Tuesday, December 30, 2008

(Not so) Magical Christmas Day


Juliet spent the evening in the ER at St. Vincent Hospital on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, this is a continuation of the ear infection saga. As previously blogged, all of the Heffelbower girls got ear infections on December 1st. We all survived. However, Juliet got a new infection on the Monday before Christmas. She was given antibiotics (again) and we assumed that within 24-48 hours, she would be back to her normal bubbly self. Not so. Instead, she got a terrible fever that fluctuated between 102 and 104 degrees. By Christmas Day, Juliet was acting lethargic and not herself at all so Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to take her to the emergency room. On Christmas Day, no one wants to be at the ER---not the doctors, not the nurses, not the valet, and especially not the patients. Grandma and Mommy took baby Juliet to the ER. After several hours and a lot of blood work, it was determined that Juliet now had an ear infection in both ears and needed different and stronger medicine. However, we are happy to report that the antibiotics kicked-in right away and our little miss happy-pants is back to her normal smiley and active self!

Magical Christmas Eve


Playing with our new musical table from Auntie Katie.



Wearing my new fancy dress & slippers from grandma and
grandpa and playing with my new keyboard.
Juliet decided to try-out using utensils.



It's present time!



Look at all of the beautiful ornaments!




The Heffelbowers before church.




Posing for the annual Christmas photo in front of the Mulloy fireplace.




Snuggling with my Auntie Katie.



Making "butt angels." The snow was too deep for real snow angels.


All of the girls chilling-out. We are snapping bubble wrap, which I termed the "snap out of it" game.




The busy blogging Heffelbower girls.



Juliet was not too sure about the cold weather.




Sledding with grandpa.
It was a magical Christmas in Green Bay. We ended-up traveling to Green Bay on Monday night in order to beat a big snow storm. Juliet and I slept for most of the car ride, but woke-up for the last half hour. I was pretty goofy and sang crazy songs to pass the time. My favorite went something like this, "Rock stars, rock stars, rock stars. I like rock stars and so do you. I like rock stars and so do you...." We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house a little before midnight. As we pulled up to their house, we were greeted with a magical sight. Their house was lit with beautiful twinkling lights and their yard was covered in mounds of snow. I said, "Oh, this is so beee-u-tee-ful!" Inside, we were wowed with another display of Christmas lights and decorations. Juliet was so enchanted that she permanently out-stretched her hand and pointed at everything within her sight, saying, "This, this, this, this, this..." After a snack, we went to bed. We spent our days before Christmas having fun with grandma and grandpa, sledding, eating delicious food and running around their house. Grandma taught Juliet how to wave "bye-bye." On Christmas Eve, we ate a wonderful turkey dinner, went to church and opened presents. The first present that I opened was a pair of socks (boring!). The next day, mommy asked me what my favorite presents were. I said that I loved the keyboard and the slippers that light-up when I walk. Mommy asked if the socks were my "favorite present" and I graciously said that they were my "first present." It was a lovely Christmas!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas Tradition
























We have a Christmas tradition that we have done since I was four months old. Every year, we go to the Macy's Eighth Floor Christmas display in downtown Minneapolis. The Christmas display this year was "Day in the Life of an Elf." It was really great. This was Juliet's first year doing our Christmas tradition, and she could not take her eyes off of the wonderful Christmas displays. We also have hot chocolate and usually get a Christmas cookie. This year, we also looked at all of the Christmas decorations for purchase at Macy's. It was a really fun time.




Ear Infections


We do not look sick in this picture, but were really sick a few weeks ago----the whole family. It was pretty miserable. All of the girls got ear infections and daddy just got sick. Mommy ended-up rupturing her ear drum and still cannot completely hear. Grandma and Grandpa drove all of the way from Green Bay to help us recuperate for a few days.
And, it appears that Juliet may have another ear infection (or a continuation of the old one). We are going to the doctor in the morning. We will hopefully blog more once everyone is feeling better, which we hope is before Spring! Send healthy thoughts our way!

"This" and "Socks"


Here I am saying, "This." I am pointing at the camera, which I desperately want to play with. I can also say "socks." I am a bit obsessed with socks. I pull them off my little feet and play with them and crawl around the house with them in my little hands. ----Juliet

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Juliet is Talking


It is true. Juliet is talking. She says, "This." She uses her little pointer finger and points at what she wants and says, "this." If we do not respond to Juliet right away, she continues to say "this" and will sometimes repeat "AA! AA! AA! AA!" until we listen to her.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Sickies!

We are all sick. However, we all still made it to Grandma and Grandpa Heffelbowers for Thanksgiving. The turkey was terrific, the pie was devine and the company was fantastic.



Brett back from Wisconsin for the holiday.


Mommy playing with the girls.


Lindsay and me.

Scott the Christmas elf


Kermit the Frog (and Ross)




I am putting my fancy shoes on all by myself!


Juliet is pretty thrilled with her fancy shoes.


Enjoying a little after dinner conversation and game boy (or game girl, as I call it).

The Heffelbowers


Juliettie



Daddy.


Jeremy













Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A few fun things

Juliet has been babbling a lot. We are convinced that she is trying to say words. Recently, she started saying da-deee, da-deee. Mommy was feeling a little left-out. Then, last night, Juliet was nursing and suddenly pulled off the boob, smiled at Mommy and said, "mama mama mama." Mommy is pretty thrilled.

