Boogers

A conversation:

Mike: Jens, get your finger out of your nose.
Jens: But there are boogers up there.
M: That is where they live.
J: And sometimes on your cheek.

November 30th

Yay for our Christmas tree! Uncle Loren helped us pick one out on Friday, we decorated it Saturday, and we have just been enjoying it today. Something about a tree in the house always makes me cheerful, even when I am hugely pregnant with no baby in sight.
Now we just need to get some decorations for the outside of our house--everyone else around us has fancy lights except for us.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, the holiday passed and I managed to take not one single picture. But we had a lovely day, even if it is undocumented.

We went to the Littles' house to celebrate the holidays. This was a good idea because:
1. They just had a baby so they understand that I am not a barrel of fun right now
2. They make really good food--the turkey was divine, as was Sophia's cheesecake. Mike feels that cheesecake should be a permanent addition to our Thanksgiving menu.
3. They are grown up enough to have real china and a table that expands. Maybe some day that will be us.
4. Jens really likes their girls and was happily entertained for the whole day with minimal help from me.
5. They are nice friends and it was fun to have a group to celebrate with.

We made all the regulars--sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, corn (made by Loren), turkey, potatoes, green beans, and pie. I love Thanksgiving food. It might be one of my favorite meals of the year. I am still full this morning, however, which is putting a damper on my left over eating plans. Maybe I will have room later.

November 26th

Hi Everyone.

In case you haven't guessed, no baby yet. We have been trying really hard to be patient, but I haven't been feeling real great for the last little bit, and if I'm going to feel lousy anyway the baby might as well come. We have been staying busy, though.

Friday Jens had a school field trip to High Hill (Apple Hill) where he picked out two apples, had a hay ride, ate lunch, and did who knows what else because when you ask him what they did he says "I don't know." It seems that he is starting that a little early. Isn't he a little young to be using the stock teenage answer? While he was field tripping, I ran errands and finished getting the last odds and ends we need for baby sister. I also wrapped all of our Christmas presents. Notice, once again, that my "nesting instinct" has nothing to do with cleaning anything. But we are ready for Christmas!

Saturday was a lovely day of pampering after Mike and I replaced several plugs and switches downstairs. Our kitchen is now up to code and I no longer worry about electrocuting myself every time I use the disposal. I had a pedicure courtesy of dear Jessie and got a long needed haircut. It is so nice to have a good hairstylist here at last. I always like what she does and she gives excellent shampoos as well. Afterward I joined Mike and several others in watching BYU get killed by the Utes. It was a very sad game, mainly because BYU shot themselves in the feet as many times as possible throughout the game. Happily, UF scored 70 points and is still in the running for the BCS championship game. We will look forward to that.

Sunday I finally taught the Young Women. I think it will be a fun calling, but the clock in the room doesn't work and my lesson went over by about 15 minutes. Oops. So we were a little late getting home to greet the Johnsons, who are in CA for Thanksgiving and kindly came up to spend the afternoon with us. It makes me so happy that Kristin's mom lives so close by that they can visit us when they visit her. It makes it so we get to see them much more often. I am trying to convince them that Sacramento is an excellent place to live and that they should move here, but so far that hasn't worked. We do miss them, and when they are here it feels like we have never lived far apart. I have always thought that we were supposed to be neighbors. Maybe someday. We had a fun day with the kids, going to the train, the zoo, and the park. They didn't have rest time, but stayed surprisingly functional and happy for almost the whole time. They are getting close enough in size and ability now that they can play together and spent a lot of time running around. It was fun to watch them. Look at those two pregnant girls. Aren't they cute? Don't they look like good friends?

This week Jens has school off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so Monday we went to the park with his friends Cassie and Chloe, then the girls came and had lunch and stayed for the afternoon. I am not nearly as entertaining as people his own size, so it was a nice break to have them over. Monday night we had dinner with the Nielsens at La Fiesta, our favorite. Jens ate an incredible amount of chips as well as two tacos.

