Boy of the house.

Last night Simon was pretty tired by the time bedtime rolled around so there were very few shenanigans leading up to the moment when I told him I loved him before closing the door for the night. He got into the jammies he picked out and plopped onto my lap with a book of his choosing. A few pages into the book, Bryan peeked in the door, looked at us and chuckled. It occurred to me what was so funny and I had a hard time getting through the rest of the book without giggling through each word. You see, it was a hot June day yesterday. Like stifling 90 degrees hot.

And there we were, snuggled up and reading Elmo's Night Before Christmas while Simon was wearing his fleece jammies with snow globes and snow flakes all over them.

It was just one of those weird moments that hit you the right way and you just can't stop laughing at the absurdity, even though it's really not that funny. I guess I brought the shenanigans last night.

{Ten minutes later he called me up to tell me his neck was "all wet" and that he thought he should maybe just sleep in his undies. I told him it was a great idea.}

--

Today Bryan took a long lunch and met us at the kiddie pool at the Y. It was too hot for a baby (at least my sweaty baby) to be outside much so I thought this was perfect. I was able to put Cecilia in the kid care at the Y and just go play with Simon. Bryan wasn't able to stay super long, but I think Simon thought it was cool that we were both there with him for a while.

We were swimming around and every once in a while he would just stop to tell me he loved me. Such a sweetheart sometimes! It's funny that for four years it was just us and now these moments of uninterrupted time are so few and far between. I wouldn't have it any other way of course, but I need to try to get that one on one time a little more. It was just plain fun.

I got into my suit before we left and when Bryan got home Simon said, "Hey Dad, Mumma has a swim suit on and she put her big boobs in there!" He then wanted "uppy" which was code for "closer to your boobs so I can grab them."

Yup. Gotta love 4 year olds :)

Saps.

I've started several posts since my last one, but for some reason none have gotten finished. I'm determined this post will not see the same fate as those other poor saps.

I've written about all we've done so far this summer, everything Cecie is up to, about Simon's summer school, about the last 8 years of life married to a man I called "Mr. Perfect" while tipsy at our anniversary dinner, about all those years that were shadowed with so many pregnancies and lack of babies and how it doesn't seem possible that I was so sad for so long because it feels so distant already.

And here I sit, unable to finish yet another post. I guess this one is a poor sap after all. Cecie rolling into things every 2 minutes is not helping, but she sure is cute :)

Dad's Day Weekend

High Cliff Half Iron Man (1.25 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) on Saturday:

We went up to Appleton to watch Bryan compete and for the most part we had a good time. When the temperature dropped and the torrential downpour began, we weren't having all that much fun. At least Cecie stayed happy in the stroller and it only lasted for about 10 minutes (which, let me tell you, is plenty long to soak you and your belongings quite thoroughly). Simon was freaked out by the sudden storm, but calmed down once I got him in the stroller too. Glad they were there to see their Daddy finish, though!

Waiting at the top of a massive hill for Daddy to hit the 6 mile mark on his run.

Not sure who provided this nostalgic treat for him, but it kept him happy and occupied so I was fine with it!

Half way through the run, getting some much needed water.

Done! I asked for a family picture but he said he might vomit so we stayed away...

An ice bath for all the nutcases who thought it was a good idea to move 70.3 miles in one morning. HA!

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Father's Day at the beach on Sunday:

Love that she is trying to grab it.

Love her face

We decided to take some updated photos today and have a little fun with them. Love, love, love her.

Bearing Rings

The Universe decided to remind me it's listening. I just posted about how Simon has become so much easier to manage, but yesterday made me a bit of a liar.

Simon was the ring bearer in a wedding yesterday. At the rehearsal on Friday he did great...not a care in the world as he sauntered down the aisle, wondering why the flower girl kept her head down and wouldn't walk as fast as him. If I were a betting gal, I would have bet that the little girl would have been the one to get spooked by all the people in the church at the actual wedding.

But, alas, she was not.

Apparently right before they were about to head down the aisle, someone said, "Are you ready, Simon?! This is it!" or something on those lines and just like that Simon was "shy." He buried himself into Bryan and no amount of bribing or promising of toys or pleading was going to get him to walk. A couple times he did try, but ran back to Bryan soon enough.

