Nathaniel meets Santa

Ann and Nathaniel joined Dad downtown at Crown Center last evening to hear the Hallmark band play Christmas music, shop in the employee card shops, and meet Santa. Nathaniel nearly missed seeing Santa due to an ill-timed diaper blowout (Nathaniel's, not Santa's), but we were able to chat with St. Nick for a few minutes. Nathaniel is still to young to be afraid of Santa, so we were able to get a decent photo of them. He is also too young to ask for gifts, but Santa said that he knows what Nathaniel wants for Christmas: "something to suck on"... What a wise old elf!

-Scott

Nathaniel is baptized

Well, it took until the last day of Nathaniel's 2nd month of life, but he has now been baptized in the Catholic Church. Ann's brother Joe and his wife Julie honored us by agreeing to be Nathaniel's godparents. Father Douglas Langner celebrated the sacrament following the 11:00 Mass at our home parish of St. Gabriel Archangel Catholic Church. Both sets of grandparents, Uncles Todd and Corey, and Cousin Teresa also witnessed the ceremony, and everyone (except Nathaniel) enjoyed a delicious ham dinner and cake afterward at the Heider house.

See 14 photos from the baptism:

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-Scott

Visiting the National World War I Museum

Today Ann, Nathaniel, Scott, both sets of grandparents, and Uncles Todd and Corey visited the National World War I Museum near downtown KC. There is a lot to learn and see there: guns, tanks, planes, films, etc. Unfortunately, we only had around 2 hours to check out the place, but a thorough visit would have taken another hour or 2. In short, this museum is highly recommended.

Here are 13 photos taken at the museum:

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-Scott

Nathaniel's 6-week milestones

Our little boy is growing up! Within the past week he hit the 11-pound mark, devoured his first bottle of mother's milk (before, all of his meals had been served directly from the tap), and he began smiling and cooing. For good measure, he's actually started to enjoy his baths, which means that Dad does not dread bathtime any more.

Click here to watch a video of Nathaniel's bath Friday, Nov 14th.

-Scott

Heinze girls meet Nathaniel

Ann's four sisters drove down from Minnesota this past weekend to meet their newest nephew. Nathaniel was on his best behavior, and he graciously accepted the many gifts that his aunts gave him. He even smiled for the first time!


-Scott

Nathaniel's 1st photo shoot

The Thinker

Mom decided to celebrate Nathaniel's first month of life with his first photo shoot at a local portrait studio. He wasn't very cooperative for the photographer, but we still managed to get a dozen or so decent shots. These two shots are my favorites.

The Stinker

-Scott

Nathaniel's 1st Halloween

Nathaniel is still too young to hit up the neighbors for candy, but he's plenty old enough to be costumed for Halloween. He makes a cute little ducky, no?

Nathaniel received a surprise gift Halloween evening: a Halloween sleeper and other outfits from his godparents-to-be (Joe & Julie) and cousin Teresa. Inexplicably, Nathaniel seemed to prefer wearing the sleeper instead of the duck costume.

-Scott

Grandparents' weekend

A very busy weekend in Liberty! Grandma Heinze arrived with her friend Joan Friday evening. On Saturday the house was full of grandparents (all except for Grandpa Heinze). Saturday evening Nathaniel paid his first visit to a restuarant when everyone went out to Mimi's Cafe to celebrate Grandma Heider's birthday. After that, Mom and baby went home while everyone else went to Harrah's Casino.

Here are photo highlights of the weekend:

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-Scott

Grandma & Grandpa Heider meet Nathaniel

Grandma & Grandpa Heider arrived Wednesday from Illinois to meet their first grandchild. Grandpa was reluctant to let go of Nathaniel, but we eventually got a photo of Grandma holding the baby. Grandma & Grandpa stayed at the house Wednesday and Thursday, and they will stay with Corey Friday through Sunday while Grandma Heinze visits.

-Scott

Nurses visit Nathaniel at home

One of the nice services provided by the staff at Liberty Hospital is a home follow-up visit a few days after going home from the hospital. Today 2 nurses paid Nathaniel a visit. In their opinion, both baby and mom were doing well. Nathaniel's weight was 8 pounds, 8 ounces, up 5 ounces from his hospital checkout weight. Mom is doing a great job nursing, and Nathaniel is doing a great job eating!

Here is Dad's current favorite photo of Mom and baby... Click it to enlarge.


-Scott

Meeting "Uncle" Brian

Monday was a busy day for Nathaniel. He got to meet "Uncle" Brian and his gal Melinda, who were just beginning their North American Baby Tour of 2008. Neighbors Terry and Karen also dropped by Monday evening to meet Nathaniel and to shower him with a gift.

-Scott

Meeting Uncle Corey

Saturday night was a loooong, mostly sleepless night for Mom & Dad. Nathaniel was restless both in his crib and in his bassinet. Uncle Corey dropped by Sunday afternoon to meet his new nephew, and of course Nathaniel was so tired that he spent most of the afternoon snoozing on Dad's lap. Oh well, at least he let us drink beer and watch football in peace!

-Scott

Home from the hospital

Ann felt well enough to go home from the hospital Saturday. Both she and Nathaniel were glad to be free from the nurses' clutches. Now I just hope that we all can get some sleep at home.

Nathaniel weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces early Saturday morning, down almost 11 ounces from his birth weight. Apparently all newborns lose 5-10% of their body weight in the first few days, but hopefully he'll regain the weight soon when mother's milk comes in.

-Scott

Still hangin' at the hospital Friday

Ann's doctor decided not to discharge her Friday, so everyone hung out at the hospital. Daddy got the honor of changing Nathaniel's poopiest diaper yet, while Mommy enjoyed her first shower since Nathaniel's birth. Friday evening Nathaniel welcomed his first official visitors: Jayne and Jennifer from AIPC.

