The Hickey's in Colorado

9 month pix, even though they are already 10 months old!

2011-11-06T19:56:00.001-07:00

the latest

2011-09-16T21:39:00.004-06:00

ok, so i realize this latest batch is a little bit elijah-heavy, but he was just a happy kid today, when most of these were taken. poor hannah has had a rough day - she has some wicked diaper rash and poops that just won't stop. we soaked her tushy in baking soda and water, which you will see toward the end of these photos. big brother micah was happy to see them after his day at temple school and then daycare.

2011-08-08T19:40:00.002-06:00

updated for you mom!

our trip to the zoo.

6 month stats

2011-07-10T19:06:00.002-06:00

hannah:
12 lbs (2%)
24 inches (9%)
head measures 16 1/4 (27%)

elijah:
17 lbs (55%)
27 inches (82%)
head measures 17 1/2 (79%)

good visit to the doc for the babies' 6 month checkup. both have dropped in their percentages, except of course for elijah's head which increased from the 54th percentile to the 79th, but they are both growing and even though hannah is a tiny little peanut, the doctor isn't worried. she is on her very own growth curve and she is getting bigger just like she should.

i started back to work 2 weeks ago and so far i am really enjoying my new job with the fire department. we have a great nanny to watch the twins and micah is still going to his regular preschool. finally feels like we are coming up for air a bit and life has developed a new normal (crazy as it is).

last night we tossed out the pacifiers and no more swaddling...both babies went to sleep easy enough but hannah screamed bloody murder from 10:30pm-midnight. i hope the screaming decreases at least by half tonight. wish us luck!

6 months old - new pix!

2011-06-26T20:03:00.005-06:00

smorgasborg

2011-06-13T09:50:00.004-06:00

the latest

2011-06-04T21:14:00.002-06:00

sorry no new updates for a while...been busy getting a new job (going back june 27 working for the fire department), dealing with sick babies (both have RSV and hannah has pink eye), and potty-training our big boy who has been in big boy underpants for the past few weeks. been pretty good about posting photos on facebook though! that's definitely the best place to see how the babies are growing these days...

hair donation day!!

2011-05-03T13:49:00.004-06:00

wow - was i ready to get my hair cut! we snipped off 10 inches, although there are some layers in there too that won't be long enough to get into a wig...oh well!

long curly hair

long straight hair

preparing for the cut!

ta-da! i love it!

happy birthday micah man!

2011-04-26T16:21:00.006-06:00

micah is 3 years old!! his party was april 17th at a place here in town called artsports - trampolines, foam pits, etc. and as you can see from the action shots below, he had a blast! (yes, many of the shots are blurry...hard to catch a boy on the move!)

happy birthday to my sweet, sweet boy.

micah wasn't the only kid having fun!

yumm...pizza

micah and his little friend, rylie

opening presents at home

all is good

2011-04-19T19:46:00.007-06:00

well baby check doctors appointments today:

micah:
29 lbs (23%)
35 3/4 inches (15%)

elijah:
14 lbs (68%)
25 1/2 inches (94%)
head measures 16 1/4 (54%)

hannah:
9 lbs 10 oz (4%)
22 1/4 inches (14%)
head measures 15 1/2 (36%)

so our kids pretty much range from the 4-94th percentiles. narrows it right down, huh? doc didn't have any concerns about hannah - just said she is petite! so for now, we'll just keep doing what we're doing.

they are sleeping 6 to 7 hours at a stretch but unfortunately it's usually between 7pm-1am! then they are up at 4am and up again at 7am. of course, micah is usually up before 7am so it's not such a big deal to get up for that one, except for the fact that i'm exhausted!!! they sure are cute though (good thing).

rice cereal - yum! and loving the car seat...

2011-04-13T20:19:00.005-06:00

new photos of the fam

2011-04-03T19:20:00.003-06:00

just had a great visit in calif - pulled off a huge surpise by coming to my niece's baby shower in bakersfield and completely surprised my sister and niece! it was great. my parents showed up at my sister's door with micah and once the realization set in, bryce and i came around the corner with hannah and elijah to happy sounds of joy! after the shower, we drove to sacramento and spent the week getting to see and catch up with friends. we also had the photos taken below - 3 month twin photos and 3 year micah photos. good times.

answers

2011-03-17T21:19:00.002-06:00

yes, you all got it right...

picture 1: elijah
picture 2: micah
picture 3: micah
picture 4: elijah

babies and big brother are all doing wonderfully well. hannah and elijah both slept through the night last night - from an 8pm feeding to 5am this morning. hallalujah!!! now if only we can do it two nights in a row...

which is which?

2011-03-14T21:19:00.002-06:00

give us your best guess...elijah? or micah?

picture 1 picture 2
picture 3

picture 4

good report

2011-02-21T21:52:00.003-07:00

two month check up today went well and both babies are growing well!

elijah
weight: 11 lbs, 1 oz (84th percentile)
height: 22 3/4 inches (88th percentile)
head: 15 1/2 inches (77th percentile)

hannah
weight: 7 lbs, 11 oz (12th percentile)
height: 20 1/2 inches (28th percentile)
head: 14 1/2 inches (48th percentile)

even though she is on the small side, the doc is very pleased with her growth curve! she started off pretty small (4 lbs, 3 oz) and has almost doubled her birth weight!! of course, so has he (5 lbs, 12 oz).

go babies go!

cute photos (of course!)

