Merry Christmas!

Tyler Owen Simmons made his grand entrance December 24th at 4:22pm. He weighed 8lbs and is 20in long. He is doing great. Eating, sleeping and filling his diaper seem to be coming naturally! We are all home and had a nice Christmas afternoon opening presents and watching Connor, Laura and Sophie play with their new toys!

Still Waiting

And not so patiently anymore! I wish this baby would make an appearance soon. It is getting rather close to Christmas and I would rather spend the day at home with my family than in the hospital. Mom is on her way down here as I write this.I called and asked her to come this afternoon. The stomach flu has been going through our house and Pat is down with it now. Which means he's not really up to going to the hospital with me should I go into labour right now so I thought it would be good to have Mom here. I was having some contractions last night but nothing today. Keep us in your prayers the next couple days and hopefully we will have a Christmas miracle a few days BEFORE Christmas!

I Think She Did It!

I think Sophie has mastered the potty! She hasn't worn a diaper in over a week. Not even at night! There haven't been any "accidents" either. I am soooo happy. She is very proud of her "Big Girl Underwear" and is happy to tell people that she "didn't go pees in them". Her timing couldn't be better, Baby Simmons is due to arrive tomorrow. (We'll see if that happens. The others have all been late)

Coming this December...!

Highlights from the Past Month in Pictures!

Playing at the beach on Jetty Island was tons of fun! (notice Sophie doing a "back float" in the sandy salty water!)






Happy 4th of July!





Finger Painting Fun!




Sophie and Daddy at the animal farm


Sophie thought it would be better to eat her BBQ dinner in the living room. So, when no one was paying attention, brought in her food and got herself all set up!


Sophie talking to Great Grampa Happpy on the phone



Strawberry picking when Auntie Mary was visiting





At Mukilteo beach (Yes, I am in this picture!)


Connor at swimming lessons

Happy 2nd Birthday Sophie!

Last week was Sophie's second birthday! I took the kids swimming at the outdoor wading pool at Forest Park. They had just filled it the day before and it wasn't opened to the public yet so we had the whole thing to ourselves. In the evening, we had cake with Gramma and Grampa and Uncle Ryan. Sophie kept saying that she wanted green cake. Since I couldn't bring myself to make a cake that was actually green, she had to settle for green icing.

These days Sophie is talking up a storm! She talks all day and if you don't acknowledge her when she is talking she will repeat herself over and over until someone notices! If you ask her who she is she will tell you "ittle Ophie irl" (Little Sophie girl) and if you ask her if she's cute she will say "no, utie pie" (no, cutie pie)! She is our most daring little monkey. She climbs the big ladders at the park on her own, she walks UP all the slide and thinks she should be able to do everything that Connor and Laura are capable of.

Lots has happened during the last month and I never seen to have the time to add things to the blog. So I'll give you a quick update while Sophie naps and Pat is entertaining the other two upstairs. We celebrated our 5th anniversary at the end of last month. We took the kids to the beach for the afternoon and Pat and I went out to dinner together. I had my birthday and got a pet bunny. The kids really love him and have named him Marshmallow. Sophie loves him from a distance and when he is in his cage but is still a little nervous whenever we let him out. We have had quite a few days of nice weather and we have spent as much time soaking up the sun as we can. We have been gardening and playing in the pool. The kids are loving having the park so close to our house and we are over there a lot! Connor and Laura are both in swimming lessons and are having a blast! Connor is a real little fish with no fear of the water at all. He goes off the diving board and can swim across the deep end of the pool. He knows his strokes but defiantly prefers to spend most of his time swimming under water down by the bottom! Laura is a little less out going in the water but really enjoys the time she spends in the pool. She has no problem going under water and is working hard to be able to keep her face in longer. She still wants to be held on to most the time but is getting more willing to try stuff on her own. Sophie is not in lessons but love to swim. She blows bubbles, kicks her feet and does "reach and pull arms". She really wants to jump off the diving board and we've put a lifejacket on her a few times and let her try. She'll walk all the way to the end of the board but once she is there, she losses her courage. She also thinks she can dive! She puts her arms up over her ears, leans way over and falls into the water. It really would be a dive if she didn't look up at the last second!


Marshmallow



Sophie raiding the freezer



Our Little Goalie







My little helpers showing off all the rhubarb that we cut up





I caught these fairies picking "wishies" in the front yard one morning