Our Future Generation

You can never start too young!

Go Wildcats!

Here is a performance by the biggest Wildcat fan out there! Jason and I are taking Olivia to a High School Musical on Ice show in March, I can't wait to see her reaction to that!

New Tricks!

Lately, we have been focusing on Joseph's physical development and trying to get him moving. In January, at our NICU follow up, they noted that Joey was a little bit delayed in some of his milestones. They obviously take in account his stressful start in life and his double brain bleed, but would like to see him moving along more. Joey is 10 months old (7 months corrected) and is still struggling with sitting up, has arm weakness, leg weakness, and is no where close to crawling. We have enrolled him in both cognitive and physical therapies. They will come every week to work with Joseph and then we will work on his "homework" lessons when the therapists aren't here. Everyone keeps telling us that by the time Joey is 2, we will not notice gaps in his abilities compared to other 2 yr. olds.

Tonight, to our amazement, Joseph decided that he was going to be a big boy. He sat up by himself for long periods of time, balancing himself if he reached for a toy. He also decided he would start holding his bottle all by himself. He was very proud of his new tricks!

I have hands!

The past couple of weeks Joseph has been infatuated with his hands and finding out that they can be useful. At times I just sit back and watch him examine his hands...it is absolutely hilarious. Lately we have been introducing solid foods to Joey, those that he can gum to death and it will dissolve in his mouth. To date the poor boy does not have teeth, but man are they coming! Today I sat him in his high chair and put a few snacks on his tray. He was in heaven and sat there for a good hour munching and playing. Oliver quickly remembered the benefits of sitting under a baby in a high chair (Olivia fed him ALL the time). Here are some cute pictures of them.

The Next High School Musical Star!

Over the past month or so, Jason and I have introduced Olivia to the world of High School Musical. Knowing that she loves to watch movies where people sing and dance, we felt this movie would be right up her alley. Well, we made a High School Musical fanatic. We now have all 3 High School Musical DVD's and Olivia knows all of the songs and the dances. Since we just got number 3, she is still learning those songs and dances, but she knows and performs all of the songs and dances from movies 1 and 2. Here is a performance from the next High School Musical lead performer!


The Start of Something New

Hurry up Mother Nature!

Here in the Heiple house we have a BAD case of spring fever. Olivia pleads with us daily to go outside and play or to go for a walk. Joseph gets SOOOO excited when he sees his coat come out of the closet and we go out to the car. To make matters worse, Jason and I purchased a running stroller this week so when spring comes we can go running and bring the kids along with us. Needless to say, Olivia and Joseph were ready to jump into that stroller and go for a walk. So mother nature needs to hurry up and warm things up before the Heiples go bonkers ( I say this as it snows outside)!



To help distract our children from their claustrophobia, we invited some friends over to play. Our friends, the Zeibert's came over Friday night to play for a couple of hours. They have three daughters (poor Joey), Colleen and Brooke are around Olivia's age, and Ashley is around Joey's age. Yes, right now poor Joey has no boys to bond with, but think of when he grows up, he has three beautiful girls to hang out with.

Love Bugs and Cold Bugs

This Valentine's Day was one for the books. The entire Heiple family has been cooped up inside all week, including Valentine's Day with colds. The kids are still fighting viral pneumonia and Jason and I are fighting who knows what. I tell ya, when you get a virus this winter, it is REALLY tough to get rid of it. I am happy to say that Olivia seems to be on the up swing of it, and Joey is fighting hard to recover. Praise God that he has been putting his healing touch on Livi and Joey...as everyone knows, pneumonia is nothing to play around with. Jason and I are hopefully on the road to recovery, the strep virus just does not want to let go of us. We also had Bella scheduled to go in to get spayed this week, which added to the load.


On the positive side, we have had A LOT of family time this week, including on Valentine's Day. In the morning, Olivia and Joey had Valentine's to open. Then Jason, Olivia and Joseph surprised me with a beautiful 3 diamond Mother's ring! I absolutely love it! In the afternoon, grandma Dressler and Jim came over with another Valentine surprise for Olivia and Joseph. I tell ya, Cupid was awfully good to the Heiple clan. Finally, in the evening we surprised Jason with a candlelight Valentine's dinner. Olivia insisted that we dress up for the occassion.

On Monday, grandma Heiple came down to visit (she braved the house of germs). She stayed with Olivia and Joey while Jason and I went on a date. We went out to lunch and a movie. It was a belated Valentine's date. We also went out and bought a video camera so we can video tape the kids and add those to our blog. So stay tuned for future videos!

We hope everyone had a fun and romantic Valentine's Day!

A week of firsts and illness

This past week in the Heiple house we have been experiencing a germ fest. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with strep throat and Joey was treated for a sinus infection. Jason just had a common cold with a sore throat. This week, I am still feeling the effects of strep dispite the antibiotics and Joey and Olivia have viral pneumonia. They are now on a different antibiotic with A LOT of liquids and vaporizers. I have to say that I am ready for spring when I can air out my house...what a germ fest! Please keep these two little ones in your prayers for a quick and complete recovery!!

On a positive side, Joseph had a great week of firsts. He experienced his first carousel ride and his first cinnamon sugar pretzel stick. He LOVES pretzel sticks!!!

Happy February!

I don't know what it is about February 1st, but it always makes me in a good mood. It could be the short wait until Valentine's Day, or the idea that spring is getting closer! Olivia and Joseph took pictures today in their Valentine's Day outfits so they could make a card. Here are a couple preview pics....who wouldn't want to be their Valentine???