2011-02-16T13:28:00.006-07:00

ok, so clearly updating the blog has not been happening very frequently - sorry everyone! i'm hoping to make up for it now though with these gorgeous photos of hannah and elijah (and big brother micah) taken by olivia navarro, a wonderful local photographer. these were taken when the babies were about 1 month old.

speaking of which...they are now 8 weeks old! we've had some ups and downs with hannah's digestion - on and off breastmilk, now on a second formula, spit up and pooping issues - all good stuff (or not). all in all though, both babies are doing well and are growing. the last time they were weighed (elijah on superbowl sunday and hannah a few days later at the doc's office) they weighed 9 lbs, 15 oz (elijah) and 6 lbs, 15 oz (hannah). so by now, he is probably pushing 11 lbs and i hope she is close to 7.5 lbs.

bryce and i are sleeping when we can and are very grateful to everyone that has brought meals over to us! that is such a huge help!

thanks everyone. xoxo

the latest

2011-01-18T13:51:00.003-07:00

both little babies are continuing to grow and do well - thankfully! we still have hannah on formula but we're going to the pediatric gastro doc on thursday to find out if we can get her back on breastmilk. at the pediatrician appointment one week ago, she was 4lbs 12 oz and he was 6 lbs 14 oz, which is 9 oz and 1 lb 2 oz more than they were at birth, respectively. so yay!

mom and dad are headed home next monday, so we'll be on our own! ahhh! we're getting ready though. today i've done 2 feedings where i've feed both babies at once, and it has gone pretty well. go me! definitely made me feel good about being able to do this on my own (well, maybe with a little help).

big brother micah is still just a delight. he is adjusting so well and loves giving his babies hugs and kisses. he sleeps through the crying at night and wakes up happy to have his bammy & poppa here to to play with him. poor guy will be pretty sad when they leave (as will we).

hannah: "you talkin' to me?"

elijah: raising the roof, while asleep...takes talent.
chillin' in our crib

hannah doing tai chi, elijah working on his right hook

and again...

oh...stretch

ready to eat

talk to the hand...

sweet boy

welcome hannah and elijah!

2010-12-31T14:47:00.002-07:00

so i guess it's fitting that i'm finally getting around to posting on the last day of the year, since today was supposed to be our scheduled c-section. clearly miss hannah had other ideas, because her bag of water broke around 2am on 12/21/10 just as i was about to get back into bed after one of my numerous trips to the bathroom. since we were ready to head to the hospital after each doctors appointment, our mad dash to the hospital was actually quite calm.

got to the maternity ward triage and they confirmed that indeed, my water had broken, and we were soon meeting with the on-call doctor from our OB/GYN practice and with the anesthesiologist, and were soon wheeled into the operating room. overall, after all my nervousness associated with the c-section, it actually went very well. there were things i'd rather have changed...staring at a big blue curtain wasn't exactly fun, nor was the massive headache and nausea associated with the pitocin (to shrink the uterous), but i was able to stay awake and after leaving the operating room, elijah was brought into my room almost immediately.

hannah started in the NICU because she initially needed some help getting started with breathing, but she was off oxygen within minutes. due to her small size though, she also needed an i.v. and that is what kept her in the NICU for a couple of days. once she started taking in a decent amount of fluid through the bottle though, she was released and came to our room. we all got to head home on xmas day.

unfortunately, in my typical fashion, my post-hospital recovery has been a little rough. apparently i had an allergic reaction to the adhesive used in the surgery and afterwards, so i have a huge rash on my belly. treatment is to shower frequently and use benedryl. as if i have time for multiple showers per day? and taking a medicine that makes me sleepy when i'm already sleepy? cruel, i tell you.

nonetheless, the babies are great and we're all pretty healthy, so i have much to be thankful for as we end 2010 and start 2011 with great love and hope in our hearts. thanks to everyone for all the support. happy new year!

daddy with elijah (left) and hannah (right)

elijah (left) and hannah (right)
elijah (left) and hannah (right)

big brother micah holding elijah (with some help from taylor)

happy big brother meeting elijah

so sweet!

and the wait continues...

2010-12-20T20:43:00.002-07:00

it was looking like we might end up at the hospital tonight...petite poi wouldn't show off her skills at practicing breathing and then neither bambino had a good trend line when we went on the heart monitors for 20 minutes. so...we ended up on the monitors for about an hour and in the end, after consulting with the high risk practice in town, and after the babies got a little more active, they sent us home. next appointment wednesday.

growth ultrasound estimates petite poi at 4 lbs, 6 oz, and tank at 6 lbs, 4 oz., which puts her lower than the 3rd percentile for growth, and puts him around the 56th percentile. so there is definitely still that growth discrepancy going on, although i was pretty psyched that she had put on a full pound in the past 3 weeks.

so, i'm still huge, uncomfortable, peeing all the time, not sleeping well, and tired...but i'm happy to keep them tucked away inside for a little longer! delivery will happen next week regardless!! still hoping we make it to our scheduled time of 8:15am on 12/31/10!

no babies yet!

