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!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
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
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
Friday, July 4, 2014
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.
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...
 |
| I think he looks pretty similar to Gray here. |
 |
| And nothing like Gray here. |
 |
| Being one month old sure is exhausting! |
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...
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Life with two
We've been parents of two for almost four weeks now. Of course we are in love with our new addition to the family and our hearts seem like they couldn't be fuller. But it's also been crazy, hectic, busy, exhausting and at times frustrating. Paul had enough days built up to take off the rest of the school year so except for a few meetings here and there, he has been home with us this whole time so far.
The first week and a half was crazy in the sense of just adjusting to life with a newborn again and just life with two in general. Other than a few really fussy episodes, Walker pretty much slept for almost two weeks. Those really fussy episodes let me to cutting out dairy again but we saw improvement and started to think we'd "lucked out" with a really easy, laid back baby. And then he woke up from the newborn sleep all day, all night phase. He started having terrible gas pains and seemed more fussy by the day. At Gray's two year well check we talked to Dr. Bill about it and he explained that around his age, babies were having to learn to make themselves have a bowl movement, rather than it just happening out of their control. He said that was probably why he was being so fussy and that as he got more used to it, it would hopefully get better. Within a week we were calling the doctor again, just to see if there was anything else we could do for him because it had only gotten worse. When he was having gas or trying to poop, he screamed bloody murder in pain. It would sometimes last a minute, sometimes he would scream off and on for an hour. We felt like we were headed down an all too familiar route and I prayed so hard we would never hear the word "colic" again. The nurse recommended we give gas drops before he ate (we'd been giving them when he got fussy, which was too late) and start giving him gripe water before feedings. We tried those things and then some with Gray and had no luck, so I wasn't very optimistic. But within just a day or two things seemed a little better, at least as far as the gas pains were concerned. I'm not sure if he is just getting more used to it or if the gas drops and gripe water are working but we aren't ready to change anything to find out!
Things have still been better with his gas pains but last week I was noticing a different kind of fussy, mostly when he was nursing. This was stressful because he'd been a great nurser since day one. On Saturday we had family over to finally celebrate Gray's birthday. In the midst of presents and cake, Walker let me know he was ready to eat. I decided to give him a pumped bottle so I wouldn't have to go upstairs and miss anything with Gray. He refused the bottle and was screaming his head off so I went upstairs to nurse him and he completely refused that too, all the while screaming to the top of his lungs. It was stressful and bad timing and I just wanted to cry. At that point, along with some other symptoms we'd noticed over the past several days, I was pretty sure he had reflux. We got an appointment for Sunday morning and our suspensions were confirmed. I was so glad that Dr. Bill happened to be the on-call doctor that day and we left with a diagnosis of reflux and a prescription for Zantac. Thankfully Walker doesn't seem to have a super serious case and he doesn't (yet anyway) spit up like a lot of babies with reflux. In fact, despite his refusal to eat the evening before and having some other challenging feedings, he weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces on Sunday. That's one ounce away from gaining two pounds in just a little over three weeks of life! We are hoping the Zantac will bring some relief to our sweet boy soon.
On a more positive note, Gray has adjusted pretty well to having a new brother. He had a few major meltdowns within the first few days and has overall been a little more whiny and needy, but he has been nothing but sweet to Walker and there have been very few times that he has seemed to be jealous. He hasn't seemed to be bothered at all by Walker's crying and/or screaming. In fact, every time he cries Gray runs to find him a paci or a blanky or a stuffed animal-it's so sweet!
Paul starts summer work outs with his soccer team today and he will be very busy and gone a lot for most of the summer. When school starts back he will be gone all day and won't get home until late every night. I am thankful for the time we had over the last several weeks and especially for how helpful he is when he's home. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little scary to think about tackling the next few months practically by myself. I am praying and hoping Walker gets less fussy and I can get back on a routine with my boys. Since we've been down this road once before, I know it gets easier and goes by fast. So even in the midst of the fussin, I'm trying to soak up these moments that I know one day I'd give anything to have back.
