The "Magical Due Date"

Today is the Magical Due Date: Aug. 28, 2011. The date we have been counting down to since last December when I took the at-home pregnancy test, is about to be gone and unfortunately no signs of a baby is on it's way.  It is just keeps on a kicking inside me. I think we have absolutely everything ready, so there is no good reason that this baby wouldn't want to join us.

We have the little crib in Marty and I's bedroom.

We have the big crib ready in the baby's bedroom.

 

We have the baby swing ready with a new set of batteries.

 We have plenty of diapers ready to be used.

Last weekend we got the house cleaned and I even talked Marty into mopping the floor.

In 8 years of marriage this has NEVER happened... so this is a BIG deal.

(don't you think he looks pretty good with a mop... maybe this should be a monthy ordeal??)

And this morning the kids gave kisses and hugs to my belly hoping that this would entice this little munchkin to make it's way into the outside world.

Unfortunately none of these preparations have worked. 

Maybe we should put the cribs and diapers away... and then it would come!

Well, it will be here soon enough. Gracie was one day over the magical date and my Zachy was an induced labor 8 days over the magical date.
 I was just hoping that maybe this time we would stir things up a little and maybe we would be a day or two before the magical date! 

I have a Dr. appt tomorrow so I guess we will figure out a plan then.

Stay tuned...





1st Day of Pre-School 2011

August 22 was the first day of school in our area and this meant Pre-school for Gracie and Zach.

The kids are going to St. John's Lutheran School in Redwood Falls. They have a flexible Early Childhood Learning Education program that can work with almost any schedule.  Gracie went last year just one day a week on Mondays and we liked the teachers and program so much we this year she will be going 3 days a week on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  They start kids at 33 months so Zach is going to be going on Mondays this year.  All summer long we kept telling Zach if he was Potty-Trained then he could start Pre-school.  Well it worked. He is potty-trained and off to Pre-school we go.

They each get their own locker. Every morning they take their name board and practice writing their names.

Gracie has a new teacher this year and is in a different room. She is so excited about this. Zach is so excited just to be going. All last year he would come with me to drop Gracie off and so much wanted to go and play... and now he gets to! For those of you that know my Zach he is quite bashfull, but I tell you the bashfulls went away for Pre-school.  The teacher said he did great on his first day.

Pool Party #2

 The first weekend in August the entire Malecek Clan was out to enjoy some pool time and family time.

We had the Wanduragala's,

 the Nibbe's,

the Mekkelsen's,

and even Uncle Kevin's with his girlfriend Jana and her 2 kids over.

We had a houseful.

Good thing we have a 2 family house that can fit us all.

I didn't capture to many photos, but here are a few.

Again lots and lots and lots of swimming.

Lots and lots of good food.

Lots and lots of good family time.

Lots and lots of card playing.

And we can't forget the 2nd annual fireworks show by Uncle Jim.

 And then their are some of us who just prefer

to sit inside the air-conditioned house, eat popcorn, and watch a good Disney movie!

Sebastien and Zachy.

 Thanks for the nice visit everyone. We look forward to next year.

Pool Party #1

 We always enjoy company to have a pool party.

Back in July the Cornish's came over on a Friday evening to do a sleepover and pool party.

Then the Daly's decided they would come too, so they came Saturday late afternoon for a sleepover and to join the pool party too.

 Above we have little Joey and below we have the Cornish family.

 Zach and Joey are below trying to do a hug or something.

 We did lots and lots and lots of swimming this weekend.

Below we have the majority of the guests.

 Above we have Christy and Kate enjoying a snack and below is big brother Carter.

 Then we have some slumber party moments.

 Lots of eating inside and outside.

As always LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of good times!

Thanks for coming to visit us! 

Anyone is welcome to come at anytime we are home.

 Just gotta call to make arrangements.

Summer Vacation 2011

So as I mentioned a couple of posts ago we did a 5 day stay at my Mom and Dad's cabin for our summer vacation this year. This was towards the end of July.

It was the peak of hot and humid days.

This, at the time, 8 mo + pregnant Momma doesn't do so well in these weather conditions, but luckily the cabin has a wonderful window air conditioner.  So I managed. 

 And we actually managed a few decent days outside.

Being in the water helps a lot.

We started our time with some fishing with the pontoon.

 The kids love to try to fish.

And Daddy has learned to skill of patience.

 And we actually caught something.

To bad we are not any good at cleaning fish, so lucky for the fish he got to go back to the water.

 As I said we did lots of swimming.

The cousins in the area took turns coming to visit us.

We very much enjoy this.

 Auntie Shelly talked Zach and Gracie into trying out the tube.

They loved it!

 More swimming.

And one morning it was actually a little breezy and a little on the colder side, so here the kids are taking a "warm up" break from swimming.

 More fishing and pontoon rides.

Zach taking his turn and driving us around (ha ha!).

And the dear cabin we got to spend our time at.

Thanks resort owners for letting us stay!

We will be back next year.

My ARMY kiddos

I thought it was time to get these kids in the ARMY training mode, so they got P.T. (physical training) uniforms like their Mommy (except Mommy does not fit into hers right now!).

 Gracie demonstrating the ARMY push-up.

 And I am not quite sure what they are demonstrating below.

Some kind of dance I think. Not quite the ARMY standard, but I guess it will work.

Next week sit-ups and the 2 mile run.

Pedicures

3During our little vacation it was terribly hot and humid, so being on the lake outside wasn't necessarily always pleasurable. We decided to do another adventure and head to the mall in Mankato. 

The plan was for the girls to get pedicures and for the boys to go get haircuts.

This is Gracie's first pedicure and boy was it a delight.

I am so happy I have a little girl to do this with.

She was so cute.

We shared the foot soak.

 I took a picture of her and then she thought she should take a picture of me.

She was so talk-a-tive and asking all kinds of questions as she had never seen this done before.

When she first put her feet in the foot soak she asks why we didn't bring our swimsuits?  Then she asks why the lady was cutting my toes and then why we soak just our feet and why the lady next to us didn't have her little girl along. It just went on and on and was so cute. 

 Gracie's favorite color is purple, so we went with purple polish. She even got a little flower on the big toes. Then I did too.

 We matched!  It so much fun.

I recommend anyone with a little girl should do this at least once!