The O'Berski's

Missed Blessings

2011-09-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hudson James' Arrival!!

2010-10-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

This past week has been incredibly emotional. At the beginning of the week, I thought for sure that Hudson was coming with contractions all day long on Monday. They faded out that night and I woke up Tuesday, still pregnant...sigh...at this point, I was technically overdue as of Saturday. Since I have never gone over my due date and already felt like he was going to pop out of me, I was frustrated by the lack of progress!

All week, we kept waiting and hoping that he would come. Thursday morning, I talked to Hillary Newton, my dear friend in Illinois, and was telling her my frustrations. Went to our homeschool co-op with the girls, ran some errands afterward, and then came home, took a nap...Dan came home and we ate tacos for dinner...I thought, hey why not try to get some spicy action going? Then we went out for a walk. Would you believe I was jogging down the street...okay maybe for like 2 houses, because I thought my back would go out:) LOL So after our little mini walk, NO contractions...and i thought for sure that Hudson was stuck in there for good!

We walked in the door from our walk and my mom said that Susie, Dan's mom, had called to tell us the news of Dan's youngest brother, Matt, being in the hospital. They had found him in his dorm room at U of Michigan, unconscious and barely breathing. We found out many more details over the next 24 hours, but at that point, all we knew is that he was in a coma at U of M hospital and we had no idea why. Dan and I immediately started looking at airline tickets for him to fly up either that night or Friday morning. Even though we knew I was ready to deliver Hudson anytime, we were confident that God's timing was perfect. Dan booked a flight to leave Friday morning at 8:30am. So for the next few hours before bed, we spent much time praying, crying, worrying, scared for Matt. I said to Dan as we're lying it bed, "Dan, I know God knows what He's doing, but all I can think is, 'really, God? Right now?' It's just a little much..."

We went to bed at 10:30 and I was having a few contractions here and there, but I just figured it was nothing new...Midnight, I woke up coughing and my water broke! I thought, oh no!!! Bad timing!!! Well, I don't know if I've ever been able to say that God's timing was MORE perfect! After my water broke, I called my midwife who said to call her when I needed her. At that point, I wasn't having many contractions. Within the hour, I was having them 4-6 min. apart and by 2am, the midwife was on her way. I also had a couple girlfriends come over to see the birth. I got in our garden tub around 2ish and the contractions started getting really intense pretty quickly...I of course lost track of time, but all I know is that I soon felt that I needed to push. I pushed for about 5 minutes and Hudson James was born at 3:24am. It was an incredible, beautiful experience. And even Sydney came in with my mom for the pushing and got to see Hudson come into the world. Hudson weighed 8lbs.9oz. and 21 inches long. My midwife believes that he was more like 39 weeks gestation rather than over 40 which is what the ultrasound had indicated initially.

Dan left for the airport at 7am to fly to Michigan and there I was only a few hours after having Hudson, chillin in the bed. My parents took the girls out for the day and my friend, Bethany, came over to just hang out with Hudson and me, along with her 3 kids:) It was a good first day, amazingly even with my husband gone. God took great care of us with lots of people surrounding us with prayer, food, support...our neighbors just keep bringing stuff over! Lunch, cupcakes, muffins, flowers, etc.:) They are so sweet! Our friends, Suzie and Mike, from church brought dinner over last night...we are just feeling incredibly loved.

Dan flew home yesterday at 3pm after being assured from the doctors that Matt was stable and on his road to recovery. The synopsis with Matt was this: he has had a history of having grand mal seizures, always as he was waking up. They believe that he had a seizure as he was waking and that he fell out of his loft bed in his single dorm room. He had a broken cheek bone, blood spots on his brain due to the fall, and a black eye. He went into the coma due to the trauma of it all. He was found that evening after missing several meetings/classes that day. As to how he is today...he's responsive to touch, he's still in a coma but he's breathing on his own, he's physically moving his body a lot, he's off of all pain medicine and sedatives as well, and now it's just time to wait for him to wake up. The doctors are very positive as to his progress and feel that it's now just a matter of time before he wakes...it could be today, it could be a week, but that he'll wake up when he's ready...

We are blown away by God's goodness in this whole situation. We are still praying specifically for Matt regarding pneumonia and that he'll wake up in God's perfect timing, but we are so filled with hope and know that we serve a HUMONGOUS (someone used that term the other day to describe my very pregnant belly: I thought it was so funny...hadn't heard that word in years) God! His ways are unsearchable and yet we KNOW that we CAN trust Him!

September

2010-09-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

So since I haven't blogged in about 6 months, I thought it was about time that I took a few minutes to do that...major points:

My parents moved in with us (thrilled for when Hudson comes, they will be a huge help and already are everyday)
I am now 36 weeks prego and just waiting for this little guy to arrive
We are now homeschooling Sydney for Kindergarten and it's going great!
My friend Bethany had her baby girl, Kennedy

34 weeks here

See how awesome my dad is??

