1.26.2012

January

 Dinner time is tired time around here. I usually try to have these two busy doing something but I was obviously not successful on this evening. They had only been out of my sight for 5 minutes!
 Grandma and Grandpa Hecker flew all the way from Utah to spend a few days with us and it was so much fun. They come to PARTAY!! And to play, play, play! We always enjoy their company! Grandma was out in the snow for over an hour and it was freezing cold. AND...she was in jeans. Oh...and tennis shoes. She built an awesome ramp for the kids.
 Once the kids went to bed...it was time for the adults to have some fun. The snacks came out, the games came out, and the clock disappeared. Hailey goes to bed and hour after Isabella and Talon do so she was lucky enough to learn Rook and share some treats with us.
 Ohhhh....Settlers of Cataan. Look at those eyes. Plotting and planning. Just for the record, Dad and John smashed mom and I!
 I love these little blessings of mine. Isabella is holding frozen pancakes because she bonked her head and was using them as an icepack. Talon was sad for one reason or another also and Lucy can't stand to have John or I nearby and her not being held. So...John caught a very common moment at our house of being me being smushed  and smothered by most of our children all at the same time. 
 Hailey and Isabella had a day off of school for teacher in-service last week and so we decided to join some friends and go bowling. Talon was so excited all morning about throwing the big ball...and Isabella thought she was excited. As soon as it was her first turn she realized that people would be staring at her and she refused to continue on. Both Hailey and Isabella did not like the shoes either. Hailey helped Talon "throw" the ball a few times but she mostly just played for all three of them. Her friend ended up doing the same for her siblings and they had a great time. The little ones loved the food and that kept them pretty busy.
Hailey and Olivia. Hailey is really good. She got a ton of strikes and spares!

1.19.2012

'Oh How Tweet'

 I've talked about her before...and I'm sure she'll be mentioned on this blog many times more...my sweet neighbor that is...Jandi! She is pregnant with her 4th boy!! Infact...today is his birthday. Although he isn't born yet. Weird huh? She is in the hospital right now...expecting his arrival any hour! I am so excited for her and her cute family. Although this is her 4th baby...she needed to have a special night just for her-because she deserves it! We had a small intimate group with Jandi's closest friends.
 In all her pregnancy glory! She has long beautiful legs that are so thin!! And then this adorable ball that sits on her tummy! It has been so fun to watch her go through her pregnancy this year. She got pregnant almost to the exact day that Lucy was born! So here she is about to deliver her baby...and my baby is 9 months old! Words can't express my feelings for Jandi! She means everything to me!
 The theme was 'Oh How Tweet' and it was really fun to plan. I went with sage green and light blue with hints of cream and white. Her guests signed little love notes to her in the "Are You My Mother" book.
 I have really felt so blessed with great friends in Erie. The truth is...I have been so blessed to have dear friends everywhere that we have lived. What this tells me is that there are amazing people everywhere you go....it takes time to build relationships. But once they are built, it's amazing just how much people become a part of your life. I would be a mess without friends. So thankful for all of the women in my life!! Cathy and Rachel are pictured here!
 The food is always the best part of the party! My friends where such great helpers...it took so much stress off of me and I could focus on the decorations and the details! Thanks girls!!
Amanda (baby boy due this week also!), Angalee, Jandi, and Jamie!
 Oh...this bread...give me a minute.
Okay...seriously. This is probably the best thing that has ever touched my lips (besides my cute husband!) Oh Cathy...what is it called? I can never remember. It's an artisan type bread...rises for many hours and then bakes in a cast iron skillet. This is a sweet version with chocolate pieces, and other sweet goodness inside. Then the chocolate butter...yes...CHOCOLATE BUTTER. It's smooth and creamy with varying chunks of more chocolate pieces. This satisfies me on so many levels!
 Cathy also brought a baked brie...another one of my favorites! She is an amazing cook!!
 These little parfait cups are my favorite. They even have little spoons!!! Our super fancy, uber amazing grocery store Wegman's sells these adorable cups and I want some soooo bad! Carolyn made a delicious mousse to fill the beautiful cups and they did not disappoint!
 Carolee (who I cannot believe that I didn't even get a picture of!) made these cupcake bouquets and the most amazing pesto, tomato herb squares...she is beautiful and talented! There were other amazing women who somehow snuck away without me capturing a picture of them! Jandi has great friends!
 Horrible picture...like really bad. BUT I spent a lot of time stressing about these darn blue bird cake pops...so they are getting their spotlight even though I am not that proud of them. They tasted good though. Looks are over rated...right?!?

 Great company!!!!
Dear sweet Jandi...I hope today is so smooth for your delivery and that your precious baby comes to the world peacefully and easily! We all love you so much!!

Some Randoms!

The year 2012 has started out GREAT for the Hecker's! It's nothing specifically good that has happened. It's just been nice...relaxing...uneventful....and fun! The girls have loved dancing with the Kinect. John and I have a blast with it too!!!