See 5 photos of Friday's highlights here:

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Cousins Andy and Eric want to see more videos of Nathaniel, so here you go...

Watch a video of Nathaniel waving hello to Andy, Eric, and all of his family and friends:


Watch a video of Nathaniel receiving an exam in the nursery when he was 2 hours old:


Watch a video of Nathaniel "enjoying" his first bath in the nursery when he was 2 hours old:


Watch a video of Nathaniel's (temporary) conehead getting washed when he was 2 hours old:


-Scott

Nathaniel Alan has arrived!

I'm happy to announce that Nathaniel Alan was born Wednesday 10/1 at 3:10pm at Liberty Hospital. He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long. Both Ann and baby are doing well, and they are looking forward to heading home Friday or Saturday.

See photos of Nathaniel's first 24 hours:

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Watch a video of Nathaniel's first bath in the hospital nursery:


-Scott

Baby showered at Hallmark

Not to be outdone by the gang at AIPC, Scott's colleagues at Hallmark threw a shower for Baby Heider Friday 9/5. Thanks to Cherri and Jackie for organizing the event. Thanks also to Cherri for dragging her husband along to Babies"R"Us to shop for the 8 heavy, bulky, and expensive items made possible by the dozens of contributors to the "group gift fund". And, special thanks to Jackie for the beautiful hand-crocheted afghan... see Scott wearing it in the slideshow below. Finally, thanks to everyone who showed up to wish Ann and Baby Heider well. Scott will be writing thank-you notes for quite some time to come!

-Scott

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Baby showered at AIPC

There was a lunchtime shower for Baby Heider today at AIPC in Excelsior Springs. Although Dad is not a shower fan, he attended anyway, if for no other reason than to haul the baby booty home. And what a haul it was! Ann's colleagues were very generous, providing items from our Babies"R"Us registry such as a car seat, stroller frame, lamp, and bathtub. The most creative gift was a set of onesies hand-painted by the Gray family... Now the baby can poop in both company's "uniforms"!

-Scott

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White Sox in KC 8/3

My pal Steve came to town for a visit this weekend, and he was entertained by watching the Royals pound the White Sox (both literally and figuratively) Saturday and Sunday afternoons. For White Sox fans like myself, the only entertaining aspect of the weekend was seeing Ken Griffey Jr. in a Sox uniform. Here are a few photos taken at Sunday's game.

-Scott

Symphony in the Flint Hills

Brian K. called me Thursday evening inviting us to the 3rd annual Symphony in the Flint Hills concert Saturday June 14th near Council Grove, KS. Unfortunately, Brian only had 3 tickets, but 4 of us wanted to attend. So, Friday morning I called the concert organizers and successfully procured a last minute ticket... This was surprisingly easy, considering that the concert had sold out (5,000 tickets) within 4 hours on the day that tickets went on sale months earlier.

Saturday at noon, Brian, Eric, Ann, and I loaded up the Camry with chairs, cooler, and picnic basket and made the 2-hour drive from Liberty to Council Grove. We resurrected a BA (Before Ann) vacation tradition by stopping at Dairy Queen in Council Grove for Blizzards, and then we proceeded to the concert site 2 miles south of town. As soon as we pulled off the highway, I regretted bringing the Camry, because it was not designed with driving across the prairie in mind. The Camry protested mightily with many underbody scraping sounds, but we managed to park it on the prairie with no apparent damage.

To reach the concert site, we had to hike across a mile of prairie hauling 4 chairs, a picnic basket, a stuffed cooler, and a 25+ week old fetus. Ann was a trouper, hauling both the fetus and the picnic basket!

Both the location and the concert were amazing, punctuated by a wagon train and a cattle drive. The concert ended as the sun was setting around 8:55 PM. By the time that the crowd cleared out, we arrived back in Liberty around 12:30 AM.

For a photo slideshow of the day, click below.

-Scott

Baby pictures

In case you hadn't heard yet, Ann & I are pregnant, nearly halfway along in fact. The due date is September 23. Today was Ultrasound Day, so we got to "see" Baby Heider for the first time. Ann didn't want to learn the baby's gender, but we saw enough onscreen to give us a good hint... Don't ask, though, because we aren't telling!

Vacationing at the Lake of the Ozarks

All the Heiders (Al, Joyce, Todd, Corey, Scott, and Ann) just wrapped up a week on vacation at Lakeview Resort on the Lake of the Ozarks. The wind was biting for most of the week; unfortunately, the crappie were not! Still, between the 6 of us, we were able to catch enough fish to fill a couple of large freezer bags.

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Birthday fountain fired up

In February Ann received a 3-tier urn fountain for her birthday from her loving husband. The weather has finally warmed up enough to assemble the fountain on top of "Heider Hill" in the front yard. We filled it up and plugged in the pump, and IMHO it looks and sounds great. After Ann finishes the landscaping on the fountain level of Heider Hill, the front yard landscaping project will finally be complete (I hope).

-Scott

Guys' Weekend 2008

Chris, John (aka Brillo), Lance, Mike, and Scott gathered at Mike's place near Silex, MO on the weekend of January 12-13 for the (more or less) annual Guys' Weekend.

What do we Guys have in common? Among other things, in the late '80s we were all residents of Lindberg House in Dobson Hall at Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University). Nowadays we are scattered throughout Missouri ... we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Brillo and family have recently moved back to Cuba, MO after many years of exile in Texas.

What do we Guys do during a typical Guys' Weekend? In no particular order, we eat Ronzas (which Lance retrieves from Pagliai's Pizza in Kirksville), drink beer, play cards (euchre and poker), reminisce about old times, and listen to heavy metal music. Good times, indeed!

-Scott

P.S. Dave Harrison, where are you?

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