2010-12-13T21:15:00.003-07:00

great news today! petite poi's blood pressure was down and is once again within normal ranges, so they are still in my belly. yay!

i cannot tell you how pleased I am that they weren't born tonight. i'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and while that is certainly a great point to reach with twins, the longer they stay in, the sooner they'll come home from the hospital.

we'll still go to each appointment ready to hit the hospital, but if all goes well, we have a scheduled c-section for the morning of december 31sth. while i'm still not thrilled with the notion of a c-section, it's starting to sound like that will be best for the babies, so there is really no question.

go babies, go!

could be any day

2010-12-11T09:20:00.004-07:00

at my last appointment on thursday, 12/9/10, we found out that baby girl's blood pressure had risen and was now above normal levels. so word is from the docs that if it's higher at my next appointment on monday, 12/13/10, that the babies might be born that evening! holy moly!

that'll put me at almost 35 weeks, which is pretty great for twins even though 37 would be full term, so we can't complain too much. we're still a bit concerned because she is going to be a tiny one - probably somewhere around 3 and 1/2 lbs. her heart is having to work extra hard to pump blood right now though so it makes sense to take them out if that gets even worse. baby boy seems to be doing just fine with all his measurements, and i'm feeling him move all the time! his sister on the other hand, likes to make me worry. i just don't feel her move as much, so that often means additional trips to the doctors office or hospital to make sure she is still doing ok in there.

anyway - that's the scoop! we've been very lucky to have wonderfully kind friends who have brought meals over, and my mother-in-law was just visiting and cooked for us, did laundry, and has helped get the twins' room ready. that was a huge help! my folks fly in tomorrow and will be here to help if it turns out that monday is our big day! so it's all coming together.

we'll keep everyone posted! xoxo

34 weeks

happy hanukkah!

2010-12-07T21:42:00.005-07:00

in terms of the babies, all the doctor visits have gone well - good blood flow and good heart beats, so i'm still truckin' along. we're looking at delivery sometime around the end of this year/first of next year, as long as both babies continue looking good between now and then.

it's looking more and more likely that i'll end up with a c-section, which is something i had hoped to avoid, but i've started researching it and getting familiar with the pros, cons, risks, etc. so we're getting our questions together for the doc. i know plenty of women have them - about a third of all deliveries in the us are via c-section - so it's just a process to get comfortable with the idea.

on to the photos...there were so many cute ones, i just couldn't narrow it down any further!! micah has been having a great time - loves lighting the candles, loves lighting the electric menorah in the window, and LOVES opening his presents!

happy hanukkah - 1st night

2010-12-02T12:32:00.003-07:00

the latest

2010-12-01T09:33:00.003-07:00

so, wow - we've been really lucky and have had a pretty normal twin pregnancy...until recently.

things are going ok, but about 2 weeks ago we found out that baby a (a.k.a. petite poi, our little girl) wasn't keeping up with baby b (a.k.a. tank, our little boy). that had generally been the case during the entire pregnancy, but the discrepancy between them wasn't all that big before now. at 28 weeks, she was measuring 2 lbs, 10 oz, and he was measuring 2 lbs, 14 oz, so pretty close. then at 31 weeks, she was 3 lbs, 2 oz, and he was up to 4 lbs, 1 oz. just yesterday, at 33 weeks, she is only up to 3lbs, 6 oz while he is now up to 4 lbs, 12 oz. so while the difference may not seem like much, it's definitely a concern to the docs.

so, we now know that i won't carry past 38 weeks (january 2, 2011) and there is a good chance it could be sooner if baby girl continues to lag behind. thankfully, the bio-physical profiles they are doing twice weekly have been coming back fine - good blood flow to the babies, good heart rates, my blood pressure has remained low, etc. so we're hopeful to at least keep them snug inside until the end of the year, but it's a wait and see situation.

on to the micah update...the other day i had a growth removed from my chin and when micah came home from daycare and saw the bandaid on my chin, this is how our conversation went:

micah: you got an owie mommy?
mommy: yes budddy, i got an owie.
micah: you fall down?
mommy: no, i didn't fall down.
micah: you bump into my toys?
mommy: no, i didn't bump into your toys. i went to the doctor and they gave me a bandaid.
micah: ohhh. (pause) can i watch a show mommy?

this has both bryce and i cracking up! he was doing his best to figure out why i would have an owie, and since he usually gets his by falling down or bumping into something, those were perfectly reasonable guesses! so cute!

that's the latest...xoxo.

happy thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:28:00.002-07:00

it's official

2010-11-23T12:55:00.002-07:00

well, the decision came last thursday...i'm now officially on bedrest. baby a just isn't growing as much as the doctors would like, so they are hoping by me being on bedrest that i'll pass along more calories to the babies instead of using them up myself. so...that's the story. i'm at 32 weeks, so our next goal is getting to 34 weeks and we'll see how they are doing.

unfortunately, my poor husband has had the stomach flue for the past couple of days, so that has made things rough around here. poor guy! he has felt so sick but he has been trying so hard to take care of things around the house. thankfully he seems to be getting better slowly but surely.

cute photos of the boy below. enjoy and wish us luck.

fuzzy blue bear

2010-11-06T11:00:00.003-06:00

baby shower shots

2010-10-31T14:40:00.005-06:00

my friend, carrie, singing for the group!

mom and friends enjoying carrie's lovely voice

opening presents

the sweet big brother

the cute cake!

yum, cake

random

2010-10-10T09:22:00.002-06:00

latest baby appointment went well - the ultrasound was done at 25 weeks and poi was measuring exactly 25 weeks in terms of growth while tank is was measuring 26 weeks. they estimate her weight as 1 lb, 10 oz, and his at 1 lb, 14 oz.

below is just a mish mash of photos...

reading books w/grampy

taken at 26 weeks (today)
another version

the cuteness

zoning out

a cute pout

trucks!!

