Thanksgiving! and decorating for Christmas! (lots of pictures to follow!)

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving! We were able to spend a day or so in Delphos with my side of the family, Wednesday I went shopping with my sister (Sydney-free courtesy of her dear dad and my dear ol' dad!) and we had a wonderful time together. Thursday we headed out for Manhattan where we could spend most of the day with Joe's side of the family. A few years back we switched our "rotation" so that we could be there with our family when (most) everyone else was there with theirs. The holidays are some of the very few times that all of his siblings and their families can get together and we wanted Sydney to experience her Helget cousins--every single one of them. :) It took her awhile to warm up but before long she was coloring with Nicklas and reading with Gabbie..and even snuggling with Uncle Jim!

Getting her fingernails painted by Aunt Bailey!

That afternoon we headed back to Delphos where Sydney got to spend lots of time playing with her cousin Addison. This is probably one of the first times (that I remember anyway) the girls actually playing together...before they would each do their own things but this time with the help from Aunt Traci they warmed up to each other pretty quickly and before long they were tearing up Grandma Dodo's front porch! It was so much fun watching them play together. Each Thanksgiving for the last seven years (according to my grandma) some of the grandkids would put up the inflatable snowman in Grandma's front yard. So Traci and Justin got that started when someone mentioned that the little girls might like watching it go up (with the lights, etc. and who doesn't love a snowman?!) So we bundled up the little girls and headed out. Oh my dear Sydney started crying at the sight of the frightening snowman which got Addison wondering about it too...Addison bless her heart finally stopped fussing but Sydney kept right on going. Aunt Rhonda's idea to sing "Frosty the Snowman" was a great one, but only made us grown-ups feel excited for Christmas--it meant nothing to the little girls! :) Once we got inside both little girls were so worried about the snowman they kept hanging out by the front door and asking us about it. He's far less frightening behind a glass door apparently!

Playing with Addison behind Dodo's curtains!

Waiting for Aunt Bailey outside the bathroom!

We headed back to Ottawa Saturday afternoon and got back that evening at Sydney's bedtime. (We forgot her pacifier when we left so thought we'd try not offering it anymore--she did okay while she was there in Delphos but bedtime still isn't the same here at home!!) The next morning I was SO excited to start decorating for Christmas! Joe even offered to get up with Sydney but honestly....I don't think I could have slept! So I got Syd, he went back to sleep, and we started unloading everything! I took out my Christmas village pieces first and Sydney helped me carry them in to the kitchen. She was such a big girl--it was so fun to see her being such a great helper! By the time we had it all unloaded Joe was up and it was time to start decorating! While Sydney helped Joe eat his cereal and watch some cartoons, I set up the village and some other decorations downstairs in the living room. Then Joe graciously brought up the tree and it's tub of goodies and we started putting it together! Sydney was so cute helping me "fluff" the tree and fix the bows that were left on. It was SO much fun! We turned the t.v. on to the Christmas music channel and sang Christmas songs while we decorated. Sydney even danced a little bit while taking a break from fluffing the tree! Next step was to put the ornaments on and that took a bit of work but she finally got the hang of it! I still haven't moved the two red ornaments from right next to each other. :) Here are some pictures from our fun-filled morning! It was so much fun having Sydney help--I feel so blessed; it was truly just a joyful time!



Here is a picture of Sydney's tree; it has my collection of Barbie ornaments that my mom started for me 15 years ago! (Wow that sounds like a really long time ago!!! :) )

Next project on the agenda: GINGERBREAD MEN cookies!!

23 months, one month and let the holidays begin....

Monday marked Sydney's 23 month "birthday"! It's unbelievable to me that she'll be 2 next month. I need to start shopping!! On a very bittersweet note it also marked one month since my mom had passed away. It's hard to believe both are true actually. At this time it's hard for me to deal with the fact that each time Sydney turns a whole month older it will also mark another month that my mom's been gone. Monday was a rough day for me; I am always thinking of my mom--mostly in the evenings when I get home. That's when Sydney falls and gets her goose eggs that I instantly want to call her about (to make sure that all will be okay!), or that's when I am using one of the seven recipe books she has given me (which I might add is 7 of about 9 total recipe books!) and I either have a question about something I'm cooking OR I want to suggest a recipe I have made that I think she'll like. She is never far from my mind and her memory is everywhere; it's a blessing and a difficulty all at the same time. Through all of this, I am so thankful for my sister; talking with her about how she is handling everything and what her feelings are have been such a blessing. As it turns out we have been on the exact same "page" ever since Mom passed--that in itself is a blessing to know that the feelings and roller coaster emotions we feel are normal; at least for us they are. Now, God help the men in our lives as they put up with us and help us through this!

