Official Announcement

I decided to post Charlie's birth announcement for all my cyberspace friends out there.

A few of you have also asked about the designer of the announcements. I took the photos myself to avoid copyright stipulations and chose this design from one of my fellow Etsians. Her name is Sara and she owns a shop called "Less Than Ordinary Designs" ( lukecommasara.etsy.com). I found the process incredibly pleasant. I sent her a zipped file with approximately 20 high resolution photos and purchased a premade design from her website. Within 24 hours she designed Charlie's announcement and emailed the proof. After a few minor changes she emailed me the final file and I sent it to Sam's Club photo for printing. The result is a designer announcent (invitation, card, save the date, etc) with a much less expensive price in a fraction of the time. The most difficult part of the process was deciding between the designs. FYI... she'll also design a custom card for no extra fee, now that's great service!

"I'm a ballerina pricess!"

We were honored when Pete & Erica asked Maudie to stand up in their wedding as one of the flower girls. Naturally we said "Yes" but in the back of our minds we worried that she would protest walking down the aisle or somehow ruin the wedding.... that's just what 2 year olds with attitudes do. The rehearsal only confirmed that suspicion. She gave everyone a little chuckle when she threw her hands up in the air and proclaimed "I'm a ballerina princess" when asked what her role was by the wedding coordinator. However, she stomped down the aisle in a fit of rage when asked to preform her duties.

I spent the next two days before the wedding planning a strategy and praying to heaven for divine intervention to help her down the aisle. After that I wouldn't care how she behaved. She could knock off a liquor store on the way to the reception and as long as she didn't ruin the wedding, I'd be proud.

Show time was approaching and I left her in the hand of Lucy's (another of the flower girls) aunt who apparently has a magic touch with the little girls. Chris and I took our seat in the front of the church. The processional started and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating. After the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their entrance there was a clearing and I see all three of the little girls making their way down the aisle. They were like three angels floating on clouds.

Somehow they fell out of formation and ended up in a single-file line, Maudie leading the pack. Lucy held up the rear, delayed from peering into each pew as she passed. They were absolutely adorable (from what I could see thru my tears). When Maudie reached the front of the church, she saw me and sweetly proclaimed "That's my mommy!" and continued walking. I was so dizzy with relief I missed Erica's grand entrance. When she crawled up on my lap she proclaimed "Fun, Mom. Do it again!" And I was worried...

She had the time of her life at that dance... she's a true party animal. The only time she left the dance floor was to grab chocolate off the candy table or get a drink of water. She believed Erica was her personal dance partner, mimicking everything she did and pushing off other that wished to dance with the bride.
I should mention that Erica was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen in my life. She was radiant and spectacular and I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I had flashes of her as a child playing dress up in my closet. In the blink of an eye we're watching John give her away. Makes me wonder how fast it will feel until I watch Chris walk with Maudie.

Congratulations Erica and Pete!

Maudie "Phelps"

This video is going to give my mother a heart attack, but I'd like to show off my talented little swimmer. Now, before you think that she is the next Micheal Phelps, I have to admit she is wearing a swim suit that has floaties built in. But still...she's 2! and she's swimming all by herself- a skill she developed in about 15 minutes and perfected in a day. We spend the majority of the last two days in the pool coming in only for lunch and a nap. She spent the time in the pool lapping like a golden retriever. I decided to give this suit a try after she got so upset with Jenna holding on to her in the pool. She kept yelling "my turn!" meaning she wanted a chance to swim alone. I warned you she was born with gills.
Charlie is doing great. He's such a sweet little boy, despite the fact he's going thru a growth spurt and wakes up every 2 hours to feed at night. All that feeding has sure attributed to the 3 pound weight gain in a little over a month. For those that are doing that math... that makes him over 11lbs now (11lbs, 4oz to be exact).
My niece, Erica, is getting married this weekend. I can't believe that the curly-headed bruinette that used to follow me around and drag out my dance costumes has grown so fast and soon will be starting her own family. Maudie reminds me a lot of the way Erica was as a little girl....shy with new encounters, feisty and vibrant once she was comfortable with you. I remember when she was 2 going on 16, just like Maudie is now. I only hope that Maudie grows up to be as kind, loving, talented and beautiful as Erica is now. She's sure to be a vision in white.

Here are some photos of our 4th of July in Horicon....

I learned today that getting a good photo of 2 kids is 100 times harder than getting one kid to smile. Chris and I took the Maudie and Charlie to portrait innovations hoping to escape with the $9.99 package of one adorable photo of the two kids. $100.00 and six mediocre poses later, we left completely exhausted (and broke).
I thought the photo below was pretty funny with both kids covering their face. I'm still looking for the perfect caption. Feel free to leave your suggestion in the 'comment' field.

