Full Term Baby Waiting

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Jannie brought the girls this cute book we read tonight...

We are over the 37 week mark and getting ready to hopefully add a new baby to this family very soon! I LOVE this time in pregnancy for so many reasons and at the same time it's the hardest part. I have been overdue by 8-9 days every time (except Francie who was breech and 4 days early by c-section) so we probably won't get to meet this baby until 41 weeks but there's always hoping :)

always fun to see this on the iPhone pregnancy app countdown :)

I love -
*thinking that really this baby could come at ANY time (even though I know it's unlikely - you know there is always a chance!) It's so exciting everyday thinking it could happen anytime and COULD be very soon we get to meet this little baby!
*feeling the baby kick and roll around all day and night and putting my hand on my belly to feel little knees and elbows moving around. Maisie likes to sit on my lap while we read books and feel the baby kick her back - she cracks up every time :) This one is crazy, more kicky than any of the other girls were.
*wondering if it will be a boy or a girl - making sure we really picked the right names with Heff - thinking about how this baby will have it's own personality to add to the mix in this family!
*getting excited for that squishy little newborn, bottle it up smell and good excuse to hibernate at home with a new baby!!
*getting ready for labor - I know it's a "pain" and everything but I love being in the hospital to have a baby - it's such a cool experience to go through with Heff and to get a little baby to take home at the end!

I don't love
*heartburn - TG for Tums
*insomnia - heartburn doesn't help it ;) This season of TLC doesn't help either (I mean between Honey BooBoo, Brittany and Abby return and the Amish show - killing me!)
*sore bones and muscles, getting worn out carrying the girls around
*waddling around like a penguin!

The first 6 months I was thinking it's a girl - but lately I feel like it has to be a boy (I've thought boy every time- obviously no maternal instinct on the sex of the baby here!) But this baby is really active and a KICKER and feels like it has to be a bigger baby than the girls. It is taking up a lot of room in there and my belly is way bigger than even before, even with 3+ weeks left. (ask Jannie - she reminds me "you're huge! let me take a picture of that belly and text it to Ann!" all the time :) But Heff actually thinks boy now and he's been RIGHT every time... either way it will be a big surprise again, my favorite kind.

I snuck in to check on my big babies tonight since I couldn't sleep - couldn't resist an instagram of the snoozers and a fuzzy self portrait belly shot :) I love Francie with her new Donkey Steif from jannie's NYC trip, Maisie sleeping on the covers so she doesn't have to make her bed and she gets hot like her dad, and JJ with her favorite doll-doll in the same sleeping position - I tempted fate getting this one of J with a flash!)

And I wouldn't exactly say we are ready for this baby quite yet :) No hospital bags packed here or bassinets set up to welcome a baby but we've got size 1 diapers I accidentally ordered on Amazon a few months ago tucked in the laundry room and just a few bins of baby clothes lying around. I did buy a new hospital gown - my favorite Dear Johnnie in a new print so I can tell which baby was which in the hospital pictures :)

So we've got a couple things to check off the to do list in the next few weeks but I love going to bed every night thinking this COULD be the night I get to meet this new little baby boy or girl!!

Fun to remember meeting our girls...

Francie 9-18-07

Maisie 4-18-09

Janie 2-18-11

Who are you... and when you arrive number four?!...

Oregon Hunters are Back!

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The girls and Heff landed safely home about 10:30 last night. After a 10.5 hour drive Maisie said "that was short!" They love their road trips, especially with Dad :) As you can see above they stopped at "Burger Queen" and then "Carl's House" (aka JR) as the girls call it for lunch and dinner. Quality roadside stops!

Oregon was too-much-fun. Oma took great care of the kids while the dads hunted 3:30am-lunch time, they all had lunch at the ranch house, napped and went back out at dusk while Oma feed the troops. This was a bow-and-arrow hunt which is pretty tricky- no big elk or deer on the ground but they are there for the adventure more than the kill so Heff had a great time... his favorite part was sharing it with his big girls :)

Oma and "Uncle Stevie" (Donald's brother Steven) scoping for elk, deer and coyotes of course

Buzz Lightyear with Binoculars.

another shot of the coyote who found it's end thanks to Uncle Stevie. I asked Francie about it and she goes "Well. You see mom - the coyote was after the baby calves on the ranch. And you can't have a coyote killing baby calves or Uncle Ducky wouldn't make any money. Does that make sense?" Got it France.