Tuesday Jens went to Cassie's 4th birthday party while I went to the doctor. The party was at Bounceopolis, which Jens loved, and then the park. He had a great time and was very tired for nap time. As for the doctor, I have made some progress--2 cm, 80% effaced, baby at 0 station, for those of you who know what any of that means or care. The exam was not, shall we say, gentle, and I was in misery the rest of the day and I was sure I was going to have the baby in the middle of the night and have to call someone to come sleep at our house with Jens, but hey, it is Wednesday now and no sign of the kiddo. I am having lots of practice labor, but since she isn't here yet I have decided that she had better wait until at least Friday because I want Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!

Today I haven't showered or changed out of my pajamas. Maybe I will sometime, but as it is after 7, things aren't looking good. I did some cooking and preparing for dinner tomorrow, gave Jens a haircut, put together the 2009 Helquist family calendar (shutterfly.com is having an excellent sale right now) and did some cleaning. It was rainy all day, so it was a good day to be a shut-in. Loren is flying in tonight, which we are really looking forward to. Jens has been very excited and keeps asking if Loren can come to his birthday party. Jens's concept of time is a little shaky--I try to explain how far away his August birthday is, but he isn't quite catching it. I told him we would invite Loren, but he that might be too far away to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone--I am truly a blessed person. Mom was saying yesterday that she thinks she is in the most fortunate 1%, and I have to put myself up with her. I am so grateful for a wonderful family and friends, good health and my abilities, my "perfect match" husband, my darling and amusing son, the gospel and the knowledge it brings, a beautiful earth, and of course, a lifetime supply of house projects . . . I hope you all enjoy a wonderful day tomorrow--we will be thinking of you all with thankful hearts.

Dog Update

For those of you concerned about Casey, I am happy to report that now that I am "cooking" for her (rice, cottage cheese, turkey, and pumpkin) she is finally getting better. Saturday night we only had two accidents and yesterday we had none in the house while we were at church and the park and last night we had NONE!!!! I am very happy about that. Now I am just wondering how long I have to keep making her three meals a day.

Accident

Jens peed his pants tonight (that makes twice today, actually) while he was wearing his new Lightning McQueen pajamas. At first he was devastated. Mike was trying to increase the guilt a little bit, saying it was really too bad he didn't get to wear his new pajama pants.

Jens's reply: "That's okay. This (drawing a square around the whole front of the shirt, which features a huge picture of Lightning) is the best part."

November 20th

Hi Everyone.

Time keeps marching by--faster than I can even realize sometimes! This week has been pretty nondescript--doing errands, working on the house, having Jens home from school.

Before I forget--here is a cute picture from Dad and Peter's visit.

Jens's teachers had a conference on Friday and Monday, so I got to spend some extra time with him. It was nice to have him around, but it also made me realize how grateful I am that he has school to teach him things and give him new things to do. He is making us laugh a little bit these days. I love it when he sleeps with his hands under his head. The pjs he is wearing lasted all of one night--I got him two new pairs thinking he would be so excited. The first think he said to me the next morning was "Mom, these jammies are scratchin' me." That night when Mike tried to get him ready for bed he threw a huge fit about putting them on. We returned them to the store last night. That is one battle not worth fighting!

We went to Ikea on Friday to finish up some Christmas shopping. I like eating dinner there and Jens had a great time in the play room, which was pretty empty. The worker there made up an obstacle course for the kids to run through which ended with the kids jumping into the ball pit. Needless to say, he loved it.

Saturday I went to a lovely ladies' tea hostessed by Laura, who recently moved downtown into an old Victorian. It was such a peaceful and pleasant afternoon, and she made all sorts of little goodies and sandwiches. While I was gone, Mike and Jens went to apple hill and got me some apples and pears. They were great helpers to do this, and I think they enjoyed some apple treats while they were there as well. Sunday night we ended up having dessert with the Harrisons and staying at their house way too long. Somehow once I get settled onto a comfortable couch I have trouble hoisting myself up.

