V goes to Kindergarten!

Twas the day before kindergarten and we were so excited.

Danny and I made back to school cupcakes to share with our friends at a Labor Day Cook out at the Mccoin's house. (the idea was not mine- the cupcakes are in Family Fun magazine, which I love). It was a really fun end of summer bash. We love the Mccoins and are thankful to have fun friends around. By the way, the kids thought that Labor Day meant Back to School Celebration Day. It can be both, right?

After bath and pajamas, Victoria had a Father's Blessing to help her to have a great school year. She loves her dad so much! He is a good dad. She has only had a handful of blessings in her life and they really help her to be calm.

Then, we read books as always, but needed to read the school/ kindergarten variety. Here we are with Bearenstein Bear's Back to School. Check out how tired V is. She is rubbing her lips which is a tired habit she has had for quite a while. And check out how humongous I am at 40+ weeks! Thank you children and book for covering most of me.

Victoria in the outfit and shoes she picked for the big day. She did a good job! She looked very cute.

We were ready fairly early so there was plenty of time for a new shoe box "Bongo" performance. Totally Christian's idea.Of course we needed a few backpack shots! She's getting older, but little still too.

Then it was finally time to go to the bus stop! How exciting! I wasn't sure how I felt about her riding the bus, but at kindergarten orientation the principal and teacher both stressed that if you ever want your child to ride the bus during the year, he or she really needs to start the first week when they wear name tags, have volunteers helping kids get on and off the bus, write bus numbers on hands etc. If they start later in the year, no one will really notice that it is new for them and they won't get the extra help that they might need in finding the right bus, etc. I thought it was a good idea to give it a whirl.

It was fun to meet some of the other moms and dads and kids that live nearby. The bus stop has tons of kids! There are a couple moms that do before and after school care so that increases the numbers, but still I never knew so many kids live so close!

V held my hand and stayed very close to Christian and I at the bus stop. I worried for a bit that she was getting nervous as the minutes went by. However, when the bus was in sight she was excited again, gave us hugs and got in line with the other kids to get on.

I can't decide if this picture shows nervous or "Mom, I really don't have time for any more pics. Can't you see that the bus is here?!!!"

She did great! I was so proud of her! She sat in the very first seat on the bus with another kindergartner, a boy in her class, named Christopher. She smiled and waved as they drove off! I tried to get a picture of that, but it didn't work out.

What a relief! The morning went so smoothly! I couldn't have asked for better.

There were no tears from either of us! Thank you Heavenly Father for preparing us to be so happy about Victoria growing up and becoming more independent! About a year ago when some of my friend's kindergartners went to school I cried and cried just imagining V going. We both have had some time to prepare though. I think Victoria going to summer school really helped ease the transition. Plus, she seems so smart and capable lately. She seems to really be outgrowing her shyness and separation anxiety issues. She learned and grew so much this summer- how to swim, started cheerleading, started to learn to read(Dick and Jane books). She just seems so confident. Plus, I think it helps that Christian is still with me and Grant will be here so soon too. We'll stay busy. Victoria and I also discussed that we would do girls nights out more frequently too, so we can still have plenty of special one on one time. Anyway, I was really really thankful for a great start!

Christian and I had a busy day while V was busy at school. We went to club mom first and had breakfast and saw a performance by Mad Science. Then, Christian went to Grandma's house while I went to see Dr. Dausche, my excellent ob. Glad to have my last pre-baby appt. over with. We had lunch and then played for a bit at my mom's. Then we all came here to pick up V from the bus stop. Mom asked if it was OK and I thought it would make V happy to know that she will still see grandma, even when she goes to school.

So, here are the getting off the bus pictures! Still Happy!

I don't have any proof, but I think those outstretched arms are for me. I was ready to give her a big welcome home squeeze too!

She was glad to see her grandma!

She was glad to see her brother too!

We walked home and heard all about the fun day! She like it a lot and thinks her teacher, Mrs. Grider is nice. They "even had art today!" Victoria's favorite thing was "riding the bus!" She was glad to show and tell her artwork and her sticker. She said that only one boy and one girl got them for good behavior and she was the girl! That made her pretty pleased. It was a great day!

Surprise!

I had a really fun surprise tonight! Some of my friends came over and threw me a surprise shower for Grant! I really had no clue. I hadn't really even put on makeup today and my house wasn't super clean. Danny told me around 5:15 or 5:30 that some friends were coming at 6:00. I was like, "What are you talking about?"

Dana, Cori, Andrea, Melanie, Drea, Emily, Amy, and Jen came into the house and showered me with love and meals! It was perfect. Seriously, my freezer is stocked and I have a couple coupons for meals other days! Angie and Kasey couldn't come, but they sent meals too. How great are my friends? Really!! They knew that I didn't really need baby things and this was a great way to support me. It will be such a help when Grant comes! I'll just have to practice self control to not use the food in the next few days. The dinners look great! They brought some yummy treats too. So, we shared those and socialized for a while. It was fun. I always appreciate girl time. I felt really loved. Thanks guys, for the really great surprise shower!

Andrea and Dana


Jen, Cori, and I
Can you tell that I feel loved?
I wish that I had taken pics of everyone else, but my camera was in the van and with Danny. He took these two pics when he and the kids came back.

The stocked freezer.

Even more in the fridge! Yes, I will certainly enjoy!

