little green friend

Video - We had a little green friend surprise us in our backyard the other afternoon when we came home from school... everyone was fascinated & very interested. Sorry for the annoying high pitched mommy voice towards the end (I guess I was excited too).

Daddy arrived moments after us and managed to manuver Abby just close enough that she wouldn't hurt the poor little turtle and he wouldn't snap at her. OH dear... would either one of those have been bad!

Abbigail's Voice

Video Clip - Abbigail is no doubt finding her voice. Daily, we hear her scream, let out a squeel, cry and laugh all at VERY LOUD levels lately. She has definately figured out how to get our attention...

Mommy & her little Girl

P-A-R-T-Y!

Saturday afternoon was filled with a fun birthday P-A-R-T-Y for our good friends Chris & Nikki! Ms. Marsha sure does know how to through a party - last year included a bouncy castle & two ponies to ride. Can that be topped? Sure can... this year the bouncy castle was back, in addition to a rock climbing wall, battery operated cars, and a new in-ground swimming pool! Ohhhhh the delight by a certain little boy! But let's not forget the littlest one... she found plenty to stay busy with and had a great time as well! Check it out:

She is all about this climbing thing... she wanted to climb up the slide, climb through the holes, try to open the back door, etc. Might have to look into getting one of these things for her birthday... it kept her busy and happy!

YES... that is a lollipop she is sucking on. No one out there better say a word because you wouldn't do that with your kids. Tough. It happened and she is fine. Matter of fact... she was in hog heaven for a few minutes and the pictures of her expressions are priceless. I know my mother is probably having a fit right now as she sees these pictures of her granddaughter at 9.5 months old with this in her mouth. Oh well... she is fine.

Portable high chair that goes most places with us... you never know when you might need it. Case in point - today! What a great afternoon in the shade with a light breeze! Awesome day!

Lov'in him some birthday cake!

Thomas giving rides to older ladies around the yard! Last year he wasn't quite 2 years old and all the girls had to drive him around... what a difference a year makes?

But just like any "almost 16-year old"... there was a slight fender bender in the yard. No injuries and no police were called to the scene. Just some good laughs!

None of the Hecks climbed this... maybe next year.

Abby was exhausted by the late afternoon. Ms. Kim scooped her up and set about rock'in her and love'in on her...

Out like a light...

Meanwhile, the playing continues...

Finally, we set up Abby in a make-shift, ghetto-rigged, red-neck assembled nap space for Abby. She was good to go for about 30 minutes.

Last big fun event of the day was the swimming pool - our fish couldn't wait to jump in!

Happy Birthday Chris (7) and Nikki (4)... we all had a great time!

Storms, Slides, & Sassy-Pants

The other night we had a thunder & lightening storm... pretty small on the big scale... but none-the-less, Thomas was quite interested and asked plenty of questions. Here is Daddy & Thomas laying by the back door watching the lightening strike and listening to the thunder. Too cute!

On Sunday, Brian headed off shore to finally have his first day of fishing since last summer. I know... can you believe he has been home for just over a month and JUST got out on the Gulf and really got to smell the salty air and also dust the cobwebs off of his fishing rods? Craziness.

Meanwhile, the kids & I headed over to Nana's house to visit. After a morning swim, we went to a picnic at her church and these were the fun activities they had for the kids... Thomas had such a good time! So much so that when we got back to Nana's house, my little man took a 3 hour nap... he was one pooped puppy!

This is the first slide Thomas tackled... or rather it tackled him. Notice the small pool of water at the bottom? Thomas figured out what it was like to land head first on your back. Don't worry - he is a tough cookie... he figured it out after a slight panic when he was submerged in a foot of water. And yes, I was right there at the pool of water when he came down... so dont' go thinking I'm a bad parent for letting my not-quite-3-year-old do that.

Here is the traffic jam that Thomas was causing as he headed up to the top of the 2nd water slide that he tried... this one he LOVED and I had a hard time getting him off of it... despite the trickly/slippery ladder.

There he is... going down on his belly and loving it!

Here is the 3rd and finally slide... Thomas hated it. He went down only this time and called it quits. When I asked him what he didn't like about it... his response was very simple, "It is too slow Ma'ma." Poor kid had to scoot down the whole way on his butt because he didn't give himself a running start. Oh well.

Poor Abby - watching from the sidelines!

But once back at Nana's house... she was the center show. Nana was in "awe" of her pulling up and then cruising the furniture. My fear is she will skip the walking stage and go right to running. I'm just starting to refer to her as "Ms. Sassy Pants"!

Abby being silly...

... while she looks for toys and fun things under the couch!

