Nascar weekend

James was able to go to the races yesterday with all the Hekman boys and had a great time. But, today he watched the race with his boys :) Unfortunately, I just got a picture of James with Grady, you all know Zach enjoyed watching the race too. It's funny, during commercials James quizzes Zach (the girls play too) on the drivers and their numbers, their getting quite good actually. Anyway...I love that you can see the race on the TV in the background :)

Getting Ready

I feel like I got so much accomplished today. We went to church like any other Sunday,but when I got home I busted a move. I told you all about my HUGE to-do list and it is coming to wire, as I'm scheduled for Wednesday at 4 am to have this baby, so with that being said I've had just a little on my mind to get everything accomplished.

Something that I added to my original list was cooking a full week of meals and freezing them to make life a little easier after the baby is here. So today was the day that I did this. James had to do inspections after church so I figured I might as well.

Grady napped and Zach played on the computer as I got started. I had to rest in the middle of cooking, so I relaxed on the couch with Grady for a bit :)

My parents offered to take Gracie with them to the store to get any last minute things I needed. So, I gave her my list, a re-usable shopping bag & even my debit card (my mom held on to it.) She felt so responsible and grown up :) She took along her pen and crossed off each item as she put it in the basket.

As they went to the store I got started. Hope & I both put on our aprons and made lots of yummy dinners. 6 in all, plus a double batch of corn muffins. I bought the disposable foil pans which made for an extra large & deep casserole, but my only option as I surely didn't have 6 9x13 pans!

So there you have it. I feel one step closer to being ready for this baby to born. Casserole Anyone? :)

Interesting Birth facts

Since I'm awake still at 1:33, (after taking 3 Tylenol-for a migraine, 2 sleeping pills and anxiety medicine) I thought I'd find something interesting to read online. So far, I've read some interesting things, just nothing to share until this...It's about birth statistics in the USA.

• More than 4 million babies are born each year in the US alone.
• States with the highest birth rates are west of the Mississippi
• Tuesday is the most popular day to have a baby, while Sunday is the least popular.
• More babies arrive in late summer & early fall than any other months of the year.
• From the 70's, the mother's age at the time of birth has increased from an avg. of 21 to 25.2 in 2005.
• 99% of moms in the US deliver in a hospital.
• The C-section rate has climbed 50% over the last decade.
• The number of labors that are induced has doubled since 1990.
• The ratio of boys to girls being born is 1049 boys for every 1000 girls and has remained the same for the last 60 years.
• The average newborn weight is 7lb. 5 oz.

I just summarized and gave what I thought was interesting, but if you care to read the entire article, here's the link-http://www.babycenter.com/0_17-surprising-facts-about-birth-in-the-united-states_1372273.bc?page=1&articleId=1372273

So, there you have it, some interesting birth facts...in case you couldn't tell I'm bored being awake at 1 in the morning and my mind is consumed with having this baby! :)

AWAKE!

Okay, so I have been mentally preparing myself for the sleepless nights that are to come. However, little did I know that they'd come without the baby even here yet! The last month or so I've been waking every 2 hours or so to go to the bathroom and then try to reposition my in the most comfortable position in order to fall back asleep...typical end of pregnancy, right? Interspersed throughout my pregnancy I've been having these endless dreams, where even after waking I return right back to my dream and wake tired as if I've acted out my dream or something...

Anyway, such has been my night. It is now 5:15 am and I've been lying awake since 2:45 after endless dreaming and getting up 12 times to pee, then not being able to get comfortable again I thought I 'd just get up. I should be enjoying the quiet or something, but I am just so irritated at this point! I guess I can count my blessings at this point that I'm up this early and it isn't with a screaming baby or a sick kid- I'll save that for next week, hehe! :) At least I don't have to get up and go to work (I'm trying to think positive)

So, that's how my day is going to start I guess, up at 2:45am, awake and irritated. I hope once the rest of my fam is up the remainder of the day will go a little more smoothly. I'm going to go and start a load of laundry and maybe try to have some quiet time in an attempt to create a better morning for myself. :) Okay enough bitching and moaning...life could be so much worse.

Hope you have a good morning and an even better day.

Weekend baby shower

Saturday morning the kids and I packed up and headed down to San Marcos for my youngest sister, Holly's baby shower. It has been fun, this time around Holly and I have been pregnant together (it's her first) and were are our babies will only be a little more than 3 weeks apart (I'm having the baby next week & she's getting induced Sept 30th) when I was pregnant with Grady my middle sister Heidi and I were pregnant together and her 2nd daughter Hannah and Grady are 10 days apart. :0)

Anyway, the day was nice. We got to hang out a bit, the kids played, we visited my other Grandma and then I took a few pictures of Holly. For some reason I took absolutely no pictures at her shower or of our visit with my Grandma, but my mom did take some pictures of the 2 prego ladies.

