Bike Riding

So my last week home with the kids has been fun so far. Lucas started really riding his bike on Sunday night. Rusty and I think back to us being kids and wonder if our parents would let us learn how to ride our bike in the house and realize that Lucas has it pretty good. So as Rusty and I sat playing our Wii, Lucas comes sailing in on his motorcycle bike, turning around and pedaling back into the kitchen and back to the living room again. He was so proud, so were we. I was sure that Monday we would be outside all day, but it rained for the most part. Tuesday we took a little ride and today he made it around two of the road in my neighborhood. Brooke by his side in the stroller, it was a great morning. I promised that we would go out again tonight after it cooled down, 90 degrees is a little warm to ride bikes, so I think we will venture to the pool for the afternoon.

A afternoon with the Winkys and Greg

What is more fun than being around friends on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It is a little harder getting together once you and your friends have families of their own, but we cherish every minute that we spend with Dennis, Adriana, Denny, and Greg. We had an afternoon in the pool and a great dinner I might add. Lucas and Denny are at the perfect age to begin a bond that will hopefully grow as strong and us parents have, and I think that I already caught Denny checking out Brooke (smile). They came over in the afternoon and we has some appetizers of BBQed bacon wrapped mushrooms that my sister started me on and I can't pass up on a weekly basis, then headed for the pool. Of course, my little fish Lucas loves the water but it was Denny's first time in a pool and he just loved it! Brooke is getting pretty accustomed to the water herself. The we had some drinks and dinner outside on my new patio dinnerware that I had to purchase when we got a new gazebo and table and chairs and also our fence that we just love! It was a great night and I am sure that there will be many more this summer. I don't remember how "the winkys" got that name, but it has been one that has stuck and will forever.

Playing house

It just amazes me the simple things in life that makes kids happy. While Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Dave were here Rusty made a Clubhouse out of the box that our new grill came in (it cooks wonderful I might add) and Lucas has had a blast playing with it. It has now reached a whold new level when you play with two little girls. I don't have much experiece with girly things, we know more about fast race tracks and blocks, but Megan and Camryn taught Lucas how to play House. I must say, it was quite a new sound hearing Lucas call Megan "mommy". Of course, her being the oldest of the kids, she ran the family very well. They started in the clubhouse, played in the back yard, and who know that a closet at the condo they were staying at could be such a good house too. (sorry, couldn't get the picture to rotate)

Cousins are wonderful

The first day that Kim, Aaron, Megan and Camryn were here on vacation, we took the adrenaline junkies out on the boat. The kids had a great time together and Camy kept asking Uncle Russ to go faster. It was a great start to an even better week. The water was cold, but Uncle Aaron decided to test it out. When we were leaving the dock after a good lunch at Crabby Bills and to play on the beach, Aaron decided that he could untie the boat himself and his exact words were "don't worry, I got this" as he did the splits with one leg on the dock and the other on the boat and SPLASH, he was in the water. Once we made sure Uncle Splash was ok, we all got a good laugh, and a fun name for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, he did get a few good rope burns out of the fall, but is OK!

Daddy's Girl

I must say that Brooke is a Daddy's girl from 8-10 at night. After a few long nights of crying we found that her happy place is in Rusty's arms. It doesn't matter if they are rocking, talking or just plain sitting there, she loves it and you can just see the relaxed feeling that she gets. Even during the day I found that she likes to sit in "his" chair and just chatter away.

a proud night at the Heplers!

Awake at 3am feeding Brooke, I hear Lucas's door open. The only thing I could think is that we woke him up. To my surprise, he went into the bathroom all by himself, turned on the light and went potty. Before he turned the light off he looked really hard into the living room to see if I was there but luckily didn't see me. He turned off the light and went back to bed closing his door behind him and went back to bed. What a good step this is for him. He does great with the whole potty thing during the day, but still has troubles at night. We will mark this one in his baby book as a happy, happy day!

Fun with Bubbles...

