Summer Lovin'

Today is the day we normally watch our friends 10 month old son, Riley, so in an attempt to have a fun, engaging summertime activity we took him to the pool and had some fun in the sun! We had a great time! Riley was a little leery at first, but after a little time he started to really enjoy it! His little bloated diaper was so cute! The whole point to my little story is that once we got home and put Riley down for his nap I started getting ready to go out to the movies tonight and I could smell the sun tan lotion still on my skin and I felt that little sting of warmness from being outside and it put a huge smile on my face! Yes, the summer heat is unbearable at times, but I just love summer anyway! Eating Popsicles and the relief of rubbing aloe vera on a sun-burn is the stuff you look forward to during an AZ summer!
Another good thing about the heat of summer is that the hotter it gets, as the months pass, the closer I get to having this baby! 13wks to go! I can't believe it! My tummy is pretty much all baby now! I'm thinking all of me is going to be all Mason soon! Lol! Okay, so probably the weirdest thing I think about, which is probably only weird to me, is that the baby can kick me on the belly button. Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like there should be something blocking that space inside your belly, I mean it's like a hole in your stomach! Watching him kick me in the belly button is just too weird!
I seem to have a new craving to add to the list, ice cream! I frequent the dairy queen at the mall a lot! I'm pretty sure the guy behind the counter knows who I am and what I want every time! Lol! Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's just cause I'm fat. Haha! Either way, oh well! I'm enjoying it!
Well, that's the latest in the Hicok clan! Until later...

Things I'm Thankful For:

Tonight our youth pastor talked about time. How to "respect" your time, etc, etc, I forgot the name of his other points, sorry Dave! But it was mostly about being thankful for that time and using it wisely. The point was kinda to encourage the kiddos to spend time growing in the Word or spending time in fellowship with their christian/church friends instead of sitting in front of Facebook or the television all summer. But what stuck out to me was just a little point he made about being thankful. Taking the time out of every day to think up or list at least 3 things your thankful for that day. So I decided to try to do this. I always say how thankful I am for everything, why not actually list it? I'm going to shoot for 5, but there may be more, we'll see! (Not that there's not an endless list of things I could sit here and write about being thankful for but I'm thinking there should be a limit for times sake :) ) So here goes:


Things I'm Thankful For Today:
1. My family. I know, a given right? But Brandon has been out of town this week and my family invited me to come stay with them and my little brother even let me sleep in his bed, while he took the couch downstairs. It made me feel really good.

2. My friends. It's really interesting to see who's around after a year, 5 years, 10 years. I've been surprised looking back to high school that people I thought I'd be friends with forever I don't even have numbers for anymore. But then there are the friends who you could totally blow off or hurt and come back to and apologize and they're there for you, instantly and you pick up right where you left off. I love that. It really is awesome. So thank you all out there, you know who you are. I'm so glad I have friends like you guys.

3. My little baby boy growing away inside me. I know, another given right? But he's really kept me company these last few days without Brandon. I guess that sounds weird, but I guess, to me, it's like, you sit there all alone and you feel a little kick and it just comforts you and reminds you, you're not alone, you're responsible for someone, you still have someone who is with you all the time.

4. My wonderful husband. It's true what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. This has been the longest week of my life and I still have til Saturday! :( I'm just ready to have my partner back. I'm probably being hormonal and whiny, but oh well, I AM pregnant after all!

5. Days off. I love having time to check off things on a list! I had that time today! I got my car washed, picked up the dry cleaning and got some stuff for the baby's room. I still had time to meet a friend for lunch and take a nap before church tonight too! It was nice, not too fast but not too slow!

Well, bottom line: I'm thankful for my life. Brandon and I are truly blessed! We know that there is no way we'd be able to do all the things we've enjoyed over the last two years without God's help. I truly love my life and I can't wait until Mr. Mason makes his grand entrance into it! So exciting, I just want to meet him already! :) Until later...be thankful!

a little late, but better than never...

