Happy Birthday!

Today we celebrated John's 35th birthday! I don't want to pick on Johnny about his age because my birthday is right around the corner which means I am catching up. We enjoyed salad, pizza and a really yummy chocolate cake (cake compliments of some great friends). I tried to build my own cake but I had to reach out for some much needed help. The company was great and Noah seemed like he really enjoyed his first party. He danced when we sang "Happy Birthday" to John and enjoyed a bite or two of the chocolate cake. We feel really blessed to be able to share our birthdays with family. Happy Birthday Johnny!

A few pictures!

It has been awhile since I have posted a slide show of pictures. Noah is a lot of fun these days. He is beginning to crawl and he has one tooth. Time flies so fast. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. In a few short months we will be celebrating his first birthday. Enjoy!

True/False

Let me start off by introducing myself, I am Michelle Hickok. Yes, I know I have been away for awhile and have not been a faithful blogger. But I can explain. I have tons of excuses. Now usually, I get frustrated with excuses because as a fourth grade teacher, I hear them often. But really, life in the Hickok house has been really busy. Rather than give you the list of Hickok Happenings I decided to spice things up, sorta like extra credit for being such a lazy blogger. Being the teacher I am I decided to create a true/false test for you. Let's see how many you get correct.

1. Noah had a four day fever. It wasn't pretty. The doctor had to catheterize the young lad and he wasn't in favor of it. I can't say that I blame him.

2. John has been busy working. But in his spare time, he writes me love poems and cooks fabulous meals.

3. We purchased another dog. It is the most adorable black lab we have ever laid eyes on. So cute!

4. Noah has been practicing crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.

5. Noah calls us by name now. He loves saying Ma-Ma and Da-Da.

6. My class is counting down the days until our baby chicks hatch. And when they do we are having a party, complete with peeps and Cadbury eggs.

7. Noah is going to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. When I pick him up from the daycare, it takes him 1 minute and 30 seconds to fall asleep during the car ride home.

8. John is working on completing plans for a pool deck. Hallelujah!

9. Noah tasted his first french fry. We visited McDonald's to support my school. Noah liked the french fry but not as much as he enjoyed putting his fingers all over my principal's glasses. Thank goodness he likes kids.

10. Richard Simmons came to my school to exercise with my class for our BEST assembly. Love that man!

That concludes the Hickok Happenings True/False Test. So how did you do?

Test Answers

1. True. Noah really did have a fever. We are not quite sure what it was but they did have to catheterize him and it was horrible. I never want him to experience that again.

2. Sorta True. John has been really busy with work but I have yet to see a love poem. I am not giving up hope yet though.

3. So False. Never!! We have two dogs, one guinea pig, and one fish. We have enough pets for now.

4. True. Noah is getting ready to take off.

5. True. Noah says Ma-Ma and Da-Da but I am not so sure he knows this blonde is the real deal yet.

6. True, well half true. My class did get baby chick eggs and we are anxiously waiting for our little babes to hatch, but I am not so sure we are having a party. But I haven't exactly ruled out the idea either.

7. Sorta True. Noah does fall asleep very quickly upon me picking him up from daycare, but Guinness hasn't contacted us - yet!

8. So True. Noah, the dogs, and I can't wait!

9. So True. Now relax all you health nuts. It's not like we're buying stock in McDonald's, not yet anyways. He was fussy and the french fry was there and he loved it. Besides when he was hibernating in the womb he ate lots of things. He wasn't 10.2 because I sat around eating rice cakes and carrots. And yes, he did put a lot of finger prints on my principal's glasses. Those glasses were greasy for days from all that french fry oil.

10. False. We have been doing Richard Simmons in my classroom. The kids love it, well, most of them. We invited Richard to come join us to exercise in front of the entire school. He couldn't make it, but we still love him.

As the school year winds down I promise to be more faithful blogging. You know how busy life gets. I will try to post pictures soon.

Happy Easter from the Hickoks!

I can't believe we will be celebrating our first Easter with Noah tomorrow. Time sure does fly by quickly. Picking out a special Easter outfit gave me great pleasure and I can't wait to put it on him tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us. We will be going to church quite early and then getting ready for our dinner guests. I hope that as a family we will be able to set all of that aside and really reflect on the meaning of Easter. I have a habit of getting into that, "everything has to be perfect for the guests" mode when we have company.

Easter brings back a lot great memories for me. As a child some of my favorite memories of Easter were getting dressed up in a pretty pink dress that my grandmother bought complete with a purse and hat. My brother and I would stand outside and get our picture taken. I love Easter for many reasons. Easter brings the hope of warm weather.

As you are gathering with your families tomorrow, John, Noah and I pray that you will receive many blessings. Happy Easter from the Hickoks!

Johnny, Shell and Noah

It has been 7 months since John and I welcomed Noah into this world yet for some reason it seems like ages ago. Seven months really isn't a long time when you think about it. But strangely enough I really feel like he has been part of our lives since the beginning of Johnny and Shell time (that is when John first laid eyes on me and knew he couldn't live one day without me). People often ask us how parenthood is going. Here is what I or we could say on any given day.

- Love it!
- Tiring
- Amazing
- Busy
- Fun
- Life-changing
- Simple (sometimes we feel really brave)

Sometimes I wonder how me manage to get it all done. You know, work, family time, dinner and all of the other things that pertain to life. However, when I look at Noah I can't imagine our hectic life any different. I can't imagine just a Johnny and Shell. It's Johnny, Shell and Noah.

Break is Over!

It has been some break that I have been on. I haven't blogged in over a month. There has been a few blogging stories waiting to be birthed, however they just haven't quite made it out. Here's another update from the Hickoks.

Noah is rolling over! When Noah gets on a roll he will roll himself right into the kitchen. My only request is that he doesn't practice his rolling in the middle of the night. When he does that, he calls for his mommy to come and lay him flat on his back. I guess it's too dark in his room for him to do it himself. Men!!

Noah has been sick for about two weeks. He is much better but still has a runny nose and a cough.

I played in a basketball game for school. All I have to say is, wow, I am getting old.

John has been snowmobiling. I think those days are over for another year due to spring finally coming. Noah and I are glad to have Johnny back with us on Sundays.

We had visitors from the western part of our state. My Aunt Linda, Uncle Bill and grandparents came to town. We had so much fun visiting Lake George.

Finn is still working on finding a new home for himself. If he's not licking Noah from toes to ears he is stealing tissues from the garbage can.

Toby is her usual self, always obedient.

I have snapped a few photos that I will be posting soon.

Love it!

All week I have been thinking about what to write for today. It is Valentine's Day so I thought it would be appropriate that the topic revolve around love. I decided to post some of the things that the Hickoks love, dogs included. I will start with Noah.

Noah is totally getting into the food thing. His favorite thing to eat is bananas. As you can see he "loves" it.



I have posted numerous stories about Finnigan. And although I get completely annoyed with him, I do "love" him to pieces even when he takes tissues out of Noah's wastebasket.



Toby just turned eight years old this past week. That would make her fifty-six in dog years. John just "loves" this older woman...



When Finn is not annoying me he spends most of his time with Noah. Whenever I put Noah on his little floor gym Finn is right there beside him. He "loves" to lick Noah and keep watch.



Toby "loves" the big guy in this picture and she is getting used to the little guy too. She has good taste. I "love" them to pieces too.



Happy Valentine's Day!



Love,

The Hickoks