Happy Birthday Julia!

On Saturday, Sydney attended a birthday party for her friend Julia. Personally, I think Aaron & Allison deserve a pat on the back for braving a birthday party for their two-year-old hosting six other children that are all 2 & under plus the parents!
The look of wonder in Julia's eye is due to the ice cream cake that her mom is carrying towards her. A little girl after my own heart! Would rather have anything but a regular birthday cake! Sydney was one of the "big" kids and got to sit at the picnic table to eat her lunch. Good job Sydney!!!

Baby News! Baby News! Baby News!!!

Grab your attention??? Well, it is not our baby news that we are talking about. We learned this week that cousins on each side of the family are having a baby in May 2006- congratulations Stephanie & Mike and Scott & Jill! Steph & Mike came to see us this spring & I had feeling after they left that baby news would be within their not too distant future. Scott & Jill's news however, surprised us. Them too I think as Jack only JUST turned one. We also had 2 new babies born into our circle of friends. Ian & Rachelle had a baby boy, Brandon James, on November 24th. Laura & Patrick had another baby girl, Marley Lauren Ilona, on November 25th. Congratulations to all the new parents & you too Morgan...you are a big sister now!

The week of November 20th has been an interesting one...
On Sunday we had a social outing at Noreen & Shawn's. Will isn't even three months old and they are throwing themselves into entertaining already! Way to go guys! We had a good time & Sydney spent her time running around with a little boy named Cole. Should I be concerned that she is already choosing the boys rather than the girls to play with??? I was so busy stuffing my face with the yummy food, I didn't get a shot of them. I do however have one of Will.

Very early Monday morning I was picked up for the airport & did my first out of town trip since Sydney's arrival to our life. She was left in the very capable hands of Daddy, Grandma & Grandpa during my absence. I'm not even sure she noticed I was gone, but I was happy to be greeted with her smile on my return. I really love Chicago & typically love any excuse to go, but this time...I really just wanted to be home in my bed. The Thursday before my departure I started to come down with a cold & over the past week I have been feeling like varying degrees of crap. By the time I arrived home, I was exhausted & did not stray too far from the couch for the entire day on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were a little better, I at least lasted through the day before the couch called to me. However, no matter how bad you feel, bathtime can always bring a smile when you've got a happy, little girl who loves to ham it up.

This weekend was spent partying (Julia's birthday party), shopping, and vistiting with Santa. After the birthday party Sydney was a little too wound up too sleep, so I ended up bundling her back up, putting her in the car, and heading back to the mall. As luck would have it there was not too many kids in line so we go the picture with Santa done & out of the way. Sydney did a great job (as did the photographer's assistant) and we did not have any tears or any yanking of Santa's beard!

Well, we missed Santa

Yesterday we did not make it to the Santa Claus parade. Miss Sydney has quite the cold & we figured sacrificing a nap to go stand in the cold (although it was a sunny day) waiting for a parade that we were not sure if she would be interested in, just wasn't worth it. Good call by Mom & Dad, Sydney had a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon which is quite a rare accomplishment for her at home- yes she does it at Nola's, but not at home.
After her nap we went over to some friends that we made during my maternity leave. Tara & John have a little girl, Evelyn, who is 3 weeks older than Sydney.
Sydney & Evelyn are quite cute together, but I was caught without my camera...so I had to have Tara send me a couple. Although the kids look a little dozey, I think they did have a good time.

Brad's Going to Send Me Back to Work....

Last week on our Friday together Sydney & I hosted a play date with her friend Ellie. We have not seen Ellie since before I went back to work & it was neat to see them interact with one another after so long. You couldn't really say that they played "with" one another, but I do believe they enjoyed each others company.

Ellie is very tall for her age & is often mistaken for a two-year old. Sydney is bordering on average for her age (but really she is kinda short), so next to Ellie I am becoming convinced that Sydney too will struggle with the "pant" dilemma. Any cool pair of pants she wants will need hemmed & well, let's face it...I'm not too great at that. My mom would concur since she has probably given me 3 lessons now on my sewing machine. The machine is a relic that with the proper user (like my Grandma- its previous owner) could do great things...but with me, I procrastinate so long that when I sit down again to finish a project, I need a lesson all over again to remember how to use it. However, if Sydney is going to be on the shorter side- I am going to have to figure it out, because I don't want her to be ridiculed because her pants are way too long, have a terrible cuff, or were just cut off.

Last week's day off was fun & cheap. This week's Friday off will probably result in Brad banning me from the mall or from going alone. I had a few items to return & ended up coming home with twice as much as what I went there with. But all of the items were "needed" items in a girl's life. Since there are two separate Christmas dinners to go to one day after the other...well she needs two Christmas dresses & the second one was found on sale- so you must take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself, right? We also found some shoes for her Christmas dresses. Red patent leather- no only match both her dresses, but are very cool! How could I resist these? Sydney also has a birthday party to attend next week & needed to have something cool to wear to it! Velvet pants- she'll probably kill me in 15 years, but they really are cute! I don't think she will be able to wear her new shoes though...not a good fashion statement!

Well...Miss Sydney is waking up (much earlier than I hoped!) & now we are off to see Noreen & Baby Will. This time I must remember to take a photo! We hope to go to the Santa Clause Parade tomorrow...so hopefully I will have some pictures to share.

Happy Anniversary to the Taylors

Within the last week, everyone in Brad's immediate family have celebrated an anniversary. Robb & Michele celebrated their 6th anniversary on October 30th. We do nothing special to celebrate each other's anniversaries...just say "happy anniversary" if we see/talk to one another.

Brad & I celebrated our 3rd anniversary last Wednesday. Actually, to be truthful I went out with the girls for our monthly "Mom's Night Out" on Brad & I's anniversary. I don't feel guilty about that either, since it is a Wednesday night thing & it was just the way the day fell that it happened to be our anniversary. If Monday had been our anniversary, I am quite certain that Brad would not have missed hockey to spend it home with me. Brad took Friday off work & we spent the day in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We went for breakfast, browsed in the shops, hung out by the water, & visited a couple of wineries. Although windy, it was warm & sunny and a very nice day.

The big anniversary was today...and boy did we mess it up. Brad's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary today & we nearly missed doing anything to commemorate it. We knew it was their anniversary, but did not realize until this morning that it was their 40th. So after a rushed call to Robb to find out what him & Michele did ...we had to plan what we were going to do & put all four heads together. We knew Graham & Dale were going to the theatre, so we planned to deliver flowers, wine, chocolates, and bubble bath while they were gone. Well guess what? We timed it wrong & they were still there! I don't think they were too upset to ruin our surprise because they got to see all of us (but we really know it was Sydney & Max they were really happy to see) & say the typically "you guys didn't need to do this!"

Although Brad & I are still rookies with only 3 years of marriage under our belts, I do know that marriage does take work & doesn't always come easy. I am, by nature, a planner and I was horrified today to realize that I had not "planned" something more to celebrate Graham & Dale's anniversary. Forty years is a long time to spend with one person & deserves admiration, acknowledgement & celebration. I often watch the way Brad's parents are with one another and I hope that Brad & I are still that connected & in love after so many years together. So I say, thank you Graham & Dale for setting a good example for us of what a happily married couple looks like after 40 years. Happy Anniversary, love your family xoxo

Here are some pictures from our day in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

You have to love the fall in Ontario. I wish the leaves had still been on the trees on our wedding day.






We obviously need to work on our timer shots. Brad almost lost his head.