Happy Birthday Heidi Elizabeth!!! I love you!!

Today,  "my" Sister Heidi turns 5!!! I'm not sure where those 5 years have gone! I'll tell you one thing though, these 5 years have been some of the best years of my life!! I can't describe what kind of joy having her in my life brings! She always has a smile and a huge bear hug waiting for you! We call her our Heidi Bear, which fits quite well, she is either a cuddly teddy bear or a grouchy don't mess with me or you might get "bit" kind of bear. I can't help but feel happy and sad at the same time! Happy that she has made it this far and has grown into a beautiful young girl striving to please God each and everyday, but sad that she is no longer our adorable blond curly  headed toddler that it seems like just yesterday she was! We have had more then our share of scares with her, she got extremely sick when she was about 14 or so months old ( can't remember for sure) her fever spiked to 104 and 105 and was very lethargic, needless to say they ended up in the ER that evening, at which point her fever had spiked to a 106, after a ice bath and IV's they finally got it back down. That was the scariest night ever! She had lost a lot of weight which she never really gained back! We have pictures of her swaddled in the bouncy seat at 13 to 14 months old! She wasn't much bigger then her brand new baby brother ( who's birth weight was right around 10 pounds) It didn't take long before Noah had "outgrown" his older sister period. I remember being asked more then once when they just a little bit older, if they were twins, Which we would then reply NO, and believe it or not Heidi is older! I few of them you could tell didn't believe us at first! They are not quite 13 months months apart. After Noah was born, I got close, I mean REALLY close to this family! I spent just about every waking moment out there and even spent the night more then once! 




Heidi has always been that one that when she gets sick, she gets SICk!!! so we try to keep her in and away from anything, during sick season!  We have ended up in the ER more then once in her 5 years of age. She is also our accident prone one. At the age of 3, we had our first broken bone. She jumped off the table and broke her wrist! She was so proud of that cast too, it cracked us up how much she loved that cast. We also had a scare with an horrible allergic reaction, I got the phone call that evening after everything was some what back to normal. We think she was bit by something but were not entirely sure, what exactly set her off. Whatever it was was BAD!!! She was very lethargic by the time they got to the ER. Because of such a several reaction and all the medication they had to give her she had to be seen by her
 pediatrician the following day, So Betty and I with all 5 kids head to Great Bend, the following morning! What was supposed to be a quick trip the pediatrician turned into a crazy hectic, very comical "road trip" so to to speak.  We get there and find out that she has to be seen by the allergist in Hutch and not only that we have to be there before 3 or 4. It's a good 2 to 3 hours from Great bend to Hutch, By now its pushing 11:00, 11:30, none of us had eaten and we needed gas because that last thing we wanted to run out. I call mom to feel her in that umm..we wouldn't be home for a while and we weren't sure what was going to exactly! We get to the Gas Station and Betty gets out to fill up and I all the sudden hear, meow, meow, meow...I was like OK..there is NO WAY I'm hearing what I think I'm hearing! At this point Betty is done filling up and think she hears the same thing so we get out and look under the van,don't see anything and decide that we must be hearing things! She calls Brad to try to figure out if there is a different rout to Hutch, without having to drive clear back to Stafford and take that rout. There is so we figure that out, still not entirely sure where were going, and we have kids complaining they're hungry! We all were, but were on such a time crunch, were just trying to survive! We finally get out of Great, not entirely sure that were on the right road. We see a sign for Hutch and can finally relax that were at least on the right road! We go through like 6 different counties and I lost count on the amount of towns! We find one that has a wendys and we decide to stop for lunch real quick! Just for the record, going into a restaurant with 5 kids is never quick! However considering the amount of the time they've been in a van at this point, they were all really really good and things went pretty smoothly!! We finally get to Hutch and to the Allergist in time..barley but in time! Everything goes pretty smoothly at the allergist, we get in and out pretty quickly, they run some test to try to figure out what set her off. Come to find she is allergic to tree nuts, and possibly bee stings! They can't do a whole lot today, but they're were going to run more test later! 
Ha ha, we come out of the office, and find that our van was surrounded by people and we hear, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW really really loud! Me and Betty look at each other and just about die laughing! Betty's like ..please tell me that my van is not meowing, does it fly too? I just about die of laughter again! We get over to it and I put kids in the van why Betty tries to figure out where the mysterious meowing is coming from.I get kids in buckled in car seats and go to help Betty try to figure out where the kittens are, if there are any! We finally figure out that it's coming from under the hood, we pop the hood and there sitting under the hood were two, only about 3 or 4 week old kittens! They were drenched in radiator fluid, we get them and wash them off with some water and put them in a swans ice cream bucket. Were at the point it's either laugh or cry. We call Brad and tell him what we found, he dies of laughter and thinks were crazy at first! We convince him that we really did find 2 kittens! LOL, We still need to run to Wal-mart. It's well over 80 degree's out and we know we can't leave them in the van, but at the same time we can't leave me and kids in the van in the heat! So we decide that it's better to risk leaving kittens with windows down then to leave all of us with the kittens. It turned out OK. I don't think I'll ever forget this day! I still laugh when I think about it!! This is one of the things I love most about this family is that there is NEVER a dull moment!! 


That is just one of the many adventures I've been able to experience with this amazing family! 


We are now super careful with what Heidi eats. Absolutely NO tree nuts. Were even a little weary of letting her play outside during the summer, just because of fear of her getting bit by a bee or wasp, we always have an epi-pen with us and ready  to use. We all know how to use it and never go anywhere without one! We have a little tag that ties to her shoe string, alerting others to her allergy, and we always leave an epi-pen with whoever is in charge, if were not there!


Heidi is the most easy going, full of life and energy 4 ( now 5) year old I know. Her smile will bright up the entire room. 


You may hear us call her "cookie pickle". That was her form of "Name calling" when she was about 3 or 4 and mad at her Daddy! We couldn't help but laugh, and it just kinda stuck!! 
She is and always will be our cookie pickle!  She will do anything to  keep up with her older brother and sisters and don't you dare tell her she can't do something, because she will find a way! 
 I  hate the fact that I'm missing out on so much of her growing up.  I miss them all terribly and am anxiously counting down the days till June, when I get to spend almost if not a week!!! I am her Sarah as she puts it. I love hearing her call me that!!

She is the sweetest, most adorable 5 year old I know, and they all mean the world to me. I miss getting my hugs and kisses from her and the rest of  them.

Happy Birthday, Heidi!!! Today your 5, may your day be filled with many wonderful blessings. Looking forward to getting to watch you change and grow from a adorable, loving 5 year old, to a beautiful young lady, striving to please God each and every day!! I love and miss you and can't wait to see you in June, if not before!! You are such a beautiful young girl. Your parents are SOOO lucky to have you as their daughter!!!  looking forward to many more wonderful Birthdays! 
                      Fun at the State Fair!!!