final four!!!!!

Again! So exciting. The games this weekend were so good. We watched them beat Northern Iowa on Friday night and Tennessee on Sunday. Both games were very close and nail biters all the way though. Both teams were very good.

Few stats from espn.com
Since 1999 MSU has won more tournament games than any other team.

Izzo is one of only seven coaches in history to lead their teams to the Final Four at least six times.

"The Midwest was supposed to be the most brutal bracket, and to get through you needed a tough squad and a determined coach. Who else but Izzo and the Spartans? This is his sixth Final Four and easily his most rewarding with a depleted crew.”

Thursdays

My Thursdays are supposed to be nice days with just Avery. They have turned into a lot of work though. I spend all day in the car. We live in such a great neighborhood that we can walk to a lot so I really am not used to all the car time. This past Thursday I loaded Av into the car 12 times!!! It was crazy. We went from our house, to drop Camille off, then to Target, then I dropped her off at speech, I ran to the grocery real fast, back to pick Av up, lunch, hbr, our house to drop groceries off, OB appointment, library, and then back to pick Camille up. Ugh, I’m tired just thinking about it all. This coming Thursday should be much better though. Let’s hope so!

boy

Everyone still calls Camille a boy. When we are out, no matter how much pink she is wearing someone still thinks she is a boy. This weekend someone asked, “does he needed a highchair?” Poor thing. She does kind of look like a boy but a cute boy. My mom said I looked like a boy forever too.

13 weeks

My belly is getting big. Big for me that is. The other day Av was looking at my belly and asked when her baby brother was going to come out. It was very cute. I told her not for a while. It is a long time for someone her age. It’s got to be really hard for her to understand too. She asked me a few times that day.

I had an OB appointment this week that I took Av too. I told her we would get to hear her bother’s heartbeat. She was really excited. The appointment went well. His heartbeat was right around 150. As soon as we walked into the OB room Av spotted the stirups on the end of the table and asked right away what they were. I had to try to explain why they were there. I just told her they were where I would rest my feet when the doctor came in. Oh the innocence.

Necklaces and shoes

Camille is obsessed. Any shoes she finds in the house she tries to put on and walk around in. She has better luck in John’s shoes or mine. Av’s shoes just frustrate her to no end. She just does not have the coordination yet so she needs something bigger than Av’s. She looks so cute and is so proud of herself when she finally gets them on and walks in them.

We got a ton of necklaces from the St. Patty’s day parade and she puts them on then she takes them off. Over and over again until they are a huge tangled mess and then she throws a fit. She’s turning into a little diva too.

Almost 18 months!?!?!

How is the possible??? My baby is growing up way too fast. It’s amazing and sad all at the same time. I love her being my baby and wish we could just stop time for a bit. She is pretty funny and has quite a personality on her. She knows what animals say and she knows her body parts. She is starting to talk more independently. She will attempt to repeat any word you ask her to say. She says no and yes appropriately. She is not too bad about saying no yet but has started to say, “no no no no” when Av or another child is doing something she does not like. She sleeps well. She is an 11-hour (8pm-7am) sleeper on the nose, although she fights going to bed every night and naps for me at home. She seems to sleep well on her cot at school. She loves being outside and loves doing what her big sister is doing. She still has her giraffe lovie that she loves; she calls it “naffe.” She will be playing and all the sudden she will get up and run off to her room saying, “naffe” whether it is up there or not. She runs and tries to jump although she still can’t. She bends her knees and then straightens them fast and that is her “jump.” She is very loving. When we ask her for a kiss mostly she will stick her check in our face for us to kiss her. Sometimes we will get lucky with a kiss from her although she makes the noise first and then makes the contact with her lips. She loves Jack and all animals sometimes too much. She thinks John’s belly button is very funny and loves sticking her finger in it for some reason. If he is lying on his belly she looks for it on his back and gets mad when she can’t fine it. She likes to rough house and be played with rough. She goes down any slide possible no matter how big and how scared it makes her mom on her belly. She is still a very good eater. She has 12 teeth. Her canine teeth have been working on coming in FOREVER! She will cuddle for a bit in the morning and I just cherish those few minutes. Then she is up running off doing the eat sign (her version of the sign which is taping her first finger to her mouth). She loves to be sung too and says, “more, more” when she knows the song is almost over. She loves to be read to. She picks up any object but mostly her shoe and holds it to her ear and says, “hello” like she is answering the phone. It’s so funny. She likes to pick things up and bring them to me. Today she found and brought me her barrette, which she called a, “bow.” She was so proud of herself she did her happy dance after she handed it to me. The detangler I use on Av’s hair in the morning we have always called, “spray spray.” Even though Camille still does not have enough hair to even brush she always sees it and says, “spay spay” and wants me to spray her. She is a silly silly little girl.

