My first ever Five on Friday

Y'all...life continues to be crazy and my blog has been on the back burner for months now. I really want to get back on the blogging train because I know one day I'll want to look back and remember the details of our life. Several of my friends have inspired me to start this and I'm really hoping it will be an easy way to blog at least once a week. With all that's been going on and not much blogging, it's hard for me to know where to start and pick just five things but here goes...

ONE.

We have been in our new home almost two weeks and are loving it! There are boxes everywhere and we will probably be unpacking and sorting trough things and hanging pictures a year from now. God continues to give me opportunities to refine my type A personality ;) One of these days I truly do hope to blog with some pictures of the house, especially some before and after pics. We got a new couch that's being delivered tomorrow and I am so excited! Maybe, just maybe our TV will get mounted this weekend and off of the floor and our living room will actually look like a living room ;)

TWO.

Walker has been feeling MUCH better for about two weeks now. He still isn't by any means a totally happy, laid back baby but compared to screaming pretty much every minute he was awake, we have really turned a corner. His reflux is under control and he is nursing great again (except for when he is distracted by big brother and wants to look around). His gas and tummy are much better too and I am just so, so, so thankful! Now if only he would not hate the car. I guess beggars can't be choosers, right?! Hoping to get his three month blog post finished before he turns four months.

THREE.

Gray seems so much bigger and older to me everyday in the way he talks and plays. He wears me out and tests my patience but for the most part he is so sweet and smart and silly and fun and I really just feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with him. I am kicking myself for not being better about writing down things he says and does am hope to get better at that too. He is having a ball at our new house. Our half acre fenced in yard seems huge compared to the concrete slab that made up our yard at the townhouse and we spend as many minutes outside every day as possible. And yet he has only been taking 1-2 naps a week. But that's a whole 'nother astory!

FOUR.

The Bible study I go to at my church just started again this week. I am doing Beth Moore's new Thessalonians study and am so excited about it. Time in the Word, Beth Moore and fellowship with good friends makes me a happy Mama!

FIVE.

I saved this for last trying to keep a positive attitude as best as possible but y'all, soccer season has been harder on me this year than ever. Paul is gone A LOT. I miss him, Gray misses him and doing this whole Mom gig by myself all day every day and most every night by myself is tough. He has had something to do with his soccer team every weekend for the last 6 weeks and a lot of those weekends he has been out of town. I haven't been able to go to a game yet and that's hard too, being his number one fan and all. I know it's just a season and in another two months or so we will have him around more. He has off from soccer today and only practice tomorrow morning so we are looking forward to some family time this weekend.

Happy Friday y'all!

Another Walker/house update

I don't even know where to begin; so much is going on in our lives! So many of our friends and family have called and/or texted asking about Walker and the house and we haven't had enough quiet minutes to respond the way we would like to so I thought I'd do it here again.

As for Walker...
The day of his swallow test we switched from rice cereal to oatmeal because we'd heard it would be better on his tummy. Unfortunately we didn't see any difference and the oatmeal was even harder for him to get down. There is a reason babies aren't supposed to have anything other than breast milk or formula before six months of age-their poor little tummies and digestive systems just aren't developed and mature enough to handle it. So while thickening his bottles was helping some with the reflux, it was making his tummy hurt so bad that he screamed all day with gas pains and constipation. We were feeling so desperate at this point. I've been afraid to switch to Prilosec (a third and final medicine option) in fear of it not working as good and us taking steps back while giving it a two week trial. A friend of mine told me about taking her week old baby to a chiropractor for an adjustment and it healing her reflux. I've never necessarily had a reason to, but have always been very leery of chiropractors and the thought of taking my BABY to one really seemed out there so I didn't even consider it. I was texting with an old college friend one day about two weeks ago who I haven't seen or talked to in months and was filling her in on what's been going on with Walker. She told me they took their first child (who was born at 27 weeks) to a chiropractor when she only weighed five pounds and it also cured her reflux. Really trusting this friend and her maternal instincts and decisions, I thought it might be worth a shot. I called the same chiropractor she used and had an appointment scheduled for the following day. He was able to get a good look at Walker's spine without x-rays and said he was in fact out of alignment in several places. He explained to us how our spine really controls every part of our body and how certain things can be affected when out of alignment. It all seemed to make perfect sense but I still wasn't buying that it could fix our baby. He showed us what he would do to Walker to align him and let us feel what it would feel like to him. It didn't hurt at all so we decided we were willing to give it a try. Y'all! For the rest of the day Walker was the most peaceful and content he's been in two months. He NURSED for every single feeding the rest of the day. It was like a miracle! I was beginning to think my nursing days were over. He went back that Friday (a week ago today) for a second exam and two places needed adjusting again. Since the first adjustment we have only thickened ONE bottle, and that was before his second adjustment. We are so thankful that he has been eating better and I am so happy to be nursing him again and not having to plug up that dang pump every couple of hours!

