Destruction

Destruction: (noun)

1) the act of destroying
2) the condition of being destroyed
3) the action or process of destroying
4) Gray Christopher Hicks


And it's only just begun!

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Weekend recap

It's been a while since I've documented our weekend. We spent time with friends this weekend that we've been wanting to get together with for a while now. Friday night we had Kristen, Jimmy and sweet Grace (you know, Gray's future wife) over for dinner. We had good food and even better conversation and fellowship. Gray and Grace enjoyed themselves too.
Saturday was cold and rainy and a good day for staying in and getting things done. Thanks to a "snow" day Friday and a normal Saturday morning with Daddy home, I got to have warm breakfast and coffee two mornings in a row. Oh, the simple things in life. We worked on baby-proofing more around the house which consisted of taking apart our coffee table and stashing it in the attic. It was dangerous and taking up a lot of space at the same time so away it went. We spent a pretty penny on baby-proofing supplies to cover most corners and whatnot but some things just need to be put away for now. We also cleaned through closets and put more stuff in our attic. This small townhouse with not a lot of storage calls for some creativity with making space for a growing boy. But somehow God keeps making room and for that we are thankful.

Saturday evening we had our friends Bobby and Missy over for dinner. They are in our Bible Fellowship (aka-Sunday school) class at church. We have so many wonderful couples in our class and wish we had more time to spend with all of them. Bobby and Missy are moving this summer because Bobby is going to school for his MBA. We again had a delicious meal but even better conversation. I am thankful for the people God puts in our life, even if it's only temporary.
After church Sunday we went to Gram's for lunch. The rest of the day consisted of making baby food (prunes and avocado were on the menu) and relaxing while Gray napped.
It was yet another weekend where half of me was good about just being thankful for the time we had but the other half wished for just one more day. Trying so hard every single day to count my blessings and not take any of them for granted!

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Monthly ramblings, take 1

I stole this blog idea from my friend Jessie, who stole it from one of her friends. It's something I think I'll really enjoy reading back on one day and I'm going to try to do it once a month.

Loving-This unexpected "snow" day that Paul got off from work. Though I do think it's hilarious that it only rained, you won't catch me complaining about it one bit. Days when Daddy's home are the best. There isn't anything I love more than the three of us spending time together. But I also get to have a little me time. Right now I'm having coffee and oatmeal that is actually still warm while watching my two boys wrestling in the background as I write this blog post.

Reading-Nehemiah Bible study by Kelly Minter. Also dying to finish Kisses from Katie that I got for Christmas. It's about a young girl who is a missionary in Uganda...soooo near and dear to my heart right now for many reasons. I've read the first couple of chapters and I could finish it in a day if I had one to myself. I just can't seem to find the time to get any further into it right now. By the time Gray goes to bed, we eat and clean up from dinner, I pump and get ready for bed, I am beyond exhausted and can't hold my eyes open for even the best book.

Waiting for-Our house to sell. We've only been waiting 4 years though, so I don't know if that counts ;)

Excited about-Spring and summer! I can't wait for flip-flops, dresses, sunshine, Gray's first Easter, his first birthday, and summertime with my favorite boys. Hoping Gray will love the beach as much as his mama does.

Trying to-Be a better Christian, wife and mom. I hope this is something I'm trying to do for the rest of my life. Thankful for God's grace and unending chances for a re-do!

Working on-Gray's first year photo book on Shutterfly. I try to work on it two or three times a month. He is 8 months and the book is already 80 pages but I'm pretty sure I'll never regret taking too many pictures.

Enjoying-My job. It's been several years since I could say that. Being a stay at home mom is hard and exhausting but there isn't anything else I'd rather be doing and I try my best not to take it for granted. Gray grows and changes every single day and I feel so blessed to get to witness it all first hand.

Using-BlogPress app on my phone.

Wearing-Nursing tanks and sweat pants. Like, every day. I will usually put on a pair of jeans and try to make myself somewhat presentable when we go out, but sweaters and jeans just aren't comfortable or practical while we're at home crawling all over the floor.

