Mom's trip to California!

Poinsettia tree in San Diego
Big Bear Lake
Mom and Aunt Candi's friend Mark
Mom and Aunt Candi at Wilson Creek Winery

So Mom got to spend a few days in California to visit Aunt Candi out in California. She got to visit some wineries, fly Mark's airplane and visit Big Bear Mountain, and do some shopping. She also got to check out Candi and Mark's shop and do a little work there too. They own an embroidery/screen printing/trophy/misc. shop. Mom said is was neat to see what they all do. She had really nice weather there 70s and even 80s and she came home to snow, wind, freezing rain, and two days after being back from California, the temp dropped down to -22 degrees!  

Baking Christmas cookies with Daddy

Me and my daddy!
Add some of this and a little of that...

Baking cookies is tiring!

So back in the beginning of December, Daddy and I baked cookies all day. Man is that a job! I had a lot of fun and so did Daddy. I think he wants to make make sure we do this together every Christmas. This year I got to take a nap while he and Mom did the clean up. Well, I have some more photos and entries I want to add, so I am going to end this one here. 

Making my list...

Oh, what do I want...

There are so many toys out there! I kept telling Mom and Dad, "I want this" and "I want that" and they kept saying something like, "well, you better let Santa know." I think he's the guy who made me cry last year when Mom threw me on his lap! 

Yeah, yeah, I know...my hair is in my eyes, and Mom has about given up on this whole "growing out the bangs." She gets pretty irritated with me when I keep taking out my barrettes or hair clips, headbands, or pony tails out.

Des Moines and my friend Addison

Cousin Ashley and me swimming in Des Moines, Iowa
A rare sight on camera, but Mom got me to smile for the camera.
My friend Addison and me playing in my tent. 
The race is on!
 My brother at least likes to smile for the camera. 

So it's been awhile since this blog has had any attention. We went down to Des Moines Iowa for a Bunt family gathering. My Aunt Candi, Uncle Brad, and Papa Bunt ran the Fun Run at Living History Farms. Every finished the 7 mile race. Brad lost to Candi by one minute. 

My friend Addison and her parents came to visit us last weekend on Sunday. I had a lot of fun with her. We played in my tent, sang songs, and had races with the horse and popper - I told her not to drink and drive at the same time!

Wild night at the Simonsen's - journal entry from Mom.

Like father, like son.
Wild Miles

A wild night at the Simonsen's - well not exactly. The Minnesota Wild played Vancouver tonight and lost. Bummer. Miles is growing so fast and he is just a genuine happy baby. He loves to have his diaper changed or have a change of clothes. He just belts out this big belly laugh every time. 

Sophia is doing great. She manages to escape all photo opts possible. She really loves her daycare. There have been times we are on our way home and she'll recognize the corner for Lisa's and she'll ask to go there. Last weekend we went to church, Chris dropped her off in the church daycare and she screamed bloody murder. Well, she calmed down the moment he left. We left church and she screamed, "I want to go back there!" That following Tuesday, I was on my way home from the gym with her and she wanted to go to church. :) Yeah, she likes the gym as well. Dr. Laura would be horrified if she knew I had my daughter in three different daycares.

My Halloween card from Gamma Ginny and Papa Mike

Happy Halloween!

Uncle Brad is home!

Miles is a bumble bee for Halloween.
I am going to be a unicorn. This is what my cousin Ashley wore when she was my age. 
This one is your Miles. 
Miles wants to start carving the pumpkins!

So it's been an exciting week. My mom, Miles, and I went to Iowa for the weekend last weekend. And to everyone's surprise, my Uncle Brad showed up at the barn decorating celebration at Uncle Cory and Aunt Sandy's house. It was fun to see him again. This was also the first time he got to meet my little brother. 

So Mom dressed us up in our costumes tonight, make sure they fit and all. I am going to be a unicorn and Miles is a bumble bee. The last photos are from last night when we carved pumpkins. I didn't do much. Mom and Dad wanted me to help scoop out the guts but I took one look in my pumpkin and decided it was too icky. 

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!

Eating does make you tired.

All done!

So my brother really likes his cereal. Dad fed him this night and before I know it, Dad went to get the camera. I yelled, "No camera!" I guess he didn't want to take a photo of me, he wanted to take a picture of Miles because he fell asleep right there in his high chair. 

Miles, Miles, Miles

Not ready for this yet Dad.
Where's my cereal? 
Wild Miles

So Miles doesn't care for pizza quite yet. Actually Daddy just put the pizza close to his mouth while Mom took the photo. He now gets to sit in my old highchair. In the photo, he's waiting for his rice cereal, which he likes a lot. Mom says he's adding on the pounds way quicker than I ever did. Before Mom knows it, Miles will surpass me in weight in no time the way he's eating! The last photo is Miles in his jammies he got from Aunt Kerry, Uncle Mark, and cousins Ashley, Ryan, and Jacob. It's suits him pretty well...I’m wild.

My friend Harper

 Me and Harper
This past summer we got new neighbors and I got a new friend. Her name is Harper and she is a lot of fun. I even got to go to her house a while back for cake and ice cream since she just turned two at the beginning of October. She moved here from Maryland. She has three older brothers who run around and rough house a lot.

Harvest is here...journal entry from Mom.

Just thought I'd share a quick story that happened tonight. I will begin by saying last weekend we were all home on the farm and Sophia wanted to look at the tractor book. It's a coffee table/hard cover photo book of tractors of all ages, colors, etc. Well, every time she and Grandma would come to a John Deere tractor, we would all say "icky" or "icky tractor" so that she will learn that we Simonsen's are all about red. I never grew up on a farm, but pretty much you are either red or green when it comes to farming. 

