Summer Plans, part 2

So I don't know how many of you have been following the comments on the earlier Summer Plans post, so here is an update.

Hillary's kids don't get out of school until June 15th. The Petersons will be leaving for Vegas on, or about, Wed the 22nd. Would everyone be ok having the campout from June 16th (thurs) to maybe the 18th (Saturday)?

As for the race we're hoping to run, it isn't until the 25th. I just checked and there aren't any races any closer to that weekend within driving distance. I'm sure the kids and I could stay an extra week to make it for that race even if Jason can't, but if not, we'll figure something out. In my opinion, having as much family at the campout is the priority. Would that work?

An Oil Change Disaster

Dad took my car into the dealer for an oil change on Saturday morning. It is nine years old and has 140,000 miles on it, so when they said that we should probably change the fluids too, he agreed. The young man doing it didn't close a shut off valve all the way and it blew fluid into the engine. Dad spent about 5 hours there while they tried to fix it, but in the end they said they needed to keep it until Monday when their engine specialist was there to look at it, so they brought him home. They were very sorry about it, but they would make it right. Monday afternoon they called to say it was ready and he went and picked it up. He knew before he got it home that something wasn't right, so he started back to the dealership. Before he got there it started to hiss so he pulled over and called them. They sent a tow truck and this time they gave him a loaner car to drive home. They discovered that the fluid had gotten into the catalytic converters and blown them out! It will cost them $3,000 to repair it! They had to order the parts and when they came, they were the wrong ones. The short story is that we took the car in for an oil change and it's been there a week now. They assure us that it will be fixed correctly and will be fine. Dad isn't so sure that we'll be able to trust it after all this, so he looked at buying a used Mariner, but just didn't feel that that was the right thing to do, so we'll just drive this one until it dyes, I guess. Dad asked about the young man who messed up and if they might fire him, they said no, but he would have to pay for it (whatever that means). It's kind of like going in to have your right arm operated on and they operate on the left by mistake.

Funny names

Yesterday, Charlie told me about a conversation he had with one of his co-workers. She was telling him about some of the funny names that she has had in her classrooms in the past. The two he told me about were the following:

Abcde - pronounced A(short)*be*si*dee

A-na : pronounced A(short)*dash*nay

Can you believe what people name their kids?!?!?

Summer Plans

Mom and I were talking the other day about the possible Hutchinson Campout and half-marathon adventure. She recommended doing it in June because of the weather, and it would probably be easier for us becasue Jason won't have his license until (most likely) July so we most likely won't have a job in June! Easy to take time off! I know Hillary was hoping for August because of Chelsea's baptism, but it will be hotter, and we'll have a new job by then and it will be hard to ask time off the second month after we start somewhere. Also, Heather will have a brand new baby and may not want to bring him/her camping. Sorry Chelsea and Hillary, but I vote for June.

Anyhow...there is a race in Charlevoix, MI on June 25th. That would be after school is out, so it might be perfect timing for the Hicks fam. Charlevoix is about 45 mintues from Petoskey, way up up north, near Heather's stomping ground. Another great thing about running this particular race is that it also offers a 10K and 5K. So...Kari? Kurt? Eric? Jim? Mom? Dad? If you're not up to doing the 13 miles, you could participate in a shorter race. You still have plenty of time to prepare! For info about the race, click here.

I know Kari said it might be tough to make it in June because of Eric. Sorry! Would you come alone with the kids? We probably just ought to pick a date and plan it, and then all try our hardest to make it. What say ye? Would that weekend work for y'all? Any other suggestions that may be better?

Oh, and I just realized, that is the same weekend as a special someone's birthday... :)

Family Home Evening Missionaries

da Hairs

Some little updates:

Jason is applying to five residencies. He has to have his applications all finished by the end of this month. On the application we have to put them down in order of where we would prefer to go, and then they match the applicants with the sites. Last night he said they are in this order (but it still could change): 1) Tacoma, WA 2) Seattle, WA 3) Salem, VA 4&5) Memphis. He actually would prefer NOT to do the one year residency at all, but we're applying in case we can't find a job he likes. It's always good to keep your options open!