Planning-Gray's first birthday party. Well, sort of. I am getting ideas from Pinterest and starting to really think about things. With a one income teacher budget, it's going to take a lot of time and creativity to make his first birthday party special. And it's only three and a half months away. Sniff, sniff!

Singing-Jesus loves me. We've sung this to Gray since he was 2 weeks old and all through his colicky days. He responds to music in an amazing way and this song seems to be the one that soothes him the most. I sing it to him before every nap and Daddy and I both sing it to him before bed every night.

Needing-More hours in a day! And a little more sleep would be nice too. I am still waking up half way through the night to pump and it is wearing me out! 3-ish more months (Lord willing). I think I can, I think I can...

Learning-That there are more important things than a perfectly clean house, gourmet dinners and not being 5 minutes late.

Listening to-The sweet sounds of Gray talking, his tiny little hands clapping together, noisy toys, things banging together and his Bible songs on CD that we have to listen to every single day. And of course some whining and crying in there some too, but all of those other sounds more than make up for it :)

Wishing-I could freeze time. I know I've said it so many times, but I look forward to Gray growing and getting older and learning more and all the fun that we will have with him in the future. But every night Paul and I talk about how we just want to soak every minute up with our sweet baby, who won't be a baby forever. So if it's possible, I want to freeze time temporarily ;)

Doing-A lot of praying...about so many things.

Dreaming of-The day my feet return to African soil. And especially the day my husband gets to go with me, meet my second home and family and fall in love with it like I have.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thanks Pinterest for this cute Valentine craft idea! It's supposed to be Gray's handprints in the shape of a heart. You can barely tell it's either of those things but with a busy 8 month old, this was the best we could do. And it's absolute perfection because it was "made" by our sweet little Valentine.
My aunt came to visit today and we took Gray to the park. I was a little sad I didn't have him a cute Valentine's Day shirt to wear so we stopped at the Dollar Store and got some balloons and preceded to have a photo shoot. It was windy and Gray couldn't have been more unimpressed, hence the not so great pictures below. Nevertheless, it was a special Valentine's Day having two boys to love so much and that love me back. We love because God first loved us!

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8 months

As of Sunday, February 10th, Gray Christopher is 8 months old. It's been another really fast but great month. I've had this post in draft mode for almost a week and it's crazy how much I have to change each day to keep up with our little guy. Getting this month's pictures were almost impossible with our very busy little boy.

Milestones-Crawling! Gray started taking a few crawl "steps" here and there last week but until yesterday I didn't really consider him a crawler. He still prefers to roll to what he wants a lot of the time but he is crawling around pretty good too. He is wanting to pull up on everything and I really think that is his only motivation for crawling. He hasn't quite pulled all the way up on his feet but he gets on his knees and for the most part, that's satisfying enough for him right now.

I get to see a lot of this cute view these days

Another milestone this month is waving bye-bye! This is so stinkin cute!! Just like with the clapping, I've been showing Gray how to wave bye-bye for a little while now, not ever knowing if he was paying any attention or expecting him to pick up on it. But one day a couple of weeks ago when he was in his high chair eating lunch, he looked down at his little hand all serious-like and started opening and closing it. He did that a couple of times and then started saying "bye-bye" at the same time! This was the first time it seemed like he made an association with a word. Now I know every parent thinks their child is a genius, but I think that is a pretty smart accomplishment for a seven and a half month old! Paul ran to get the video camera on the chance that he would do it again and sure enough, he did! I wish I had taken video on my phone so I could post it here. Now since that day Gray has waved bye-bye lots of times but doesn't always say "bye-bye" while he waves and definitely doesn't associate it with someone leaving yet. He still stares at his little hand every time he does it like he's so proud of himself or either he is wondering how in the world he is making it happen. A lot of times he starts waving as soon as he wakes up and it's the cutest thing to watch on the monitor!

