A Little Dress Up

What can I say about my Gracie?  First thought she is funny, sassy, playful, loving, and cuddly.

She has been such a blessing to us with all of her little crazy things she does and says.  All this to say the pictures below were caught as fast as I could.  She was playing a little dress up in a hat, my high heels and talking to herself in the mirror.  Just is just a funny little thing.

talking to daddy

just being cute

talking to herself and making funny faces

32 Weeks

Cravings: peanut butter & jelly sandwich and no aversions to any specific food but after I have eaten something the smell of it later does make me feel queasy
Sleep Cycle: this sadly keeps getting worse.  I do sleep with a pillow but it does not do much good.  Plain and simple my back is a mess.  Unlike with Gracie a message would have cleared this right up but where my pain is in the center of my back it has nothing to do with the muscle.  My back situation was explained so well on baby center this week:
"Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine. This can make you feel less stable and cause pain when you walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things" 
This is exactly how it has been for some time and the doctor said it won't get better:(  I have had 2 nights of good sleep this week which is a record.  Most nights consist of a shower before bed and I wake up almost every hour or so to turn because of the pain in my back.  Around 4 or 5am I get up and take a hot bath and then get some much needed rest until about 6:30am.  My weekend naps are a must because for some reason this is when I get the best sleep.
Movement: this child never stops moving and it will be weird when he comes out and just wants to sleep, I am hoping;)
Names: nothing yet, we are waiting until the last minute;)
Excited For: this little man to come, the name to be decided, to see Troy holding his son for the first time, and to see Gracie holding her little brother, all the above
What I miss: sleep and throwing Gracie around.  She wants to wrestle so badly all the time.
A surprise: belly button is still holding strong.  Braxton Hicks all the time
Funny Moment:  Gracie loves to talk to her brother.  I asked her to say hi and she yelled hello into my belly button and then blew into it.  She always asks why he is not talking back.  I love it!  Gracie also keeps asking if the baby is coming yet.  I told Gracie no but said when he gets here she could hold him, kiss him, help feed him and even change his diaper with me, she was so excited.  she really wants him to take a bath with her.  I told her that won't be for a while but she could help give him a bath.  I think she is very excited to have a sibling. Just love this.
New/Best Moment:  Feeling his head at this appointment and knowing you are down and ready to go.
Nesting Stage:  I have made 2 peanut butter pies, lemon drop cookies, cake batter blondies, & peanut butter cups.  No, I did not eat all of these, they were either shared at work or at bible study.  I love baking whether I am pregnant or not but being pregnant does enhance this urge.


Sorry these pictures aren't very good.  I tried enhancing them but turns out I still look pregnant;)

Gracie really wanted to join in on the photo op

Game 3

Well, I did not make it to game #2 nor did I listen to it.  I was shooting a wedding for most of the day so I was given the update of the game by my hubby later that night.  Game #3 however was the longest I have sat through a game so far, challenge, you bet.  I am pregnant and this child sits low so each time I get up to chase Grace, it means I need to go to the bathroom... again;)  I did have a couple helpers but I think it maybe time for a plan B so I don't come home in pain.  Let's just say it has already been a great Friday and Saturday but I will pay for it all week.  The game well it ended with a score of 22-24.  So close and but the Bee's kicked a field goal in the last 5 seconds of the game.  We are now 2-1 and praying we come back with good lessons from this game.

So with that lets just look at some fun pictures...

Mommy & Gracie matching shirts

sucker time

 Daddy Time

 snacks are welcome at any point ;)

 Our Little Pioneer Fans

 A Little Football

 tackles with smiles & giggles

Our Newest Family Photo

A First at the Schenk's

In the last eight years of marriage Troy and I have never had a pet.  We have talked about it and then always decided it would be too much, even before we had kids.  We did not want to be worried about needing a sitter or someone to come feed our pet so we never had one.  Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think many of our friends have a pet.