August

2010-09-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Quick little family getaway in Orlando:) The bathtub and water slide were the best parts...

This lovely little 8-9 foot on hind legs bear was strolling through our backyard recently. We thought he was pretty cool:)

Our Pink World is going to be turning VERY BLUE!!

2010-06-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

So it might be a bit hard to see but try to zoom in on the 2 bottom right pictures. Those are the tell tale signs of the BOY that will soon be entering our PINK WORLD!!! AHhhhh!!!

Dan and I were talking about it last night. We are giddy with excitement...not that we wouldn't have LOVED to have another girl, but just the newness of this...it exciting and daunting! We are a bit nervous! People talk about how much energy boys exert...how they constantly need to be DOING something. We are so used to our little girls who will sweetly watch a movie for 2 hours gladly (I know that's not necessarily a good thing, but anyway). But to think about seeing what a little boy looks like from us will be pretty fun! And I always hear how cuddly and loving they are...anyway, just can't wait to meet this little guy...to think of having a SON...woah!!!

Anyway, I'm 19 weeks along now and he is measuring right on schedule weighing .65 lbs. So we are thrilled to hear that he is healthy and kicking lots!

The longest gap EVER

2010-04-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

So, now that I've gone approximately 5 months without posting, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed...not sure if I should slowly catch up or just jump back in the game as of right now...I think that the prego thing has made it a bit more difficult, but really there's no great excuse...just haven't spent any time on this. But I love it, so here we go....I decided...I'm going to TRY to catch up...slowly.

March - Uncle Matt brought his buddies down...as you can see, we haven't lost our touch with ice cream...seriously, did you really question it?

Valentine's Day - we did a special dinner for the girls. They love steak, so we had steak and potatoes and asparagus with a special cobbler in martini glasses. They got to drink out of real breakable water goblets and we had candles and red chargers. Let me tell those who have girls...they LOVE this kind of stuff!!!

Sydney's 5th Birthday! She looks a bit tired in this picture...I think she woke up just in time for her party! She wanted Tinkerbell, so Dan, true to form, made her a Tinkerbell birthday cake:) I LOVED that he did that:) He worked so hard, the poor guy, and was a bit disappointed in the final product.

Birthday breakfast at Mickey D's:)

We went to a nature preserve and got to touch alligators, snakes, toads the size of a man's hand and other crazy critters:) The kiddos loved it! And as you can see, I was pretty into it as well:)

Okay, moving on to 2010...which I truly believe is to be a much BETTER year than 2009:)

Christmas with the O'B's...so fun...

And Aunt Maria and Uncle Tim came for a visit as well. It was a good Christmas!

Maddie's Birthday - November 2009 Mickey Mouse...she had a blast. And Dan is the master cake maker!!

Disney

2009-11-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

Here are the pics...and as I said on FB, I have learned my lesson that Disposable cameras do not take the same quality of pictures as our Sony Cybershot:) Big surprise!

The good part is that we had an awesome time at Disney and the pictures tell that story...that's the important part!

The weather was PERFECT!! A little chilly in the morning, but nice when the sun came up. A perfect day to stand in lines, but we didn't really have many long lines at all:) We had a great time. The highlight for the girls was meeting the princesses and the parades. Maddie's favorite was the fireworks. It was an awesome time.

September - October

2009-11-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

So from the move, Dan going to China, and us getting back from Disney, I am finally trying to catch up a little bit!

So here are a few pictures from the last 2 months....don't have any from Disney yet, because they're on a disposable camera (Dan had the digital in China), so I haven't had them developed yet. So, we'll get these on here for now and have Dan upload some from China and then we'll do the Disney ones at a later date. Deal? Deal...

Here's a few pics from when Susie came to visit...perfect timing...right before we moved!!
Johnny's Birthday

What happened to me?!?!?!

Perfectly Girlie. Thanks, Aunt Em and Uncle Steve! Love this outfit!

Velveeta Shells baby...what a mess!!!

Here's our new house...we LOVE it...God is good!

Ellie's room...and I'm sure I"ll post more pics later...

Our new neighbors have a trampoline and have said that we can play on it ANY TIME we want to !!! Yay! Party at THEIR house!

Our new favorite Friday night activity...Jet's Pizza while watching the sunset at the beach! Ahhhh! Paradise!

This is Matt and Merodie...our good friends who just moved into the SAME neighborhood! Yay!

Pumpkin Patch

Our sweet neighbor said she'd come and do the girls' makeup for Halloween! How sweet!

Can you tell? They LOVED it!