Sorry, I've slacked a bit, but I do have news! Drum roll please.....It's a BOY! That's right! We're having a little man! We're planning on naming him Mason Dale, Dale after my grandpa. We were totally suprised (we had convinced ourselves it was a girl), but we're very happy! He must have been tired of all that "I feel like it's a girl" talk because he was VERY CLEAR to show that he was ALL boy! Haha! I don't have a scanner on hand, so I can't post any ultrasound pics, but trust me, he is looking very cute! Ultrasounds are amazing! I never one could see so much using basically echo-location! We saw everything! His heart and it's four chambers, his nose and mouth, eye sockets, fingers and toes, spine, kidenys, everything! It was so incredible! What an experience! We really enjoyed it, I've watched the video over and over again, it's just so amazing, it's like a sneak peek! Another more recent development, boy does he wiggle! I'm thinking he's going to be quite the sportsman! (Yes, we've already discussed which sports we are going to enroll him in when he's old enough! Tee ball, soccer, etc! Yay!) He's kicking right now, as a matter of fact, he must know I'm talking about him! :) Lately, we've been spending a lot of time online and in store checking out cribs, strollers, swings, all things baby! We haven't started registering yet, but I have started a list of the bigger things that I want! Who would have thought, I mean I knew having babies wasn't cheap, but what suprises me it just how much stuff like there furniture costs! Wow! Overwhelming, much?! Luckily, we both have awesome parents who have offered to help us with a few items! What would we do without them? I know...we'd be BrOkE with lots of debt! HAHA! Well, I guess that's life, right? It's all part of it and we're excited for what's to come! So I've had so different cravings recently...reallllly into broccoli with lemon juice squeezed onto it! But if I can't get my hands(or my fork) on broccoli I just eat any kind of steamed veggie with lemon juice on it! SO yummy! I think that's about all you've been missing these last couple weeks that I slacked! I can't believe I'm 22 weeks, it's going so fast! I get more antsy with every passing day! I can't wait to see what he looks like, learn about his personality, it's all going to be so fun! Thank you Lord for this beautiful and fun gift! I'm loving every minute of it! Well...until later :)

"Start spreading the news..."

"I'm leaving today..." to NYC baby! Well, I just got home from the Big Apple and boy it was as much fun as it was exhausting!! Hauling around another little person with the through the whole city is a work out! My legs are killing me today! I don't know how I'm going to work, glad I don't have too many clients today! Back to NY, I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for about 4 days and We hit all the big spots! We stayed at the Westin in Times Square, so of course, we went all through there! We also paid homage to the Bumble and Bumble salon in Uptown Manhattan and the Carsten Institute in Union Square! We walked and rode all over the place! I had my first experience with Filene's Basement in Union Square, kind of like a bigger, way nicer Ross. We also saw the best show ever, WICKED! My second time, but it was just as good! I was so disappointed, we didn't find the Naked Cowboy, but there was some dangerous threats going on in Times Square with a car bomb, so maybe he hit the road! But we did eat at the deli where a famous and might I add...slightly inappropriate scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed! So, I guess that's something a little risk-ay to add to my list! Something really fun and really yummy that we did was go to a little restaurant called Max Brenner's. It's a chocolate shop/restaurant where you can order anything and it comes with chocolate! We had drinking chocolate and ridiculously sweet and chocolate filled desserts! We did so many things, but I'm sure you don't want me to go through them all one by one, so I'm just going to add a few pics for you to see for yourself! We had a great time and I'm definitely glad I got to go on one more big trip before I get too huge! By the way, you'll be able to see a little bump in my pics, that's right, I'm big enough for people to think "oh cute, she's pregnant" not "oohh...she's got a little muffin top, ew!" Well, hope you like the pics, that's all for now! Until later...

