Going public!

Paul and I have some exciting news to share, although most of you reading this already know. We are going to have a little Hickster! I am 13 and a half weeks and our little one is due June 18th! We could not feel any more humbled, blessed and excited!

We found out on Tuesday, October 11th and kept it a secret until Thanksgiving. It was the hardest secret I've ever kept. We wanted to be able to tell my family and Paul's family at the same time. Mom and Dad Hicks always come stay with us the night before Thanksgiving when we head to Boone. So we all ate at my Gram's that night. Paul and I planned the dinner about 5 weeks before Thanksgiving, praying every day that nothing would fall through. Paul had some video of him hunting and we told everybody before dinner he really wanted them to see where he's been hunting and what they've done to the land. A few minutes into the video, my sister-in-law started getting bored and walked into the other room. Paul redirected her back into the living room where we were watching the video. Right after that, Gram got up to go in the kitchen and check on dinner. I was sweatin up a storm. Thank God Paul somehow got Gram to stick around long enough for the "deer video" to turn into my first ultrasound and sweet baby's heart just a flutterin on the screen. I didn't know what to do so I just kept staring at the tv like I didn't know what was going on. My mom was the first person I looked at and her mouth was wide open and she had the biggest tears in her eyes. Needless to say, within seconds everybody knew what was going on. They were all so excited, but seemed really shocked. I think everybody knew it was coming sometime soon, but definitely didn't think that's why we were all having dinner together that night. It was so much fun. The rest of the evening was spent talking about baby and how in the world we'd been able to keep it from everybody for so long.

We couldn't wait to spill the beans to more people. It already felt so different now that our family knew. Paul said the blessing at our Thanksgiving meal in Boone the next day and at the end of the prayer, he thanked God for the miracle growing in my tummy. His family went nuts! With 11 grandchildren under the age of 5 I really didn't know how excited they'd be since babies are such a frequent part of their lives, but they couldn't have been more happy and excited.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving our friends Stephie and Jevon were in town so we went to hang out with them and some other friends. We hadn't seen them since their Chicago wedding back in May and knew we wouldn't see them again for a while so we decided to go ahead and spill the beans to them too. We always play catch phrase with this group of friends so I had the idea of telling them that way. For those of you that know me well, this was the most fitting way for me to break the news. We'd been hanging out for over an hour and I was getting quite antsy. As much as I love catch phrase, I didn't want to blow the surprise by being too anxious to play. Finally it was game time. The second time the game got to me, I said "this is what is in my tummy right now". Leave it to my friends to guess "turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce"! Finally Stephie's husband, who wasn't even supposed to be guessing since we were playing wives against husbands, shouts out "BABY", in which I responded "YES!" and threw the game down. That game will definitely go down as the best catch phrase game ever!!

I have to say I was super blessed by my lack of first trimester sickness. From about week 6 to week 10, I had some really rough mornings and nights. Well all day really. Although I wanted to sometimes, I never threw up or had to miss any work. Smells got to me really bad and there were very few things I felt like I wanted to eat. But compared to what some of my friends have gone through, I considered my symptoms to be pretty mild. Thanksgiving was really the first time I felt like I wanted a big meal. Now y'all know how much food I can throw down but for some reason, I seem to fit less in my stomach than before, which is weird since my stomach seems to be expanding by the day. And that is going to make the belly pic debut even harder to believe. I was quite surprised at how quick my bump popped out. I have always loved pregnant bellies and always said I'd wear one proud when it was my turn. I haven't changed my mind, but it has been a little embarrassing to show people my belly and see their reaction when I tell them I'm not at least 20 weeks. And I love how all of my pregnancy books told me at 13 weeks that "I might be starting to show if this is MY SECOND pregnancy." Ok, now there are at least two things you need to know before I reveal the picture. One, some of this bump existed pre-baby. Two, Thanksgiving has a lot to do with it too. I am not going to act like all of this is coming from our lime-size baby. It just happens to be in the right shape already.
And here it is...


No there are not two in there. And no, I am not further along than they think. Other than the two reasons listed above, I am going to blame it on me being short. Because that sounds good, right?! All joking aside, I am quite fond of my bump and plan on rocking it loud and proud. Not that I have a choice, but still.

We go back to the doctor on the 30th and after that we only have to wait 3 more weeks to find out what we're having. I can't believe it! Several people have asked me if I have a preference. I truly do not. I always thought before I got pregnant that I would. But I honestly feel so blessed to just be pregnant, that I can't imagine preferring one sex over the other. I have no feelings about it whatsoever so unless that changes over the next 5 weeks, I will be surprised when we find out either way.

Ok, I am sure this was more than enough of a blog post for one day. At least I have something blog worthy now though!

Our weekend

It was a busy one, but a good one! Friday Paul and I had a date night. Saturday we met my college BFFs and their families for lunch. I haven't seen Amy in a year and haven't seen Erika since my birthday in June.