dentist

I took Av to the dentist last week. It was supposed to be just a check up for her (mine was scheduled for the next week while she was at school) but they had time to fit me in too and asked if I wanted to. At first I panicked, what would Av do that whole time, would she be good, I had not prepared for this. I thought it would be nice to not come back though and they promised me they had books and toys to keep her busy. She went first. This was her second time at the dentist. The first time the dentist (our friend and neighbor) kind of cleaned her teeth, counted them and showed her all the stuff. Av was very reserved again this time but let the dentist count her teeth, clean them, check them for cavities and put fluoride on them! It was pretty much a real dental check up. She did so well. I was so proud of her. Then it was my turn. I spent an hour in that chair and Av was a good as gold. I just could not believe it. She watched a little, read some books, played with her bag they gave her and just sat quietly. She was just too good. It made my heart burst with pride. It’s so nice when your little one grows up to the point where you can take them to stuff like that a not sit on the edge of your chair the whole time wondering when they are going to lose it. I made us an appointment in 6 months to come back and do it the same way. We have a prenatal checkup this week. She is excited to hear the baby’s heart beat. It will be a long time before we bring the terror with us though!!!

Derby Dinner Playhouse

I took Av to her first play type thing this past weekend. Blue’s Clues. No she is not at all into Blue’s Clues but some friends were going so we decided to join them. It was really cute and Av was sooooooo excited. I got her a cute new little dress and off we went. We ate lunch first and then watched the show. It was only about 45 minutes long. Perfect! I let her pick out a little souvenir before the show. Instead of picking out the little Blue’s Clues doll she wanted the cat who is Blue’s Clues friend but also purplish in color. We had no idea but come to find out the name of the cat is Periwinkle. For the life of her she cannot remember the name Periwinkle. It’s so cute and funny at the same time. She keeps asking me what her name is again. She wanted to take her for sharing time today at school so we practiced the name many times. I think she finally had it. I tried to tell her to remember Perry and then Winkle rhymes with twinkle. John laughed at me and said, “that clears it all right up.” Also tried to tell her that periwinkle is a color, which is blue/purple. That didn’t help either. Wish I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom when she shares Periwinkle.

MSU

I love love love love the Spartan bball team and Tom Izzo! Every year they make me so proud. No matter what their season looked like they still manage to pull it together and make it an exciting March Madenss! I can’t say it as well as this article on ESPN.com can so I will let it do the talking.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Michigan State was up by nine points with two minutes left. The Spartans had dominated the entire game. And then things went completely bonkers. Maryland went on a 10-0 run to take the lead with 36 seconds left.

It was one of the great comebacks in NCAA tournament history. And then it wasn't.

Draymond Green jumper gave the Spartans back the lead with 20 seconds left.

A drive from Greivis Vasquez took it back for Maryland with six seconds left.

And -- with both sides of the arena staring in disbelief -- sophomore guard Korie Lucious, who was filling in for the injured Kalin Lucas, ripped a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave Michigan State an 85-83 victory in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

First, how many programs can beat a quality team in the NCAA tourney with two starting guards out with injuries?

Maybe the sort of team that's headed to its third straight Sweet 16, whose coach is 15-3 in second-round games and has made five Final Fours in 11 seasons.

That would be Tom Izzo and Michigan State, which looked every bit like a threat to make another Final Four.

Some thoughts:
Michigan State played the entire second half without two-time All-Big Ten point guard Lucas, who reinjured his ankle in the first half. Guard Chris Allen only played four minutes -- one in the second half -- due to a sprained foot. The only remaining healthy staring guard did a fairly good job picking up the slack: Durrell Summers scored 26 points, hitting six of eight 3-pointers.

The Spartans dominated the boards, outrebounding the Terrapins 33-20.

Lucious deserves plenty of credit, and not just because of his final shot. With Lucas and Allen out, he became the primary ball-handler. While the Terps full-court press gave the Spartans some trouble, Lucious did a solid job running the offense and finished with 13 points and two assists.

crazy hair

snow

I never posted these snow pictures so here they are.

Camille's happy dance

This is supposed to be a video of Camille's happy dance but somehow the wonderful camera man missed that part. It's still pretty cute of her though.

