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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!




We had a nice, really uneventful Halloween trick-or-treating experience. We had JT, Lily June, and Matthew come over with their parents and all hit our neighborhood. The weather was great, the children were well behaved (as well as a bunch of 3 year old boys can be!) and we were back by 7 o'clock. I think that was my favorite part. David and Henry were very cooperative and when they got tired said they wanted to go home. I was very proud of them. I'm going to start pushing the Three Musketeers for a costume for the Simpson boys next year!
Here's a link to more Halloween pictures and photos from the Halloween parties the boys went to. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=184865032/a=22991490_22991490/fromupload=true/t_=22991490


Monday, October 29, 2007

WOO HOO!


Red Sox Nation is alive in well here in the South. I am not joking when I say I was crying when the Sox won -- I think if you're not from New England you cannot understand the feeling the fans havewhen the Sox win the World Series. And to do it for the second time in 4 years is incomprehensible.
CONGRATULATIONS RED SOX!!!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Jack-in-the-Belly



Here are Jack's latest ultrasound pictures. She was able to see everything that she couldn't last time. I chuckled when I saw in the notes from my last appointment, "Baby uncooperative during U/S". Is that a sign of things to come? I wanted to say, "Uncooperative?! Lady, you should meet his older brothers!" I have no clue what the top picture is. Part of his face, I assume, since that was the main focus of the ultrasound. He kept bringing his hand to his face (waving at me?!), and you can see it in sort of the top right corner of the bottom picture. (If you click on the strip of photos, it will get larger.) He was moving a lot, but not moving around. Kicking, batting his hands, etc. but not rolling around. His development is exactly where it should be and everything looks great. I have all of my appointments scheduled until my delivery. How is that possible?! We're shooting for delivery on January 25th, but my doctor didn't seem really optimistic that I would make it that long. She pointed out that babies don't generally get smaller as you continue to have them, so we're potentially looking at over 9 pounds. Henry was born 4 days earlier than Jack would be if born on the 25th, because I started to go into labor. Obviously knowing I'll be having a c-section delivery she doesn't want me to go into labor naturally. We're going to play it by ear obviously, but we're shooting for January 25th. And with my WAY type-A personality planning issues, I'll be mildly (or not so mildly?!) annoyed if he comes early and all of my planning for child care, etc. doesn't work out!

Four Years

Happy Anniversary Christopher! We were married 4 years ago yesterday. Here are some pictures from our wedding/trip to Hawaii.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Our Weekend


I can't believe another weekend's gone by! Friday I had a cake to deliver in Germantown, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Nashville. Chris worked Friday night, and the boys pretty much spent the entire day playing outside in the tree that fell down. Who knew that would be so much fun?

