A new year, a new post!

Happy New Year to everyone! Well, seeing at it's almost February that phrase is a little weird now.

It's been a great month so far for the Hejl fam. Juliet is five months old, and cuter than EVER. She's eating rice cereal and oatmeal, and has thus far tried peas, green beans and sweet potatoes. She seems to like the sweet potatoes the most, but who doesn't. Peas are just NASTY to me, but Cooper and Juliet love them. I have no excuse.

Cooper is growing like a weed, and learning about/questioning everything. We've had a lot of death in the family lately - Granddaddy, uncle Harold, and yes, my parents' dog, Clovis - so Coop's been asking about Heaven a lot. It's pretty hard to explain death and Heaven to a four year old. Right now, he doesn't really want to go to Heaven because that's far away from everything he knows on this earth. He's coming around though, since we explained to him that Harold is now in Heaven with his mom and dad. He did pray once, "Dear God, thank you for Granddaddy and Harold. Help Harold to have a good time with his mom and dad in Heaven." Well said. Last night he mentioned to Luke, "I have two dads!" We were all, um okay. He then said, "God and Daddy. God is our Heavenly Father." How sweet is that? I love me some Cooper. So strong-willed yet sensitive and all-ears.

Because I haven't updated since Christmasish, here are a bunch of fun and random pics.

Four month stats, Christmas, etc.

Hope everyone had a great holiday. Now it's back to the grind. Cooper starts back preschool on Wednesday, and I couldn't be more excited. He couldn't be either. Luke will be traveling to Salt Lake City, some other place, and POLAND this month, so it should be interesting for us all.

Juliet had her four month appointment a couple of weeks ago. She was 13 pounds, 14 ounces (50th percentile), and doing well. She was almost 25 inches long, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height. A tall one. The doc said she was grasping at things at a six month-old level, so even if she was just saying that, it made me feel good that we already have a genius on our hands. :) She's talking a lot more, sleeping better during the day and at night, grabbing her feet with her hands, and really chewing on everything she can get her hands on - quite a drooler, too. She started last week on some rice cereal, and LOVES it. We're eating it every night now, and are about to start with it twice a day. Gives me a little feeding break - not so constant. We love her so much, and are so grateful for this blessing in our lives. Super cute.

Cooper is playing more and more with his little sister. I asked him outside today: "Cooper, do you remember when it was just me, you and Daddy ... No Juliet?" He replied, "Yes, that was fun. Babies are hard to take care of and cry. But, I'm glad we have her now. I love her." Made me tear up a little. He is the sweetest little boy in the world - smart, funny, compassionate, loves to run around at full speed, and is always seeking knowledge. He wants to know about EVERYTHING, and is slowly starting to try and read a few books. He wants you to follow the words with your finger, and spell things. SO great. We bought him the TAG reader for Christmas and he uses it a lot. Mix anything with technology and he's rarin' to go. Much like his daddy. Oh, and there's still the car and phone obsessions. Show him a car, and he'll tell you the make and model. Not kidding.

We had a fantastic holiday this year. Always, a holiday with an infant doesn't really feel much like a holiday, but who needs sleep and time to one's self? Not me. We stayed in Austin for Luke's parents' Christmas, came to our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and then were off to my parents' Christmas Day. After some good quality time with family (and an Old 97s concert for good measure), we crammed everything in our suburban and came home, only to cram it all in our house. Needless to say, we're blessed beyond measure, and had a great holiday.

More to come. Upcoming events: Photo Card Cafe' yearly company meeting, our huddle retreat, running the Austin half marathon (Luke is too, but I'm actually running with my friend Jillian), judging Sing Song at ACU, and Disneyland in March. Whew!

Update, catch up, whatever you want to call it.

Hey hey. Yes, I still have a blog. Yes, I know I'm behind. Here is a catch-up blog.

