happy new year

i know this is a little late but i guess that is better than not posting at all! i thought that i would post some of the new things going on with each of the kids so here it goes.

lily belle

1. she is loving preschool as well as her new primary class.
2. when at a recent doctor visit, the dr thought she might have a lazy left eye and suggested that she see an eye doctor. we went to a children's eye doctor last friday and she does not have one but she only has 20/30 vision in that eye as well as an astigmatism. the doctor said that for now she is fine but wants to see her back in 6 months and if there are no changes she will have to get glasses to try and correct it. i guess we will see!
3. loves puzzles, drawing and sending letters to people.
4. she is trying to learn to read and is doing pretty good figuring out what words start with. it will be so fun to see her reading to herself as well as her brothers which i am sure she will want to do. she loves being the oldest.

jackson jet

1. he is finally potty trained! yah for me. i have had 2 kids in diapers for the last 3 years and for the first 4 months after asher was born i had three in diapers. he still wears a pull-up to bed at night but i am ok with that.
2. jackson was invited to join a little preschool group with kids from church and loves it. he goes on tuesdays and thursdays for and hour. he is a little bit of a momma's boy and never fails to tell me he will miss me when i drop him off.
3. i have been noticing in the last year that boys have way more energy than girls. jackson never sits still and always has something to say.
4. his new thing is running around the house slaying dragons. they like watching sleeping beauty and that is his favorite part. it is amazing to see how lily love all the singing and when the prince rescues the princess but jackson can't wait until the dragon appears and the prince kills it. i guess boys will be boys.

asher sparks

1. loves eskimo kisses. steven recently taught him that and i think he prefers it to the normal kiss.
2. loves jumping and will try and jump on or off anything. i have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't get on things that he can fall off of.
3. the kid loves food. he eats almost anything and thus he only weighs about 4 pounds less than jackson.
4. he is talking all of the time, he just hasn't decided to use to many words that we understand. momma, grandma, go, no yes and thank you are pretty much what i have heard him say. he also tries to say "here you go" when he hands you things which is kind of cute.
5. this kid has the cutest personality and a lot of it. he definitely needs naps and since church is at 1 o'clock (his normal nap time) now i think the nursery will have a run for their money (unfortunately for them they don't get paid).

these are two of my favorite pictures that we were going to use for christmas cards but...we never sent anything out. the first one was steven's choice and the second one was mine. i thought they were both pretty cute.

morgan

so my dog morgan has been acting a little weird for the last few days. she has been really clingy and acting a little bit scared. finally on Wednesday night she was coming down the stairs and she missed the last one and fell. this was really strange and afterward when we looked at her, her eyes were different colors than each other. the last couple of years her brown eyes have always looked green because her pupils were always dilated. well when we looked at her, one of them was brown again. after this, i noticed that she was running into things and that she couldn't see. the next morning i took her to the vet and $230 later i found out that both of her eyes had two separate issues. her left eye will most likely be saved with antibiotics and time but her right eye is another story. if we want her to see again from it, we have to take her to an ophthalmologist to have her lens removed for around $1500. sadly we don't have the money to do this and so i took her home hoping for the best for her left eye to get better. currently she is on pain medication and napping on the couch. we have to give her antibiotics every 4 hours which means we have to wake up in the middle of the night to give it to her (yes we do love our dogs).

when we first brought her home.

a couple years ago when her eyes still looked brown.

today.

www.raisingheller.com

for those of you that don't know, we have a family website www.raisingheller.com (formerly thehellerfamily.org, thank you josh moore for the new name, i don't know why we never thought of it!) steven posts things frequently that don't appear on my blog. fortunately, whatever i post on my blog is automatically posted on raisingheller. if i am not making any sense, you should go to our family website to get the whole scoop on our family. if you sign up on raisingheller, you will get e-mails anytime that steven does a post different than mine, so sign up. unfortunately it does not e-mail you when i post something but if you have us in a reader it won't really matter because the reader will show all of our posts for raisingheller.

this is a lot more confusing than it has to be! just go to www.raisingheller.com for all of our family doings.

