Flying High

Wow! Someone is excited about his birthday gift. Aunt Frannie sent Will his very own flight jacket and airplane and they are a big hit. We opened the box on Saturday morning and Will immediately wanted to put on his flight jacket. No surprise there. But...he wouldn't take it off. Hours later, after breakfast, Dora, lots of play time, the jacket remained. Poor kid was really hot but I guess it was worth the sacrifice to be a cool pilot. There were a lot of airplane noises and swooping hand gestures as his small plane soared through the air. Will thought it was pretty neat that he looked like his dad, although I think Keith was more excited about it. Thanks, Great Aunt Frannie, for the awesome gift! Now Will just has to decide if he wants to be a pilot or a firefighter for Halloween.

Will has been even more vocal lately and his sassy side is starting to show. He wants to do everything himself and is offended if I offer to help. He was struggling to hold his sippy cup while we were walking tonight so I asked if I could hold it for him. "No, Mommy, my hold! My hold!" Okay, got it. You hold. :) He is trying to be pretty demanding, telling me to get him some apple juice and forgetting to say please. But we're working on it. I'm hoping preschool will help with that too!

Besides all the recent flight time, we've just been winding down our summer and preparing (mentally that is) for Will to start his 2 morning-a-week preschool. I'm looking forward to having a few hours a week to myself, keeping my eyes open for a good part time job or volunteer experience. Or maybe I'll be a lady who lunches. Okay, probably not. But one can dream! We have friends (Kristin and Brian!) coming to town this weekend and we hope to hit the beach if Tropical Storm Danny allows. Check back for fun beach pictures!

Nebraska Finale and Weight Check

Good news on the Heyen front today. I took Will in for his 24 month well baby check and for the first time since he was 2 months old, we is actually on the growth chart! Amazing! He weighs 22.2 pounds and is 2 feet, 9 inches tall, which puts him around the 10th percentile for both. This doesn't seem exciting to most parents but since he is usually drastically below the "normal" height/weight for kids his age, it is a big accomplishment in our house. It has been a long 2 years as far as weight/growth struggles but hopefully we're putting those behind us and William will continue to grow on the right path. Perhaps 2 ice cream cones for a snack is paying off in the long run. Soon he'll be asking if his diaper makes his butt look fat. :)


This is also the third and final installment of pictures from our trip to Nebraska. It has taken me a while to get it all organized but I've had a lot of fun looking back at the pictures. Will was lucky enough to have two early birthday parties while he was in Nebraska (spoiled! spoiled!) Great Grandma Vivian and Great Aunt Jody threw the first in Fremont. Will opened his gifts and then ran outside to play with his new bubbles. I love how a simple gift like bubbles makes a world of difference to a child. Great Aunt Jody was more than willing to dive in and help Will blow bubbles in the driveway. My grandma Vivian was even able to come outside for a while so she could participate in the fun. It was a great way to spend a day. Below Will is doling out kisses to Great Grandma Vivian. She ate it up!



Will also got to spend a lot of time at Grandma Charma's house. Not only did Grandma get Will a huge birthday cake with his favorite truck on it (firetruck, of course!) but she invited Aunt Rachel, Uncle Kelly, Uncle Chad, and Nikki to spend the day with us. Will couldn't get enough of Uncle Chad, which is funny because Will was afraid of Uncle Chad when he was little! Times change. Will wanted to be wherever Chad was and do whatever Chad did. Very cute. Of course he soaked in all of Aunt Rachel's love as well. They shared many laughs and hugs. I enjoy seeing Will bonding with our family now that he's a little older. I'm never sure if he'll remember everyone since our trips are so strung out but he seems to adapt well. Who doesn't like people who bring them gifts and spoil them? Those are my favorite people too. Below Will was trying to pose just like Uncle Chad; perhaps he can call him mini-me from now on. At the bottom, Will enjoys some one on one time with Aunt Rachel. Like any good aunt, she plays and plays and never gets tired. She has a babysitting gig anytime she wants to visit Virginia!

Wild animals galore! (Nebraska trip part 2)

Who knew that there were so many wild animals in Nebraska? Well we discovered them during this trip, both with our visit to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and with Will's time spent with his cousins Andrew, Connor, and new baby Abby (finally a girl!) As soon as Andrew and Connor appeared, Will set to following them around, imitating every move, and practicing general ornery boy-ness. I would expect nothing less when with his cousins! While Aunt Allyson and Uncle Keith got to snuggle with sweet Abby, the boys bowled, played trains, jumped off couches, and more. It was beyond fun to see them all together. We even discussed the possibility of a Disney trip with the Thompsons in a few years. When the kids are a little less crazy (if that ever happens?) Below the boys play at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They took turns wearing the helmet and being the "batter" in a pretend game of baseball. Then Connor and Will set about fixing things around the house. They were very handy!