Over the past month, we've been to Puerto Rico as a family (for Luke's work), had a great Thanksgiving, and begun the Christmas experience with lights, tree, etc. Here are some fun pics! Oh, and Juliet is 3.5 months old now, and getting cuter (and more stubborn) by the day. Naps are the low-light of the day because she's already fighting it, but she sleeps great at night. I can't complain. Enjoy!

You be the judge.

This pic is a little old of Juliet, but here are my children at the same ages. They are definitely brother and sister!

Stats

I'm back. Just finished up a HUGE post that I will put up later, but I wanted to post everyone's stats before I forgot.

Cooper went to the doc today for his four-year checkup. All is well. He got three shots today and didn't even wince. What a trooper. We went to Sonic after that one. He weighs about 37.6 pounds, is 42 inches tall and has a BMI of 15. 50th, 75th (tall) and 25th percentile, respectively. Hearing and vision are AOK.

Juliet went last month for her two-month appt, and I never posted anything! Ugh, bad mom. She weighed 11 pounds, 10 ounces (50th percentile - a whole pound more than Cooper at this age) and was 24 inches tall. (99th percentile - tall!) Everything is looking great with her. She's so much bigger than that now. She's talking a lot, holding her head up, really noticing her brother (hard not to notice) and filling out a lot. I can't wait until her next appt!

Happy Halloween!

Juliet = 10 weeks, Cooper = four years and two weeks. Cutest ballerina/ninja combo ever.

Where do I start?

I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to this blog. One kid = lots of time to update. Two kids = zero time to do anything, much less sit at my computer. Don't get me wrong ... My kids are the most wonderful things on the planet, but they don't let up for anything. :)

Let's see. First let's talk about the elementary school dedication/naming for my pepaw, W. A. Martin. The new Martin Elementary School in Crandall, TX is brand new and super awesome. That it's now named after my pepaw is just the coolest. He is a great, Godly man with many life accomplishments - preacher, teacher, principal, drivers' ed instructor, community servant, entire-Bible-memorizer, and family man. So, it was fitting (and about time) to name a school after him. We got to see a DVD of a lot of old pictures of the him and our family, and hear his life's story. A proud day for the Martin family.








Also, it was great to see my daddy looking a lot better (and about half the size eh was before) after his jaunt in the hospital the past few weeks. He's doing well, and we're so grateful for all of the prayers. Thank you God! He's getting better every day, and seems to have a new lease on life. Love it.

A couple of weeks after that, we went to visit the Wattersons in Sara's hometown of Emory, TX. That's right, Farmtown, USA. It was extremely refreshing to visit such a quiet little town, and to stay in an old house across the pasture from Sara's parents. Yeah, you heard me. We ate a lot, watched the kids play, rode four wheelers, watched TV and relaxed. We even got a night out without kids (except Juliet) and went to the Juan Pablos in Sulphur Springs (I think that's where we were). Good times, and great chips and queso.




That following Monday, we went to the U2 concert in Dallas. It. Was. Epic. Best concert I've ever been to, by far. We had amazing seats (17th row on the side/back)and had a fabulous time with Sara and Preston. It was a bittersweet day, however, because right before the concert we learned that my granddaddy passed away. He was my mom's dad, Earl Senter, and he was a great Christian man. It was a good funeral (as good as a funeral can be) because of his confidence in his salvation. We all knew where he was, smiling down on us, finally back with Grandmother. He was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, so he had a 21-gun salute, flag on the casket ... The whole nine yards. Got some great photos. He would have been "tickled" at it all.







THEN, Cooper had a great FOURTH birthday party. Lots of his friends came out to our park to play and eat cake and snacks. I attempted to make a monster truck cake this year, but I can't say it was my best work. Nevertheless, it tasted really good. He had a great time, and still enjoys the gifts and memories.









I have much more to blog about in my next posts. I still have to do Puerto Rico (which we just came back from) and other stuff. It'll come, eventually. :) Here are some more cute Halloween pics with the cousins, and a few of Juliet as she's grown.