2010-10-04T19:40:00.004-06:00

hello my loyal 2 readers! sorry for the delay in posts...i know, i say it all the time! it has been a rough few weeks for me though - just been feeling crummy as i try to get over bronchitis and a sinus infection. on the up side, i think i am on the mend, but combined with my lack of sleep (up every hour to pee...it's ridiculous!), working 32 hours/week, and a traveling husband, it's just not easy. ok, we'll leave it at that - enough of the pity party!

this past weekend i rallied enough energy to accompany my darling boys to the local air show and more importantly, to the "touch-a-truck" exhibit. micah had a blast until someone started honking the horn on the garbage truck and that scared him a bit. in fact, the entire way home, he kept saying "i no ride on garbage truck mommy. it too loud over there." still, a good time was had by all.

standing in front of a cool old plane

micah was digging the view

this is the next plane we saw - see below

a family shot on the wing of the plane

our little top gun

hmmm, not so sure about this

ok, take it off daddy

love the fire truck!

drive drive! beep beep!

lovin' it!

fun stuff - a tractor!

it's a little too big

figuring out how to shift

ooohhh, a helicopter

lots of buttons!

sweet boy

twin and micah updates

2010-09-13T19:12:00.007-06:00

twin update: i'm now at 22 weeks and 1 day pregnant, and our little girl's growth is measuring exactly 22 weeks and 1 day! way to go petite poi! in the meantime, little tank, our baby boy, is measuring 22 weeks and 6 days. nice job little ones. they are both over 1 lb now and growing strong. i continue to have some pregnancy challenges - nausea, headaches, fatigue, etc., but i realize it could be much worse! thankfully i have a doting husband who is trying to make it as easy as possible.

micah update: bammy and poppa came to visit over labor day and they were here to watch micah riding his new bike, we took a trip to the zoo, and had a bbq with friends. we had such a nice time and the week flew by! they got to check out the new big boy bed and when he allowed it, got to hug and and kiss on the little man.

the new bike (no pedals)

getting the hang of it
ok, had enough of that
in daddy's arms at the zoo

looking at something interesting

bammy and poppa pose with some of the local wildlife

look everyone!

the guys hanging together

have you noticed, micah likes pony rides?

hold on tight!

doing great!

he is a pro by now

bammy and poppa look on

enjoying some guy bonding time with colin and joe

guess they've had about enough of joe!

still doing some bonding

bryce in training with 3...can you tell micah didn't take a nap?

bye bammy - love you!

now let me down

really, i'm ready to go...

poppa's turn! bye poppa.

love you.

all dressed up for rosh hashana

sleepy boy & a day at the fair

2010-08-29T19:40:00.005-06:00

tired boy last weekend

fell asleep during his haircut

today, we visited the state fair

he picked the biggest pony there!

for someone so little

it was a pretty big pony

he loved it though!

it's a...

2010-08-24T20:27:00.006-06:00

had a terrific ultrasound appointment today! i'm at 19 weeks and today was the big ultrasound where they did all the measurements to make sure the babies were growing well...and...all is good! yay! in terms of size, baby a is measuring at 19 weeks 1 day and baby b is measuring at 19 weeks 6 days. yay babies! we also got some gender news...1 boy and 1 girl! we're pretty jazzed. out of curiosity, we measured my belly and if we only had 1 baby in there i would be measuring at 27 weeks!

in big brother news...we were driving in the car the other day and he said "look mommy, oc-a-gon" to which is said "octagon?" and he said "yea, on the sign" and i about fell out of my chair when i realized he was looking at the stop sign. turns out, his daycare teacher has been doing flashcards with the class and octagon was one of the things they covered. he's got it down, that's for sure!!

we've got some "soccer ball class" photos below as well as some photos from his friend jordan's 4th birthday party.

lil kickers class photo

whatcha doin'?
jordan & micah mug with coach bosco

so excited to hold a ball!!

kick that ball!

jordan's birthday party - taking on the beam!

falling at jordan's feet

chillin under the parachute

such fun!

such a great laugh!

where's micah?

puppet time

with his buddy colin

19 week belly

catching up

2010-08-09T20:40:00.008-06:00

ok, so i realize i'm pretty painfully behind schedule in terms of updating the blog and to all 2 of my loyal readers, i apologize! i also know you understand because i'm sure you already know that this twin pregnancy has been so much harder than my first! everything is magnified - the morning sickness (which thankfully seems to be abating - finally - i'm at 17 weeks for sakes of goodness!), monster headaches, and some serious heartburn. i do feel like i have just the slightest bit more energy these days though, so that is a plus!

anyway, i have tons of photos i've been meaning to post so below is a brief (well, maybe not so brief) collection that captures some of the highlights from the past month or two!

last class at the litle gym

hangin' around
his fav - bouncy balls

his other fav - bubbles!

getting his graduation medal

sooooooo excited!

a moment to reflect...

supporting his friends

class shot

4th of july parade - little guy in the light blue shirt

parading along

say "cheese"

yummm - cookies with frosting!

a mouthful while saying "cheese"

saying cheese again...why did we teach him this?

playing after the hail storm on 4th of july

look, my very own piece of hail!

the boys being boys

loving the fireworks

petting the pony

up on the pony - yikes!

getting into it a bit

look ma - i'm holding on!

posing...so sweet

a little more my speed...a tortoise

crashed in my new big boy bed!

conversations with micah

2010-08-05T20:26:00.002-06:00

for those of you who already saw this on facebook, i apologize, but i had to include it here too! it just cracked me up!!

situation: micah to bryce while waiting to get his diaper changed in the bathroom at panera...

micah: what we doin' daddy?

bryce: waiting for the stall with the changing table.

micah: why we waitin'?

bryce: because someone is in there.

micah: oh...is he pooping?

bryce: (pause) well...he might be pooping.

micah: (bending down) i see him!

micah's news

2010-07-13T21:38:00.004-06:00

we thought it was time to announce micah's big news...by the end of the year, or possibly early next year, he is going to be a big brother! twice over! yes, you read that correctly - we're having twins!

