Meeting Miles

 Smiles from Miles!
 Great-Grandma Shirley with Miles.
 Cousin Ashley helping out with Miles.
 Sis, this is MY toy, you’re too big.
 Sophia and friend Derek Nelson.

Entry from Mom:

So Miles had the pleasure of meeting Great-Grandma Shirley and the Hurd family as mentioned in the previous blog entry. The first photo is Miles from today, smiling. He sure is a happy baby today and is cooing/talking so much lately...of course because Mom goes back to work on Monday already! I am looking forward to going back, getting back to the routine of working and all, but I sure am going to miss my baby, being with him all day, every day since his birth! 

Sophia is now in her toddler bed. She does okay with that as far as sleeping in there, but getting her down for bedtime is another story. We are dealing with the typical terrible twos but she still brings joy and love to our hearts...even the moments when she hits, smacks, scratches, screams, yells, cries, etc. The times that she gives you those hugs and kisses and the “sorry Momma” make up for the moments that you are angry at her for her behavior. I just keep reminding myself at least we only have ONE two year old and not like three or four of them at once! She's been at her new daycare now since May 5th. She really enjoys it there and has many friends. She comes home with the most unique art projects and is so proud of them. Her language skills have just exploded in the last month. It is so fun to hear her put sentences together. My new favorite is when we ask what her brother’s name is and her response is Miles with a bit of a southern drawl and an O added to the end “MileOs.” 

Iowa Birthday Party!

Another birthday cake!
Mmmm, that was yummy!
Thanks Aunt Kerry for my new book. 
Love you Grandpa Mike!
Here's my monster tent that Gramma Ginny made me. 

Mom, Miles, and I made a trip down to Iowa last week. It was such a long trip in The Buggy (that's what my parents call the new car), but well worth it. We got to celebrate my birthday down there and Miles got to meet Great-Grandma Shirley, Aunt Kerry, Uncle Mark and cousins Ashley, Ryan, and Jacob. The ride back home went much better because Ashley came home with us and she kept me entertained the whole way home. She is so funny...made me giggle practically the whole trip. :) Thanks Ashley for playing with me and helping my mom out when you were here. I hope you and Ryan are having fun with the Xbox! 

Annual Pool Party

 Little girl in big pool.
 Big girl in little pool.

Every summer we head down to the cities for the Gilbertson/Simonsen annual pool party. I loved the pool. I got to to in for awhile with my dad, but soon I had to get out so that the men could play their volleyball tournament. I was pretty mad and tried to climb back into the pool while they were playing. Thankfully Daddy was right there to catch me. I was then moved to the froggy pool that Aunt Jaime brought for Tessa. I am thinking that next year and the years to follow are going to be less v-ball games and more kid-time in the pool with my brother, cousin Tessa and second cousin Oliver, and who knows...maybe some other kiddos by then.

My 2nd Birthday!

 The birthday girl waking up!
 A birthday girl always needs a bouquet of balloons.
 Princesses cake from Cold Stone Creamery.
 A lot more better at the eating the cake than last year!
 Oh, all the presents to open!

This past Saturday was my 2nd birthday party. My Grandma and Papa Simonsen came, so did Great-grandma Mathiowetz, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Jaime and cousin Tessa along with a few good friends. The weather was nice and I got many neat presents—an Aquadoodle mat, a singing mic, clothes, a mirror for my dresser, an Elmo phone, a tote full of art stuff, and a portable dvd player (for those long trips to the grandparents’ houses). And to think I get to have another birthday down in Iowa with my Gamma and Papa Bunt and my Aunt Kerry, Uncle Mark and cousins Ashley, Ryan, and Jacob. 

4th of July vacation to Duluth, MN

  

This Forth of July weekend, we headed up north to Duluth, MN where you will find Lake Superior. It was beautiful the entire time we were there (Wednesday thru Saturday). I was a bit of a challenge at times. Everytime we would head back to the hotel room I would throw a fit. The room was so tiny and boring for me. What was a 2-year old girl supposed to do? So here are some photos that Mom and Dad took with their new camera. Honestly, I am so tired of "smile for the camera" and "say cheese." I actually stayed up for the fireworks which started at 10:10 p.m. I was impressed at first, but after a few of them, decided that my Baby Einstein video on the portable DVD player was much more interesting. 

The last photo is of my brother Miles his first time in the Bumbo chair. Not sure if he likes it or not because if Miles is not being held, swayed, swung, rocked, nursed, burped, or carried in the baby bjorn, he's being fussy anyway. He sure is a light sleeper! 

Hope you all had a great and safe Forth of July as well. We are closing the weekend off with the Frikkens at their house. Katie and Brent are good friends of my parents. I think there's talk of some sort of ping pong tournament and a game (or two) of bocce ball. Take care everyone! 

Just another day...

    

My Mommy and Daddy took me to the neighborhood pool last weekend. I was a bit hesitant, unlike last year. You couldn’t get me out of the water. But, I did get better when I went there again this past week. 

Here is my cat Stimpy. I like to chase him and pull his tail. The ‘rents are always trying to tell me to stop, but I just find it too funny. 

Then there's bro and me. The photo says it all.

Bath time!

My mom has been getting a lot of guff lately as to why the blog site hasn't been updated. So here's a quick one since she's typing one-handed. Here is a few photos from the other night. My brother had a bath and then I was next. Things are pretty good. He's a pretty cool brother. I can't wait until he gets a little bit bigger so that I don't have to be so careful. I am always being told "be gentle" and "watch out for baby brother." I will try and keep my mom on track of this whole blogging thing. My brother does keep her pretty busy. Okay, I keep her busy too.

