Mexico 2013

Mexico was fabulous as always! Everyone always says Mexico is so scary but it really is not. You just have to know where to go and what to do. And being with someone who speaks the language or speaking the language yourself is a huge plus as well. We spent five days on the beach with a few of those hours spent on a boat deep sea fishing, snorkeling, eating the fish we caught in amazing tacos and trolling. That is always my favorite day. They take us to a place called the aquarium where the water is relatively shallow and it is protected from wind by mountains on almost all sides. It makes for amazing snorkeling. We always find really interesting creatures. We also came across a HUGE pod of dolphins that we went through a few times and watched them jump all around us. It was so cool! Then we saw a GINORMOUS whale and her calf. So awesome.

I only got sunburnt one day when I fell asleep under the shade and woke up in the sun. Whoops. I was all alone on the beach because my family was asleep, all of the men were on a fishing trip and the girls were out shopping. I always want to go fishing with the boys but usually they get a five person boat and already have it filled to capacity so this year I didn't even mention wanting to go. And I am not one for shopping. So, I laid on the beach by myself and fell asleep. I'm still dealing with the after affects.

George absolutely loved everything. He loved catching blue water crabs early in the morning and white ghost crabs in the evening. He loved fishing and swimming in the ocean. He loved playing on the beach with his cousins and he really loved swimming in the pool. George has been in swimming lessons and he has really taken to it. He can swim pretty far without taking a breath but he does know how to flip over and get one when he needs to. It's pretty amazing how quickly his teacher gets kids from crying in the water to swimming across the pool. This trip he started doing a half smile which is displayed above. It was very interesting to say the least...

Ollie took a while to enjoy himself on the beach. He had some sad experiences but by the last day he loved it. And the drives there and back were mostly uneventful and the kids were mostly well-behaved. I'm so sad we are home already. It really flew by. I can't wait for next time!

Happy Birthday Ollie!

My tiny baby Ollie is now one. I don't know how I feel about that. He's so sweet and I love him terribly! We had a birthday party for both George and Ollie last Saturday. I am waiting for pictures from that to post about it but it was a lot of fun!

Last night, on Ollie's actual birthday, we went out to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. It's nice to know that our kids are well-behaved enough at this point to be able to take them out to dinner with confidence. We had a great time, no drinks were spilled and no children were carried out screaming! (This will most likely change when Ollie is 18 months and we'll take a 12 month hiatus from taking them out with us, as we did with George...)

Little Ollie is walking all over the place and this morning he figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything. He talks a lot but no one knows what he is saying. He's speaking Ollese. It's pretty darn cute and I can't wait 'til we understand all the wonderful things he has to say. He loves to play with George and thinks he's the coolest kid in the universe (no one has challenged this notion to date). He can wave "bye-bye" and point to anyone's nose on command. He loves all food but his favorite is still breast milk... I'm working on moving away from that to maybe just once a day instead of all day, erry day. But I do enjoy the convenience and the health benefits for both of us. Oh, he also really likes cheesecake apparently...

George is Three!

My little George McKean is three years old! He turned 3 on April Fool's Day. We didn't play any pranks on him but next year will be awesome. I want to make sure he understands that it's just part of the day. We had our friends Bryce and Jessica Mortimer staying at our house and they spoiled us rotten for George's birthday! First they took him to the nursery and let him pick out a plant for his birthday. He picked a tomato plant. Jessica said he kept picking the saddest and closest to death so she had to keep diverting his attention to the healthy plants. Then we all went to Golfland and played a couple rounds of golf. There is a volcano in the middle of the course that unexpectedly shoots fire out of the top. This was scary for both George and Bryce. It took George a while before he could golf confidently again. Then we all went to Organ Stop Pizza. We love this place! You pretty much are eating your dinner inside of an organ. The organ stops control a myriad of instruments placed all around the walls. We didn't get any pictures of any of these activities... I forgot my camera and Bryce's iphone was dead. But I think he did get a couple of pictures of George chowing down on the ice cream he got after dinner. It was such a fun day and we owe it all to the Mortimers! Thank you!

We will be celebrating his birthday with friends next week. We are combining both Ollie and George's birthday celebrations since Ollie's birthday is less than a week after the day we could have George's party. I can't wait!

George is loving preschool and learning so much! He is a lover of stories and songs and really enjoys his bedtime routine. He loves trains and, thanks to his older cousins, has a million little cars. For the most part he is really good with Ollie and takes care of him. He is constantly telling Glen to put two hands on the wheel when driving and he has a memory like an elephant! We love you George!

Be Mine

Valentines Day was really fun! George is in preschool so he got to have a party and we made some fun valentines. He got home with lots of candy and wouldn't stop eating it long enough for me to hide it. He had opened two suckers and sucked on them a couple of times before putting them back in the bag to open something else. He ate maybe five pieces of candy before I snuck it all away and hid it.