Dirty truck, 2 Yeti coolers, well run 4-wheeler, girl in a dress with a pink bunny suitcase. Just the usual :)

Love these poses at the Riley General Store showing off their new pink camo hats!

Oregon Adventure!

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Janie and I are tracking Heff and the girls driving home from Northern Oregon on my latitude right now :) We missed them but look how much fun they've been having on their Burns Hunting Adventure! These are just the photos Oma, Donald and Heff have texted me... can't wait to see the camera shots.  No big game to report I hear but they all had a great time on Donald's family's ranch for 5 days.

The first night there they went to check the momma and baby calves and saw a coyote stalking the new babies... so Donald's brother shot it. The girls were pretty excited to see this go down 

The girls got to keep the tail apparently. I love that Maisie is still wearing the mis-match Buzz PJ's I put her in the night before they left (5:30am departure Friday morning!) and Francie is in the clothes I laid out for Maisie :)

and the next Day Oma took them out to hunt ducks on the pond. (don't have a heart attack - the BB guns are not operational, just pretending :)

Yep those are my girls :) Maisie on the binoculars and Francie ready for the kill - I showed one of her 5 year old boy friends and he was like "WHOA WHOA WHOA - THAT IS FRANCIE?! Can I go!?"

and kitty hunting in the barn. (hopefully you ready the disclaimer above) and I love my little hippie girl maisie likes the "long dresses" and convinces Francie to trade :)

Oma kept them well entertained while the boys hunted! Cousin Patrick and the girls painting rocks in the ranch house.

 

Janie the "Only Child"

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Big girls were on a hunting adventure to Oregon with Dad this weekend so Janie was living it up as the one and only! Lots of time with Jannie and Grampa and ABA was home for a quick visit too! It's like being on a retreat only having one baby - especially one who sleeps in until 10am and naps for 3 hours. JJ and I are well rested and ready for our big girls and Dad to come home!

 

Friday night we went to dinner at Harry's Hofbrau with Janie and my parents... then hung out at home for a bit. She had them wrapped around her finger singing songs

Stripey girls - JJ loves her GG!

and Saturday night Janie and I went to some friends' house for a BBQ - she was running around like a wild child til 10:30pm - we had a fun night out!

Sunday night ABA and Pat were home! We all went out to dinner with James, Em, Jerry and my parents for sushi but before we left JJ got in some apple picking with "GiGi" (what she calls Jannie) at her house

ABA home Sunday and Monday!! Always so fun to see my sister

Goddaughter love - Em and James also just found out they are having a GIRL! If we have a girl it will mean Ann and Pat have NINE nieces between them. That's a lot of pink... I am thinking this is a boy since it feel like a bigger baby and kicks so much but I'm always wrong!

Monday lunch and downtown shopping with Ann, Emmy, Jannie and JJ

Aw little snuggler - it was pretty funny she was so snuggly and content on Jannie, we actually started to worry something was wrong since she NEVER does this. Jannie handed her to me to take her sweater off and perk her up and of course she was fine, just not usual busy busy Janie behavior!

Morning reading in the playroom in my favorite hand-me-down PJs

and this was from Thursday night before Francie and Maisie left... Janie wakes up every time and says "Gagee?! Beezy?!" She misses sissys!!!

 

Crazy Girls

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These girls just crack us up lately - Janie is such a talker now and says the funniest things, her big sisters love to make her say things and then they just crack up and tell her she is hilarious - to which Janie follows with a fake, open mouth laugh. She wants to "Show, show" you everything and does any song you ask her to sing - as long as it's a one word song. Her favorite is the "Bagel, Bagel, Bagel" song where she shakes her head or the "booty- booty - booty" song while she wiggles around when the girls suggest she "shake her booty!"

"In the picture above they made a "nest" - made JJ sit on a log in the middle of it and told her it was a JJ Trap. Janie is reaching out saying "hold you! hold you" for us to pick her up like she can't get out :) at least she plays along!

She used to be scared of the cats when they touched her (or crack up laughing at least) but now she picks up the smaller one and carries it by the middle, head or by one leg. Love Ziggy's face....

Wonder where she learned that? That cat's expression looks like a cartoon - "what next?"

