Sunday, December 13, 2009

getting into the spirit

we had our christmas pageant at church this evening. it was an enjoyable time. we played the holy family. owen was a 'sheep' - he didn't want to dress up, so ry wrapped him in a fuzzy white blanket and held him . . . like a sheep. it was a good time. aleida slept the whole, thus playing a very serene baby jesus. she even slept in the nice manger. what a good little actress. then after the pageant, there was the cookie social. many people brought delicious cookies and we all ate them. hot apple cider was served, too. it was a yummy and christmassy occasion.

aleida just fell asleep on me without me putting effort into getting her to go to sleep. usually when she's really tired (and at this time of night) she gets kind of cranky; having her fall asleep will involve pacing the floor and little patting her back. but not tonight. yay!



we made christmas cookies for church fellowship time. and for our new family tradition. delicious ginger cookies. owen LOVED cutting the cookies. he did a fine job of it, too.




sleeping happens whenever one can get it. (though i have decided that i must refrain from afternoon naps because no matter how tired i may be, sleeping in the afternoon means i will not fall asleep until too late at night.)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

there is a hearty, thick layer of snow on the ground. I am glad! i love that snow has arrived, and given the temperatures, it will remain for a while. We're decked our apartment with the warm glow of Christmas decorations. Our tree is up and beautiful. Owen requested purple lights (cousin lillian's fav colour is purple and so he seems to like it a lot right now, too) but we settled with a string of lights that has yellow, green, red and blue. He loves the tree and the ornaments. The first thing he does in the morning is turn the tree lights on. We very well may burn out all the lights on these string of lights cause they are always on!
We had talked that we wanted to go for evening walks to look at the lights but the cold has settled in in true minnesota style and it doesn't seem like a good idea to take Aleida out. And so she stays in while one of us takes Owen out to observe the beauty of winter at night. There are a couple houses a few blocks away from our house that are especially decorated for Christmas. Owen LOVES these houses! The last time he and I walked to look at the lights he sat down on the sidewalk and just wanted to sit there for a while. It was super cute.

I have hopes of baking Christmas cookies soon, and other holiday treats. Baking, to me, is an integral part of the Christmas season. I am excited that Ry and I are forming family traditions and I want to be sure to incorporate certain things within our family tradition. One thing that I want to do is make ginger cookies, shaped and decorated appropriately. Another, which will involve a little digging, is getting a recipe from my Aunt Japke - she always made these fun little mice cookies at Christmas. They were so delicious: the body was a soft chocolate cookies (not baked), the eyes, ears and nose were little candies, and the tail a piece of licorice. I looked forward to eating these cookies. Certainly the kids in my life would like to eat these, too.

We haven't taken any photos lately, but there are some older pics that we haven't posted yet.

Aleida at 5 days old:


a little over 1 week old. Bundled up after a bath:


Aleida at 2 weeks old:


Sunday, November 15, 2009

aleida marian



she's here! and by 'here' i mean outside my belly! I am grateful. And she is perfectly amazing. she is super relaxed and calm. She gnaws on her hands when she's hungry rather than immediately crying. So, she hasn't cried since being home. And in the hospital, she cried when a nurse with cold hands picked her up, or she didn't like being poked - all very good reasons to wail. She spends a lot of time sleeping (in her bassinet or in someone's arms). She does open her eyes and look around. She has spent some amounts of time totally content and awake. But usually she's sleeping. Except in the wee hours of the morning. Last night she really was not content being alone in her bassinet, and she really wanted to eat all night! I was glad that she wanted to eat, but certainly I did not love having to be awake for it. I was tired. I am curious about how she'll be tonight. Perhaps 3-6 am is her choice wakeful time right now.

Well that is probably a whole lot of random information. I am pretty tired but I did want to put out a little information about our sweet little girl!

Oh! We can't forget to say that Owen is awesome with her! He is very intrigued by her and he is super gentle and sweet with her. He'll walk over to her little chair, or where ever she is, and talk to her is a soft high voice (the way most people address babies). He likes kissing her on the forehead.

Some details: arrived at 9:53 pm on Fri, November 13. She weighed in at 8 lb 8 oz, and measured 21" long.

And now some more pics.


*a couple days before she was delivered.



This is before she was cleaned up, and right after the drops in her eyes (which explains their glossiness).









Thursday, November 12, 2009

dancing and zerberts?

well last night we thought we were close to having this baby. i've been having contractions on an off, and they're all getting stronger (to put this in a time frame: i've been having this for about 2+ weeks). Because a contraction is not a new thing, I try not to think anything of it. Last night though, for about 3 hours, I was having regular 1 min uncomfortable contractions every five minutes. Since they weren't progressing, we thought we'd see if we could sleep. And alas, we did sleep and there is still no baby. And so -- we wait. And I don't know if I should start counting contractions until they're unbearable. She will come out, I know that. I guess I'll just be overly hopeful while we wait.

