6 months :)

Stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 13 oz (10%)

Height: 27" (70%)

-Loves tummy time

-Just about to crawl

-Back to getting up twice a night

-Definitely teething, we think he is getting his canines

-has ended up in our bed for a portion of the night as it sometimes allows us to sleep longer

-Brian has started to take Simon in the morning and play with him so I can sleep a bit

-getting real close to 9 month clothes

-sits up on his own

-will have sweet potato as his first solid on turkey day

Simon Swimming!

Over Labor Day we took Simon swimming in Gamma's pool! We transitioned him slowly and he actually went in the water for more then a moment on Monday. Brian was going to take him but he had a really bad headache so he was resting before he had to drive us home. So it was just Gamma, Simon and I.  Since I am the one who takes the videos/pictures there is no video of that.

However, I do have videos of us testing the water with Simon so to speak :)

What Simon was doing in August:

Like father like son....

Go Blue!

Brian has been DYING to get him in this outfit since we got it from Aunt Blair...still too big but wearable

on his way to Charleston to see Gamma and Grampa!!!

Getting kisses by the cutest basset puppy Tides

I apparently did not take enough pictures. I will keep that in mind for September :)

A Conversation between Father and Son

A few weeks ago Brian and Simon were talking and I keep thinking back to that conversation and smiling so I thought I would document it here.

Brian: "you are such a lucky boy! Both of your Gramma's have pools"

Simon: *head bobbles*

Brian: "and when we visit your Gramma in Charleston over labor day we are going to take you swimming"

Simon: "squawk"

Brian: "but don't you worry little man. I will be right there with you! It will be okay!"

Simon: *head bobbles*

Brian: "mmhmm I will be right there don't you worry."

Simon: *giggles*

***the pool was a success. Video to follow later***

Simon playing with his Daddy

Brian loves to play with Simon. His favorite thing is to touch his nose to simon's nose and say "nose!" And see Simon's reaction. 

I caught one of the interchanges on camera:

So sweet!

Simon's Growth: Birthday Photo Shoot

Just like I did with the pregnancy belly I am going to take pictures of Simon on a monthly basis next to a stuffed animal on the same chair to see how he grows month to month. Simon's stuffed animal is a big yellow duck!

Here he is after he was born:

"Mommy I don't like this!"

"Maybe if I pretend that I am hungry this nonsense will stop"

Initial stats:

Weight: 7lbs 13 oz

Length: 21 1/2 inches

Some nicknames/terms of endearment Simon has been given...

From me:

-Goosey Goose (he makes goose noises)

-Goosey Goosey Love bucket

-Love Bucket

-Honey bunches of Oats

- Fuzz

-Sye-man the pie man

-Sye-man

-Chubby Cheekers

-At the hospital I was calling him my little "bambino"

From Brian:

-Baby man

Brian as a father

i have always known that Brian would be a good father but I was not sure what type of father he would be.

He is always willing and happy to hold Simon. He talks to Simon, walks him around the house, changes diapers, tries to calm him down when all he wants is me, and helps with bath time.

On top of all that he takes care of me as most of the time Simon won't leave my arms. He brings me food, water, tucks me in at night since my bedroom is now the living room, and has been making our meals. 

Most of what makes me smile about Brian being a dad is his interaction with Simon. Most is hard to describe. The tone of his voice, the way he holds Simon, the smile that he gets. 

Brian is a better father than even I hoped for.

Thor and the Amazing Moving Belly!

I finally got a couple videos of Thor moving and making my belly move in all sorts of weird ways. He wont do the full on ninja movements on camera but he will make my belly look more like a water bed.

I didn't realize until now that the room was so dark...you can still see it but if I had realized I would have turned another light on.

You may have to re-watch the videos to see but there is definite movement..it just happens really quick so by the time you realize you saw the belly move it has already stopped. The videos are about a minute long so it shouldn't be that bad. Of course you will see him not listen to me and not do it on command which Brian finds funny.

Randoms....