Saturday I had another cake to finish and deliver in the morning. After that, my mom and I took David and Henry to the circus and they had so much fun! They ate lots of cotton candy and ice cream, got to get ridiculously over priced light up swords and spinner things, and ride an elephant. I was SHOCKED that they wanted to ride the elephant instead of the little mini-horses, but they were adamant that they wanted to ride the elephant. I was very nervous that I would pay the $7 per person and they'd get up there and be scared, but they weren't. They loved it! They crashed hard in the car on the way home and slept from 4:30 last night until this morning. They didn't even wake up in their beds when I changed them out of their clothes. The tree guys were here when we got back from the circus to evaluate the damage, clean up, etc. The tree that fell is one of a clump of three trees, and they all need to come down. Obviously the one that split, but the other two are full of TERMITES! YUCK! It seems like a huge job to me, but they didn't seem like it was. They'll bring a crane in to do it, which D&H will love. I almost be sad when the mess is gone, because they've had so much fun playing in it!
We had a pretty lazy morning today. The boys played outside (surprise!) and Chris and I read the paper and picked up a little. Then I went grocery shopping. I abhor grocery shopping, so it's always a HUGE chore (and expense!) when I finally get around to doing it. Today was no exception. When I got back the boys were really excited to check everything out and pick what they wanted for lunch. It doesn't take much to please them! After lunch Henry took a nap and David and I went outside to put some Halloween decorations out. It's so nice out, and he wanted to ride his tricycle, so I decided to clean up the highchair we got for Jack. I busted out the Murphy's Oil Soap and cleaned that up. Then I felt like I should keep going, so I brought all of our kitchen chairs out and the boys' small table and chairs and did those. Bringing them all back in, I decided I wanted to scrub down the walls, baseboard, and chair rail in the kitchen. Then I cleaned the table with the Murphy's and took the leaf out. It looks and smells so much better in the kitchen! There are some spots on the wall that we need to touch up because of stains or marks that I couldn't get off. The paint on those walls frustrates me! I think tomorrow I'd like to do all of the doors, baseboard, and trim in the house while Henry sleeps. I have some cleaning bug apparently.
Tomorrow morning I have another appointment with my OB to check on Jack. I'll have an ultrasound again because he wasn't very cooperative last time, and we were unable to see his face. I hope we can get some better photos this time. And I'm also going to double check to make sure he's really a boy!!! David has school, and Henry will hang out with Chris. On my way home from the doctor's I'm also going to pick up the bedding for Jack's room. It's a cute animal pattern from Pottery Barn. I'm excited to get going on his room. We need to move the office stuff out first, which will probably happen next weekend. Our anniversary is on Tuesday, and our gift to each other will be a new computer armoire. David and Henry are spending Friday night at my in-law's house, and I think we'll take advantage of that time to get the armoire all set up. MUCH easier to do that without little helping hands! And once that is all moved out of Jack's room, we can decide on paint colors and get going on that. He'll be here before we know it, and we have lots that I want to get done before then!

Friday, October 19, 2007

TIMBER!!

We had some crazy weather here last night, and this is what we woke up to in our back yard this morning. David loves it and says it's like a jungle. He's been playing in the yard for over an hour in his pajamas!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Dirt

David and Henry have been playing outside by themselves a lot lately. Don't panic - our yard is totally fenced in, and it's safe for them to be out by themselves. I don't want any blog comments about how they're not old enough to be out by alone. They're not playing in the street.

We have a plethora of things to do in our backyard. A swingset, slide, teeter totter, playhouse, sandbox, water table, mini trampoline with a safety enclosure, basketball net, and tricycles. What do they spend the whole time out there doing? Trucking sand from the sandbox over to their picnic table to drive their trains through. Or digging up the dirt around our tree to "look for bugs". Here are the results of Henry's time outside. That would be dirt all over his face, mixing with the red crayon he ate. I guess that explains why he didn't want dinner.


Happy Birthday Gigi!

OK, so this is way late. My mom's birthday was last week. Her birthday lore from the Old Farmer's Almanac is:

Your mind is not an analytical one, but you are seldom misled by following your keep intuition. You are prudent, thorough and accurate, and positive and assertive, and like to have a prominent part in whatever you do. You are happiest in pleasant surroundings.

Who isn't happiest in pleasant surroundings?! We celebrated her birthday Monday night with her, however, so here are some pictures from that. We had a delicious dinner and a yummy cake. Big surprise that my children have no shirts on. It wouldn't be a party unless a Simpson child disrobed! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Privatization

I started this blog as a way for our family and friends to keep up with the daily antics here at our house. I can't imagine why people who don't know our family would want to read about Henry peeing on the floor, David eating paper, or my parents' anniversary. It's not like I'm writing about anything thought provoking or exciting. I'm a freaking housewife! I've decided to make the blog private. If you want to keep reading it, I'll have to add you to the list of people who are invited to do so. Please email me or put your email address in the comments section so I'll know to add you. I don't even mind adding The Girl Who Doesn't Know me but Stalks my Blog. . . I just want to know who she is! Seriously, I don't care if I don't know you and you're reading it. However, if you want to continue to do so -- and I know you don't want to miss a minute of Henry's potty training, David's naughty antics, or an inch of my growing girth -- tell me who you are. We'll be goin' private Friday October 19.