Camille in Av's crocs

Look at this little girl. What a mess, a cute mess though. She has Av's crocs on and was very pleased with herself for being able to get them on. She walked around in them forever. I finally pulled out Av's first pair of crocs. The fit pretty well. She loves them but I had to hide them because she still could not walk all that well in them and she threw a fit when I tried to take them off and put other shoes on her.

av's fav outfit

Here is Av's favorite outfit! This picture was taken one beautiful afternoon after school. The PJ’s were way too warm from what the temp was but she didn’t care. If these PJ’s are clean as soon as she gets home from school she wants to put them on. She likes the rain boots but it’s the PJ’s that are the important part. The rain boots are just the only shoes that fit over the PJ’s so they are worn to complete the look.

11 weeks

I am still sick. Ugh. Better than I was but still feeling it. It is more like afternoon sickness for me. I was never this sick with Av or Camille. It is no fun. I am starting to get a belly though and that is very exciting. Very cute too. We are starting to tell people and so it is all seeming more real. I have several high school friends pregnant with their first right now and it is just so crazy to me that I am pregnant with my third! Soon we will have to start looking at mini vans….(this is me crying about that). That was my only hang up about having a third. I didn’t/don’t want a mini van. It’s pretty much the only way to go though I have been hearing. I never really thought I would be a mini van mom of 3. Back in high school and college I thought I was more career driven than mom driven. Guess not. It’s pretty neat where life takes you.

zoo

I took the girls to the zoo yesterday. Camille was just amazed. She was too young last year to enjoy it. Seeing it through her eyes was so cool. As soon as we walked in there were two peacocks walking freely. They were heading towards us so we stopped to watch them. I was stooped next to Camille telling her about them but the closer they got to us the more freaked out Av got. She is becoming kind of afraid of things. Poor girl. So I got between her and the peacocks and then off we went. We checked out a bunch of animals, played at the park and then went to feed the ducks. We were with Caroline and Max. There was a metal fence between the ducks and us but Av was still scared to get too close. As I was trying to explain to Av that the ducks were on the other side of the fence and could not get us we started getting swarmed by ducks, swans and geese. They were aggressive and used to people and were honking at us. Av climbed back on her stroller and was covering her ears. Poor thing was really scared and almost hyperventilating. Her friend Caroline had been feeding the ducks under the fence and got bit by a swan. She was okay just bleeding a little. As Melissa and I got us out of there we were laughing pretty hard. We went to a new spot where we were on a deck several feet above the water so we could throw the bread down into the water. No ducks were close to us there but by that point Caroline and Av would have no part of it. Camille and Max loved it though. Camille did her happy dance between each piece of bread she threw and kept saying “duck” as she pointed to them. It was pretty cool to her.

St. Patty's day

We took the girls to the St. Patty’s day parade this weekend. Although the weather didn’t pan out quite like we had hoped we all had a great time. Av ended up with a full bag of candy. She was not expecting that. She ate more candy in those 2 hours than she has ever had before. Camille was a little overwhelmed the whole time but very interested in it all. She really didn’t want either John or I out of her sight and kept going back and forth between the 2 of us. The parade didn’t really have floats in it like a normal parade. It was made up of many different groups of people walking in it throwing candy. The parade was 2 hours long and I really think if we had put matching shirts on we could have been part of the parade if we wanted to be. Anyway a lot of the groups of people had dogs with them in the parade. Camille loved that part. She is very interested in dogs and animals. Camille kept picking up the candy and just holding it. She had a piece of that strawberry candy (the kind your grandmother always had that had the soft middle that was always kind of old and goopy by the time you ate it) in each hand by the end of it and would not give it up. By the time the parade was over we were all pretty cold. We ended up heading to dinner with all our friends. I don’t think that restaurant will ever be the same. We had 10 kids with us. The food took awhile and the kids were running kind of wild (the restaurant was very empty) by the time it came out. Too much candy and excitement but a fun day was had by all. Pictures to come.

It's a........

healthy happy baby BOY!!!!!!

test

Well the test could not have gone better yesterday. It was quick, easy and painless. The doctor said a few times that it went really really well and he does not foresee any complications. He said he would have the preliminary results in 24 hours! So exciting. So it’s just a waiting game now. The doctor said he would call with bad news and the nurse would call with good news. So as soon as I hear her voice I will know. It’s so hard to wait. I was not really worried about anything being wrong until now so that has to be a good sign right? I think with Camille I heard 2 mornings later so I bet I will not hear until tomorrow. Ugh. We love this doctor though. He is just so cool and so nice. He had a great bedside manner; he seems to really take the time to get to know his patients and really cares. I spent a lot of time with him during Camille’s pregnancy. We had a complication that thankfully turned out to be minor but at 5:00pm one day I thought my water broke. I called his after hours line and he was still in his office. He agreed to wait and see us. John and I fought traffic separately to get to him as fast as we could. His staff was all gone for the night but he took great care of us without them. I hate waiting!!!!!!!!!

