A Picture a Day *June*

Well, almost "A Picture a Day". I forgot a few days. So you know how some people have got it ALL together and they do the 365 picture project? You know...where they take a picture a day for an entire year. I have wanted to try that for awhile but I'm sure I'd fail...so I thought I'd try it for the summer and see how it goes. It's been fun!! Here is June in pictures (I am actually going to do individual posts for some of these "Happenings"...eventually!)

June 3rd 5:40 pm

(Got off to a late start!) While making dinner the kids needed some distraction. CRAFTS!!

June 4th 10:47 am

My sweet girls. Lucy won't fall asleep on my chest like that. I can think of two reasons why not...uncomfortable mounds and too close to food source. This is her FAVORITE position on Hailey.

June 5th 4:42 pm

She's good! Really. And she didn't get it from John or I!!!

June 6th 12:59 pm
The Zoo!!! Hailey was still in school so it was just the little three.

June 7th 8:37am

Hailey's last day of school!!! We were all so excited!

June 8th 4:24 pm

Our first summer play date with the Mason's. Sprinkler fun!!!

June 9th 11:47 am

The zoo...again. We have season passes so we may be there a lot this summer!

June 11th 10:43 am

John's dad was visiting us for the weekend and he brought the kids BYU shirts (Lucy included!)

June 12th 10:14 am

Lucy's Blessing Day...and my first day back as Primary chorister...and the day John drove 4 hours to take his dad to the airport and back...and the day we invited some special people to our church for the blessing. Phew.

June 13th 11:46am

Headed to the Grocery Store!! We *heart* Wegman's. Anyone want to teach me how to type an actual heart???

June 14th 7:09 pm

Oh Talon. And girls...Jammies and rainboots. Seriously? I was weeding...this is what happens when my children are not having my undivided attention for a few minutes.

June 15th 8:12 am

Oh what a frightful picture. Are those circles under my eyes. No they are circles that are taking up my entire face. I just HAD to share a picture of my nightly experience. Talon ends up in between John and I 95% of the time. And Lucy is in and out of our bed all night long. I can't even move. Well, I can but I'll wake somebody up. Oh dear.

June 16th 3:53 pm

My tired babies.

June 17th 1:08 pm

Sam's Club!! Woot woot! It's not Costco but it gets the job done. We go to Sam's about twice a week. Not sure why, since the idea is that you stock up and then are good for awhile but it seems like we are always needing something there!

June 18th 4:48 pm

Just a little picnic. Oh, and sprinklers.

June 19th 8:48 am

Father's Day. That cookie cake could kill someone. Two Giant cookies stacked on top of one another with a thick slab of uber sugary frosting in between. Wow.

June 20th 7:34 pm

A super fun birthday party for my friend Cathy who was turning 30. It was a surprise, mock funeral (hence all the black) because 30 is the new 40 you know. It was planned by her hubby. Lot's of fun!

June 21st 4:30 pm

Hailey turned 7 years old!!! She wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and playtime.  Forty bucks, and three hours later...three happy children and two wiped out parents.

June 23rd 4:15 pm

Talon has been doing speech therapy for the past year. It has helped him catch up verbally since his tongue tie operation last Fall. This is his speech therapist, Jill. He loves her. Like-crushes on her.

June 24th 4:15 pm

Snuggling together.

June 25th 2:40 pm

I just LOVE her.

June 26th 4:24 pm
She sure does get a lot of snuggles.

June 27th 2:22 pm

We had early doctors appointments this day and not everyone had a chance to eat breakfast. We stopped by McDonald's before hitting up the Grand Opening of Hobby Lobby. This is a picture of Hailey who is SO ready to leave. She is just starting to grow out of the play area phase!

June 28th 5:14 pm

Is this even legal anymore...to put bathing kids pictures on a blog? Well, it's the only photo taken this day...so here it is.

June 29th 7:22 pm

We enjoyed an ice cream cone outside while John and Talon were on a "date". I had to teach my girls how to drink out of a hose...it was pretty funny watching them trying to not get wet.

June 30th 9:01 pm

I almost forgot to take a picture on my last day of June. I snapped a picture of Hailey as she getting into bed.

May 2011

 Having my mom and dad stay with us was so great! My mom is super organizing...emphasis on SUPER. She is amazing. We were hard at work in my basement, rearranging and cleaning. Lucy is nursing in this picture and Talon was SO tired but I obviously already had my hands full. He just climbed right on up and made himself comfortable. He is fast asleep in this photo!

 Lucy's first bath. She did not like it!! This was the most that she had ever cried. We didn't even know she had it in her! She did get pretty dry and flaky after the bath...I think she was better off dirty!

 Our little caterpillar all dry and warm.

 Just cute....so funny!

 Lucy is not really a thumb sucker. So this was pretty random. Random enough that we took like 10 pictures of her doing it. She likes her binky when she is sleepy...not at night though. It's kind of hit or miss!

 I have been trying so hard to lose some of this annoying and ugly baby weight. This is what a lot of our meals have looked like lately. Kinda boring.

I was trying to take a picture of Talon holding Lucy. She was starting to get fussy and Hailey thought she had to come to the rescue. Poor Talon...always gets the baby taken from him!

The Easter Bunny Did Come to Our House

 Yes He did!! Even though we were a little distracted with our newest little Hecker joining our family that same week. What a fun week. It was extra fun because we had my parents visiting. There were some fun activities that our friends were doing this week but we couldn't participate because of having a brand new baby so we tried to make Easter fun while staying home the entire week!

 We had a fun (and sunny and warm) Saturday before Easter which was very unusual for April this year. Out of the three weeks that my parents were with us I think that we only had 3 sunny days! We were very happy that we could do the Easter Egg hunt outside. My dad and John hid the eggs (some with money and some with candy).

