Normal...

I got the call and the glucose test was NORMAL :) SO happy about that. My thyroid levels were "normal" too but the last time the OB's office said that I got a call from my endocrinologist and she increased my dosage on my synthroid. The OB's office faxes the results to the endo. so we'll see if I get another increase or not this time.

Lucy and I went to visit my parents tonight. She was so excited to be there and was acting her usual goofy self. Everytime I would ask her if she was ready to leave she would say, "no, i wanna stay at Nana/Papa's". We finally got out of there about 8:30 :)

Lucy has been preparing to move into a "big girl bed" by taking a couple of naps in Abby's bed this past week. She LOVES it!!!!! Since Abby isn't home tonight, Lucy decided she wanted to sleep in Abby's bed tonight too. Sigh...my baby is growing up waaaaaaay too fast on me :(

One Year

Today my Grandpa Hedinger (my dad's dad) celebrates 1 year in Heaven.
I have thought about him so much this past year. His great big bear hugs, his soft beard, his phone calls, his yummy blackberry bushes :), his midwestern/German accent, talking about what's growing in the garden this year...lots of things have reminded me of him this past year.
Missing you lots Grandpa but I know you are happy. You are loved.

A Little Too Sweet

I had a doctor's appointment and got to have the pleasure of doing the glucose test. The lady at the lab brought me the ice cold orange sugary drink and a cup and told me to drink it within 5 minutes and let her know what time I finished. I was so thirsty and my mouth was so dry (despite the half bottle of water I drank on the way) that I was done in about 1 minute!

After that I headed upstairs for my appointment. Little girl is doing well and her heart rate was in the 160's this morning. She was also jumping around like a jumping bean. Can you say...SUGAR SHOCK????? :) We were both buzzing! I go back for my next appointment in 3 weeks and I will start meeting with the other partners in the practice just in case one of them ends up delivering me.

After an hour had passed I had my blood draw and was told that I should get a call at the end of the day to let me know the results. I am praying I will pass and won't have to go back for the 3 hour test like I did with Lucy. I also had my thyroid levels checked so hopefully those won't have changed too much either.

That's all I have for now :) Will post with the results of the glucose test later...

A birthday and a song...

On November 2, 2000, my mom's dad, my Grandpa Kleeman passed away.

Today, August 21st, is his birthday. He would have been 92 today.

Happy Birthday Grampy! Love you and miss you.

On our wedding day, John and I danced to a song that I remember my Grandpa singing and/or whistling all the time.

(click on the link below to hear Bing Crosby sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart... no, Bing Crosby was NOT my grandpa :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JExGdnzbbIE

Can you say LAZY??? :)

Lucy is such a stinker. This is a conversation we had this morning...

Lucy ~ "Mommy come 'ere, I need you"!

Me~ "Where are you"?

Lucy ~ "upstairs, I neeeeeed you".

I walked to the bottom of the stairs and see her sitting on the top step...

Me ~ "What do you need Lucy"?

Lucy ~ "I wanna come downstairs"

Me ~ "Okay, come on"

Lucy ~ "No, my bottom hurts"

Me ~ figuring she didn't want to go down on her bottom..."Then stand up and walk down"

Lucy ~ "No. Come up and get me"!

Me ~ laughing at the sheer gall of this 23 month old monkey... "Lucy, stand up and walk down the steps"

Lucy ~ "Yes ma'am"!

I thought Max and Abby were a handful...we're in for it with this one :) At least she grins and laughs at us while she's bossing us around...makes it seem like she's not as pushy I guess.

What a cheeseball!

Sorry the picture is blurry. I can't get the girl to sit still!

My Baby's in First Grade!

Ready to get to work!

Our new first grader!

He's not nervous...he was planning a pose :)

*** WOW! I can't believe how much he looks like his daddy!***

I can't believe it! I took my first born to school today for his first day of first grade! I think this day more than his other first days of school was tougher for me...why? First grade is the grade that I taught for 7 years before leaving to stay at home. It is the only grade I ever taught. I remember the first day of first grade for my students. I NEVER could picture my own children having their first day in first grade...they're supposed to stay my babies...not grow up on me!

Yesterday we went to the school to meet his teacher. Max kept asking to go and say hi to his kindergarten teachers as well. They couldn't believe how big he had gotten over the summer.