i'm currently 13 weeks along and so far have experienced all the joys of pregnancy - morning sickness, headaches, fatigue, etc. - but needless to say we are absolutely thrilled!

my full term due date is january 16, 2011, but it's more likely that the babies will arrive sometime in december. wish us luck!!!

micah, say cheese

2010-06-26T13:51:00.002-06:00

swim lessons

2010-06-09T20:24:00.003-06:00

park, no home

2010-05-11T20:34:00.003-06:00

so we are definitely knee deep in the two's in our house. micah is still a sweet little boy who gives hugs and kisses (sometimes with significant prodding), loves his mommy and daddy, and can't wait to go to the park or to the little gym. of course, we also hear a lot of "no" and tonight i got a bite on the arm (not out of anger - i think he was just playing, but it hurt! needless to say he got an immediate time out!)

some of the latest fun sayings/conversations are:

daddy: ready to leave daycare and go home micah?
micah: park, no home
daddy: you don't want to go home?
micah: no home. park.

micah: i wanna wasch uh show
mommy: what show do you want to watch?
micah: mascar
mommy: you mean, madagascar?
micah: yeah mommy, mascar

daddy: micah, you are our little peanut
micah: i micah, no peanut

mommy: come on micah, come brush your teeth!
micah: i comminn, my stehhp, rush teet
translation: i'm coming, i want to get up on my step and brush my teeth

here are some photos from a recent trip to the park:

fire truck!

2010-04-26T22:44:00.003-06:00

little man loves his fire trucks! huge thanks to the guys at fire station 20, who welcomed micah with open arms! he sure had a great time sitting in the truck, turning on the flashing lights, and checking out the big hoses!! so fun!

micah's 2nd birthday party

2010-04-18T20:32:00.007-06:00

party time!! wow, did we have a good time at micah's party today. he was such a good little guy, as were all the kiddos (no meltdowns - amazing, huh?), and the pizza and cake were delicious! enjoy the photos below!

a smattering

2010-03-22T19:37:00.003-06:00

hi all - just figured it was time for some new photos and an update on bryce. the daddy is hanging in there and seems to be getting better with each passing day. he is taking less and less pain med and was actually able to drive himself over to get his lab work done today (hadn't taken any pain meds since 12 hours earlier so don't worry - he was being safe). he is moving around a bit better too and that is relief to all of us!

micah is definitely a terrible two! cute as a bug but is enjoying dumping his food, tantrums in stores, saying "stop it mommy" and refusing to give hugs and kisses without major cajoling and/or bribery. all pretty normal stuff despite it driving mommy and daddy slightly insane! however, he is still the cutest thing on two legs (at least we think so), so here are a mish-mash of photos taken over the past week or so.

lots of new friends joining him in the crib

good friends, jordan and colin
the best medicine for daddy

debating

deciding

going for it!

chillin'

done...

bryce injury

2010-03-12T22:03:00.001-07:00

flying down the mountain, over the edge and uhh ohhh...mogels.

after clearing a couple, bryce lost one ski and then the other, flew through the air, and tumbled down, down, down. total yard sale.

now he is checking out the hospitality at the summit county hospital...lacerated liver and kidney. assuming all goes well, no surgery necessary and 12 weeks of recovery.

never a dull moment with my guy! wish us luck.

night and day

2010-03-01T19:52:00.007-07:00

from grumpenstein...

to happy boy

all in a matter of minutes.

guess i would be happy too with a dinner of lasagna and dessert consisting of peanut butter/chocolate girl scout cookies!

travel update

2010-02-23T21:13:00.008-07:00

well, we just got back from our trip to santa rosa, calif, to see my dear friend erica and her husband chris, and to meet their new addition, noah francis. what a cute, sweet, baby boy. just a little doll - so good and such a great little eater!

noah, hanging out with his mommy

noah, loving his mommy

we also got to visit with bammy and poppa, who micah was just thrilled to see, and to visit with their friends sarah and joe, and sherri and steve. micah had a great time hanging out with everyone and was such a good boy on all the travels.

while we were in santa rosa, we paid a visit to farmer vic, a sheep farmer, who also has brahma bulls, emus, ducks, geese, and i'm sure some other animals as well! micah loved feeding the animals!

give me some bread please daddy

such a little man!
mid-yawn?

check out the ducks!

action shot!

once again...more bread please

and some more...

feeding rambo, the sheep

don't let him eat the adorable fingers!

sheri talking to farmer vic while poppa watches the little boy

bammy joins the fun!

another action shot!

micah language

2010-02-06T08:11:00.002-07:00

here is a sample of the snipits of language we hear from the little man every day:

"mommy go" = mommy, come with me
"mommy dit" = mommy, sit
"hi mommy" = i just did something wrong so i'll look cute so you can't get mad at me
"di doo" = thank you
"peas" = please
"wawwe, evvaahh" = can we watch wall-e?
"deet" = i'm hungry (eat)
"wheredeego?" = where did he/she/it/they go?
"doddie" = doggie

so sweet.

playing in the snow!

2010-01-31T20:45:00.003-07:00

micah on skiis!!!

2010-01-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

i love pears! i love poppa! i love t.v.!

2010-01-18T20:56:00.004-07:00

eating pears with poppa

yummy!

look at micah digging in!

zombie boy zoning in front of the t.v.

yes, he likes to wear his hat around inside the house

sunday morning kix and wall-e

so sweet

happy new year!