Wednesday was Pink AND Purple Day with Emmy since school was out for parent-teacher conferences - woo-hoo! Heff and I had fun hearing what their new teachers thought about the girls (Francie is the "gentle, motherly leader of the group" and Maisie finds her independence but asks to "see Francie" a lot too :)

Monday Heff was SICK so I got the girls to school in the morning - right on time! :)

Sunday morning breakfast chaos - french toast and fruit by Mom (this was when Heff started feeling sick so I was on breakfast duty!) 

Lunch and lounging with my big girl while the littler girls napped

Bedtime photo by Janie :)

Tuesday night Clara and Caroline were over with Uncle Mark for dinner while Aunt Sarah was traveling for work. 4 babies in a boat!

 

Farmer's Market snow cones - lining up to pay

a Maisie edit of her bed :) she LOVES her bed

my cute crazy girls at bedtime!

 

AREA 151... an arcade!

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We leased the space next to Bumble to put in an old school redemption arcade called "AREA 151" and we are ALMOST ready to open the doors for business! Bumble is finally almost a year old and we've weathered the storm of the first 12 months in the restaurant business :) but we've found that people with older kids in town want to come eat at Bumble but they aren't so much into the sandbox or the Playroom. So an arcade next door seemed to be the answer! It has, of course, taken on a life of it's own and taken a few months longer than we thought to get our use permit from the city and collect the coolest used and new games from all over the country. Custom tickets, tokens and good prizes that don't end up on the floor of your car before you even get home are now on the shelves ready for customers. We have a few more items on the to do list inside and we hope to be open by the end of the month. But here are a few photos from our "test" parties to try out the machines and party space. It's a lot of fun for any age at Area 151!

our cool official logo

lots of awesome games

 

Area 151 website

Hanging out at a preview party... (before we had electrical in and had to tear it all up again for construction and ADA upgrades!) 



temporary prize station until the real booth comes in next week!

It's a fun place for a party - we'll be open for business soon!

we are still working away but hope to be open by Monday September 3!

Last Week of "Summer Vacation"

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Just more catching up on what we've been up to via Instagram - my poor SLR is not getting much of a workout lately! We've had a quiet weekend mostly at home catching up on sleep and relaxing - after a super busy week.

Francie says "take a picture of me and Ziggy with this beautiful flower. Doesn't she just love having her picture taken?"

Maisie's always the best excuse to sneak in a nap with - Heff and I don't mind saying "I'll just go get Maisie down - maybe in our bed" (not on her IKEA not so comfy for adults to sleep twin mattress :)

Charmin toilet paper delivered via Amazon. Makes a great choo-choo train to decorate (and JJ is gnawing on a Crayola toothbrush not a pen :)

Triple Tub Trouble

Lots of fun times down at the rope swing. The creek dried up in July this year (ran water all year long last year) but Maisie still insisted on going to change into a swim suit the other day :)

Francie and Maisie picked a color every day the week before last to be the color of the day. Pink day of course - then this was blue day :) They weren't happy until every piece of clothing, shoes and accessories on everyone was that color. Fort accessories included!

Friday before school started Linda came to join Emmy for "Treat Friday Funday" they hit all their favorite spots in town (Jamba Juice, two parks, library, pet store, fro-yo) and came home to bake a cake - way too much fun!

They made a Worm Cake. Oh and it was Yellow Day

I guess yellow day changed it's mind at naptime - and I have no clue why Francie calls Linda "Loco-Linda" do you? weird ;)

and the last week of "summer vacation" was also $1.00 mornings at Jamba - Emmy found this deal - $1.00 for any kind of regular sized smoothie!

Blue Day at Jamba :)

and.. you guessed it.

And we're down to one kid in the stroller in the mornings with Emmy - until new baby comes!

Em brings the girls to PLAY lots of mornings and I get to check in with them there and watch their art projects - the girls at PLAy are doing such an awesome job coming up with fun "playtivities" every day!

tearing up the soccer goals on Pink Day

Maisie's favorite building activity - making barns

UNO in PJs - Francie is the destroyer in this game

Just got beat by here sister

Just being silly!

Love those overalls :)

and this looks about 2pm Maisie - ready for a nap!

Pizza in the park - Emmy took the girls one night so Heff and I could go to dinner for a Date Night!

We LOVE EMMY!

SO sad summer is over! But at least we get Indian Summer weather for another 2 months at least!

Pizza Party with the Carter Triplets

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Sunday night we had a pizza party with ALL of the Carters! It was fun to see the triplets getting so big - Francie had a great time showing the boys all the toys, swings and trikes at Jannie's and the kids made their own pizzas. Beth and Greg had to leave for a flight back to San Diego but it was fun to see them even for a short visit. Jill, Jerry and Georgia stayed for the late night :) I took these cute pics of the big kids from Kim's blog - seems like not that long ago they were all babies!

