1000 Piece Puzzle...DONE!

It only took 5 1/2 months to do it but it is finished!
I started this puzzle back in March on a weekend my mother-in-law was here to visit. We successfully finished the border that weekend. Don't ask me why I would start this big project two months before I was to have a baby - blame it on pregnancy brain! Between working full-time, coaching middle school soccer, preparing for a baby and freezing lots of meals I slowly chipped away at the puzzle until Simon was born. Once Simon came home I don't think I touched the puzzle for two months. I should make note that this puzzle sat on my dining room table so at least it was "out of the way."

Then July came! Some friends were staying with us and we were hosting a cookout one evening. And as it usually does whenever we host a cookout, it poured right before everyone was to arrive. We scrambled to move everything indoors which meant we needed the dining room table! Have no fear - Chris said he had a big piece of cardboard in the basement we could transfer the puzzle to! BAD IDEA! In the process of "sliding" the puzzle to the cardboard it fell apart and more fell apart as it was carried to the basement! What was I going to do?! Hours of work GONE! I got over it pretty fast :)

Anthony, who was staying at our house, apparently enjoys puzzles. He told me he would set it back up for me and get it back to where it was if not complete more of the puzzle! Sure enough the next morning he had retrieved the random pieces from the basement and had it back together on the dining room table. So for the next day Anthony, Jessica (his wife) and I worked at the puzzle here and there.

Finally in August I was able to finish the puzzle! Now I don't know what to do! Just kidding - I have plenty to keep me busy! But I did need to take a picture of it before I tear it apart and put it away in the closet. And as a side note, Jessica and Anthony purchased one of those puzzle storage kits for me so next time I have to clear my dining room table my puzzle will be safe!

Simon at 3 Months

So somewhere in the busy month of August Simon turned 3 months old...on the 14th to be precise! I feel like each week that passes by he starts doing something new. He smiles a lot, eats his hands, kicks his feet, coos and blows bubbles and watches Bernie chase his ball. He is getting into a good nap routine during the day and is certainly growing. We love him!

To my friend Kat

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Kat. Kat and I met the summer going into 5th grade. She was moving to Pennsylvania from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - quite a change in scenery and culture! We were in 5th and 6th grade together until I switched to public school in 7th grade but we still saw each other every Sunday at church. In high school she moved to Columbus, Ohio and sadly we lost touch a bit (this was before email and Facebook)! But when it came time for college Kat and I realized we were both attending Grace College in Indiana and were both recruited to play soccer so we became roommates! We were "roomies" for two years and then went our seperate ways. Kat got married after our junior year and I lived off campus. After college she and her husband, Matt, lived in Indiana for a few years and then moved to North Carolina. I ended up in Ohio and Seattle. Low and behold who would have thought we would both end up back in Lancaster, PA where it all started in the 5th grade?!!

I have so many funny memories with Kat. She is a great friend and I am so glad we can always pick up where we left off. And I am so excited she is having her third baby in early 2011.

This past Friday while Chris was at home sick, Simon, Bernie and I headed over to Kat and Matt's house for pizza. Her two daughters, Kyla and Eliza, love to play with Bernie, or Brownie as they call him! Here are a few pics from our evening. Love ya, Kat!! (Don't mind how good I look - it had been a long day!)

It's been a transitional week!

What a week it has been! I'll start by stating that last Saturday Chris and I went on a fantastic date (dinner out on TJ Rockwell's deck) while my parents watched Simon (thank you!). When we got home from our date we were chatting with my parents and Chris says something like "Simon sleeps through the night all the time" (in response to the time Simon went to bed). Quickly I jumped in and said "Don't jinx him!" Sure enough 4:30am Simon wakes up! Then on Sunday night, 4:30am Simon wakes up! Monday night it was 1am, Tuesday it was 12 midnight, 3am and 5:30am, Wednesday it was 2am and Thursday it was 1am!

In addition to not getting the full night's sleep that I had been used to, I started back to work full time this week. I must admit the anticipation of it was much worse than actually going back to work. Considering I work from home and have in-home care for my baby I have it pretty good. Still it's not easy going from focusing all of your attention and efforts on your baby to insurance benefits! I am so thankful to have a job in this down economy and am also thankful for our nanny, Kara, and my mom who watch Simon. I think Kara has a magic touch - she took Simon for a walk where he fell asleep, then she proceeded to get him out of the carrier and put him in his crib without him waking. Yea, never would have happened that way for me!