I really thought if we could get the reflux under control Walker would be the most happy, content baby. Unfortunately he has still been very fussy. Despite him being off of rice and oatmeal, his tummy is still giving him a lot of issues. He screams out in gas pain a lot even though my diet has been extremely bland for over two months now. At this point I have to think the Prevacid is what's causing the trouble. Thankfully he naps great and has been giving us some eight hour stretches at night but he is usually crying or screaming most of the time he's awake. I'm lucky to catch a smile or two each day. He has a good day here and there and I get my hopes up that he's grown out of it but then it's back to screaming the next day. Because he is so fussy we don't make it out much and that has been very hard on Gray, who is used to being out and about most of the day. As hard as it's been, I know from experience with Gray that he will get better and this isn't an indication of what his personality will be like. I try to remind myself that the days are long but the years are so short. Here's hoping for a happier, more content fourth month of life.

As for the house...
We closed last Friday, praise the Lord!! It got pushed back several days because the sellers were out of town and weren't here to sign their part of the paperwork. Because of that, they agreed to let us in the house last Tuesday, which was our original closing date. The painter started that day is almost finished with the whole house now. The hallway, living room, dining room and both bathrooms were wall papered so we spent a lot of time last weekend tearing it down. We didn't even come close to finishing it. Paul started back to school Monday for teacher work days and is be gone every evening with soccer. I can't get anything done over there when the boys are with me so we had to pay someone (a family member a awesome handy man!) to finish it along with some other things we weren't going to have time to do before moving in. It's already looking so much better over there and it's been so exciting to see the transformation. Fresh paint and new lighting alone will make it seem like a brand new house.

We hope to start moving in next weekend and I can't wait to blog with some before and after pictures when I get some spare time-ha! Have I mentioned we've only packed one box?

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Walker update/house update

Walker had his swallow test yesterday at Brenner's Children's Hospital. It was a pretty simple test and he was a little champ. They basically just buckled him in a seat and x-rayed him as he took a bottle of pumped breast milk. The images showed that his milk is going to the right place and he is not aspirating at all. We are so thankful because it sounded like a swallowing dysfunction could be difficult to treat, mean all bottles (I'm still holding out hope that he will be able to nurse more regularly again), and last for at least a year.

Though we are very thankful for the good news we got yesterday, we are still hoping there is an answer to why our sweet boy is still having so much trouble with feedings. He almost never nurses anymore, which still makes me so sad. I miss the sweet bonding experience and quite frankly, I HATE pumping and am having a really hard time finding it possible to do so every couple of hours during the day. But for now I'm going to keep trying.

Walker's overall temperament is still getting better and he is much more content, even the witching hours are starting to improve. But feedings are still really inconsistent. Sometimes he takes a bottle with no problem but usually it's a fight to get it down and sometimes takes almost an hour. You can imagine how difficult that is with a two year old on my hands!

At Walker's well visit the doctor told us to increase the amount of rice cereal in his bottles substantially. The bottles seemed
to be going down a little better but within just a day or two he was constipated (I'm guessing from all the iron in the cereal) and screaming out with really bad gas. We have switched to oatmeal now and are hoping that gets better but haven't seemed to get the amount of oatmeal and correct bottle nipple size down pat for him. It's either flowing out too fast and he screams or it's too thick and he is ticked that he can't get it out. Ahhh! One day we will figure this out, surely! I'm not sure what the next steps are yet. We are probably going to give Prilosec a try, it's a third and final medicine option for reflux. We may be referred to a GI specialist as well.

Being at Brenner's yesterday was another reminder and perspective that this is such a minor issue. Though it's frustrating for Walker and for us, it's not anything life threatening and we are just so thankful for that.