merry christmas #2

well we had every intention of going to spokane for christmas but due to unforseen crazy snow weather, we were unable to go. that means that we spent all of christmas 2008 just our little family. it was actually kind of nice but we did miss having our family around. the kids were nice and woke up about 7:15 and were opening presents by 7:30. we didn't leave the house all day. we played games, did crafts (well lily did crafts) read books and watched movies. i made french dips and sweet potatoes (actually yams) for dinner and ate a costco pumpkin pie for dessert. besides the occasional whining from too much candy, it was a pretty nice christmas.

this was the only nice picture we got of asher today. the kid is impossible to photograph. almost every picture we take of him is blurry because he is constantly moving. i love the big ol' drool hanging off his chin. we keep debating cutting his hair a little. it is amazingly long. you can't really tell here but when it is wet it is sooo long. what do you think we should do?

lily and jackson were so cute when they got up this morning. they were so excited but not too over eager, though i did finally have to get steven up because asher was ripping the paper.

jackson playing with asher's little tykes guitar (for anyone looking for a toy guitar, this one is really good. both of the boys really like it) . i thought this picture was so cute of him. steven taught him how to hold a guitar and now he is so into it. i like that he holds it left handed.

christmas #1

ok, so last saturday we had a mini christmas with my mom because they were going to be out of town on christmas. the kids got to open their presents(from them), we ate pizza, had cake and a real good time (i realize this might sound sarcastic but it really isn't.) also, i gave steven his present because it was a new lens for our camera that i knew he would want to figure out before the actual day.

asher waiting patiently for me to untie a smurf. don't you hate how they package some of those things? i mean my hands were all but bleeding by the time i finished undoing the 100 twist ties holding it to the packaging.

here he is finally getting it out. this was actually lily's toy but this kid LOVES stuffed animals.

me helping to get things organized. it is amazing what a mess christmas can cause.

jackson got a spiderman costume and beanie and has worn them everyday since.

steven and his beard. i know some people hate beards but i don't actually mind it. i just don't want him to become a beard guy, you know, the guy that no one can recognize without it.

lily posing in her leotard and tutu. i will have to take a picture of the whole thing, she loves it!

potty training

so let me start off by saying that potty training is not an easy task in the heller household. when lily was three her favorite thing to say was, "mom, i am going wear diapers forever!" now that jack is three i realize that i should be trying to potty training him but i really don't want to deal with it. is there someone who likes to do it that can come over and do it for me? i have tried a couple of times to have him wear underware and try it out andme was successful, thus the picture above, but the other time he cried for an hour asking for his diaper. i was so excited that he actually went pee pee on the potty that i had to document it. does anyone have any advice?

this is how i found him the other day. i thought it was so funny that he kept his boots (sorry the picture doesn't show the shoes) and tie on but took everything else off. i tried to get him to atleast put a shirt on but he refused. i am sure that he knew that he couldn't have looked cuter!

why is a box such a great toy

you probably can't see the box they are in but they had such a great time in it this morning. jackson slept in today so lily and ash were able to play together and the box was where they decided to play. i can't tell you how many boxes have been worn out in this house by my children. it was kind of dark so the pictures were a little washed out but i really liked them anyways. it made seemed to make their eyes stand out more than normal.

priscilla ahn

if i was able to write well, this is what i would intend on writing. isn't she awesome? i love her harmonies, they oddly make me cry. is that weird?

burger king

last night i decided to take dinner to steven at work because he has been coming home late this week and he has not seen the kids. well i went to burger king to pick up some chicken tenders for the kids and some food for steven and i. well we had a good time eating dinner at his office and then came home read some books and got ready for bed. the kids went to bed great and then steven came home. at about 11 we heard jackson screaming like crazy. i ran up there and found throw up all over (and i mean ALL OVER) his bed. we gave him a bath and threw his bedding in the wash and put him back to bed feeling fine. about twenty minute later we heard asher crying and sure enough, he had thown up all over his bed. after getting him all cleaned up he was feeling better and we quickly put him back to bed.

well this morning everyone feels fine. i have to think that the food they ate some bad food. all night i kept waiting for lily to wake up and throw up as well. needless to say it was a sleepless night. fortunately lily never got sick. do you think it was food poisoning? everything was so sudden and they feel fine now. i mean what are the odds that they both throw up 20 minutes from eachother without any warning? how bazaar!