Though we can get a wet slobbery kiss anytime we want, Gray has recently learned to pucker up those sweet little lips of his and make a kissy face. My mom gets the credit for teaching him this trick. Enjoy the cuteness of that:

His third tooth just broke through the skin over the weekend. It's a top one but it's not right in the middle so it's either a side tooth or his top one isn't in the right spot yet. It's going to look pretty funny when it's all the way in.

Language development-Gray knows three words-daddy (most often), mama and bye-bye. Though as I said before, the only association he seems to have is waving while saying "bye-bye" and that isn't consistent yet and he definitely doesn't associate saying and waving bye-bye with someone leaving.

Eating habits-Gray was sick last week and for the first time in his whole almost 8 months of life, he was not a good eater. He didn't nurse or eat baby food half as good as he normally does. I took him to the doctor last Monday and he only weighed 17.9, when he was right at 18 pounds a month ago. So it's hard to say how much he lost because he probably hadn't gained a lot in the last month, but the doctor said he most likely lost those several ounces just in the few days he'd been sick. I took him back Monday for a weight check and he was back up a few ounces, to 17 pounds, 14.5 ounces. On a normal day, Gray nurses about 4-5 times and takes 8-8 and 1/2 ounces in a pumped bottle before bed. He eats oatmeal and fruit in the morning and a fruit and veggie for lunch and dinner. We've recently added baby yogurt into the mix and he loves it. He also loves to drink water from his sippy cup now. He loves Puffs and can feed them to himself now, which is both cute and convenient. Occasionally though, the sweet slobber from his hands makes them harder to get in on the first try.

Sleeping habits-We are so thankful for how great Gray has slept the last two months. He almost always sleeps straight through the night between 11 and 13 hours. He's so tired from being busy all day that he can't hang much past 7:00 these days. He went through a short phase of waking up around 6:00/6:30 but thankfully that's back to 7:00/7:30. His top tooth has been giving him some pain and he was up last night and the night before but after another round of Ibuprofen kicks in, he goes back to sleep easily. He is still taking two naps a day, ranging anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. He surprised me Monday with a 2 and 1/2 hour nap which never happens anymore. I think he was just worn out from learning how to crawl! Gray rarely puts up a fight to go to bed and I am so glad about that. He either just falls right asleep or plays for a while but either way, he is very happy to be in his crib. Last week though, he decided to start pulling up in his crib and this is what he'd do for a good half hour before falling asleep...

I can never seem to get anything done until he falls asleep because I have so much fun watching him on the monitor. Yesterday for his nap he fell asleep like this...

Temperament-Gray has been very happy and content for the most part lately. He is pretty easy to have out and about and has gotten more flexible if we aren't home right at his nap time. He loves people and loves being out. One of the ladies who works the nursery on Wednesday mornings said he was "just loving life" when I picked him up last week. In fact, he is less likely to be fussy if he is out or around people lately. One of my most favorite things about him is how happy he wakes up. It's another time that I can't help but be glued to the monitor. Literally the second he wakes up he starts playing and talking so sweet to himself. He claps and waves and practices all of his new words and it's just the sweetest thing. I usually leave him in his crib for a good 15-20 minutes after he wakes up because he's so happy and I am either staring at the monitor or scrambling to get the rest of the laundry folded, dishes put away or finish my lunch before it's cold.

Favorite toys-Sophie is still a big hit. His favorite thing to do now is take her ball and tease her with it. He just cracks his little self right up and Sophie doesn't find it one bit funny.

Other favorite toys include anything and everything that is not his or not a store bought toy. In other words, any kind of paper, cup, jewelry, phone, kitchen gadget, remote, pen, and I could go on and on. This does make life easy when I've got to do something and am in desperate need for a distraction. One day I threw one of my nursing pads to him and he played with it for over 20 minutes. I'm sure he'll love this picture when he's older...

He is getting so good at picking up objects of all shapes and sizes and loves to hold something in each hand and bang them together.