Owen and I danced around to fun music this morning - partly because it's fun, and also because I thought it was just one more thing I could do to encourage this baby to come out. It was enjoyable, and felt good to move. Then, after Owen inquired about why she wasn't coming out yet, I told him to talk to her about this. And to give her some zerberts - that would surely encourage her to come out. He thought this was a good and very funny idea. He does love giving zerberts. And really, can one blame him?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

today's agenda

Well, Ry works all day today. I want to make sure Owen and I stay busy to thus keep my anxious self amused.

It's a beautiful day today - or at least it looks really nice. It could be super cold for all I know, but at least it is bright and sunny out there.

As soon as my load of laundry is done, I think Owen and I are going to walk to the park. We haven't been to the park in a little while and I think it will be good for both of us to be out in the fresh, sunny air. Then I want to make granola. That's all the activity that I can come up with until it's time to make supper.

Any ideas on what a very pregnant lady with a three year old should do to pass the time?

--

So we walked to the park and had a really wonderful time. It was super warm out- no mits, toques or scarves were needed!

I didn't make granola after all, but I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of relaxing, and I got some cleaning done. It is really nice to be able to stay on top of household duties right now as I feel like that is not something I will be able to do very well once the baby arrives!

Here are some pics of our time outside.




Sunday, November 08, 2009

no news is . . . well, no news.

The phrase 'no news is good news' isn't applicable here. Today is baby girl's due date but she, so far, has made no moves to remove herself from me. I suppose there are good things about this, such as I have really been enjoying this time with Owen and trying to be really intentional with him as I know that doing that over the next little while will be more difficult. And Ry and I have been able to do some 'together' things as a result of her not arriving yet. However. We're finding sleep difficult. My mind is constantly busy and it is hard to turn it off. I am far too aware of what my body is doing and it isn't that I jump to conclusions but rather it's that I hope too strongly. And yet: i do know that this baby will arrive - I'm sure of that. I just need a little more patience around that truth.

Ry and I had a lunch date yesterday, as Erin took Owen to the Children's Museum. He was very excited to go with Erin and Lily, I don't think the Museum had much to do with his excitement - even though he does love it there. So, they left, and Ry and I decided to do lunch together at Trotters, a great local yummy place. We had a good meal together then we topped it off with a round from Cahoots Coffee Bar. I had their most delicious hot chocolate and Ry had coffee. Then we spent the afternoon, back at home with Owen napping, just visiting with Erin. It was a good low key day that finished with the Siggelkows gathering over supper to celebrate the fall birthdays. It was really nice to see everyone, eat together, and converse about life and such.

Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to update on. I just wanted to put in a post here to confirm that she has not yet arrived.

I was thinking of whether we had any new photographs to post, and I guess that I haven't yet posted our halloween pictures. So, here they are. Ry and I went to Daryl and Sandy's halloween party and Owen went with Erin, Ben and Lily to a different party. We all had a fun time!

I was a tree with an owl in a 'hole' or whatever.
Ry dressed like a t.v. character (Jim Halpert from 'The Office') did for his office halloween party: 'Facebook'
Owen dressed like a farmer. A bearded farmer, of course.




Friday, October 30, 2009

she's already a part of things

it made me so excited to soon see owen as a big brother when this morning, as he was jumping on his bed and singing a song about our family, his little baby sister was given mention along with mama, dada and owen. he's such a great kid!

i'm surprised at how well he is understanding the concept of 'sister' and of a new baby soon coming into our family. i certainly am expecting that the real, physical presence and sound of a baby, day after day may not be so easy for him to embrace, but he's entering into the situation with a great attitude. He's felt her move in my belly a couple different times, now. He thinks it's really funny. And I am grateful that it has worked to have him feel her 'knee' or 'elbow' as it really proves the fact that there's a baby in there! well, proof beyond my still-growing massive belly and my gradual inability to do regular things easily (like move from sitting on the floor to standing up).

we're all doing well, and we're quite aware the the official due date is nearly a week away. come on little one!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

fun times for all

ry and i were treated to some time to ourselves this week! first came wednesday evening, where friends Jessie and Justin took Owen for a couple of hours so that Ry and I could check out our friend's new place, 'the anchor fish and chips'. it's an irish fish and chips place - absolutely delicious (best we've ever had) and they do guiness right, too. it's all really yummy and tactfully done. We had a nice time out together.
Then, Sunday afternoon Erin, Lillian and Ben took Owen home with them. Ry and I were then off for an overnight stay in downtown Saint Paul. We thought - we never have the opportunity to stay and hang out all night on our city! so we decided to drive a wee distance from home to enjoy our own city. And we had a fantastic time. It was really refreshing to just be with one another outside all our usually commitments. It took me back to the times we used to share on a daily basis, way back when we first met! No kid, no finances, no jobs, etc. There's a little old towboat on the mississippi river, downtown saint paul, that now operates as a bed and breakfast (www.covingtoninn.com). We spent the evening walking around saint paul, dined at a place called Senor Wong, and tried to get dessert at a nice little cafe but it was closed. we ended up walking A LOT which was great and part of what i wanted to do, but we kindof set ourselves up for a lot of extra walking. It was a good time together. Monday morning, then, we went a nice tea shop, sampled some and purchased some. We went into bookstores . . . we did things we can't easily (or enjoyably) do with a 3 year old.














