Week 17

This week baby is about 5 inches long and weighs about 5 ounces. His/her skeleton is changing from cartilage to bone. Sweet pea is already starting to form body fat and sweat glands.

All of my baby reading sources tell me I am entering a growth spurt. Wait, I think they meant Baby...but that means I am too, right?! My bump seems to be growing daily and I continue to love it. I'm finding myself touching and rubbing it more and more. I still haven't felt any movement and may not for another week or two. I feel extremely blessed to feel as good as I do. I've been having a little shortness of breath here and there and can feel things stretching inside of me, which is often uncomfortable. I haven't slept through the night since I was about 7 weeks pregnant. Between 2-4 trips to the potty and trying my best to sleep on my side, sleeping is just more difficult these days. But if that's all I have to complain about, I'd say this pregnancy is going great!

One of the most common questions I get besides "Are you sure there aren't TWO in there?!", is people wanting to know what I am craving. Honestly I haven't had any real cravings but I do find myself wanting things I know I can't have, like a Beach Club from Jimmy John's (deli meat and sprouts) and I think it's definitely safe to say I am going through sushi withdraw. I am already dreaming about what my first post pregnancy meal will be. Other than that, I find myself being more picky than ever if anything. Things like chili, salmon and chicken that I used to love just don't seem too appealing to me at all. I can't eat nearly as much at a time either. It's like I can literally feel my skin stretching after just a few bites and it HURTS! But then about 2-3 hours later I am starving and feel like I haven't eaten all day. We've had a lot more leftovers around here, which is probably a good thing.

Here is what I'm looking like at 17 weeks.


Needless to say, I don't think anyone is questioning whether or not I ate too much over the holidays...it's quite obvious that there's a baby in there :)

One week from today we will know if we have a sweet little boy or a sweet little girl. I've had about half and half as far as guesses go. Some people think that because I am "all belly", that means it must be a boy. Other people are certain it's a girl. We have two boy names and one girl name picked out. If it's a boy, I think we'll decide between the two pretty quickly because I just can't wait to call that sweet little booger by name. We still have no idea what it is and are just excited to know either way. We already love him/her so much. This is simply the most amazing experience I've ever been through, and it's not even to the best part yet!

16 weeks

I am exactly 16 weeks today. Four months down, five to go! I can't believe how fast it's going already. I'm sure towards the end when I am waddling around and can't put my own shoes on, that it will be going by much slower. I have felt great for about six weeks now and am absolutely loving being pregnant! I am sure that will also change in another three or four months, but for now I am focusing on the positives. We went back to the doctor last week and everything is looking good. We got to hear sweet Baby's heartbeat again and seriously, I don't know of many better things in life right now. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that I have only gained 5 pounds so far. I haven't been eating like crazy or craving anything yet, but I was certain that this growing bump was at least 10-15 pounds already.



As of now, baby Hicks has accomplished all of the following (just to name a few of course):

*though they are still growing and changing, Baby Hicks has developed his/her brain and all body parts

*hands and feet are no longer webbed and sweet Baby already has reflexes and is moving those arms and legs all around, although I won't be able to feel him/her for another 2-3 weeks

*his/her heart has already divided into four chambers and as of this week he/she is pumping 25 quarts of blood every day

*tiny teeth have begun to form, along with sweet little finger and toe nails

*Baby is already making and floating around in his/her own pee pee

*he/she is able to make facial expressions and suck his/her thumb

*he/she can now sense light and as of this week may be able to hear Mommy and Daddy's voices

(I hate all of the "his/her" but I just can't stand calling our baby 'it")

*Baby has grown from the size of a poppy seed to a 4 and a half inch avocado

Reading and learning each week what our baby is doing inside of my womb is one of the most fascinating things to me. I have become even more in awe of our Creator...what an amazing God we serve!

We find out in just two weeks from today what we are having. I sure hope Baby cooperates and isn't hiding his/her little parts. I still don't have any kind of feeling as to what it will be and I honestly still do not have a preference. Mommy and Daddy will just be thrilled to call this baby by name and start planning things in more detail.

Christmas Card 2011

We were excited to get Baby Hicks on our Christmas card this year. Thanks to one of my bestest friends, Lindsey, for being our family photographer already.




A number of people have asked me whose belly I used for the picture with the bow. Umm, that would be MINE! It's hilarious the comments I have already gotten from people. I too was a little surprised at how soon my bump popped out but honestly, I love it!!! I have always said I couldn't wait to have a pregnant belly and I think God just blessed me with it a little early ;)

This Christmas we feel even more blessed than ever with our sweet miracle growing inside of me. But even still, we are most thankful for Jesus' birth, the real meaning of the season. Merry Christmas from the Hicks!

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.