Gray finally moved up to size 3 diapers. He is still wearing mostly 9 month clothes. A lot of his pants are too short and my poor boy looks like he's rocking some capri pants. I can't wait to see what his length is at his 9 month appointment next month.

I really don't know how my baby boy is two-thirds of a year old, how in less than four months now we will be having his first birthday party. But as I've said before, I don't wish the time away but each stage just keeps getting better and better. Mama and Daddy are so blessed to be this sweet little boy's parents!

An assortment of random happenings

Last week was a l-o-n-g one! Gray was sick with a nasty, croupy cough and stuffy nose. It was his first real sickness and he was 8 months yesterday, so for that we are so thankful. But he was pitiful and it broke this Mama's heart! He was so miserable and there wasn't much we could do for him. He was wheezing a little last Monday so I called the doctor and they wanted to see him. Thankfully his oxygen, lungs and ears all looked good and we were told it was just a bad virus. I wasn't going to hold back snuggles and kisses from my boy when he needed them the most, so even though he started feeling better on Wednesday, that happened to be right about the time it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Being a stay at home mom leaves you no option to take a sick day, so it made for a really hard week with my busy little booger. Thank the good Lord I started feeling better on Saturday and today I am almost a new person again.

Now on to the randomness...and there is a lot of it that most of you will not care about but apparently I thought was worthy of being in the next printed edition of Hickster Happenings.

Paul and I decided to start watching Downton Abbey on Netflix and we were immediately hooked. We would have marathons while Gray napped and after he went to bed and flew through season one. We found a video store that had season two and watched all of those too. It is safe to say we are officially obsessed with Downton Abbey. We don't watch a lot of TV but thank goodness for a new show because have you seen American Idol this season?! NO THANKS!

We are approaching the 4 year mark of our house being for sale. We just ended a year with our current realtor and are looking into some different options but might re-list with her for a few more months. She has certainly gotten us the most showings we've ever had and we don't necessarily fault her for our house not selling yet. Most all of the feedback we get is wonderful but there's always a "but" and usually it's "but we've decided to buy a single family home, rather than a townhouse, for hardly any more money". We are trying to stay patient but as our little guy gets closer and closer to being mobile, we wish even more we had our own yard for him to play in. If we had a dime for the number of times we've heard, "but the market is looking up..", we'd have enough to pay the house off and move on.

Paul had to discipline a student this week for telling another student that their butt smelled like hot sauce. Is this what "yo mama" jokes have been replaced with? Another day last week he was teaching on leadership and what being a good leader looked like. When he asked his class to think of some people who were good leaders, one very eager student piped up confidently with "Flo Rida!"-referring to the rapper, not the sunny state.

I would like to share about this week's grocery list with y'all. Paul and I started shopping at Aldi about a year or so ago. My Gram has shopped there and loved it for years and my friend Kristen is a regular shopper there too. I must admit I was skeptical for a long time but I am a huge fan now and I feel like Aldi is one of the biggest reasons me being able to stay home with Gray is possible. I am still weird about buying meat from there, though I don't have any reason to be, but I buy almost all of our fruits and vegetables there along with some other things. Here is what I got at this week's trip:
3 pound bag of Fugi apples
5 pound bag of red potatoes
1 pound of strawberries
2 containers of blackberries
1 container of blue berries
a bag of sweet onions
mushrooms
a box of dried prunes (in case you are wondering, prunes are not my fruit of choice but I blend them up into baby food for Gray to help, well you know, and they are actually one of his most favorite things to eat)
bottle of sesame ginger dressing
a bottle of olive oil
a box of 100 ziploc bags
2 bags of frozen broccoli
1 gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream
All for...$29.41!!!! Perhaps I could get a part-time job advertising for Aldi ;)

I am doing a Nehemiah Bible study on Wednesday mornings and am loving it! I never would have thought a book about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem would be able to teach me so much. My friends Ashley and Caroline join me every week and we also have wisdom and fellowship from all ages of other women to enjoy and learn from. Gray loves going in the nursery and it's another time for him to be around other babies. I am just so thankful for my Wednesday mornings!