Now for an update on the new house...we had to walk away last week while negotiating with the sellers over the inspection list regarding repairs. It was so nerve racking! Thankfully within a short time they came back to us with something acceptable. All major road blocks in that department are cleared now and we are scheduled to close next Friday! They are actually going to let us in on Tuesday (original closing date) to start cleaning and tearing down wall paper. We ordered our paint yesterday and the painter will start next week. It's starting to feel real and we are really getting excited. We still haven't packed one box and I've yet to find a minute to start. We are going to be relying a lot on family and friends to help and are so thankful for the time we know they are willing to spend helping us in this crazy time.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. We know this crazy season of life is so brief in the grand scheme of things. God is more than good!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Walker-Two months

Baby boy was two months old on Tuesday, the 29th. He had a pretty rough second month of life with lots of fussy days and a difficult time with feedings. His overall temperament has been much better the last two weeks and feedings have gotten better for the most part over the last week. We are finally getting more smiles and he is actually content to just sit in his bouncer or be on his play mat. He is getting mostly pumped bottles thickened with rice cereal to help with his reflux. My boy likes milkshakes-can you blame him? He has only been nursing once or twice a day and some days not even that much. It makes my heart so sad but I don't want to nurse him bad enough to make it painful for him and frustrating for the both of us. We went to the doctor yesterday for his two month well visit and growth stats. He had his first shots which resulted in the longest silent cry I've ever seen. It broke my Mommy heart! The doctor was pleased with his growth and we will check in after his swallowing test, which is scheduled for this Wednesday.

Now more about our chunky monkey at two months...

weighs 13 pounds, 8 ounces (75th %tile). Gray was 12.1 at two months.

is 23 and a half inches long-up two and a half inches since birth! (70th %tile). Gray was 24 inches at two months.

has a head measurement of 40.4 centimeters (84th %tile)

wears size 3 month clothes and size 2 diapers

still sleeps swaddled at night and for most long naps if we are home

takes two long naps a day, usually in his swing and sometimes a third one or either lots of dosing in the late afternoons/early evenings

is starting to give us more consistent 5-6 hour stretches at night (praise the Lord!!!). He usually goes down for the night around 9:30 or 10:00 and on a good night sleeps until 3:00 or 4:00 and goes back to sleep until 7:00/7:30. We had hoped he would be sleeping consistently in his crib by this point but will only sleep in an upright position and until we get his reflux or whatever else is going on under control we aren't pushing the crib. My friend Meredith let us borrow her rock n play and he sleeps in that at night.

takes four ounces with rice cereal in his bottles

is on 3mL of Prevacid twice a day for reflux

smiles at Mommy and Daddy's voices and if we touch his nose and lips. He smiled at Gray for the first time this week and I don't know who was happier, Mommy or big brother! :)

loves lights, ceiling fans and his mobile

is getting better about being a content car rider (PTL again!!)

loves the bath

loves tummy time and even falls asleep on his tummy sometimes

I really think we are going to have a very happy and content baby once we can get these feedings figured out.

Bustin out of these 3 months jeans

I don't think they look alike here, but we've been seeing a lot more of Gray in Walker as he gets older. Both are just so handsome and perfect and we are so blessed.

Gray 2 months/Walker 2 months


 

I''ll post next week with results from Walker's swallowing test and an update on the new house.

An update on life

I hope this post comes across more as "keeping it real" than being negative. Life has been a little crazy lately. All of the details with the house have been pretty stressful and time consuming, Paul has been gone a lot with soccer and we've had a rough few weeks with Walker.

As far as the house goes...we got our inspection report on Thursday night and it's 38 pages. There are over 60 items on there but the inspector was extremely thorough and many of the things are little and either don't need to be fixed or Paul can fix them. We really weren't surprised with the lengthy list knowing it's an older house. My friend Renna's dad is a builder and is meeting us out there today to give us his opinion on what things need to be fixed asap and give us an estimate a few things we want done that Paul can't do himself. We have to give a list of things we want fixed to the seller by tonight. We only have three days left in our due diligence period, which allows us to back out of the house without losing any money. We sure hope the negotiation regarding the inspection list doesn't cause us to have to walk away. After we settle up with that the appraisal will be ordered. It's not looking like we will be able close on August 12th but we hopefully it won't be too long after that. We will have the house painted and a few other things done before we even move in. We still don't have any serious bites on our house as far as a buyer but we have a few options as renters whenever we give the "go ahead" for that. We haven't packed one single box and I really have no idea when or how that will happen.