As usual, it was awesome to see Aunt Jen & Nana - Uncle Ash even surprised everyone with a visit from Mobile. Beautiful weather and family is a good mix! Have a good week everyone!

Big Boy Stuff

Big Boy Stuff has been happening in the last week or so in our neck of the woods.

First...

We needed to do something about the "long" hair. By my standards... this is kinda long. So... we dragged Daddy along to the barber shop...

... and this is our new haircut. Isnt' it perfect for the hot summers? He doesn't even look like my little boy anymore... more like a little boy who is ready to start kindergarden or something.
Thomas grabbed a seat near Daddy & Abby after his haircut. Boy... don't the boys look like each other with their short, tight hair cuts.
Ms. Peanut is always so impressed with Thomas during his haircuts... he just jumps right up in the chair and let's her cut away. He just cracks up when she squirts his hair with water and acts like the electric clippers tickle him as she is trimming him up. But I have to say... it is always worth the $10 haircut (because of how quick she is and how clean cut she makes him look). The fact that he always gets to go pick out a lollipop doesn't hurt either.

Second...

Brian showed Thomas how to pee standing up last weekend and there has been no turning back since. Thomas loves it and it didn't require any tricks or bribing at all. He just says that he "is a big boy and big boys stand up and pee." Well... I wish potty training period had been that quick and that simply. Somehow I think Brian got the easier job.

We did have a funny conversation about why Mommy wasn't standing to go potty - I believe the word "hose" was used to describe what he and Daddy have... and what Mommy doesn't have. It certainly made both Brian and me laugh.

Fridge-raiders

So apparently my children love the fridge... this is Thomas (10 months old in April 2008) taking care of all of the salad dressings on the bottom row. He was in hog heaven that he was taking everything out and then putting it all back in.

Abby is the same exact way. Here she is tonight (9 months old)... raiding the fridge and everything on that infamous bottom row.

Fun Fest 2010!

Saturday started early for the Heck household because of the Annual Navarre Beach Fun Fest 5K Run/Walk. We met our good friends Kim & Jeff there and had a great morning getting some exercise and had some fun at the festival! We had no idea that we would be there for 5 hours... but when it is a beautiful day & the fun just keeps happening... you can't help yourself!

Thomas & me stretching before the race. Not really sure why he is feeling the need to get limber - he enjoyed the race from a great seat in the running stroller... but I guess he saw me & wanted to join in. We talked about our different muscles and what they help us do each time we switched stretches... what a hoot he was.

Here we are at the starting line... Daddy was on "stroller patrol" this race so I ran solo and just enjoyed the view & my music. Brian later told me that both Thomas & Abby each took a short snooze while he ran. Oh to be young again...
Post-race: Brian, Thomas and Jeff checking out the final building efforts of the new Navarre Fishing Pier on the beach (old one was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004) while the big boys are enjoying the first of many post-race beers.

Abby opted for bananas & bagels for breakfast

Kim and me also enjoy a few "brew-ha-has" with all the other racers.

All of us as the festival starts to kick up. The race was good. I haven't been running in quite a while (although I certainly was doing good with power walking shortly after Christmas). Early spring was just crazy insane at work and then trying to get ready for Brian's return; I just couldn't manage to get on a running routine. But what better way to force yourself back into one (now that my other half is home) than to run a race. Being a competitor, I of course set a goal for myself - BUT maybe I was too ambitious when I just used former times I had gotten in old races to aim for. HMMMMMM... didn't work. I won't lie... I was a little disappointed. Brian quickly reminded me that the last time I ran was about 17 months ago which was right when I found out I was pregnant with Abby. OK... so when you put it that way, I guess I didn't do too bad.

But look at how the other 3 did:

Brian got 3rd in his age (and probably would have gotten 2nd but he was pushing a stroller with 2 munchkins); Kim got 1st in her age for speed walkers (she now has had the title for a 3rd year in a row); and Jeff got 1st in his age group! I'm not sure if they are simply celebrating in this picture or rubbing it in that I didn't get one... either way... I'm WAY excited for them!

Abby having fun up-top!

Who knew the trunk was so much fun?

Check out Abby's face - she is really wondering why in the world Thomas gets to enjoy a big yummy ice cream cone and she can't?????

Thomas clearly didn't like his treat! He practically licked the wrapper clean and I think this picture is proof of that!

Thomas LOVING all the different bouncy castles/games.

Abby taking a short morning nap while all the fun continues

Thomas discovered his favorite part of the Fun Fest... the big slide. I think he went on this about 25 times straight without a break.

Does his facial expression not capture it all?