Denny Jr's 2nd Birthday

This is a week old, but could be left alone. We had a wonderful time last weekend at Dennis and Adriana's house for their little boy's 2nd birthday. I haven't been out too much at night with Brooke, that is her time and isn't always an angel, but we had a wonderful time. I know that Adriana wants a little girl someday, and we think that Denny has an eye for Brooke already, so she loved to hold my little girl. As most of you know, your home changes with kids. We "had" a dining room which is now a play/computer room, and the Winky's did the same thing. They had a great pool table room, with beer signs and lights, but now that Denny is two, the also have too many toys for the living room and decided it was time for a Play room instead of a Mans room. It just amazes me how much these little people change our lives. Anyway, it is always so much fun to spent time with the Deems. They are such a close knit family and they make us feel like we are family as well. The last time that Denny was over he loved Lucas's lawn mower, so we got him one just like Lucas's. And because of that Lucas had to bring his with. The two of them ran around the back yard mowing the lawn, it was awesome. Dennis and Adriana also got Denny a bounce house that Lucas had a blast with, now the only thing that we hear is that we should buy one too!

the zoo, ready in 45 minutes, with 2 kids...

when we woke up this morning, we knew we wanted to do something, but driving to Tampa I didn't think would be the first thing on our list, but it was. I was feeding Brooke and Lucas was watching cartoons at about 7:15 when Rusty came out and asked if we wanted to go to the zoo. We both thought it sounded like a good idea, and by 8:15 we were all in the car ready to go. I am still not quite sure how I got myself, and two kids dressed and in the car by then, but it worked, breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds was on the way. We got there about 9:30 and had a great time. Lucas loved to see the monkeys and pet the Llama, but most of all, wanted to play in the water. We say the giraffes and elephants, birds and zebras, but still, wanted to play in the water. We only stayed until about 12:30 because it was then 95degrees, but had a great day. After that came home and played in the pool. I think that Rusty and Lucas had more fun in the pool, they were in there until about 6 o'clock, but Brooke must have been overwhelmed by the fresh air that she got because she slept from about 5-8 and then back down by 9. All the kids (including Rusty) are in bed by 9:15 and I have a little me time. Hopefully the sleep that Brooke got earlier doesn't' get her up at 2, but I am enjoying my time on the computer and watching a movie. Also, we saw the space shuttle go up at 5:02, it was amazing as always, the picture is right across the street above my neighbors house.

a flower for Mommy...

What a sweet little boy. The sun finally came out and Lucas wanted to ride his 4-wheeler, who could say no after being trapped inside yesterday because it was a yucky day. So as he rode around in circles in my front yard, he said wait a minute Mommy, I have to get you something. He jumped off his 4-wheeler and picked me a flower, what a beautiful start to hopefully a great afternoon.

Rainy Day FUN!

When we woke up this morning Lucas asked what was wrong with the windows, there was so much condensation on them he couldn't see out. I explained that they house was cold and the outside was warm and that is what caused it, whether it understood or now, I don't know. But after watching the forecast, we realized that it was going to be an inside day. We stayed in our PJ's until after lunch (all three of us) and got out my Rubbermaid container of craft stuff. It was fun, I think I should have started with one project, but I figured why not get the stamps, glitter, glue, markers, hole punches, fun scissors and paper and just dive in. I think I will be finding glitter for the next month, but it was all worth it. We had a great time and some beautiful picture frames that came out of it. I don't know who had more fun, me or Lucas!

making Bread...

Since I have been on maternity leave I have tried to be a good wife and mother and cook new things. I have been successful at times, so when my Dad was here he showed me how to make homemade french bread. Unfortunately, this time wasn't so successful. Lucas was at the sitters a few weeks back and I decided to try it out. After talking with my Dad I got everything in the bread machine and had and hour and a half to get some cleaning done. I was in Lucas's room going thru some toys and I heard a crash, I thought it was just one of his toys in the playroom since I had just been in there cleaning. After about 10 minutes, I walked into the Kitchen and found my bread machine, a ball of dough and the pan all scattered, yes, on the floor. All I could do is laugh. Apparently, while the dough was kneading, it had rocked the bread machine right off the counter. I put it all back together and turned it back on. Seemed to be working well. After the timer went off, I put it in the oven and the bread actually came out ok, not as good as Dad's bread, but ok. Now comes to a few days ago. Lucas was home and we decided to try it again. We got the machine out, put all the ingredient in it and plugged it in...all we got was beeping and EEE...yikes, I think the fall took it's last toll on my Bread Machine, out to the trash it went. Now I had a new problem, what do I do? I call my Dad right away, he told me to put the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid and mix it that way and just put it in a greased bowl and let it rise like that. Who knew...it was much better than my last loaf, and if pictures can tell, I think that Lucas had fun helping..or at least playing in the flour and eating it!

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.