Maddie - Snow White, Kristin - Candy Corn? Maybe?, Ellie - Ladybug, Sydney- Mommy (she took a stroller with a baby in it)

Our other new neighbors! Yay! The Strom fam

Fun festivities at church:)

July and August

2009-09-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

So since I haven't uploaded or added anything for the past few months, I thought I would label this one "Summer Break":) Clever...:):))

Ellie's Birthday - August 26th - She turned 1:)
Check out the cake...Dan and I tried to be really creative and gourmet at the same time...the result...YUMMY cake that definitely would not win any awards on the Ace of Cakes:) But the homemade chocolate mousse in the center was really good:)

Bethany and Cade

Matt with Ellie

Yep, she's getting big...still not walking but close...but she loves to climb anything she is able to:)

The girls are reading their made-up stories, just like Auntie Ang taught them to:)

July 2009

2009-08-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Ellie 2009

2009-08-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

May

2009-05-20T08:04:00.001-07:00

Here's life this month....

It's just such a joy to watch the girls grow and learning new things. They are so proud of themselves and it's just so cute!

Sydney is really growing up! I can't believe that she's 4 1/2!

We tried to teach the girls how to ride their bikes without training wheels last weekend...it didn't go very well. They both don't want to do it, so no big deal. We'll try again later! But I did attach a video so that you could laugh with me:) It's cute:)
Maddie attempting 2 wheelin...

Here's Sydney's attempt...sorry if you got motion-sickness from this video:)

In other news, our sister-in-law, Vanessa, moved in with us last weekend. She and John are moving down here! Yay!!!! Vanessa found a job and has started working, while John is finishing his job up northward and will be moving down mid-June. We LOVE having Vanessa with us. She is such a blessing to me and the girls (and Dan, too, of course!), but the girls love having her around AND we get FREE babysitting too!!!

Sydney was making Ellie laugh so hard...I had to capture the moment!

Sydney's showing you her flower on her cheek that she had painted on at Chik-Fil-A. Maddie was not showing me hers':)

Ellie's started pulling up on EVERYTHING:) She's going to be 9 months on the 26th and she's crawling all over and figured out how to climb the stairs..she's SO proud of herself!

Ellie so rarely just lays back and rests like this...Johnny was loving it and wouldn't move even when we said it was time for dinner!

I know these are blurry...but they're cute still:)

April

2009-04-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few fun things that have happened this month...
Easter, of course!
Ellie learned to crawl (about 7 1/2 months...she just turned 8 months today!)
Maddie learned to swim
The weather has become PERFECT for the beach! Yay!

This video is the preliminary stages of Ellie crawling. She's now getting all over the place. I often forget that she is actually not stationary anymore and find her in weird places. She always has something in her mouth, of course! A little tricky with her 2 older sisters taking random toys all over.

Maddie Swimming

We went to the beach with our friends, Eric, Bethany, Sydney, and Cade a few weeks ago...so fun!
Soggie Madeline

Sydney Strom

Syd-O posing for the camera

Ellie's so sweet...and she doesn't eat the sand! How weird!

Eric with the kiddos

The girls with Sydney Strom

Bethany and Cade

Maddie's pretty proud of herself, feeding Ellie:)

EVERYONE says that Ellie looks EXACTLY like Dan...what do YOU think?

Our friends, Matt and Merodie, came in for a visit. The girls LOVE them!

Okay well, Ellie was still warming up...

Easter Egg hunt with church

Yes, Maddie's hair is ALWAYS in her face! The amazing part is that she isn't barefoot in this pic, too!

Neighbor Haylee and Madeline

Sydneys Birthday

2009-03-22T15:15:00.001-07:00

View Project at Shutterfly

2009-02-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

Here we go again...feast or famine. This post includes pics from Sydney's birthday, a few cute pics of Ellie and starting to eat solids, and recently going to the fair with our new friends, the Strom family.

Thank you, Uncle Johnnie, Aunt Vanessa, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Em for this REALLY COOL puzzle! Sydney LOVES it!

We went to the fair Fri night with Bethany and Eric Strom, our new friends that we met at church. Their daughter's name is Sydney as well! And their little one's name is Cade. He's so cute:) But the fair was FREE for the 1st hour, so you know me and free things:) We got to take the little kiddies on the Merry-Go-Round and a few other cute rides. Maddie was fearless and wanted to go on EVERY ride:) Sydney was a little more reserved, but also loved it. Then we had a picnic dinner of JET'S pizza (our favorite) and sweet tea (another favorite:). Then there was the horse, pig, cow, and chicken barns. It was sooooo fun.

Sydney's such an awesome big sister:)

Saturday Fun

Sydney's Birthday Party at the pool (2/7). It was TOO COLD to swim, but she had a great time and LOVED her Princess birthday cake (Thank you, Briana!). I know I'm missing some pictures here...maybe they were on someone else's camera? Johnnie or Briana, do you have some?

Thanks, Steve and Em! That flash was really psyching her out!

Sydney's Birthday Lunch at Panerra (2/9)...

Her Birthday Outfit

Thank you, Aunt Jean and Uncle Jack:) She loves her jammies!

And Maddie loves her new shirt!

Thank you Mimi and Papa! She loves this!

Sydney got to go to the Rodeo with her friend, Marek, and his parents. It was her first little outing without us! It was really strange, but she LOVED it:) She talks about the rodeo ALL THE TIME!

