"What a week I'm having!" - Walter Kornbluth, "Splash"

I'm taking my friend Melanie's lead on this one.

Sometimes a great quote says it all.

This line has been running through my head for days now. Why, you ask? Let me break it down for you...

UPDATE: I neglected to mention here, that we took Liliana to urgent care on Sunday night because her ear was hurting so badly. Turned out she had an ear infection and tonsillitis. How I could have forgotten to mention that, I don't know! Poor girl!

Tuesday evening, I think, "Hmm, my throat is starting to hurt. I hope I'm not coming down with a cold!" Wednesday morning when I wake up, it feels like I'm swallowing glass. ARGH! I take medicine and go about my day as normally as possible, but, I get worse. When I wake up Thursday morning feeling just as bad, I decide to go to the Doctor (because, at this point, I'm thinking strep throat is a strong possibility). Not to mention, "Dr. Mom" and
"Dr. Xela" told me that's what I have. Turns out, they were right. A fun little throat swab confirmed it. Meanwhile, Nate seemed a day or two behind me on the same symptoms. Oh no! Both of us sick at the same time! Not the best scenario. Especially when you have three young children.

And, not to mention, when you're sick, you don't feel like doing a whole lot. So, as you can imagine, laundry, dishes, messes, etc. were starting to really pile up at our house. That doesn't really help this sick girl's spirits!

Okay, so Friday morning (Nate is feeling terrible at this point), when Simon wakes up, I go upstairs to get him. Then, as I'm walking down the stairs holding him, my feet slipped out from under me, I slammed down on the steps and proceeded to slide down about seven more steps. Ouch! I set Simon down on the step, stood up, gathered my wits, then looked at Simon. He was crying, understandably. But, then I saw it wasn't just because he was scared. His nose looked like it suffered quite the bonk and scrape. I couldn't figure out why at first. He was holding a board book, "Was that why?" I didn't really know.
[I'm since convinced that he hit it on the stairs.]

I put ice on it and wondered if it was broken. I woke Nate up and we decided I should take him to the ER. My poor little guy!

I took him, Lili came with us. While we were there, in addition to the x-rays for his nose, I asked them to check his throat and ear for me too. His ear was (sorry, this is gross) seeping a mucous-y substance (which I noticed the previous night). And I wanted to rule out strep throat. Good news! He didn't have strep throat and his nose was not broken! Phew! But, he did have a pretty bad ear infection (which had ruptured his ear drum). We got our prescriptions and were on our merry way (about four hours later!). It would have most certainly been longer than that, but we put a call in to our friend (who happens to be the CFO) and, suddenly, we were being helped and taken EXCELLENT care of! Thank goodness!

Once we were home, he seemed back to himself (cheerful).
But, he didn't look like himself.
Julia even said, "Mom, Simon doesn't look right."

By the end of Saturday, he looked like this...
My poor little sweetie!


So, yes, it's been quite the week indeed.

Did I mention that I broke my Crock Pot lid last night?

Simon's first birthday!

I can't believe it, but our sweet Simon is one today!

Just look at how much he's grown...

And these are from this past week...


Milestones:
He walks now (has all but given up crawling completely). He signs some words and continues to learn more ("dog" being one of his newest - he sticks out his tongue and makes a panting noise). He talks a little bit ("Mama," "Mah" -more, "baba"-bye-bye, "hi," and some other noises. He once said "Dad" clear as a bell. He's been starting to say "nah" sometimes when he wants to nurse (while signing "milk"). He has twelve teeth (his two top molars having just come in this past week and a half). He's big for his age (I'll post the stats after his one-year check-up). His hair curls up on the ends and is so cute I don't know when I'll ever be able to take him for his first haircut. He loves baths, showers (anything in the water). He loves his sisters immensely. Every time I spray his hair to comb it, he laughs...EVERY time! He's getting a little more opinionated lately. He'll let us know he doesn't like something by "complaining" and arching his back. He's still absolutely afraid of the vacuum. He likes to dance to music.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something (I'll keep thinking).

He blesses our lives everyday. We just love him so dearly!

Happy first birthday Simon!

"I'm sorry Mommy."

Just the other day, Liliana and Simon were nicely playing in the other room when Liliana came and found me to say, "I'm sorry Mommy." To which I replied, "sorry for what sweetie?" She said, "for writing on Simon." We went in to the other room to see Simon, and, sure enough, she had indeed marked on her little brother. He didn't seem to mind too much though. I reminded her that "we only write on paper." She laughed as she recited it with me.

Check out the look on her face. Mischievous little thing! :)

Eight months old!

