Christmas Post

We had such a great Christmas! I "finished" the stocking on the 22nd... It's not quite finished, but it was time to put the back and tag on. There are supposed to be presents in front of the snowmen. I'm just telling on myself though because no one else would ever know. There will be presents next year!

On the 23rd, we cooked dessert (s'mores bars) and Gloria's stuffing.... and cleaned the house like madmen! Everything was ready for us to host the Hicks crew on the 24th.

This was super easy - Joe Pat smoked us a turkey, so we had to throw a few things together, and Derek's mom brought pies, pea salad and deviled eggs. It was probably easy because his family is so small! Thankfully, Marie and Doug were able to stop by, too.

It snowed almost all day on Christmas eve - it's been a LONG time since Dallas had a white Christmas. The pictures show the snow at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Lola was outfitted in a new Santa suit!

She also destroyed the new toy that her grandma gave her in about 10 minutes! Derek did manage to lose $20 to Kennedy when he told her "I'll give you $20 to go put your face in the pool." She jumped on the offer so quick that she didn't even put on her jacket. She went out in the snow in her t-shirt, laid on the ground, and...

Here's a few shots of the Hickses:

On Christmas day, Derek and I exchanged gifts, then house-hopped. Derek had already gotten me a sink and a shower door. The shower door was a real surprise! On Christmas, I opened his final gift - a pregnancy massage at the Crescent. He already had the appointment set up and everything. I can't wait! He also seemed to enjoy his presents. He got 2 books: "Humpty Who?", for parents who need to learn nursery rhymes (he needs help with that), and "A New Dad's Survival Guide." He also got a GPS and a web-cam so that we can Skype with his grandpa! I think he was surprised. Santa filled the stocking with a new toy for Lola (the indestructible type), coffee, gum, mittens, and for Derek, a new deck of cards (presumably because he can't win with any of our current decks).

We started at Steve & Gloria's for breakfast. We got so full that we didn't eat a full meal for the rest of the day. Next stop was Gaumy's where we got to the "Just Married" couple - Morgan and Tyler. Then we were on to Donnie and Susan's in Lewisville. We stopped by to see Paul & Julie and joined in their family Taboo game. Derek says I took the game too far. With the clue "Tiger Woods lacks this," I answered "SEMEN!" The correct answer was Honesty. Apparently, Julie's family is pretty conservative.

We came home to pick up Lola and pack our bags, then stopped by Gaumy's one last time before heading to Red Oak. I got to see Jacob and Andrew over there.

On the 26th, the entire Paxton family went to Kaufman for lunch. We were there early to set up with my parents and the Motos. We ate a hearty meal, played our white elephant game, and then headed to the graveside to spend some time remembering Grandma and Russell. It was a nice day.

The final stop was back to Red Oak for Christmas with my immediate family. Santa still fills our stockings there, and it was so much fun to watch my nephews open their gifts.

My parents also exchanged gifts. For the past few years, all of us kids have gone in together for a "big" gift for the parents. They seem very excited about this year's gift - tickets to the Cowboys vs. Eagles game on January 3rd. They've been saying it's essentially the "first playoff game." I hope it is a good game!

Other than that, I've been working alot. We are set for trial February 15th, and I will be super-busy until then. Yuck. Lola did give us a Christmas present on Tuesday - she found the lizard that we had brought in with the Christmas tree. We saw a lizard when we first brought in the tree, but then we had to leave the house, and we didn't see it again. Lola started barking Tuesday evening, so Derek went to see what she was up to, and she had found the lizard in the kitchen! Derek trapped it under a cup (it was big, so not sure how he managed that), and saved it for me until I got home! Merry Christmas from Lola!

Tonight we are heading out to Matt and Erin's to spend NYE with the family. It should be great. On Saturday, we have New Years Brunch with my "adopted" family (the law school crew). I'm looking forward to all of it. In between all of that, I will be working. Happy New Year!

Let the stranger-fondling begin

I was feeling adventurous today and went to the post office. To my surprise, there was a very friendly man, Nash, at the automated machine helping and talking to everyone... ok - so really he was just talking to everyone and flirting with the girl in front of me. He asked when I was due, touched my stomach, and told me I was having a girl. I'm still in denial about "showing", so I had a minor heart attack. But I AM wearing a maternity top and had just finished off Chipotle. Nash is the first stranger to touch my belly.