Banana Bread...

Dan and Maddie's Talent Show

2009-02-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

So I'm a little embarrassed that I forgot to add these pictures with the rest of the Christmas pictures. Madeline, our little daring thing, loves to be thrown in the air. In this picture, she is asking Daddy over and over "Again, Daddy! Again!" And Dan lets her just go under water when she lands! She amazes me, our little water baby:)

Look how high she was in the air!

And then back and forth, between Danny and me.

And sweet Papa escorting Ellie around the pool...they both look so relaxed!

That wore her out!

Christmas

2009-01-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

So I am FINALLY loading our Christmas pics on here! Christmas was a wonderful time here in Florida with Dan's entire family. We at one time had 13 of us staying in our townhome:) There were blow up mattresses everywhere. It was a blast! I loved it:)

Christmas day was spent at the beach in the afternoon and feasting at my folks' with both families Christmas evening. It really was an awesome Christmas with lots of good quality time with Dan's parents and brothers/sisters (in-law:).

Every time they all come to visit, we miss them more when they leave:( But we're still working on getting them here....or I should say praying!

In other news...Ellie is really becoming quite the sweetheart, smiling all the time, cooing, talking....just precious...(sigh)...I love her:)

The progression of these pics is classic...I laugh every time I see these:)

Just a few cute pics...

2008-12-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

Since everyone has had colds lately, the girls have been flip-flopping...one day Maddie sleeps 3 hours...one day Sydney sleeps 3 hours...but never on the same day...of course!

Here's Maddie "helping" with making cookies. It was perfect...I kept her busy unwrapping all of the Hershey Kisses while I made the dough.

So sweet...they just love each other:)

December

2008-12-17T11:39:00.001-08:00

Maddie and Sydney just were given a scooter and a little car to play with from our neighbor. Maddie is really good on the scooter and Sydney LOVES driving the car, pretending that she's mom and driving around to the mall, grocery store, etc.

More fun outside...

And lots of pics of sweet little Ellie...

Here's our attempt at getting a picture of all of them smiling:) Sigh...

Here's Phil and Shannon at Thanksgiving the weekend before their wedding...we didn't get a pic of them the day of the wedding, so I thought you might want to see who they were...aren't they cute??!?!

This was at Phil and Shannon's Wedding on December 6th. The fun part...I got this dress at the Neiman Marcus outlet for $38.00. Retail price? Guess...$550.00. Yay! I love BARGAINS!

November

2008-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

I know...it's been awhile:)

Here's a few from November and then I'll post the latest from December...

Ellie gets cuter and more fun each day now. November, she was still a little fussy, but now she's awesome! Yay for passing the 3 month mark!

Hmmm....is there REALLY a Santa Clause??

Denver Trip

2008-11-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Sydney, Ellie, and I just got back from a trip to Denver to visit our friends, Hillary, Anna and Norah (hill's girls), and Stacey. We had a great time just being together. Annd and Sydney had to trade clothes the entire weekend, including underwear and socks! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Our Trip to Michigan/Chicago/Iowa

2008-10-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

We all just got back from up north. It was absolutely beautiful and perfect! Dan had a chance to fly up early and spend some time with his friend, Scoots, and then met up with Sydney, Ellie, and I in Chicago. We spent some QT with good friends, Angela Gordon and the Balazer family (by the way, do you guys have pics to send me?? Please?) and then met up with Dan's folks and brother to drive out to Iowa to see Steve and Emily and celebrate Steve's birthday. The girls LOVED their dog, "Gus-boy" as Sydney called him. I didn't have a chance to decifer between Michigan pics and Iowa pics, so do your best figuring it out:)

We had such an incredible time...pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving, hot chocolate, seeing the movie, Ironman finally:):) Just a great time with the family. And we're pumped because we get to go back to Michigan in November! Yay!

Does this concern anyone else?

Scoots and Maddie

Aunt Emily helped Sydney with her pumpkin creation

Instead of where's Waldo, where's John and Vanessa???

Josh's cool girlfriend, Julie

Poor Gus-man had to spend a lot of time outside...

Who needs toys anyway? Gus' cage is the best toy of all!

Our Day on the Boat

2008-10-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of my mom's new job...free boat rental:):)

We had an awesome time with my parents and saw TONS of dolphin. What a PERFECT day. It was really overcast and a little rainy (although we never got stuck in the rain - it downpoured after we got back in our cars!). It was a God-thing:) He truly blessed us with a perfect day so that we could take baby Ellie, even though she was only 5 weeks at the time, and not get sun-burnt (Well, we all got a little pink other than Ellie, but oh well).

Cashed out...

Catching Up...

2008-10-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Time to update everyone on the family:) Here's Ellie at 5 weeks

Here's Ellie at 6 weeks

Ellie at 6 1/2 weeks

6 1/2 weeks

7 weeks

Maddie's new Jammies from the Goodwill:)

Sydney's new smile:)

Sydney's new Jammies from Mimi

Happy Birthday, Uncle Steve!