16wks 6dys

So, we had another doctor's appointment today! Everything is going great! Gotta love that strong heartbeat you look forward to for weeks in between appointments! Such a sweet melody! Today's heartbeat was a funky little rhythm, it was kinda like pump boom boom, pump boom boom. It was around 152ish. Still fast and strong! Come on girl! On that note, the doctor wasn't really cool with the idea of letting me get my ultrasound a little earlier than he normally does it, 20wks. So I won't be able to find out until I get back from my trip to NY City in the beginning of May! :( Bummer dude! So I guess we'll just have to wait a few more weeks....I'll try to be patient! haha! I'm finally starting to show, even in the morning, which is what really counts, according to me! Lol! I am freaking out about the numbers on the scale though, up and up they go! ugh! It's really hard to be comfortable watching myself "put on the pounds" when I've never had a problem with the creeping up before!! Sometimes it's a little disappointing, which I know isn't the right way to feel, but it's scary!! I know the weight is good weight and I eat healthy and all that, I just have to get used to it! Well, anyway, that's about all that's exciting for now! Until later...

"I want it to come out now..."

"....so I can hang out with it." These were the words Brandon used to express his feelings toward hearing the baby's heartbeat on Monday. Too funny. When we saw the baby's heartbeat his words of choice were something a little inappropriate, we'll say: "Oh Crap!" I just died. He told me seeing the little flicker on the screen was saying to him "okay, this is really real." A little eye opening moment, I think. I wanted to leave a little note on here describing a few of the ins and outs of Brandon-Father-to-Be because I always want to remember how fun and funny he's made this whole process. I really love hearing his thoughts because, as a guy, I want to know how he moving through it all. It's been such a joy to question him on all things baby, he always has a funny and unique point of view. Ha, you should have heard some of the names he came up with in the beginning! The weirdest one I heard (which he has since taken off the table, realizing how stupid it is) is Arrayu, yes, sort of like the character from Never Ending Story, Attrayu. I answered his request with a resounding "NO", followed by an "ArE YoU SeRiOuS?" and a lot of laughter. Another Brandon-Father-to-Be moment that I'll always remember is when we started talking about cravings. Here's a little of how the conversation went: "It'll be cool when like you have to have a cheeseburger in the middle of the night or something, because, then I'll get to get something too!" Haha, so cute, right? All kidding aside, he really has been a great husband during pregnancy! (I know I'm only 3mnths along, but the first few and the last few are the ones you gotta be strong for, right? Lol) He gets me anything I need, he has had a good attitude when I'm a grouch and he's been patient and kind when I can't find anything to wear! So thank you hunny for being amazing you! I'm really enjoying this stage in our life, I think it's only a preview of things to come! Let's just say I'm excited. Well, Until later...

thump, thump, thump...

WE HEARD THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT! Oh, it was just the best thing I've ever heard in my life! Nothing can compare to the sound of your own flesh and blood, growing away, inside of you. Wow, what a rush! We recorded it on Brandon's IPhone and I just keep playing it over and over again. Amazing. Everything is looking great so far! The only bump we've come to is that I am anemic and have to take iron supplements, but that's maintainable. No biggie. The heartbeat was relatively fast, 167, so you never know, according to those old wives' tales, we could have a little girl in there! Heck, I don't care what it is, I'm just so thankful to God for this gift. As corny as it sounds it really is "the miracle of life!" I just praised God the whole way home for the blessing He's bestowed upon Brandon and I. What a gift. I'm sorry I keep going on, but really, I can't wipe the smile off my face! Thankfully, I've had a very healthy pregnancy so far, light morning sickness, I'm finally getting my energy back somewhat and I'm just so grateful for that! Being so healthy gets me worried sometimes like, are you sure everything is okay, cause I'm not feeling much of anything? Then, you go to the doctor and hear that beautiful sound and your whole life stops for a second and there is a huge resounding sigh of relief and reassurance! I love it. I'm loving being pregnant and I just know I'm going to love being a mommy. My next appointment is in 4 weeks, so until later...
Listen to our baby here: