Welcome Eiley Jordan Heesch

This weekend we welcomed another member to the Heesch family - our new niece, Eiley Jordan Heesch. She arrived on Saturday weighing in at 6 lbs, 14 oz. Quite a far cry from our own massive Jaden! So that's what a newborn is supposed to look like! She is very beautiful and we are so happy to be an aunt and uncle again!

Eiley was born with her intestines and stomach outside of her body and will have to spend a few weeks in the NICU. She is responding splendidly to medical interventions thus far. We will be praying for Jordan and Alison and Eiley on the long recovery road and that everything continues to progress. Please join us in saying a prayer for her!

I used to judge...

To begin, let me say that Jared's story about his crocheted pants is not exactly accurate. I actually made a blanket first and had extra yarn so decided to do what he wanted. It was my sophomore year, and his junior year. But regardless, I made him shorts. They turned into pants over the years of the yarn stretching. Somewhere I am supposed to get the time and motivation to make a vest and a hat??? Seriously, who does he think I am?

But I digress. It struck me as I was putting Jaden to bed tonight how my views on parenting have changed since becoming a parent. I used to judge people that walked through Walmart late at night with their children who should be in bed - until we did it. I used to judge kids that walked around with food dried on their faces and hair all messy. Until my son started wearing his food all over his body and clothes. I used to judge kids whose clothes obviously didn't match and were dirty, until Jared started dressing Jaden.

So moral of the story, I understand now that life is not always what it seems on the outside.

CROCHET'D PANTS!!!!

True Love...or Crochet'd Pants

For those of you who know me well this is no surprise.  For those of you who know true love, again no surprise.  What surprising is how how True Love (TL) = Crochet'd Pants (CP).  


In summation if TL=CP then CS (Crochet'd Suit)=???


It all began when I was in college.  It was my 2nd year (notice I didn't say sophomore year because one might argue that I had a couple) in school and Nae's first.  We spoke on the room phones quite a bit with calling cards as I did not have a cell phone.  Shut up all of you who grew up with one ;)  Over the course of these long years of dialing for 5-8 minutes before actually speaking to my darling Nae and I had to keep busy.  I often played Halo on my xbox, much to her shagrin, and she kept busy with crochet.  Naturally I told Nae that I needed crochet'd pants.  This is where things get interesting.  Renae absolutely thought that the idea was ridiculous which naturally means that I want them even more.  The long and short is that she spend hours and hours making them and I love them. 
To be clear...
I am not allowed to wear them in public around or near Renae
I am not allowed to wear them in Nae's presence
They are not to be seen generally speaking

These rules are inviolate but often broken none-the-less but so is marriage.  The thing that floors me to this day is the fact that Nae has agreed to make a whole suit of crochet'd.  Suit = Vest and Hat minimum.






The answer to my original quandry is;
CS = Happiness 


Enjoy my pants :)

Whirlwind times

This weekend was crazy busy and fun for our family.  Nae mentioned a little bit of it so no need to go there again.  


I feel like there is alot that I want to say...but not the will to divine it within myself so I will not

What does sleep really do?

So I'm sitting here in our basement watching friends and trying to cool down. Our A/C broke earlier this week - so it's incredibly hot and humid in our house. Everybody is feeling - especially poor Dori. Not exactly looking forward to another night of sleeping in the guest bed with Jaden in his portacrib down here. But such is life. I'm hoping we can get the A/C fixed or that the weather will break soon!

But on to other things. We had a bit of a crazy weekend. Jared worked all day on Friday and then went to a ministry event on Friday night. Didn't get home until 11. Dad came over Friday night and we worked in the bathroom. Saturday morning Jaden and I drove to SD for Crystal & Jon's wedding (my friend from college). Jared worked all day and then went on a fishing trip with the boys. Dad finished the bathroom. We got home this afternoon after spending 12 hours in the car in the past two days. Jaden was such a trooper - he didn't get crabby until the last hour. He was such a great traveler and behaved quite well at the wedding and reception. Which was very nice by the way. Great to see old college friends and reconnect.

However, all of our traveling really screwed up my son's sleep schedule. He's not on a regimented schedule by any means, but generally naps twice during the day and goes to bed around 8:00. Usually wakes up around 7:00 - 7:30 every morning. Staying up until 11:00, getting up later, and napping too much in the car doesn't do much for an infant. Now he is trying to go sleep tonight and having troubles.

If sleep is so important to babies, why do we as adults think it doesn't matter? Anyone that has been around kids can attest to the fact that without sleep, a child simply cannot function. Makes me wonder - what is it about sleep that totally controls our life? Without my 8 hours, I really struggle to make it through a day. Why did God create us to need sleep so much? People always say, "I can sleep when I'm dead" as an excuse for not getting sufficient sleep now. But are they really destroying themselves? Just some thoughts for the evening. Myself, I'm a little screwed up with my schedule too. I'm hoping to go to bed early tonight and try and gets some extra zzz's to make up for lost time.

One other note - we are thinking about breeding our chocolate lab soon. Anyone interested in a puppy? Think on it...