Erika and her beautiful daughter, Savannah


Amy and her two precious little ones.


Noah. He also belongs to Erika and John


Their two sweet girls lovin on each other. How do you stay humble when your kids are this good looking?


Us minus Paul who was taking the picture and minus Amy's hub, Nick, who works for NASCAR and was in Vegas for a racing banquet.


After lunch we went to my grandparents for an overdue visit with them and my aunt. We took my Granddaddy to Cracker Barrel for a belated birthday dinner. He is just the cutest and sweetest!


Sunday after church my sweet husband helped me grade papers for a couple of hours. Then we slid into church that evening the minute the Christmas program started.

Our laundry basket was still full on Sunday night. But so was my heart. I love friends and family kind of weekends!

Less than 2 weeks til Christmas break!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wednesday afternoon Paul's parents came in town and we all had dinner at Gram's house. My family just adores Mom and Dad Hicks and it is so nice when we can all be together. Thursday we headed to Boone to spend a couple of nights with Paul's grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins. I truly love his family and couldn't be more blessed by all of my in-laws. Just between two of Paul's cousins there are 11 kids under the age of 5! They are kind of like the Duggars, if you know what I mean. But let me tell you, they are the most well behaved and non spoiled children I have ever been around. Paul and I take notes on their parenting skills every time we visit.

On our way home Saturday we went to a Christmas tree farm right by Paul's aunt and uncle's house and picked out our own tree.


It was my first time and I sure hope we'll make it a yearly tradition from now on. It was so much fun! I never had much room for a tree in my townhouse but since we are living in Paul's now, we have a little bit more space for a good size tree.

Behold, the first annual hand picked Hicks family Christmas tree.



We definitely felt like the Griswolds trying to get this big guy in the house.
Little full, lot of sap.




Paul had to do quite a bit of trimming and it still touches the ceiling. No tree is too big in my opinion though. And there are few smells as good to me as a fresh Christmas tree. I am so excited to be able to enjoy it for the next month. The majority of our Christmas decorations are packed too far away in storage at my mom's to bother getting out. It's times like these that I remember we aren't living in our permanent home and I can't wait to have a house with all of our things in one place. It will feel like we just got married again by the time we unpack all of the things we left behind when we moved into Paul's house almost a year ago. We did manage to dig a few Christmas things out. Sophie's Christmas sweater included of course.




My mom knitted this tree skirt a couple of years ago and it is such a treasure to me. It took her over 6 months.



My wonderful family is always very understanding of having to "share" us for the holidays so we waited until Sunday and had our second round of turkey day at Gram's house. Paul cooked the turkey.



It was his first time and he was sooo excited about it! It was a huge success and we've enjoyed three days of leftovers for lunch.

In less than 3 weeks we'll be out of school for Christmas break!

Where do I begin?

It's been so long I honestly don't even know where to start in catching up. My lack of blogging is due to me continuing to be extremely busy and exhausted from work. I'm sure all seven of the people that ready my blog have been on pins and needles waiting for the next post. I'll try to remember a few highlights of what's been going on with the Hicksters.

Soccer season got over about two weeks ago. It was the worst season Paul has ever had as a coach so we were both glad to see it end. We are also glad to have a somewhat normal life again...like walking in the door for the first time before 9:30, eating dinner together, walking the dog, watching a little tv.

Sweet Thomas in Kenya had his throat surgery last week. It was successful and the American doctor confirmed that he does not have cancer. It was some of the best news I've ever heard. He spent a few days in the hospital but is home now recovering and studying for his final exams, which is what you have to take before secondary school (high school to us). How he does on the exams will determine where he will be able to go for secondary school, none of which will be free.

We decided on a realtor after meeting with four different ones. She is going to wait until January to put our house back on the market. We have quite a few projects to tackle before then. One is having the inside of our house painted, which will start tomorrow. We found a super cheap painter, which we are so thankful for because it would have been a struggle to find the time to paint our entire house within the next few weeks. I will not miss these boring, white walls.

Work continues to be extremely difficult. I feel like I am limited on the amount of details I can share, but let's just say each and every day feels like the worst day at work that I've ever had. I am more than convinced at this point that teaching, at least in public schools, is what I will be doing for the next 20 plus years. The Bible tells us to count our trials and hardships as joy, so although I fail more days that not at doing that, I am trying. Thankfully He promises to see me through and not to give me more than I can handle, which hopefully means it can't get much worse than it already is. Paul continues to amaze me with what a wonderful husband he is. He has been so supportive and helpful to me during this hard time at work. Since soccer season has gotten over, he has been cooking dinner and doing a lot around the house to help me feel less stressed. I couldn't imagine doing life without him!