More photos

  
 

Well, as promised, here are some more photos. The first one is Great-grandma Mathoweitz, Grandpa and Grandma Simonsen with my brother Miles. The second one is one of our very first family photos taken at the hospital. Mom wanted to wait until she was in normal clothing, but we convinced her otherwise. The next one is Miles in his crib for the very first time. He loves his crib. He just kept staring at the bumper Gramma Ginny made for him. It's red with white stars. The quilt is what Aunt Kerry made and Gramma Ginny helped with the backing and of course the name wasn't put on there until later b/c Miles wasn't Miles until he was a couple hours old. The last is me with my baby brother. I love him so much. He's very squirmy so I don't get to hold him for very long. I had a ton of fun with all of my grandparents the time that Mom and Dad were at the hospital. I am so thankful that they were there to play with me and keep me entertained. I miss all of them already.  

My little brother is here!

  

 

Well, he finally is here! My new baby brother, Miles Christopher Simonsen. He weighed 7 lb. 6 oz. and was 20" long. He has a long torso and “monkey arms” as my dad likes say since he himself has “monkey arms”. He is very cute, I must say. I love him very much and always watch out for him. I liked to point out where his eyes, nose, and mouth are for Mom and Dad. I will post this one for now, but I guess Mom has more photos (go figure) but this post would only allow this many. So bye for now, but I’ll be sure to have her put the other photos up shortly.

The photos here are Mom and Miles shortly after he was born, Daddy, me and Miles in the second photo. The third one is me with my Elmo that Mom and Dad gave me as a gift at the hospital. Then Grandpa Mike and Gamma Ginny are in the last photos. Long story short, Gamma Ginny ended up spraining her ankle the night that she left to go home on Sat. night. Hope you are feeling better Gamma Ginny. I miss you and thanks for playing with me and for my book!  

Mother's Day Weekend.

         

This entry will be written by Mom herself this time. What amazement I feel each and everyday. Celebrating this past Sunday Mother's Day was so much fun and such a delight. We all went to church and out to lunch. Sophia and I took a nap. We all then went to the park in our neighborhood and had a nice home cooked meal. It was a very nice, blessed day. To think that in just over 3 weeks now, I will be a mother of two! We are very excited and anticipating what he will look like, how big he will be, if he will have hair (curly or peach fuzz), etc. 

Well, a big part of the weekend was Saturday afternoon. The Simonsen family FINALLY purchased a new vehicle. It was over due, needless to say. Our car reached over 170,000 miles and our truck is just 200 miles shy of turing over to 200,000 miles. With gas prices on the rise and the new addition coming soon, we decided that a Chevy Equinox Sport would be a perfect fit for our family. We had dropped Sophia off at Aunt Jaime and Uncle Aaron's house so that we could do this car shopping. We then had dinner at their house. I was wondering why Sophia didn't have much of an appetite. I guess she did have quite a few crackers, but until I got home and checked my email, the photo says it all...(the one with Uncle Aaron here on this blog entry). I was told they had to coax Sophia back into the house (from being outside) with ice cream. She had a lot of fun and even helped take care of baby cousin Tessa.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing good. 

Becca   

My little brother's arrival date! Oh, yeah the weekend too.

Jacob and a big smile.                       "Bottoms up, Couz"

        Holy cow Dad!                                  Hello, kitty!

There's been a lot going on lately. I started my new daycare on Monday. It has taken some adjusting, but I think I am going to be okay at Lisa's. She's really nice and fun to play with. I love it when we get to go outside. 

Monday was also a big day for Mom and Dad. Mom had a doctor appointment to find out when my baby brother will be born. The date is set...he will be born on Thursday, June 5th, sometime in the morning. I can't wait to meet him. I give him kisses and say "hi baby brother!"

This past weekend, I got to go and see Gramma Ginny and Grammpa Mike and my cousins in Iowa. I had a lot of fun and even got to play with Gamma's dog Chewy. Then on Sunday afternoon Mom and I picked up Dad at the farm and saw Gramma and Papa Simonsen. There I went and saw the cows (they kinda smell) and then Dad took me to see the baby kittens who were about 5 weeks old. They were really cute but man do they ever have tiny sharp claws!

That's all for now. I hope you are enjoying my "blogging" and seeing the photos. Mom said that sometime she'll try and venture the video part of this blog site. Have a nice rest of the week!

Bath Time

Just a couple more photos to add before bedtime. Bath time is one of my favorites. Tonight I asked to sit on the potty and Mom got me off a little too early, 'cause as soon as she stuck me in that tub, I added a little pee to the bath water. So Mom had to drain and clean the tub and start all over again. I tried to tell her "no" but I have been saying "no" to a lot of things lately, so she probably just figured I wasn't serious. Boy, did she learn her lesson! The second photo is me sitting next to the bear that Mom use to take my photo every week with. I am now taller than that bear, and almost 94 weeks old. Mom went and did some counting, just for that last sentence.  

My little brother's nursery

Hello again. It's Sunday, April 27th and there is SNOW on the ground here in Minnesota. It started snowing Friday night and didn't really stop until yesterday afternoon. Dad says we got a few inches. Thank goodness it is melting quickly. I thought the snow we got 2 weeks ago was the last of it...boy do I have a lot to learn! Last weekend, Mom and Dad decided to finally get started on painting my little brother's nursery. Attached are a couple of pictures. They have some retouching to do, but thought we would share what it looks like so far. The theme is Minnesota Twins. Once we get a little further we will update the photos. I helped Mom a little bit yesterday, tearing off blue tape from the walls. 

Daddy left this afternoon for a trip to Colorado for work. I was sad when he left. I grabbed my shoes and tried to put them on, but Mom and Dad said I had to stay here. I tried the whole "crocodile tears" but they didn't work. He will be home on Friday, so I guess it is just Mom and I for this week, and a trip (or two) to the ice cream shop! :)