2010-01-09T12:33:00.003-07:00

happy new year all! things are going pretty well in the hickey household these days despite the fact that micah has turned into an independent "no" wielding toddler. his vocabulary has shot through the roof lately and he is pretty good at imitating what he hears.

last month he kept asking me "where'd daddy go" when bryce was out of town, so i told him that daddy was in albuquerque and what did he say? "a-bu-key" and i about fell out of my chair! just a few days ago he wanted to talk to his bammy and poppa on the computer but they weren't home because they were out for their anniversary (51 years - wowza). so we called and left a message on their answering machine and after saying "hi bappypoppa" he said "happy ver-see" which we all thought was pretty good!

the photos below are of our friend's - kim and chad - little boy's birthday party at the little gym and they were just too cute not to share!

playing on the fun stuff

holding hands with my best friend colin

another cute one of the 2 friends

sitting with jordan and colin waiting for a turn

bouncy bouncy...funny that micah is the only one in focus!

eating cake and ice cream...
can't find micah?
look for him just under the balloons on the left side of the photo

watching the cool presents being opened!

merry xmas little jewish boy

2009-12-27T20:56:00.003-07:00

ok, so i've tried to post a bunch of photos a number of times...to no avail. thankfully the photo below is one of the cutest ones we took of the micah man over at the gerbers on xmas day. all the kids were running around in these cute little p.j.'s and it was so stinkin' adorable!! we all had a great time.

hanukkah #2 - i love my jack-in-the-box!

2009-12-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

happy hanukkah!

2009-12-11T21:55:00.001-07:00

our little hoodlum

2009-11-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

San Diego

2009-11-18T21:21:00.004-07:00

a few more of our little lion

2009-11-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

Yogurt, lions, and whiskers - oh my!

2009-10-30T21:49:00.003-06:00

so goodness - what have we been up to? mostly trying to fight off whatever micah's latest ailment is. we thought it might be croup but that never materialized (thank goodness!), then the cough started, then the fever showed up tonight! uugghh. so we're calling the doctor tomorrow morning to try and get him on the mend before we head to san diego on sunday!

below are some cute yogurt-face pictures and pictures from micah participating in the fall festival at his daycare. he is in most of his halloween costume but flat out refuses to wear the mane! oh well! still totally adorable!

i love my yogurt!

yummm...

here is our little lion!

making an art project with crayons, stickers, and all kinds of messy stuff

mom giving him a helping hand

little sweetness

pumpkin with a pumpkin!

getting a lift with my buddy colin

just chillin...(yes, colin tried to eat the markers)

look at the cute yellow nose and whiskers!

a good report card!

2009-10-20T20:31:00.005-06:00

we had our first parent/teacher conference today! micah got a good report card. here are some of their comments:

when micah climbs on the table and we tell him to put his feet on the floor, he will get down.
micah clapped and laughed at the end of the book when the teacher said "yay little fish!"
micah heard an airplane today and when asked "where is it?" he pointed it out before the teacher could find it.
micah could point out different places on his face when asked where they were.
when we were play cooking, micah was stirring the food just like the teacher did.
when we were stacking blocks high, micah would knock it down, laugh, and then start building again.
micah likes books and often picks a book, skims though it, and then hands it to the teacher to read.
micah can pull the chair out from the table at meal time and climb into it.
micah uses his spoon to eat his cereal
micah helps the teacher start putting away toys so they can read books.

pumpkin at the pumpkin patch!

2009-10-18T21:20:00.003-06:00

playing outside this weekend

2009-09-28T20:43:00.001-06:00

busy weekend

2009-09-20T20:19:00.006-06:00

so wow - we've had a busy weekend! friday night was the start of rosh hashana and we headed to temple. then saturday we went to the mountain minyan for the first day of rosh hashana services and we had such a wonderful time! the weather was beautiful and micah charmed the entire crowd!

helping parade the torah around (he is holding one of the rimonim that goes on top of the torah)

he thought this was pretty cool!

so fun!

with daddy looking at the "wa-wa"

then we headed out with mom and dad, the gerbers and girnus' to the black bear restaurant to celebrate bryce's recent promotion, and decided to get a limo so we could all thoroughly enjoy the 5 course meal with wine pairings. yum!

self portrait

kim and chad

joe and kim

bammy and poppa

kim and joe decided to end the night with the "ghost chili" - made with the hottest known pepper in existance! see the description below!

the first taste...

joe's face afterwards!

kim dipped her pinky and this was the reaction!

i took one small bite and i have to say, it was like having 100 little devils poking my tongue with pitchforks...it was some pretty hot stuff!

sick again but love my bammy and poppa

2009-09-17T20:40:00.004-06:00

poor pumpkin has been sick the past few days...we think it started with croup (yes, i finally know how he can sound like a barking seal!), then a drippy miserable cold, and finally...an ear infection.

thankfully he is on the mend and loving his visit with bammy and poppa. they took care of him today while i went to work and he was happy, he finally started eating well again, and he got to go to the park! so fun.

reading with poppa...look at those cute lips!

so sweet!

now reading with my bammy

love my bam!

little banana face

adorable

bryce in moab

2009-09-07T20:53:00.002-06:00

40% of attendees got injured
total cost (minus hospital visits) = $400/person
memories? priceless.

micah's first class

2009-09-02T20:53:00.004-06:00

so life has been a wee bit busy as of late...micah started a new daycare, i'm in the middle of budget season at work, and bryce just got promoted!

one of the fun new things we've started doing though is taking micah to the little gym! he is in the "bird" class which is for kids 10 to 20 months old and we go every saturday morning through january. he is having a blast!

