Lost

Ok so we have a confession to make. We are addicted to the show Lost. I (Haley) was not watching it with Tyler for awhile when all of a sudden one weekend I decide to watch an episode with Tyler because he had been talking about it for about a week and, even though I didn't want to, I continued to watch because it became just so interesting! And now, well now we are both enjoying it together. We love to watch series like the John Adams series because they last longer than a just a movie so you get to keep enjoying them for a good while. And with Lost it's gonna be awhile! We are on season 3 and there are 5 seasons so far with the 6th one coming on tv in 2010 I believe. So I admit. Lost is a great tv show. It's not one that I would watch every week on tv, but since we get to watch them for free on the internet and it's real cheap to rent a disc, it's fun because you don't have wait to watch the next episode. You can watch many all in a row. So there it is. Lost is awesome! If you have never watched it, don't start because you probably won't be able to stop. I'll leave you with two pics. Tyler took this of Griffin and I right before we all went for a walk yesterday evening. The other one is one I took last week. Griffin will 2 months old Friday.

Shots

Griffin got his 8 weeks shots yesterday. Can't believe he's 8 weeks old on Sat. He did great with his shots and only cried for a split second. The shots haven't seemed to bother him and he's happy as can be. He is playing on his little gym mat thing my mom and sister got him and likes to move his legs to make the crunching sound of these leaves that stick up on it. He can also fling his arms in the air and make this frog dangling above him swing back and forth. We have really been enjoying him so much. When I put him in his crib at night to go to sleep I miss him. He has been sleeping 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours for the past 4 nights. The Lord is good! I pray about it every night hoping the Lord will keep him asleep. Its such a good gift when they start doing this, especially for mommy. I have enjoyed sleeping through the night this week. I will never take that for granted again!

Anyways, hope I'm not making our blog into a "baby blog" but Griffin is my job now and our lives are pretty much about enjoying him right now, so it may seem like I go on and on about him and what's happening with him because that's whats happening with us. :) Please continue to pray for us and Griffin. We will be flying with him to east Texas next Sunday for vacation at a lake with family. Pray the flight goes well and he does good in the airport and plane. I am excited to take him on his first visit to where I grew up! It will def be an adventure. Thanks so much for all your prayers.

ps. I forgot to mention some of the most important news! We can officially go out in public and be around crowds now, with the exception of no ones touches him or holds him that is sick of course. So church on sunday here we come! :)

Momma loves Griffin

Haven't had any pics of Griffin with me and when Peggy, my mother in law, was here she was so kind to take some. This is what I do almost all day- hold Griffin. It's the best job in the world!

Tyler's such a wonderful Dad!

I've heard people say that everyone has a father but father's aren't always dads. Well, I'm here to say that I know Tyler is now a father, a brand new one, but I know he will without a doubt be a dad to Griffin and Lord willing our other children someday. He already is such a good one. So here are some things about him that we love:

1- Tyler loves to just stare at Griffin.
2- Tyler likes to sing and play his guitar for us and Griffin loves it!
3- He is kind.
4- When he laughs he lets it all out and really laughs!
5- He smiles with his whole face. people tell him he smiles with his eyes.
6- He has recently quit watching UFC and has now moved on to the tv show Lost.
7- Instead of UFC he now talks about Lost ALOT.
8- Griffin likes to sleep on his chest, cuddle with him, and listen to Tyler read to him. Lately it's been a book on leadership so Griffin is learning how to be a good leader someday
9- He can always cheer me up no matter what.
10- He can't wait to wrestle around with Griffin when he gets old enough.
11- Finally and most importantly, he loves Jesus with his whole heart his goal in life to make much of Him, enjoy Him, and give him glory in all circumstances.

We love you, Daddy! Happy 1st Father's Day!