Anyhow, tomorrow is Thanksgiving day! I have been looking forward to it but also not looking forward to it. I can't wait to be with family, eat lots of good food and just relax. We'll be spending lunch in Manhattan with Joe's side of the family and we'll return to Delphos for supper and stay another day or so. On the flip side, Thanksgiving won't be at my parents' house this year as my Grandma and aunts are taking that on and it will be at my Grandma's house. It will be an adjustment for all of us I think as we alter our traditions. Either way, there will still be an abundance of yummy food and football...but most importantly: family! Thankfully, we have lots of it! I am thankful that we the distance between both sides of our families is not a large one so that we are able to see them both on this wonderful holiday!

Pssst...Joe doesn't know it yet but as soon as we return to Ottawa our CHRISTMAS decorations are going up!!!!!! Christmas had always been very special to my mom and she instilled that in myself and sister. I can't wait to get Christmas music turned on, get everything out and put up!

Baby Helget's room...during and after pictures!

Bailey and her roommate Cissy came down Friday night to paint the room for the new baby for us. Of course Aunt Bailey couldn't come empty-handed!! Here are the first purchases for Baby Helget #2. :) (Does paint count as a purchase for the new baby?)


Later after Syd (finally) went to bed Bailey and Cissy started priming the room. Joe turned off the heater because of the vent in the room that takes in air, it would have spread the fumes all throughout the house! So he said that when they were done priming to come tell us so we could turn the heater back on. They finished priming about 2 hours later (they made good time I thought!) and we turned on the heater. I was such a wimp about it--I could instantly smell the paint fumes and once they were in my nose there was no getting them out! All I could smell were the fumes and I kept sighing and tossing and turning. :S Joe finally opened a window (it was 40 degrees outside!) and turned the attic fan on for about 20 minutes or so to appease me (what a guy!). It was just enough to get some fresh air in our room and to get the smell out of my nose!! Anyhow we left the furnace off because the room was still pretty "smelly" so this morning we were all freezing!

Here are pictures of the primed room:

And pictures of the room..painting in progress!

And after!! I love it--the color is so perfect!

Baby Helget's room is (almost) officially underway! (Plus a video of Sydney reading :) )

When we moved in to our house in Ottawa it was already painted in a scheme of colors we loved! All neutral and earthtones, except the children's bedrooms. Fortunately for us, Sydney got to move from a gender neutral nursery right in to a pretty-in-pink little girl's room. :) Unfortunately for us, the extra room (which had been our guest room/computer room up to this point) was a bright lavender color. So....my dear sister and maybe a roommate of hers will be coming up today and staying the night to paint the room for us (well for me--I know Joe will help--but I've always been the painter in our relationship, he's the do-everything-else-er)! We chose a color called Cozy Neutral and it's a very warm, light khaki color that is found in the baby bedding.
Room before:

Wall where the crib will go (yes I have it all laid out in my head!!)

During and after pictures...to come soon!

We chose to re-use the crib bedding we bought for Sydney's nursery for this nursery. It's gender neutral and since babies really only use a few pieces of the set anyhow (crib sheet and crib skirt!) AND since we most likely won't find out beforehand if we're having a boy or a girl, it only made sense to re-use it. The khaki color we'll be using (or a close color to it) is also found in the bedding. Here is the bedding we will be using:
I hope to find some furniture with a darker finish to match a bookshelf that my Grandpa Nelson made; it will be in the baby's room as well. I doubt we'll go pick out furniture soon, but at least the room will be ready for it!

And of course...last but not least: our dear Sydney reading her book--very loudly. She has a teacher voice like her mommy. :)

Getting back in to this (Part 2)!