2008-10-08T04:05:00.001-07:00

So we're a day late on this, Uncle Steve, but here it is...

Ellie's 4th Week

2008-09-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ellie will be 5 weeks on Tuesday. She is changing so much and such a sweet baby. She still gets up about twice a night, but she goes right back down and she's generally quite content:) We actually left her with my parents last night so that Dan and I could go on a date. We came back and she was taking her 1st bottle! Yay! I can tell it's going to be a fight, but hopefully it'll get easier with the bottle:)

1st smile on camera!!!

Frog Hunting

Ellie's 1st bath with her sisters

Sydney and Madeline catching frogs on our lanai...

A few pics

2008-09-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm trying REALLY hard to keep up with pictures right now! So here they are...

Ellie looks like she's saying, "What do YOU want?"

Ellie at 3 weeks

2008-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ellie is now 3 weeks and doing great. She's now 8lbs. 2.5 oz. and 22 inches. She sleeping well, up to 3.5 hours at night between feedings, so I'm thrilled!

And I know I'm partial, but isn't she cute?

Here's our dear friend, Shannon with Sydney, while we were watching the UofM-Notre Dame game.

Mimi's Visit

2008-09-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

We had an incredible time with Mimi O'Berski. Sydney cried so hard when we took her to the airport to go back home. She was just an immense help to me...I am so blessed to have such an awesome mother-in-law.

Maddie desperately wants to touch Ellie after instruction not to...

The picture is of Sydney...striking resemblance!

Mimi took the girls to visit Uncle Johnnie and Aunt Vanessa at his school. They LOVED that!

Chillin...

Looks a little scared:) But a cute little ballerina!

We went to visit Aunt Jean, Uncle Jack, and Cousin John. Thanks for your awesome homemade chocolate chip cookies!! Yum!

Ellie's First 2 Weeks

2008-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

So FINALLY, I am getting some pics on the blog. Below you will see pictures of the first 2 weeks of Elisabeth Hope's life. We actually call her Ellie. She was born on Tuesday morning, August 26th @ 12:17am. She was 7lbs. 7oz. 20 inches long. She was born at the birth center here in Naples and NOT on the grass...actually, she was born in the tub! We got there at 11:30pm and she was born at 12:17, as previously mentioned, so it's good we left the house when we did!

Life has been exciting with 3...very busy and crazy, but soooo good! We now have Dan's mom, Susie, with us. She'll be here until Thursday and then I'm on my own! Ahhhh!!

Cuddlin...

You should see her sleep smiles...she has dimples:):):)

At the birth center just a few hours after she was born...

This was when we first brought Ellie to my parents' house, just 9 hours old!

Poor Maddie is just tuckered out!

John and Vanessa came to watch the first U of M game with us:) And...to see Ellie:)

Sun-bathing...

Sweet little mommies...

Lovin on her sister...

This was at the shower for Ellie just 2 days before she was born. I'm here with my friend, Lisa, who is due in November.

This is when we brought Ellie home. The girls were just precious with her!

A Few Videos

2008-08-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our favorite new past-time is getting in the pool and playing with a load of water balloons. Here's a video of Dan doing it with the girls. Of course, when the girls and I play water balloons, we turn them into microphones and sing or they throw them around. When DADDY plays with them, it turns into an all-out war of balloon bombers!

August

2008-08-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

You all know I've been a slacker, but I have a good excuse whether it's really a "good" one or not. I'm 37 weeks and counting on this little girl to arrive. A friend asked for a pic of my big belly, so it will be in this post. Among other things, Madeline has insisted it's time to potty train. She's almost 21 months, so we've begun the process on that. She hasn't done "#2" in her diaper in about 2 weeks and the pee part is coming along too:) Great timing, Madeline! But, glad to get it over with. Maybe I really will only have 1 in diapers at a time! Crazy thought!

Our dear friend, Shannon, who is marrying our dear friend, Phil Rizzo, in December! Yay! The girls LOVE Shannon:)

We also had the privilege of spending a lot of time with our pastor from BCC (in MI) and his family.

Bekah and the girls played a lot. Bekah's so beautiful:)

Maria and Libby Elliott (aren't they GORGEOUS?)

Brent's 25th b-day. We could NOT get Syd to smile normally! She had this weird grin everytime:)

37 weeks (Sydney was crying because she couldn't BEAR the thought of someone having a picture taken without her in it!)

And here Sydney insisted that we take this picture of her with her Mimi W.

My grandma looks amazing, doesn't she? And Sydney with her silly face again!

Madeline is getting to be a little girl! Boo Hoo!

Just a few other cute ones...

2008-08-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Sydney and Madeline play so well together now and it's just so cute to watch them...

Daddy's socks...

Taking a nap under the umbrella...

Maddie was trying on Sydney's underwear here. She's started pooping on the potty more often than not and interested in the toilet. I don't think she's quite ready yet, but I have a feeling the timing is going to be interesting, probably right when her baby sister is born:)

John's Wedding - July 12th

2008-08-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a bunch of pictures from John and Vanessa's wedding as well as just hanging out with the family...not organized...I'm kind of a slacker blogger these days!

Sydney's 2nd cousin, Pauline, lives in France, so Sydney sees her once a year in the summer. They are inseparable and play beautifully together;)

Grady's Birthday Party

2008-07-22T14:03:00.001-07:00

We got to celebrate Grady's Birthday at the beginning of July. She is living with my parents and I LOVE that Sydney and Madeline KNOW their great-grandma. They just LOVE her and it's so fun to have her around.

This picture is blury, but you gotta show who was at the party!

Grady's Birthday

Random pictures and videos

2008-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated in quite some time...I apologize! We have been having a really wonderful summer, but busy...Here are a few pictures and videos of what's been going on...

Palm Beach Vacation

2008-06-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

My parents, Grandma (Grady), and Dan and I and girls just got back from Palm Beach on the East Coast of Florida. My parents have a time-share, so that was just a wonderful treat to get away and enjoy some down time.

The girls loved the beach, but mainly for playing in the sand, because the waves were a little intense. They most of all love the pool. Sydney started doing jumps into the pool and then swimming to the side. Maddie also tried sitting and jumping in (without a floatie) and would just be under water and look up at us and wait for us to get her. She obviously has NO fear of the water!

Maddie really loves the Little People animals right now. She plays with them all the time:) They have the little Noah's Ark set and Maddie calls Noah "No-No".

Daddy painted their toenails...

Grady read stories to Madeline.

The water was GORGEOUS!

We definitely destroyed someone's work of art, but justified that it was sunset and the tide would wash it away anyway:)

Lots of Swimming

2008-06-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Mimi and Papa for the 4th of July outfits and the ADORABLE swimsuits!

We have been spending a lot of time at the pool these days, since it's like 95 degrees every day. So here are a few highlights....

Sydney just started swimming withOUT floaties! She's doing great and we're so proud of her!

New Videos

2008-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

These are just funny videos from the past few weeks...

2008-05-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

Matt and Stacey Schaffer's Wedding
I had a great time at Stacey's Wedding. In case you don't know, Angela, Stacey, and Hillary are my best girlfriends from college. She was a beautiful bride, just shining:)
Sporting Stacey's Nebraska Pride...

There were many tears and laughs as we were so excited for Matt and Stacey.

Thankfully the dress fit! Whew! I'm 6 months here.

These girls just love their uncles:)

We were given tickets to the circus! The girls enjoyed it...Sydney got to ride a pony, which was cute, but after we paid for the pony ride, all she wanted to do was go in the bounce house:)

Sydney's friend, Taylor, came to spend the night. We went to the beach, had ice cream (of course:), and they colored. Even though Taylor's only 8, it was like having a full-time babysitter. We told Taylor's mom she could spend the night ANYTIME!!

Fun Day at the Beach...it was overcast and windy and then a cold spell came the next day, but we had fun:) And the dolphins were having fun too. We saw this dolphin do full flips in the air several times. We have never seen that before!

Dan took Sydney and Maddie on the Boogie Board. Great waves...They loved it...

The Ultrasound

2008-04-14T08:45:00.001-07:00

We had Mimi and Papa O'B, Mimi and Papa W, Uncle Matt, Grady (my grandma), and the girls with Dan and I at the ultrasound. At first the tech wasn't too thrilled with 10 people being in the room, but she gave in:) Yay! It was so fun when the tech told us that the baby was healthy and everything looked great and the fun part...drum roll please...we found out we're having a girl!!! Now we're just thinking of names and dreaming of her sweet smile...can't wait to meet our little girl;) I'll try to get a scan of the ultrasound pic on here later.

Papa, Mimi, and Uncle Matt's visit

2008-04-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

AWESOME time! We had so much fun! We went to Orlando for a few days and swam and played at this beautiful hotel that they got a great price on. They then came down here to Bonita and we played at the beach, took lots of walks, and had lots of fun! Here are some pics...

Uncle John, Vanessa, Uncle Matt with the girls...

The 5 month Belly (19 weeks)

Uncle Matt with the girls...

Papa reading stories...

Mimi painted all of our toes...

Sydney just adores them...

Ultrasound Lobby...

Riding her tricycle...

And Brownie's again...