*Superbowl weekend was one of the better weekends I can remember having. I slept so well Friday night. Saturday we mopped the kitchen, bathrooms, dining room and foyer. Cleaned the inside of the fridge. Had the oven do its self cleaning cycle, did tons of dishes and organized the kitchen and living room. We made a roast with potatoes and carrots. As usual with red meat, baby loved it. Sunday we just lay around the house until some friends came over the game. I was routing for the Ravens only because they were winning in the beginning. I was pretty dissappointed with the majority of the commercials.

*Baby is doing well. I havent been sick for about a week now so maybe I am finally through that phase? I still have to stick to my strict diet but as long as I don't eat a no no food, I doing well. My next drs appointment is on February 8th. I found a website where I can track how far along I am and I trust that much more then my doctors office. Baby has officially started kicking. I have been feeling him move for awhile but the kicks are becoming visible...now if he would only do it on command....

*Did I fail to mention it was a boy? Brian finally called his mom so I was able to make facebook official but I can't remember if I put it on here. We did not want to know. We found out during the horrendous doctors visit on Jan 10th. The tech ignored our file and told us quite casually. We were so pissed we didnt mention anything. We also could see what it was..there was no hiding it but the tech could have tried much better since she didnt even try to skip over that part or pretend it wasnt what it was. Seriously doubting continuing my services there after this baby is born except I still want babies born at a particular hospital and this office is the only one who works out of that hospital. Arg

*We are very excited it is a boy. Brian is being difficult with boy names. Because he came up with the girls name it is my job to come up with the boys name but he has nixed everything I have come up with. Its getting annoying. My baby shower is on March 30. We picked that weekend knowing it was Easter. We have so many people that ought/need to be invited that are out of town that we felt the need to at least try to make it during a time they may be able to come. Given the holiday, outside of family obligations, they may be able to get away easier then another weekend. I don't think our plan is working very well so far. We definitely understand but I was looking forward to possibly seeing everyone.

*Work is going well. I did qualify for the bonus which is eagerly being awaited for. We have big plans with our hopeful tax return and that bonus. I may have some news with work but nothing yet. 

Anyway, that is about it! I should be posting pictures this weekend. The belly is still tiny but its popped!

Christmas 2012

Yes I am still here :) Still plugging away.

Christmas was wonderful this year for the most part. My brother ended up in the hospital from having too much fun celebrating the end of the world and didn't get discharged until Christmas Eve. From what he remembers he didn't even get that much of a chance to celebrate either :-\. He is fine, had a seizure and fortunately that is all. No tumors or anything to cause it. But he of course didn't make it the Christmas. We missed him but did feel better that he was at least out of the hospital.

So things I want to remember about this Christmas? Mom and Dad coming up. The wonderful steak we ate for Christmas Eve (baby loves him/her some red meat). The amazing lamb dinner we had for Christmas. My parents getting us the Soda Stream which is great but that just means we are drinking more soda then before :-\ lol. And mom and dad got me  a sewing machine and all the necessities so I can begin quilting, etc.

On to pictures :)

Our Juniper Blue Tip Christmas tree

The first Christmas Tree (obviously fake) Brian got me

Christmas table settings

Eggnog cheesecake that tastes like bacon :-\

Show Us Your Life: Living Rooms

I am late linking up with Kelly's Korner...I forgot this Friday was a "Show us Your Life" that I could do. I was going to show pictures of rooms after they are finished but as projects are taking longer I have decide to show the room as it is showcase within "Show Us Your Life"

If you are coming from Kelly's Korner...Welcome! My husband and I recently just bought a house and are in the process of making it our own. Suggestions are welcome!

The living room is basically finished. At some point we may paint it but that is FAR in the future if it happens.

Diagonal view from kitchen, the door is to the Master Bedroom

Head on to the living room from the Island in the kitchen

View from when you come in from the back door, those Shutterfly packages on the chair are all of our wedding pictures!

View from staircase wall

View from Master Bedroom entry way

Close up of the project we just finished, the trim on the blinds

The living room is a bit small but it definitely works for us. We recently held a wine tasting and had about 10 or so women sitting in it and worked out well! And yes it is messy! I may have grown up but not that much!