The new Twilight movie comes out this coming Friday. Paul and I used to make fun of Twilight fanatics until we gave in and rented all of them one weekend about a year ago. We've been hooked ever since and have been anxiously waiting for the new one to come out. We already have our tickets for this Friday and can't wait to go with our friends and fellow Twilight addicts, Abbie and Chris.

We are looking so forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We haven't seen Paul's parents since this summer and miss them so much. With Paul and his dad both being coaches, neither us or them have been able to travel on the weekends. We can't wait to see them in a week and a half!

Hoping it won't be another month before the next post.

Kenya Hunger Relief Update

As I mentioned in one of the Kenya recap posts, we learned through the Kenya Red Cross this summer of their efforts to feed the thousands of people who are starving to death due to the severe droughts. Our team got involved with the Red Cross while we were there this summer and we've kept up with it since. Paul and I feel blessed and humbled to have been able to donate money. But with all of the many, many people starving to death, it's easy to feel like we could barely make a dent in the horrible situation with what little we are able to give. We got a break down of the impact that American money has on feeding these people. I thought if I shared it here, some of you would feel led to give, especially knowing just how far a few of our dollars can go.

$2.50 feeds one person for an entire week
$25.00 will feed a Kenyan family of 10 for one week
$10.00 is enough to feed a child for 4 weeks!!

Some of the pastors we work with in Kenya, which have become some of the most special people to me, have been working closely with the Red Cross to travel to the villages most affected and deliver food to these pitiful, starving people. Check out this recent Kenya article to read more about the efforts being made to distribute food to the hungry and how the pastors have been able to be involved.

If you'd like to make a donation towards the hunger relief in Kenya, you can make checks payable and send to:

Outreach Evangelism
Attn: Arnold Tanner
PO Box 98240
Lubbock, TX 79499

Checks made to Outreach Evangelism are not tax deductable, but 100% of donations made go to the intended purpose.

Thank you for your willingness to read this and consider donating!

It's fall, y'all

Saturday we went to Boone for the day to enjoy the beautifulness of early fall.






God amazes me everyday with His beautiful creation. Loving this time of year! :)

It's been a while

Hello blog! I'd say I've missed you but life is so busy right now I really haven't thought about you much lately. I'll pick back up with this past weekend.

Friday night Paul cooked dinner since I worked until almost 7:00. What a sweet, generous husband I have! I think I was asleep by 9:30 so that's about all there is to say about that.

Saturday Paul and I had the privilege of baby-sitting two very special twin boys. My good friend Abbie and her husband became foster parents to these boys back in August. I won't give details to respect their privacy, but they will have the boys for at least several more months and have been given permission to use their discretion with baby-sitters. They were so good and such a joy to be around. Although the boys may not know it now, I know that Abbie and Chris have been such a blessing to them already. I admire Chris and Abbie so much for being willing to answer God's call to become foster parents.

After that it was off to the ball field to watch Matthew's game. This is his first season on the biggest field and it is so weird seeing him out there. I can remember watching my brother on that same field just like it was yesterday. I still can't believe my nephew is a teenager!

Saturday night we went to my dear friend Renna's house for our first fall bonfire. They had a huge barbeque and enough food to feed an army. And by army I mean over 100people-for real! If you know me well you know people give me energy so you can imagine my excitement with lots of people AND lots of food. I used to teach with Renna at Clemmons Elementary but she got smart a long time ago and left education. She and her husband have owned Ketchie Creek Bakery for a couple of years now. I don't get to see her nearly as much as I wish I did.


Sweet Renna Margaret. She gets cuter and cuter by the day!



A lot of my other teacher friends from Clemmons were there too and it was just so, so good to see and catch up with everyone.


My sweet rafiki Daphne was there too. She and Renna are good friends from high school. I love it when my friends are connected like that :)



Sunday we took a meal to the Ealys. Baby Evelyn is already 5 weeks old! She is one sweet, beautiful baby girl!


Then it was off to dinner with the fam at my brother's house. To me there aren't many things better than spending time with family. I wish Paul's parents lived closer so we could all be together for family dinner on Sundays. We are blessed to have at least one side of the family close by though.

It was definitely not a restful or productive around the house weekend at all. But sometimes those kinds of weekends just have to be ok. The laundry and cleaning can wait when you're blessed enough to spend time with family and friends.

On another note, we have met with four realtors in the past two weeks. I think we have decided on who we want to go with for round three. We heard some good advice about why they think our house hasn't sold yet so we have a lot to do before putting it back on the market. It's going to take some money and time but we just need to bite the bullet and do it if we ever want it to sell. As I've said before, we are content here and do not need more space right now, but we would love to be settled in a house we are going to live in forever. With all we have to do to the house and the holidays right around the corner, we are going to wait until the first of January to re-list with the new realtor. We are praying that the 3rd realtor in the 3rd year on the market will do the trick!