Are you pregnant?

Yesterday was the first time someone asked me that based on appearance alone (i.e. no facebook status updates or prior discussions). It was John at my nail place. I hadn't been in there at all since I found out I was pregnant 3 months ago. Gotta love John!

Christmas craziness

It seems there is never enough time this time of year. I've been spending every extra moment working on a stocking for our family. My mom made the same stockings for us and now for her grandkids, and it's an important part of Christmas for me. I just couldn't possibly hang any other type of stocking! I hope to have it done by Christmas... but I will need something to stuff into it! I also hope to have 3 more done next year so that we each have our own - me, Derek, Lola and baby! Here's a preview of the stocking. I'm on step 49 out of 103.

And because there just isn't enough time, I haven't had time to blog! Since my last post, my brother and sister hosted a fabulous Thankgiving dinner. I didn't get any shots with people in them - but here's the lovely setup. Yes, they had the Christmas tree up and presents wrapped underneath it. And when I stopped by later in the weekend, they said they were done Christmas shopping.

My lovely husband tried to get a shot of me BPK. Ever since then, I've been walking around in slippers.

And speaking of pregnancy, here's a shot of my belly at 17 weeks. By some miracle, I was able to button my pre-pregnancy pants for this shot.

Santa came a little early to our house and brought me that sink I'd been promised for my birthday. I still get excited when I see it in the kitchen!

And we managed to get the whole family together in between our parents' birthdays to celebrate their birthdays. Well... almost the whole family. Jacob had to miss because he didn't listen to instructions and hit his mommy. Carrie said the whole way to his grandmother's house he was saying "I'm gonna sing happy birthday to Papa and Grandma Rose" over and over again... until he realized that he would be at grandmother's house instead... then he just cried.

It was a great night (even though the Cowboys lost to the Giants that night). I have such a great family!

Camping

This past weekend, we headed out to Purtis Creek with our "extended" family for some fun times camping. The brave ones (Derek, me, Jeff & Jill) headed out Friday night despite the forecast for rain. Sure enough, we were luck enough to set up all of our gear in the rain.

Lane & Lolly joined us early on Monday, and the boys went fishing. Cat & Josh showed up later with brats & hot dogs ready to go. Cat has deemed herself the "baby gender psychic" and predicted that I would have a boy. It was a relaxing weekend, and we ate well thanks to everyone pitching in. The best camper, by far, was Lola.




I've gained a little less than 3 pounds so far. Thankfully, I feel great, and can still do and eat everything I love. I get a little nauseous in the mornings if I try to get ready before I eat - and generally throughout the day if my stomach gets empty. I have some "fat pants" that I got a while back when I thought my office job would make me gain a size - WRONG - an expanding uterus made me gain a size. I'm wearing my fat pants, maternity pants, or regular pants that I safety pin closed. I can pretty much still wear my regular tops.

I discovered today, though, that there must be a defining point for every pregnant woman - the point when it is easier to pooch your belly out and try to look obviously pregnant vs. holding your stomach in and trying to not look pregnant. I'm at that point. I was in Target (after lunch) and that's when I decided I would stop trying to hold it in, and instead would try to pooch it out. It's only a matter of time before strangers start asking me if I'm pregnant.

5 Fingers

On Thursday, November 12, I had my second sonogram. Our baby looked more like a baby and less like a blob! The heart rate was 174 and our baby is 5 cm now from head to rump. Baby Hicks had the hiccups while I was there, and they made its whole body move - it looked like a jumping bean! At one point, Baby Hicks waved at me, so I know at least one of the hands has 5 fingers. There is a faint line coming from the rump of the baby - I asked if that was a tail, but the tech assured me it was a leg.

Catching up - Part 5 - Baby news

We've been making some progress in babyland. Last weekend, Coppell Concierge came over to help me get organized and clean out the closet in the soon-to-be nursery. We got sooo much done!

On Friday, November 6, I wore maternity clothes for the first time. It was a top only - but it was noticed immediately by my boss. I guess you can spot maternity tops from a mile away. Some clothes that I had ordered came in, too, but I think the pants are too big. I'm going to return the pants for a smaller size so that I can wear them right away.