asher sparks heller

have you ever seen such a face someone not even 2? he was jumping around on the couch and along with his laughing and having a grand old time, steven caught this face with the camera. steven thought he looked like a little vampire, of course we had just finished watching interview with a vampire. i love this crazy man!!!

lily

so for the last couple of days lily has been sick and last night her fever was 105.2 (crazy right?) well i called the doctors and they said we needed to take her to the childrens hospital of seattle emergency room. well i have to admit that i am not the best at situations like this. i can't help but think the worse which makes me a little emotional when i need to be strong. thankfully steven was home and he gladly to her to the hospital. they were at the hospital for like 4 or 5 hours (they didn't get home until 2am) and all i can say is that i am grateful for my husband. he sat there with her without a complaint, held her hand and was strong for her. thank you steven for being such an amazing dad to our children and sacrificing your sleep even though you are at work 12 hours a day.

lily is doing better today. no fever but still a bit under the weather. her doctors office called and said that the hospital requested that she have her urine tested again. she has an appointment tomorrow so i will keep you up to date.

twilight revisited

well i really wish this picture was bigger because it is awesome! i have to say that i saw twilight for the second time and i loved it this time. i think the first time i saw it i was so super worried that it would be bad that i couldn't enjoy it as much as i did the second time. steven went to see it with me and he actually thought it was ok and that he would definitely see the second one (this is more than i could ask from him, since he couldn't even get through the first 100 pages of the book. too many long gazes for him to take.)

so for those of you who had a hard time the first go around see it again!! if you live by me and don't have anyone to see it with, i will suffer through another time!

happy thanksgiving

i wanted to say happy thanks giving from our family to all that read this. i am going to list some of the things that i am grateful for at the bottom of this post so sorry for the length of it. lily had her thanksgiving program at preschool today. some of them dressed up as pilgrims and some as native americans (i wanted to say indians but i thought i would be politically correct.) obviously lily was a pilgrim and have you ever seen such a cute pilgrim before?

50 things i am grateful for
1. heavenly father & jesus christ

2. my husband
3. lily
4. jackson
5. asher
6. parents and inlaws
7. friends
8. love
9. the temple
10. a house to live in
11. my dogs
12. being healthy (minus the common cold)
13. my family being healthy
14. a good book
15. long phone conversations
16. puzzles (my kids love them)
17. the rain (we see a lot of it) after weeks of really hot weather
18. the sun after months of rain
19. lily and jack singing
20. steven playing the guitar
21. writing songs with steven (we have been recording lately so maybe you will hear them soon)
22. lily and jack don't wake me up in the morning they go immediately downstairs and read
23. sleeping in
24. a good kiss
24. pancake mix (without which i wouldn't be able to make a pancake)
25. coke (i had to put it)
26. indian food (no matter how expensive it is)
27. crockpot (it makes cooking so easy)
28. music (helping me through many hard times)
29. learning new things (i never thought i would miss being in school)
30. steven going back to school
31. playgrounds in the mall
32. the kid drop off at the grocery store (you have an hour to shop by yourself)
33. steven doing the dishes without asking him to
34. bandaides (why do they make everything better?)
35. the library (without which i would spend a ridiculous amount of money on books)
36. blogging (it keeps me connected to my friends i never get to see)
37. forgiveness
38. understanding
39. trust
40. that the elections are over (i mean, who wants to see another election commercial?)
41. long silent drives (usually involves sleeping children)
42. that i am still connected to my friends even though i don't ever see them (thank you phones)
43. iphone (thank you steven)
44. a good movie that you want to watch over and over (i think twilight might fit the bill)
45. the laughter of my children
46. their smiles
47. their unconditional love
48. steven always lets me lay on the big couch (even though his feet hang over the one he's on)
49. he gets me things when i don't want to get up
50. his unconditional love

wow, it is harder than i thought to stop at 50. i have so much more i am grateful for. i have such an amazing family and wonderful friends. things definitely go wrong but so much more goes right. heavenly father blesses me every day and i just hope that i will always be able to recognize that. writing it all down every so often definitely helps. i have so many great examples around me and i wanted to thank each and every one of you for everything you teach me by just being who you are. thank you and i love you all!