She loves him

This video isn't very good, but it gives you of taste of how much Maudie is loving her little brother. She has a couple of pet names for him including Brudder ('brother' with a lisp), Baby Charlie, and Buddy. The verdict is still out on how much he likes her. One thing we know is that he does NOT like her singing. A few times she kneeled next to him to sing him a song and he smushed up his face and puckered his lip like he was going to cry. I'm trying to get that one on video- it's pretty hilarous. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact she's a milimeter from his ear and singing as loud as she can.



Last Friday after she got home from daycare, I had Charlie laying in his boppy on the couch. Maudie covered him completely with his blanket, took a few step away, covered her eyes and started counting. I didn't notice what she was doing until she took down her hands and said "ready or not, here I come!" She was playing hide-and-go-seek with him. It was adorable. She pretended to look in several other places including under the couch, in the closet and on the remote control. Daddy told her to look in his crib and when she left the room Chris picked him up and hid him under his arm. She came out of the room and pulled back the blanket he had been laying under and he was gone. Her jaw dropped and she had a perplexed look on her face. Confusion soon turned to panic until she found him on Daddy's lap. She still thinks he's a pretty sneaky player.

We've been busy...

Things have been pretty busy around here. Not only with the new addition to our family, but we've also taking advantage of summertime.
My mom spent the first week home with us inorder to help out while I was healing from the cesarean. Although I enjoyed the time with her here, it is nice to finally be back to 'us' and get life a little more back to normal. However, I do miss the home-cooked meals (that I don't have to make) and the fresh laundry done on a daily basis. Maudie's temper and stubborn behavior was in full bloom while Mom was here, but I can't blame her. She saw right through the fact that Grandma was trying to distract her from me and Charlie. Unfortunalty I think Mom went home with the impression that she wasn't well liked, when infact it was just Maudie being 2 and adjusting to a huge change in her life.
Maudie is doing much better now that the visitors have diminished. She takes such a vested interest in Charlie and does anything she can to make sure he's happy. The other night as we were sitting down to dinner Charlie started to fuss in his swing. She stood up in her chair and yelled "Oh no, Mom! He's crying! Feed Him!" On the feeding topic, I was afraid she was going to have a huge problem with me breast feeding Charlie. Infact the opposite is true. She is absolutely fine with it and sometimes wants to help by keeping a hand on his cheek. I'm waiting for her to try and breast feed her babies.
We are keeping her involved in lots of activities this summer to help expend some of her limitless energy. She started Gymnastics last weekend and absolutely loves it. It's just a half-hour class that is ment to develop fine motor skills and muscle control. Plus, she gets to meet lots of other kids her age which is great for her social skills. Swimming lessons starts next month.

Last weekend we actually ventured out the house for the first time. Chris' entire family met up and we went to the Milwaukee County Zoo for the day. It was the first time Maudie, Charlie and I had ever been there. The park was amazing I got the biggest thrill seeing Maudie react to all the new animals. Charlie could've cared less. The weather was blasted hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. One thing I enjoy the most about tourist attractions is people watching and the freaks were out on this particular weekend. There was 2 people in the entire park without a shirt on, one was Chris' 5 year old cousin who spilled 'Sponge Bob' ice cream on his shirt and this guy...... I caught up with him and his girlfriend in the Monkey exhibit and couldn't resist snapping a photo. I can't deside was is more disgusting, his calves or his girlfriend. I hope she enjoys his abnormally large viens pulsing throught his body because with all the steroids there cant be much of his penis left.
Today Chris and I took the kids to the Middleton pool. As most of you know Maudie is a water-baby and cant get enough of the water. We were all having a great time until some little kid pooped in the pool and they had to close. Thank God it wasn't my kid.

Introducing Charles Thomas Heideman

Please meet the newest love of my life.... Charles Thomas Heideman. He is a little over 2 weeks old now and already growing like a weed. He has been such a blessing and a joy. I am loving every minute with my handsome little man.
He came into this world at 2:19 pm on June 3, 2009 weighing 8lbs 7oz and measuring 20 inches long. I fell deeply in love with him the moment I saw his precious little face. He's a wonderful baby with a gentle temperament and a healthy appetite.
Perhaps his biggest fan is his sister, Maudie. She just can't get enough of him. If it was up to her, she'd spend hours holding him and kissing his little head. So far she is an outstanding big sister albeit she's giving her Mom and Dad a rough time.... however, it's nothing that we didn't expect.
I have so much to say but I'm finding it hard to wrap up my thoughts and feelings into words... for now I'll let some photos speak for themselves.