the last two weeks

It's been a busy two weeks! Here's everything we did...

We set up the train

Put lights on Connor's tree

Baked cookies

Santa came

Had the best Christmas morning ever

Celebrated Camryn's Baptism

Celebrated Connor's birthday

Enjoyed Camryn's first time in her walker

Happy New Year!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

It's been all about Christmas the last few days here in the Heil household. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were spent getting our tree, putting it up, decorating it, putting the lights up outside and going to Connor's preschool Christmas program. It was a busy few days but so much fun!

We had a great time picking out our tree. Connor said, "How about this one? I think it's perfect!" about pretty much every tree we walked by. Some of them were so bad too...I think he was just excited to be looking for one. Em's gloves kept falling off so she was walking around saying, "Fix it" the whole time. And Camryn just went along for the ride.


This is Connor pretending to put an ornament on the tree. He told us that he couldn't actually put the ornaments on the tree because the needles tickled his fingers. He had a lot of fun unwrapping them though and getting them ready for us to hang. Emily prefers taking the lights and ornaments off of the tree.

Monday night was Connor's preschool Christmas program, which he was so excited about. It's all he talked about last week as they practiced everyday. We took Em and left Camryn at home with Mom Mom Heil. The show consisted of a narration of the story of the birth of Jesus while the kids acted out the parts. Connor was a soldier and although his on-stage time was about 10 seconds, he was so thrilled about his part and about wearing a costume. When he walked out on stage I could see him scanning the crowd and when he spotted us, he got the biggest smile. After the show, they sang some holiday songs. If I can figure out how to get a video on here, I will upload one of them. Connor sang his heart out and had a lot of fun.

em's first taste of chocolate pudding

ultrasaucer

Camryn was 4 months yesterday so it was time to get out the Ultrasaucer! I love this thing and although she will need a few weeks to get the hang of it, she did pretty well for her first time.

connor turns five

On Friday, December 5th, Connor turned 5! I can't believe he's that old already. I feel like the last five years have flown by. Here's his "birth story"...

He was due on the 3rd and I felt great still. On the 4th, I felt fine but a few people at work told me that I looked really tired. That night, we ate dinner as usual and watched some t.v.. Survivor (Pearl Islands) was just about over when I had my first contraction. I knew right away that it was a contraction...and I always wondered how I would know. You just know. So, Carl began timing them and at 10 p.m. they were five minutes apart so we called the doctor and headed over to the hospital. We arrived around 11:15 p.m. and signed in at registration. I remember refusing a wheelchair ride up to L and D. We got up there and one of the first things I told them was that I wanted an Epidural. The pain wasn't bad at all at that point but getting an Epidural was my plan from the beginning. I got in a room, they checked me and I was 4cm. dilated. The epidural came at 1:30 a.m. and we just hung out until I dilated to 10 cm. Between 12 a.m. and probably about 2 a.m., we had visitors in and out...my parents, sister Dawn and cousin Danielle. They eventually all went to the waiting room. At 4 a.m. I had reached 10 cm. and was told that I was ready to push. Shortly after I started pushing, it began to snow. I could see the snow through the window and I think it ended up being 6-8 inches. I pushed from 4 a.m. to 5:42 a.m., when Connor was born. Because I had the Epidural, I couldn't feel how to push, which is why I think it took so long. I couldn't feel a thing...it was a very calm, relaxing birth. We didn't know if Connor was a boy or girl and I remember that moment when the doctor said, "It's a boy!" It's such an exciting feeling to not know and then two seconds later be told. And there he was...our son. It's something I think everyone who gives birth should experience. On his birthday, Connor opened up his gift from us in the morning. We got him a Wii and I think he said, "Thanks so much!" at least 10 times. He was surprised and excited. He had school at 12 p.m. so he went in with cookies to celebrate with his classmates. Carl had to go to work so between 3 and 4 p.m., we celebrated his birthday with a cake that I made (out of a box of course). Below are some pics from the day. Happy Birthday Buddy!

birthday bowling party and another trip to the er

This picture pretty much sums up the past 3 days. Since I posted about Connor's trip to the ER, the rest of last week he had off and on fevers, chills, was lethargic and had no appetite. I thought a cold was coming because the rest of us had congestion and coughing. Connor was hanging in there Saturday but during his birthday bowling party on Sunday, he got worse very quickly.