asher

this kid is so funny. he saw these fangs and thought they were so funny. he immediately tried to get them in his mouth and he loved it.

along with being funny, he can also make the stinkiest faces. when he is put out in any way whether it be not being aloud to play with sharp objects or not sitting on the kitchen table he has a face to let you know how he feels about it.i wasn't able to get my favorite face but here are a few good ones.

paige

since steven's sisters are a bit older than him, most of lily, jackson and asher's cousins are in highschool, on a mission or married. well paige is one of the exceptions. paige is 10 months older than lily and soo cute. i apologize for the pictures but my camera i left my camera in the car overnight and it was really cold. these were taken right before we left to take them to the airport. just so you know, camera in a cold car not a good choice. i couldn't thaw is quick enough to take good pictures, it just kept fogging up. it is fine now but that didn't help me get good pictures of them. well they had a really good time together anyway. they played, sang, colored, read books, watched high school musical 3 and much, much more! lily misses you paige and talks about you daily.

wedding

ok well steven's nephew bradley got married on november 7th to camille. it was a beautiful wedding in the spokane temple and we were glad that we were able to be there for it. welcome to the family camille!

out of the 125 pictures that steven took, we didn't take one picture of the bride and groom. steven took pictures of pictures of them so maybe you can see them here. these were in the temple foyer right after their wedding.



i thought their cake was really cute.

waiting for the reception to start.

waiting for the reception to start as well.

i am glad that we got a picture of him smiling because this was a long day for him. we actually had to leave the reception early because he finally lost it and just cried and cried. he was literally sick and tired and needed to go to bed.

.jackson was quite the ladies man all night. i can't say enough about him and the ladies. the other day i walked into nursery and he was scratching a little girls back while she did a puzzle. i have had moms say how sweet he was to their daughter telling them how pretty they look and comforting them when they were having a hard time. i think it is really cute now but will i think that when he is 16? well he was true to form at the reception and was taken with one of the brides friends. he followed her around and sat by her and tried to strike up three year old conversation. when she left, he flirted with an older lady at the candy station and managed to get her to get him a large bag of candy. he then moved on to another young women who had him sit on her lap and eat cake with her. i practically had to peal him away to take him home.

lily ran around with her cousin paige the whole night. paige is only 10 months older but she lives in utah so this is the first time they have really gotten to play. they were inseperable.

lisa and dave (parents of the groom) me and steven and lani. lani's husband couldn't come so steven is going to be photoshopping him in.

twilight

so, i just have to start out by thanking my mom for a wonderful evening. first we went to cheesecake factory, then walked around our amazing new mall then went and waited at the theater for 2 1/2 hours until the movie started. my mom was so good, i think i looked more tired than she did. well, once we got to the theater, my friends showed up and fortunately jenni brought a camera and vampire teeth so the night could be documented. on wednesday we all got together and made these shirts at kailey's house. i bought the wrong size shirt so yes, it is a little snug.

kailey and i coming back from one of our many pre-movie bathroom/drink refill trips.

pretty scary vampires huh?

if you look close enough, you will see that our eyes are golden so we aren't too scary (maybe a little creepy.)

as for the movie itself? well it wasn't as good as the book (but what movie is?) it definitely had it's moments. i really like the robert pattinson, i think he was a perfect edward. he was as close to my idea of edward that anyone could get. i am looking forward to the next one and am hoping that it will be a little bit bigger budget, maybe that will take care of the issues i had with this one. i had a really good night. i am paying for it today but i definitely think it was worth it.

the after party

after trick or treating during our homemade donut party the kids played like crazy. it sounded like the upstairs was going to be crazy messy but all they were doing was playing dress up.

lily was in her bride dress when this picture was taken. she looks like quite the little model.

the kids were playing dress up and this is how the boys were found. i thought it was really funny.

lily got hurt at one point and i was comforting her. i don't really know why i included this picture since i look kind of funny but for some reason i like it. also, i know you can't tell in this picture but, my hair is actually braided and then twisted up. for those of you who haven't seen me in a while, can you believe that my hair is so long that it's almost halfway down my back?