2009-08-29T19:56:00.003-06:00

so, my camera is in moab, utah, documenting the exciting mountain-biking guy pow-wow that my husband is engaged in...ending today of course with a trip to the emergency room. apparently bryce's biking trip is now over because he severely sprained his ankle. one of his friends split his chin open an hour and half before bryce injured himself and when the bandages they had wouldn't stick, tied a bandana around his chin and up over his head to stem the bleeding! way to go creativity! so yes, they both ended up being treated in the E.R.

they are driving back monday (someone other than bryce will be driving since he hurt his right ankle) so bryce will be spending the day on the couch playing PS3 and is still so pumped about the 2 rides he got in on friday and saturday that even though he wouldn't say it was "worth it" since getting injured sucks...he still had a pretty darn good time.

in the meantime, micah and i have been having a great time hanging out. today we went to his class at the little gym, then to ihop for breakfast, and then to the park! it was a nice morning and then we both had a 2 hour nap (heaven!) and spent the evening just hanging out. such a sweet boy!

2009-08-18T21:49:00.005-06:00

well, micah definitely looked like bryce's baby pictures when he was a few months old, but now we're starting to think he looks a bit like my baby pictures...

micah - 1 year old

leslie - 3 years old

you decide...

2009-08-17T20:42:00.002-06:00

so mommy keeps forgetting the camera...in the last week or so we've been to the north pole (a cheesy place in colorado springs with rides for the little kids), to itz (an upscale chucky cheese-type place for the new generation), and to a pool party, and i've forgotten the camera all 3 times!! oy vey!

so, the pictures below are the only recent ones i can offer...

walking with daddy

walking some more

micah's first bite marks, courtesy of some nasty kid at daycare

another view of the teeth marks

yumm...gatorade is delicious!

paraben and other nasty stuff

2009-08-11T20:14:00.002-06:00

ok - so those of you i've been talking to recently know that i've gone on a paraben free kick. what is it and why am i on this kick you ask?

paraben is a preservative that seems to be in almost every brand of makeup, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, etc. and while the fda says it's safe to use, there is some disturbing research coming out about its link to cancer. so i figure, why use the stuff that contains this junk when there are paraben free options out there?

so i started going through my skin cleansers and lotions and it was a good excuse to clean house and pare down the mass amount of products that had begun multiplying under my sink. but call me a ding dong because i never even thought about going through my make up and it's in almost everything!! yikes!

so i started doing some online research and found some cool sites to aid in this paraben free effort...there are tons of sites and this is just a smattering but check them out!

paraben free princess
cosmetics database
paraben free
paraben free products

hand, foot, and what??

2009-08-05T21:06:00.002-06:00

micah has a delightful new childhood ailment...hand, foot, and mouth disease. no, he hasn't been hanging out with livestock (that would be foot and mouth disease...livestock don't have hands so you see, it can't be the same thing).

we got a heads up warning at daycare today after a kid in the infant room came down with it. so sure enough...i was changing his typical after dinner poopy diaper and there was the tell-tale rash on his tushy and his temperature was 99.7 in on ear and 100.7 in the other.

thankfully the painful mouth sores won't start for another 1-2 days and he'll only be contagious for the next 7-10 days.

did i mention bryce is slated to go out of town next week? i should have known something was coming.

a micah smorgasborg

2009-07-30T20:39:00.006-06:00

cowboy day at school!asleep in a crazy position!

extreme close up!

at the park with daddy

having a blast!

looking tiny next to the big kid playground

hanging out in my new ball pit!

so cute!

look at that smile

shot put!

giving cooper kisses

that's right buddy - "h" for hickey!

matching my daddy

look out - i'm at the play area in the mall

this bridge is awesome!

look - there's my friend colin!

the good buddies

something sure is interesting over there

look at my smooth moves getting down the bridge

why go up the stairs - better to scale the side

another one bites the dust (that would be me)

2009-07-25T13:33:00.005-06:00

so yes, once again i have injured myself. and yes, once again bryce was out of town.

seriously - what is the deal? i know i have spacial awareness challenges but this year has been one cosmic joke after another in terms of my health...gallbladder out, gallbladder complications, more gallbladder complications, shingles, pneumonia, mono, tripping down the stairs, tripping up the stairs, and now...ladies and gentleman...a concussion.

here is the low down. i was hanging out with micah on wednesday night after dinner. we were playing and having a nice time when he went for the netflix movies sitting next to the t.v. so i figured i should probably take them away. so i bent down to take them out of his hands and when i stood back up, i slammed the left side of my head into the corner of the fire place mantle. nice huh? hit the deck, cried out (to which micah then cried out - poor kiddo), put my hand to my head and came away with blood, and then grabbed a paper towel and ice pack. after a few minutes i felt dizzy and nauseous so called my friend kim who came over and helped me get micah to bed. i was feeling ok - had a headache but figured i'd be all right. but just in case, i asked kim to call me in the morning to make sure i was alive.

then talked to my mom who was worried (like all moms would be) so we agreed that she would call and wake me up around midnight (11pm for her) to make sure i was ok. turned out micah work up crying around 11:45pm my time, so i got up, checked on him, and called to tell mom to say i was fine. but once i laid back down, i felt tingling all along my left arm, leg, and the side of my face. so called her back to which she advised going to the hospital. at this point a logistical problem came up - if i called kim and chad to help, only one of them could come stay with micah while the other stayed home with their kids, and joe was home alone with his kids as kim was in albuquerque with bryce...and while we certainly have other friends in town, i just didn't feel right calling them at midnight...so as i saw it, my only choice was to call 911.