Since Simon is eight months old today, I thought it'd be fun to look back at pictures of the girls when they were that age. Liliana's were on our computer, but I had to be a little more creative when it came to Julia's pictures. Anyway, I think they all look different, but related. And, of course, I think they're all beautiful (or handsome). No bias here! :)

Julia at about 8 months
(sorry about the quality, they are pictures of pictures)

Liliana at about 8 months

Simon at 8 months!
(poor guy bonked his head on the kitchen table leg...while he was crawling)

"Oh yeah, I could get used to this!""Need a ride?"

Surrounded by sisters.
And for his newest trick...
(let's just hope it stops there [on the 1st step] for now, right?)
He saw what he wanted on the stairs, and went for it!
See how proud of himself he was!
Way to go, Simon, my little stinker! :)

Some pictures I love...

I took a few shots of Simon the other day when he was sitting in front of the windows. The light was coming in and I liked the way it came through his hair. I just love these pictures! (probably because I love the subject so much!)

My sweet baby boy!

Crawlin'

Hey, check out Simon's motivation...I guess it starts young.


He started out with an actual crawl, then switched to the "army" variety. :)

And, yes, I know, our dog is a spaz. He was competing for attention and wanted to play. Funny guy!

"That is so funny!"

Julia was playing with Simon today and had him laughing so hard. I ran to get my camera to see if I could catch it...and I did! So cute! I love that they love each other!



Yeah, he's a little congested (it's that time of year, isn't it?)

Cute, cute!

I went to a choir practice last night and Nate took care of getting the kids to bed & everything (isn't he wonderful?) Anyway, I called Nate when I was on the way home and he said Simon was wanting his Mama. He was saying, "Ma-ma-ma" and waving. Nate said he just kept waving. He thought Simon might be "waving for his Mom." I just thought that was so cute! I hurried home to my baby. He was glad to see me! I took him, rocked & fed him and he fell fast asleep. I just LOVE being a Mom! There truly is nothing more rewarding, or satisfying. What an honor!

Simon's new "tricks"

My sweet baby boy is growing! Last week he started waving "hi" and "bye-bye" and it's soooo cute! I tried to capture a video that would do it justice, but it's so hard! And it seems to me as though he's trying to say "hi" sometimes too!



He is also army crawling now (and getting up on all fours to lurch himself forward). And, he says "Mama" (and he sure seems to know when to use it...when he wants Mama!) I'll try my best to get those on video too! It's so cute! I just love that little guy! He is always happy, content, and SO GOOD! We are so blessed!

Not long now

I captured it on film, well, digitally anyway! Simon up on all fours! He does this and then lurches himself forward. He's getting stronger and stronger all the time. He scooches and sometimes starts an "army crawl" to get things he wants. I think our baby will be very mobile, very soon!

Adventures in Eating

Over the last couple of weeks, Simon has started down the path that expands his culinary world. That's right folks! We've started feeding him solids. He seems to enjoy sweet potatoes, and peas are okay once he gets past the initial urge to gag. :) Check him out!

Playing at the park

We try to go to the park every Friday with our church playgroup. We meet and have a great time (the adults and children alike). This past Friday was no exception.

Swinging is so much fun! Julia was showing Lili how to "pump."

Simon enjoys the park too!

Having a picnic is always a great idea! Thanks Elena!

Julia found a caterpillar (of course).

And I got this huge spider off one of the tables...

I had it crawl on a stick, walked the stick away from the kids play area, and threw it!
Yes, Julia was proud.

I'm so glad it's finally beginning to cool down a little. It's finally in the 80s (mostly upper) for the highs and the mid to upper 60s for the lows. Yahoo! Bring on the 70s! I really want it to be Fall (it's my favorite season!)

What a cute boy!

I wanted to test another way to post pictures, and why not give you more of what you want to see anyway? :) Here's a little collage of Simon. He's such a sweetie! Notice in the bottom right picture that he's doing a little "push-up." He already rolls all over, getting where he wants to be, and has begun little backward scoots. He's working hard to get more mobile and Mommy is NOT ready for that! Okay, okay, it can be exciting to see them grow and learn, but sad at the same time. They grow up so fast! I love this little guy! He just absolutely melts my heart.

Six months old!

Can you believe it? Simon is six months old now. He just had his check-up on Monday and you are not going to believe his stats. He weighed in at a very healthy 22 lbs. 7 oz. and is 30 inches long! He's totally off the charts. He sits up independently, rolls all around, has seven teeth and is already in that grabbing-at-everything stage. He is so sweet and such a joy! We love him so much!