The great thing about of all this, about our fun times, is that Owen had really awesome times, too! He loved his time away and didn't really want to come home with me when pick-up time rolled around. We're glad he likes his time away from us. He'll have more Lillian sleepovers soon.



Tuesday, October 13, 2009

owen is 3!

This past Thursday, October 8, Owen had his 3rd birthday! Ry had to teach 3 classes that day, but we still spent much time all together (Owen's favorite thing - he likes to point this out, he makes circle motions with his hands and announces very excitedly, 'we're all together!') as he came home during his lunch break.

Owen started the day pretty early, getting up at 5:30 but going back to sleep again, he crawled into our bed at 6:30 and we all were able to sleep a little more. He did so well to wait until I said Happy Birthday to him, then he sat up and said, "Now? It's my birthday now?!" We had apple spice waffles for breakfast and gave Owen his birthday present. He received a buffalo to add to his farm animals and barn; magnet numbers; and write-n-wipe letter cards. He had fun playing with all those things that day. We had a little party for him that evening. Erin, Ben and Lily, Granny, Nain and Poppa Sam, and Nonny and Taid all came over. It was a fun time together! Owen received many fun things that evening - and by mail throughout the week, too! He certainly is a lucky lucky boy who has many generous people in his life. He has many beautiful things to keep him busy, amused, challenged and smart.




Thursday, September 17, 2009

book singsong



i absolutely hate what our camera's video recorder does to my 's' sound, but wev. this video is full of horrid 's' sounds. owen is cute in it.
AND you can see the crib that we just bought. it's a very mildly used compact crib that i got through craigslist. i am really happy with the condition (completely like new) and with the size. it will serve us well, i think.

and here's owen being very stylin. thanks steph!


here's owen after a bath - this happens to be a fingernail cutting session, as well.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

sunday

it's another july type september day. muggy and hot - here we go again; this has been our week lately, and i was informed this morning, that it's also our week to come. yick.

our day started by owen waking far too early for it to be okay for anyone's energy levels. But thankfully he settled down and went back to bed for a couple of hours. We had our usually Sunday breakfast: pancakes. we switch between thin swedish pancakes and regular fluffy wheat pancakes. this morning we hungrily and happily ate swedish pancakes. yum.

church: owen, for the past year, has happily gone into nursery after 'children's time' at the front of the church, with all the congregation's children. Last week and this week, he has strongly resisted going into nursery. Last week I stayed with him, hoping that he would settle in and remember how fun it is to play with all the toys that he only sees once a week. Last week he was very aware of my presence and made sure that i did everything with him and that i did not leave his side. This week, I handed him, very upset, to Megan the nursery coordinator and she took over for me and tried to calm him down. After about 10 minutes of me being in church, someone came to get us - he was still inconsolable in nursery. So Ry got him out, and he sat quietly with us in the sanctuary for the remainder of the service. poor guy - he was so worked up and sad.

This week was the started of adult and children education. Our church service runs till 10:45 then education hour starts at 11 and goes till noon. Owen will start a 'preschool' class; it begins with singing, then there's a fun class with 2 to 4 year olds. Owen has never been in a class setting before where one sits on a rug, listens to the teacher and follows instruction. I stayed with him the whole time (given his previous nursery experience) and he did wonderfully! he was very attentive to the teacher, he was not latchy to me, he did all the song actions, he held hands with the kids next to him, and he sat longer than most kids to complete his craft. It was fun to watch him engage and enjoy!

After church, to kick off the start of education week, there was a potluck. Owen did well, and he 'bonded' with a boy, Iver, who is 3 months older than he is. They played very together for at least an hour. They played tag, hide-and-seek (of sorts), they played the piano - it was great to see him make some major breakthroughs after having such a hard time in nursery earlier. I hope that he will remember his fun time with Iver, and that he liked his preschool class and perhaps he'll be excited about being at church next week.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

big big day!


Ry had his first day of teaching today! He teaches 3 classes today, one in the morning, two in the afternoon. He has a break for lunch and he came home to report how things went and to eat and spend time with us. I love that we can see him at lunch!

Owen had a fun day playing with his toys. And I had a relaxing day at home. I was able to finish my book (Run, by Anne Patchett) and take my time cooking a yummy supper (tomato goat cheese pie and corn on the cob). Good good day!

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

summer fun

awesome visit with the firths. the kids seemed born to play together and we parents seemed born to share time and life together.






home on the farm.
















believe it or not, but this is our garden. oops. this is a month and a half of complete untending. there are loads of tomatoes and squash growing in there . . . somewhere. the trick is finding them then picking them.


Owen and i visited a farm this past Sunday. He loved the tree house.