This morning, just for fun, I took a Gender Prediction Test. It's called Intelligender. It's essentially a pee test that claims to tell you the sex of your baby. The default is "boy", so there are more false "boy" determinations than false "girl" determinations. My result:
The test says it has 86% reliability, so not enough to paint a room or anything yet. We won't be able to confirm until January.

I've been weighing myself every Sunday morning. So far, the Wii puts me at +1 pound. It certainly seems like I've gained more than that - but I guess there is plenty of "redistributing" going on.

Catching up - Part 4 - Halloween

Our friends are pretty dedicated to Halloween. Last year, Derek and I went to the Halloween party as Homer and Marge Simpson... we actually even went to the neighborhood party as Homer and Marge.... apparently the dressing up part in the neighborhood is reserved for kids. oops.

This year, after many "debates", we decided to go as Mickey Mouse and Mousketeers. It took some work to round up the costumes, but I think we pulled it off. My shirt says Preggers instead of my name.

We had a great evening with friends, but I was too cold and unfocused to take many pictures, so I've stolen all of these from facebook! There were some great costumes. Our hosts, Salt and Pepper:

Pee Wee Herman gave us all a "Word of the Day." I have no idea why he brought along this clown!

Meet the Jetsons... George and Jane -->

The hottest Star Trekies I've ever seen:

And what Derek and I thought were the best costumes of the year, Billy Mays and Octomom:

Catching up - Part 3 - Chase?! Married?!

The weekend of October 16-18, Kyle, Ashley, Derek and I headed down to Houston for Chase's wedding. That's right... Chase got married.

We headed down to Houston of Friday. While the guys got ready for the rehearsal, Ashley and I headed over to Macy's to get girl stuff like panty hose and mascara. It turns out, the Macy's downtown sucks and closes at 6pm. Who woulda thought?!

Saturday we hung out at Chase's to watch the TX/OU game. Longhorns won, so that was great! Oh, and we gave Chase his wedding gift. Six years ago, when Derek and I got married, Chase blessed us with an excellent gift wrapping job - he wrapped our gift in Duck Tape. It sucked. We unwrapped it, but couldn't tell what it was since the Duck Tape removed everything from the packaging. Chase said he was young and foolish then... turns out, I'm young and foolish now. I spent FOREVER wrapping that Crate and Barrell box in Duck Tape, but when I was done, it was actually a REALLY good gift-wrapping job.

The wedding, church, reception were all gorgeous. The waiters were great - kept serving me water and ginger ale! We had a running joke that Kyle is the babydaddy. Apparently we were too convincing. I managed to work in a dance with Glenn, the groom's father. However, the star of the evening was Kyle. You see, they had plenty of appetizers at the reception, but no meal. And none of us had planned appropriately (even though the invitation said "Drinks and Dancing to follow"). By the time Kyle realized there was no dinner, he was at the point of no return. It was great fun for the rest of us! He was a MANIAC, maniac on the floor.... the worm, some other floor-humping moves I'd never seen done in public, the splits, and the classic "Russian" dancing with arms folded on top of each other & legs kicking out. He was a little green and a little sore the next day...




On Sunday, we met up with Derek's friend Jason from college for brunch at La Madeline in the Woodlands. We drove back to Dallas, took the Rogerses home, then headed up to Allen to pick up Lola from her grandparents. We were exhausted when we returned, but it was such a fun weekend!

Catching up - Part 2 - First doctor's visit

Thursday, October 15, Derek and I took our baby to its first doctor's visit. The visit was nothing short of magical. Besides Derek trying awkwardly to position himself in each room so that his opinion of me doesn't change (yet), everything was pretty smooth. At 8 weeks, 5 days, I measured at 8 weeks. The best part (for me) was not hearing the heartbeat, but SEEING it! The baby looks a bit like a blob, but then there's a bright white spot in the center that gets bigger and smaller with the heartbeat. It's an amazing experience. The baby was 1.5 cm. In the sonogram pics below, the head is on the right. Our next pictures will be on November 12 - I can't wait to see it again!

Catching up - Part 1 - U2

On Monday, October 12 (that's right... almost 1 month ago), we headed out to Jerry World with Steve & Gloria for the U2 360 show. The massive screen at Cowboys Stadium was raised to accommodate the "spaceship" set, but even then, the set had to be pushed over to the side. In other words, in Dallas, the 360 show was more like 180, but it was still greatness!

