Simon Turns 1

This time last year Simon came out of me. I can't believe it's been a whole year!

Just look at that thing! Was he stinkin' cute or what? And he only got cuter. I couldn't imagine how much I would love him, how much he'd make me laugh and cry (well, I think the crying part is mostly postpartum and new pregnancy hormones, but it's love, too!). Chase and I can't remember what we did before Simon was here. We think it was sit around and watch a lot of TV, but we're not really sure. Now we sit around and watch Si... and chase him and cuddle him and play with him.


I don't know that I ever shared the whole birth story here (don't worry, nothing graphic), so in celebration of his first birthday, here it goes:

On Monday, April 28, 2009, we had dinner with our friend Aaron. He had written a song for Simon and we listened to it when he left. We had had only been living in our new place for a couple weeks (if that long) and had gotten into the nightly ritual of Chase playing Zelda games while I watched and looked up guides online to give him hints if he got stuck.

It was after midnight when we went to bed and we talked for a little bit. Chase fell asleep and I decided to get up to go to the bathroom one last time hoping I could sleep for a couple hours before I'd have to go again. I was just thinking about getting up when my water broke. I must have flinched or something and that woke Chase up. I told him my water broke. He asked if I was sure and I told him yes, showed him the sheets and said I'm not peeing. It was 12:45 a.m.

Chase called the hospital to let them know we'd be coming and I went to the bathroom to make 100% sure that my water had broken and that I really wasn't peeing my pants. I went to the bathroom and knew that my water had definitely broken when my bladder was empty yet stuff kept coming out.

We went to the hospital, got checked in and all that and were put in a room. From the time my water broke until Simon was born, it was just about 8 hours. I was pushing for about 45 minutes and he came out at 8:42 a.m.. I didn't have an epidural (a big needle in the back freaked me out more than the pain), but I did have some kind of pain medication in my IV twice so that I could sleep a little between contractions. When Simon came out, Chase got to "catch" him and cut the cord.



Here's Simon's very first video footage:


Some of Simon's favorite things at 1 year old:
playing outside
taking all the books off his shelf
eating fruit
eating whatever's on Mommy or Daddy's plate
being naked
riding high (up on Daddy's shoulders)
his sign language DVD
Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune
watching older kids play
swinging at the park
wrestling with stuffed animals or pillows
climbing all over Mommy
snuggling when sleepy

And here is his first year in pictures:

Yard Sale-ing

With a new baby on the way and Si still being a baby, there are some items that we need would like to have. One of those items is another pack-n-play. When we travel with both kids this fall/winter, Si won't be ready to sleep in a bed or on a couch or a sleeping bag on the floor (mostly, I don't want him to be able to get up and get into things before we're up), so another pack-n-play is something I've been looking for. Particularly, I wanted one with an attachable bassinet feature.

This morning I took Simey yard sale-ing and we found one for $15. Considering most people around here selling them used on Craig's List want $50+ for them (when you can get a new one for around $60 or so), I think that's a decent deal. It does have a stain that I hope I can get out (not a problem), but otherwise, it's in good condition and not girly. We are having another boy and all (Did I mention that here? If not, we're having another boy!)

We went to a big arena yard sale where people bought space and sold their junk stuff. I was highly disappointed for the most part. People were wanting $2 a piece for their janky old baby clothes that looked like they were worn by 3 or more kids and $45 for tiny (kid-sized) wooden chairs with gunk all over them. (Side note: I love, love, love tiny furniture! Kid-sized not doll-sized.) I mean, come on people, it's a yard sale and you should have yard sale prices! I would have paid $2 for a nice or decent shirt for Si, but not for worn-out stuff. There were some people who would have piles of clothes and priced them as whatever you can stuff in a grocery bag for $1, but most of that stuff looked janky and I didn't have the patience to rummage especially with Simon in tow. Oh, and someone was selling their used tighty-whities! Ewwww!

I did find two good deals for Si. He got a pair of new leather sandals (they look like they've never been worn) for $3 and a sweet hoodie track jacket in excellent condition for the fall for $2. I did see one station that had some great clothes that were pretty much my style and size, but only my size if I weren't pregnant and I didn't want to buy anything just hoping it would fit later.

