Fun at the Fair!

We got a chance to enjoy the county fair a few weeks ago, and the girls especially loved the baby animal exhibit! :)

Bekah and the chickens

Leah loved her little goat!

And of course, baby pigs you can pet!

Some of my entries that had placed this year! yay!

Berry Picking!

In June, we went out and picked many wonderful Strawberries that were available locally, and had a blast! :) It was Bekah's first time "picking" or should I say eating, the berries! Leah was a pro and took to it right away! It was great fun!


My beautiful berry


Helping Grandpa pick!


Our plentiful picking!
Perfect for all our jam-making!

Our New Camper!

We are so blessed to now have one thing I have always LONGED for..........

a pop-up family camper!!!!

No more tenting for this family!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am sooo excited to use it this summer and all the many summers to come! :)

Dave & Susan's Anniversary!

Happy 30th Anniversary to my in-laws.. David & Susan!

I was honored to get to plan a open house for them on the 27th of June at their home church, and it was a blast! All the Helwegs (save Michael in the Marines) were there and helped with everything! It was a great time of fellowship & family!

Dave & Susan... 30 years!

Beautiful cake!


Enjoying the treat table..
assorted bars, chex mix, and cream cheese mints!


The Guest Table
we also had a family photo slideshow made by James!
It was amazing! :)


Us 4 Helweg girls.. :)
All of us will have had a baby in the last year and a half by Nov '10!)


The entire Helweg Family


Me and my very special mother-in-love.. :)

It's a GIRL!

We just had our 20 week ultrasound today, and it
revealed that we are having our 3rd Baby Girl!

So exciting!

Baby Cee is measuring great, and heartbeat is 140, with all the organs, spine, etc.. looking wonderful on the ultrasound!

She is a very active baby, and loves to kick and somersault, as well as keep her hands in front of her face! :) But what is funny is I can't feel 80% of her crazy movements yet! (I think it is because she is being nice to her mom!) :)

Leah and Bekah are very excited to have a new sister, and as Leah says "Now there will be 3 sisters!" So, we are excited too! :)

Lots of pink in this house! :)

Sharing a Room

Due to our Nursery redecoration project, Josh & I decided to move the girls together in Leah's room. They now share the room, which they LOVE! (and I do too!)

The 1st week was hard.. Bekah would often get out and want to come see us, but we stuck to it and kept putting her back in her room. This week it is VERY good.. they usually go to sleep without too much trouble or fuss. and they still love sharing a room! :)

So fun!

We unbunked our bunk beds.. and they each have a twin bed!

The somewhat organized closet! :)

Our New Nursery!

Before:

(Notice the old, yellow&pink sponge painted walls!)

And... After:

We painted the top half of the wall a beautiful buttery yellow, and the bottom half a lovely sage green.

Then, Josh put some pretty wood trim to cover the lines.. and finish it off!
He still is putting up the rest of the trim on the walls.. :)



My end table, rocker, and dresser/changing table.

I am in the process of fixing up the closet as well.. will post pictures when I get that finished!
It has rained so much here in the past week that I decided to tackle painting the nursery earlier rather than later.. so now the majority of getting ready for our new little one is done! :)

I LOVE the new nursery! A great way for me to stay true to our "Pooh" decor, yet make the nursery "new" at the same time! (and save $!)

Baby Cee

Our newest little one is doing great!

This was the Ultrasound picture we got at 12 weeks old. Baby Cee is now 14 weeks!

Just in case you are wondering, we are dubbing this baby "Baby Cee" because the baby names we have chosen for each sex both begin with "C" :)

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This pregnancy has again been different than any of my previous 2.. (I keep wondering if all my pregnancies are just going to be that way)

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I started to get sick around 9 weeks.. not unusual for me.. but it was so bad I found myself reaching for a recommended anti-naseau, Unisom. and it worked like a charm! It seemed to eliviate the night-sickness which I have always had with my pregnancies. But, I didn't want to be reliant on it forever, and tried to go off it at 12 weeks, and needless to say I was sicker than a dog! So, off I went to go buy more Unisom, and I am just glad it helps!

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But just this past week, it doesn't seem to be working as well as it used to, and I am feeling so fed up with being sick, and this sickness is the worst kind I have felt in all my pregnancies! Just constant throw-up feelings, stomach pains and inability to relax or sleep! YUCK! I am really curious why this pregnancy is so different.. and why I am so much sicker, and sicker much later than I usually am! (Dare I hope I am carrying a boy?)

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But otherwise, this pregnancy is gliding along great! The girls are such good helpers, and are so excited about the "baby in Mom's tummy" and when it is coming out! :) Baby is healthy, moving well, and our Dr is happy with how everything is looking! Heartbeat at 12 weeks was around 160.. :) Very great!

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I am excited to feel better and start enjoying my pregnancy a little more.. :) I usually ADORE the 2nd trimester.. but I guess not the early part this time around!

Our little Cubbie Bear

Leah's 1st Cubbbie Awards at AWANA was last week. She did SO good singing her songs and looking SO cute up on the stage! So hard to believe she is done with her 1st year of Cubbies already!

She was soooooo excited to get her 1st book award for her vest.. which is you can't see but the "A" is all filled from the verses she learned! Will be so hard to wait until fall to start again! She loves it!

Congratulations!

Congrats to my brother & sister-in-law James & Savannah on the birth of their precious daughter!

Natalie Jane
Wed, May 12
8:50 am
7lbs 12 oz
20 in long

LOTS of dark hair and has big feet! :)

She is so darling! I was able to be there at the hospital when she was born, waiting in the waiting room. We got to see her and hold her right away.. it was so amazing and special! What a sweet little niece!

So happy for them both! What a precious family!

MACHE 2010 Conference

MACHE conference at Rochester, MN Civic Center

Our Hotel we stayed at.. Doubletree/Hilton

Our room was soooooo nice! What a great getaway!

At the Conference, I got to meet one of my fav. authors.. Lois Walfrid Johnson, who writes children's historical fiction! So fun!

The skyway/catwalk in our hotel! Pretty!

One of our main speakers.. Lew Sterrett!

The weekend conference had 4600 people attending!

One of the best things about MACHE, the exhibit hall!

MACHE was so great! We went with two of our great friends, Ben & Mindy, which was a blast! A GREAT couple's retreat! :) We had so much fun exploring restaurants and attractions in Rochester, as well as attending the many great speakers and shopping for Homeschooling ideas! It was a blast!

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There was a LOT of info covered in just one weekend, so for newbies to HSchooling, I expect it was a bit overwhelming.. but for a 2nd generation HS like me.. it was fun, yet just a bit overhwleming at times still! :)

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One of my fav. things was the used book sale over the weekend, the session on Homeschooling with MN State Law, and the special conferences they had for POPS families (Parents of preschoolers) it was a great way to get ideas and schooling info! I highly recommend anyone interested going to the MACHE conference next year.. it will be in Duluth, MN!

God has blessed us!

We're so excited to announce ......

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We're PREGNANT!

Helweg Baby #3 is due November 30, 2010!

We are so excited and grateful to God for giving us this addition to our family!

I am super-excited to welcome Baby #3 and long to meet him/her!

What a blessing!!!!

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"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving"

- Psalm 69:30