Happy Late Mother's Day!

So I'm a few days late but there are a few wonderful ladies that I wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to...

Mom-I'm truly blessed to have you in my life. Thanks for always being there and for all the many sacrifices you've made for us over the years. I admire you in so many ways and hope that I can make my children feel as special and loved as you have always made me feel. Thanks for answering all of my many questions about pregnancy and being a new mom...I couldn't imagine going through this wonderful experience with out you! You are going to be a wonderful Nana! : )

Patsy-Thanks for being such a wonderful mother-in-law! From the first time we met you've taken me in and treated me as one of your own....that has always meant so much to me! You are one of the most self-sacrificing, giving people that I've ever know. Thank you for your wonderful example and for raising such a fine man! Can't wait to make you a grandmother!

God has blessed Ryan and me with amazing grandmothers and we are so blessed to still have all of them here with us. Margaret, Mama Mac, Granny Guthrie, and Granny Horne we love you all and thank you for your Christian example in our lives.

Ryan made my Mother's Day very special...he bought me one of those Hallmark that you can record a message in and on the front it said something like, "My love with always be with you no matter where you are, Just listen to my heart and"...then I opened the card and he had recorded the baby's heartheat! It just melted my heart!! He's so sweet and good to me! Thanks for making my first Mother's day the BEST! I love you!

Ashley's Graduation Weekend!

We had a great weekend in Searcy for Ashley's graduation! It was so good to see family and friends! We are so proud of Ashley and all of his accomplishments...we can't wait to see what God has planned for his future! I am so blessed to have Ashley in my life and have such a wonderful relationship with him. We've come a long way from the days where we could barely sit next to each other in the car without fighting...I don't know how mom and dad made it through those years! Ashley--we love you and wish you the best of luck in all you do!

The Countdown Begins!

Wow! Time is just flying by! I can't believe on Wednesday I'll be 17 weeks along. We had our 4 month checkup on Friday and it went great! The Dr. found baby's heartbeat and even though I listen to it everyday with the doppler that Ryan bought me it never gets old! When the Dr. found the heartbeat the baby started moving around and she said, "Sounds like you've got a wild one!" I guess we'll see! She answered a few questions I had and we were on our way! We were in and out in 20 minutes...it doesn't get better than that! I am really please with my Dr. and all of the nurses at the office. They are the best! Ryan has been really impressed with them too!
We go back on May 30th to find out if it's a boy or a girl! YEAH!! Just 25 days to go and Ryan and I can hardly stand it! We are also anxious to find out what baby Hicks is on the 28th. That will be an exciting week for our family! God is so good and has truly blessed us!

After our appointment on Friday we headed to east TN to visit the Blount's. We had a wonderful relaxing weekend & really enjoyed the visit. Saturday morning we slept in and then headed to the movies after lunch to see Made of Honor. It was the first girly movie I'd seen in a while so I really enjoyed it! It was super cute. After the movie we made our first trip to Baby's R Us. It was a little overwhelming at first to say the least because the store was gigantic but it was fun to look around at all the cute baby stuff and get a few ideas for the baby's room. We just hung out on Saturday night & visited. I found the baby's heartbeat a few times over the weekend which the Blount's loved! Like I said before it never gets old!

We had a great weekend but like always it's never long enough. Now is back to the work week! Thankfully I just have 4 days this week because I'm taking Friday off to head out to Harding for Ashley's graduation on Saturday! I can't believe he's already been out there for 4 years! I'm looking forward to seeing friends and spending time with the family.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for checking in on us.

Belly Pictures!