Soccer season is in full swing and Paul has been gone a lot. Thank the good Lord my mom or Gram have been able to come in the evenings to help me out during the rough witching hours. Walker usually cries from 5:00-9:00/10:00 every night which makes dinner, bath and bed with Gray a nightmare if I'm doing it solo. Daddy has a slow week this week and then no more down time until November and he will be gone overnight three nights again next week.

We went to the beach for four nights last week. Minus feeding Walker was great and Gray had so much fun. Maybe one of these days in my spare time (ha!) I'll post about our little vacay.

It's been a rough few weeks with Walker. He has a few good days here and there but has overall been very fussy. He is rarely awake and happy but thankfully sleeps good during the day. Nights have been so inconsistent; one night he gives us a six hour stretch and the next he's up every two-three hours. He switched to Prevacid for his reflux there weeks ago. Within a week we could tell a huge difference but shortly after took a turn for the worse. There were five days in a row that he screamed through every. single. feeding! It's pitiful and also very frustrating for both of us. Our pediatrician told us to add rice cereal to his bottles because thicker milk usually goes down better for reflux babies. It definitely helps so we've been giving a lot of bottles. Walker is also scheduled for a swallowing test at Brenner's next week because his doctor thinks there might be more going on. If he does have a swallowing dysfunction I will most likely have to exclusively pump. It makes me sad to think about not being able to nurse him and I'm really not sure how I'll find the time to pump for every bottle. I reckon we will cross that bridge when we get there. He has nursed pretty well the past few days so maybe, just maybe, things will start to get better for good. Our sweet chunky boy is two months old today but goes for his well visit on Friday so I will post after that.

Until then I'm off to soak in some time with all three of my boys!

Big news for the Hicksters!

Surely you didn't think that meant we were announcing that number three was on the way! ;)

After waiting several years our time has finally come to buy a house! We've had Paul's townhouse on the market five and a half years now and have been living here waiting for it to sell for three and a half. We've been praying that whole time for God to sell it or tell us it was ok to rent it and move on. I can't tell you how many times we've heard "God's timing is perfect" and we know it to be true but at the same time struggled with that reality a lot of days. We've watched countless friends and family members sell their homes and move on, often making us wonder "why not us?". But we remained faithful because we knew He is faithful. We have questioned the long timing so much. Was there something we were doing wrong in God's eyes? About a year or so ago we both finally felt like we knew the reason-God had something better for us than we could imagine and it (the house) just wasn't ready yet.

Fast forward a year. A little over a month ago we met with our realtor to discuss some strategies for our home. Unfortunately the condo and townhouse market hasn't seen much improvement and especially our neighborhood. There is foreclosure after foreclosure and it's hard to compete with that. We are priced to sell and have been for years but we still can't compete with a foreclosure. Our feedback from showings is almost always something like this, "beautiful, clean and well kept townhouse, best one in the neighborhood. Buyers have decided to buy a single family home for the same price/buyers have found a foreclosure with more square feet for ten-twenty thousand less." It's been so frustrating because we can't change those things. We've put quite a bit of money into our house over the years doing upgrades so ours would stand out amongst the many others, but it still hasn't been enough.

So we talked about some promotions and things we could offer to spark more interested buyers online. And then she brought up renting, something we had never even let our other realtors talk to us about because we knew it wasn't even an option. This time we both felt different. We heard her out, talked for over an hour about the pros and cons, got a lot of information and told her we would pray about it. We have come to the realization that with where the market is, we could easily be here another five years and at some point (for us it would be when God told us it was ok) we want to move on and be in a house a little better suited for raising a family-especially one of two boys!

After talking and praying about it over the next week, Paul and I both felt like God was telling us it was ok to move on. We told our realtor we wanted to make a big push for the rest of June and July to sell but if it didn't by then we would try the renting route. Several realtors and other people in the related business have told us we would have no problems renting our place. Of course there are risks involved and with where we are financially, those risks are scary. But after waiting for over five years, we have to trust that God will take care of us. If we have to rent, we will be able to make a little money each month to save up to make our mortgage payment if we don't have a renter for a month or two and/or for carpet cleaning, repairs, etc. It's not enough to consider an investment but we shouldn't lose any money as long as we can keep a renter and that is all we cared about. We have an interested buyer right now who says our house is in their top two so we are praying hard for an acceptable offer from her or someone else in the next several weeks. Of course the best case scenario is to sell.