Walker will be one month on Sunday so hopefully a post about that will be coming soon!
The first week and a half was crazy in the sense of just adjusting to life with a newborn again and just life with two in general. Other than a few really fussy episodes, Walker pretty much slept for almost two weeks. Those really fussy episodes let me to cutting out dairy again but we saw improvement and started to think we'd "lucked out" with a really easy, laid back baby. And then he woke up from the newborn sleep all day, all night phase. He started having terrible gas pains and seemed more fussy by the day. At Gray's two year well check we talked to Dr. Bill about it and he explained that around his age, babies were having to learn to make themselves have a bowl movement, rather than it just happening out of their control. He said that was probably why he was being so fussy and that as he got more used to it, it would hopefully get better. Within a week we were calling the doctor again, just to see if there was anything else we could do for him because it had only gotten worse. When he was having gas or trying to poop, he screamed bloody murder in pain. It would sometimes last a minute, sometimes he would scream off and on for an hour. We felt like we were headed down an all too familiar route and I prayed so hard we would never hear the word "colic" again. The nurse recommended we give gas drops before he ate (we'd been giving them when he got fussy, which was too late) and start giving him gripe water before feedings. We tried those things and then some with Gray and had no luck, so I wasn't very optimistic. But within just a day or two things seemed a little better, at least as far as the gas pains were concerned. I'm not sure if he is just getting more used to it or if the gas drops and gripe water are working but we aren't ready to change anything to find out!
Things have still been better with his gas pains but last week I was noticing a different kind of fussy, mostly when he was nursing. This was stressful because he'd been a great nurser since day one. On Saturday we had family over to finally celebrate Gray's birthday. In the midst of presents and cake, Walker let me know he was ready to eat. I decided to give him a pumped bottle so I wouldn't have to go upstairs and miss anything with Gray. He refused the bottle and was screaming his head off so I went upstairs to nurse him and he completely refused that too, all the while screaming to the top of his lungs. It was stressful and bad timing and I just wanted to cry. At that point, along with some other symptoms we'd noticed over the past several days, I was pretty sure he had reflux. We got an appointment for Sunday morning and our suspensions were confirmed. I was so glad that Dr. Bill happened to be the on-call doctor that day and we left with a diagnosis of reflux and a prescription for Zantac. Thankfully Walker doesn't seem to have a super serious case and he doesn't (yet anyway) spit up like a lot of babies with reflux. In fact, despite his refusal to eat the evening before and having some other challenging feedings, he weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces on Sunday. That's one ounce away from gaining two pounds in just a little over three weeks of life! We are hoping the Zantac will bring some relief to our sweet boy soon.
On a more positive note, Gray has adjusted pretty well to having a new brother. He had a few major meltdowns within the first few days and has overall been a little more whiny and needy, but he has been nothing but sweet to Walker and there have been very few times that he has seemed to be jealous. He hasn't seemed to be bothered at all by Walker's crying and/or screaming. In fact, every time he cries Gray runs to find him a paci or a blanky or a stuffed animal-it's so sweet!
Paul starts summer work outs with his soccer team today and he will be very busy and gone a lot for most of the summer. When school starts back he will be gone all day and won't get home until late every night. I am thankful for the time we had over the last several weeks and especially for how helpful he is when he's home. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little scary to think about tackling the next few months practically by myself. I am praying and hoping Walker gets less fussy and I can get back on a routine with my boys. Since we've been down this road once before, I know it gets easier and goes by fast. So even in the midst of the fussin, I'm trying to soak up these moments that I know one day I'd give anything to have back.
Walker will be one month on Sunday so hopefully a post about that will be coming soon!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
TWO
Our sweet, smart, silly boy turned two on Tuesday. It's been a fast two years and he has grown and changed so much and brought more joy to our lives than we ever knew was possible. Just when I think I couldn't possibly love him more, tomorrow comes.
We knew we weren't going to be able to plan a big birthday party this year not knowing when Walker would be born. We are still waiting on a time when all of our family can be here to have a little party but on his actual birthday we took him to the Transportation Museum. He loved riding the train and seeing some of the exhibits but it was no surprise to us that his favorite part of the whole day was playing with the tractors in the gift shop.