Thanks again, girls!

Excited about Baby Grant coming!

We are really looking forward to having a new member of our family and have been happily preparing for our little guy. We got all of the baby supplies that we need out of the attic. I washed all of the baby boy blankets, 0-3 clothes, etc. Danny, repainted and reassembled the crib. He and Christian's room is almost set(although, he'll really be with us for several months). Victoria made a teddy bear for him. Christian has been playing with a baby boy doll a lot lately to get ready too. We are also working on being soft and gentle. Ooh, also, Danny got me a fantastic new camera to use to take pictures of baby Grant! Our other one isn't working half the time and we can't chance newborn pics to an iffy camera. Plus, this has been a tricky pregnancy and Danny thought I deserved a nice present! He's a good guy, huh?

So, a couple weeks ago we went to a baby shower for our friends, Ben and Ashley Estes. They are also having a boy soon. A few days afterwards, Christian felt strongly that we needed to have a party for Grant.

A few of my friends have asked if I was having a shower. I didn't really think it was necessary because we already have a boy and a girl and have everything that we need and I don't want for people to feel like they need to give me anything. But when Christian felt so strongly about it, I changed my mind. Not for myself, but for Grant. One day he will need to know just how excited we were about him coming!

So, for family home evening we had a baby shower! It was totally fun.

During the day the kids helped me make cupcakes- they decorated with blue and green sprinkles.

The actual shower was a celebration, but an FHE too.




So, we started with a song- "I am a Child of God." Then we had a prayer. Danny and I talked briefly (our lessons are always pretty brief) about how special it is that Heavenly Father is giving us another one of his children to love and take care of.

( Our pics might show the family better if I used my tripod and timer, eh?)

Then, we played a drink from a bottle game. It was a race to see who could drink 2 oz of water the fastest from a bottle. Holy Cow! That is tricky! Victoria and Christian were way better than Danny and I. They thought it was funny.

Victoria won the bottle game!

Next, we made a welcome home banner for Grant. Danny painted the letter outlines and Christian, Victoria, and I painted them. Well, I actually only did 1 or 2. I wanted to take pics.


After that, the kids made signs with their pics to put on the bassinet at the hospital that say, "I'm Victoria" and "Hi Grant. I am your big brother, Christian. I'm glad you're here." Victoria did that to introduce herself to Christian, so we thought it was a good tradition to keep.




We were going to paint my belly, and there was obviously some disappointment that we didn't, but were running out of time and I couldn't take V to cheering with a wet stomach and shirt! We'll have to do that another day.


We closed FHE with "I Have a Family Here on Earth," a prayer, and our dessert- the cupcakes!

Here's our little chorister. I like that the temple painting is in the background.

We look forward to this little guy coming. There has been some discrepancy (OK, a truly ridiculous amount of discrepancy) between my various due dates, so we aren't exactly sure when he'll arrive. However, I had another ultrasound and OB appt today. They went well. The ultrasound made me mad because it predicted that his EDD was even later! Danny and I feel strongly that that is absolutely impossible. Luckily, my OB was like- "No, we'll stick to the prior ones." 3rd trimester ultrasounds can be off by a lot. However it also guessed that he weighs 6 lbs 14 oz. so far. The weight can be off in either direction. If accurate, he is the smallest of our kids, but totally a healthy size, right? We were really happy because he measured really little in a couple of the earlier ultrasounds and we were nervous about his slow growth. I knew that he would catch up! Other good signs were, that his head is very low- which is cool because V and C never dropped (even a little bit) before labor. Plus, I have dilated more. So, it could be anytime, but it could also be a couple weeks. We decided to schedule to induce on Sept 10 if he doesn't come by then. 2 weeks from Aug. 28th is actually Sept 11, but my Doctor didn't like that birthday as well, so suggested the 9th or 10th. The 10th sounded great to me! (Don't ask why the 9th didn't!!!! Afterwards, I wondered 'what is wrong with me, do I not know numerical order????') Anyway, I didn't ask for this week like I was thinking I might have, but I feel good about the decision. I'm feeling more at ease about the labor- because the cardiologist thinks it'll be fine and he and Dr. Dausche have a plan and another in case it doesn't go as well as we'd like. I think it was freaking me (and Danny) out a little and we wanted to have him come as soon as possible. However after praying and pondering a bit, I'm back to my more normal way of thinking- babies come when they are ready. We are excited to meet Grant whenever he comes!

Victoria's 5th B-day party!

It was a Little Chef theme. It was a tiny bit wild, but was really fun too. The kids dipped pretzels to take home, made pizzas for lunch, and decorated cupcakes for dessert.We played a couple games too- throwing food into a pot and an egg balancing race. Fun stuff.Aren't they cute kids?

A few of the chefs lined up for uniform inspection before entering the kitchen.

Chef Danny- Master Pizza Chef

Chef Jackson

Chef Tyler

Chef Josh

Chef Ashley

Chef Quinton

Chef Christian

Chef Wyley

Chef Belle

Pretzel dipping Expert- Chef Grandma

And of course, Chef Victoria!

Happy Birthday to you!

Make a wish, five year old girl!

Group pic!

Silly pic!

Lots of nice fun presents!

Afterwards, Victoria was ready to go shopping with some money that she got for her birthday! For dinner, the chefs took a break and ate at Arbys at V's request. It was a fun day!