What have I been up too...

Not much I am afraid

The invisible fence is in so we are ready for Benjamin and Bailey (my parents dogs which I call mine) when they come down with the move.

This weekend we are having the trim put in above the blinds, the new doors we bought for the pantry put in and the back splash as well. I will of course post pictures of the finished product.

Work is going well. I am in production which surprised me and my manager. We both thought there would be more notice but things have changed as they typically do. It is okay though because I did very well in my first month of being in production. My manager is not worried at all. I did a little better then I was hoping for but not as well as I would have hoped. We have to meet 100% to keep our jobs (not immediately, there are steps in place to help you make production but if you ignore the suggestions and don't do what you are supposed to the quickest way to lose the job is by not making production) but if we make 120% production for the year we get a bonus. I have been hoping to get the 120% average so I can get the bonus. This month I got 125% without trying terribly hard. I have from the beginning tried to organize my time like I would if I were on production so the transition would be easier to working on production and maybe it wouldn't be too hard for me to meet production. Well it worked! I would have liked it to be a little higher then 125% because there is little wiggle room for the following months in case things slow down and I have trouble finding things to keep me occupied. But I think it is a great start for my first month and I will continue doing what I am doing and will look for more work to help boost my numbers.

Also with work, overtime is back! I am rejuvenated from my break with overtime and have been staying late doing correspondence. I am getting much faster (which will help my production) and enjoy doing it. There is overtime this Saturday which I am doing as well. Weekends have been tough because we haven't had much to do. This is the first weekend where we really have any real plans so we have been watching a lot of tv. Since I do have Monday off and I am not really necessary for the projects at home we thought it would be good if I did the overtime.

Brian and I are re-thinking what to do with the money I have saved for the extra mortgage payment. Brian is now thinking about wanting to use it to pay down one of his student loans. All the overtime I currently earn is being divided. Half of it will go towards house projects and the other half is going to his student loans. While making an extra mortgage payment each year would lower the interest on the house greatly Brian is thinking it might be better off paying off a student loan and then playing catch up on the house later. The student loan is at a higher interest rate then the house and having that paid off would free up money each month. I like our current system. Taxes/half of my overtime/bonus's/etc going towards student loans and having an extra mortgage payment for the house but I dont know if I am being type A, stubborn and not liking change or if my idea is more sound. Brian is wanting to put all the money we dont spend on house projects/bills to go towards paying off the loan. Nothing we need to make an immediate decision on, just something we are discussing.

Brian is still obsessed with the bunny in our yard. He is so cute about it!

I am back at the gym and while I am sore, I am enjoying being back. I had a nice "break" but it is nice to be back in more rigid, structured classes again.

Really the biggest thing is waiting for Mommy and Daddy to move down!

Why do I have to be allergic to cats?

Josh's mom was having a barbecue last night so Josh and Vicki invited Brian and I to come along. Brian has been close to Josh's mom since forever and we had a great time. Ate way to much amazing food and got myself invited to go with them for an art class!

Josh's family recently rescued some kittens. They were so cute! They were even holding each other as the slept.

I feel sick weird

For the first time in in my my 5 years of working I left work early. I have never taken a sick day, left work early or anything. Even in college I never skipped classes. The last time I can remember not going to school or work was Junior of High School when I had Scarlett Fever and that was only because the Head Master and my mom made me stay home. I do not stay home from work unless it is a paid holiday, a weekend without overtime or a well in advance planned vacation. I am that associate who comes to work not feeling great but that's only because me not feeling great is me having a sinus infection or an ear infection which are not contagious. Outside of my nose and ears, I am fortunately very healthy.