Now on to the fun part...
Once we told our realtor we were ok going the renting route if our house didn't sell, she told us that we needed to start looking for a house because we would have a renter as soon as we marketed it that way. We began to wonder if there even would be a house we would be interested in that was in our price range. We looked at a lot of houses online and when we saw one we might be interested in, we drove out to see it to decide if it was worth a showing with our realtor. We toted up the boys one Sunday afternoon and went to look at a house in that sparked our interest online. The house was vacant so we peeked in all the windows and walked around the yard for a while. When we left I told Paul "this is the one!" We got a showing the next day with our realtor, went back again that Wednesday and made an offer on Thursday. After a long eight days of negotiating back and forth with the sellers our offer was accepted and we were under contract by the following Friday evening. More about the house...it's an old house, built in the 50s so there are A LOT of home improvement and renovations in our future, which we are actually looking forward to. The house is in an awesome location in Clemmons. There are three bedrooms, two of which are pretty small but big enough for boys and two full baths, which are first on our big list of projects (try to picture lavender tile, maroon counter tops and flowers painted INSIDE of the sink, just to name a few). There is a large, beautiful sunroom added on to the back of the house off of the kitchen. And the best parts-a finished basement and a big, fenced in backyard for our boys to play in. I will share more details and pictures of the house sometime soon and I'm sure there will be many before and after blog posts once we move in and start on some projects.

We are so very excited! Excited to have more space, excited to have all main living space on the one level, excited for a basement playroom and a backyard for our boys to run and play in, excited for something that feels like HOME, especially excited to be done with showings and the stress, headache and disappointment that comes along with it. I really could go on and on and on :)

We are scheduled to close on August 12th but our lender and realtor have both said it probably won't be able to happen that soon for several reasons. The timing of this all this is so crazy-Paul will be right in the middle of his busiest time with soccer, not to mention we have a six week old. BUT, if God waited this long for it to be our time then we know He will get us through the craziness of it. We are so excited and can't wait to share more soon.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Walker-One month

Our sweet Walker was one month old on Sunday. In a way the first month has flown by and then again it seems like forever ago that we were in the hospital.

I think he looks pretty similar to Gray here.

And nothing like Gray here.

Being one month old sure is exhausting!

Here are a few tidbits about Walker man at one month...

Weighs 10 pounds, 12 ounces (on 6/26)-80th percentile.

Is 22 inches long-80th percentile

Wears size one diapers and 0-3 month clothes.

Has acid reflux and takes Zantac twice a day. We have seen some improvement with this but still having quite a bit of screaming out in pain due to gas pains and/or when he is having a bowl movement and some difficult nursing sessions due to the reflux. I am still dairy free along with avoiding anything spicy and recently cut out tomatoes and really acidic fruits. Pretty soon I'll be living off of bread and water ;) But I'll do whatever it takes to keep our boy out of pain and the screaming to a minimal!

Loves to be swaddled. We try to leave him out of his swaddle for one or two naps a day but he won't stay asleep long without it.

Nurses every 2-4 hours during the day. When getting a pumped bottle he takes 4 ounces.

Nights are inconsistent. He will have several good nights in a row with 3-5 hour stretches and then some bad nights here and there two where he is up a lot and even if he isn't eating seems to be awake and fussy. Last night he had a five and a half hour stretch but that was after two really rough nights that just about led me to the crazy house.

Naps in his swing most of the time, sleeps in his bouncy seat at night unless things are rough and we come downstairs to the swing. We've started trying to put him in his crib some during the day in hopes that the transition to his bed can happen soon and be a smooth one.

Usually loves tummy time

Notices lights and ceiling fans

Doesn't like the car...big sad face here!

In general his mood is pretty fussy when he's awake. We definitely don't have one of those "only cries when he's hungry" babies, but hoping that is better by next month's post!

They are both perfect in their own special way but I love comparing pictures and stats of our two boys. Walker weighed 6 ounces more than Gray and birth but was a half inch shorter. At one month, Gray weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces and Walker weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces. Both grew a half inch in their first month of life-Gray was 22.5 inches, Walker was 22 inches. Sometimes we think Walker looks a lot like Gray but most of the time we think he looks a lot different and even more so the older he gets. Here's a comparison of them at one month...