To: Stranger Girl Who Loves Her Husband's Job

Normally I would shy away from calling out someone I don't know in a public forum, but since you essentially took me to task in the comment section of my last post for "making everyone think that our husbands have sucky jobs," I don't have an issue with it. Let me re post here what I said about Nissan:

"Chris has been working overtime like a madman every week for the last month. I hate that he's been working so much, but how can we complain when just six months ago there was the fear of layoff?? We're very fortunate that he's got a job that allows me to stay home with the monkey boys, so I am really trying not to be a whiner about him not being home!"

You posted in the comments, "Nissan has never had a layoff and never will." OK, as you can see, I didn't SAY there was a layoff. I said there was FEAR of a layoff. Clearly two different things. The company asked for people to voluntarily buy out -- known in some circles as a voluntary layoff. Was there fear? You bet there was! In this house anyway, and I'm sure in others. I think it's great if you had no fear of your husband losing his job. With two small children, one of whom was incurring several thousand dollars of medical bills for therapy at Vanderbilt and knowing we were trying to have a baby, hell yes I was nervous that he would get laid off. I wasn't necessarily nervous about him losing his salary. Would that have sucked? Big time! I haven't worked in almost four years because my husband's salary at Nissan allows us to have me stay home with our children. Another point I made in my last post. However, if I had to because my husband lost his job, I am more than capable of going back to work and earning just as much money. I was nervous about losing the health benefits. I don't know anyone else who pays $100 a month for their family contribution to health insurance, and that doesn't even speak to the amazing coverage we've got. And seriously, how do you KNOW they will never have a layoff? You don't. Nobody does.

You said, "Nissan is the absolute best company to work for in Middle Tennessee, and anyone who begs to differ can f-off..." I certainly hope you weren't implying that I should "f-off". If that's the case, hop on over to another stranger's blog and stalk them. I don't disagree that Nissan is the best company to work for in Middle Tennessee. They value their employees, compensate them well, provide excellent benefits, go beyond anything they "need" to do by providing things like Family Day, the vehicle purchase program, extending a discount to friends and families of employees. . . obviously I am a fan. As anyone who KNOWS our family has heard us say time and time again, my husband and I are thrilled that he works for Nissan. I never implied that "our husbands have sucky jobs" in that post, and I don't really know how that was interpreted that way. I even used phrases like, "how can we complain," and "we're very fortunate," as well as pointing out that Nissan provides the FREE family day every year and "it's a great day".

If you thought I was complaining about Nissan, you were mistaken. If you want to read about me complaining about something, keep stalking the blog. I can certainly assure that it will happen soon enough!

From: Girl You Don't Know But Love to Stalk

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Some Things I Forgot

  • Henry is seriously the sweetest child I know. Since Jenna's (or Jetta as he calls her) birthday party yesterday, he's been wanting to sing Happy Birthday. Any chance he gets. Except we change the words. I have to sing "Happy Birthday to you. . . . . Happy Birthday my baby Henry. . . . " and he sings "Happy Birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthdaaaaaaaaaay my snuggle maaaaaaamaaaaaaa! Because I love you!" And we try to blow out imaginary candles, then hug and he says, "I love you so so much snuggle mama." I WANT TO EAT HIM!
  • David taught Henry how to ride his tricycle. "Because brothers learn each other stuff." Seriously, two parents in their thirties couldn't explain to him how to do it, but David taught him in about 20 minutes by saying, "Run on you pedals Henry! Run fast on them!" David was so proud of Henry when he did it for the first time. It was so cute to see.
  • David and Henry are thinking they don't need naps anymore. I think they do. David went to bed at 5:15 yesterday and slept all night, and tonight they were both asleep in bed by 5. By their own choice! I know it will bite me tomorrow morning, but I've gotten so much done tonight! I ate my dinner in such nice quiet, all in one sitting, without having to get up sixteen times for something. I was even able to read the entire Sunday newspaper without interruption. I mopped the kitchen floor (my least favorite chore, but I love the results) and have started to fold the six loads of laundry I did today. I baked a cake and organized some baby clothes. After I finish the laundry I'm going to start cutting some material out to start some burp cloths for the baby. They're my favorite baby thing to make! Pray for David and Henry to sleep AT LEAST until 5:30 tomorrow!!! I'm going to be preemptive about it and go to bed early myself, just in case!