Our day yesterday

2008-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

We are just ECSTATIC for Mimi and Papa O'Berski and Uncle Matt to come down tomorrow. This week has been busy just planning for our weekend with them in Orlando and then everyone coming back down here for the week. Yesterday we had to run a few errands and then we were meeting Dan along with his new business associate, Janelle, and her finace, Todd, for lunch at our new favorite spot, Pei Wei. Has anyone else ever heard of it? It's a spin-off of PF Chang's, but cheaper, faster, and no tip. Same food...Mongolian Beef, Kung Pao Chicken, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, etc. Anyway, I personally was really looking forward to our little lunch together with Dan and the girls. We walked in the door and Maddie started whinning. Dan said she felt like she had a fever. By the time we sat down and put Maddie in her high chair, she was basically crying and pushing food away(very unusual...trust me!). We held her throughout the whole meal and tried to eat one-handed (any parent can testify that this is NOT the most relaxing way to enjoy a meal, especially with people that you barely know!). Right before we left the restaurant, Dan handed Maddie back to me (thankfully! since Dan was only mid-way through his work day) because she threw up all over me. Our planned trip to Costco after Pei Wei was quickly diverted to heading straight home to change clothes and put our poor little baby in bed! She is feeling better today, but still not herself. So, needless to say, please pray that Maddie is feeling better by tomorrow when we leave for Orlando and that none of the rest of us catch it! Also, pray for Mimi, Papa, and Uncle Matt as they are driving down as I am writing this little blurb. Thanks:) And lots of love:)

Update

2008-04-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Their new favorite...Ring Around the Rosy

Syndey colored eggs for Easter with her Mimi W. Do you see what she made? One for Mommy, Daddy, Maddie, and Johnny (I think she ate the one that she made for Vanessa and herself:) So sweet...

Playing "Bocce Ball"

Video

2008-03-19T19:36:00.001-07:00

Ti Ti Ang's Visit

2008-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

My great friend, Angela, from Chicago, came to visit us while Dan was on his ski trip to Montana. It was truly a refreshing and awesome time. The girls just love her:)

Cheers!

And here's where Dan was...Absolutely spectacular. He had a great time and by the end was skiing down black diamonds. For never skiing before, I was quite proud of him:)

Mimi's Visit

2008-03-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

Just so you all know...I had some serious technical difficulties tonight, so please don't make too much fun of my poor layout on this one...I will try harder next time! :):):)

We had an awesome time with Mimi O'B. She so graciously took 5 days out of her busy schedule to miss out on the cold and visit the girls. Sydney and Maddie absolutely ADORE their Mimi and we are all thrilled to say that Papa, Mimi, and Uncle Matt will be down for spring break in 2 weeks now! Yay! Here are a few of the things we did while Mimi was here...

Beach time...

As I was busy shooting pictures, Mimi saved the day as Maddie dove into a big wave well over her head!

We visited the Bass Pro Shop and saw all of the cool fish...

Took Mimi for her 1st Trip to Costco...

Went tomato pickin...

John and Vanessa with the girls in the trunk:)

Got to hang out with cousin Bella and her Mommy and Grandma and Grandpa and Mimi O'B...

Went to the pool...

And did a whole lot of hanging out...

My "Lioness" (is that the right name from Charlie Brown?)

13 weeks pregnant...

February

2008-02-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Maddie and Cole

Cole looks so much like his brother, Jake!

Lily and Sydney playing Dress Up. Lily actually has on the costume from my 1st Grade Strawberry Shortcake Dance Recital!

Our little finger sucker...

They just LOVE their books!

Their matching outfits from Mimi and Papa O'Berski

Sydney and Maddie LOVE their new bath dolls that you can dress up!

Happy Birthday, Sydney!

2008-02-20T08:56:00.001-08:00

Sydney and Benjamin got to celebrate their 3rd birthday together. They had a great time of running around, playing, and eating lots of cake and ice cream! Here are a few pics...

And Videos of Sydney opening presents...
From Mimi and Papa

From Uncle Ozzie and Aunt Patti

From Aunt Kaye

Ethan and Lexi's Birthday

2008-02-20T05:03:00.001-08:00

Sydney actually sang Jesus Loves Me perfectly into the microphone, but I didn't catch it on video...don't you love it? But regardless, she sang that out into the air and I was so proud of her!

Our neighbors, Ethan and Lexi, celebrated their birthday at a place called KidZone. It was absolutely awesome for the girls. They played, sang, jumped, and ran around. They had a great time. I was amazed that our then 14 mo. old was enthralled with the bounce house. The big kids would be jumping all around her and she would just giggle away.

January

2008-02-20T04:24:00.000-08:00

I realize that it has been a LONG time since I've done anything on the blog, so I'm going to be true to form and do a bunch at one time:)
Here are some random pictures and videos from January just so that you can see the things the girls are doing these days. They are so much fun and really starting to play together, which is so adorable. I love it!

Whenever I go to take a picture, she starts with this face:
And then this face. This is her "funny face."

Christmas

2008-01-09T16:04:00.001-08:00

Yes it is mid-January and I am FINALLY getting our Christmas info loaded on. Christmas Day was relaxing and fun!

Here are a few highlights...

Sydney is wearing MY dance recital costume from when I was in 1st Grade! Isn't that cute?? She also got to see the VHS of me dancing. We were all laughing hysterically (let's just say that I wasn't the BEST dancer out there!).