Our sleeping arrangement is going pretty well with the sisters in the same room. However, a few times per week for the last few weeks, I have been getting up in the middle of the night with various concerns. Last night, I got up at about 4:00 am and went into Mommy and Daddy's room. I stood right by Mommy's head and whispered, "Mommy, I can't find Bunny Bun. He is lost." I felt really sad. We went into my bedroom and Mommy found Bunny Bun buried beneath my blankets. I snuggled back into bed, but we woke Juliet up. Juliet did not want to go back to sleep, so Mommy told me that I could sleep in their bed. I love sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Mommy got Juliet to go back to sleep and I got to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy for the rest of the night. Daddy said that in the morning when he woke-up to go work, I was plastered against mommy and we looked so snuggly.

The other night, I woke up because I had a bad dream. I started to say out loud, "Cookie Monster took the last cookie! Cookie Monster took the last cookie. Now there is none for me!" I was crying and really upset, but Mommy soothed me back to sleep and told me that I could have a cookie in the morning.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Weekend Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Snuggling with Grandma


I just could not get enough snuggles!

The gals.


Juliet has learned that a camera in her face means a flash; so, she closes her eyes when she sees the camera.



What could be more fun than climbing on Grandpa?


Grandpa is fun!






Saturday, November 15, 2008

Update at the Heffs





Juliet does something new almost every day. In these pictures, she is standing at the top of our stairs shouting and babbling and so proud of herself for pulling herself up to standing. If you recall, when I was about 11 months old, I did the same thing! Here is the blog entry to prove it:
Juliet now also knows how to crawl on all-fours. She learned how to do that last week. Previously, she did a silly army-crawl wiggle all over the floor. She kind of looked like a slithering snake and was just as fast.
Juliet is now extraordinarily adept at pulling herself up on anything and cruising around the house. She finds any piece of furniture or toy that she can move around the house to get her to places. Her favorite is the little red IKEA chairs. She pulls herself up on one and then uses it like a walker to get herself around the room.
I am on official "kitty food" and "crusty" patrol at our house. Juliet puts absolutely everything in her mouth. She loves the kitty food, and will happily munch on a few pieces. When I see that she is going for it, I shout, "NO! NO! THE KITTY FOOD!" and will run and block her access. I am also on "crusty" patrol. We call any microscopic piece of dirt, food, paper, etc. on the floor a "crusty." Juliet has radar vision for all of the crusties in the house. When I see her pick one up with her fingers, I shout, "MOMMY! JULIETTIE IS EATING A CRUSTY!" By the time we get to her, the crusty is usually long gone and we just hope for the best.
As far as my updates, I am doing pretty fantastic. "Fantastic" is the new word I started using. I love learning words. Mommy and Daddy are also saying that I am a bit "spirited" these days. They do not think that it is humorous when I say things like, "I do not listen to Mommy. I only listen to me." Or, when I scream and fight to go into the bath and then scream and fight to get out of the bath. Hello!??!! I am only three. What did you expect? I am particularly fascinated with the changing seasons. Early one morning, I looked outside and said, "Look! Everything is covered in frosting. Let's take a lick." Mommy said, "It's called frost." I said, "No. It's called frosting." I still love my stuffed animals. When asked what I was thankful for, I said, "I am thankful for Bunny Bun. And...all of my stuffed animals."
I may be "spirited," but I am also a bit sleep deprived due to the musical bedroom situation at our house. We have two bedrooms at our house. That means that someone has to share a bedroom. At first, Juliet shared a bedroom with Mommy and Daddy. Then, Juliet started waking up three times a night to nurse and stared at Mommy, crying, until mommy picked her up. A bleary-eyed Mommy decided two weeks ago that she needed some sleep. So, Juliet's crib was moved to my bedroom and my bed was moved to Mommy and Daddy's room. Juliet had a few rough nights in my bedroom all alone, but now she sleeps soundly through the night (albeit, waking for the day at about 5:00 am). I, however, lost some sleep because Daddy would wake me up on accident as he was getting ready for work.
Tonight, mommy and daddy finally moved my bed back into my bedroom. Two sisters in the same room. So, how did it go, you ask? So far, not the best. Juliet started screaming as mommy left the bedroom. I said to Juliet, "Juliettie, I am here. Juliettie, I am here." After about three minutes of listening to her wail, I hopped out of bed and opened the door. Mommy was in the hallway and I said, "Juliet is bothering me. I cannot sleep. " I then proceeded to walk down the stairs. Mommy soothed Juliet and got her sleep, but I wanted to stay up. Finally, mommy got me into bed (with threats of no Sesame Street and no dessert if I did not cooperate). What a night!



Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Election Night Party

We had an election night party last night. We were hoping for a victory party and were not disappointed when Barack Obama won! We invited all of our neighbors and all of their kids for dinner, a little political discussion and to watch the results come in. It was great! At one point, we had 11 little kids in our little house and lots and lots of grown-ups. We ate sandwiches, salads, Doritos, and homemade red (pink actually), white and blue cake. Juliet and I went to bed at 8:00 and the other kids went home. But, mommy and daddy said that the party continued with the kidless grown-ups until Obama officially won. What a fun party!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Autumn Walk

We went on an autumn walk around our block. I had the camera. I think that I am a pretty great photographer. Here is the story of our walk in pictures:

We started our walk in the backyard. This is a picture of our horse and swing set.


Fall leaves and my little foot.


Mommy pushing Juliettie in the stroller.


Having a jolly ol' time.


Little cutie pie (who turned nine months old yesterday).




The sisters love each other so much.



An airplane flying over our house. Like most people living in SW Minneapolis, our house is under a flight path.


The Barack Obama sign in our yard. As an aside, whenever I see an Obama sign like ours, I say "Look! A Barack Obama sign!"