I love his teacher (since I worked there I knew most of the first grade teachers already) and I know he is going to have a great year :) I only left him a little over an hour ago and I'm already ready to go get him :)

Max told me this morning that he was not nervous at all. He was just excited and wanted to hurry up and get there. As we were getting in the car this morning he said, "Mom, I feel like a new person"!

Happy First Grade Sweet Boy! Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you and love you SO much!

Not Me! Monday Time :)

Wow! I can't believe I'm actually on the ball enough to do a Not Me! post two weeks in a row :) WOOHOO! You know the drill right? What? You need a reminder? Okay, MckMama started this blog carnival as a form of free therapy...you know, a way for us to admit to things we've done without actually admitting it...because honestly, we would never really do those things anyway :) Understand that? :) Anyway, read what I "haven't" done this week, then click on the Not Me! Monday button above to head on over to MckMama's and see what other people "haven't" done! ENJOY!

This week~

~ I DID NOT actually take pictures of John's OLD (11+ years) Nissan Altima being towed out of our driveway (we donated it to the kidney foundation). I DO NOT think the tow truck driver thought I was a little strange for doing this :)

~ I WAS NOT a little sad to think about the car leaving (I am NOT the least bit sentimental). I however, DID NOT completely change my mind when the old geezer stalled out on me 4 TIMES just pulling it out of the garage into the driveway! (I honestly don't know if the Kidney Foundation is really going to make much money of the old clunker...but I guess every little bit helps).

~ I am NOT even the tiniest bit sad that Max is starting first grade tomorrow :(

~ I was NOT completely excited when I finally talked John into letting me change our cell phone rate plan so we could have more minutes and stop going over our limit every month! I also DID NOT want to kiss the wonderful man at AT&T customer service when he told me that he would backdate the change to the beginning of the cycle since we were already over our limit and it would save us money)!

~ On Saturday, I DID NOT get to go grocery shopping with only one child! I DID NOT think it would be quick (even though it was Abby). I WAS NOT surprised at all when she had to go to the bathroom about 3 times in the middle of shopping. It DID NOT take us MUCH LONGER than I had planned!

~ While I was out "quickly" doing the shopping on Saturday, John did not have a major scare with Lucy. She DID NOT trip over her own feet on the way down the garage steps (she must have inherited my looks and grace), slide head first down the steps, and land with her head in an empty flower pot (don't worry, she's fine)!

~ Being the caring, concerned, over protective mother that I am, I absolutely DID NOT have to laugh at the picture John painted of the scene (once he had recovered from being scared that is) of Lucy's head in the flower pot and her body still on the steps. I know I would have been freaking out if I had been there but I couldn't help laughing at what it must have looked like :) I know, I'm a horrible parent!

~ I DID NOT feel the slightest bit bummed this morning when I realized I have to pack a lunchbox tonight :(

Okay, ENOUGH! Now head on over to MckMama's and read more Not Me's! Have a great week!

Falling Behind...

Uh...no...I'm NOT talking about MY behind (although it could stand to be perked up), I'm talking about everything else. I had a day the other day that just felt like every mistake I had made in the last month was making itself known in a few short hours. I sometimes feel like I have so much to do and then I get overwhelmed with it all and can't seem to get myself to do anything!


I tell myself I can do it, no I WILL do it tomorrow. Well, then tomorrow comes and goes and the items on the list still aren't checked off. If I spend too much time doing the "chores" then I feel like I am neglecting the kids...if I am spending time with them then I don't feel like I have gotten anything done at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, first and foremost I want to give my kids all of myself...I just haven't been able to balance the mom thing and chores thing very well recently.


When I get a burst of energy I can clean like a madwoman (the way my mom taught me ;P )and get lots of stuff done. The energy spurts don't happen a whole lot though. I do try to get the kids to do their share by picking up their rooms and the playroom, but they are still too young to keep their attention focused on the task at hand. They end up playing more than cleaning :) I have a "plan" that once Max and Abby are both in school, I'm going to pick one of my energy spurts and purge some toys. Yard sale, Goodwill, trash pile...all of the above :) We'll see if that "plan" gets off the ground!


I don't have to have everything spic and span every single day. I am able to let some things go at times. But then I feel like it gets behind, then I get behind, then I can't dig myself out of the hole. There are so many projects that I would LOVE to get done before the baby gets here...I just can't start any of them because I am spending too much time on the "chores".