As for me, I've officially registered for a half-marathon on April 9th. 12 weeks to go! I currently can go 3 miles, and this Saturday we're supposed to do 4. It's kicking my butt, but I feel so good the mornings that I get up and do it. Jason and I are also back on our low-fat diet, trying to get back into shape. I feel so much better about myself as a person, wife and mother when I'm in good health and take time for myself. So...I hope I finish! My goal is just to complete the race, and then when I run with Hillary later in the summer, to finish it faster. That's all, I'm pretty sure I can do it.

Addie's thumb surgery is tentatively scheduled for the 27th. Did y'all read my blog about that? We're praying it goes well and that she isn't in too much pain in the following weeks. It will be bandaged for at least a week, but that isn't too bad.

Macie is learning words like crazy. She now can say mommy, daddy, Addie, brother, baby, shoes, juice, clock, and (of course!) more. She has such a funny little personality. Her and Addie have just started playing great together and it has been so helpful. They often will be back in their rooms for over an hour just laughing and playing. Yay for siblings!

Carson is getting pretty good at keeping his head up and he smiles a lot. He is also the gassiest baby and cries quite a bit because he's constantly tooting. (Is that the word you prefer, Mom?) Here is a recent conversation with Addie--

Me: Carson is crying because he's so gassy.

Addie: Baby Brother, stop being so sassy!

New calling

I got a new calling yesterday. I'm the relief society president again. The current president is moving this Thursday and so, in our ward, if there is a hole somewhere, a person is required to be moved from one calling to another to fill the hole which usually creates another hole and so on. We play "musical callings" in our ward quite a bit. I'm a little frustrated because I was only in primary for 7 months, but I will do what the Lord wants me to do. The last time I was president I was in the calling for about three years. I'm interested to see if I stay in the calling for that long again. It's the longest amount of time that I've ever been in a calling. Charlie is still the young men's president. We don't see that changing any time soon. So we have a pretty busy household still. Yeah for serving in the church.

Ma and Pa Hicks

Charlie and I have been invited to be a Ma and Pa on the Grand Blanc stake youth conference pioneer trek in June. We went to our first information meeting for it on Saturday. It will be a three day, two night gig. Charlie isn't excited because when he went as a youth he had a horrible experience. But I keep telling him not to complain because he was to one that was asked and he accepted. I'm excited to go, even though I don't really like to camp. It will be Lexi's first youth conference and I'm glad that I'll get to be a part of it. We are going to some boy scout camp ground in Alger, Mi. We won't be using tents, just tarps and rope. The stake has asked us to start to prepare physically and spiritually for the trip now. There is going to be a kick-off fireside at the end of the month so the youth can be warned to start physically preparing as well. I know that many of our youth will have a hard time with the physical strain of this trip, so I pray they will take heed of the advice to start exercising. I can be this as being a real edifying experience for several of our youth. I only hope they will allow it to be. I'm glad that I'm already training for a half marathon. Thanks, again, Jana for asking me to do that. It will help me on the trek so much, I'm sure.

Miss America 2011

Kristi had a Miss America party on Saturday while the Miss America Pageant was on. It was really fun. We had to choose a state to represent and then come in a costume that represents that state, in formal wear or in a swim suit. Then once at the party, you couldn't eat anything until your state was eliminated from the competition. I chose Wisconsin because I thought Michigan would be highly sought after. I wanted to make a cheese hat and put together a costume, but I ran out of time. I just happen to have a bunch of formal wear dresses that I've kept for the young women for when they want to have a fashion show. One of them fits me, so I wore that. I tried to do my hair. I didn't have as much time as I would've liked so I don't like the way it turned out. Hannah told me it looked like a mullet and Charlie agreed, but all the girls at the party voted me as having the best hair. I was pretty excited. Hannah went as Miss Louisiana and dressed up for Mardi Grauw (sp) and Kristi was Miss New York. My favorite costume was Miss Kentucky. She wore a formal dress, but stuffed her stomach to look pregnant and told everyone that she was pregnant by her brother. She drew tatoos on her arms and the one arm had the name of a boy crossed off with another name of a boy underneath crossed off, etc. with several names written. She made her sash out of toilet paper that she held together with electric tape. It was pretty funny. I had fun and was glad to be invited. The lady from the party who went the farthest was Miss Hawaii. She got third overall in the pageant. She received a tiara and rose and did the walk.