Flasses/The Kari Haun Initiative

My new accouterments include chin beard and Flasses.  Flasses are real frames with fake lenses.  This is my new social experiment.  For those of you who know me this will come as no surprise.  The real interesting bit lies within the fact that people who don't know me all that well are convinced I look more studious and take me more serious.  I know it's funny but the fact is when someone doesn't know you they are more sensitive to how you appear.  I know this isn't mind blowing but realizing that people that you work with every day often can't see past your spectacles or a style of shirt kind of makes you evaluate everything you say and do.  Knowing that people can't see past certain things really makes you wonder what they do pick out about you...your hair, those words you say in awkward pauses in conversations, even down to how well you treat those with whom you aren't friendly.


Thought for the day...though people who you work with don't know even the most basic things about your personality they are bound to pick up some things.  What if the only thing they pick up is that you are selfish and a Christian.  Or that you sometimes take pens home with you from work and you are a Christian.  The sad truth is that being a Christian is great lip service but if you can't confirm that claim with the things you do every day there is a really good chance that you become the reason that people can't stand Christianity.


Of these things I am sure I am the worst offender...


New font means Nae's turn to speak;
For the record, Jared's "flasses" look completely ridiculous. I think they actually look quite nice on him in a serious sense. But the fact that he actually wears them makes them ridiculous. 


Big news in the Heesch house today - Jaden is now crawling. It's not very smooth yet, but he gets across the room. 


Other notes of the day: our air conditioner stopped working, had a nice dinner tonight with Mom & Chey at Culvers, Dori (our chocolate lab) is getting ready to go into heat again, and we mowed the lawn. We are sleeping in the basement tonight because it's so hot upstairs. Up next tomorrow: cleaning the mess that is called our kitchen, and hopefully laying tile in the bathroom. For those who don't know, we are nearly finished with our basement remodeling project - just the bathroom to go! Wish us luck :)


So long. 

Quotes

I have noticed that at work I tend to use quotes alot.  There is a chat forum that make communication across the call center a bit easier and I find my brain is automatically picking up bits of conversation and converting those bits to irrelevant snippets of movies.  

Latest example;
a colleague made a rhyme about taking calls I obviously replied with "no more rhymes now. I mean it"..."Anybody want a peanut?"

Does anyone ever wonder why our mind works the way that it does?  I seem to find myself using these quotes as reference points throughout the day.  The reason I find this interesting is this;

What were to happen if those quotes didn't spring forth unbidden?

I just wonder what would come out if I never watched movies, listened to music, read books or the like.  What would be coming out of my brain if I never put in any new information.  The relevance of this question is completely non-existent because there is always new information coming into our brains.  This is really where my query led me because then I look to my son.  I see that today he has begun crawling and so that opens a whole new world of "what the crap will he get into now" but the real important thought in my brain was "what will his brain get into now".   

I had a smart person once tell me "Garbage in, Garbage out" and I wonder how I can shield my child from garbage until he can make his own choices.  This brings up a whole new argument of whether or not I should be shielding him.  

All of these things from one harmless Princess Bride quote...you can imagine what would happen after a movie like Inception :)

Jaden Laughing

Well, I just tried to upload a video of Jaden laughing. But it didn't work. Anyone have any ideas? It just said there was an error... Guess we'll have to settle for more pictures. Took these recently. 

Renae's Assigned Duty

Ok, so I was told I was supposed to write "expectations" for the blog. So here goes -
The main reason I wanted to do this was because of my roommate Kelsey. She has been blogging for years. I must confess that I don't check it all that often. But every time I wonder what she's been up to or miss her friendship, I know that I can just go to the blog and get connected back to her instantly. I'm super jealous of how good a writer she is too. I wanted to have a blog so that maybe some that don't live near us can also share with us in the joys and struggles of daily life. Maybe if someday you're wondering - What's going on with the Heesch's? You can come here and find out!

Oh, and also I think my life is kinda entertaining - especially my dear sweet son. I now wonder what Jared and I used to do every night since all we do now is play with Jaden and laugh at him all evening!

A quick Hello

I got to watch HP7 with little brother last night.  Every time I try and quantify or categorize my relationship with Jordan I feel at a loss.  It's easy to say he's my best friend.  It's easy to say that I can tell him anything and he won't judge me or love me any less.  The hardest part about our relationship is the fact that we can't be together more often.  Please don't misunderstand me in this.  This is not a complaint.  Jordan is with his wife and child and they are the priority for him.  In the same situation I am committed to my immediate family as well.  This is not a source of sorrow but of pride.  I am proud of him for the man he is and the accountability he provides as well.
The issue I have has to do with the fact that I want what I know isn't best for us.  I want to drive down to his house and hang out in his basement for hours playing COD and just talking.  I want him to drive to my house so we can have a cigar and hang out.  I am constantly finding things for us to get together and do, which isn't hard because anything would be wicked awesome just hanging out.  All of these things flash through my mind and I realize that all of those childhood memories that I wish I could recapture are what makes our current relationship great. I could not ask for a more beautiful and complimentary partner for my brother that Ali nor a cuter niece that my SLN Jadie.   
On the same level I couldn't imagine life without my Nae.  So all of these thoughts lead in one direction...God is sooo good and He is waaay smarter than me :)

"Nagging Works"... by Monica Geller

For those of you who don't know, I love Friends. And constantly find ways that Friends quotes fit into my life. Unfortunately there are only a few others that I know of who "get" most of these Friends references. Wonderful people who have spent countless hours in front of the TV watching the greatest show on earth with me. You know who you are.

