A month of cuddles

 Last week Rachel turned 1 month! 

We have spent every minute of that month soaking up our little miracle.

 Kate, Lily, and Elise cannot get enough of Rachel, they want to hold her all the time and Lily has been begging me to let me feed her a bottle...too bad she can't take the night shift!

 Rachel was very excited about halloween.

 The older girls have been fantastic; they are so helpful, and Lily and Kate (and Drew) have done a fantastic job of getting up and getting ready for school on the mornings when I need some extra rest. 

Adding Rachel to our family has made my heart overflow with love: the moment I held her in my arms I felt my heart grow 1000%. I love that about babies.

Heckert #4 has arrived!!!

 At 5:51 am Friday morning, I woke to a wicked contraction, but I just turned right back over thinking it was braxon-hicks. However, when I got up a few minutes later to use the bathroom, these fierce pains started coming about 4 minutes apart, which was really surprising because I have always been induced and didn't think I would naturally go into labor before my scheduled induction at 39 weeks. I goofed around a little thinking it would all stop, then took a shower only to have the contractions keep coming. At 6:40 I told Drew to get up because I was hurting pretty bad and thought we should get ready to go the hospital. Then the craziness started! I started bleeding pretty bad and we went into overdrive to get me to St. Mary's. Mom came and picked me up while Drew waited for my Grandma Eva to come and watch the kids.  It was an intense few minutes to the hospital where I waddled in and asked for my epidural as soon as I saw the nurse. I was really concerned when they informed me that the Dr. was in a C-section, but I would be right after that. Every contraction I would turn to Mom or Drew and say, "where is my epidural?" You can tell how tough I am! The Dr. must have sensed my concern from the OR because he speed over as soon as the C-section was done and got me set up really quickly. Crisis averted!!!! Things didn't calm done too much because in just a few moments it was time to greet Baby Heckert. With one push baby was out at exactly 9:51 am! Welcome to our family Rachel Mae Heckert: 6lbs 10 oz, 20 inches

I was so fun to have the girls walk in and tell them they had a new baby sister! 

These Heckert girls are pretty beautiful!

A very brief summary of the very busy month that was August!

 August was crazy busy for our family. My Mom, sister Alisha, the girls, my brother Jonathan, and I drove out to Utah for my two brothers' weddings and to watch the Farr girls while my sister Elizabeth and her husband took a much deserved vacation for their 10th wedding anniversary. I will say that I was so sad not to spend time with them this trip, but we will make up for that when they come for Christmas.

The above picture was taken at the Ogden temple when we went to the open house. It was so cool to be able to take the girls through the temple. The best part was that most people talked to me assuming that all 6 girls (aged 8,7,6,5,3,and 2) were mine, and didn't even bat an eye that I had one on the way. It was quite amusing, go Utah! 

 After a few days in Utah, the Indiana caravan hit the road again, this time with the Farr girls, Jonathan's fiance Mandy, our friend Danny, my sister Emily, and her baby Henry. The 10 hour drive to Sacramento went swiftly and it was fun to see a different part of the United States. 

 Andrew and his sweetheart Lauren were married on August 2 in the Sacramento CA temple. The girls, and Henry were wonderful and seemed to really enjoy the festivities.

 After the brief weekend, we headed back to Utah to get ready for wedding number TWO!!!! We had a celebration picnic the night before the wedding where we celebrated Grandma Eva's 80th birthday. This is Grandma with all her Great Grandchildren, how cool is that? 

 Jonathan and Mandy were married August 9th in the Salt Lake City temple on a beautiful day. I do not have a picture with Mandy and the girls yet (sorry Mandy!) 

 Out little family!

 Here's the bride! 

 Guess who caught the bouquet?

It was another wonderful trip with my family. I was glad that Drew was able to join us for the weddings and that the girls were able to spend so much time with their cousins. The weddings were joyous and so sweet and we are excited to have two new family members on the Kuhlenhoetler side!

 Immediately after our return to Indiana, the girls started school. I can't believe how quickly they recovered from our cross country trek and settled into school. I have some amazing children.

And last, but certainly not least, Lily turned 7! This bright-eyed 2nd child of mine is a joy to have around and I am so grateful for her!!!

Kate's Baptism

 In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we baptize our children when they turn eight. It is a big milestone and a beautiful day.

 Kate looked so sweet and everything turned out perfect. 

Lily sang a song that had me in tears. I am so lucky to have such wonderful children!

June

 June was a lot of fun for the Heckert house as we celebrated Kate's 8th birthday! We had a big party at home for the occasion. 

 We put our new swingset to the test!

 We also had a visit from the Farrs, which was so awesome. The girls just love each other to pieces. 

 We also squeezed in a weekend in Florida for Trip (Drew's younger brother) and Kari's wedding. Florida was beautiful and the wedding was spectacular. It was a great family get-together.

 We enjoyed (well, most of us did, hehe) a nature conservatory.

 Played around in the pool

And visited an Aquarium. We certainly jam-packed that weekend!

What we did in May

 To properly catch up on the blog, I have to go all the way back to May. During this month we...

Went to Alisha's Graduation from Purdue (Boiler Up!)...

 Finished up Soccer...

 Ended School with Field Day...

And Kate had a piano recital! It was a crazy month!