After he woke up from his nap we went to TCBY with his favorites, Mason and Han-nan (Landon). When we got home we gave him his big present from us, a John Deere tractor that we bought used for a steal from the Sowers. I'm pretty sure it made the whole rest of his year.
More about our boy at TWO...
Gray weighs 27 pounds (37th %tile), is 36.5 inches long (95th %tile) and has a head measurement of 50.2 centimeters (86th %tile). We've got a big boy on our hands! His height has been well above average since he was born at 22 inches. At his 2 year well check up today his pediatrician said based on his measurements now, he will probably be a little over six feet tall.
Around 22 months, Gray's vocabulary and overall speech exploded out of nowhere. He knows so many words and speaks in phrases and sentences most of the time. There are very few things he says that we can't understand. He has a little bit of a redneck accent with certain words. Milk is pronounced "Merk", ears are pronounced "errrs", etc. If we tell Gray he can't have something or can't do something or anything of that nature he says "I wanna try!" He pretty much remembers anyone's names after seeing or meeting them only once.
Gray is a really good eater. His favorites for breakfast are grits and fruit, for lunch he prefers anything with cheese and dinner varies. He still isn't a huge fan of meat and it's very hit or miss. He likes raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and green peppers.
He is still doing good in his big boy bed. Since the time change, he has been going to bed quite a bit later, around 8:00/8:30 but is still awake some nights at 9:30 and 10:00. He wakes up anywhere from 7:00-8:00. He still takes one afternoon nap around 1:00 and sleeps anywhere from one to three hours. He never fusses about going to bed and we are so thankful for that!
He can say and count most numbers from one to 13 (which is how many stairs we have and we always count as we go up). He can identify some of his letters and can put all of the letters to his name in order (does this in the bathtub with his foam letters) and knows some of his alphabet and likes to sing his ABCs (only knows some random letters in the song so far).
He really has such a big, sweet heart! He also has a strong personality-something we've seen in him since he was a baby. But for a two year old, he really listens and obeys and shares pretty good. We've really tried hard to train (yes, I used the word train and meant it!) and discipline him in an effective way but of course it's so hard and we often fail. We've read several Christian books on behavior, child training, discipline, etc. and owe all credit to God for anything we have gotten right. We started spanking him about a month or so ago for major offenses (out right being defiant, hitting, etc.) and it seems to be working so far. When he does or says something he knows he shouldn't have, he says "I want "bankin" and "I hurt Jesus' heart!". He is still such an affectionate little boy, often initiating snuggles and hugs and kisses. He has only been a big brother for two weeks but has been SO sweet to Walker. Without us asking him to, he kisses and hugs on him and tries to share his milk, snacks and toys with him. When he cries Gray shows up with his paci, which Walker normally doesn't want but we pretend he does for the sake of sweet big brother.
His favorite toys/things in life are tractors, tractors, tractors! He also loves cars, bikes, buses, and pretty much anything else with wheels. He loves to hear and see "air-panes" in the sky. He also loves tools and pretends to "fix things" all the time, especially if/when Daddy has his tools out. He still loves to read books and I bet we read at least 10 every single day. Some of his favorite books right now are: Dusty Saves the Day (Disney Planes book), Love You Forever, Clifford books, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Curious George books and he loves reading the Bible and will ask to read stories about Daniel and the Lion (he can even retell this story pretty good!), Jonah and Moses.
We let him watch his first movie (Frozen) about two months ago. We never really let him watch TV before so it took him a while to become interested but now he is obsessed. We've tried a few other Disney movies but so far Frozen and Cars are the only ones he will sit and watch. We try to limit it to just a couple times a week for no more than 30 minutes at a time but he'd watch Frozen all day every day if we let him.
Gray loves to stack and line up blocks. He loves to play outside in his sand and water table, pushing his dump trucks around and pretending to "mow". The mowers come every Wednesday in our neighborhood and he could stand outside and watch them all day. He uses an old, broken watering wand (it looks like the mower man's weed eater)to pretend he is mowing and/or blowing the grass.