Brent and Dad

Grady smiling even after Dan did a canon ball in the pool and drenched her with water:) She's a good sport!

We loved having Daddy home for a few days around Christmas!

They love their new "Big Girl" Table and Chairs.

Tallahassee Trip

2008-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas, we decided to take a road trip to visit our friends, Bryan, Jami, Camille, Jack, and Katie (3 wks old!). Sydney and Maddie loved playing with Jack and Camille and loving on baby Katie. Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed just being with everyone. We also got a taste of life with 5 kids! Wow!

Beautiful...

Jack and Maddie really like each other:)

Lovin on baby Katie...

Bathtime with 4 babies in the tub was quite an adventure!

Making sugar cookies...

The ride home...

Party Time with the Thomas Girls

2008-01-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

So, I am a LOT behind on my blog, but this was before Christmas...

We babysat Lily, Holly, and Sage so that their mommy and daddy could have a date night. We had a blast!

Making sugar cookies...

Watching Charlie Brown Christmas...

And Dancing...

Building the Gingerbread House

2008-01-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, Sydney and Danny built a gingerbread house. The only disappointment for Sydney was that she couldn't eat the whole thing right away!

Jesse's Wedding

2007-12-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

We went to Michigan for Billy and Jessica's wedding the 2nd weekend of December. We all had so much fun. Thank you, Uncle Scott, for housing the entire family in your house! We missed you, Pauline!

Driving the rental van:)

Jessica and Billy's wedding was so personal and perfect. You will notice that Billy is wearing a rainbow tie. Jessica's favorite is rainbows as a sign of how faithful God is. I thought that was very cool!

The brothers with soon to be engaged, John and Vanessa (Dec. 9th).

Dancing at the wedding with Uncle Steve (we missed you, Em!).

On our way home from Michigan. The girls LOVE to fly!

Our Week

2007-12-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Sydney and Maddie have both had a cold this week and have just started feeling a little bit better, but we're just praying that they're all better by the time we fly up to Michigan this Thursday for Jesse's wedding!!!

Sydney's new PJ's

We have another shoe lover! Hmmm...wonder where they got that from???

Maddie just learned how to gargle.

Watching a Movie Together...

Maddie's B-Day

2007-11-26T07:45:00.001-08:00

Maddie had a great 1st Birthday on November 25th. Her first birthday cake was left over Grady's Banana Pudding from Thanksgiving. She didn't seem to mind too much!

She loved her book, Aunt Kaye!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T07:25:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Brent and his girlfriend, Jessica, John and Vanessa, Grady, Phil Rizzo, Gabielle Kauer, and my parent's friend, Gary. LOTS of GREAT food! It was a lot of fun!

Humming Kisses - they hummed and kissed...very cute;)

Madeline loves the water!

Phil watching football!

Daddy doing a Hammock Blanket

Mimi and Sydney

2007-11-26T04:47:00.000-08:00

We went to our friend Sarah's birthday party. Sydney didn't get off of the Jeep the whole time we were there. She ran straight into a tree with it. We've got to help her with her "driving skills!"

Maddie had fun at the B-Day party too!

Small Group Reunion:)

Zoe came to visit us while her family was in town!

Big Ball!

Grady and Syd

Dancing

Laughing

Wrestling

Noodle Time!

Time at the Park

2007-11-26T04:25:00.000-08:00

Sydney

2007-11-05T06:50:00.001-08:00

Sydney does NOT like Johnny's doggie!

Maddie Eating

2007-11-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

She was LOVING her garlic mashed potatoes.

Hallelujah Night

2007-11-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Hallelujah Night at First Baptist of Naples. It's basically a mini-fair with tons of games and prizes and bounce houses, etc. So we got the girls all dressed up and looking cute and drove down there. We loaded them up in the stroller and as we were walking over to the event, it started misting.

By the time we got there it was definitely raining and poor Sydney and Maddie soon had matted hair on their costumes:)

So we walked back to the car and drove to Wal-Mart to pick up a half gallon. We drove home and made Peanut Butter Cup Milk Shakes:) Yum! Much better than Halloween candy anyway:)

Sydney with Mimi in Michigan

2007-11-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Michigan Trip

2007-10-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

We just got back from visiting Dan's family in Michigan. We had an awesome time and miss them already, but we are also happy to be back home. We don't really get in to the cold weather anymore!

One of our highlights was visiting the Cider Mill with Mimi, Uncle Josh, Uncle Matt, and Daddy. Poor Papa, had to work while we were having fun:(

The girls both loved being with Mimi and Papa and Uncle Josh and Uncle Matt. Poor Sydney doesn't quite know what to do with herself this morning without someone to entertain her!

And Maddie, although she woke up often throughout the night while on vacation, was forced to sleep through the night last night. Poor thing, screamed for a few minutes and then when she realized that I wasn't coming to get her, went back to sleep:)