The Weekend

We had such a fun weekend! Friday morning we took the boys to get haircuts. Henry is so good about it and just sits there not moving. David is another story. He's never been great about getting it done, and Friday was no exception. Henry got his done, and Chris was getting his done at the same time. David kept coming back from the waiting area to say, "You OK Daddy? You OK Henry? Mama, they're FINE!" I told him it was his turn and he kept saying, "No, I'll wait until later." I didn't feel like fighting with him about it, so you'll notice from the pictures below that Henry looks like a nice clean boy, and David looks like a shaggy dog! I'm going to take him on Tuesday to the kids hair salon. At least if he has a fit there I don't feel as bad -- it's only for children, so they must be used to it! After haircuts, our two favorite girls Julie and Lily June came over and came with David, Henry, and I to deliver a cake in Nashville. I think it's my favorite cake I've made so far.
After we delivered the cake, we had lunch and hit Target for some shopping. David and Henry literally had two pairs of pants that fit. That's one each for those of you playing along at home. Cooler weather crept up on me! So we got some pants and other assorted necessities, then came home and hung out for a while. D&H were VERY good, especially considering we ate out (not generally fun to do with a 2 year old and 3 year old) AND went to Target during nap time.

Chris has been working overtime like a madman every week for the last month. I hate that he's been working so much, but how can we complain when just six months ago there was the fear of layoff?? We're very fortunate that he's got a job that allows me to stay home with the monkey boys, so I am really trying not to be a whiner about him not being home! Because of the overtime and working nights, he sticks to his crazy up all night schedule on his one day off, leaving only Saturday morning for playtime. And play we did! Nissan's family day was Saturday morning. They do it every year, and it's a great day. They set up a HUGE carnival with kids rides, adult rides, bounce houses, a rock climbing wall, midway games, a live band, and lots of free carnival food. The whole thing is free and just for Nissan employees and immediate family. The boys LOVED it. Last year David liked it, but Henry was really too little. This year they both were so excited to go to the "carnibal" and didn't want to leave. They loved riding the rides, especially the slightly rickety Chinese Dragon roller coaster. This was their favorite, mostly because there's a Thomas the Tank Engine story that has a Chinese Dragon in it. . . obsessed?

After the carnival we went to Jenna's third birthday party. David started asking where the cake was as soon as we got there. Clearly he takes after his mama! We had a great time but had to leave early to go deliver a cake. When we left Jenna's mom loaded us up with a HUGE tote full of clothes for the baby. If I said that Henry was going to be nicknamed Hand-me-down Henry, for sure this child will be Second-hand Jack! And yes, that means he actually has a name! Can you believe it? Three whole months before he's going to arrive. That's a record at the Simpson house. His name will be Jack Ryan Simpson. I love it!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Things David and Henry Have Taught Me

1. An average sized 3 year old and above average sized 2 year old DO have enough strength together to remove a twin mattress from the bottom bunk. In about 3 minutes flat. And they have the creativity to think of "making a slide" with it by propping it up against the bed and trying to slide down.
2. Eight assorted wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trains and two Matchbox cars fit inside my grandmother's silver tea pot. But you can't close the lid all the way.
3. Approximately 75 diaper wipes will NOT go down the toilet. Well, they'll go down, but nothing else will. And it will all come back up.
4. The entire bottle of cinnamon sugar will cover the top of my coffee table. And, as a bonus, make a "great track" for Emily the train and her tender. Cinnamon sugar, when driven through on said coffee table by said train leaves scratches in the wood.
5. Chapstick (cherry flavor) is not toxic when you eat the entire tube while hiding behind the bedroom door. But "it makes my tongue feel real funny".
6. The toilet paper at David's preschool is magic. It allows you to "follow the road to the fabulous bathroom of fun!" when you unroll it into the classroom while simultaneously pooping your pants instead of using the toilet!