I don't know, maybe it is just the pregnancy hormones and once the baby gets here I will be back to normal...well, whatever "normal" is for me anyway (I don't need any comments from you mom, Shea, and Mallory :) I do spend a lot of time praying about this, I'm just not sure what I should be praying for exactly. The ability to feel okay about not getting everything done? That I will suddenly have the energy and time to do "it all"? That my kids will suddenly start automatically cleaning up their messes and asking what else they can do to help out (ha!)? Right now I am just telling God that I am listening to Him and trying to have faith that I'm doing the best I can right now.

Wow, feels better to get it out. Now it's time to suck it up and get on with it. Alright, enough rambling and time to end the pity party. Maybe I'll go soak in a warm bath...awwww crap, the kitchen is still a mess! Clean it?...Let it go until tomorrow?...Clean it?...Let it go until tomorrow?

...let you know tomorrow what I decide :)

(I'm starting to sound like Scarlett O'Hara..."I'll think about that tomorrow!")

Not Me! Monday...It's Been Awhile!

Yes, you guessed it...I got it together long enough to do another Not Me! post. I have NOT had a long list of Not Me's! just waiting to be published! If you have never checked out MckMama's Not Me! Monday blog carnival (**gasp**), then you need to head over to her blog and read her Not Me's and those of countless (well, not really countless because the list averages between 300-500 a week) other people who are in the mood to confess this week :)

Click on MckMama's new, cool Not Me! Monday button above to head over to her blog...after you have finished here of course!

Anyway, here we go...

~ Max and Abby have NOT taken to sleeping on their floors at night in their sleeping bags. They DO NOT have perfectly good beds to sleep in!

~ Max has NOT started pretending to be a "dog" lately. He has NOT been asking for one for so long that he has just decided to BE one! He has NOT gotten his sisters into the act either. Last night after dinner, Lucy DID NOT start crawling on all fours, panting like a dog! UGH!

~ Last Tuesday, after finding out that he was going to have a third baby sister (instead of the brother he had begged and prayed for), Max DID NOT proceed to tell my mom, on the phone that when he found out it was a girl it "shocked the hell out of him"! NO WAY! We DO NOT think that he heard it while watching "Dirty Jobs"!

***DISCLAIMER*** Our children REALLY do not hear these words from us and John and I were REALLY not okay with his use of this word. We explained to him that we do not use this word and he was okay with that...geesh!

~ Yesterday I had to take Max out to get new shoes for school. While at Target, I DID NOT decide to get Lucy a couple of new pacifiers (I mean really, I'm going to be trying to phase them out next month when she turns 2, why would I buy her anymore)?

~ While NOT looking at the aforementioned pacifiers, Max was NOT looking at the back of one of the packages. He DID NOT then inform me that it looks like the pacifiers can give "Mommy's milk". He DID NOT come to this conclusion by noticing the drawing on the back of how the pacifier nipple mimics the mother's in the baby's mouth...UGH!

~ To conclude our shopping trip, we had to stop at Wal-Mart for a couple of items. I had stopped at an end rack between the ladies and girls departments to look at a cute 3 piece outfit for Lucy. When I turned around to tell Max it was time to keep moving, I DID NOT see my 6 year old son pinching the size C cup of a bra hanging on the opposite end rack! He DID NOT say to me "Oh, that's soft Mom"! I am NOT so happy that I had decided to go bra shopping alone earlier in the day :)

Okay, that's enough! You are probably already wondering what kind of mother I am that my child would do these kinds things :)

Remember, head on over to MckMama's to read more Not Me's!

Hello Friday!

This week actually seems to have gone by pretty fast. It's Friday and we are just hanging out here at home. I got a burst of energy so I am doing some house cleaning...9,000 loads of laundry yesterday and scrubbing bathrooms today, WOOHOO!!! We have some friends coming over in a little while to play so Max and Abby will have a break from each other for a little while at least :)

Nothing much planned for this weekend either. I'm hoping John can help me get the shelves in the playroom closet and I think I'll head to Lowe's and see if I can find a corner shelf to get the t.v. off the toybox in the playroom. Can you tell I REALLY want to get that room organized?????
I'll leave you with some pictures of a couple of Daddy's girls...

"Say ahhhhhh Daddy" (Lucy and John)

Hard to believe she gave him such a hard time as a baby!

(Abby and John)

Have a great weekend!

Are you ready? It's A ....

GIRL!!!!!