Our second wild encounter took us to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo with Grandma Charma (or Grandma Sue as Will calls her) and Aunt Rachel. I think the adults had as much (or more!) fun than Will. I hadn't been to the Henry Doorly Zoo since I was around 16 so, needless to say, things had changed quite a bit. We saw all the big sights, including the Lied Jungle, Aquarium, Biodome, and the new Butterfly Pavillion. Will was quite tired and cranky by the end of the day but it is an experience we all enjoyed. Thanks Grandma Sue and Aunt Rach for taking the day off to spend it with us! We had a blast. Below Will and Aunt Rach pose at the zoo. Later the group poses before we enter the Lied Jungle.




I have one more installment from our trip. Check back soon to see the rest of our pictures.

You can take the boy out of Nebraska...

So I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from our trip to Nebraska. While we usually plan our annual trip for sometime in the fall/winter, this year we moved it up so William could fly for free one last time. (sniff, sniff) We had a crazy busy trip, as usual, but it was a lot of fun. There's something to this whole warm weather visit. We were able to do a lot more. Will played outside, searched around on Great Grandma and Grandpa Kreifels farm, and even went to the Henry Doorly Zoo. It was a very fun trip, more enjoyable now that Will is old enough to play with his cousins and interact a bit. To the left, Will is helping Great Grandma Irma pick vegetables from the garden. He got some potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. This boy who will never eat a carrot for me at home proceeded to eat almost an entire carrot that he picked from the garden before it was even time for lunch! I guess I'll have to recruit his help in my garden at home too. He was definitely excited about seeing where the veggies came from. Great idea, Great Grandma Irma! We were able to eat lunch with Great Grandma Irma and Great Grandpa Pat and it was a nice chance to catch up. Grandma Gigi, Uncle Brent, and Cousin Andrew even joined us. A nice surprise!


Keith and Will spend a little time on the farm seesaw. Will thought that was great. Like a daddy-powered amusement ride!









Here are four generations of the Kreifels family. I love pictures like this!







There is much more to come from our trip to Nebraska. Check back soon for another update and more pictures!

And he's two!

I know I promised some pictures from our Nebraska trip...and they're coming. But I figured since Will turned 2 this past Saturday (the day after we returned from NE), that takes precedence over everything else! Most days I can't believe he is 2 already. Time flies. But then he acts like a typical (terrible) two year old and it seems like the most natural progression in the world. :) We had several small birthday celebrations for Will while we were in Nebraska. When we returned, we thought we'd top it off with a final small celebration at home. No big birthday bash this year; instead Aunt Jill came down and we had cupcakes and opened presents. It was a perfect low key celebration.













Will got a TON of great gifts. (Thank you's to arrive shortly!) He loves everything he got, which is saying a lot since we got a wide variety of stuff. One of his favorites is the motorized firetruck that Aunt Jill gave him. Oh boy! It goes 2 mph, which is fast enough for him. He has to push a little button to make it go. The first time he rode it, even though he was pushing the button, he was so confused as to how he was moving when no one was pushing him. He'd push the button, go forward about a foot, then turn around real quick to see if someone was pushing him from behind. He had the most quizzical look on his face. So funny! I think he's got the hang of it now. And with his new fireman's hat, axe, and other accessories, he is ready to fight fires! When it is too hot to play outside with the firetruck (or new baseball set), he's been keeping busy with his new trucks, trains, books, various Elmo toys, Play-doh, and all of his other toys. I think I need more toy storage!!!


Since I don't get many opportunities to brag (ha ha ha), I'll fill you in on some of Will's two year old traits. He's changing daily but some of my favorite things about Will right now are as follows. 1. How much he talks! He's talking up a storm, saying lots of phrases and sentences. Some new ones are "I'll be right back" and "I need help." And if he doesn't get help right away, he says "Mommy, help me please!" 2. He's combining knowledge to learn even more. For instance, instead of just identifying a red toy or a triangle, he'll tell me he sees a red triangle. I actually had no idea he knew that much; I'm constantly amazed at how much he's learning on a daily basis. 3. He's started "reading" books to us! He obviously doesn't know how to read (we're not those weird people who try to teach our baby to read!) but he has memorized some of his shorter books and loves to show off his skills by reading them to us. He really loves books, which is a great passion to have. I hope that one continues.

Check back soon for pictures from our trip to Nebraska. I promise they're coming!