This little one is growing up too fast. She is just about crawling. She loves to be with Mommy or Daddy at all times so if she is not in our arms then she is on the floor next to us playing with toys to distract her for a few minutes
We love our basement...it's so great for the kids to play with all of the toys while we enjoy the big screen!
Isabella is keeping herself busy!
Talon is always needing an extra snuggle!
My sweet girls picking out some breakfast. Like the title says...these are pretty random!


This is how I get ready in the morning. Like I  mentioned...Lucy needs to be with me at all times. She actually enjoys the Bumbo!
My main Christmas gift from John was a spa gift card. Jandi and I enjoyed a great night and we were pampered. Mostly....it was great to be with a great friend...and relax!
My girl Jandi!! She is 9 months pregnant and deserved this SO MUCH!. She had her hair cut and styled after this photo and I had a massage!
Hi feet!!!

The first snow of the season...which then completely melted and now we have a new fresh batch of thick beautiful snow!

I needed to clear the walk way and it's too cold for Lucy outside so she watched me from the front door!
Isabella wanted me to take this picture of her with the flower pillow. Silly girl!
Hey beautiful!!!

Our church time changed from 11am to 9am which makes for a long Sunday! Our favorite thing to do is curl up and snuggle and watch a movie to pass the time. Usually the snuggling is with John and I but I was pleasantly surprised when I came down to the basement to find all of my sweet babies laying next to each other, without fighting over covers or pillows. It was nice!

1.14.2012

Our Merry Christmas

 We had a great Christmas this year. We are so lucky to have special friends in our lives to share the Holidays with. It helps us not feel quite as sad when we can not be with our families! We had so much fun on Christmas Eve as we ate great food and laughed and relaxed. Hailey as an angel!!

 My little Lucy Angel!!!
 On Christmas Eve we did the traditional opening of new jammies.  The girls have been begging for footed pajamas. I just know my girls too well though and I knew that it would be a waste of money because they wouldn't like their feet getting so hot. I hear them complain about being hot at night even in nightgowns, so using my better judgement, we went for the normal fuzzy, cozy winter jammies....with slippers. They love them and haven't been sad about not getting the footy ones!
Isabella went first!
 Then Lucy. This was her first gift she has ever opened...Talon was a great helper!
 Hailey is obviously happy about hers!
 I shouldn't have bought Talon any jammies...it was just too sad to think about not getting him any when the rest of the family would be...BUT he hasn't worn them. Actually...he wore them for about 15 minutes on Christmas Eve and then wanted them off!!! This boy has the fullest drawer filled with the CUTEST pajamas (mostly hand-me-downs from his cousins Noah and Levi!) He will wear them on really good nights but he usually wants a T-shirt and his shield shorts (luckily we have 3 different pairs of the shield shorts-or shorts with a little shield printed on the leg!) Oh well...not the first time that I have wasted money on clothes that my children refuse to wear. Grrrrr!
 I loved my pajamas...I knew I would since I picked them out myself!
 John's polar bear pajamas rocked!
 We had to model our new stylish sleepers!


 Talon is thinking that his momma is CrAAAzzzZyyY!
 Santa came and didn't disappoint. Our Christmas tree is looking a little puny. I can't wait to have a pretty, FULL, pre-lit tree. For now...this will have to do for aleast another year.
 The stockings were SO packed and filled with love and deliciousness!
 Christmas Morning!! Happy as can be and ready to PARTAY!

 I took 4 pictures of Lucy and they all turned out like this....hmm...she must take after her daddy in the photo taking department. It seems like his eyes are always closed too!
 As the presents under the tree thinned out, we realized that there were a few gifts that had not been opened and that were not under the tree. I could NOT figure out where in the world those gifts had gone (and they were the ones that we were the most excited about giving the kids!!) After searching all day on Christmas, and not being able to find them I gave up and hoped that we hadn't accidentally thrown them away at some point. To make a long story short....they all turned up. One bag of gifts was hiding in my closet (I checked there 3 times!!!) John found them the first time he looked there! And two were under our bed (also checked there a few times!) SO WEIRD. The under the bed gifts were just discovered a few days ago...and will now be given as Valentine's gifts instead :)!
 After church, we came home and got our Christmas pajamas back on! We ate brown sugared ham and yummy potatoes and my sweet friend Heidi's Garlic Green Bean recipe. We had Sparkling Grape Juice also.
The rest of our Christmas Break was spent playing the new Xbox 360 Kinect and enjoying all of the new toys that filled our house. It was nice to have John home for a few days! New Years Eve was spent sleep training our youngest two (Lucy and Talon) and it was filled with a lot of crying! We went to bed early in anticipation for the long night ahead..which it was! BUT, they are going to sleep all by themselves now and Talon is sleeping in his own bed ALL NIGHT LONG! I occasionally have to walk him to the bathroom and tuck him back in but he is doing great. Lucy is now great at putting herself to sleep at a normal sleeping hour (between 6 and 7) and although she still wakes up quite a bit at night to nurse, she is still doing so much better than she was before when she wanted to be nursing ALL NIGHT and wanted to be snuggled up right next to me. She is in her own crib in Hailey's room. It's nice to have "our" room back!