Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures of the boys. Timmy loves to stick out his tongue. He likes to lick everything.

Timmy exploring the tree for the first time. He actually did very well with it. He mainly stayed away from it.

Yo! Look at my cool playdough snowman, dude!

Beware the baby dracula!!

Benny impersonating Frosty!

Thanksgiving

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Brad's sister Melanie and her two boys (Billy and Ian) came for a visit. They only stayed a few days, but we enjoyed the time they were here. They flew in the day after our first snowfall of the year.

After picking them up from the airport, we headed into Seattle to see the sights. Here is Ian and Benny at the Space Needle. Benny loved spending time with his cousins.

It was a beautiful sunny,but cold day. The city looks lovely in the snow.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Heilenman Family! We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a safe but Happy New Year!

Timmy's 9 Month Checkup

Well, Timmy had his 9 month checkup last Tuesday. He weighs 17lb 10oz and is 27.5 inches long. He is quite the mover. He is pretty much crawling now. Well, half crawling and half rolling around the floor. That mean that he doesn't stay where you put him anymore. We will have to get the safety gates up soon. Probably after we get back from our vacation.

I had asked the doctor about the fact that Timmy doesn't seem to like baby food. He was actually glad and gave us a short list of what we could not feed Timmy at this time (mainly due to allergies). So far Timmy has tried frozen waffles, cheerios, carrots, apples, bananas, bread, and pancake. He has also tried chicken. He still likes his puffs and mum-mums. Now that the table food has started, I need to concentrate on getting him to take a cup and not his bottle.

On another note, Timmy is the proud owner of two new teeth. He actually let me stick my finger in his mouth to check and his two bottom front teeth have broken through. Yeah! He must be fascinated by his teeth because he is always sticking his tongue out.

Game Time

Benny has started playing board games. His favorite is Candyland. Here he is playing with Daddy.

Pumpkin Carving

Our Life Group from church had a pumpkin carving party. Benny had fun playing with his friends. He was very excited about eating his first caramel apple.

Benny and his pumpkin.

Benny and his finished pumpkin. I helped him draw the face on the pumpkin before I carved it for him.

Our finished pumpkins! (Benny's is the 2nd from the left and mine is to the right of his.)

Trick or Treat Halloween 2010

Benny attended his first Halloween Party this year. He had a great time. Afterward, we all went trick or treating. He rode in the wagon with his friend Xander. I don't have any pictures from the party :( but here are pictures of the kids in their costumes.

My little pumpkin!

Watch out for the Tiger!

Update!

So, I just wanted everyone to know that Brad has put in for a supervisor position at his work. Please pray for God's will to be done here. We have been going through colds for the past month. First the kids had it and now Brad and I are trying to fight off colds. We hope to hear before the end of the year whether Brad gets the job or not. It would be a wonderful Christmas present if he did.

St. Louis Zoo 2010

Before going to visit Grandma and Grandpa's house in IL, we stopped by the St. Louis Zoo. We had a wonderful time. The weather was great and we all had fun. This is the sign you can see from the highway.

Benny liked the fact that this Zoo had a train to ride. Here he is riding the train.

Timmy and I are riding the train.

Daddy and Benny riding the carousel or as Benny calls it the "up/down horses".

Timmy's first carousel ride!

Daddy and Benny petting the goats.

Benny sitting on a frog.

Benny sitting on a giant beetle outside the insecterium.

Benny and the snake (no, it is not real).

Across the highway is a park called turtle park. It has a lot of giant turtle statues. I thought Aunt Jill would like this. (I have no idea who the people are in this picture.)

St. Louis Zoo 2010 Part 2

Here is the new baby giraffe. The Elephants! They were working on enlarging the enclosure because one of the elephants is pregnant!

Hello, Rhino!

Lions!

And Tigers!

And Bears! Oh MY!

Puyallup Fair 2010

Here are some more pictures from the fair. Here is Benny and Xander with their banana hats! We always stop by the barn where the kids can pet the animals.

This is part of the fair where you can see how life was like in the Pioneer days.

Here is Benny grinding corn.

Here we are doing some laundry.

Puyallup Fair 2010 The Rides

We had a blast at the Puyallup Fair this year. Benny's new friend Xander had never been to the fair, so Benny had a great time showing him around. Benny was not only old enough to ride the rides, he was also tall enough. It helped that his buddy Xander was excited about riding the rides too.

Benny loved this boat ride. It was the only ride that he cried when he had to get off.

Here is Benny and Xander riding the fire truck ride. It is like the Rush Street Flyer ride at Six Flags (Grandpa should remember that ride).