10 weeks

Not really too much new to report. I’m sick in and out and have my tired days and then my not so tired days. Clothes are starting to get tight and I do have a cute little belly. I will not be able to hide it much longer. I went to Starbucks this weekend! They welcomed me back. I got my decaf mocha and loved it! Have not really gained any weight but I think my appetite is starting to pick up (today already alone I have had a bowl of all natural oatmeal with mixed berries, hard boiled egg, banana and some almonds, the most I have ate before lunch in a very long time!). My CVS is tomorrow. I had one with Camille as well since Av has a chromosomal abnormality. I just need to know one way or another so we are not blind-sided with it like we were with Av. It will just help me have a peaceful pregnancy. Another benefit of the test is that we will know the gender of the baby this week!!!!!!!! I can’t wait. If we had a boy and a girl I would not be finding out but if this is a boy I need to purge some pink! The biggest benefit of this testing is the extra ultrasounds (one at week 11 and another at week 24 on top of the normal 18-20 week one from our regular OB) we get on the highest and best equipment available. Tomorrow we will get to spend about 30 minutes looking at our sweet baby in crazy clarity. I can’t wait!

silly Avery

On our way back home from hbr we passed a truck loaded down with crunched up old cars. My mom told Av they were going to be recycled. She asked why and Grandma told her so they could be used again just like the stuff we recycle at home. From the back seat Av said “so and so (a friend of hers that will not be named) does not recycle.” It was pretty funny.

We have been working with Av on when we can get up in the morning and have taught her that it is not time to get up until there is a number 7 as the first number on the clock. On Thursday (the first morning of Grandma being in town) I heard Av crying from her room. I went in there and told her to be quiet so she did not wake up her sister. She pointed to the clock and said there was a 7 and it was time to get up. She was right it was 7:04. Off to see Grandma she went. Wonder how long she had been waiting for that 7?

smart Avery

Av can count. She is mostly correct when she does. Not sure how high she can count but she is great at it. Over the weekend Grandma asked her what came after 20. She said 21, 22, 23! I was pretty impressed. It’s one thing for her to have counting to 23 memorized but to be able to just start at a random number and pick up counting is pretty darn good. We were also driving in the car and Grandma was telling her that soon the trees would have leaves on them again and the flowers would bloom. I asked Av what season all that happened in and she said “spring.” She knows her stuff. At hbr on Thursday Becky re-tested Av to track her improvements. She is now jumping higher and farther forwards, running faster, can stand on one foot and can pedal. It is pretty exciting.

Grandma comes to town!

Grandma came into town this weekend. She got Friday off and was going to come Thursday so she could come to Camille’s music class. Then she decided that she wanted to come see Av hbr so she got Thursday off too. She got in late Wednesday so the girls did not see her that night. On Thursday we took Camille to school and Grandma got to spend the whole day with Av. On Friday we took Av to school and Grandma got some good one on one time with Camille. They both loved having Grandma all to themselves but Camille especially did since she has not gotten as much one on one time as Av has. We didn’t make it to Camille’s music class though. Thursday she came down with a fever. Friday she woke up okay and was playing and having a great time so we just thought it was teeth. By music time though she was just sitting with us so we thought we better not go. When we got home she perked up again and so we thought she just conned us out of music so she could have more time with Grandma all to herself. By that afternoon though she was just not herself (I told John she was being calm and not a terror) so luckily I was able to get her into her doctor. The dr took one look at her ear and said ear infection right away. I was glad to get her on some meds. On Saturday Grandma, Av, Camille and I went to a maple syrup festival. John was still out of town. It was quite the experience. It was back on these country roads and when we got there Grandma and I stood out like sore thumbs. We forgot to wear our camo or Carhart stuff and didn’t bring our big 4-wheel truck. We got stuck in the mud in the parking lot and had to be pushed out. I think even the guy pushing us was worried we were not going to get out of there because he stopped the rest of traffic and was shouting to everyone else “I gotta keep her moving!” Hehehhe So glad that is over. We didn’t even end up getting any pancakes because the line was so long and not moving at all. The girls had fun for a while but it was so muddy and still a little cold. Boy did we get a good laugh out of it all though. The rest of the weekend was spent outside enjoying the beautiful weather!!