What else?...this week Chris got sick which means I have an additional baby in the house (just kidding honey)! Seriously though, when he is out of commission things are different around the house. I am cautious of him holding Simon too much so I feel like a single parent (kudos to single parents)! I even mowed the lawn since Chris was sick!

Oh, and Simon turned 3 months old last Saturday 8/14. He is getting so big already it kind of makes me sad. But he has the best smiles and little laugh! It's fun watching him do and discover new things.

Even the dog started sleeping in "his room" again this week! He had been finding his way into our room (a bad habit) so I finally latched the door and he went back to his bed!

All in all it's been a transitional week for everyone - mom, dad, baby, nanny, Bernie, etc. I'm chalking up Simon not sleeping through the night this week to a possible growth spurt and just all of the change he is sensing. At least I hope so and I hope that he goes back to sleeping through the night soon! I need it now that I'm working long days again. But with all of the transition I can honestly say I feel positive and not overwhelmend. I chalk that up to all of the people who have been praying and encouraging me as I went back to work this week. Thank you - you know who you are! And here's to a great weekend - hopefully one filled with full night's sleep!

Why Simon?

How did we decide to name our child Simon Christopher other than for the reason that we liked the name? I should start by saying that I liked the name Simon as soon as I came upon it and every other name that was suggested I compared to Simon. It took Chris a little longer to agree on this name!

When I was 36 weeks pregnant, Chris and I went away for the weekend to my parent's cabin in the woods. While we were there we read about the disciple Simon Peter. Obviously Jesus renamed Simon to Peter but we really liked the characteristics of this disciple. He was bold in preaching about Jesus and a key lesson of his life was that Christians may falter at times but when they turn to Jesus, he forgives them and strengthens their faith. After our time reading about this great man named Simon we really were leaning towards this name.

The name Simon means "to hear" or "to be heard." I think our baby lives up to this when he screams and cries! When I read the meaning, though, I thought about how important it is to listen to people and hope that our little boy really "hears" people and develops a heart for people.

Even when we were in the hospital and Simon was born we still weren't 100% until we saw him, just to make sure he "looked" like a Simon! Of course we liked the idea of incorporating Christopher (after his daddy) as his middle name since he is our first son. We love that we do not know any other Simon's and that our little boy is as unique as his name!

Road Trip to Ohio

This was our first road trip with baby AND dog. Chris said to me, "Do you know what would make this trip a lot easier?" I replied, "Yes, not taking the dog!" Chris said, "No...." and I quickly interrupted saying "Minivan is not even a word in this conversation!"

Obviously the dog has gone down a little on my priority list but I still love the Bernster! AND you know how I feel about minivans at this point!

And my kid is a trooper! He was probably held by 20 + different people this weekend and did not nap very much on Saturday. He was pretty pleasant though, and made up for it on Sunday and Monday when he napped a ton. Maybe we are all getting back on schedule now that it is Tuesday?!

It was a great trip though as Simon got to meet his Uncle Tony and Aunt Netta, great grandparents and lots of other relatives and friends for the first time. Plus he got outfitted for the fall! He got so many gifts - thank you to all!

We also got to see some friends that Chris went to college with and meet baby Jake who is a month younger than Simon. Jake was premature so while he is growing well he is still such a peanut! We got a picture of Jake, Simon and Alayna who is 2 and a half. Alayna is going to have a baby brother this fall so she is getting lots of practice and will be bossing the boys around when they get older!

Here are a few pics from the weekend!

Why are they called EARS of corn?

The question of the day...we never did come up with a good answer!

My family got together yesterday to freeze 27 dozen ears of corn. This is the second year in a row we have done it at my parent's house and we have our system down! Husking begins in the afternoon...

Then when the men get home from work we start cooking! My dad has this awesome outdoor cooker with 3 burners so we get the corn boiling!

After it's cooked we cool it a bit in water and then drain the ears...and then

the corn is scraped off into pans and the ladies bag it to freeze! It's a daunting task but a lot of fun when we all pitch in. Plus my parents always host so I don't have to clean up the mess!!! (Thanks mom and dad!)

We also celebrated my dad's birthday with some ice cream cake! Here are a few other pictures from our time together. Simon is cross-eyed for corn!