My project this week has been finishing sister's quilt (see the posting below) and working on the hall bathroom. Mike finally gutted it for me and I have been putting up wainscoting. I am almost done, but I can't get behind the toilet and Mike hasn't taken that out for me.
I am running out of steam, so even if he does take it out for me, I don't know if I have the energy to finish the job. I was hoping to be done with enough that Loren could help me paint when he comes next week. We will see. I would post some pictures of the wainscoting, but my camera battery is dead. Maybe I should charge that up.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday--I am doing fine, the baby is doing fine. Dr. Raju predicted the baby will be between 8.5 and 9 pounds. Another fatty. As long as she sleeps through the night early, I can deal with it. She also stripped my membranes (without asking) which last time brought Jens along a mere 12 hours later. I was a little stressed out yesterday because I realized that I didn't have diapers, nursing bras, bottles, anything packed for the hospital, I hadn't reread any of my books on labor and delivery . . . I also felt lousy and had trouble walking for the rest of the day. Now I am happy to report that all of the previously mentioned things are done and that I have been feeling okay today. Mike has a really big deadline on Friday, so if sister could just hold off until the weekend or next week, we would be happy about that. So here is the belly--I am sticking out to the front really far this time. Last time it seems like I had more of a doughnut-around-my-waist shape.


Today was my last story time for the kids at Jens's school. Jens doesn't usually go to school on Thursdays, but today they were having Friendship Soup and eating all together to celebrate Thanksgiving, so I took him in for lunch. I have really enjoyed going in and doing that and seeing all the kids. We did Thanksgiving stories and fall songs today. Next week Jens is off school all week for Thanksgiving break, which is district wide.

In pet news, Casey has been sick since yesterday. She has had some very disgusting accidents--I won't go into any more detail about that except that there have been 8 of them in the past 24 hours. She has been curled up in her bed sleeping and hasn't eaten anything or even had anything to drink since yesterday, although I did see her scarf up a Cheerio from the floor. She is exiled to the kitchen until she gets better. I am worried that her illness might just be oldness. I hope not. I will say that I have used my carpet cleaner a lot in the past 24 hours and I am very happy that I have it. It works so well.

We will let you all know if anything exciting happens in the next little while. Have a happy week, everyone.

One Project Finshed!

Yay! The quilt for sister's room is done. I ended up being a little more ambitious with it than I planned--I would have put it together differently if I'd known I would hand quilt the whole thing. I am happy with how it turned out, even though parts of it aren't as smooth as I would have liked.
This last picture is of the flowers I quilted into one of the plain sections, but they don't show up very well. If you really squint you can sort of see them.

Now to finish the half bath . . .

Jens

One more thing about Dad and Peter's visit. Half way through, Jens decided to call Dad/Papa "Don" instead. There is something about a three year old calling his grandpa by first name that is really funny. "Where did Don go? What is Don doing?"

My favorite conversation happened after Peter stepped in some dog poop in the yard and we decided to go for a walk.

Dad: "Come on Peter, going for a walk will help get the poop off of your shoe."
Jens (in a very reproving tone): "Don, we don't talk about poop."

* * *

Jens is working on reading. He is reading the "Bob" books at school. He actually read me the Mat book, which says "Mat. Mat sat. Sam. Sam sat. Sam sat on Mat . . .etc." He is constantly noticing letters and telling us what they are. He knows life cereal by the letters on the box. How did this happen? Before long I am not going to be able to spell things so he won't know what we are talking about.

* * *

Jens has figured out how to climb along the top of our retaining wall in between the double row of cypress tress. He calls it the jungle and told me it was full of tigers and spiders. He is loving playing outside and yesterday was out for at least five hours. I love it.

November 13th

Hi Everyone.

We have had a very busy week. We were so happy to have Dad and Peter come visit us for the Veteran's Day weekend. We had been looking forward to it for a long time, and it was wonderful to visit with them. We weren't particularly exciting hosts, but Peter was certainly an exciting guest for Jens. They came up with three favorite games to play: hide and seek, tackle, and ambush. As you can guess, all of these games involved a lot of hitting, running, shouting, jumping, and all manner of joyful noise. We went to Apple Hill on Saturday and watched the Gator game. Sunday we went to church and the park, where Jens and Peter climbed "haystacks" (piles of bark) and found some big walking sticks which they had to bring home. Monday Dad and I went to Jens's school to observe circle time. Unfortunately, Ms. Dina, the lead teacher, was under the weather and wasn't as energetic as usual. The kids were cute, though, and Jens did a good job sitting still, although I don't know how much he was paying attention. His first job choice was snack, which wasn't very exciting for us so we left. We then checked out the skate park and dog park and went to Costco and Hobbytown, where I have never been. They have all sorts of interesting things there, and some really great toys. Dad also blew the pine needles off of our roof and Jens showed off his bike riding and we got Chicago Fire pizza, our favorite. It was a pretty low key visit, but we sure enjoyed the company.