Anyway, I found in the past two weeks that nagging apparently does work! My wonderful husband has surprised me on each of the past Mondays with a clean house, dinner on the table, wonderful gifts, and even flowers. For years I have been asking for him to help out more around the house, blah, blah, blah. And I guess it finally stuck! Don't know how or why, but I'm loving it!

So here's to Jared - thanks for everything you do for me and for Jaden around here. Thanks for making supper, buying me flowers, your special gifts that only I would appreciate, and for just loving crazy old me. No one else could do it - that's for sure! You're an amazing husband and I'm so blessed to have you :)

Pictures of Jaden

These pictures were taken by my dear friend, Kelsey Irwin. They capture just a few of the moments that make each day worthwhile. Funny how much bigger he is in a few short months since these pictures were taken!

Jared recently commented on how special and precious it is to walk into Jaden's room. He can sit up on his own now. When he gets up in the morning, there he is in his crib sitting up with a giant grin on his face, arms reaching up, just waiting for me to pick him up and cuddle him. Nothing better!

Cousins Bathtime

For those of you new to the blog, that would be all, I will try and keep my posts in courier (Jared).


So one of my favorite memories as a child were weekends with my grandparents.  They would take "the four boys" JJ, Jon, Jordan, and myself to a hotel for the weekend.  I remember that we thought it was the most amazing thing ever.  The weekend was generally consisting of travel on friday night.  Saturday we would wake up and swim all day with some sort of big tadoo about dinner later on.  Papa (Bob, my dad's dad who is no longer with us) would always give us the talk.  The talk included instruction on how to behave.  After dinner obviously bed.  Sunday always included a search for a suitable church.  It was the inability of finding a suitable church that led to the bedside Baptist session that I actually accepted Christ, but more on that later.


It was these weekends that always stuck with me.  Us boys would often get some quarters for the arcade but even in the absence of an arcade a good time was had by all.  Throughout my childhood the overwhelming memories of these weekends was practically flawless.  The evening we beat the Ninja Turtles arcade game will live on in my mind as one of the crowning achievements of my childhood.


There is a picture we have that, in my mind, symbolizes these bonding experiences and the quality relationships built there.  It is a picture that will also live on in infamy as it is relatively risque.  The picture is the four boys in a bathtub.  JJ was probably about 5 with the rest of us following at 4, 3, and 2 ish.  Jon was standing up so the picture usually has a little piece of sticky note to maintain modesty.  This picture has brought laughs and fond memories countless times.


Tonight my "Sweet little Niece" as I call her and Jaden had cousin bath time.  My wonderful wife was thoughtful enough to capture this moment in a photo (Jordan and I were getting some groceries and diapers, allstars I know).  The moment I saw the picture I was blasted back in time.  Moved to the point that is just shy of tears I was so thankful for those weekends and was hoping that by the grace of God my dear son and SLN Jadie might have a similar relationship.  Obviously the baths won't continue forever but with God's blessing they might be able to share the love that I have for my fantastic brother and wonderful cousins.  Ali and Jordy's #2 Eiley will obviously be a part of that experience and hopefully more to come at some point in time but for now the cousins bathtime picture is enough to bring joy to this guy.


Thanks for taking the time to share with my memory and I hope that you can show how thankful you are to someone you care for.

Expectations-Jared

1.  No one will read this blog...

2.  Renae and I will probably learn alot about each other when we read what the other posts

3.  Self discovery and Introspection...blah blah blah

4.  Trials in the form of being diligent about writing 

5.  Clarity about the direction my book will take

6.  Additional insight into our mundane for those who are interested :)

7.  Accountability 

to be continued...

Greetings from the Interior

Renae: "we should start a blog"
Jared: "who would want to read it...?"
Renae: "does it matter"
Jared: "never has before...no one's is going to read it"
Renae: "our moms will"
Jared: "my mom also wanted to come to my men's league games too..."
Renae: "...point taken"

So this is approximately how this whole thing started.  For a while now Nae and I have been talking about how we need to branch out. We have dreamed of having a cooking show, running a group home, and even of traveling the world.  From a financial perspective the blog was the most feasible.  


When beginning new adventures (the Dominican team from Coulee can attest) I have always found it most entertaining (and very often enlightening) to write down a list of expectations.  I will mandate that Nae does the same so there is a pretty good chance that it won't happen but who's to say.


So for those of you who like short reads I appreciate your ADHD and empathize.  
For those of you looking for wisdom and insight you obviously stumbled here by accident and stopped reading when Nae said "we should..." 
And finally for our mothers who will read this regardless of the ineptitude of its authors we love you both deeply and appreciate your blind appraisal.