He sometimes acts shy around people he doesn't know very well, especially if people come over to our house or if we are at someone's house for a play date. But in Target or the grocery store he waves and yells out "Hey!" to everyone he sees.
Loves music and is starting to sing along to his favorite songs. Daddy's got him listening to LeCrae (Christian rap) and he even puts his hands up in the air "like he just don't care" when they are jamming out.
Loves to say his prayers before meals, nap and bedtime. Everyday we ask him who he wants to pray for. Most days he asks to pray for people who he has seen recently (Nanny, Papa, Mugger, Gram, etc.) but there are often requests for tractors and popsicles too. Paul has said the Lord's prayer with him every single day for over a year and he can now say a good bit of it by himself. There are few things sweeter to hear than a precious, innocent toddler praying to Jesus!
I'm sure there is much more I'd love to remember one day but hopefully all of the pictures and videos we have will make up for anything I forgot.
We knew we weren't going to be able to plan a big birthday party this year not knowing when Walker would be born. We are still waiting on a time when all of our family can be here to have a little party but on his actual birthday we took him to the Transportation Museum. He loved riding the train and seeing some of the exhibits but it was no surprise to us that his favorite part of the whole day was playing with the tractors in the gift shop.
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More about our boy at TWO...
Gray weighs 27 pounds (37th %tile), is 36.5 inches long (95th %tile) and has a head measurement of 50.2 centimeters (86th %tile). We've got a big boy on our hands! His height has been well above average since he was born at 22 inches. At his 2 year well check up today his pediatrician said based on his measurements now, he will probably be a little over six feet tall.
Around 22 months, Gray's vocabulary and overall speech exploded out of nowhere. He knows so many words and speaks in phrases and sentences most of the time. There are very few things he says that we can't understand. He has a little bit of a redneck accent with certain words. Milk is pronounced "Merk", ears are pronounced "errrs", etc. If we tell Gray he can't have something or can't do something or anything of that nature he says "I wanna try!" He pretty much remembers anyone's names after seeing or meeting them only once.
Gray is a really good eater. His favorites for breakfast are grits and fruit, for lunch he prefers anything with cheese and dinner varies. He still isn't a huge fan of meat and it's very hit or miss. He likes raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and green peppers.
He is still doing good in his big boy bed. Since the time change, he has been going to bed quite a bit later, around 8:00/8:30 but is still awake some nights at 9:30 and 10:00. He wakes up anywhere from 7:00-8:00. He still takes one afternoon nap around 1:00 and sleeps anywhere from one to three hours. He never fusses about going to bed and we are so thankful for that!
He can say and count most numbers from one to 13 (which is how many stairs we have and we always count as we go up). He can identify some of his letters and can put all of the letters to his name in order (does this in the bathtub with his foam letters) and knows some of his alphabet and likes to sing his ABCs (only knows some random letters in the song so far).
He really has such a big, sweet heart! He also has a strong personality-something we've seen in him since he was a baby. But for a two year old, he really listens and obeys and shares pretty good. We've really tried hard to train (yes, I used the word train and meant it!) and discipline him in an effective way but of course it's so hard and we often fail. We've read several Christian books on behavior, child training, discipline, etc. and owe all credit to God for anything we have gotten right. We started spanking him about a month or so ago for major offenses (out right being defiant, hitting, etc.) and it seems to be working so far. When he does or says something he knows he shouldn't have, he says "I want "bankin" and "I hurt Jesus' heart!". He is still such an affectionate little boy, often initiating snuggles and hugs and kisses. He has only been a big brother for two weeks but has been SO sweet to Walker. Without us asking him to, he kisses and hugs on him and tries to share his milk, snacks and toys with him. When he cries Gray shows up with his paci, which Walker normally doesn't want but we pretend he does for the sake of sweet big brother.