It was our first time out to the Death Star (for all except Steve), so just taking in the size and features of the stadium took us awhile!

Muse opened for U2. The teenagers in front of us were only there for Muse. In case you're wondering, "Who's Muse?" here's the one song they play on the radio:

Living in Dallas would be nice...

... when you drive there as often as we did this week. This week has been filled with trips to Dallas. We HAD to go to Mia's for brisket tacos for Derek's birthday. We had a great time with Meadow, Lane and Lolly. We finished up the evening with some Pokey O's and visiting with Rach & Jesse.

Then Friday, we met up with the Prudes for some yummy Ginger Thai. This was Derek's first curry experience.

On Saturday, we met up with Lane and Lolly to take on the State Fair. Derek could not have had a better partner in crime. Lane and Derek are both bottomless pits, so they had fried macaroons, fried cheesecake, fried broccoli bites, fried peaches and cream, Fletcher's corny dogs (I had one too), chicken fried bacon, and probably some other things that I can't even remember.

The highlight for me was riding the Ferris Wheel, which I have never done. It was great fun!



On Sunday, after the Cowboys had another heart-attack inducing win, we braved the rain and went to a pre-season Mavs game against the Grizzlies. The Sheps came with us. It was a great week with great friends.



Tonight, we are heading out to Cowboys Stadium a/k/a Jerry World a/k/a The Death Star to watch U2 with the Motos. I just heard on the news that the big screen had to be raised to accommodate the stage, so we may not get to experience one of the staples of the new stadium. I can't wait!!

8 weeks

I'm entering the 8th week of my pregnancy. It's still 11 days until we see the doctor. I had several friends tell me the time between Clear Blue Easy and the first doctor's exam seems like an eternity - they were correct.

I had my first "battle" with nausea yesterday. It was probably worse on Derek than it was me. I kept telling him things he couldn't do - clearly blowing your nose while I'm brushing my teeth is just wrong, right? So, I'd say there is no change in my moodiness - hormones are not affecting me. ;)

In other baby news, Baby Hicks is the size of a kidney bean now. Also, the Chinese Gender calendar says I'm having a girl. http://www.thebump.com/calculators/ChineseGenderChart.aspx?MsdVisit=1

Parking woes

Derek and I went to see Mary Poppins last night, which was also opening day of the State Fair. I had no idea that this would mean we had to walk forever! Thankfully, we were on Derek-time and could walk from Superpages.com to the Music Hall (a 17 minute walk in heels) and not be worried about missing anything! The show was so great. The dancers did not disappoint!

On the other end of the spectrum, we stopped by CVS today to stock up on prenatal vitamins.

Baby's first concert

Last night, Derek and I went to see Staind and Creed. If you don't know about Derek's relationship with Creed, then you should probably not be reading this post. The show was actually much better than I anticipated. The most entertainment came from the overboard Creed lover in the row in front of us. You know that girl who sings every single word just as passionately as the lead singer and gets her whole body into the performance... We may have watched her more than Scott Stapp.

It may be cheesey, but I thought it was pretty cool to hear "Arms Wide Open" live after our experience on Saturday. Due to working late and my recent change to a tiny purse, we don't have any pics.

We're pregnant!!

Derek and I stayed at Jill & Jeff's on Friday night in Lakewood... you know - because we live out of town. There were wedding events Friday night and all day Saturday, so it just made sense (thanks again guys!).

I was a few days late, but didn't think much about it because I had taken a pregnancy test earlier in the week. The test said that I was not pregnant. It was also from the dollar store (my college roommate swore they were just as reliable). On Saturday morning, I decided to re-test, and was so glad that I did! Moral of the story: don't trust the dollar store.

After a re-test to make sure ("Yup - I'm still pregnant"), I shared the news with family and friends. Thankfully, Rachel is the kind of girl who is far too busy being excited for you than she is worrying that you would "steal her thunder", and I got to tell most of my close friends in person!

We are really looking forward to this new adventure!

For good measure, here's a few shots from the wedding:



Me & Rach getting ready at the church (I don't have ANY pics of her amazing wedding dress!)

Derek and I at the reception.