I'm sure they'll teach me much more in the future. Thankfully, what I've learned the fastest is that I am able to have a great sense of humor!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Pumpkin Heads

We took another trip to the pumpkin patch today, this time with Gigi. It was about 93 degrees, but surprisingly enough not totally uncomfortable. The boys loved the "Be a Farmer" area where they could dig for potatoes, gather eggs, "milk" a cow, plant some pumpkin seeds, pick apples, and touch pigs. All pretend, of course, but they loved it. And of course the hay maze, which is their favorite thing. David and Henry were so well behaved and fun to be with. I love days like this. Here's a link to more photos. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=175571754/a=22991490_22991490/fromupload=true/t_=22991490

Twenty-Three Weeks Pregnant

16 weeks (at the most) to go, and getting bigger every day! Please disregard the tired eyes and
crazy witch hair!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

David and Henry got new beds today. They've been slumbering (is that a word?) in toddler beds. For those out of the baby loop, a toddler bed is a mini-bed you put a crib mattress on. They're far too big for that. Especially when they want me to snuggle them. Picture me, now six months pregnant, curled up in essentially a crib with no sides. With Henry or David. Riiiiiight. It's not pretty. And they were able to do all sorts of naughty things with the aid of the bed. Break into "piggy pails" as they call them (and I do mean break -- two ceramic piggy banks have been broken), pull the bed over to the door and barricade me out, etc. Lots of mischief making. So today they are the proud new owners of bunk beds. Who do you think will break an arm first? I know everyone just said Henry! Let's hope nobody. They're "in bed" now. They've been there for ten minutes and I've already gone in to confiscate a whistle and turn the lights off twice. Why would they never get out of the bed that was three inches from the floor, but they can't stay in this one?! Henry was sobbing in the first picture because I wouldn't let him have a milkshake in the bed. MEAN MOMMY!

UPDATE! I went back into their room to check on them after I thought they had fallen asleep but then heard crying. They were both laying on the floor, and Henry was crying saying, "David try to pick my nose! That's private!" David thinks it's a riot to stick his finger up your nose if you're sleeping, so I'm positive that's what happened. Henry quickly went to sleep in his bed after the nose violation. I went back in about 15 minutes later to get their laundry, and David was sleeping on the floor! I had to pick him up and shove him over my head and the bed rail into his bed. I seriously need to start keeping a step stool in their room!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

OK, something new

I decided I wasn't feeling too lazy to get the camera out of the car!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=175545027/a=22991490_22991490/fromupload=true/t_=22991490

Nothing new to report

As you can gather from the title of this post, not much going on at the Simpson household lately.

David's on "fall break" from school this week. . . I never realized how much I love him being in preschool until he had a vacation!!!! He told me today he misses his teacher, which I think is a good thing. He'll start back on Monday. He's been quite mischievous during nap times lately, pushing his bed all around the room to help himself to more trouble than he can reach from the floor. He and Henry both have toddler beds, and clearly they're too big for them at this point. They'll be movin' on up to bunk beds this weekend. I predict Henry will be the first with a broken arm, although David will be sleeping on the top bunk.

Henry's just as sweet as ever. Yesterday David was very grumpy in the afternoon and had a fit because I wouldn't take him to get a donut. He was screaming and crying, and didn't stop. I told him that he wasn't having good behavior, and that when he doesn't have good behavior we don't have fun money for treats like donuts. About an hour later Henry found two dimes on the floor and said, "I found my pennies! Now we have money for donuts?" I told him that wasn't enough and he said, "I don't need one, just David. Then he be happy?" He is such a sweet boy. I wanted to cry when he said that. He's always so thoughtful and kind and thinks of other people before himself. What two year old does that? He certainly doesn't get that from his mama!

I've got some pictures to put on, but the camera's in the car and I don't feel like going to get it! I'll try to remember to do them tonight.

Ciao!