To backtrack, last Thursday I took Jens to a physical therapy appointment. We have always had doubts about his left hip and leg, and finally decided to take him in since we are maxing out our insurance deductible this year anyway. We noticed that he is still turning his leg inward, especially when he sits to play and when he rides his bike. It was interesting--Jens really didn't want to go, which is unusual. He usually likes going to the doctor's office, but he was very nervous and had to bring in his blanket, which he chewed on constantly throughout the appointment. She checked him out and told us pretty much what we suspected and gave us some exercises to practice with him. We don't need to go to regular PT, but hopefully if we do the stretches and exercises we will see some improvement.

Tuesday was Veteran's Day and I had a doctor's appointment. No exciting progress to report--I am 50% effaced, 1 cm. dilated. She is in the right position but the doctor doesn't think she'll be here any time this week, which is fine with me. Afterwords Jens and I went to the parade with the Harrisons. This year Jens was very aware that some of the people were throwing out candy to the kids. He found that the most interesting part of the parade, which wasn't very fun. He did like the firetruck, though. I thought about Gramp and felt a little teary with gratitude for all of the people who have served our country. I think I am a more patriotic person than most people, including myself, would suspect. Then we had Cassie over to play. She and Jens ran and pretended in the yard for hours and had the best time. They were so happy and played so well together that it was a nice break for me!

Wednesday I visit taught and went to a baby shower! The shower was for me, and it was so lovely. I'll put pictures up if I ever get copies from the people who actually took pictures. So many people came (many more than I ever would have expected) and everyone was so thoughtful and nice. I came home with so many little clothes and blankets that I feel quite overwhelmed by everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. The food was really delicious, too. And the clothes are all very girly and pink. And there were hair bows and bracelets involved. Girl things are a lot more fun than boy things. I feel pretty prepared now--all we need are some diapers and a few criss-cross snapping onesies, the kind you don't have to pull over baby's head. Anyway. We feel very celebrated and loved. And while I was at the shower, Mike was tearing up the downstairs bathroom. Yay! Maybe it will get done some time after all. Today I patched the drywall and pulled out the molding. We need to get the bead board and choose paint and we will be on our way.

Today we have been to the park and now Cassie and Chloe are here. The kids just went upstairs for rest time, so I am enjoying some peace and quiet. It is beautiful and sunny here today, perfect weather in my opinion. I hope you are all having a happy week.

November 6th

What an exciting week! I have to admit that I have been pretty obsessed with the election and have listened to enough NPR to make Mike a little crazy. It was just so exciting to vote for the winning candidate, and to feel so good about it! This is the first time since Bill Clinton that I have picked the winner, and I think this winner is especially good. Mike and I watched the coverage on Tuesday night and Obama's acceptance speech was so inspiring. I admit that it made my eyes a little teary, but I am pregnant. I am sure that is why. I am just so excited to have someone with so many positive ideas who is SO SMART and not irritating to listen to in the White House. I am very hopeful and interested to see what happens during President-elect Obama's presidency.

In other news, I went to a baby shower on Saturday. It was really nice--our ward is fertile Myrtle land--it seems like someone new announces pregnancy every day. My shower is this Wednesday. My friends Michelle and Diedre made the invitations, which are beautiful. I think it will be exciting to celebrate this little person. Also on Saturday we watched the Gators trounce Georgia, which was great. It is fun to watch a team that is so good.

Monday we went to the Littles' house for FHE. It was a good change to go see friends, and Jens loves playing with their girls. We had apple crisp for dessert, which I really just love. I think it might be my favorite dessert. Tuesday Harrison Hyer and Cassie and Chloe came over to play. The kids got along so well and played so nicely together--I didn't have to break up any fights. They just had a great time. They even rode bikes outside even though it was 60 degrees. When Sophia came to pick up the girls, I went and voted.
Then Jens and I both took turns holding baby Audrey. Jens loved it! He was so cute, wanting to have a very long turn and saying that he wanted to have three more turns, which indeed, he did. He was holding Audrey while Sophia was getting ready to go. Our conversation went like this:

J: "Can I keep Audrey?"
Me: "What do you mean? Keep her at our house forever?"
J: "Yeah."
Me: "No! Sophia would be so sad! We will have our own sister soon."
J: "Can I have my own Audrey?"
Me: "We will have our own sister. What is her name going to be?"
J: "Audrey."