Today has been weird though

At work I felt feverish, had a headache, was achy and I felt like I was colder then everyone else at work (the AC was on so everyone was cold...I felt like I was in a freezer). If I wasn't on the phones full time I could have pulled through. But I was struggling with the phone calls (figuring out insurance claims can be hard when your feeling 100% let alone when your not feeling like yourself) and our call volume is so high that I knew I couldn't sign off to do other projects as I would just be called back onto the phones so my manager let me leave early. I wont have to use any vacation time or have any unscheduled leave because I will have made up the hours but this just means I will have 2 hours of overtime rather then 9.

On the way home I ate my lunch and started to feel slightly better. At home I started to eat cashews and started a bit better then at about 1:30 I had pasta with red sauce. Then I had some crackers and I had chinese for dinner.  Food made it better but I still feel very weird.

 I no longer feel feverish but I still don't feel right. I feel dizzy but not, nauseous but not. almost loopy, I am having trouble thinking straight it seems. The next few days will be interesting. I had planned on having a post on how BMI sucks and about the goose that has laid eggs nearby but that will have to wait for my brain to stop spinning.

On a sweet note, Brian bought me a get well ducky :)

13 Days and Counting!

The wedding is in 13 days and I just can't wait. I am excited to marry Brian and while I have done very little with this wedding...we are too close for me to be excited. I will be excited on Friday 3.2.12 but until then it is just stress.

Stress is not helping me gain weight. Yes, I know I am one of those brides EVERYONE hates because I have lost too much weight. I believe I have gone down another pant size so I think I am a size 6. I am not going to the gym in the evenings anymore but I will continue to go during lunch. I just don't have anything to do during my lunch break after I finish eating so to keep my sanity I will continue to go during lunch. Trying to eat more and less healthy but that isn't working really well. I just do not like the taste of junk food and do not have the appetite. Oh well, it will be fine.

All the vendors are responding to me but the DJ. The DJ has been in contact with my father so I am not too concerned with that. Everything is going smoothly, there are a couple things that have gone over budget so our Honeymoon budget is non existent but we can save for that. Everyone is getting excited and my family and I are still trying to pull everything together.

Work is still going well. I am switching managers so after class on Monday I will be switching desks. I didn't really want to switch managers but my new manager is a nice guy so I am thankful for that. I am switching managers because they are adding a couple new teams and need people to go into the new teams. It should be good. This is a good time for me to switch if I am going to switch. I am not in production yet so a lot of what is changing could/would have changed anyway the only thing that is different is that I am reporting to someone new. Asking for time off for the wedding has been interesting as I have had to tell two managers. My current manager would approve it but I would have to tell my new manager since I would be under my new managers care by the date I needed the time off.

Even though the house is bigger....I am able to clean 85% of the bottom half of the house in 2 hours :) Yay! Now if I can only keep it clean. Organized is a different issue.

I hope to post more once the wedding is done. I am still trying to get in a new work schedule, hang with Brian, organize the wedding and deal with the house. Things are definitely going on, I just don't have the time to post about it :-\

Is it Saturday yet?

And I do not even know if I want it to be Saturday because that isn't any less busy. I will hopefully write a real post this weekend but I wanted to at least put a synopsis up as it has been 8 days since I updated.

1) I turned 27 on the 15th. Brian, my parents and I spent the time in Charleston looking at houses, eating WAY too much and just enjoying each others company. A real post on this later.

2) House is moving along. Bedroom furniture arrived so we are starting to put clothes away. Our bed doesnt require the box spring but Brian had it put in anyway so now the bed is ridiculously high. Brian LOVES it....I hate it. Once I am up I am fine though curious to see how close we would be to the ceiling fan we have yet to buy but I do not like getting up or down. The king size was a good move.

3) My friends from work are throwing me a bachelorette/birthday party on Friday. A real post with pictures from that awesomeness. We are going to eat a sushi place (never had sushi before so we shall see) and then hang out at Anna's house who incidentally lives in the next neighborhood

4) Washer and Dryer are still not here but I gave up waiting on them and am using Caroline's washer/dryer. Because of this I am back at the gym. I started Monday and boy am I sore! Janet, one of my friends at work, somehow convinced me that I should join the running club at work so now we are signed up for a 5k and a 10k. I have two goals: 1) finish and 2) hopefully stay running the whole time...maybe not fast but I do not want to walk at any point if I can help it. Goal number 1 is more important then goal number 2. I will do a separate post on my new regime but let me just say running is not for me.

