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.

Vacation part II

Hayden had the whole week off last week and we hit the road!  We went to Florida for a few days and spent time at the beach with my family (Platten’s).  We celebrated Father’s Day there and Hayden had a blast playing golf with my Dad.  Hayden played while he was in Dallas too and says he forgot how much fun it is, I expect him to get out on the course more this summer.  Hayden and I took a kayak into the ocean one morning too.  That was really fun, we were extra motivated not to tip over because of all the jellyfish we saw floating beneath us, yikes!  His kayak will hopefully be done soon…we’ll definately let you know.
 
Hayden and I just got back from a wonderful 4-day get away!  We had some airline vouchers to use so we decided to meet up with Amber and Dustin (sorority sister from State) in San Francisco.  We were so excited to go out to California, neither of us had ever been to San Fran.  We started our trip with a neat tour of Alcatraz…and somehow got out of there without buying any souvenirs.  A little tour of prison always confirms our decision to remain law abiding citizens! 
 
From Alcatraz we drove to Napa Valley.  We found a great little Italian restaurant where we sat outside and relaxed.  Amber and I couldn’t believe how nice it was to be able to sit and talk without having to reign in our little ones non-stop!  Napa was beautiful and a great place to spend the day.  We started our morning with a balloon ride and brunch.  The hot air balloon was a really neat experience and a great way to see the area.  Next, the limo picked us up for a day of wine tastings and tours…plus a great little lunch in between.  Dustin has a favorite wine, Stag’s Leap, so we made sure that was our first stop.
 
The next day was spent in San Francisco doing all the touristy things we could find: riding the trolley, checking out Lombard St (the most crooked street), shopping in Chinatown, eating in Little Italy (we felt like we were in a mob movie, everyone was speaking Italian!), ice cream from Ghiradelli, then hanging out at Fisherman’s Wharf looking at the Golden Gate bridge and watching the Sea Lions.  We were exhausted! 
 
It’s always fun to get away, but even more fun to get back home.  We missed Haley SO much and couldn’t wait to get our hands on her when we got back.  There were tons of hugs and kisses…even though she was SO tired because we didn’t get in til 10pm.  I won’t even bore you with the long day of sitting on the airplane and losing money in the Las Vegas airport…darn slot machines!  Hayden’s parents watched Haley for us while we were gone and everyone had a blast spending time together.
 
The only other new thing in our lives is our new nephew.  Seth Murphy was born June 25 and we can’t wait to go meet him!  Everyone is healthy and doing well.  We’re keeping the Murphy’s in our prayers because we remember all too well how crazy it is bringing home a new baby!  But, what a joy!!

Vacation…Part 1

Well, we’re almost back. We’ve just spent a week having loads of fun and totally relaxing. We needed a good break.

I was out of town in Dallas for a week before we went on vacation, so I’ve only gotten to sleep in my own bed once in the past two weeks!

We started off our trip going to Florida. And we started going to Florida off with a stop at Captain D’s. Yep, Captain D’s. Three pieces of fish and a few shrimp is the perfect way to start off any vacation!

The weather in Florida was extremely cooperative. And I was a good boy. Wore my sunscreen and hardly got burned. While we were there, Bill and I managed to get in a round of golf. I won’t say that either of us set any course records, but it was definitely nice spending some time with him.

Haley was such a good girl. She seemed back and forth as to whether she liked the beach or not. She did really good on the drives as well. There was one little fussy point on the way to the beach, but other than that, she just hung out in the back seat…happy as can be. Another update will be coming soon about the second leg of our trip…California!

Summer Is Here!

Summer is definately hitting Memphis.  It’s 90′ + but the evenings feel awesome.  We are loving the park near by, feeding the fish and geese at the lake, and playing in our new pool!  (baby pool, that is)
Hayden has been staying busy in the garage- working on the kayak and starting work on Seth’s crib.  Seth is Haley’s cousin and we can’t wait for his arrival at the end of this month!   Hayden is so excited about the beautiful wood he found.  I know it’s going to be gorgeous!  The kayak is really taking shape and we will have a big party for his ‘maiden voyage’ when it’s done in a couple weeks.

