Pickin’ Peaches

Hayden’s parents kept the kids in Jackson for a few days to give Avery and I a little time to sew, run errands, eat lunch out, and breathe!  When they brought the kids back to Memphis, they spent the weekend with us.  We decided to stop at Jones Orchard in Millington on our way to go check the land and house at Millington.  It was hot but we had a great time picking peaches!  Both kids really got into it and didn’t want to stop.  All I could think while the basket got more and more full is 1) can’t wait to make peach cobbler; 2) I’ve got to find more peach recipes!  After working hard to find the best peaches in Memphis, we hit Chick-fil-A for lunch and ice cream!!

Visiting the land and house in Millington got us fired up about having a “camp out” so we spend the night out there this past weekend.  We really enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to a lifetime of memories spent out there…four wheelers, hunting, cook outs, and soy beans!

Let’s Go Swimming

Well, as some of you know, we got a pool last summer.  Mind you it wasn’t in our back yard, but in the back yard of a house that we’ve been trying to flip.  This is our first attempt at flipping a house.  Let me tell you, it has been more of a flop.  When we bought it last August, we got an absolute steal on it.  It’s a good thing too.  Because we’re right at breaking even.

We’ve got friends that have said, “Even if you made a dollar, it is worth it.  You’ve learned so much.”  They’re right.  We have learned a lot about flipping houses, house repair and pools.  We’ve learned all about taxes and insurance.  We’ve also learned that we won’t be doing this again any time soon.

The ONLY silver lining to this cloud (outside of not completely losing our shirts on the deal), is that the house has a pool.  And it is in our neighborhood.  So we’ve at least gotten to make some use of it.  It’s been great watching the kids turn more and more into fish-like creatures.  Haley’s still a little nervous around water, but as you can see from the pictures, Trey’s all in. 

Trey had been jumping off the side without too much fear.  I was in the pool and said, “Hey Trey – why don’t you go jump off the diving board to me.”  Much to my surprise, he bee-lined it to the diving board, ran down it and flung himself off.  I told Laura to grab the camera and asked him to do it again.  Sure enough, we got the shot below.

We also managed to take sweet Avery for her first swim ever.  She sported her little MSU Bulldog one piece.  (she’s a little young for a two piece).

Now we’ve actually got a contract on this house.  Lord willing, we’ll have it sold on August 30th.  We’ll definitely miss having the pool that close, but sure as heck won’t miss the acid reflux holding on to this house has caused.

While the Cat was away…

Hayden had to go out of town last week and we hadn’t taken our token towel picture of Avery yet so he set up the backdrop and showed me a couple things about the camera/flash and it was up to me to get a few precious shots.  So, here is my first attempt to become a photographer!  I think I did pretty decent.  I had a lot of fun doing it and might even try it again some time.  It helps to have an adorable subject. 

Not only am I proud of the pictures here, but also proud of myself for being on my own with the three kids!  We even left the house a few times!  I had great help from KJ and Jason while they were visiting.  They were proud Aunt and Uncle taking the big kids swimming so I could go to the grocery store and holding Avery, after meeting her for the first time.  I think their first fight as a married couple was about who’s turn it was to hold the baby!

Pink and Purple Butterfly Pillow Pet is Finally Here!

Haley decided about a month or two ago that she REALLY wanted a pillow pet.  It started with wanting a Unicorn Pillow Pet, but there was a big problem…it costs $20!  So she started asking about how she could get some money.  Hayden and I sat down one night and made a chore chart.  Haley had ten chores to pick from- she could do as many as she wanted each day to try and earn some money…at 10 cents a pop.  The type of chores listed were: make bed, clear and wash table, set table, learn a Bible verse, spell a word, speak politely “yes Ma’am”, dusting, cleaning room, picking up toys, etc.  Well, after a month of hard work she finally had enough money to buy the Pillow Pet, plus tithe on her income. 