5) I got some birthday money for work clothes so I went shopping! I never used to understand how people could go nuts with shopping. Whenever I would go I would end up in tears because nothing fit me right so I was lucky to find something to spend my money on let alone somethings to make me spend too much money. Well, with the weight loss and tone I can definitely understand how someone can go overboard. I had a very successful trip and it may have been the first time in 27 years I did not cry shopping for clothes! First time for everything right? I plan to do a photo shoot as well for this.

6) Work is going well. We have another test coming up on the 27th so I am studying very hard. We have had overtime offered to us even though we are still trainees so I have been doing a lot of that. Still having fun but I had my first bawler.....not crying, absolutely bawling. I felt so bad, I could definitely understand her frustration and I tried to make her feel better but I think I ended up just making it worse. Definitely not fun, I was able to resolve the situation by the time the phone call ended but I just felt so bad for the caller. :(

Anyway Saturday is more overtime but after that a bridesmaid and I am going to get our dresses fitted and if there is time Brian and I are buying our wedding bands. Less then 6 weeks.....

The House and projects 2 :)

Here is the updated project list. We tried to order it by first doing things we need to do and then by things we would like to do. We also ordered it by ease....like it is easier and better to tile before you paint, etc. There are some things that may fluctuate based on time and money but this is what we are thinking about.

Want/Need

Blinds

Lighting for master

Ceiling fan for master

Paint master

Paint dining room

Paint garage floor

Spice rack for kitchen

Tile master bath

Tile office bath

Tile half bath

Tile guest bath

Tile utility room

Tile porch and patio

Paint kitchen

Paint living room

Paint upstairs loft/office

Ceiling fans for downstairs

Dishwasher

Grill

Dining room set

Patio furniture

TV's for loft and office

Coffee table for loft

Shelving for office

Four port hub

If you can remember our list from WAY back then we have the washer/dryer, refrigerator, bedroom set (YAYAYAYAYAYYAY!!!!!) and our friend Dave is making is making us some book cases for the Loft. Brian is SO excited about his loft and office and he has some great plans for it. I have been trying to leave everything up to him but he keeps asking what I want. I try to say "no, it is your room" but he never likes that answer.


The biggest thing causing a hick up/delay is the blinds. We have 15 windows that need blinds. We should do the rooms that absolutely need them first, I think everyone agrees. Because of Brian's light sensitivity that leaves 2 windows that can wait to have blinds but at that point there is very little point to leaving those 2 windows for later. We first tried with Lowes but the Lowes person never called us back...apparently he didnt need or want the business. Then we tried with Costco's contractor and they were awesome...but expensive. They wanted 7k to do plantation shutters throughout the house! I am not sure this house is worth shutters that cost 7k. Obviously we aren't looking to do that. So we are looking at other options. Our friend Dave is a builder and he measured all of our windows for us and is going to Lowe's/Home Depot and see if he can get us a better deal. Blinds are not cheap, even the cheap ones aren't cheap. We don't want to put up cheap ones we hate to replace them later since we will end up spending more money that way so now we are trying to figure out how to get ones we like cheap enough that we can do it. Once we figure out what we need to do about blinds we can start to see what project we can scratch off the list next.

We have moved in!

We moved on December 31st and were thankful for the three day weekend and movers.

On Friday I helped Brian pack and then went to Time Warner to cancel our cable after that I went to the house to meet the wiring guy and For Brian and the movers. While the movers didn't take everything we expected we were very glad we used them. Quick, friendly and helpful. After the movers left, Brian and his friends Al and Gary helped bring more stuff over from the apartment while I emptied boxes. I got most of the kitchen put away and most of the boxes in the rooms they were supposed to be in. We spent the rest of the evening unpacking and trying to organize our chaotic mess. Poor Brian did unfortunately find out we had plumbing issues when he tried to shower that night and no, we did not stay up for the New Year.

