November 2009

A picture is worth a thousand words. The month of November seemed like a distant memory already. Time seems to just pass us by with everything that we have going on. Such busy lives we live.

Tim continue to enjoy being able to stay home with the kids and driving the kids, or specifically Chaye to all her activities as Eli tags along.

Eli is growing so fast. His vocabulary is expansive that he surprises us on a daily basis. He is all boy! Such an inquisitive little man!

Noah is playing basketball at Monroe Central Junior High. He has gotten taller, yet again. No surprise there.

Some of my favorite snapshots of Eli from this month.

Play hard! Sleep harder...he can sleep for 14 hours straight, once you get him to go to bed. There is so much he wants to do when he is awake, build forts using our cushions and pillows in the loft, play with his toys, watch his favorite shows on Noggin, sing songs...just to name a few. Whew! It makes me tired just thinking about it. His appetite is unbelievable too. This little man can eat and eat!

Chaye continue to enjoy cheerleading. The basketball season started with a bang. They will be cheering for the boys and girls basketball team. Busy weeks still ahead of us.

A shot of the other girls in her squad. From left to right; Maddie D., Jas, Anna, and Maddie H.

Eli Playing the Harmonica

October 2009

October came and gone at the blink of an eye...it seems that way at least! It has been a crazy busy month in the Heiwig Household. Chaye was invited to become a Student Ambassador for People to People. She had to fill out an application form, request recommendation letters from 2 of her teachers at school and from her Sunday School teacher at church. A day after the interview we found out she got accepted. Such an exciting time! She will be heading to Australia next summer with 39 other student ambassadors.

Eli has grown so much! He is witty and charming, precious and precocious as well, he is so full of energy! The long awaited peeing in the bathroom finally happened. One night he went to the bathroom and sat on the potty without being prompted. We are now working on the poop part. He dressed up as Bumblebee (transformer) for Halloween. He enjoyed trick or treating. He was so into it! Saying trick or treat and thank you after he got a treat. Last year he did not put on any costume, he did not want to go trick or treating. He just wanted to give out the candy, so this year has been a definite change.

Chaye dressed up as a school girl. Noah was a military man who was a guard for 3 prisoners of war. He and his friends orchestrated their costume. It was a cool idea. We hosted a halloween party for Chaye and Noah and 20 of their friends. We had a houseful of 7th graders! It was so much fun! The kids had a great time, it was tiring for us adults but it was well worth it. Didn't have to spend a whole lot to have an awesome party!

Tim is attempting to get back into the workforce. He has applied for different human resources position in Clarian. We have our fingers crossed and hoping for an answer soon. I am still adjusting to being a shift coordinator, still feel like a fish out of the fish bowl. I love it though!

We are definitely looking forward to what November has in store for us. October has plagued us with illnesses as well so we are looking forward to a healthy month.

This is what Chaye wore to her interview.

Eli having fun with Jas and Chaye

I love this!

Tim as a dalmatian and Eli as Bumblebee

Jas and Chaye, school girl fashionistas

Noah, Danny, Grady and Jack

Eli and his "sisters"

Bumblebee!

WMS Cheersquad

Chaye made the WMS Cheer Squad. We were surprised when 2 weeks before school started she decided to try out for the cheer squad because for the longest time she did not want to be a cheerleader. Here are some highlights from the first football game.

Before the game...tailgating with the Hutsons

After the game...hanging out with friends. From L to R, Chaye, Kaylee and Jas.

Summer Adventures with Eli

Need I say more? We have a blast with Eli! He is such a bundle of energy. I love being able to spend time with Eli. He loves picnic in the park! It does not have to be anything elaborate. Whether it's a kids meal from Chick-fil-A or a Happy Meal from McDonalds it is still a picnic for him. I love watching him run around the park and burn off all his energy...actually I am the one who burns off all the energy. He is like the energizer bunny who can keep going even after playing all day.

Playing with his crane in our backyard by the pool

Bad Boy or Just Styling?

I'm going to shoot you!

At Holliday Park

He loves to climb this! He of course is not big enough for it yet!

