Mary's in Preschool!

Mary goes to the Co-op Preschool in the 3's class.  On her first day it was constitution day for Emily's school so Mary also dressed in red, white &  blue.  This was her pose!

She sported her princess back pack from her God mother Diane.

Here is Mary with the class pet.

Mary is leading the calendar in this picture on day 2 of school!

Counting the days in September until the 19th!

Picking sunny on the weather wheel.  It's always sunny with Mary!  She loves it - especially the dinosaur song (which goes along with the theme)!

Emily is in 1st grade!

Can you believe Emily is in 1st grade?

So you ask what does Emily like to do?
-Lego's
-Biking (without training wheels)
-Playing house with her sister Mary
-Board games
-Mario on the Wii with her daddy
-Video games on the iPad

Emily is getting so grown up.  She is great at helping with her two sisters and especially loves to cuddle Amy.  The first thing Emily does when she gets off the school bus is come home, wash her hands and then hold Amy.

These pictures are from the first day of school this year!

Amy Jane is 5 months old

 

Everywhere we go people comment on how happy Amy is.  She is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen!  Amy is such a blessing because she smiles constantly.  

Amy also is rolling around and so we have to be careful where we leave her that she doesn't get something she shouldn't.

Amy also likes to suck her thumb like her big sister Emily.  The above duck is one of Amy's favorite things to play with - that along with her big sisters Mary & Emily.

Amy is 4 months old!

Amy is getting so big as you can see.  At 4 months old she weighed in at 13 pounds and 12 ounces which is about the 40 percentile.  Amy is a great mix of both Emily and Mary.

Amy loves to stick her tongue out when she smiles and she by far is my most vocal baby with lots of coos and squeals.  As one friend said she has to be loud to be heard over her two big sisters.

Amy seems the most alert and mobile so far.  She is not mobile but does scoot on her back on the floor and is always pushing up to a stand on our lap.  Amy does not sit still for long and requires much more attention than Mary did at this age.  Mary was more laid back and content.  Amy sometimes cries in the car and doesn't like to go in her car seat already!

 The above two pictures are from the girls patiently waiting at the hair salon.  I got my hair colored and Emily and Mary both got their hair cut.  So we were there for about 1.5 hours.  Amy was great!

Emily and Mary are both excellent helpers and I am not sure what I will do in a few weeks when they go to school (Emily 1st grade and Mary preschool).  For now we will enjoy our summer with lots of bike rides, the zoo, and going swimming.

Happy 4th of July!

 

We went to my brother's in Indy for July 4th.  The kids had a great time at the park, fireworks at the Blast on the Bridge and boating!  It's so much fun making memories and spending time together.

Amy is 3 Months Old!

 

Amy is really starting to change and grow.  She is so much fun!  We ended up having a doctor's appointment while in Indy visiting my brother for the 4th of July and they said she looks great!  Amy had a cough and it ended up just being a cold.  It's scary to hear them cough when they are so young and we wanted to make sure it wasn't in her lungs.  At the visit Amy weighed 12 pounds 13 ounces which is in the 68 percentile so she is really growing.

Amy still has a curl in her hair and it appears a little curly but it's still so early to tell.

Amy Jane is 2 Months Old!

Amy is two months old already.  She is more like Mary is size but Emily in personality.  At her 2 month visit she weighed 11 pounds 12 ounces which is in the 62% and is 22.25 inches long which is in the 39% for height.

Amy is already a thumb sucker just like her big sister Emily.  She is very laid back and easy going like Mary was as a baby.  Amy has a strong neck and loves to look around and doesn't want to miss anything.  Amy enjoys being entertained by her two older sisters and for some reason Emily seems to get the biggest smiles from Amy.

You may notice in the pictures that Amy has a curl on the top of her head.  I am still hoping for one daughter with curly hair!

Mary Louise is 3 & a Big Sister Now!

Mary Louise our middle daughter turned 3 on May 21st.  She came with me to the newborn photo shoot of Amy the end of April and we got one picture with the proud big sister.

Mary is so much fun.  She loves play-doh, singing, running, jumping and of course her yellow blankie. Mary was really easy at age two and always went with the flow.  Right before she became a big sister she started to get more opinionated but also has much more personality too.  Mary will swing her arm as she struts around the house.

