Happy Birthday Bradyn

It's hard to believe that 7 years ago my Bradyn was this tiny. (I know the picture isn't very clear, but it was the best I had that I could post.) Seven years ago my little Bradyn decided to enter the world 5 weeks early at 5lbs 0.5ozs. Because of this (being 5 weeks early, not the 5lbs part) he had a little bit of trouble breathing and he had some low blood pressure issues. So, that meant he had to spend a week in the NICU. Thankfully the hospital he was born at had an awesome NICU, in fact it was the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. So, we felt blessed about that.

Needless to say, that was the longest week of our lives. For the first few days I couldn't even go into the NICU without breaking down in tears. It just wasn't suppose to be that way right, I never imagined that we would be leaving the hospital without our sweet little baby. Now, I know how blessed we were that we didn't have a baby with serious health problems, but it was still so hard for us. Thankfully, after that week in the NICU, he was PERFECTLY healthy. We had a little speed bump with some dehydration issues, but once we tackled that one it was smooth sailing. He quickly starting growing and...........

....... Hasn't stopped yet. Which is just the way we like it :) Two days ago he lost his first top tooth. Now this puts the count at 3 total teeth lost.

These are the cupcakes we made for Bradyn to take into his class today. He was so excited that it was his birthday and he got to bring in a treat. We got this airbrushing food dye to spray over the white frosting. I think it could be really cool once I get the hang of it. It seems like you have to do it just right or it will turn out kind of funky. In the end, they turned out pretty great and the two younger boys and Audrey came with me to Bradyn's class this afternoon and we delivered the cupcakes. I think the boys really liked seeing Bradyn's class and I think his class liked seeing Bradyn's siblings.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY BRADYN!!!!!!!!! We love you and are so happy to have you as part of our Eternal Family.

Hicks Family Egg Hunt

The weekend before Easter all the Hicks gathered at Les' brother Charlie's house and had a fun family Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a great time not only hunting for eggs, but also playing with their cousins.

Here are all the Hicks Grandkids.

Bradyn was quite the awesome egg finder.

Here is Logan searching away.

I just thought this was a great picture of Logan from the day of the hunt.

*I thought I uploaded a picture of Parker looking for his eggs, but I guess I didn't. He however was there and had a great time too. He can be seen in the first group picture.

Catch up!!!!!!

I have been a horrible Blogger lately and I think the reason why is because I got so far behind with my posts that I just didn't know where to begin. Well, enough is enough and I need to start up again. Instead of going back and trying to catch up on all the different posts I have missed, I have decided to do a picture catch up all in one post. This way I can still post about some of the things that I wanted to share (and document for my own memories) and then I will be able to start up again with my more detailed posts. So bare with me, I have a bunch of pictures I am sharing. Now, there are so many more pictures I could post, but I am afraid that it would probably be over kill.

Jan. 28th Audrey pulled herself up to a standing position for the first time.

Feb. 10th Logan is such a big boy because today was his first day of Preschool. He was sooooo excited. A lot of people asked why he was starting in the middle of the year and it is because it was the start of the new semester and he was finally potty trained so he was able to enroll. Hooray for Logan!!!!! Now him and Parker go to Preschool together two days a week. Hooray for mommy!!!!!!!

Feb. 24th Audrey had some super crazy hair when she woke up from her nap.

March 5 I thought this pictures was so cute because it looks like Audrey is playing video games with her brothers. She loves being part of the action.

Feb. 27th After Bradyn left for school that morning, Audrey crawled over to the door to look after him. She stood there and watched him at the bus stop.

Feb. 27th I realized that Audrey was no longer in the living room so, I looked down the hall and sure enough there she was in my Grandma's room. She just loves crawling down there and seeing what she can explore and I think that my Grandmas actually likes it too when she comes in there.

Feb. 27th OH GREAT!!!!!!!! She has discovered the stairs. This is always a dreaded day for me because now we have to put up a gate.

March 2nd Whenever one of the boys are laying on the floor Audrey has to come over to them and ATTACK!!!!! My boys are so great because they just let her do it. Here she is attacking Parker.

March 2nd Audrey had a bath in the kitchen sink for the first time. I don't remember what she had been eating but she got covered in it so I just decided to plop her in. I think she really enjoyed herself.

March 16th March seemed to be a sick month for Bradyn. Twice he was stuck home with a high fever. It was really weird because all he had was the fever, no runny nose or cough. When he had Motrin in him he was perfectly fine, which meant that him and his brothers were really crazy either playing or fighting. However, once the Motrin wore off and his fever spiked he was down and out and just plain miserable. In this picture, the Motrin had worn off and I didn't have anymore so we had to wait for Les to get some. So, Bradyn laid on the couch with a wet wash cloth and tried to cool down. (I am not sure why he had the blanket on him, it was probably during one of the times that he also had the chills) While he was laying there Audrey came to see how he was doing. She was worried.

March 16th While Bradyn was home sick we worked on the Leprechaun Trap that he was suppose to make for school. We heard that they liked shiny stuff so, we made a very shiny box with a pot of gold inside. On the top was a rope made of green ribbon so that the Leprechaun couldn't jump out. Unfortunately, the Leprechaun that came to his class was very very sneaky so, nobody was able to catch him. Maybe next year. (Don't you just love Parker and Audrey in the background.)