Love, Haley & Griffin

Sweet Mother-in-law, a week without Tyler, & Babywise

Well, this week has been so wonderful yet kinda hard too without Tyler. He has been at Student Life camp all week and his sweet dear mother, Peggy, came to stay with me & Griffin. We have so enjoyed her company and help and Griffin has loved being held and played with by his MeeMaw. We will miss her when she's gone! But we are eager to see Tyler. He comes home tomorrow night.
I was able to go get a pedicure today as a gift from Peggy. It was amazing! There's just something about getting your feet done up to look so pretty. It makes the rest of you feel pretty as well. At least it does me. Thank you Peggy for the pedicure!

Griffin is steadily growing and growing. He slept 7 hrs. one night this week and then last night woke up every three hrs. Hopefully soon he will consistently sleep through the night. I am praying. I have been trying to implement this oh I guess you could say philosophy of scheduling a baby called Babywise. Babywise is a book you can buy and it consists of the idea of putting your baby on a schedule so it will have structure and it should help them get night time sleep. Well, I have found that it has made me quite anxious to be honest. I called me my mom today and was having ANOTHER conversation with her about how Griffin just doesn't stay on a schedule yet and how every day is different with him and how he slept a lot today..yada yada.... And it was funny, cause she just said Haley! HE'S JUST A MONTH OLD! and we laughed together. It's funny how you can get these ideas in your head and think this has got to be done and this is what I want to do. And it's all in the best interest of my baby of course, but really, he is just a newborn still and he is just 7 weeks old, why am I letting this worry me so? Poor little guy. Momma is trying to fit you into this mold and expects you to eat and sleep when she wants you to and you're doing such a good job as a baby.
He really is, for being just 7 weeks he is on a pretty good schedule and isn't demand feeding and knows when to sleep. So all that to say, I am proud of Griffin and as his mom I am pledging to not let Babywise control me, my mood, or my thoughts. I just want whats best for Griffin and I want to have good night time sleep too, for my own sanity sometime soon. All I know is that the Lord is good and is helping the both of us each day and Griffin will be Griffin. I cannot control him. I can help him feel secure and try my best to give him structure, but when it's all said and done he gets hungry when he gets hungry and he gets sleepy when he gets sleepy for the most part. I just pray I will be a mother that has peace and not so much anxiety all the time. He is just a month old!

I'm a dinosaur baby

we love this bright lime green dinosaur onesie some friends of ours got Griffin when we were still in the hospital. I didn't think it would fit him but thought well I'll just try it on him and see and low and behold it fit the little man. I guess I just don't realize his size until I see what clothes he now can wear.
He been such a sleepy head lately. He def likes his sleep like his dad and momma do. Hope everyone enjoys these.

We've got a 10 pounder on our hands!!!

You may have gotten Tyler's twitter message or read it off to the side here, but I wanted to post on this outstanding news as well. Griffin now weighs 10.8 lbs. and is 22 1/2 inches long! Praise the Lord! can I get an Amen? ha..I was thrilled when the scale at the doctor this morning read 10.9 lbs. Why was I so thrilled do you ask? Because this means I've been successful at the job the Lord has given me for the past 6 weeks. What job do you ask? You thought I quit working? Uh no, I have a full time job, just a different one, which is feeding and taking care of Griffin (on top of all my household duties of course) And so Griffin gaining weight means I have succeeded in all my effort to keep him well fed. The Lord is so good! He is now in the 50 percentile of weigh and length. Yah! That means he is right in the middle or perfectly normal, not below normal or above it. This is great news! I'm just so proud, happy, and thankful! It's funny, and I laugh at myself as I write this...how no matter what you do, when all your effort, hard work, and dedication results in something so good, which for me would be causing a little baby to grow, is so rewarding, encouraging, and delightful! I give all the glory to the Lord for His grace to me and Griffin as we have struggled through hard days and nights of learning to feed and eat and long minutes of energy spent on getting him to just wake up to eat! So I am pretty pumped about this awesome news. Our little guy is turning into a BIG GUY! I pray he continues this way, being a strong eater gaining all the adorable chubby rolls. I have enjoyed watching his thighs enlarge each day and rolls appear on down his arms. And his cheeks getting chubbier and chubbier. He has gotten lots of sugar already in his lifetime. One day I will not get to give him sugar like now, I am soaking it all up while I can. :)

Few pics & recovery update

Here a few recent pics of our little guy. The one with his lips puckered is an old one of when he was just 2 days old. I've been meaning to share that one because it's one of my favorites. I was going to put it on a birth announcement but I think I've decided against doing birth announcements since most people look at our blog and I needed to spend money on a baby carrier instead. So, hope everyone enjoys these of Griffin.