After if finally warmed up a little, into the upper 60's, Lucas was ready to play with bubbles outside. We just put up a new fence so it is much easier to let him run out there while I am feeding Brooke. I am not sure what he was doing and got a little worried when he said he found a snake, but I quickly went to look and didn't find anything. Lord only knows what he saw. The kid is a story teller, who knows, maybe someday he will be a famous writer!

Sleeping Baby...

Just like Lucas, Brooke LOVES her swing. She will get a good three hour nap out when she is in there. I am enjoying every minute of being with her and Lucas. She is a little sassy at night and has acquired the nick name DQ, short for drama queen! She is an angel and we are getting used to her likes and dislikes. She especially likes sleeping in my arms at night, needless to say, I spend most of my nights sleeping in my recliner with her falling asleep while nursing. She is on a pretty good routine of going to sleep between 9-10 and sleeping so somewhere around 1. Then up again at 4 and again at 6 or 7. Unfortunately, I am so tired that once I get up with her for the first time at 1, I end up falling asleep and staying there until morning. I am sure that Rusty isn't minding a king size bed to himself, but I am sure that he is missing me lying next to him.

Cake or Frosting?

I think one of Lucas's favorite things to do since I have been home is to bake a cake. As most of you know I love to cook but am not the best baker! Anyway, I finally found out why he likes it so much, its not the cake itself, its the frosting!

Express Delivery...did you say NO DRUGS?

Brooke Elizabeth Hepler finally decided to come into the world on her own special day...LEAP YEAR, Friday, February 29, 2008 at 3:23 pm. I wasn't especially happy with the date since it only comes around every 4 years, but since it was right between my original due date and the date that my last ultrasound predicted, I should have known that would be when she decided to come. So here's my story. I went to work on friday just like any other day. I think that most of my co-workers were getting a little paranoid at this point, they were all sure that my water was going to break at work. After talking with my sister about the fact that you don't hear about peoples water's breaking at work or when people are out for that matter, I felt like I was pretty safe...WRONG. I am not sure if it was walking up and down the stairs going to the front desk are if it was just time. It was about 11:30, Faye and I were about to go to Olive Garden and pick up lunch, I was sitting at my desk and felt something. Not sure exactally what it was, I walked to the bathroom as quickly as possible since I felt like I was peeing my pants..well skirt since that is what I had on! I made it with out anyone stoping me which was good and it was a good thing that I got there when I did. From that point I wasn't sure exactally what to do..since my water was just leaking and hadn't totally broke. I peeked my head out of the bathroom and told one of my coworkers to bring my purse, it was time. I went back into the bathroom and by the time I came back out, there were about 15 people standing there. They all decided that someone should drive me, but I had my friend Liliana follow me home instead. I called Rusty and he was on his way to lunch with his co-worker Jack and was shocked that I was calling from my cell phone. So shocked that his exact words were "oh shit Jack turn around, were having a baby." I was laughing, since to all of you that know me that is what I do when I am nervous, and he couldn't tell if I was crying or laughing. The girls at work grabbed a few towels and a few more stops at various bathrooms though the hotel, I was walking out the door. Oh, did I mention that there was a line of people clapping from security staff to Human resourses staff on my way out...I was so scared that my water was going to totally break right in front of them, but it was ok. My nice frined Faye was parked (illegially) right at the employee entrance, and was willing to give me a ride to my car, as long as I sat on all the towels. Once to my car Liliana followed me home. I talked to my parents and sister and Kristin on the way and they were all shocked that it all happened at work. Rusty of course called several times as well, having our friend Greg get the rest of the stuff in my bag. So when I got home they were both waiting. I changed and asked for Rusty to take some pictures, and Rusty kept telling me that it was time to go. On the way to the hospital I started to have contractions, but not too bad yet. Once I got to the hospital I walked in to check in arear and there were two other girls there having contractions, but their waters hadn't broke so I was first in line. Once upstairs to the baby floor, I still had to sit and wait for about 45 minutes before they called me back. Rusty Grandparents got there before I was even called back. The contractions were getting stronger, but still not too bad, the bad things was, by this point, it looked like I had peed my pants because my water was still leaking. Finally my turn. The called me back and in the triage. I got in my gown and into the bed. The on call doctor came in and checked me and I was at 5 centimeters and the contractions were getting stronger and stronger. I asked when I was going to get my epidural, and the told me as soon as I got in my room. That was the bad part...there were no rooms, they were waiting on someone to get discharged in order for me to get a room. So I waited...and waited...and waited. I talked to my sister and she couldn't believe that I was still talking thru the contractions. The nurse came in and game me the IV so when I finally got my room I could get my epidural. Dr. Patel came in and I asked him as well, when was I going to get my epidural, he told me the same thing, as soon as I got a room. I had to pee so I got up and went, when I got back to my bed Rusty was talking to my sister and he told her that I wasn't wanting to talk anymore. At that time I couldn't figure out why she called right back, but later I found out that it was because she didn't think that I was going to get the epidural either. By that point, the contraction was so bad, my body took over and I couldn't stop pushing. The nurse was there and said that she needed to check me now. She checked and yelled, she is having this baby NOW. I have never seen people move so fast, they were wheeling me down the hallway, and I saw us fly past Dr. Patel and he followed quickly. Rusty said that the ladies that were moping the floor were leaving the room as we were entering...however, I don't remember that. All I remember is asking if I was going to get drugs and they said No sweetie, it is too risky at this point and will put the baby to sleep...and I said OK, what was I thinking! Once into the room, I had to move onto the bed and I still couldn't stop pushing...Dr. Patel was telling me to push because her head was already out, and at the same time a nurse was telling me not to push. I just remember looking at Rusty and asking what do I do. Dr. Patel was still getting into his gown and she was almost here, three more pushes and Brooke was born. They put my little angel on my chest and was just beautiful. Of course, since it was so fast, no cone head and her skin was beautiful, 10 fingers, 10 toes and a little button nose. The tears came. The took her to clean her up and I was just releived that I did it with out any drugs. After I have told all of my friends who have had a natural birth that they were insane, and that drugs were there for a reason, now I am one of them. I quickly remembered Kristin telling me that it didn't matter if I got an epidural or not. There was no award for having a "natrual birth" and no balloons were going to come from the ceiling, and she was right, no balloons until family and friends brought them. Would I do it again? If I was assured that it was going to be this quick, I think I would.