Balancing Act

A day with Aunt Michelle

One of my favorite photos of Eli and I

Chaye's First Day of School

Our little girl is growing up! Today was her first day of school...seventh grade here she comes! Hard to believe that she is already in 7th grade. She has grown so much physically and emotionally. We are proud to say that she has also grown spiritually. Her maturity level amazes us and other times also baffles us as she occasionally acts out and reminds us that she is still only 12. She has great challenges this year, not just academically which we know she would excel because she always perseveres but because of the issues she has been having with her vision.

She has been very upbeat despite going to school a day after testing where the medicine has not worn off and left her barely able to see anything. She made the most out of what could have been a very challenging day. She came home beaming from ear to ear, excited and full of stories of her first day.

July 2009

July is a special month for us. We got married July 10, 2004 and my birthday is July 16th. This is kind of hard for Tim to remember, which date is which so more than once he gave me a birthday card for our anniversary and a anniversary card for my birthday! Too funny! His excuse is that he buys them at the same and seals them afterwards without marking which one is which.

This year we took a week off without the kids and went to Gatlinburg, TN. This was the first time in 5 years that we have gone on vacation without the kids. Our vacation has always included the kids, we are afterall a family! We did need the time away to reconnect and focus on each other. The last 5 years has been busy! We have been going on different directions to accomodate the kids schedule and my work schedule. So while Chaye was in Purdue University for her Gifted Educational Resource Institute Program and Eli spending the week with my parents, Tim and I got away.

We stayed on a cabin in Gatlinburg. For a whole week our address became 511 Hootowl Way Gatlinburg, TN. The cabin was so cozy and roomy for the two of us. It actually is a honeymoon cabin, so it felt like we were on our second honeymoon!

This is our first meal at downtown Gatlinburg. The food was awesome! Here is Tim looking at the menu, trying to figure out what to get.

I love oysters! I like them raw with lemon juice and salt. Tim loves them too!

This was taken at Pigeon Forge Old Mill

Tim's turn

At the Dixie Stampede while waiting to get into the show we sat and ate popcorn and peanuts and listened to some really good fiddlers. I had a strawberry daiquiri (virgin) and Tim had Coke served on souvenir cups that looked like a boot.

We had an awesome time at Gatlinburg. There were no deadlines to be met or time fram to get anything done. We just took our time and did what we want on our own time. It was certainly nice to be able to do that. We took in the sights and did some of the activities. We do plan on going back with the kids sometime either in the spring time or fall.

The whole month of July flew by. We were preoccupied with doctor's appointments for Chaye. On her recheck of her contact lens we found out that both her optic nerves are swollen. We were then referred to see a pediatric neurologist for further evaluation. She had MRI done to check for tumors that could be causing the swelling. Thankfully there were no tumors on her brain. The MRI was limited by her braces, they were not able to visualize the eyes and the area around it. So the MRI did not give us a definitive diagnosis.

She had a spinal tap done to check her intracranial pressure. Her ICP was high so Dr. Jackman drained about 20 ml of spinal fluid which reduced her ICP to 12. The reduction in the pressure was a move to hopefully reduce her headaches and help improve her vision. The weekend following the spinal tap she had the worst headache she's had since all this started. She spent most of the weekend in bed. By Sunday night her throat was sore and unable to swallow, as if she did not need anymore aches and pain. We went to her pediatrician first thing Monday morning and to confirm if her sore throat was due to strep. It was so she had to be on Antibiotic for 10 days. Wish it was that easy to find out what is causing her issues with her optic nerves.

Her severe allergy to sulfa limited her options to take Diamox to help relieve some of her symptoms. So we are still in the dark with her condition. She is to see a neuro-opthalmologist on the 10th of August. Hopefully we will have some answers and solutions. We are lifting everything up to the Lord. He has plans that we do not know about. In Him, nothing is impossible!

The First Half of 2009

January came and went without a hitch. So did February and March. Somewhere in the first quarter of the year Tim and I caught the facebook bug! We since then have reconnected with old schoolmates and friends from way back when. It certainly had put a spin to social networking. We both enjoy the ability to stay in touch with everyone. Through the winter months Tim worked on several house projects. The kids room being the center of it all. Eli's room took the longest between laying hardwood and making the closet look like a red caboose. Tim has worked hard on each of the kids room. Noah's is the Yankee theme, Chaye's is contemporary and Eli's room is all about trains.