Well, you’ll notice in the picture that the Pillow Pet we ended up with is NOT a unicorn.  We saw a commercial about the new Pillow Pets and realized you could only buy them online.  Hayden and I wanted her to actually buy the pillow pet at a store so we ordered it online and took it to Cracker Barrel once it came in the mail.  They were great about letting us “buy” it from them.  All the workers were watching her look all over the store for the exact pillow pet she was hoping for.  She was jumping up and down hugging it, letting Avery feel how soft it was, and then didn’t stop talking about how great the Butterfly Pillow Pet is!  She even wore her pink and purple crocs so they would match her Butterfly!  We all had smiles on our faces all night seeing how excited she was.  She sleeps on it every night now.

Two favorite stories along the way:
1. Haley came home from a 4-day visit with Mammaw and Pappaw (who helped her greatly when it came to earning money- they paid her much better than us!) and was saying “Yes/No Ma’am/Sir” all the time.  After each time she said it she’d add, “and that means MONEY!” 

2. We talked with Haley about giving money to Jesus/church whenever you earn it.  She didn’t want to give away $2 of her hard earned money at first but after talking to her about obeying the Bible and doing what Jesus asks us to do, she started getting excited.  She drew pictures on her envelope and put her money in it to take to church.  We talked about all the great things our church does with the money we give and she listed many ideas of her own.  She was giddy telling her teacher about doing chores and giving back to Jesus.  Proud Parents here!

Oh, and now that she’s purchased her treasure, she’s informed us that she’s done doing chores! 

Proud Mama!

Avery made it to church for the second week in a row.  I really do go to church because I am so in love with the Chronological Bible Study that is going on in Service and in our Sunday School class…but I can’t lie and deny I also love parading around one of God’s newest creations!  The Bible teaches us that children are a reward from Him and I’m so proud to show off our little reward!  (Reward for what, I don’t know…not sure what I did to deserve the incredible family I’ve been blessed with, but thankful each day!) I am in awe of how sweet little Avery is and there isn’t even anything to her yet.  I can’t wait to see what her personality will be like and what perfect way she will add to our family.

I say I’m a Proud Mama, but can’t over look my other half and him showing off just a bit too.  Hayden has been blowing up Facebook with pictures of his new princess.  These two pictures are just his most recent shots.  Every day or two he’s thought up a list of poses for Avery.  I’m so happy he’s energetic and motivated to set up the lights, camera, and backdrops to capture these moments because by the end of the day, I’m not! 

Last week was a great balance of having help and testing my mother-of-three wings to see how I fly.  I have transitioned nicely into being on my own some but have felt overwhelmingly blessed to have great friends bringing us dinner!  What a relief it is not to have to worry about what to cook a few nights a week and the leftovers have been helpful for lunches and dinners on the other nights.  THANKS to all who have really helped out by brining us dinners.

Sleeping Beauty

Special thanks goes out to my lighting coordinator who was more than happy to sit in to test the light setup.  Luckily, the light setup didn’t take long because it was clear that she wasn’t going to be there all day.

Yes, my fantastic (and artistic) wife painted the tree that is in the background.

My lighting director!

Poor Trey

I’ve got a feeling Trey is  coming up on the short end of the stick when it comes to pictures.  When we had Trey, we were fairly confident that we’d have another baby sometime down the road.  I’m thinking that subconsciously, we didn’t feel the need to take as many pictures to “remember” him as a baby.  In part because we thought there would be another.  In part because he looked exactly like Haley as an infant anyway.

Avery looks like she’s going to be back in the spotlight like Haley, though.  Maybe it is the thought that this might actually be our last.  Who knows.  Regardless – here’s round two of Avery pictures.  I’m sure more will be coming soon.

Haley and Trey are getting along great with Avery.  Haley could (and has) literally hold her for 4 hours straight on the couch.  Trey wants to hold her constantly.  Like a typical boy, he tends to lose interest after 30 seconds or so. 

Laura’s doing well.  She’s definitely achieved rock star status.

She’s Here!

She’s here!  Actually, she’s been here for a week!

Avery entered the world on July 5th at 11:55 AM.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz.  Not tiny by any stretch, but the smallest we’ve had yet.  We had a couple of minor complications during labor, but we had a fantastic doctor (we love Dr. Homsi!), a wonderful nursing staff and great friends that were praying us through it.
Laura was awesome as always.  Not only did she do a fantastic job, she looked good while doing it.  Didn’t even take off her jewelry.