JJ loves her Uncle "Jey-yee"

Pizza girls with Jannie!

Maisie and her s'mores pizza

First Day of Preschool

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We've had a busy, crazy week - and the girls started preschool yesterday!! Maisie and Francie are both going together to the same preschool five days a week - Francie was ready for her "TK" (transitional kindergarden) group and Maisie was a little timid but seems to be jumping into her three's group like a big girl. It's a big change for us from our no-schedule daily routine!! But I think it will be good for both of them and we love the little school they get to go to. The girls picked out their outfits Sunday night and jumped out of bed early Monday morning to get ready with dad - breakfast and hair brushing then off to school!!!

Morning eggs and OJ - Francie is wearing the dress I wore to the first day of Kindergarden - only it was a little short so she picked striped leggings!

Meeting up with their friend Chase at his house on the walk to school

Might be my favorite picture - cute dads checking in the windows after they dropped off the kids :)

We picked them up at 12:15 and they were all smiles - Maisie was TIRED" but then they got to play together at recess and Gaga helped her on the monkey bars.

She came right home, ran in, grabbed her binky and "softs" (combo of soft pillows and soft blanket) and fell asleep on the couch within 5 minutes!

Lately...

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Just some pictures from the last week of life lately!....

Maisie the hunter - went to the bow and arrow shooting range with Dad Saturday afternoon and hiked the entire 2 mile trail with him - even hit the targets most of the time! She was so proud of herself and Heff couldn't be much happier this sidekick loves her bow

As usual having too much fun with Emmy

my biggest little stinker

Farm School chickens - still Francie's favorite

Olympic spirit has hit our house - we've been making air pop popcorn at night and watching some gymnastics/diving/volleyball/track. Go USA!

Francie doesn't joke around, serious watching the competition

Still perfecting their beam Dad built - the girls play "gymnastics and judges" all the time

Generous with that "5" Maise :)

Francie's retribution

Maisie with a 12-18 month outfit - love the tongue stuck out for concentration

beam routine

All's well that ends well

JJ prefers the "hamut" and bike!

Maisie and I had a weekend mom-Maisie trip to run some errands - it's always fun to get one-on-one time

triple kid tower

Emmy and JJ at the park!

We had a cupcake decorating picnic with the neighbor kids on the front lawn one afternoon

yum

little bed head Maisie after her nap :) her hair is still "short" but cute and pixie - although she says "mom my hair is SO long now it's almost like Tangled!"

More from BBR

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The big girls went fishing with Dad two times while we were in Black Butte - Francie is "hooked" :) on fishing! Maisie had fun but said she didn't need to go back the next day.

All geared up ready to go

I like Maisie's thinking - lounging and catching some rays while everyone else catches the fish.

Big kids. NINE fish!

Uncle Donald and Oliver went along in their row boat too

Excursion 2 - Francie and Isabel went with Heff at 6am!

Post fishing popsicles

and even JJ got to go on the trip to the Fish Hatchery - then the little store for Dips and push ups

Sister in law trip into town for some shopping and lunch one day - 4 moms and 4 baby girls piled in Kat's Suburban (Sarah, Janie and I in the back row)

Pool time at the awesome kids pool at Glaze Meadow

Oma made Grandma Heffernan's Popcorn Cakes

Francie helping Dad gut the fish - doesn't mind it one bit :)

Maisie the photographer took this one while she was "babysitting" Lauren - love the composition Maisie!

Kids and Uncle Dan's famous Jello Boats (one day we'll have to check to make sure we don't have 23 teenagers making jello 'shots'!)

Gimme that fish France.

and Oma sent me some great shots of the Grandma Day Care day while the adults all geo-cached. Pretty impressive feat to watch 18 of the kids for 3+ hours! They did art projects like decorating duckies to race them in the stream and colored big castles and rocke ships in the backyard. FUN for kids and thanks for the break Oma, Lala, Bob and Barbara!





Until next year Black Butte and all our cousins... can't wait to do it again!

Heading home. back in the carseats!

 

11 hours and only TWO road side stops - (besides a side of the road pee break) We made sandwiches at this little park right before we crossed the Oregon border back into California. It's one of our favorite stops, right on the river.