 The kids thought this was so fun!! I think that money eggs were the most exciting for them.

 I really hate all of the Easter pictures with me in them. Just being honest. I still looked 5 months pregnant. But...here is one anyways.

 Dying Easter Eggs. I was nursing Lucy and missed this entire activity.

 Sunday morning the kids are searching for their baskets. Very fun!

 We did our usual Easter Egg bash and invited our neighbors to join us. I seriously love this tradition.

What great memories we shared on this wonderful Easter.

Too fast

I have been reminded far too often that this time of being a mother of young children will go by so quickly. I see it every once in a while. Like how all of a sudden Isabella went from my crawling on her knees for months and months before she could actually walk...into a four year old who is ready to conquer the world. Or how Lucy, who just a few weeks ago could fit inside the space of a laid out burp cloth but who is now hanging over the edges. Hailey, who hated school and now it has been one WHOLE year of her loving it. And Talon, just one year ago could hardly say any words because he was tongue tied which delayed him, can now talk about almost anything.


Weeks go by where I haven't taken a picture...and every so often I get so mad at myself for not taking more videos of the kids. I know that I will miss these days so badly when they are past. I have been trying to slow down. I have been trying to not be so hurried from one activity to another and to take the time to focus on the most important things. Everyday we have a choice as to what we do...and I have a far way to go to get to what my perfect day would look like...but I am trying. While making dinner 2 weeks ago, I not only thought...but I DID take a picture of each one of my children at the very moment that I thought about doing it. Here is what they were doing:

 Lucy was sound asleep as she still often is. This is the first time that I used the Boppy for her to rest in. I haven't used it for that same purpose since this picture was taken but she does look cozy.

 Isabella was watching a cartoon. Around dinner time is when she gets really sleepy. She would take a nap every day if I would let her (but I won't because it results in her staying awake until 11pm!) Many times, while cooking dinner, I will find her asleep on the couch. All moms know that is the WORST time to be napping. Waking her up is not too pretty and then dinner time is never as relaxed so I usually try to have them doing something other than watching TV while I am cooking...but sometimes it's the best place for them to be still and quiet! Just this morning (it's 10:23 am) Isabella told me that shew wanted to take a nap and she is now sound asleep in her bed. She likes her sleep!!

 Hailey was busy doing a project. She made an oreo cookie and a duck swimming in a pond. I have a love/hate relationship with playdough. The kids love it and so it is a good activity to make them happy and it keeps them busy for a bit. It stimulates creativity. BUT it is always a mess and cleanup is never fun. Hailey however is responsible enough to clean up the mess (and not really make too big of one) by herself.

Talon is also being phased out of his nap right now. I rarely plan on him taking a nap these days. Maybe twice a week if I know we have a later night then I will have him lay down but for the most part I just keep him busy all day so that putting him to bed at night will not be too challenging (otherwise it takes a long time!) At dinnertime, he too is really tired and if given the chance will close his eyes and be asleep in seconds. SO, he is usually my helper in the kitchen so that his eyes don't have the chance to rest. He is either up on the counter next to me, standing on a stool beside me, or making a mess in the sink! This day he was helping me clean the dishes.

I am not good at taking the time to write down sweet and funny things the children say, and I am a horrible blogger. I try to figure out how to find the time to do these things because they are very important to me. I haven't figured it out yet but I can tell you that my perfect day would include time for writing down these memories. I love these kids so much. Even when they are driving me crazy, it's amazing how much love you can have for these tiny human beings.

My goal today...make more memories!

Hailey is almost 7!!!

 It is hard to believe that Hailey is turning 7 this month. How in the world do I have a 7 year old? She has grown up so much this year. She is such a joy to have in our family. 

This girl is crazy!!!  She is always about partying (who isn't) and she is always coming up with things that she wants us to do. One of her favorite things is arts and crafts. She is always asking me to do a "project" with her. When I make a special dessert after dinner or if we plan a spontaneous activity she gets so excited and expresses herself so sweetly with a kiss for me. That's when I know she is over the top happy. Hailey is a great student...she loves school and she loves her teacher. She has gotten WAY too good at playing her (well actually MY) Nintendo DS. I bet she could beat me at almost any of the games. She loves to read and she likes to write in her journal.

She has been such an amazing helper with Lucy! Hailey cannot stand when Lucy is crying...she is trying to do her homework while keeping Lucy happy at the same time. I hope that the love that she has for her sister will last and not turn into the typical sibling love (the kind that she has with Izzie and Talon!) Hailey will hold her for as long as I'll let her and she is a pro! She is going to be a great mom someday!!!

I love this girl so much!

More of Lucy

Thank goodness for good friends who have amazing photography skills!! Otherwise I may not have any pictures of my kids! Thank you Britani for helping me with these awesome pictures!!! Lucy was 4 days old when these pictures were taken. She did NOT like to be naked...like all the way naked with her diaper off. She was okay as long as she atleast had her diaper on. Britani took a TON of pictures but Lucy was making it a little difficult to get some of the shots that we wanted. I love how these turned out though.

As a side note...I decided that I was not going to be eating sugar for the whole month of May. I then realized that my parents would still be here until today, and a huge part about having visitors is spoiling them with mounds and mounds of goodies so my plan was to start today. It's almost 4 o'clock and I haven't had a bit of sugar but I am DYING. Yes...if you need a reminder..I am a bit dramatic. But I have a sugar tooth and 20-30 extra lbs. to lose so I am wanting to succeed SO BADLY. But...this is hard. VERY HARD! I also have visitors coming at the end of May so as soon as they are here...I am off the hook again. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. "You can do this Katrina!!!"