Here is the helicopter ride. I wasn't so sure about this one because it went up and down as well as around and around. I think Benny felt safe with his friend.

This was the first ride Benny wanted to go on. He had a great time.

Benny liked visiting the fire station at the Fair. Xander wasn't interested in putting on the coat, but Benny did.

Updates Galore!

Funny boy Benny. Don't you like his Happy Meal Hat?

Mommy's little mum-mum boy!

My sweet boys!

Whew! A lot has been going on here. First off, Timmy is doing fine. We had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon and she said everything was healing nicely. We go back and see her in November. Sorry that I haven't been updating this lately, but we have been busy. We went to the Puyallup Fair, went to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Illinois and have been on the go ever since we came back. That means that I need to spend a few hours and update, update, update this blog! Look for exciting things to come.

Well,Timmy had surgery Tuesday the 14th. He had a fistula-ectomy (sp?). The surgery went well, but he had complications with waking up. They had trouble taking out his breathing tube. He stopped breathing 4 times (actually he just held his breath for a long time). They had to give him meds to get him to relax his muscles. Turns out he has a mild case of tracheomalacia. That is a weakness and floppiness of the walls of the windpipe. They say he will grow out of it as he gets older. Needless to say, he stayed overnight in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at MaryBridge Hospital. By Tuesday night he was acting more like his happy self and Wednesday morning we were able to take him home. We have a follow up appointment on Monday the 27th with the pediatric surgeon.

Surgery

Timmy had his appointment with a pediatric surgeon today. He is scheduled for outpatient surgery at 9am on Tuesday the 14th. (Mom, I know that I told you 10:30am, but they called and moved it up to 9am.) He has what is called a fistula. A fistula is almost always the result of a previous abscess. It is a small tunnel that forms under the skin and connects a previously infected anal gland to the skin on the buttocks outside the anus. The doctor told us that it was nothing we did that caused it and that everything that was done previously (i.e. draining the abscess and the antibiotics) was what was supposed to be done. Timmy has to have anesthesia because it would be too painful otherwise. The actual surgery should only take 40 minutes, but we will probably be at the hospital for 4 hours (counting pre-and post-op). We have a follow-up appointment with the pediatric surgeon on Wednesday the 15th. Please keep us in your prayers. I know it is not major surgery, but it is a risk when young children have to be given anesthesia. I am doing fine now, but will probably be a basket case the few days leading up to the surgery. We are hoping to have friends watch Benny for us on the day of the surgery. This should lessen the stress a bit for us since we would not have to keep Benny occupied.

6 Month Checkup

Timmy had his 6 month checkup yesterday. Here are his stats: Weight 16.4 lbs, Length: 25.25 inches. So he gained almost 3 pounds but didn't grow in height. Overall he is doing okay. He received 3 shots which he didn't really cry about. He cried more when they had to prick his heel and draw blood. I have tried solid foods with him, but he has shown little to no interest. The only thing he likes somewhat is squash. He still has the abscess on his bottom, so we were referred to a pediatric surgeon (appointment on Sept 8th) to see if it needs to be surgically removed. It doesn't really bother him but we still need to get it taken care of. Timmy took a three hour nap yesterday, but no nap longer than 20 minutes today. Not eating as much today either, but I chalk that up to the shots.

On another note, Benny now has a sand/water table. I purchased it from craigslist today and he has been out playing with it most of the afternoon. It only has water in it because we need to go and purchase some sand.

More Camping Pictures

This little boy sure liked his chocolate. We brought the Hershey's chocolate and marshmallows but forgot the graham crackers. Benny found out that eating chocolate near a campfire is a very messy thing.



Timmy had a great time camping. As long as he was fed and took his naps, he was a happy camper (pun intended)!
There was a little beach that we could go swimming and Benny surprised me by wanting to go. He even got down in the water on his tummy and tried to "swim". He would have stayed in the water all day if we let him.

Here is our handsome three year old!

We went for a hike through the woods. Benny was okay with it as long as we paid attention to him.

Benny had to bring some friends along. Too bad Thomas, Percy and Kelly spent most of the time covered in dirt and pine needles.

Stopping to rest. Benny liked climbing the rocks.

Once again, Timmy was probably the most comfortable one during our hike.

Timmy really liked the backpack. He even fell asleep in it.

Here is Brad and Benny telling Timmy to be quiet. It was early in the morning and we didn't want to wake up our fellow campers. Timmy wasn't crying, just babbling and laughing. Notice what was for breakfast, Doughnuts!