His favorite toys/things in life are tractors, tractors, tractors! He also loves cars, bikes, buses, and pretty much anything else with wheels. He loves to hear and see "air-panes" in the sky. He also loves tools and pretends to "fix things" all the time, especially if/when Daddy has his tools out. He still loves to read books and I bet we read at least 10 every single day. Some of his favorite books right now are: Dusty Saves the Day (Disney Planes book), Love You Forever, Clifford books, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Curious George books and he loves reading the Bible and will ask to read stories about Daniel and the Lion (he can even retell this story pretty good!), Jonah and Moses.
We let him watch his first movie (Frozen) about two months ago. We never really let him watch TV before so it took him a while to become interested but now he is obsessed. We've tried a few other Disney movies but so far Frozen and Cars are the only ones he will sit and watch. We try to limit it to just a couple times a week for no more than 30 minutes at a time but he'd watch Frozen all day every day if we let him.
Gray loves to stack and line up blocks. He loves to play outside in his sand and water table, pushing his dump trucks around and pretending to "mow". The mowers come every Wednesday in our neighborhood and he could stand outside and watch them all day. He uses an old, broken watering wand (it looks like the mower man's weed eater)to pretend he is mowing and/or blowing the grass.
He sometimes acts shy around people he doesn't know very well, especially if people come over to our house or if we are at someone's house for a play date. But in Target or the grocery store he waves and yells out "Hey!" to everyone he sees.
Loves music and is starting to sing along to his favorite songs. Daddy's got him listening to LeCrae (Christian rap) and he even puts his hands up in the air "like he just don't care" when they are jamming out.
Loves to say his prayers before meals, nap and bedtime. Everyday we ask him who he wants to pray for. Most days he asks to pray for people who he has seen recently (Nanny, Papa, Mugger, Gram, etc.) but there are often requests for tractors and popsicles too. Paul has said the Lord's prayer with him every single day for over a year and he can now say a good bit of it by himself. There are few things sweeter to hear than a precious, innocent toddler praying to Jesus!
I'm sure there is much more I'd love to remember one day but hopefully all of the pictures and videos we have will make up for anything I forgot.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Paul "Walker" Hicks
Walker was born on Thursday, May 29th at 3:21 p.m. He weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. He is perfect. He definitely resembles his big brother a lot but Paul and I wouldn't say they look exactly alike.
I figured I might as well include Walker's birth story now so that it's not a year and a half before I get around to it ;) It makes for a long post though so feel free to just scroll through the pics!
I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Wednesday, May 28th. The doctor was so empathetic about my carpal tunnel. She said she had it bad with her last two pregnancies and knew what I was going through. She also said it would only get worse and the longer I was pregnant the longer it would take after he was born to go away. Some people even have to have surgery after pregnancy. So within minutes she was calling the hospital to schedule an induction for the next day! I was shocked because I thought even if we went that route it would be a few more days. I was another centimeter dilated but she stripped my membranes again in hopes of helping to get things going and hopefully make induction easier. I got a call about an hour after leaving the doctor that we were scheduled to start induction for 4:30 the next morning. I was thrilled about the early time because I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep anyway and the sooner we got there the sooner we'd be seeing our baby boy. That evening we tried soaking up our time with Gray, knowing it would be our last night putting him to bed as an only child. It was very bittersweet for me. My mom came to spend the night so she would be here with Gray the next morning and Paul's parents were working on sub plans (they are both teachers) so they could leave first thing Thursday morning. I have to say although an induction was not the route I would have chosen, it was really nice having a planned time to go have a baby! I got up at 3:00 to take a shower because I knew it would be a while before that happened again. It was just really nice not having to anticipate any longer when I might go into labor. And I was so thrilled about it being the last night (hopefully) that I would lay in bed not being able to sleep with excruciating pain in my hands and arms.
We got to the hospital right at 4:30. Check in only took a minute since we had pre-registered online. The girl who checked us in welcomed me by saying "Wow! That's a good size belly, I bet you won't miss that!" Haha nothing like one final rude comment!