We have for sometime wanted to get Gracie a fish.  Neither of us wanted to buy the tank or the ridiculous other things that go with it, when we had no idea how long it would even live.  It was not worth the start up cost.  Someone mentioned that they had a gold fish growing up in just a fish bowl and it did just fine for years.  I decided to try it, plus I had a perfect bowl.  This weekend while we let Daddy get some much needed rest, Gracie and I headed to the pet store to buy a fish.  We picked out  a gold fish for $.27 and some food for a dollar something.  I even let Gracie carry the fish to the car.  She did such a good job and I was impressed how careful she was, she kept telling him not to jump out, which was not possible since he was in a tied bag but still so cute.  We got the fish home and set the bowl up.  Rocks were free from a friend so this seemed so simple.  Plus the store gives you a 14 day return if the fish dies so we at least have a back plan;)

Day one(sunday the day we bought it): pretty good, feed it, talk to it, and watch it swim
Day two: feed it in the AM before work and check on it when we get home.  Water seems a little foggy but someone says to be patient, the fish needs to just adjust.
Day three:  feed fish in AM and water still looks cloudy.  Wondering if this fish has enough oxygen.  Talked to Troy at lunch he was also concerned so he changed out the water and he thought the fish was doing much better.  Gracie and I get home about 7:45 at night and the fish had gone to fishy heaven.

I did not even get a chance get  a picture of Gracie and her first fish whom she called mamma.

thanks to Google you can see what our fish's 3 day life kind of looked like 

What will we do next?  Not sure because I don't want to carry that dead fish around until I have time to make it to the pet store again and well Troy is just a little busy so we will just have to see and I think I will let Troy decide on how to explain this to Gracie:)

Park Time

One thing Gracie loves to do I think more then anything is to go to the park and play.  Particularly, she love the swings.  Now I prefer to put her in the below contraption because my daughter is a little dare devil and wants to go as high as I can possibly can push her.  So this giant swing where there is no way for her to fall off makes it much better for me and the hopes of not having a heart attack during play time.

cute kids right

a short car ride

sharing a snack

Game 1

The season has officially started.  Gracie and I packed up the bag and headed out.  I was so excited about the game I realized I was there almost 45 minutes before the game started.  I was not alone there were ladies already set up in the stands.  This is the only true night game of the season and I could not miss it.  The only thing missing was the cool air of fall and gloves.  Instead we were greeted with very warm weather and lots of bugs.  Minus the bugs it was a good time, the kids did great playing together and obeying as much as possible.  Gracie even got into the cheering during the touchdowns which I loved to see.

The game was great to watch and we're not too sure how the season will completely play out with such a young team, and the transition into Division II.  This should be an interesting season, one that will keep me on the edge of my seat throughout.  Since I anticipated this game going to at least 10:00pm we headed home after halftime to put Gracie to bed.   Half-time is the only part that Gracie will actually sit through and watch.  The team did well in a double overtime win with a final score of 40-34.  What a great way to kickoff the season and keep the teams spirits high.

I got a couple pictures of Gracie all dressed up and ready.

Gracie ready for the game with her bunny in tack

very excited about the game

heading down to the field Gracie did not want the sun in her eyes;)

The true star of the night was our mascot the Pioneer Moose.  I had to explain why this was a moose and not a horse to miss Grace.  The kids watched the moose go up and down the stands in hopes he would make an appearance to their area, no disappointment here.  What a champ to play and entertain the kids on such a hot night in what I am sure was a sweat box.  The moose sat down and allowed all the kids to get there pictures taken.  It made their night.

Schenk Baby Blues

When I was pregnant with Gracie I prayed for blond hair and blue eyes.  Not just any blue eyes but her daddy's blue eyes.  Sure enough she was blessed with some beautiful eyes, blond hair and a sassy personality to follow.  Not sure where she got that:)  Just thought I would show off my little cutie.

A Little Visit

In August Randy & Sheila came into town to see there new granddaughter.  I got a couple shots of them with there grandkids.

Gracie & Sheila

play time

Sawyer, Sheila, Gracie, Randy & Nora

story time