The Rest of July

Sunday, July 17th

Too hot to play outside. Played play doh inside.


Monday, July 18th

Cleaned the jumpy. Ellie wasn't too excited about it. But it did occupy her for 5 minute
which for me is a nice amount of time to get something done.


Friday, July 22nd

Kanabec County Fair. Hadley's first ride at the fair all by herself. Well meaning no parents. She was in the car with Ve Ve and Livia. She wasn't scared. She rode the cars and the boats. She loved both of them. She is such a little girl... when she saw Liv and Ve there she ran up to them and hugged them... it was so cute.


Ellie at the fair. We brought the stroller. Okay... not the best stroller for gravel/sand. But, it worked. Ellie spent most of her time in the Baby Bjorn but towards the end of our evening she had a blow-out which landed her in the stroller and then on too this patch of grass so we could get her a new diaper. She was a great little girl there... she loved looking around at everything.

Thursday, July 28th

Ellie's new toy. The Winkel, I think. Whatever it is ... it is great ... a must have for all babies!

I told Hadley to strike a pose and this is what she did. Super cute. She is still attached to her ducky blanket. She loves that thing. Thankfully she just uses it at nap and bedtime. She also loves her baby Annie. She is really into dolls and playing with them. She is still not pooping in the potty so we have resorted to a new book called everyone poops. It came in the mail today. Hopefully this will help. She is still doing well on the peeing part though.

Tonight...Friday, July 29th... we went to Auntie Lauries to play with Shanessa, Nevaeh and Parker. Auntie Carol is here visiting from AZ. So we got to see her and meet her new boyfriend. Then we ate pizza from the bowling alley. Daddy decided to play softball with Daryl up in Willow River. Hadley wanted to go with daddy but it was the pizza that changed her mind. Now after a long night I am still up waiting for Daddy. It is currently July 30th... Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary. Hopefully Robert makes it home sooner then later... as it is later right now.

My Ellie Column

Three months ago we happily added another daughter, Ellie, to our family. As many of you know Ellie was born with a congenital heart defect and on day seven of her life was rushed to Children’s Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis.
That day was the beginning of several days where I had to put my utmost trust in others.
It all started at home. Everything was as it should be — The coffee was on, Hadley was watching Dora and Ellie was nursing. It was a typical new morning in the Heinsen household.
Then as the day progressed everything turned upside down. Ellie stopped eating and I couldn't stop worrying. After a few phone calls I took her temperature and she was 90 degrees. Okay, not even close to what it should be. So off my mother and I went to urgent care in Onamia.
At this point I thought that she had probably caught a virus and most likely she would have to get some fluids and stay the night. Boy was I wrong because two hours later after amazing care from the emergency room team, Robert and I were in a car headed for Minneapolis, and Ellie was in the air.
Let’s put trust on a scale of one to 10. This was a trust factor of 10. I hate helicopters and have no desire to ever ride on one. But, there went my 7-day-old little baby on a stretcher in a cocoon sort of thing for the ride of her life. At that time I had to put all my trust into three guys whom I had never met: one pilot and two air nurses who took Ellie to Children’s.
Shortly before the air team left I got to exchange a few words with the pilot. He asked me how old Ellie was. I told him she was 7 days old and he shared with me that he just had his first granddaughter and she was exactly 7 days old too. Thank you helicopter pilot for sharing that with me, because not only did that help me remember that you were human, it also gave me a sense of who you were as a person, and it was much easier to trust you with my baby.
After we arrived in Minneapolis we found Ellie receiving care in the ER. There she was diagnosed with two heart defects which would require surgery. She was transferred from the ER to the cardiovascular care center at Children’s. As we followed Ellie on the stretcher Robert and I must have looked like zombies walking with a sort of deer-in-headlights look on our face. I couldn't believe this was happening to us, but I decided to remain strong and put my trust in the staff at Children’s. This was what they did, and we were in the best hands.
After a brief introduction we left Ellie to the CVCC staff, and she was transformed from a squirrelly newborn to a stiff patient hooked up to everything imaginable.
Three days later after Ellie got stronger she was slated for surgery. In those three days leading up to surgery Robert and I grew stronger too. But we were anxious.
All morning I kept looking at the clock waiting for noon to come. Ellie was scheduled to go into surgery around 1 p.m., but before she was to go we were to meet with the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Finally they came, and the surgeon explained to us what he was going to do. He gave us facts and stats and let us know her odds. He was very confident, and he admitted to us that her surgery was complicated but it was what he loved to do. He shook our hands and away he went to prepare. Shortly after, we said goodbye to our Ellie and trusted that she was in the best hands she could be.
Those were the longest hours of my life as my trust factor exceeded level 10.
The surgery went well. Ellie was done early, and we spent the next 13 days in recovery. After that I was relieved, and I felt a strong sense of certainty that everything was going to be alright. I attribute that to all our family and friends who were praying for us.
It is hard to trust but it is even harder to worry. I had to let go and as they say let God. I know behind it all he was the strength that guided all of us.