It was after 7:00 before the induction actually started (with the pitocin) because they had some major issues getting my IV. The nurse blew a vein in my left hand on her first try. Y'all, it HURT! Within seconds it looked like there was a baseball under my skin-it was that swollen! Paul and I are kicking ourselves for not taking a picture of it. I think it really freaked out the poor nurse, who was a really young girl and minutes from being off of her shift. She got another nurse to come try and she blew a vein in my other hand. They called the anesthesiologist and dang if HE didn't blow another vein! Neither of those hurt like the first one but it was not pleasant at all. He finally got one in my lower thumb near my wrist but it was such a tender spot he had to keep shooting numbing stuff in my hand so the burn wasn't as bad. So four tries and over an hour later I had my IV and the pitocin started. I almost forgot to mention that I was having pretty regular contractions by the time we got to the hospital and I really think it would have been the day Walker was born even if I hadn't been induced. And I guess this is also a good time to fast forward for a sec and mention that the pain in my left hand was so bad even a few days after being home that I went to the doctor and turns out I had some big fancy name for an infection that was caused by the IV fluid not getting into my vein and instead floating around in my hand. I've been on antibiotics for several days and it is finally starting to get better. I just can't believe that pain in my hand from a blown vein ended up being the worst part of my labor. And a little ironic that I was being induced because of carpal tunnel in my hands! ;)
Anywho, the pitocin started a little after 7:00. The contractions were definitely stronger but tolerable. What I didn't find to be tolerable, especially if it didn't have to be, was the back labor pains. So I decided to get my epidural around 9:30 ish. Getting the actual epidural doesn't bother me one bit. The back pain seemed better within minutes but the contractions were only getting closer and more intense. Long story short with the epidural, I saw three different anesthesiologists and they kept having to put more medicine straight into the epidural catheter. It helped a lot but I could still feel the contractions and with Gray I never felt another one once I had my epidural. Around 12:30 the nurse came to empty my bladder and asked if anyone had checked me, which they had not. I was already at 5 cm and she said things were moving along well. At 2:30 the doctor came in for the first time. He thought I was still at a 2 because the nurse had not made note of checking me. When I told him I was at a 5 two hours before, he wanted to check me right then. Apparently a male doctor (at least at my practice) cannot check you unless there is a nurse in the room. He couldn't find the nurse so he said he was going to go do a circumcision and would be back in a few. They came back in at 3:10. He asked if I felt the urge to push yet, which I did not. He checked me and said "Um, we're about to have a baby!" Say whaaaat?! So my mom and Gram went skipping out of the room, meanwhile me reminding them it could be a while and not to worry (my mom nearly had a heart attack waiting so long to hear Gray was born). The doctor and nurses were literally running around the room getting dressed and ready for go time. I pushed once and my doctor said "ok one more push and his head will be out!" I couldn't believe it! I never even felt any pressure down there and I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes with Gray. I pushed again and his head was out and with a third and final push, our second miracle came into the world! It was the easiest part of the whole day and I was so relieved to discover that those second babies really do just "fall out"! I felt great and unlike with Gray, I was very alert and saw everything that was going on, all the while carrying on conversations with everyone in the room. I was even more emotional this time, not because the instant love I felt for Walker was any different than with Gray, but just because labor wasn't so exhausting and painful this time and I was able to really take everything in. I held Walker for a few minutes right after he came out and then I just watched my sweet husband holding his hand and talking to him as the nurses cleaned him up. Within just a few minutes we had our skin to skin time and Walker nursed like a champ from the very first time-thank you God!! Shortly after that we let our family (my mom, Gram and brother were there, Paul's parents came later with Gray) come in and meet Walker. It was some sweet time.
Paul's parents brought Gray once we were settled into our room. We wanted the first moments of him meeting Walker to be just our little family so Paul met them in the waiting room. My heart literally felt like it would explode when Gray walked in and said Walker's name. He was so sweet to him from the beginning. He was definitely a little confused about everything going on and he kept looking at my tummy and saying "Walker out!". We had a little train set gift for Gray "from Walker", thinking it would be something positive from the beginning and also a distraction for when I had to feed him, which was very soon after Gray got into the room. Gray kissed and hugged him a bunch and it really was just a sweet, special time. Paul's parents were so patient and sweet to have been waiting all this time to meet Walker. They came in next but didn't get to stay very long because it was already way past time for Gray to eat dinner and start getting ready for bed.
