Crib - Check!

The crib is done!  My parents came up for a couple of days and Dad and I finished the crib!  It looks awesome!  I don’t have any photos of it completely put together, but should get them in the next couple of days.  I made the crib for Seth and Laura made the bedding.  Both looked awesome.  The hard work paid off.  There were no tears, but a significant amount of blood and sweat that went into the crib.  Thankfully, more sweat than blood.  It is SO hot right now.

We had a great time with my parents visiting.  Laura was working with her parents at Catholic Heart Work camp so my parents kept Haley a good bit of the time.  She was sad to see them leave.  This morning, she woke up saying pa-pah and ma-maw.  If you’d ever heard her say those two words, you’d know exactly how sweet they are.

Work’s been busy lately, but a lot of fun.  I’ve been training a lot for a triathlon I’ve got next weekend and am finally starting to shed some of my winter weight.  I know.  Sad.  It takes me nearly until August to start losing weight.  Guess I need something like a triathlon to motivate me. 

Other than that, all is well in our world.  We’ve been hanging out and enjoying the long days.  Haven’t been enjoying our new electric bill, but I guess that’s all part of it!

Quick Photo

Wanted to show off a composite I’m getting printed to replace the 24×30 in Haley’s room.  I did a black and white composite for Laura for Mother’s Day right after Haley was born.  This brings it a little more up to date.  I did it while I was doing one for a friend of ours who is giving it for a gift.  I’d show that one, but I’m sworn to secrecy until the gift is given.

What’s Going On?

We don’t have any new pictures to add, but wanted to give an update on what has been going on.  Life has been fairly busy around the Simons home.  Haley’s learning new words all the time.  She knows what she’s trying to say, but still has trouble saying it.  One word she has nailed is “Shoes.”  And she LOVES shoes.  I’m sure she’ll cost daddy a small fortune by the time she’s 21.

We spent the past couple of nights painting another coat on most of the downstairs.  We knocked out the halls, stairwell, living room, dining room, sunroom and kitchen.  We still ’sortof’ need another coat on our bedroom.  Haley’s room and the hall look good.  Once we get our room done, should we so choose to do it, the bulk of the house will be painted!  The remainder (the rooms upstairs and one bathroom downstairs) should be easy enough for Laura to paint while I’m at work.

We’re still in search of a few pieces of furniture to finish out the downstairs.  We’re in no rush to get furniture for the dining room, but we are anxious to get furniture for the sunroom.  I’m probably going to build in seating with room for baskets underneath along one wall in the sunroom, but we still need a couch and a few barstools.  Once we get the furniture, I’m sure we’ll spend the bulk of our time in the sunroom rather than the living room.

The crib is coming along nicely.  I ordered some hardware that should be here on Friday.  The only thing left from a woodworking perspective is cutting and routing the panels for the back.  The rails and styles for the back are done.  I hope to get those cut and finished this weekend.  Maybe install the hardware too.  The kayak is another story.  I’ve managed to bust my shin on it multiple times.  I’m ready for that thing to be done.  The last time I came in bleeding after scraping up my shin, I nearly scrapped it and called it a day.  At this point, I’m not concerned whether it is pretty or not.  I just want to finish it and see if it floats.

I’ve been running a lot and biking some lately to try to get rid of some of the poundage I managed to pick up.  I’m not quite sure what the deal is, but I’m running nearly every day, watching what I eat and I’ve managed to lose a grand total of 1.5 pounds (as of this morning) in the past 23 days.  Seriously, a glass of water could swing me back to even.  Guess my metabolism isn’t what it used to be.

Baby Seth

Weekend before last was pretty rough.  I spent a WHOLE LOT OF TIME working on an inventory at work.  I never realized what milk felt like until I spent a couple of hours in a massive refrigerator.  5 minutes into it, you think, “Oh, this isn’t that cold.”  15 minutes into it you change your mind.  Then 30 minutes into it, you’re fine again.  After about a half hour, you feel okay, but your fingers aren’t writing down exaclty what your mind is telling them.  After two hours, you’re pretty much toast.  The inventory went well, though.  And to boot, my boss told me to take Wednesday and Thursday off to recover. 

Laura and I used the time to go down to Brandon to see the newest addition to our family, Seth Murphy.  Seth, Ryan and my sister are doing well.  Seth is such a cutie.  And so small!  We also were able to see my aunt Juneria and a whole host of family on my dad’s side…Larry, Mariella, Evan, Papaw Ben, Terry and Dinah.  We also got to hang out with my Mamaw Clack.  It was a ton of fun.

While we were there we had a photo shoot of the Murphys and the new baby.  They came out pretty good.  Photos are posted on the photo page. 

When we got back, we relaxed.  Kim and Kevin took us out on their boat for the Lakeland fireworks on Saturday.  It was awesome.  Laura and I had a ball.  Stephanie, our neighbor, babysat Haley. 

The crib for Seth is coming along.  Thank goodness he is still in the pack and play bassinet.  I should finish it up next weekend.  At least 95 percent of it.  I’m going to have to order a bit more hardware.  I’ll post some pictures of the crib later in the week.

Other than that, all is well.  The house is still coming together.  We have some more painting to do and I promise I will get some before/after shots up of the house.  I really can’t wait to do that post.  The house looks COMPLETELY different on the inside than it did when we moved it.  We’re so blessed.