Speaking of Wednesday mornings, I have two other things to share about that. The leader of our Bible study, Joy, was also one of the teachers in the engaged/newlywed class we took several years ago at church. I sent her a one sentence e-mail on Tuesday to let her know Gray and I were sick and wouldn't be there this week. Thursday she brought us a meal simply because she "wanted to make life easier on us". I was so humbled by her thoughtfulness, especially in the busy, mom-to-three life that she lives. She is the kind of person who really prays for you when she says she will and has such a servant's heart. The other thing to share is that there is the sweetest little old lady, Mrs. Peggy, who worked in the nursery on Wednesday mornings all last semester. She fell in love with Gray instantly when we first started going in September and the two of them have the most precious bond. She'd always make sure she was the one to answer the door so she could take him from me. She came to Gray's dedication in November and bought him a sweet ornament for Christmas. She and her husband move to Florida for the winter and she was so sad she wouldn't be there on Wednesdays for this Bible study semester. She looked our phone number up in the church directory and has called twice to check on Gray. The last time she called I talked to her for almost an hour. Mrs. Peggy has her own children and grand-children, but still has such a love for a little boy who happens to not be related to her at all. It has just meant the world to me. There is much to learn from so many sweet women (and men) in our church-thankful for that!

I just took down our Christmas cards last week. And if it weren't for wanting to hang something in my card holder's place, I would have gladly left them there another month. Or five.

My brother Bruce recently accepted a job as CFO. At not quite 34 years of age, this is quite the accomplishment and I am so proud of him.

Paul and I recently had the privilege of hosting a table at a dinner for engaged and/or newlyweds with the one and only Dr. Gary Chapman. We attended this same dinner twice several years ago-once as an engaged couple and once as newlyweds. Dr. Chapman is the author of The Five Love Languages and has written many other best selling books also. He and his wife focus mainly on marriage ministry, though he has taken on the head/senior pastor role in our church for over a year now as they search for a new pastor. Dr. Chapman was also on the Oprah show recently. He is probably one of the most humble men I know, despite the fact that he is a famous, well known author all around the world. Check him out here, I promise it won't be a waste of time!

Okie dokie, I believe that's enough randomness for one day and I am anxious to finish our big boy's 8 month post. Happy Monday, y'all!


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Celebrating Baby Wrights

Three other friends and I hosted a baby shower today for one of my dearest friends, Abbie. Abbie and I have been friends for a long time now and even spent two years as roommates. Needless to say, we've shared many awesome memories together. We were in each other's weddings, just three weeks apart. Abbie was one of the most excited people for us when she found out Gray was on the way. She was one of the first people to buy a gift for our sweet boy and the day she found out we were having a boy, she started making me a scrapbook that is one of my most treasured things to this day. She and her husband Chris tried for quite a while to get pregnant, all the while she was genuinely sharing in the joy of so many of her friends getting pregnant. All of these things made it even more sweet to me than it already would have been when I found out she and Chris were finally going to have a sweet one of their own. So today was probably almost as exciting for me as it was for the mama-to-be. Baby boy Wrights' room is Dr. Seuss themed, making for one super fun baby shower. All of the food and decorations were based off of Dr. Seuss books, colors or characters.
The hostesses and mama-to-be
Steph, who is standing next to me, is due with baby girl Ella in two weeks and we had her shower last week. And Marie, next to Abbie, is 21 weeks pregnant with a sweet baby boy who is due right after Gray's birthday. Thankfully we have a short break before the next baby shower ;) I am so excited to meet baby boy Wrights in April! I hope and pray he and Gray have a friendship even half as special as the one I have with his mama.

Alright, I'm off to work on one of the three other posts I have in draft mode, including one about Gray being EIGHT MONTHS OLD!

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