This year her blue eyes turned brown like her mommies.  We are still waiting for the curls.

At the 3 year visit Mary weighed 28 pounds (23%) and was 36.7 inches tall (40%).  Mary takes after her mommy and isn't going to be too big or tall.

Announcing Amy Jane Heiss

On April 5th we were blessed with our third baby girl Amy Jane Heiss.  It was a planned c-section and we knew it was going to be another girl so the only surprise was that she was much smaller than Emily or Mary when she was born.

Amy weighed in at 8 pounds and 20 inches long.  Seeing Emily was 9 pounds and Mary was just shy of 9 pounds at 8 pounds 15 ounces Amy seemed small but perfect.

Grandma Jane stayed with Emily and Mary when we were at the hospital.  Here are a couple of pictures welcoming Amy into our family.

Christmas Message from 2012

Seeing it's been a while since I've been blogging I thought I would start by posting last year's Christmas Message.  It's a great recap of 2012:

Merry Christmas

God has provided for us in many special ways; in April we will welcome our third baby girl!

Mary is the sweetest little two and half year old we could ask for!  She loves to be read to and is a cuddle bug.  Mary is also an artist and enjoys painting, coloring and creating with Play-Doh.  She adores her big sister and often asks when she will be getting off the school bus.  Mary is a great helper in the kitchen and likes to wash the fruit and vegetables for me.  Plus Mary doesn’t let me unload the dishwasher by myself and helps by handing me everything.  Mary loves it when we stay and volunteer in Emily’s classroom and is so grown up.  We often hear “me do it” and are amazed at what she can do.

Emily started kindergarten this fall at North Creek in Chelsea.  She loves her class and is thriving.  As her teacher Mrs. Lantis said, “Emily is a delight to have in class!  She is willing to try anything.”  Emily also enjoys playing soccer, t-ball and riding her bike.  In April she won her first tractor pull and has embraced her mom’s farm roots.  Jim and Emily completed a 15-mile bike race in July with Emily on the tag along and I would imagine many more races to come.  Emily loves being a big sister and has many questions about the new baby coming in April such as “how does she breath in there, can she hear me and does she have hair?” 

I love teaching part-time at Adrian College.  This semester I taught two sections of Business and Professional Communications and took on advising.  I have about 12 advisees, which I meet with to help select which classes they should take and advise them on their career.  I’ve been frequenting a group in Ann Arbor called LA2M, which is a marketing education group and attended my second search engine-marketing conference at Eastern Michigan University last month.  I enjoy learning about digital marketing and helped plan the first Social Media Small Business Workshop at Adrian College last June.  The Sun Towels business (suntowels.com) I help had our best summer yet and we continue to grow too.  This past summer I played women’s sand doubles (volleyball) in Ann Arbor where the college athletes in the league continuously challenged me and helped me stay in shape.  I’ve been attending Faithful Fitness three days a week, which is such a blessing, and I hope to workout until the end of the pregnancy.  Most importantly I love being home with our girls every day!

This year Jim spent more time doing what he loves which is mountain biking, skiing, camping and hunting.  In June Jim and our friend Luman rode with many pro/elite racers over 9,000 feet of elevation gain through an intense single track in Michigan’s Manistee National Forest and the Big-M Ski area.  They found victory in surviving the 100-mile mountain bike race and crossing the finish line at the Lumberjack 100.  In January he had fun teaching Emily how to ski at Boyne Mountain and in August he talked me into a camping trip.  The camping trip exceeded my expectations and we had such a wonderful time at Petoskey State Park; the girls loved Lake Michigan!  Jim cooked the best meals around the campfire and we relished the sand, seashells and waves.  This fall Jim was promoted and moved into a new position at Consumers Energy.  He is now a program manger in marketing on energy efficiency programs.  It’s the perfect fit for Jim, as you will see with his I Geek photo (this is a program the Chelsea library sponsored).  Although Jim didn’t get a deer this year, he still liked hunting on our 10 acres and my parent’s farm in Ann Arbor. 

Christmas arrived early as we put in a new geo-thermal furnace this week.  We appreciate living in the country; our huge garden and we hope to have berries and apples this summer.

Have a wonderful Christmas and may God bless your 2013.

Jim, Beth, Emily (5.5), Mary (2.5) & Lucy (our yellow lab)

Here is the front of our Christmas card from 2012: