It's been a big month

Things we've done this month:

• Sydney's music program
  
• Sydney's given up her passy (ok, really Mom and Dad gave it up...we had a lot harder time with it than she did)
• Said goodbye to Florentine (our Focus) and hello to Pigeon Foot (MY new CRV)
  
• David and I went to NYC
• Christmas partied like CRAXY!
  
• Found out we're having a girl!
  
• Celebrated our family Christmas before heading to Central Arkansas
• Visited with Santa

Here a few pics to go with our month- more with comments at this link.

It's a....

Well, this baby was a little more cooperative than Miss Sydney, so we found out that we’re having a girl! I think David is starting to feel outnumbered. Go team girls! Sydney really wanted a brother, but she is consoling herself by saying at least she can put bows in her hair. She wants to name her Mermaid, so I’m thinking we’d better come up with something quick.

Baby Coney will be here around May 2^nd (yea for c-sections and being able to plan!)

New York, New York

Ok, so NYC is definitely not all it is cracked up to be, but it was a lot of fun. David and I had a blast but decided that next time we'd definitely visit during the spring.

We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, saw the Statue of Liberty, smelled the nasty smell of Times Square and got shoved around in front of Saks Fifth Ave. Yes, New Yorkers are really as "nice" as everyone says. ;)

If you want to see a few more pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rieskebear/Dec2007

Sugar Overload

Well, Halloween is over and Sydney is less than happy about it. She woke up Thursday and asked if she could be a ballerina for school today. I told her that Halloween was over so she'd have to wear her regular clothes and she looked and me and said, "No Mommmy, Halloween is not over."

She had a blast. She started "halloweening" on Friday with our Ward Halloween party. She won the award for the most adorable costume -she was super proud of herself. She also won a cake and of course picked one of the ones I had taken. So, we ended up with five cakes at our house. She also got a ton of candy at the trunk-or-treat that night.

Saturday night we had a few of our friends over for a smaller-than-normal Halloween party. I've been so tired that I didn't think I'd have the energy to pull off a kids party, so we just had adults. We had the traditional cheeseburger soup and then I made green finger breadsticks. Appetizing, huh? And of course, no Halloween party would be complete without a spider web seven layer dip.

Tuesday and Wednesday Sydney had parties at school. We made spider and pumpkin popcorn balls for her to take. On Wednesday she wore her princess dress to school and showed out for everyone. Speaking of school, most of you know that Sydney is infatuated with dark skin. Well, one of her teachers is Indian. The other day she told her that she was beautiful, just like chocolate. I still can't look that teacher in the eye.

Wednesday afternoon Sydney went to Daddy's office for trick-or-treating as Tinkerbell. After that she had a Halloween party at ballet.

We dashed home, had some dinner (I'm pretty sure Sydney just had sugar) and then we had a few friends over for trick-or-treating. When we had them knock on one door where no one was home Sydney broke down and cried. She just couldn't understand why they wouldn't open the door for her. Everyone had a blast, but Sydney had just as much fun handing out candy to the others after she was done. She wouldn't give them candy unless they said "Trick-or-Treat!" My little boss, hard at work.

We have a lot more pictures, but blogger takes forever to load them. You can check them out at:

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=32221194053188586/l=321973174/g=103422863/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

A few new uses for sticky tape

Well, Sydney is now obsessed with sticky tape, (thanks Dora). Last night she cut up one of David's bookmarks and brought it to me and told me she needed sticky tape so she could fix it. When the door was broken on our car she told me that I just needed to get some sticky tape to fix it. (To think how much work David could have saved himself had he just used sticky tape!) But, my favorite story is yet to come....

The other day I was in the bathroom getting dressed. Sydney and I had just both gotten out of the shower and she was in her panties and sitting on her tricycle (which she rides everywhere now) . As I was getting dressed, I went to put on my bra and she said, "Mommy, are those your boobies?" I thought for a second and said, "Well, yes they are," hoping that would stop this particular line of questioning. She looked down at herself and then looked back at me and said, "Mommy, I need sticky tape to put my boobies on." And, that is where I lost all composure. So, if you know someone who is ready to get a boob job make sure you tell them to save their money because all is required is a roll of sticky tape. Then, today in Wal-Mart she lifted her dress and said "Everyone look at my boobies." Yikes! I assure you she is not hearing that from her mother.


Sydney actually did really well in ballet this week. She is obsessed with Miss Becktiny (aka Miss Brittney) and said she had a secret to tell her, but she couldn't share it with me. Tomorrow we're hoping to start level II Parent-Tot swim classes. We never got a call back saying if they were full or not, so we're just going to show up and play dumb and hope they let us in.

Sydney has also decided this week that she wants a chocolate baby brother and won't take no for an answer. I guess we'll worry about that one come May. For right now the baby is a size of a grape. My next appoinment isn't until November 2, so until then we just sit and wait. The whole picture upload on this isn't working right now, so sorry for the lack of photos.

Blueberry with a heart beat!

Big Sister Sydney



Whew...it has been a while since I've posted. I had my first doctor's appointment today and things are going really well. When Dr. Seale was doing the ultrasound I was so nervous. For those who don't remember, the 7 week visit was when we found out that something might be wrong last time. So, when she said, "And there is our little blessing!" I knew things were ok and I teared up out of relief. We saw the heartbeat, which we never saw with the last baby. It is measuring 12 mm, or about the size of a blueberry. David said it looked like a terd. Remind me to tell this kiddo that was their Dad's first words about him or her. Sydney thought it looked like a fish, but said, "There is my little brother." Dr. Seale agrees with her that it is a boy because I've been so sick this time and I wasn't with Sydney. I don't really care right now, as long as it is healthy. Dr. Seale gave the ultrasound pictures to Sydney who proudly toted them around and showed them to anyone who would look and listen on the way out. They are "her" pictures of HER baby brother. We'll have to make her copies.














David went to New Jersey this week. While he was gone we had a bird decide to vacation in our garage. It kept sitting on the dog door and peeking in at us. Fun, huh? Especially all of the chirping during the middle of the night.

Sydney and her bird friend (according to her he lost his mommy and was sad)











Sydney is doing better in ballet, although she is so tiny compared to everyone else. This week she decided to lay down and pretend to snore. Her teacher told me about it afterwards and said it was all she could do to keep herself from laughing. I warned her to NEVER laugh at Sydney and then proceeded to tell her about the ballet recital. I can't get any more pictures to post, so I'll try again later.

We're Pregnant!

OK, so for those who have not hear we're pregnant again! I'm due on May 8, so right now we are praying that this goes well. My first appointment is in two weeks, so hopefully we'll know more then.

Bear started ballet yesterday at her new studio, Bak Stage. She is so tiny and young compared to the others. Most of the others are four, but there are a few three-year-olds. She didn't want to stand in one spot like she was supposed to, but I'm hoping that gets better over the next few weeks. Her last studio wasn't really strict about staying in your spot. I'm sure that after a few weeks all will fall into place. She did better during the second half of class which was tap. She was so excited to get to wear her tap shoes that she really paid attention. Sorry that we don't have any pictures, but David had the camera.

Yesterday was David's last day at Pratt & Whitney. They got him a really nice clock and presented it to him during a meeting. Sydney and I were there and it was kind of sad. We have made some good friends during his last two years there, so I think he will miss them. But, he started his new job today. I'm really anxious to hear how it went.

Well, I'm tired so I'm off to rest before David gets home. Shhh...don't tell him.

First Day of School

Well, we made it through our first day of school. Sydney was a little less than excited about getting up at 6:45, but a little Dora helped her get over that. After fighting with her to get her to shower, get dressed, brush her teeth, brush her hair, this is the outcome.

I was nervous that Sydney would be scared being in a new building with new teachers, but of course she did fine. She walked in and said, "Mom, a hug and a kiss. Have a good day."

This is when we first got to school. Of course she had to take baby with her.

Her biggest concern was making sure she had one of the strollers for her doll. Her teachers said she was great and was a leader. She is one of the youngest in her class, but definitely the smartest .(This of course coming from her Mommy!) She made a cute little "all about me paper" and actually answered all of the questions correctly. When asked what her favorite food was she answered, "mac and cheese" which I know was her original answer. I don't think anyone besides her really calls it that. My class did the same sheet and I'm pretty sure some of them went home with sheets that were a little different than what they should have been. My class, is well, a little wild. There were seven of them yesterday and I really felt like there 75. I'm ready to get about a month into it, when they know my rules and we have established boundaries.

This year Sydney is in the Brown Kangaroos classroom which is right across the hall from me. I didn't get to peek in on her near enough, but I'm hoping that as my class settles down I'll be able to do more peeking.She was the first one asleep and I had to go in and wake her up when it was time to leave. But, she was super happy. Here she is complete with back pack, nap mat, lunch box and everything else she needs. I think I need a pack mule to get in and out.

She was worn out from school and actually went to bed before 10. It is 9 a.m. now and she is still sleeping. She had a lot of fun playing before she went to sleep.

Goth Chick?

Ok, so apparently she thinks that blue fingernail polish looks good. I don't agree, but try talking this two-year-old down. She brought me her blue fingernail polish yesterday and asked me to do her toenails, which I had no problem with because I could always put real shoes on and cover it right up. But, no that wasn't good enough - she asked for her nails to be done, too. Ahh - the beauty of having a girly-girl.

Our last week of summer

Well, all went well with the IUI last week, now we just have to play the waiting game and see what happens. I'm pretty sure that is the hardest part of all of this - waiting.

This weekend we had a lot of fun. We watched one of David's co-worker's children and her name is also Sydney. So, the two Sydney's played and had a great time. During the afternoon we took them to the first-annual (yeah, I know, it can't be annual until the second, but I'll ignore that journalistic rule) Boys and Girls Kids Day. There were tons of booths and games for the kids and they got t-shirts and canvas bags to bring their goodies home in - and yes, we filled the bags with everything from granola bars to markers to balls and toys. I guess that is the beauty of living in vendor-ville. Everyone is trying to do better than the next person. I'm not complaining - we came home with tons of cool stuff, including a tiny little ice chest. Then, we took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese Saturday night and they played hard and wore themselves out. Our Sydney loved having a friend to play with and was so much easier to deal with - she'd do whatever the other Sydney was doing, which was usually following the rules.

Of course they both got horribly spoiled at Chuck E. Cheese and ended up with a ton of tokens and tons of junk toys. Ah, to be a kid. Oh, and to report on my super-cool achievement, I am the Skee Ball Queen. Yes, that is my score - I got the bonus 100 tickets including the embarassing lights and music and everyone starting at me. But, it was good to earn bragging rights. :)
avid also did his share of video-gaming with Ben while Chay and I were the "responsible adults". Here is my favorite photo from the night.

This is our last week before Sydney and I start back to school. It's been a nice break and I've enjoyed the time with Sydney, but I think we're both ready for a schedule again. I'll be across the hall from her which will be nice so I can peek in on her occasionally. I think it is great seeing how your little one acts when you're not around! She loves Adventureland and every time we pass the building she asks where her friends are.

David starts teaching again tomorrow night and has classes through spring break. I think he is excited and ready to have a project going. I'm excited to have a guilt-free (almost) night of scrapbooking.

Well, I can't think of anything else new happening, so I guess that is it for now. I must plan my meals for the week so I can make my weekly homage to Wal-Mart.

Today is the Day

Well, Sydney has been begging for a little sibling for a long time. She insists that she wants a sister. When you ask her who her best friend is she says, "my sister, my brother, Mommy and Daddy." We have yet to convince her that she doesn't really have a sibling, but maybe she knows something we don't.

So, after several months of Clomid and nothing we've moved on to the next step of infertility treatment, which is an IUI. It is scheduled for this afternoon and I'm hoping Bear will be asleep - I'm going to do everything I can to keep her awake until then! I'm really nervous, but I feel like an IUI is the right thing to do. We're so ready for another child and willing to do most anything to get there.