Sydney is doing so many fun things now and she is just talking up a storm! She loves to repeat everything we say--she even said "crap" after dropping a couple crayons on the floor which stopped Joe and I dead in our tracks! We looked at each other, frozen as if we were trying to erase the fact that Sydney had picked up on that from us! (Could be worse I guess...)

Here are some of the funny/cute/new things Sydney is up to nowadays:

• consulting with her baby doll on most everything I ask her about (i.e. "Sydney want some toast?" She'll turn to her baby and say "toast? toast?")
• make a "mad" face and a "sad" face and a very cheesy looking "happy" face!
  
• loves to read (still) and color!
• finding colors and naming them (she saw a pink cup on the table this morning and proudly said "pink!")
• Pink is her favorite color--she will hang on to that pink crayon even while she colors with other crayons!
• copying one of the older girls at daycare by naming her baby doll "Miss Kim" after her daycare provider
• she loves Dora the Explorer! (Thank goodness--it was the only way I could get supper going/made when Joe was working late!)
• her answers are no longer limited to only the word "NO", she can now say "uh-huh" and shake her head "yes"--thank goodness!!
• she "knows" there's a baby in Mommy's tummy!
• she loves to watch football! (it is pretty much all we watch in the fall!)
• the last several times we have eaten green beans with supper she has devoured her helping PLUS the extra helpings I give her! She used to dry-heave when she ate green beans. :)

We are LOVING our time with Sydney even if she occasionally challenges us with the typical toddler behaviors. She is such a joy and we are amazed at her every single day. We are so grateful that she is ours and we are honored to be her parents!

Trying to get back in to this! (Part 1)

A lot has happened over the past month which has kept me from updating this. First and foremost, we lost my Mom on October 23rd. I created this blog almost only with her in mind (and of course our other family members) but I knew it was driving her crazy being so far away from Sydney that I thought she would enjoy hearing about our adventures and seeing more up to date pictures (plus I knew she would just print whatever she read to show my dad!) So, now that she is no longer with us I found it really hard to even pick this "blogging" thing back up. My biggest obstacle to overcome was: how do I just jump right back in to our life showing fun pictures and sharing sweet stories when a huge part of our life is gone, no longer able to read about or see the pictures that I post? Most of you that read this already know of our family's loss, but I felt I had to make mention of my mom and the role she played in my decision to even create a blog. I didn't feel I could jump back in to this without mentioning and remembering her first. In addition to all of that however, I started to realize that this was also the (only) place where I recorded all of the things we did and the cute things Sydney was up to. Very soon, will include news of our baby and so on and so forth. So I am going to try very hard to keep this updated for those that read it and to get back to sharing our life with you! :)

I'll try to bring the tone of this post back up to a positive one now! While we were back with family after my mom passed, it was really a blessing to get to spend so much time with our family. Sydney spent a lot of time with her dear Aunt Dee (and I think even temporarily named one of her babies after her! :) ) It was such a relief to know that Joe and I could be where we needed to be (at the hospital, or other places helping Dad out) and know that Sydney was having a ball with Aunt Dee or any other family member that happened to stop by. Since we don't usually get back to Delphos as often as any of us would like, it was wonderful to see Sydney take so quickly to everyone! She was such a good girl during the whole time we were there--she was literally taken from daycare and straight to my parents' house which I know had to be rough on her. She adjusted so well though and that made everything that we were having to struggle with a little bit easier.

Anyhow the weekend after we returned to Ottawa was Halloween. Joe was working outage at work (i.e. LONG work days, very little time off!) so Sydney and I headed to Delphos for Halloween to trick or treat with her Papa. She was a Nebraska cheerleader and thank goodness they won that day! Otherwise we would have been pretty embarrassed! (Traci said we could have just drawn tears on her face though if they would have lost! :) ) Sydney, Papa, and I spent the afternoon making leaf piles and letting Sydney run through them. It was her first leaf pile experience and I took about thirty pictures! She had a blast though; the weather was perfect and it was sunny. Then she ate supper and it was time to get dressed! We first trick-or-treated at Grandma Dodo's house, then another family up the street, Aunt Chub's house, and then my parents' neighbors. She didn't get a lot of candy (which is okay by us!) but she looked like a very big girl walking up the sidewalks and picking out candy (with help from Mom of course!) It was a fast and furious weekend but we had fun trick-or-treating with family.