For your viewing pleasure, here is Simon scared to death of walking down that long aisle (look for him behind the cutie pie flower girl). Sorry it's super shaky, but I was giggling...



The real fun began after this point. He couldn't calm down because he wanted his turn and I think he felt bad for not doing it. Eventually I went out to talk to him and brought him back in the church. When everyone stood at one point, we walked down to my original seat. When we got there, he promptly asked for the surprise he was promised if he did it.

He's lucky he's cute.

I had my nice camera literally right next to me, but reached for my iPhone instead...oh well.

As a side note, this was probably the fanciest wedding we've ever been to. There were literally waiters walking around with silver platters offering up appetizers and champagne with raspberries floating in them. It was at a beautiful country club that overlooked a lake so sitting outside was wonderful (and the breeze was strong enough to keep the bugs away). I couldn't even begin to explain the rest of details that went into this wedding. So congrats to the bride and groom, and sorry my kid flaking out was probably the only thing that didn't go as planned! Sounds about right, though :)

And the lady who got more smiles all day than you could imagine....

I'm sorry, but how cute is this little thing?! And she napped through dinner - thank you, Baby Girl!

 

Once upon a toddler

Yesterday at book club the girls and I were talking about having toddlers. Now that my oldest is 4 and a half he can't really be considered a toddler anymore, and most of the nonsense that comes along with having a toddler has faded tremendously over the past year or so. It's to the point where I almost can't remember him ever really being a handful and I'm semi-convinced that we'll skate through Cecilia's toddler years with ease (I know, I can dream).

 

My overall memories of Simon as a 1, 2 and 3 year old are wonderful. He was (is) funny, creative and sweet, even if he was a little stubborn.

If I think really hard, though, I can remember that bedtime was a bitch, shopping was terrifying, leaving anywhere remotely fun literally made me sweat (from having to chase and wrestle him), going out to dinner was impossible and refusing to share with his friends seemed like his favorite pastime.

Then in the blink of an eye, bedtime got easier, shopping became manageable, leaving somewhere stopped resulting in me feeling like I just ran a mile, going out to dinner ceased to faze me and sharing? Well, I suppose he is better at that too. He's by no means an angel and we still see meltdowns and whining and lying and screaming and ignoring and downright naughtiness. It's just that now, those moments don't come around as often and don't last as long when they do.

It seems like all of a sudden he is starting 4 year old kindergarten and I can't help but wonder where the hell the time went. I'll always look back at these years and think of him as a pure joy and all I'll have to remember the craziness of his toddlerhood is this blog, because just like the pain of birthing him, it just doesn't seem all the bad when it's in the past.

If you're interested, here is proof of some of the memories I'd have blocked, but thanks to blogging I can relive them :)


http://becauseiwanttorememberitall.blogspot.com/2011/04/ugh.html
http://becauseiwanttorememberitall.blogspot.com/2011/06/holy-ornery-batman.html
http://becauseiwanttorememberitall.blogspot.com/2011/05/bedtime.html

Would they, would she...

Would they have swaddled her?
Would she respond so completely to the sound of another mom?
Would they have given her a nuk?
Would she be as relaxed?
Would they have tried different formula because it seemed like her tummy hurt?
Would she ride in a safe car seat, sleep in a crib, go for walks?
Would they have tried so hard to take care of the dry skin on her face?
Would she be snuggled and kissed and hugged and told she was loved?
Would they have called the doctor when her diaper area didn't look right?
Would she be smiling and giggling and playing with toys?
Would they help her find her way to her back after she rolled to her tummy for the 100th time that day?
Would she know how important she is?
Would they think "God, I love you" and "God, you're cute" a million times a day?

The answer is maybe...and I hope so...and we'll never know. I rest easy looking into those beautiful brown eyes knowing that we can answer all of those questions with a resounding yes. Yes, this is her life and yes, she is loved and yes, she is well cared for in every way possible. It could have been so different for that innocent little being but here she is, with us. I don't know why I would bother wondering about what her life might have been, but I cannot help it. The reality is that it could so easily have been different for her.

I wonder when I will fully wrap my head around this whole adoption business...clearly 4 months isn't quite enough time! :) In the meantime, we'll just keep doing our thing....

My first attempt at finger coils. I need some product to get them to stay, but it's a start!

And pigtails! A little easier of a style with more longevity. This hair journey is going to be fun :)