Tonight, Sophia, Miles, and I went to church. After church we went to the grocery store. In front of the store there was this display of pumpkins, hay, and various other things for fall. From the backseat I hear a beautiful, perky, and excited voice, "Icky Mamma! Icky tractor!" You guessed it, parked among the pumpkins and hay was a big John Deere tractor. I had to laugh. "That's right, Sweetheart, icky tractor!" 

I go fast.

I love to push my brother in his swing!

Say cheese!

A smile!

So, my mom is always chasing me with the camera and I always managed to dodge most shots. Except tonight she got me! It didn't turn out the best as for lighting and all, but she got me smiling so she kept it. There's also another video. I was pushing Miles in his swing. Hopefully my mom can get it uploaded to this blog. 

E.I.E.I.O

 I kiss Christian. 
Ryan with a toad he found. 
Daddy and Baby Miles with Uncle Aaron and cousin Tessa. 
Charlie and Seleena. 
I kiss Daddy. 
So it was a trip down to the farm for an annual Jensen/Wallace/Andersen get-together. I got to play with Christian quite a bit and my cousin Tessa. It was a lot of fun to see everyone again and to see Papa's tractors and be outside ALL day on Saturday, I didn't even have time to take a nap. I pretty much fell asleep by 8:00 that night and didn't wake up until after 9:00 the next morning. Here are some pics from the get-together. Hope everyone is good. Cheer for the Twins!

Barnyard Celebration!

Here piggy, piggy.
My hair is supposed to look like that? 
Yeah, you could use a little trimming here. 
I want you for the US Army!
Deep thoughts, by Miles Christopher. 

So today the family and I went to our annual neighborhood  block party. This year's theme was a barnyard celebration. There was a petting zoo there with animals like a pony, donkey, chickens, ducks, sheep, and pigs. It was a lot of fun because I even got to go inside the pen and pet these animals. I kept my distance on most of them but was intrigued  with the sheep. My mom took some photos (of course) so here they are. The one of Miles in the pumpkin costume is because my mom wanted to see if it fit him. I wore it my first halloween. I guess it fits him just perfect right now, but Mom has to remember that Halloween is still over a month away! 

I kiss.

I kiss Baby Miles.
Seriously, does she have to do that?
Here kitty. 

I love to give hugs and kisses. Sometimes my brother gets annoyed, but I find it way too much fun. One of my favorite new things to do at dinner time is hold up my cup of milk and do cheers with Mom and Dad. Tonight I was able to talk to Daddy on the phone and I tried to kiss him and give him a hug but wasn't for sure how; so I hugged and kissed the phone. He comes home tomorrow from Colorado. I can't wait to see him. I have been a pretty good girl this week for Mom though. I even helped her with the laundry on Tuesday night. 

Miles' baptism

The sponsors-Uncle Lon and Aunt Rachael and Katie and Brent Frikken.
Pastor Tom, Dad, Mom, and Miles
Dad, Me (pulling my mom's hair), Mom, and Miles 
Great-grandma M. and me - "Come on Grandma, let's go."
Dad, Gramma Ginny, Great-grandma Shirley, Grandpa Mike, Mom, Miles, Aunt Kerry, Jacob, and Ashley. 

So my little brother was baptized on Saturday, September 13th. I really didn't want to participate in the photos, as you can see in the one where I am pulling my mom's hair. So I went off and played while pictures were taken. The service went really well, so my mom says. I was in the nursery with my cousins Ashley and Jacob. We had family up from both sides of the family and it was a lot of fun. I got to have some good quality time with everybody. My cousin Ashley even got to sleep in my room with me! 

 

C is for cookie video.

Journal entry from Mom.

I am just amazed everyday at the things Sophia is learning. She really knows her colors, is counting up to ten, and is starting to say her ABCs. We came home from daycare tonight and she walked into the mudroom and heard music playing. She looked at me and said, "Daddy in office. Daddy rocking." Yes, Daddy was in his office and listening to hard rock music. :) 

She has a new friend who just moved in right next door. Her new friend's name is Harper. She's from Maryland and is also two years old. They are going to have a lot of fun together, especially next summer. I am thinking that we will be setting a lot of playdates this winter. 

Well, I better get to bed. I am going to try and upload a video that most of you may have already seen, but for those of you who haven't, enjoy. I thought it was too cute to pass up to share with all of you. 

Mom, put that camera away!

I want some more money!
Go Twins!
More smiles from Miles. (Or “excellent” from The Simpson’s)
Cousin Tessa and me. I think I might be more of the “wild one.”

So my mom just finds in necessary to take photos all the time. I guess that is why I am wailing in the first photo. She asks for me to “please smile for Momma” but I like to push her buttons instead. :) Maybe after my whole terrible twos phase. Miles doesn't seem to mind his photo taken though. I am sure he’ll go through the same thing though when he’s about my age. 

So last year my mom and Aunt Jaime were shopping together and found the same shirt in different sizes at Gymboree. So here is the photo session from that, which I managed to smile a quick one because Mom bribed me with a cookie or something. 

I am starting to know a lot of my colors now, and the counting is improving daily. I know bits and pieces of the alphabet. I really enjoy my daycare, Lisa is the best! I know even say goodbye to Daddy without throwing a huge fit in the morning. and sometimes, I don’t even want to leave when Mom comes to pick me up.