PJ's

Av has a favorite pair of PJ’s. They are footed and have Santa on them. She just loves them and wants to wear them all the time. I finally have to tell her they are dirty/stinky and she can’t wear them until I wash them. Since my housework skills have decreased dramatically since becoming pregnant Av has been without her PJ’s for too long. She has started to ask me when she could wear her PJ’s again. I finally got them washed yesterday and was hoping we would get a few nights out of them. Poor Av, no such luck. I forgot to put a pull up on her last night when she want to bed. She woke up soaked but she didn’t tell me. She just got herself dressed and came downstairs. I thought it was strange but it was a big help to me so I was happy. She must have thought I would be mad at her “accident” so she didn’t tell me but she left the evidence lying on her floor. Guess I will be doing another load of laundry tonight after work.

Camille's struggles

Camille bit a classmate at school on Monday. Ugh! She has bit other kids but no one at school until now. I actually had hoped we were moving past this because it had been awhile since she had last bit someone and because her teachers at school had told me she seemed to have learned other coping mechanisms. She is teething badly again though and I think that is when we have the most problems with this. Then she bit Av this morning. I was outside starting the car and I came in and Av was crying. Camille was just standing there. I got down on Camille’s level and I said “no bite” and then I put her in time out. She started crying and it was a “my heart is broken cry” so I hope I am starting to get through to her. She is also starting to cling to me. Whenever I leave her sight she loses it. I have to pry her off of me when I drop her off at school and I hand her over to her favorite teacher who she then clings too. How can she be so sweet and bad all at the same time?

normal

Yesterday I felt normal. It was so weird. I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to feel normal again and I’m sure John was wondering when he was going to get his wife back. I hope I’m back for good. I have just been so not myself. Sick and tired and just so unmotivated. I had not done laundry in weeks, there was a stack of paperwork on the counter that just kept growing and growing and my poor family has not had a good home cooked meal in weeks. Finally yesterday though something snapped and I came back (for good I hope). I did 6 loads of laundry, grocery shopped, cooked, made cupcakes with Av and got the stack of paperwork under control! If felt so good. We also bought filing bins for the girl’s artwork. Their artwork that we are saving was being stored under a bed in the basement (not a good spot) and it was starting to spill out the sides. So Av helped me go through it to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. We just can’t keep it all. So now they both have their own special box that they can keep their favorite creations in.

weekend

We had a pretty quiet weekend. Friday we did our usual. Family time and take out for John and I after the girls went to bed. I’ve been so sick but for some reason on Thursday night I decided for dinner on Friday I wanted a vegetarian ruben from the little local restaurant right up the street from our house. As soon as the girls were in their rooms I sent John. I ate every bit of it and boy was it good. We watched a few shows we had recorded and then off to bed we went. On Saturday we had Avery’s school auction to go to. John’s brother Alex and his girlfriend came over to watch the girls. Av was so excited that Uncle Alex was coming over. They seemed to have a lot of fun with them. We had a great time at the auction. We won a bday party at the local fire dept for Av and also 2 tickets to a Charlie Brown musical in April. I made the mistake of telling Av about it and all day she kept asking when we were going to go. Oops. I got out the calendar and showed her. Might be a good time to start marking off days with her. Her school raised a record amount of money so that was very exciting too. On Sunday we stayed home and played all day long. It was so fun. The girls were great. Later after dinner John’s dad and step-mom came over to see the girls. They brought the girls books and hung out with us for a while. The girls of course hammed up the extra attention. They loved it. Camille showed them several times how she does the “itsy bitsy spider” with Av singing right along with her. It was a very nice family weekend!

2 Grandmas

Av spent a lot of the day yesterday coloring pages in a coloring book. She kept telling us that one was for her Grandma and the other was for Pap-pap. Today when I was picking it all up and I putting her pictures in a special spot so we could mail them she told me she had a new plan. She said, “I have 2 Grandma’s, one is for Grandma and Pap-pap and the other is for Grandma.” It was so sweet and cute of her. She was very proud of herself too.

9 weeks

Well I guess it’s time to come out and tell the world. Hoekstra baby # 3 is on his or her way. I am 9.5 weeks. We had our doctors appointment last week and got to see the sweet little gummy bear. So far he/she is doing very well and very happy where he/she is. I am exactly as far along as I thought I was which was a huge relief (I was still not regular yet after stopping breastfeeding) and the biggest relief was that there is only ONE baby. So come Sept 30th (or a week or so early) Avery and Camille will both be big sisters. We sat Av down to tell her the other night and it was very anticlimactic. She was more interested in finishing up whatever she was doing. She seems happy and excited though. We will see. This pregnancy has been VERY tough. I am just so sick. Last week was worse. I was sick constantly. This week I go in and out but when I feel sick it is horrible. Hopefully this does not last much longer. I still have not had a Starbucks in over 2 weeks! That is a very long crazy record for me. It does not even sound close to good right now.