Baby Blount is growing & so is mommy. I thought it was time to post some belly pictures because I had a few people tell me this weekend that they could tell I'm actually starting to show. I think it still depends on what I'm wearing because at the baby fair that Ryan & I went to on Saturday several people asked if I was hoping to be expecting soon or if I was already pregnant...when I told them that I'm 3.5 months along they all looked surprised. When we got to the baby fair and walked in there were lots of people and they had some kids on the stage & they were singing and dancing, immediately Ryan turned around and said, "I better be getting major brownie points for this!" Needless to say, we both had a good time; Ryan changed a diaper, learned how to swaddle a baby, & got to put on the pregnancy suit...you know the vest that has boobs and a pregnant belly. I think he was shocked at how heavy it was. I just hope he remembers what it felt like when I get a little bigger! We also got to tour the labor & delivery rooms and got to see the nursery. It is a super nice facility & we were both really impressed. After the baby fair we ate at Panera Bread & then went furniture shopping. We've never had nice bedroom furniture for our room so we decided that we'd use our tax refund money to buy a nice set. We finally found some after looking for a while and it's going to be delivered on May 13th. I can't wait! I guess that's all for our exciting weekend!

P.S. We had just gone for a walk before Ryan took the pictures of my belly that's why I look so lovely!

Wedding Pictures

Dad, mom, me & Aaron.

Dad & Aaron wanted a picture with the squirrels!

Home Sweet Home...

Long time no post....I know...I know. Sorry, these days sleep sounds so much better to me than updating the blog....especially after a long day at work! Other than being tired & sleepling lots I've been feeling great! I can't believe that I'm already 14 weeks along! Time is just flying by & having a baby soon becomes more of a reality everyday especially as things are growing & expanding!!

Last week I took Thursday & Friday off work & headed to Valdosta for some quality family time. It had been a few months since I'd seen mom & dad so I was ready to see them! Dad had actually been working on a job up in Iowa & his team came through Clarksville on Wednesday evening so I picked him up at the interstate & we headed to Valdosta. It was nice to be able to visit with him & I really appreciated the fact that he drove the whole way. It was so good to see all of my family & friends...I always love going home to visit! We didn't do too much...just hung out, ate a lot & listened to baby's heartbeat! Mom & I got in our quality shopping time & found some good deals. I always enjoy having a shopping buddy because when I go shopping here I usually go by myself...Ryan is only a good shopping buddy if we're in Bass Pro or Lowe's!

Saturday we went to a wedding of some friends from high school, Bo & Lauren. My oldest brother Aaron was the best man & probably the cutest one I've ever seen! Of course I'm a little biased but he was so handsome! I'll post some pictures later tonight.

Sunday after church mom fixed lunch & Aaron came over so we had a nice dinner...all that was missing was Ashley! After lunch I started my journey back home & finally pulled into the driveway around 9 pm. It was so good to be home and see Ryan after a long weekend! He had stayed home and gone turkey hunting with his dad. I can't imagine hunting being more fun than going to see my family?!

Not much new has been going on this week. We've definitely been enjoying the beautiful weather in TN & looking forward to more of it this weekend! There is a baby fair at Baptist hospital in Nashville so I'm thinking about going to it & then I'll probably get some shopping in while I'm down there....can't make a trip to Nashville without doing a little shopping right!? Sunday I'm helping host a baby shower for a friend at church that's due at the beginning of June so that should be fun!

I guess that's all for now. I'll try to get some pictures from the weekend up tonight....

Heartbeats

Okay everyone (this is Ryan) we went to the Doctor on Friday and got to hear the baby's heart beating. It was really cool, plus we were in and out of the Doctor's office in 20 minutes, so it was a great trip.

On Saturday I had to work, all day, and about 2:00 pm Kristin called me, and I could tell that she was excited, She said "Um what are we doing tonight?" and I said "I don't know what do you want to do?" to which she replied "Listen to the baby's heartbeat". So I immediately knew that the Fetal Doppler that I bought on Ebay (shop victoriously) had come in. Knowing my wife the way I do, I knew she wouldn't be able to last until 6:30 when I got home, so on my way home I called her and busted her for using the Doppler before I got home. I wasn't upset, I know that she can't help herself.

Anyway we are not professionals at using this thing yet but Kristin was able to get a very good reading tonight and me being the "high-tech redneck" that I am, recorded it and decided to post on this blog for everyone to enjoy. Kristin would have done this but, I would have taken her much longer to figure out how to post it.