We had to talk about why that would be a bad idea--Sophia and I would get too confused if both babies were Audrey. He eventually accepted that and went right back to Sylvie as his number one name choice.

I have been avoiding real housework for a while, so I have been organizing closets (I built some ugly shelves all by myself) and doing some sewing. I had been planning on hanging up Sister's quilt on the wall. I hung it up yesterday and it looked terrible--the pink backing was showing through the white front, making it look dingy and gray, the batting inside had gotten all lumpy and yucky, so yesterday I decided to pull it apart and remake it. I got a new back and batting and sewed it together and decided to hand quilt around the flowers in the middle. I know this is a silly thing to do, but I can't help myself. It must be the nesting. Also, I think it will be about 500x cuter when I am finished. It already looks clean and crisp, which is much better for a wall hanging than dingy and lumpy.

Last night was our last Austen book club on Persuasion, which I enjoyed so much. We actually stayed on topic about the book for quite a while, but ended up staying FAR too long. I had no idea it was so late until I climbed into my car and saw that it was 11:45. My friend Jennifer, who was the hostess, probably wanted to kick us out hours earlier! She made us the most delicious and rich coconut cake--she printed the recipe off for us, I looked at it, and knew it was so complicated and had so many steps I would probably never make it. I am glad she made it for us so we could enjoy it.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, too. All is well, nothing is "happening" yet, so we have a few more weeks--3 and a half, if you are the counting type. Today I am taking Jens to physical therapy to have his left leg and hip evaluated. We have been noticing that his leg seems to be throwing him off balance when he is riding his bike. Hopefully they will have some exercises to help increase his mobility. I'll let you know what we find out.

Sister's Room

We finally have sister's room mostly ready. We need to do one more little paint touch up and hang some things on the wall--I have a blanket that matches her crib bumpers and curtains and two book illuminations from Mom, and of course, once we know what we are going to call her I will put her name up. I am so happy with how everything fits and looks. It is a tiny little room, but a cute one. I am especially proud of the curtains which I made--the valance that came with her bedding didn't fit, so I cut it up and made a big enough valance. Jens was enthralled with my sewing machine and thinks we should make more curtains for every room in the house. Maybe some day.

Happy Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween. Jens came and climbed in bed with us at 7 and promptly fell asleep. I had to wake him up at 8 to get ready for school and I woke him up by saying "Happy Halloween!" His eyes flew open, he bolted upright with a huge smile and yelled "We have to go trick or treating!"

He actually had to go to his school party first, which I helped with. It was really fun to see the kids in their costumes and they had such a great time. They played games, did a craft, had a snack, and broke a pinata. (Just imagine the ~ in the right place--I don't know how to put it there.) Then I did a Halloween story time. Jens came home and conked out for a nap in his closet with both of the doors closed. I had to wake him up at 4, but it was good he got the extra rest time because he didn't go to bed until almost 11!

After rest time he went a little berserk with excitement--there was a lot of random screeching and hooting during dinner. He went trick or treating to our direct neighbors, then he and Mike went and met up with the Littles to trick or treat on their street. After wards I took him to our friend Wendie's house so she could see his costume and we stopped to see a haunted house tableau by her neighborhood. The man has been putting it together for 20 years and this is his last year to do it. He uses his whole garage to create a Miss Havisham scene with all sorts of fancy specters and special effects. It wasn't gory or violent, just creepy and very well done--it reminded me of a scene you would see in a ride at Disneyland or something. Jens was interested at first but then decided he did not like the "Goblin House" and he wanted to go, so we did. He ate lots of candy and requested more this morning before even eating breakfast. I have a feeling we aren't going to be able to quietly dispose of most of his candy the way we did last year. He had a great day and loved every minute. I think Halloween is his favorite holiday. I tried to explain that it would come again next year when he is four, but I don't think he quite understands time. He is already talking about his birthday being soon.