tons of birds, a family of chipmunks and also some baby bunnies right now that just adds to the excitement of having outside loving boys. The older lady who lived here before us spent years and years and hours and hours landscaping the yard. Although there are a few outside projects we want to tackle one of these days, we have been blessed with a beautiful, mature yard that we haven't done anything to yet other than pull a few weeds.

4) Walker is taking lots of steps each day now. Some days I think he will be walking full time any minute and other days he seems content doing what he's doing. Either way, it's so cute watching him learn and he gets SOOO excited when he walks by himself. Somehow, some way that sweet babe is going to be ONE a week from today.

5) We are sticking around for Memorial Day weekend. My grandfather is in town from Seattle for the first time in two years so we are looking forward to spending time with him. We are also excited to have some down time in between birthday parties and a get together with friends. And I have to mention again how very excited I am for our photo session on Sunday! I'm hoping the boys cooperate. 

Have a good weekend y'all!

Five on Friday-it's been a while!

I don't lose sleep over it by any means, but I do wrestle with wishing I blogged more but then spending my very few free minutes doing something else. Time passes by so quickly and I know I will treasure having some of our memories documented to enjoy in the future. So maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to at least blog once a week about what we've been up to. 

1) Walker took his first steps this week! He's been cruising and walking behind push toys for a while now. He often stands with his back against the couch and while he was doing so yesterday, he just up and walked FIVE steps towards me while I was holding Sophie, our dog. He was somewhat cautious after that and I really think he just didn't give those first "real" steps very much thought. But he is standing without holding on to anything more often and for longer at a time and is taking a step or two here and there. Gray did that for over a month before he officially became a walker and our little guy doesn't seem to be in a hurry either. But it was still exciting and both Paul and I were home and got to experience it together which was so awesome. Another big milestone with Walker lately is that his other bottom teeth finally came in. They gave him a fit for so long, I was certain they were breaking through months ago. He now has four on top and four on the bottom. Gray had ALL but his two year molars by the time he was 14 months so if Walker follows in those footsteps we won't get much of a break in the teething department. 

2) I can't believe Walker will turn ONE in just two weeks and Gray will be THREE just a week and a half after that. The days are often long, but the months and years go by far too fast. We are having a combined birthday party for them at our house and I have a lot of planning left to do. We went all out for Gray's first birthday so we wanted to do the same for Walker. However, we decided at the last minute to ditch a theme and just go with bright and colorful. It took a lot of expense and planning away which we needed, but I think it's still going to be cute and fun. I think after this year we will have low key, mostly family parties but are inviting quite a bit of people this year. I'm just so thankful we have a house that can accommodate a birthday party! We plan to have it outside but will party in the basement if it rains. 

3) Speaking of upcoming birthdays, my best friend, Lindsey, is taking some pictures of the boys next weekend and I am so excited! We haven't had pictures since Walker was four months old and I am thrilled about having some updated ones around the house. I'll keep Walker's photo shoot outfit a surprise but let's just say it makes me squeal every time I look at it!

4) We have been SO busy lately. From showers to birthday parties to weddings to family reunions to church functions to soccer to tutoring, and the list goes on and on. I love to be out and about and on the go for a while, but then it really starts to get to me and I just want to be home with nothing on the calendar. We don't have one open, totally free weekend from now until the end of June and while it's all good and fun stuff, I hope I don't lose my mind in the meantime.

5) And maybe I've saved the best for last. I am so proud of my hub! Paul got selected to help coach an all-star soccer team this summer. It does add to the busy schedule quite a bit with several Sunday try outs that he has to travel to and then a few practices before the weekend long games in Raleigh that will be the end of June. BUT, it's a huge honor and something he is very excited about. Yesterday I opened the mail to find a letter from one of the senators congratulating him. Pardon the messy paper, a certain little person was "helping" me open mail before I realized what this was. 

We have a busy weekend ahead...big yard sale tomorrow (yay for clearing out our garage!!!), Greek Festival, celebration number one for Paul's birthday and Paul will be gone most of Sunday after church at one of the try outs. 

Hope y'all have a good one!