Lindsey came to meet Walker late Thursday night and took these sweet pictures.
Nanny and Papa brought Gray back again the next morning. He was great with Walker again but really had a huge meltdown when we couldn't leave with him. Paul walked out with them and he cried the whole time, which isn't something he typically does. Daddy ended up going home for several hours that afternoon and evening to spend some time with him and put him to bed. We decided another visit to the hospital wouldn't be a good idea for Gray which made us even more anxious to get home.
We got home around 3:30 on Saturday. My mom had been with Gray all day so Paul's parents could get a break and spend some one-on-one time with Walker. Gray slept for almost another hour after we got home that day, which was so nice because we were able to bring everything in and be settled and relaxed when he got up. When he woke up we took Walker up to his room to see Gray and he was so excited we were all home. Gray wanted him to get in his bed and meet all of his "friends" that sleep with him.
It's been a hard, but good first week as a family of four. I might get a blog post done in the next month (ha!) about our life so far and some of Walker's firsts.
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| Dr. Masciello was a great doctor for delivery! |
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| In awe. There really are no words that could ever describe this moment. |
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| Our chunky monkey! |
I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Wednesday, May 28th. The doctor was so empathetic about my carpal tunnel. She said she had it bad with her last two pregnancies and knew what I was going through. She also said it would only get worse and the longer I was pregnant the longer it would take after he was born to go away. Some people even have to have surgery after pregnancy. So within minutes she was calling the hospital to schedule an induction for the next day! I was shocked because I thought even if we went that route it would be a few more days. I was another centimeter dilated but she stripped my membranes again in hopes of helping to get things going and hopefully make induction easier. I got a call about an hour after leaving the doctor that we were scheduled to start induction for 4:30 the next morning. I was thrilled about the early time because I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep anyway and the sooner we got there the sooner we'd be seeing our baby boy. That evening we tried soaking up our time with Gray, knowing it would be our last night putting him to bed as an only child. It was very bittersweet for me. My mom came to spend the night so she would be here with Gray the next morning and Paul's parents were working on sub plans (they are both teachers) so they could leave first thing Thursday morning. I have to say although an induction was not the route I would have chosen, it was really nice having a planned time to go have a baby! I got up at 3:00 to take a shower because I knew it would be a while before that happened again. It was just really nice not having to anticipate any longer when I might go into labor. And I was so thrilled about it being the last night (hopefully) that I would lay in bed not being able to sleep with excruciating pain in my hands and arms.
We got to the hospital right at 4:30. Check in only took a minute since we had pre-registered online. The girl who checked us in welcomed me by saying "Wow! That's a good size belly, I bet you won't miss that!" Haha nothing like one final rude comment!