On another note, I had my six weeks check up today at the doctor. I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks since I had Griffin! Everything is healed and the doc says I'm great and ready to go back to doing normal things I did before giving birth or being pregnant. Like running!!!!! Did you hear that Cristy? I can now run! It's been strange not to being able to. I have always ran. I am so thankful for a quick recovery and good health, and a healthy baby who made it into the world safely. Griffin's 6 weeks doc appt is on Friday, so we are eager to find out how much he weighs now and what the doctor has to say. One of the doctors today looked at him and made the comment on how big he is and he thought he weighed at least 8 1/2 lbs. We are hoping so! I trying to feed him the best I can and I know he is trying to eat the best he can! ha :)

ps by the way, my friend cristy cross took that last pic of Griffin.

What is the recession for?

Today Griffin and I had church at home again. We watched (well I watched, he ate and slept of course) John Piper on "What is the recession for?" If I were you and you were reading this blog right now I would go either read, watch, or just listen to this sermon. The Lord really used it to speak to my heart, bring conviction of sin in my life, and stir within me more of a passion to trust Him more and lift Him high above anything else. Please check it out, you won't regret that you did. Here's the link:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/3566_What_Is_the_Recession_For/

Our day

Today, Griffin and I woke up around 10 and ate and then my friend Cristy texted me. She wanted to go walking so we went. It was a nice morning for a walk. We went over by our church in a neighborhood behind it. It was nice to get out of the house and visit with a friend. I got some sun on my shoulders, kinda burnt. After the walk, Griffin and I had lunch with Tyler. We went to Sonic. Burger and tots oh yes. It was nice getting to spend time with Tyler. After lunch we went home and Griffin got to eat. He then had some wake time and played on his tummy some while I talked to him. Then we both had a nap. It was such a nice nap! I needed it after that morning walk in the sun! So did Griffin, he slept well. I then woke him up and he ate again, took another nap, and now I am about to feed him again. Tyler just got home, YAH! So family time for us now! We had a good day.

1 MONTH

One month down, many many more to go! Griffin is one month old today. YAH!
We are just hanging out today, I may bust out the vacuum and dust my fans. I have decided to start trying to do one or two chores each day. Well see how it goes.

I just put Griffin on his belly to have some play/wake time before he goes back down for a nap and he actually is enjoying it this time. All the other times I have put him on his stomach he got fussy pretty quick signaling me to please flip him back over where he is used to being positioned. He has now fallen asleep on his his belly for the first time. He has been lifting his head real good too when he's on his belly. Go Griffin go! Anyways, I'm gonna put him down face up in his crib and try to take a nap myself. These middle of the nighters will not be missed when Griffin starts sleeping through the night! :)

Video for Mom, Dad, and Nanna

Video for Mom, Dad, and Nanna from Tyler Hicks on Vimeo.

Fuel 05.27.09

Rejection (Mark 6:1-13) from Tyler Hicks on Vimeo.

We should be missionaries everywhere we go, but often it is hardest to be a witness where we are most comfortable. Here are a few questions for parents and students to think about:
1. Do you have a hard time trying to live for Jesus in your home, in your town, at your school, in front of your parents, peers, teammates, etc.? Why?
2. Do you find it difficult to make changes in your life for God when everyone already knows you and expects you to behave a certain way? Why?
3. Do you really believe that God is powerful enough to use you as a witness to others?
4. Is your heart broken over the fact that people you know are on the road to hell? Are you praying for them? Are you willing to talk to them about Jesus?
5. Think about what is keeping you from being a witness. Is it fear? Is it a specific sin in your life? Are you praying that God will change you and use you for His glory? Pray for boldness and courage to live for Jesus!