Yes, in December we are adding a third princess to our castle :) Max was NOT a happy camper!
He desperately wanted a baby brother this time and was so sure he would get one since he asked for one. He figured since he wanted sisters the last two times and got them then the same thing would happen this time. I told him that God must think he is a very special big brother to little girls and this little girl should be blessed with him also...I don't think he bought it :)

Poor John, I guess he wasn't meant to have a son named Caleb. I had promised him when we were naming Max that if we had another boy that we could name him Caleb...not meant to be I guess.

The kids and I have agreed on a name for this little girl, we just have to wait and see if Daddy is on board or not :) I told John that at least we don't have to paint the nursery :)

When I was looking at the next three pictures I couldn't help but think she was trying to tell me something...

"See No Evil"

"Hear No Evil"

"Speak No Evil"

She is certainly much more modest than her sisters. On the ultrasound, the technician had the hardest time getting a "peek" to find out the gender. Abby and Lucy were both MORE THAN WILLING to "show their stuff" during their ultrasounds. This baby girl was also taking a nap and didn't want to wake up and cooperate. I told John..."maybe we are finally getting a good sleeper" :)

On a technical note, everything looked great with baby girl and the technician said the doctor was very pleased with how everything looked when she saw the pictures...YEAH!

Today is the day...

We are excited that today is the day we get to "see the baby on t.v." (as the kids put it)! I am hoping the little peanut cooperates and we can get a peek as to whether or not we will be bringing some blue back into the house or keeping the pink flowing :)

Cute story... yesterday the kids and I were talking about today's appointment and Max kept saying, "Please let it be a boy..." over and over. I thought about my friend's daughter who was very upset that she's getting a baby brother instead of the sister she so desperately wanted. I asked Max, "If we find out that the baby is a girl instead will you be okay with that"? I honestly thought he'd say yes. To my surprise he said, "Not really mom". Okay. Then, jokingly of course, I told him about my friend and how she was having a boy and that her daughter wanted a girl. I said, "Well, if the baby is a girl, maybe we can trade with them so you can both get what you want". Again, I was joking and I thought (silly of me) that he would say "NO WAY". Ha! He surprised me again and said, "Okay, that sounds good"! Ugh. I then had to explain to him why we just couldn't do that. I called my friend and told her about it and she laughed...I wonder if her daughter would agree to the swap as quickly as Max did :)

Before the BIG appointment though I have to haul the kids to the DMV office with me to do some car stuff...wish me luck!

At It Again...

I truly do not know what came over me yesterday. I got the urge and just went with it. Yesterday morning I remembered that John had mentioned something about blueberry pancakes. I had thawed out the blueberries and I still had some left after making an apple/blueberry crisp Friday night (along with a homemade chicken pot pie). Anyway, I didn't want the blueberries to go bad so I figured why not?

I finally found my recipe for pancakes (not a box mix) and added the blueberries, then, just for fun, figured I'd also mash a couple bananas and throw those in too. They were pretty tasty :)

Then last night I caramelized some onions to go on top of our grilled burgers...John was in love with the onions!

After the kids were in bed I got the baking bug. Oh man, I couldn't seem to stop myself. I made dough to make cinnamon rolls then as that was rising I made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies (from scratch)! After the cookies were done I went ahead and rolled out the dough and made the cinnamon rolls and the homemade icing to go on top! They turned out pretty good. I usually make a loaf of bread with this recipe instead of rolls so next time I think I'll cut a few minutes off the baking time (they weren't burnt but the bottoms were a darker brown than I would have liked).

My chicken pot pie on Friday night also had some adjustments made to it. When I did the shopping I couldn't find the phyllo dough that the recipe called for and just couldn't bring myself to take the kids to 1 more store for 1 thing. So John went after work and "couldn't find it". PLAN B: I told him just to get me two deep dish pie shells (I had made extra filling so it was in a casserole dish and not a pie dish). He comes home with 2 regular pie shells and I just could NOT get them to stretch enough. PLAN C: I busted out my two boxes of cornbread mix (no time to make it from scratch) and mixed it up and spread it on top of the filling. Turned out AWESOME and John decides he likes it better with the cornbread anyway...SCORE!!!

I think cooking/baking has become my form of nesting. John is taking advantage of it. He has requested I make shrimp and grits next weekend...and grilled bacon wrapped scallops. What does he think this is... FOOD NETWORK? :) I was thinking a cherry cheesecake would be good for dessert...