We also made the big leap from being SUV owners to mini-van owners. Tim likes to call it the extended mini-van. We traded in the Pacifica for a Buick Terraza. We love it! Did not think we would but we certainly enjoy all the space especially for traveling.

Noah had the opportunity to travel on his own to Ft Myers for spring break. He was so brave and enjoyed the time with Grandpa and Gradma Heiwig. Certainly have lots of memories from the trip. He even got a New York Yankees baseball shirt and got to go to a game while he was there.







April brought new promise. We went to North Carolina to see Tim's sister and her family. Noah did not join us in this trip since his spring break schedule was a week before Chaye's. Being in 6th grade it is hard to pull either one of them for a vacation together. After North Carolina, we headed to Washington DC. We stayed at The Westin Hotel at North Harbour, MD - a brand new city in MD. Tim had planned the trip and did an awesome job finding North Harbour. We visited the National Zoo, Air and Space Museum. It was hard to visit Smithsonian Institute in its entirety because of Eli. The tail end of spring break brought us to Mason, OH at the Great Wolf Lodge. It was a fun time. Eli and Chaye thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.












We made our way back home on Maundy Thursday, for Chaye and Noah's first holy communion. It was great to witness a milestone in the kids spiritual life. I could not help but get choked up with emotions since this was a celebration of their beginning faith and as they grow in faith and hopefully live in faith.

That night we discovered our basement had flooded. Over 18 inches of water! It was a very difficult time trying to be strong and take action while all the while pulling out ruined scrapbook after scrapbook, momentos of different moments/events in our lives for the last 5 years. Chaye's papers, drawings and pictures from Pre-K to 5th grade. Pictures from the Philippines. Noah's pictures and school papers. Family photograps, to name only a few. The furnitures that were ruined can be replaced but the scrapbooks with all the time and effort put into each page can not be replaced. One can not put a price to all the time spent to do each page to capture milestones in the kids lives. My Dad and brother came over to help pump the water out. Thus the saga of the flooded basement began. We are about to begin the second half of the year and the basement is not back to what it was before the flood, I don't think it will be the same again but I am hopeful to have it completed by the end of the year. I do not think that is too much to ask. Tim has worked really hard and had tried to do most of the cleaning, taking the old carpet out. Ryan did the tile work for the fireplace and the bar area. After the carpet is laid then we can begin the process of taking what's left from the flood back to the basement and clear up the dining room and garage.






Chaye turned 12 on April 28 and Eli turned 3 on May 1st. We celebrated Chaye's birthday with a pizza, rootbeer floats and cookie cake with her class. Eli wanted a chocolate cake and birthday at Chuck E' Cheese. We granted his wish with an afternoon at Chuck E' Cheese. Great times!







May was a month of mishaps for me, I twisted my right ankle and fell which resulted in a partial quad rupture on my left thigh. With the injury I missed the Indy 500 race. Chaye went for the first time and invited her friend Grady to come. Tim, Jack and the kids had a great time. The Indy 500 is a tradition for Tim and I since we unofficially had our first date at the Indy 500 in 2003.

June meant the end of the school year for Chaye and Noah. Chaye had a pool party to celebrate a wonderful year at school. Noah's school year ended on June 12th. He has spent every Thurs-Sunday with us since then and had managed to spend every weekend playing with his friends from the neighborhodd. He has made some really good friends this year and so sleep overs have been frequent, more often at our house...which makes me glad that the kids love staying at our house. It has been my dream and goal that our kids and their friends feel at home in our house and that they would enjoy hanging out with us around.






I finished my travel assignment at Arnett. It has been a great experience to be involved in getting their staff trained for open heart recovery and being able to work with amazing CV surgeons and staff. I know that I have grown professionally in the last 6 months that I spent there. I continue to enjoy working weekend option at Methodist. I work with an awesome group of nurses!

Tim turned 41 on the 26th of June. We celebrated his birthday by having lunch at Rathskeller. It has been an unofficial tradition to go to a German restaurant for his birthday. I met his parents on his birthday for the first time, yeah no pressure there right? We have been going to Gizelas in Zionsville since 2003, unfortunately they closed last year. So this year we ventured downtown Indy.

It certainly has been a very busy six months in the Heiwig household. We feel blessed despite the little mishaps here and there. We are looking forward to the rest of the year and what adventures life has to offer. We will continue to strive to live our life according to God's plan.