Sunday we woke up and Brian and I went to the apartment to pick up the rest of the stuff. Brian then went home to unpack while I cleaned the apartment. I met the boys home at 12:30ish and took a bath and we all went out for errands. We took Gary and Al out to lunch to thank them which took far too long and then we went to order the bedroom set Brian and I picked out from Ashley's Furniture and pick out a king sized mattress. After that we came home and did more unpacking and organized.

Monday Brian and I went to pick up some more tension rods and curtains to temporarily solve the window covering window and pick up some food. After that, guess what! We did more unpacking.

At this point the house is getting there. The plumbing issue is resolved but now there is Internet wiring issues. Things need caulking, paint needs touch ups and the microwave is not venting outside. We have let head builder know and will add to the list as things come up I am sure. The house is as organized as it will be without projects being finished. Brian can't finish his office without the Internet, can't finish the loft without the book cases can't finish master and guest bedroom without bedroom set. And it won't be clean until we can get rid of the trash.

We are definitely enjoying the new house!

Christmas 2011

Christmas was interesting this year. We had...a good time. We really enjoyed seeing our family however....there was something that happened that would put a damper on anyone's day let alone Christmas.

We flew home to CT on Friday morning and spent the day in the city until we went home on the train with my dad.

After meeting my dad at his office he took us to lunch at an Irish pub. I had the fish and chips, Brian a reuben and my Dad had the Chicken Pot. The food was good and we definitely enjoyed the time together. After that we dropped Dad off at work and went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and went into the Lego Store

The tree was small this year...

Not nearly as crowded as years past

Rockefeller Center built out of Legos

Welcome sign made out of Legos

Wall of endless Lego pieces

Atlas made out of Legos

Star Destroyer from Star Wars made out of Legos

Death Star from Star Wars made out of Legos

Dragon made out of Legos

The Enterprise and other ships from Star TREK made out of Legos

Friday night Mom made yummy Eggplant Parmesan and off my parents went to pick up my brother. This was the first time I had seen him since my Gamma's funeral and the first time we had both been at the house  since...Junior Year at college? Anyway, that night Brian went to bed relatively early and Mom, my brother and I stayed up late working on a puzzle.

Saturday was Christmas Eve and we had plans to go hang out with his family but first we had to go to Frank Pepe's in New Haven. It wasn't as good as last year but it was very good. As usual, his Uncle went all out on Christmas decorations and we ate the most amazing Sicilian Pizza that night.

Frank's Pizza..that is a medium we ALMOST finished it

Uncles Christmas tree

Outside of Uncles house

Sunday morning, Christmas morning, is when things became sad.....You may have heard in the news but the house almost next door caught on fire and 3 children and 2 grandparents died at 5am on Christmas morning.

For the article here: Stamford Fire....Mom this might be too much of an update for you.  Pictures taken from our front steps:

No zoom or anything. The rest of the day we had extremely rude people driving by, taking pictures, getting in the way of things and using it as a way to kill time on Christmas morning. We had news trucks parked out in front of the house and in the roads at least until Monday morning when we left. We do not know the family other then they moved in about a year ago, however the whole community is feeling the loss. My mom and I are completely freaked though we handle it in completely different ways. She doesn't want to talk at all....I need to tell everyone and anyone. We did not light Christmas lights in the outside or inside to show our respect. My mom has always been iffy on things catching on fire (she doesnt leave small appliances plugged in in case it were to cause a fire) so who knows how this will affect her. And I know I haven't slept well since.

Sunday, while we were dealing with the above my best friend Todd came over to help open Christmas presents. He is Jewish and it was a lot of fun to show him how his idea of Christmas is actually not what happens, at least in our house. After presents we went to see The Muppet Movie which was amazing. I think I even want to buy it. We had our usual Prime Rib for dinner and Brian made the gravy. So good!

We flew home Monday afternoon and are trying to get settled back into a normal routine while closing on the house bright and early Friday morning.