It was after 7:00 before the induction actually started (with the pitocin) because they had some major issues getting my IV. The nurse blew a vein in my left hand on her first try. Y'all, it HURT! Within seconds it looked like there was a baseball under my skin-it was that swollen! Paul and I are kicking ourselves for not taking a picture of it. I think it really freaked out the poor nurse, who was a really young girl and minutes from being off of her shift. She got another nurse to come try and she blew a vein in my other hand. They called the anesthesiologist and dang if HE didn't blow another vein! Neither of those hurt like the first one but it was not pleasant at all. He finally got one in my lower thumb near my wrist but it was such a tender spot he had to keep shooting numbing stuff in my hand so the burn wasn't as bad. So four tries and over an hour later I had my IV and the pitocin started. I almost forgot to mention that I was having pretty regular contractions by the time we got to the hospital and I really think it would have been the day Walker was born even if I hadn't been induced. And I guess this is also a good time to fast forward for a sec and mention that the pain in my left hand was so bad even a few days after being home that I went to the doctor and turns out I had some big fancy name for an infection that was caused by the IV fluid not getting into my vein and instead floating around in my hand. I've been on antibiotics for several days and it is finally starting to get better. I just can't believe that pain in my hand from a blown vein ended up being the worst part of my labor. And a little ironic that I was being induced because of carpal tunnel in my hands! ;)
Anywho, the pitocin started a little after 7:00. The contractions were definitely stronger but tolerable. What I didn't find to be tolerable, especially if it didn't have to be, was the back labor pains. So I decided to get my epidural around 9:30 ish. Getting the actual epidural doesn't bother me one bit. The back pain seemed better within minutes but the contractions were only getting closer and more intense. Long story short with the epidural, I saw three different anesthesiologists and they kept having to put more medicine straight into the epidural catheter. It helped a lot but I could still feel the contractions and with Gray I never felt another one once I had my epidural. Around 12:30 the nurse came to empty my bladder and asked if anyone had checked me, which they had not. I was already at 5 cm and she said things were moving along well. At 2:30 the doctor came in for the first time. He thought I was still at a 2 because the nurse had not made note of checking me. When I told him I was at a 5 two hours before, he wanted to check me right then. Apparently a male doctor (at least at my practice) cannot check you unless there is a nurse in the room. He couldn't find the nurse so he said he was going to go do a circumcision and would be back in a few. They came back in at 3:10. He asked if I felt the urge to push yet, which I did not. He checked me and said "Um, we're about to have a baby!" Say whaaaat?! So my mom and Gram went skipping out of the room, meanwhile me reminding them it could be a while and not to worry (my mom nearly had a heart attack waiting so long to hear Gray was born). The doctor and nurses were literally running around the room getting dressed and ready for go time. I pushed once and my doctor said "ok one more push and his head will be out!" I couldn't believe it! I never even felt any pressure down there and I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes with Gray. I pushed again and his head was out and with a third and final push, our second miracle came into the world! It was the easiest part of the whole day and I was so relieved to discover that those second babies really do just "fall out"! I felt great and unlike with Gray, I was very alert and saw everything that was going on, all the while carrying on conversations with everyone in the room. I was even more emotional this time, not because the instant love I felt for Walker was any different than with Gray, but just because labor wasn't so exhausting and painful this time and I was able to really take everything in. I held Walker for a few minutes right after he came out and then I just watched my sweet husband holding his hand and talking to him as the nurses cleaned him up. Within just a few minutes we had our skin to skin time and Walker nursed like a champ from the very first time-thank you God!! Shortly after that we let our family (my mom, Gram and brother were there, Paul's parents came later with Gray) come in and meet Walker. It was some sweet time.
Lindsey came to meet Walker late Thursday night and took these sweet pictures.
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| These cheeks will be raw from kisses in no time. |
Nanny and Papa brought Gray back again the next morning. He was great with Walker again but really had a huge meltdown when we couldn't leave with him. Paul walked out with them and he cried the whole time, which isn't something he typically does. Daddy ended up going home for several hours that afternoon and evening to spend some time with him and put him to bed. We decided another visit to the hospital wouldn't be a good idea for Gray which made us even more anxious to get home.
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| Ready to go home! |
We got home around 3:30 on Saturday. My mom had been with Gray all day so Paul's parents could get a break and spend some one-on-one time with Walker. Gray slept for almost another hour after we got home that day, which was so nice because we were able to bring everything in and be settled and relaxed when he got up. When he woke up we took Walker up to his room to see Gray and he was so excited we were all home. Gray wanted him to get in his bed and meet all of his "friends" that sleep with him.
It's been a hard, but good first week as a family of four. I might get a blog post done in the next month (ha!) about our life so far and some of Walker's firsts.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Walker update
We just put our first baby to bed for the last time as an only child. Yep, Walker is officially being evicted tomorrow! We are going in at 4:30 a.m. for an induction. It's not like I would be asleep anyway, so I'm ready to get this show on the road and meet our sweet boy. Prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby are appreciated! Be back soon with an introduction to baby Walker!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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