Before not feeling well

After not feeling well

Out of nowhere came severe chills...teeth chattering and all. He also started coughing. By the end of the party, he looked as though he was going to pass out so I dropped Carl and the girls off at the house and took him to the ER. In triage he had over a 105 fever. They couldn't believe he was walking and talking as well as he was. They gave him Motrin and sent us back to a room quickly. After an exam, bloodwork and a chest x-ray, the diagnosis was Pneumonia! I couldn't believe it. Connor was the only one out of all of us that hadn't had any obvious cold symptoms. Apparently Pneumonia shows itself as a high fever, lethargy, no appetite and chills. They started him on an IV antibiotic and we were headed home around 10 p.m. He was such a trooper at the hospital. We were there for 7 hours, he was as cooperative as could be and not a complaint out of him. He's doing much better today.

Since the girls have had a cold for over a week, I didn't want to take any chances so I made them appointments first thing yesterday morning and they were put on antibiotics too. Hopefully they'll all be feeling themselves in a few days.

A cold didn't stop Emily from having fun at Connor's party...pics below.

metatarsus adductus

Do you like the name of my post? That's what Camryn has. Sounds serious doesn't it? It's not. Camryn was seen by a pediatric orthopedic physician today at the recommendation of her pediatrician because her feet turn inward. That's what metatarsus adductus is, a fancy way of saying her feet are turned inward because of the way that she was positioned in utero. She has a high arch and her big toe has a wide separation from the second toe and her foot deviates inward...all of these characteristics get her the diagnosis. The good news is that it is mild, will likely correct itself with some minor stretching exercises that we will do to her feet and according to the doctor, she doesn't seem to have a common related condition called developmental dysplasia of the hip, when the hip joint slips in and out of its socket. She had an x-ray for that just in case...results pending.

Camryn's feet on the left, Em's feet on the right.

trip to the er

Last night into the early morning hours of today brought a trip to the ER for Connor and Daddy. To make a long story short, he hit his head on the bathroom counter Monday night just before bed. It was swollen and bruised but he seemed fine, went to bed, and seemed okay yesterday. After he went to bed last night, he woke up a few times disoriented, confused and making no sense. He also had a slight fever, 101.9. I can't remember most of what was coming out of his mouth, all I know is that it scared both of us and since we thought it might be related to the head injury the night before, off to the ER he went around 11:30 p.m. After an exam, the doctor there determined that the likely cause of the jibberish he was speaking was due to the fever. I didn't think the fever was high enough to cause disorientation and confusion, but I'm not a doctor. So Connor came home with some Speedracer stickers and he seemed fine today. I'm keeping a very close eye on him though.

mvp

Saturday was Carl's high school alumni game and my awesome shopping skills on Friday were no competition for his soccer skills on Saturday. Okay, so I'm being a little dramatic, but he did rock...he was awarded the 2008 Alumni Game MVP award. Yea Carl! Connor and Carl went for the start of the game while I brought up the rear with the girls early into the second half. Their naps are much too important to miss! And even though it was in the 40's, there was not much wind and it was really sunny so it was nice to have the kids outside for a bit and watch Daddy play.

Carl and brother Dave

black friday

This was the first year I've ever gone shopping on Black Friday. I've never wanted to, no matter how good the deals were. I don't know why but for some reason I was all for it this year...and I was very successful! I went to six different stores between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The crowds and lines really weren't that bad and I got SO much shopping done. And what I didn't get while I was out, I finished online that night. This is the first year that I'm pretty much done my Christmas shopping this early. It feels great!