So, here's my sister Holly, 33 1/2 weeks and me at 36 weeks.

Can't wait for these babies to come out and get to meet each other! ;)

First week of school

Okay Jess this is one of those scanning posts :) he he! I'll warn all of you its a little on the long side and no pictures, but endure okay? ;)

Seriously, where does the time go? I'm not quite sure, but week one of school is down my kiddos.
Everyone had a really good week. Having to go to 2 schools is definitely not my idea of fun for the morning or afternoon, but it really hasn't been that bad. Hope starts 15 minutes earlier than the older 2 so, I drop her off a bit early to play and then walk Zach to his class and then Gracie, Grady and I head over to her school.
For pick up the first day didn't go so well, as Zach got on the bus because by the time James got to his school after getting Gracie he was late picking up Zach. So...I spoke with Zach's teacher and being that he's in a Special Ed class, they get out 5 minutes earlier than the rest of school. So, I can get him at 3 and get to Gracie's school right as she's getting out.

I am hoping in this next week or the following that the transfer request will be processed and approved for Gracie to attend Meadow Creek with the other 2. It will just make my life easier, but we'll wait and see.

Zach's teacher seems really nice and there are only about 12 students in his class. He had NO problems this week, YEAH!!!! We are thinking and praying that he is over the "hump" of behavior problems and he can focus on learning. He made it thru 4 weeks of summer school with no problems too. So... we are hopeful!

Gracie is liking her teacher and she was very warm and welcoming the first day. She has friends from her school last year since the boundaries changed and everyone was moved around. But, when we walk Zach into his class she says hi to everyone and said she misses Meadow Creek :( I know she'll do fine regardless of which school she's in, I just want her to feel settled.

Hope loves kindergarten. We LOVE her teacher, as she was so patient and loving with Zachary and she's a Christian too :) Hoper comes home every day singing some new song and telling us stories about her day. It is amazing at how much of a sponge their little brains are.

So that's it, week 1 of school is done, just like that! Tonight we are heading over to BBQ & swim with the Nydam clan, as Jacob leaves for college tomorrow. The kids love swimming in their pool and we love visiting with all the Nydams.

Tomorrow the kids and I are heading down to Escondido for my sisters baby shower and so I can take her maternity pics (she's due Oct 1). We'll be there all day and have a great time as usual! Jamesy is staying home to work...sounds like fun huh? But, when there's work he's gotta' do it. Since he'll be taking off some days when the baby comes. 2 weeks from today! Yeah!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Baby Contest

Here's the deal. We've been waiting for this baby to arrive to know it's gender. So, whomever can guess the correct sex of the baby & the closest baby weight, i.e. baby girl- 8lb 8oz or baby boy 6lb 12oz, will win a free photoshoot with Sugar Pie Photography (a $150 value)

To enter, visit http://sugarpiepics.blogspot.com/ and post your guess under the "baby contest" post comments section. Make sure I can contact you if you are indeed the lucky winner to schedule your sitting.

Sept 5 is the big day (if not before), so the results will be posted then :)

Good Luck!

new photos

Check out my photography blog! I just uploaded a bunch of new pics! :)
The link is http://sugarpiepics.blogspot.com/
Hope you enjoy!

And their off!

The first day of school, I can hardly believe it!


Our morning went rather well, no major battles, no tears, no spankings :) We made sure that last night everyone had their clothes set out and I set out the lunch stuff, so this morning all we had to do was get ready. Grady was up first at 6 am, Hope followed at 6:45 and I had to wake Grace and Zach. Everyone was dressed and downstairs for breakfast by 7:30 which eliminated the last minute running around. I made Zach's favorite, pancakes, we packed lunches and they got their backpacks.


We headed outside for the first day of school pictures, prayed and we loaded up. Zach and Hope are both going to Meadow Creek, but Gracie's transfer hasn't been processed yet, so she is at Valley. :( Sucks, but not much we can do at his point. The district said transfers should be processed the 2nd or 3rd week of school, so hopefully before the baby comes we can get all 3 kids at the same school. I took Gracie (by her request) and James took the other 2 and Grady.

I can't believe your in 3rd grade. Seriously where has the time gone? I'm praying this is a spectacular year for you Bubby! I love you and know that you will do great!