the 911 operator was delightful and once i explained my situation, she dispatched the paramedics. oh yay! chad came over at that point and micah was still crying (i swear he knew something was up with his mommy). eventually the fire truck and ambulance got here - yes, 4 firefighters and 2 EMTs - and said they couldn't do much to determine whether i had a brain injury or not, so off to the hospital we went. i figured i should probably call bryce even though it was 12:30am or so but he'd told me earlier that his phone kept turning itself off. so sure enough, i called him 2 or 3 times but he never picked up. so i called kim figuring if i got her she could call bryce's room, but she didn't pick up. so i called joe, thinking he might have their itinerary and would know which hotel they were staying at, but he didn't pick up. so...no luck.

anyway - i'm sure you are getting the point here. it was a comedy of errors. in the end, they did a CT scan and it came back negative, so i was diagnosed with concussive syndrome...e.g. a concussion. i eventually got ahold of bryce by calling the mariott reservations line and they found which hotel he was in - thank you marriott! i took a cab home around 2am (pretty fast service i have to say!) and chad told me micah had been crying on and off the entire time! so i went in to see my little micah man, cuddled him a bit, and we both went to sleep.

i know i go through accident-prone periods in my life, but i'm really hoping this is the last one for a while because this was a doozy!

even though

2009-07-20T20:22:00.001-06:00

micah has a cold in his nose, he still enjoyed the yummy taste of chef boyardee beef ravioli...

birds, teeth, and mohawks

2009-07-16T20:01:00.002-06:00

micah is just such a blast. he laughs all the time and has started climbing everything - climbing over mommy, daddy, cooper, etc. he has his own sign language sign for "bird" and uses it when he hears the birds chirping in the morning and when he sees big bird in his sesame street book! such a smart boy! he also has teeth popping up all the time - we think he has 12 of them - 6 on both top and bottom.

below are some pics of the cute boy taken back on the 4th of july...still has the mohawk and was having fun sticking his tongue out! the bruise you will see over his left eye has since been replaced with bruises on the middle of his forehead and over his right eye that he got by tumbling down the bottom stairs at home and tripping at school. it's tough being almost 15 months old!

micah has inherited his dance prowess from...

2009-07-12T20:23:00.003-06:00

mommy or daddy? you decide...

mmm...chocolate

2009-07-05T19:38:00.002-06:00

videos

2009-07-03T19:30:00.009-06:00

4th of july parade

feeding the giraffes

on the train at the zoo

busy days

2009-07-03T14:43:00.005-06:00

micah was in his school's 4th of july parade yesterday and he had a blast! got to walk with his best buddy, colin, and one of his favorite teachers - miss tracy. micah was the only kid in his class to leave his hat on too - go micah!

walking in the parade

so much fun!

oh - just saw mommy and daddy - yay!

walking with daddy

back inside...

time for...

lunch!

yummm...cheese

then today we went to the zoo! we might not live in a bustling metropolis but we have a pretty darn cool zoo. micah loved feeding the giraffes!!

here we saw the giraffes being let out

there were quite a few!

here micah reaches out a cracker and that long purple tongue grabbed it up!

rinse, repeat

up close and personal

view from above

up close and personal...better this time

saw lots of animals...here, a monkey (couldn't tell you what kind)

peacock

penguins!

hippos!

little gorilla

big gorilla!

on the carousel!

had a blast!

just call me grace

2009-06-29T21:04:00.004-06:00

so that wonderful carsman ability came out again last week...i managed to trip going up the stairs at work - yes, you read that correctly - up the stairs. takes real talent! and of course, since i've been a lazy slug and haven't gone to the gym in a gozillion years, my core and back are weak and therefore - ouch. managed to mess up my back and my neck, plus i think i pulled a muscle in my stomach!!

thankfully, it didn't lay me out completely - i'm still functioning albeit a bit more slowly these days. thank goodness for ibuprofen, menthol, epsom salts, and massage! since it happened at work, i was evaluated by the workers comp doc with the city and they are starting me on physical therapy 2x/week, plus i've already gone to my chiropractor a few times since it happened and i think that has helped a lot. today i had a massage - wow was that painful (in a good way)!

so...lesson learned...stop being a lazy bum and get thine tuchas to the gym (just as soon as i'm healed up!).

home again home again

2009-06-24T21:16:00.002-06:00

worst thing about vacation? coming back!

flight home was great though - started off a little shaky since the micah man screamed bloody murder initially - first 5 minutes maybe - but then he passed out and slept the entire flight. he woke up after we pulled up to the gate in denver!

here are a few more cute pics from hawaii

aloha!

2009-06-17T00:04:00.005-06:00

aloha all! greetings from hawaii!

the trip over went very well - i have to say, i am quite impressed with how well micah did on the flight. i was hoping for my happy boy but preparing myself for a grump monster and hallalujah - he was his normal happy self. we walked up and down the aisles a lot and micah endeared himself to many a passenger! he was even blowing kisses to people! what a doll.

we all struggled a bit with the time change, but overall, we've gotten into the hawaii routine pretty easily. been going to the pool, the beach, and out to dinner. wish i could say we're sleeping in, but little pumpkin is up at 6am and frankly, it's feeling 10am-ish to us by then anyway, so we just get up and start the day!

today was our first day at the beach and micah loved the sand! i mean LOVED - had a blast. was dumping it on his head, throwing it around, and all in all, having a great time. that is, until we put him in the ocean. he did not love the waves and then he really got going when we dared rinse the sand off him before heading to the car! but he got over that pretty quickly and we headed to the pool, which he seems to be enjoying much more than any of our previous attempts. must be that warm hawaiian air (and water)!

enjoy the photos! aloha!

Batch 1 - Micah up close and personal

Batch 2 - Swimming with Daddy and Bammy

so tired...

Batch 3 - the beach!