Last weekend Hayden and I had a date and enjoyed a day out on the lake with Kim and Kevin.  Now we’re thinking how awesome it would be to have a boat.  But, for now, we’ll just accept invites from our friends for cruises around Garner Lake. 

Haley and I had an awesome time when we went to visit the Holmes’ in Huntsville.  It was a real treat because not only did we get to meet little Emily, but we also got to to meet Abigail Holly.  Anna, Travis, and Alison were all in town and it was so great to visit with everyone.  I only wish we would have had more time together.  Alison got all the girls matching dresses and we took about 200 pictures of them dressed up. Haley and I stayed with Laura for two days and had a ball playing with Caitlyn.  We’ve got adorable pictures and I loved watching Haley soak up everything Caitlyn did…jumping, talking, singing, playing.  Caitlyn is so smart!  My friend Jen and her daughter Emma shared a ride to Huntsville, which made the ride so much more fun!  When we got home, Hayden had the whole house clean AND all of the laundry done!  It doesn’t get better than that.

Haley is walking really great now and doesn’t sit still.  It’s SO much fun to watch her explore everything around her.  It’s also REALLY exciting to listen to her learn to talk.  She’s adding a new word or two every day.  This weekend the big word was “bubbles” and we got her to say “Maroon”!  Although, she doesn’t quite know the concept of Maroon…but it won’t be long!  We’ve already got her cheerleader outfit ready for this season.

Okay, Okay

 I’ve been catching a lot of flack lately for not updating this site.  Guess I need to work a little harder.

A quick rundown of what has been going on.  So my parents, sister and brother in law came up last weekend.  We finished laying the wood in Haley’s room, which was no small feat.  We also went to the Zoo and to Memorial Gardens to take some pictures.  We got a really great one of our family.  You know, family photos are something that I think I took for granted for too long.  I love looking at this picture of our whole family.  There are relatively few times that we all get together.

Memorial day was fun.  Especially once I realized that I was off work.  We had a cove party with all the neighbors.  Laura and Haley and I also spent a good bit of time at the park.  Haley is walking around like crazy now.  It took her a while to walk, but now that she has it, she isn’t letting up.  She LOVES the water misters at the park.

Kayak Update

Quick post on the kayak status.  It is coming along nicely.  I’m still concerned that it won’t float…or that it will float until I get in it.  Only time will tell.

The bottom is now together, the sides are stitched on and I’ve started fiberglassing the top.  No pictures of the top yet, but they’ll be coming soon.  Wait, I guess I should call the “top” the “deck”.  Might as well learn my boating lingo.  Ahoy!

Happy Mother’s Day

This weekend was VERY busy.  I spent 6 or so hours on Saturday putting out mulch and digging a trench around the beds.  It took two yards to do the beds.  Talking about tiring!  By the time I got done, I was nearly black from head to toe. 

We also put lights in.  They are the kind that are down in the flower beds and shine up.  They make the house look a lot better.  The big task left is to put back up the shutters.  I have to order some little gizmos to attach them to the brick.  They were attached with these barbed plastic things, but I broke some of them pulling the shutters off. 

One of the things I got Laura for Mother’s day was a tree.  We’ve got woods behind us, but we’re afraid that when/if they start developing, they’ll cut the trees down.  We’ll then have very few trees in the yard.  Haley helped out with planting the tree. 

The Kayak is taking shape.  I’ve expressed concern before, and I’ll do it again.  I don’t know if this things is going to float or not.  I’m following the instructions, but it just seems so thin!  This weekend, I stitched up the bottom pieces and fiberglass/epoxy’d them together.  My problem with the epoxy so far is, I ordered the “summer cure” type, which is used when it is really hot out.  Unfortunately, it’s not really hot yet, so it is taking forever to harden up.  At least I hope that’s the reason.    I’ll keep posting pictures here as it develops.