Simon- 13 months / 1st Haircut

I never got around to doing a 1 year post for Simon, so here is a 13 month one.

Not planning on continuing monthly posts, but figured I go ahead and wrap up his 1st year of life.

So, Henry and Margaret Gray really love having their little brother around. 

No one makes Simon laugh harder than Henry. Simon knows Margaret will share food with him...but sometimes they are a little too much for him :)

He continues to adore Elly. 

Simon's gotten to be a really good/ predictable sleeper.. 

Bedtime ~7. Wakes up ~7.

2 naps. ~9:30 and ~2ish. Anywhere between 1.5-2 hours.

I'm sure when molars start coming in, his sleep will be all over the place.

Books continue to interest him.

Has got a few animal sounds under his belt- cow, lion/ tiger/ dinosaur (all one sound), duck, fish, monkey

Blowing raspberries... one of his favorite pastimes. 

Henry encourages this.

Still doesn't love shopping carts/ strollers/ having his diaper changed/ car seat.

Thought putting him in MG's old car seat would help... and maybe it has some, but still doesn't like being strapped down.

Ran from me for the 1st time the other day-

We were over at a friend's and I saw that he put something in his mouth.

When I walked towards him to find out what it was- he turned and moved faster than I've ever seen him move.

It was an OREO. ha! Don't blame him.

Feel like he's more verbal at this age than the others were... probably since there is never a quiet moment in this house ;)

Knows some body parts. Used to know head, but when we started doing belly, head is always belly now. Sometimes knows toes. Working on eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Too bad what he wants to do more than anything is walk around with a marker and try to take off/ put back on the top. 

He's pretty good at keeping himself entertained... as long as he's not hungry/ sleepy- then he's at my feet.

Makes him happy to just sit at the little kids' table.

This year FLEW by. 

This little guy was my hardest 1st trimester and was also my most challenging infant with nursing and sleeping. 

I feel like we bonded through these hard times and he also strengthened my reliance on God for guidance in parenting. I'm thankful for that.

He is SUCH a JOY to have around! 

I mean, really?? How sweet is this guy??

Loves to dance

Henry gets him rolling

12 month check up

Wish I could find the sticker where they wrote down his stats...

 Wanted to get a picture of Simon in his 1st snow.

Poor guy fell and his hands were instantly frozen.

Love.

Loves the slide... even though he's had several accidents.

 "DaDa" is on every phone he can find

Rocks on MG's sheep way more than she ever did.

If Henry or MG are on it, Simon uses a little force to get them off. 

Back off Brother.... it's my Fancy Nancy book.

Trying to put on "got". Shoes are also "got".

Just this morning he brought me my black flats and pulled at my feet.

He's a smart one ;)

Mention the bath and he darts right to the bathroom

Also if you say byebye, he goes and waits at the backdoor.

Whenever he hears the backdoor shut, he looks for "DaDa".

This little guy ADORES his dad. 

Flashback to a week before Christmas:

We met PawPaw up at Hudson's for Simon's 1st haircut.

Dean (who gave Henry his 1st haircut) was not there.

So this kind lady stepped in... she did a good job- exactly what I wanted- not too much off.

Dean would have buzzed him. ha.

Simon was sort of in a daze through it all.

 Had to make sure to get the Nascar and Dallas Cowboy cheerleader documented.

Dean showed up in time to take a picture with our Simon Man.

Such a big boy!

Thanks for the memories, PawPaw!

Margaret Gray's Birthday Celebrations

Our little girl turned 3 on Monday!

About a week before her birthday, I figured I might as well decided how we were going to celebrate :)

Thank goodness our good friends, Ava, Audrey, and Alice didn't have anything going on Saturday morning and were able to meet us for MG's "Toenail Party". 

MG sweetly asked if she could wear her new "Cinderella" dress....sure, why not. Her friends were excited about dressing up too. Well, Audrey was for a minute, then changed her mind :)

We met at Corner Bakery for a late breakfast.