The two of us also had a wonderful day! It started with a yummy breakfast of eggs and potatoes before Glen had to leave for his one hour of work at Legacy. Then he came home with beautiful flowers. I sent him on a scavenger hunt. Part of it was sending him to the church for an hour or two to practice the organ, which is one of his favorite pass-times (who likes practicing? I mean really?). Then he came home with a delicious lunch from Firehouse subs! I just ended a Biggest Loser competition the day before so it was no holds barred. Then Glen continued his scavenger hunt which took us all to Kohl's to pick out a new outfit for him since most of his work pants have holes. We only had a hour since I was on my lunch break so we hurried home and put the boys down for naps. We left the house all dolled up around 3:30 and dropped the boys at my friend's house while we went to an early dinner at PF Chang's. I bought a $50 giftcard form my neighbor at a discount so we bought everything on the menu, just about. It was early in the afternoon so the place was full of blue-hairs taking pictures of the Chinese mural on the wall. There was also an interesting lady dressed in a Chinese outfit. She was most definitely not Chinese so we think maybe she just likes to really get into the spirit of things or she thought maybe she would get a discount. But it was oh so delicious! We got home about 6 pm and fed the kids and put them to bed. Nothing like quiet time for a few hours before bed. I love my valentine so much! We take care of each other all year-round but it's nice to set a little money aside for fun times and special occasions, even if it is just a commercial holiday.

Happy Valentines Day, Everyone!

Oliver is 9 months!

My little baby is nine months old! We took him to the doctor on Thursday and his is 18 lbs 3 ounces and 28 inches. He is in the 70th percentile for head size. So, he is the same height and head size as George was at this age but 2 pounds lighter! He never stops eating though. He eats way more than George does now and almost as much as I do. He will eat as long as there is food in front of him. We have graduated from purees so he just eats whatever is on my plate and I always end up having to get more for him. He's so happy and cute and he is now crawling! He pulls himself up but he can't stand without support yet. I love my little Ollie boy so much and he is his big brother's best friend (after Mommy of course)! It hard not to want another one right away when the baby form of them is so awesome. But then they get to be 18 months old and I'm ready to trade them in. So I will wait until then to see if he is anything like George was and then we'll decide from there...

2012

What an amazing year we had!

In April, Georgie Porge turned two! He has been a dream of a two year-old! We had some struggles at the beginning but once I realized I didn't have to think of them as terrible twos, my world changed. I am more patient and I explain everything I tell George to do or not to do. He understands and tantrums are very rare. If he does throw a tantrum it doesn't last very long. He is smart and cute and loving.

Oliver was born in April as well and we have just loved having a baby brother in the house! I am told he looks just like George but as his mom, I just see Oliver so I can't vouch for that. He is sweet and we love him so. He does make a lot of the same faces as baby George did and he sounds the same, to be sure.

I graduated from BYU and I was able to walk at graduation which was really fun. I am still working the same job and the primary bread winner in our family which is a good place for me. I am still second counselor in the Relief Society which means I plan all of the activities. Talk about a stressful calling... But I love the women I serve.

Glen started his Master's Degree at ASU and completed his first semester with a 3.83. He took ten credits which is more than what was advisable... but, he did a great job! He is also working as a TA at ASU and as a music teacher at Legacy. He has been teaching piano lessons as well. He is keeping us afloat, that's for sure!

Here are my "resolutions" from last year:

1. Potty train George Done and done!
2. Have a healthy baby boy without needing to be induced We did it!
3. Gain no more than another 15 lbs this pregnancy I gained just about that much...
4. Finish baby #2's quilt before he gets here Got it done!
5. Breastfeed through the end of the year And still going strong!
6. Save enough money for Glen to get his Masters without taking out a loan We haven't taken out a loan yet but we have used up about 1/3 of our saved money. We made some home improvements...
7. Graduate from BYU with my bachelors Yay! And I waited until the next graduation and I was able to walk!
8. Get Glen started at ASU in the Fall in the program he really wants Music History and Literature! Go Daddy!
9. Find a good daycare for George when Glen starts school We didn't end up putting him in daycare but he is in preschool twice a week and he loves it!!

New Year's Eve Interview

Glen was asking George some questions and I thought his answers were cute. In fact, I was kind of surprised George knew what he was asking:

What is your name: George Hicks
What is your favorite color: pink
What is your favorite food: blue food
What is your favorite show: Wonder Pets
What is your favorite song: Jingle Bells
What is your favorite animal: giraffe
Who's your favorite, Mommy or Daddy: Mommy
What's your favorite toy: doggy
Who's your favorite train: Thomas
What is your favorite book: the Red Book
What is it about: Um... the sing book (?)

Then he got distracted watching Wonder Pets. This kid surprises me everyday with what he understands and the words and phrases he knows. This morning I asked if he wanted to watch a show and he said, "Yeah, I wanna watch a show. You wanna watch a show with me?" How could I resist?

He went to a sitter's house while we went to the movies and I got a text that said, "You have the easiest kid ever! Since you dropped him off, he has been working on fixing our broken train table." I love him so! And Ollie is looking more and more like him and behaving in all the same ways George did as a baby. I'm hoping for another nice boy! Yay for Hicks' traits and genes!

Merry Christmas from the Hicks Family!