Avery looks a lot like Haley and Trey did as newborns. I know all newborns look similar.  A lot like old wrinkly men.  But these three look eerily similar.  When Haley was born, I was snapping pictures like crazy.  When Trey came along, I was less trigger happy with the camera.  As I was going through deleting the “bad” shots, I came across one that reminded me of one I took of Haley.  After digging it up, I realized why it looked so similar.  Not only did the kids look alike, but Laura’s nails were painted the same too.   So when Avery came, of course, we had to get the same shot.  I know…definitely not a glamorous pose, but crazy how much they look alike.

Haley and Trey absolutely LOVE Avery.  We talked about Avery a lot leading up to her birth.  Laura made the mistake of telling Haley on Monday morning that the next time she went to sleep and woke up, Avery would be here.  Of course, Laura didn’t take Haley’s nap into account and the first thing Haley asked after her nap on Monday was to see Avery.  We had to explain that she needed to go to sleep one more time.
As we did with Trey, we let the kids come in and meet her alone in the hospital with no other visitors.  Haley was bouncing off the walls with excitement.  Trey made a bee-line right for Avery chanting “Hold her, hold her, hold her”.

We’ll get more pictures posted soon.  For now, these will have to do.  I want to give a special thanks to my parents who kept Haley and Trey for the week while waiting on us hand and foot.  We couldn’t have done it without them.  Also to Julie for taking a turn at sitting with Haley and Trey so that my parents could be with us for while in the hospital.

Maternity

The countdown continues…12 more days!  Our whole family is gearing up for the arrival of sweet Avery Grace.  Haley and Trey are SO excited.  Our friends brought a new born over the other day and both of our kids were going crazy wanting to hold her, kiss her, and share their blanket with her.  It was so sweet- Hayden and I were relieved to see such a positive response!  Haley has already been the best Big Sister for Avery, praying for her safe arrival each night.  (I tend to pray for an early arrival!)  Haley kisses her, talks to her, and considers her often.  I love these pictures!  It definitely captures the smiles of summer we’ve seen around our house.

Nesting has been in FULL effect at the Simons house.  Each pregnancy I am more amazed at the things I (we) can get done before a baby comes…especially with the extra weight/baby bump.  Haley and Trey are spending a few days with Hayden’s parents and I am taking full advantage of relaxing, visiting with friends and family, dating my husband, and getting things done. 

Kathleen’s wedding is 9 days away and I could not be more excited for her or proud of her and Jason.  She is going to be the most beautiful bride and wonderful wife.  We are so excited to spend next weekend with family and friends as we celebrate the union we’ve been anticipating for years!  Pray for the both of them as they take their vows and begin their life as One.

Random Photos

It was brought to my attention recently that my fantastic wife was harboring a plethora of photos on her camera.  So of course, I had to go through them all to tag them, rate them and add them to our photo collection.    Below is a sample of the thousand or so pictures I got to pick through.

Typical “Trey” face when he’s mad

Haley “chillin” at the St. Louis Zoo

Trey and Haley baking cupcakes.  They LOVE to help cook and bake.

Us and the O’Neals before the MSU/Auburn game.  (And before Chad royally ticked off the MSU fans sitting around us with his female tiger screech)

Enjoying a bowl of fruit loops before hitting the beach.

Super-Happy beach bum.

Haley enjoying the surf before photos.

Us and the Shivers before the MSU/Arkansas game.

Haley and Laura doing some Christmas baking.

Haley gets her hand and topping the cookies with powdered sugar.

Us and the O’Neals in Nashville sporting our circa 1989 6th grade dance pose. 

Hayden and Haley on Haley’s first duck hunt (sans guns).

Haley trying on her flower girl gown.

Haley’s birthday.  As she puts on every article of clothing she received…at one time!

Missouri buck.

Same buck as above…my biggest ever.

Me and dad hunting in Missouri.

Trey – age 15 minutes.