Sorry for this being so long, but that is my story.

Lowry Park Zoo

One of our favorite places to go is the Tampa Zoo. So what a better time to go for the last get away before baby Brooke joins our world. We left first thing after work on Friday picking up Lucas on the way. He was so excited to goto Tampa...I don't think that he knew where we were actually going, but he was excited. After being in the car for an hour and hitting Tampa traffic at 6, he wasn't so excited, but Rusty kept him entertained while I drove. We got there and checked into the hotel and headed to dinner at Oyster Catchers at the Hyatt which was an absoultly amazing dinner. After dinner Rusty and Lucas enjoyed sitting in the Jacuzzi while only my feet did.
Saturday morning we got up and headed to the zoo. Lucas was talking about how he wanted to see the zebras so that is what we did. We had so much fun listening to the Singing Monkeys that were hilarious. Lucas and Rusty laughed and laughed. We also say the birds, giraffes, elephants and many more great animals. Once it was time for my feet to get a break, we brought Lucas to the little water play area that is there so we could relax I had an ice cream and Rusty had a beer and we sat and for a long long time and let Lucas play. By the time that he was done, he was shivering from the cold water. The temp was in the high 70's so I don't think that was the problem. After that we head to the Hyatt downtown for another night.
We all ended up taking a 2 hour nap after a long day and got up and headed to Channelside for dinner. It was a lot of fun, there was a great 2 man band at the restaurant that we went to and dinner was good again.
We got annual passes to the zoo in hopes that while I am on maternity leave I will be up to taking the 2 of them over for the day.
There is nothing better than spending the weekend with your family doing something that everyone loves. I think that we all had smiles most of the weekend and truly enjoyed ourselves. It is such a wonderful feeling to wake up with your little boy wondering what fun will be had that day. He is such a good little boy that is going to love his little sister so much. He is showing signs of a little jealously while I am fininshing getting her clothes washed and room finished, however, he kisses my belly everyday and asks "Mom, how is Brooke doing?" It is the sweetest end to every day.