Potty Dance

Do the potty dance... do the potty dance! We have been dancing since last Tuesday, 9 days of dancing. Hadley has mastered the peeing in the potty but has not attempted the pooping. So hopefully we can get that down. She has a bike waiting for her is she starts pooping. As far as peeing accidents... just a couple. None really during the day. Mainly nap time and night time. We put a Dora easy up on her, often times over her underwear... that is what she wants. But, it helps to keep on the underwear since that makes her feel like a big girl. Since she is going on the potty, I told her I would take her shopping... she said she wants ice cream and a bouncy thing. She is a silly gal! We are so proud of her! And, it is cute that she still gets excited to tell us she peed in the potty when she is peeing.

Half way through July

So where do I begin? The Heinsen family has been busy! Here is a rough run down of the days 1-15 in July...

July 1st-4th

We spent the weekend at the Big Sandy Cabin. We basically just relaxed all weekend. Daddy helped cook most meals which was super nice and a big help for Jean. Uncle Tom was in the kitchen a lot too! We had some yummy meals which consisted of fish, cucumber salad and fresh fruit one night and steak or chicken the next with a garden salad. This year Hadley played in the water and she loved to spend time sitting in the boat even though it wasn't going anywhere. Ellie and I spent time in the cabin to stay out of the sun but we did manage to get outside a little bit. We also went to visit grandpa Gene on Saturday afternoon. We had a very nice visit! We decided to keep the girls back at the cabin during fireworks because it would have been too long of a boat ride. Hadley was good just hanging out in the cabin... she had her own little TV area, the night of the fireworks she stayed up super late. It was a nice weekend!

July 7th

Relaxing at home in on a Thursday afternoon. Ellie likes to sit up in her bumbo chair. I have been very busy since I started school and the girls have been at Grandma's a lot. So a afternoon at home has been very rare in July. But, this day we managed to get home and relax before the big busy weekend of Isle Days.

July 9th-10th

Isle Days weekend came and went like a blur. I was busy with the Munchkin Run and Mille Lacs Fun Run until Saturday around 10am. Auntie Michelle came up and stayed the night so you little gals would be taken care of. After we were done with everything running related we had lunch at the Coffee House. It was very hot and humid out... after lunch everyone took a nap except Mommy. I put together the new toy Auntie brought up... a water table. It was a huge hit at the annual parade party that night. All the kids loved it. We had a nice group of people come over to watch the parade. A lot of kids... The Larson kids... The Pedersen kids... The Gessel kids... The Adickes kids... and a few random other people stop in and out. Ellie got to experience her first parade and she was very good. She loved watching all the people. She enjoyed being in the baby bjorn... she fell asleep. I was able to get her down around 10 pm that night and Hadley went to bed after she watched the fireworks from our yard. After I got both to bed which was around 11 pm. I finally joined Cassie and Shanessa by the bonfire for a little bit. Parker was sleeping in the house in the swing. Three babies sleeping in the house... a big change from years past! I finally went to bed at 1 am. I was extremely tired. Poor Hadley woke up because of the loud music... I saw her inside the house through the door and ran and got her... I brought her outside quick to tell Cassie I would be going to bed and as Hadley sat on my lap... she saw the stars. She said, "Look there are stickers in the sky!" Super cute... she isn't usually up late enough to be outside to see stars. So I guess it wasn't so bad afterall that she woke up... it was a good reason for me to go to bed.

July 11th-16th

Sunday it was super hot... so pool at Grandmas and a yummy dinner!

Tuesday, July 13th we finally started doing "The Potty Dance"
Hadley is wearing big girl underwear!