An idea for the summer

I had an idea this morning and I thought I will run it by all of you. How about we hold our own William Hutchinson reunion this summer and go camping somewhere in Michigan. It would only be for 2 or 3 days and I think it would be fun for the kids to run around and get dirty together. I know Heather will be very pregnant by then, but that can be worked around. Dad doesn't want to camp, but I can work on him. With Jana moving and Eric in school it might be hard to find the time to do it, but if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't. Anyway, what do you all think?

Some baby news

We went to the doctor today to see if there's anything Heather can do to help with the bad headaches she's been getting every day. At the end of the appointment, the doctor said, "Let's listen to the baby's heartbeat." We got to hear it at our last appointment on the 7th, so we were excited to hear it again. But the doctor couldn't find it, after moving the Doppler microphone around for a minute or so. I was getting a little anxious, so I knew Heather was feeling ten times worse.

The doctor told us not to worry and went and got an ultrasound machine. Not only did we get to see the heart beating, the baby was kicking around! It was such a blessing to see. Harvey was in the room with us, and we told him for the first time that "Mommy has a baby in her tummy." He said, "And I'm going to be the brother!" He was excited and so cute.

Just wanted to share a bit of our joy.

My challenge

When Jana asked me to run a half marathon with her I laughed at her, at first, but have since decided that I will do it. I hate running, so this will be a challenge for me. I've been looking for the motivation to get back on the weight loss band wagon and I think this might be what I need. I've been training for 2 weeks now, but I don't know if you can count what I did in the first week. It wasn't much different than what I had been doing before. But this week, I've gotten more serious about things and have rode the exercise bike twice going about 14.5 miles/hour both days. I'm pretty proud of that. I hope to keep adding mileage at I go and hope to start running at some point. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Thanks, Jana, for the invite. This is going to be quite an adventure.

Something funny, a girl from church told me I should run in the Crim (which is a marathon that Flint hosts). I told her I couldn't because we needed to run in a race in June and the Crim is in August. My sister-in-law, Hannah, replied that I could do the race in June and then do the Crim too. I replied no way was that going to happen because once I run the first race I am never doing it again! So you could say this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.

hanging in there

Things here are going well...we are surviving.  Lucy doesn't sleep more than 3 hours or so at a time so we are pretty much wasted all the time-my goal is to have decent looking hair everyday and Eric's is to not fall asleep in class.  This quarter is going to be a bear for him and he is already starting to feel the strain, we are just praying these next 2 months go quickly.  I had my 6 week appt. yesterday and got a clean bill of health and found out I'm 2 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight-that was nice.  We aren't doing any special diet, just trying to make a shift in our lifestyle to healthier foods, smaller portions and just more conscience of what we eat...I guess it's doing something.

 Lucy is still sick with a cold that seems to last forever, but we feel like slowly but surely it is starting to dwindle.  She eats like it's going out of style and weighs 11 lbs now.  She doesn't seem to be the mellow baby I was hoping for, she is quite a diva-making sure you know she's there and needing your full attention if she's awake.  My mistake though, her name is the same as the Charlie Brown character-like on her shirt-who is very bossy.  I'm kind of glad she's feisty, she's going to need to hold her own against her big brother. 

Noah is almost three and he has the attitude to match...the twos were fine, but it seems like the threes are going to be stressful.  He is still really amazing with his sister and doesn't seem bothered by her presence.  He likes to lie down by her when we do tummy time or tell her everything is fine when she is crying.  We started potty training him the week after Christmas and we are half way there.  He will only poo in a diaper, but if he doesn't start doing that in the toilet by his birthday in 2 weeks, the diaper won't be an option anymore...I'm hoping by the middle of February we'll be all set.  He just seems so much older in underwear-I just can't believe how quickly it all has gone.

So fat so good, I guess.  I feel like we are in a good rhythm, even if we are dead tired, and are looking forward to when we can play outside again.  We hope all of your new years started off to a good start, and wanted to say again how wonderful it was to see everyone at Christmas.

Doing Well

We went to the doctor this morning and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. I am 11 weeks 5 days. We'll probably go back in a week or two for a double check since I lost the last baby at 11 weeks. So, there is still some hesitancy on my part but we seem to be out of the woods. I'm sure that the only way my anxiety will truly go away is to have this little one in my arms. We haven't told Harvey yet and I'm not sure when we will. I'm sure he'll be excited, though.

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