Gracie's smile makes me laugh here, she looks smug almost :) I'm loving her choice of shoes too, Chuck Taylor Converse. My big 2nd grader. I'm praying that this whole transfer mess doesn't mess with your attitude Missy, I love you and know this will be a great year for you!My Hoper...Kindergarten already? I thought you'd be home with me for ever and now your a big Kindergartner! I pray this year you'll really get to enjoy school and make some great new friends. I love you and know you'll have a great year with Mrs. LaCanfora :) (we love her, she was Zach's K teacher) a little note about the picture...Hope's smile is lame, but this was the one that showed her entire outfit (sooo cute) and her monstrous backpack, hehe! (she wanted one with wheels and Nana bought her one with wheels :-) Now I'm home and blogging in silence :) Grady is down for a nap and well, I have what looks like the entire morning to myself. (we'll see how long Grady naps) So with that said I think I should get some of that "to-do list" stuff accomplished and maybe change some sheets, before I head back to get Hoper at 12:05.

I hope as all your kids start back to school your first days will be just as good. Hope you have a great day!

Last week of summer

I really can't believe it! I mean, I've been counting down, but summer really is over. I'm kinda' sad, but anxious for what the next few weeks bring.

So let's see, what did we do in this our last week of summer '08...Sadly it wasn't anything great or memorable, but that's just life huh? :)

• I had an OB appointment. I took all 4 kids & surprisingly they behaved very well
• I got some last minute school clothes for the kids
• I got bought and installed the new car seat (I moved Grady to the new one and then we'll use his for the baby)
• Zachary went to stay with my sister and her family for a few days (Monday evening to Thursday am) as we had promised all summer long and well this was our last chance.
• I got a massage (yeah for massages while being huge and prego!)
• The girls and I washed, folded, sorted and purged through all their clothes which took an entire day plus another morning (It's hard work getting a 6 & 4 yr. old to cooperate for that long)
• My friend Jess came and helped me around my house...really I sat and sorted while she picked up and cleaned a bit :) (thanks Jess, you made my day)
• I made the baby to-do list (I'm getting a little anxious as the weeks are turning into days...it's rather long, I think there's 32 items on my list... allot for James to do)
• I supervised as Gracie cleaned out the truck...it had been awhile and was much needed
• We swam a bit, read a bit and played salon (the girls do my hair and rub lotion on my legs, feet & hands :) I was tempted to take a picture of my pigtails, but thought better of it)
• This afternoon we went up to my folks for lunch and visited a little while the kids played on the playground and by the pond. Then James was rather ambitious about the baby to-do list ,so combined we knocked 8 items off the list in just 2 days :) I am such a list person, so it makes me feel so good to see items crossed off the list!

So that's it. Our last official week of summer break has come to an end. Tomorrow we are planning on running some errands and yet again tackling that list of mine :) Hope you have a nice weekend.

One of those days...

This is the face I want to make, but his was so much cuter! :)

Do you ever have those days where you get up thinking you're going to get a bunch done and then only a little while later wonder why you got out of bed to begin with? It is definitely one of those days! It's only 10:30am and I've already given Grady 2 baths, spanked 2 kids and am nearly ready to pull out my hair!

When I went in to get Grady this morning I opened his door to see my little boy sitting up smiling wildly at me. Awww! Then the smell hit me...he, his crib, his blanket, and his Ribbit were covered in poop! Although his diaper was still on he apparently had peed so much that when he pooped this morning the diaper couldn't hold any more, so it just came out the sides. There is nothing like blueberry poop! He was literally covered from head to toe with blueberry poop! So I immediately put him in the bath, where he contently played for quite some time...I got him changed and stripped his bed and sprayed everything down with Lysol. At this point I still thought it could be an okay morning. I will spare you pictures!

At about 8:30 we all headed downstairs for breakfast. I got breakfast for everyone and decided to make a phone call...Gracie in her sneakiness decided to defy me and climb on the counter to get a vitamin after I told her no, but since I was on the phone she thought she'd try it. So, click goes the phone and out came the paddle for Gracie then came the screaming and the chasing as she tried desperately not to get a spanking. Then Grady starts crying, Zach and Hope start fighting, etc... At this point I am really loving being huge and pregnant with my FIFTH child and the entire idea of being a stay at home mom for the rest of my life (did you catch the hint of sarcasm in my words?)

Anyway...as I headed upstairs to deal with my sweet daughter, I asked Hope to help me and feed Grady some yogurt. Minutes later, as I'm talking with Miss sweetness, Hoper yells to me, "Mom, Grady likes to feed himself the yogurt!" and then she appears in the room.

When I went back downstairs I knew the sight would be pretty! The yogurt was all gone and Grady is again covered this time not in poop, but in yogurt, again blueberry though:) I had to just laugh at the moment, at my morning and at what my life has become :) Again with the bath, only this time in the kitchen sink.

Here's some pictures of my baby with his yogurt.