Lucas's New Bedroom

Yes, I know that Lucas is three, so it is time for his new "big boy's room" and a real bed! Rusty and I had a great time painting and moving furniture, going with the race car theme...his favorite. However, it didn't go like I thought. We had our friends Greg, Todd and Vicki and thier son Trent over to play cards, and at 9:30, he wanted no part of going to bed. So, the nice Mom that I am let him stay up and watch the Toy Story in Mommy and Daddy's bed. By 11 when he was still awake, Rusty decided it was time to go to his bed. He didn't want to sleep in his new bed, so Rusty put him to bed in the crib. So, before I went to bed later, I brought him into his new bed so at least he would wake up there. At 7:30, he was calling my name and thank God for rubber sheets because he was SOAKED. (it didn't help that I let him have a cup of milk while he was watching the movie....bad Mommy.) After a tubby and a wash of the sheets the room is back to normal again and he is SOOOOOOOOO happy that he has a big bed. Hopefully tonight he will be more excited about going to sleep in it!

Lucas's new Tent

Lucas found a Christmas present that he hadn't played with yet, his new Simpson's Tent. Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Dave got it for him and he was so excited. I told him after we went to the store we would put it up. For some reason, I thought that it was a play tent but much to my surprise it is an actual tent...a little large than expected. We put it up and he played, ate lunch and took his nap in it. I didn't think that he would fall asleep and couldn't really see because he made me zip it up and there aren't any windows except at the very top and I am too front heavy to be able to see in there, but Rusty was able to look and he was sound asleep. He said that he wanted to sleep in there tonight but we had to explain to him that this was only for special times and camping. I think that he will get a lot of fun out of this in the future.

Date Night

Rusty and I decided that we needed a date night so we had our friend Greg watch Lucas for the evening. We went to Hemingway's at the Hyatt (luckily for my birthday I get a dinner for 2 free) which is our favorite Seafood restaurant. Unfortunately, Rusty wasn't feeling the best, we had all had the flu and he was just getting over it, but insisted to go. We got a fabulous app. platter with their famous crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, scallops, and awesome calamari. We probably should have just stuck with one appitizer, but how could we resist when the manager offered it to us! I ordered the Lobster encrusted Sea Bass which was to die for, and Rusty ordered the Red Snapper, it was good but I don't think that he would order it again. Of course, but the end of the dinner I was stuffed, and Rusty was sick. We had a great time, but it was a good thing that we ordered dessert to go because we didn't even make it to the car and Rusty was getting sick. He came home and went straight to bed...Greg and I enjoyed the dessert to finish off the night. All and all we had a great time and Lucas and Greg had fun too...however, Lucas had to wait up for us and was so excited to see us when we got home.

Christmas Morning

This was a big day for Lucas. He was so excited for Santa to come. The only thing that he asked for was a race track and a race car for it. He woke up and looked under the little tree in his room and said "Mommy, I don't think that he came". I told him that of course he did and brought him out of his room to the big Christmas Tree when he was so excited. He was so happy to see that Santa had finally arrived.
We let him open everything in his stocking while Daddy took a shower (Rusty can't do mornings with out it.) And he was thrilled even with the stocking gifts.
He started opening one by one, getting excited with each of them, putting bubble bath in his bathroom where it goes, and just anticipating the race track. Once it came to that present he said the cutest thing "oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about". He was so happy that Santa remebered that is what he wanted. The rest of the day we spent opening and putting together all of the toys and preparing Dinner. It was the best Christmas. And of course...taking pictures, Daddy bought Mommy a great new digital camera, a Nikon SLR..it is awesome!