I love this picture... Audrey must have been telling them something "juicy".

Cousins!

Checking out her crafty gifts from Ava.

She and I had fun decorating the mirror and making a tiara that night. We don't do things like that enough, so thanks Kristen and Ava!

I'm pretty sure that Sweet and Sassy makes you wait a little while before your appointment... giving the girls plenty of time to want everything in their gift shop :)

Margaret Gray was the only one to pick out pink.... Everyone else went with various shades of purple.

I love how proper Audrey looks waiting for her turn.

Zebra stripes- what what! 

The girls had so much fun! 

It was the perfect morning...

... that almost got canceled due to the amount of snot Margaret had been fighting. 

(Thankful for my friends' responses when I told the girls about MG's condition, Kristen- "Snot ain't no thing- Let's do it!" Meagan- "I'll bring the hand sanitizer!")

Well, her congestion got infected in her eyes and woke up looking like this on Sunday morning...

Doc Rock recommended some eye medicine and luckily our family didn't stay away. 

We had a family birthday dinner that night.

MG picked out some napkins and hats from Target (with some guidance).

I'm kinda in love with these cookies.

Leftover birthday banner from Henry's 3rd birthday.

MG picked out the flowers that day from the grocery and the lanterns were on clearance at Target.

Ta-Da- party decorations ready.

MG picked out party favors at the Dollar Tree.

Special Sprite to wash down her shrimp and grits, salad, and bread.... well, minus the shrimp. I could have sworn she liked the stuff.

She requested a pinata.

Simon had flashbacks from his dad beating his polar bear pinata and didn't want anything to do with it.

Stayed safe in PatPat's arms :)

Ella cracked it open for us.

Poor Thomas spent most of the night on the couch... flu.

Presents!

The 1st playdough allowed in our house :) 

Simon was in hog heaven with his sucker.

MG's new special doll from the Woods and Whitesides.

She wants to name it Margaret.... doesn't understand that you can't name ALL your dolls one name.

Time for party favors.

Brent- so excited about his tattoo sleeve!

Henry made sure that Brent got his first, so that he could open his next...

Oh yeah. Matching tattoos. 

Henry was DEVASTATED when he took it off and realized that the ink didn't stay on his arm.

Thomas perked up enough to open his goofy googles.

Margaret was a little nervous about Kate's mask.

PawPaw got bungee cords. PatPat- Disney princess sandwich holder. Ella- ladybug icepack. Alice- Disney princess magic towel and Simon- a football.

Not sure why I feel the need to document that... 

Aunt Kate wanted to try out a new recipe and made Margaret Gray's yummy white cake.

 I was glad to let her do it!

Can I get a little sappy and say how much we are going to miss our family dinners next year??

Time to sleep with her new car pillow.

Her actual birthday!

My sweet thing requested cereal for breakfast and I happily agreed!

She figured out how to balance the candle all by herself.

This girl loves her some babies. 

Henry and Simon got her a new Sleeping beauty set.

I think we're good on the dress up clothes for now ;)

After lunch at Chick fil A, buying her a new carseat (so Simon can have hers), and quick naps, we headed to Dallas to the new Perot Museum.

Our tickets were for 3:30 and the museum closed at 5. 

I was nervous we weren't going to have enough time, but it worked out well.

We got a family pass, so we can go back whenever.

We quickly headed up to the dinosaur bones floor.

Margaret squealed with delight. Good memories from Washington!

Headed to the chidren's area...

They could have done this all day...

... but then discovered the water table.

Simon thought the hand dryer was the best thing there!


the children's area and made a quick run through several other exhibits.

Henry's favorite part of the museum... too bad there were 100000 kids waiting their turn.

Really looking forward to going back!

Our nearby dinner choices were El Fenix or Hooters. We chose El Fenix. :)

Margaret Gray told me it was her best birthday ever! So glad that our sweet girl enjoyed herself. We all had fun celebrating with her!