There was one interesting deal that I took a picture of with my phone...

But since our toilets are working and if they weren't our landlord would take care of it, that's another deal I had to pass up.

Here are some other baby-related items I'm on the lookout for (in case you're wondering or happen to come across something):
-maternity dress(es) for me (we have 5 or 6 weddings to go to this summer and my maternity dresses are long-sleeved and the maternity selections are pretty sad around here)
-double stroller (something like this, this, this or this)
-some fall/winter baby boy clothes in size 0-3 months and 3-6 months (we have a few in 3-6 months)

I think that's pretty much it!

Simon, Simon and More Simon!

You want the latest Simon pictures? How about the latest Simon videos? Here ya go...

We went to the park today where Si discovered the tunnel. He saw a baby girl in there and wanted to try it out for himself.

Crawling in the tunnel

Where wuz you? Where wuz you at?

It was hot, the tunnel was cool, so he chilled in there for a while.

Standing & dancing

As you can tell, Si has been getting chatty lately. He's especially chatty at dinner...



And he's getting especially chatty and silly at dessert...



Finally, here's a video of Simon from last week when he was playing with his friend Marley:

Grapes for Breakfast

This morning Chase had grapes for breakfast. And by "grapes" I mean one of these cupcakes decorated like grapes:


I did those at my cake decorating class last night where I also did these:

Flowers

And these:

Bears

I've been wanting to make the bears since I saw a picture of them in our class book. Last week we made a rainbow cake, but I didn't take a picture of mine because I ran out of the buttercream icing I made (I didn't know it would take so much to ice a cake!) so there were crumbs all over it, and I ran out of time and didn't finish the last color or the clouds. Plus, it was just a practice cake anyway and I didn't feel like finishing it at home. But Chelsea finished hers, so that finished project looks something like this (minus the "Happy Birthday" or whatever message you would put on a cake).

So here are all my cupcakes together (minus the one Chase ate):

Playing in the Driveway

Here are some videos of Simon playing in the driveway. He loves playing outside and 99% of the time he throws a fit when it's time to go in.



Sword fighting with dandelions




Loving his new-used scooter




Scooting backwards

Great Friday & Resurrection Sunday

Instead of coloring hard-boiled eggs, Chelsea & I made cake-bomb-egg-pops to celebrate Great Friday.

Chelsea forming an egg

Me forming an egg

Some finished cake-bomb-egg-pops. Chase titled the last one Lisa Frank Threw Up. I think it's quite fitting.

For Resurrection Sunday, Chase preached at a church 30 minutes or so north and we spent the day with some friends and their family.

Our family picture

Simon's first egg hunt. He "found" one egg.

Si is thinking, "Oh good, Bekah & Jonny are hunting the eggs; I've got more important things to do..."

Si's "more important things to do" involved inspecting the sidewalk and attempting to eat mulch.

Simon meets Piper

Si enjoyed playing with Piper's tags, pushing him and watching him walk around.

Overall, it was a great weekend.

Si Rocks the Glock

Simon is becoming a master musician. His latest instrument is the glockenspiel. Just look how he rocks it:

Rockin the glock

Mmmm, tastey mallet...

Just writing songs about my girl

"I guess you can say you had yourself a Manwich"

If you haven't seen Keith Morrison on Dateline, this might not be funny... but if you have, it'll be hilarious.



At least, I found it to be hilarious.

Huggie Bear

My baby is 11 months old and is all over the place! Last night while I was making his bottle, he put some TP in the toilet and yelled for me so I would come see. I think he was very proud of this feat...

In other Simon news, Chase's mom sent an outfit for him that Chase and his brothers wore as babies...

Simon lookin' retro; Chase lookin' nowtro

Huggie Bear!

Cute, cute, cute!

Now here are some pictures from his 11 month photo shoot:

A little blurry, a lot cute

I like his expression

Silly!

Baby jeans!!!!

Ridin' high outside while Daddy BBQ'd

There you have it, the latest Simey pictures!