Elephants, Birds and Bears- Oh my!!!

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago with Perry's Martin side of the family, and had an absolute blast. The day was warm enough that many of the animals were in their outside cages, wandering around and acting much like predators. I have to wonder if the concrete wall and ravine is enough to keep them from joining us on the spectator side! Yow!

Anyway- we especially enjoyed the rainforest, where Simon meticulously pointed at all of the birds flitting about. We also enjoyed the elephants, rhino and hippopotamus, although Simon wasn't as thrilled and clung to our necks for fear of getting too close to them. We'll definitely have to go back again.

Simon's 14 month pictures

We finally took the time to get Simon's year pictures taken- the only problem is that by that time, he was 14 months old and had passed his 1st year birthday. Nevertheless, we're thrilled and think the pictures captured his amazing, adorable personality. We thank God every day for him.

Also- stay posted for more blogs, I'm hoping to reclaim parts of my life that I lost while consumed at my previous job.

ROAR!!

Thanks for making Simon his Halloween outfit, Miriam!

Peek-A-Boo

Where's Mommy?

Going Mobile

The rest of the world is mobile. Now, so is Simon!

Stay at Home Dad

These past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. While Becca is working hard during the day, barely finding time to break for lunch, I'm wandering around our tiny apartment picking up toys and puree-ing food for Simon eating my lunch anytime in between 11:00 and 2:00. The role reversal was quite of abrupt even though we had months to prepare for the inevitable. One day, Becca was at home sewing curtains and feeding Simon whenever he was hungry, and then the next she was dressed in a pant suit and dashing out the door briefcase in hand. (Actually, it was a a discreetly packaged breastpump)
I don't really have a lot of free time. At least not a lot of time to myself. Simon takes naps two or three times a day, but I'm usually washing dishes or laundry, making the bed, or other domestic duties. When he's awake, we enjoy playing with blocks, stuffed bears, Maggie, etc. We go for walks in Wash Park or on campus occasionally too. It's great to be able to stay at home rather than have someone else watch him. Becca already feels like she's missing most of his life, but at least she has me to tell her what Simon did during the day.
My school will be starting very soon, less than a week and a half. I was able to sign up for 3 classes which I believe will be a big enough load. DU works on the quarter system which is 10 weeks of class, 1 week of exams. I went by the bookstore to pick up my textbooks and walked out the door with a stack of ten books. I don't know that I've ever read a book a week. Actually, there was one summer when I joined the book club at my library at the age of 13. I think I read every Hardy Boy book available during that summer. That must have been more than a book a week.
I am looking forward to having some academic motivation and mental work. I don't want to atrophy! It will be interesting to find out how much work I will have and when I'll find the time to do it.

9 months later

Simon is 9 months old! Remembering his very humble beginning, it's amazing to see how far he has come. He is now sitting up on his own and plays vigorously with his toys. He's eating solids three times a day and loves everything he's tried so far (except for the first time he had peas). We are expecting him to crawl any day and his limited mobility is beginning to annoy him. He sees something just out of reach and stretches out until it seems he might fall forward. Just before he does, he leans back into his sitting pose, observes the situation, and tries again. He loves paying attention to small details. Yesterday, I watched him pinch at a french knot on a baby blanket about the size of a lentil for about 10 minutes. That is the stay at home dad equivilant to watching paint dry, but I think he was entertained. Also, Simon woke up from a nap the other day with his second tooth. I don't know how he can be so productive during sleep!

It's About Time!

I know, I know. It's about time that we updated our blog. We have been so busy with moving and unpacking that we just haven't had the time. Besides, I think you wouldn't like to see pictures of us elbow deep in the cardboard liquor boxes we used for moving. I think our new neighbors suspect that we might have a drinking problem. Actually our neighbors are very nice. Two of them are nurses and one of them works for the archdiocese of Denver.
Our apartment is set off of the street and has a feeling of being completely separate from the rest of the neighborhood. We have a small backyard and great landscaping, although it looks a bit overgrown. We are very lucky not to have to mow the lawn or do any of the landscaping. It's all taken care of by the property management!
Becca has been busy with the job search while I gear up for school on Sept. 10th. She has had several good leads that have led to interviews and is anxiously waiting for this part of her summer to be finished. I received a letter from DU this week with information on orientation and registration. I had been planning on taking 3 classes a quarter and finishing the degree in 1.5 years. Now that I look at the classes offered and the money I'll be spending for school, it's tempting to take more classes since it'll be cheaper. It's really hard to fight the temptation to take a FULL load of six classes because in the end I would be able to save $16,000. But with Simon under my care, I feel that 4 classes may be a more attainable goal. This will allow me to continue directing the Mile High Community Band, which is a lot of fun and also pays decent.
The next several days, we'll put some pictures of our new apartment, our camping trip to Kenosha Pass, and OF COURSE new pictures of our adorable little Simon. Here's a recent one of that cute guy!

We're moving!

I found this blog entry from a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, I pushed save as draft instead of publish so it was stored on my google account instead of being on the blog. Ooops!

'Becca and I have decided that it will be in our family's best interest to move closer to my school, The University of Denver. It hasn't been an easy decision and it had been hanging over us for several months now. We initially didn't mention the possibility of our move to many people, but now that it's definite, it's out in the open.
The part that made the decision so difficult is that it came down to one thing. Would we rather have more time or more money. With our current home, which is a parsonage, we are in charge of the maintenance and facilities for the entire church property. It has been very nice being able to live in a large ranch home with a big back yard and near by park. It's also been nice to meander to church minutes before it starts rather than drive 30 minutes which was what we were doing while living in Brighton.
Conversely, living close to church means that you are on call to take care of any problems that might arise. From public disturbance issues to sprinkler malfunctions to kids making out in the parking lot, we've dealt with a lot. It also entails setting aside time to mow in the summer, shovel snow in the winter and cleaning year round. None of these things are really that stressful or annoying, but they do all take extra time from our schedules. Since having Simon, we have found our family time to be more precious.
We have signed a lease starting July 1st and will slowly move into our new extremely small apartment with a great location two blocks from DU. There will probably be one day of heavy lifting, a large yard sale, and a lot of boxes full of our junk that will need to find a neat and organized place in our new apartment. We will be without internet service for a little bit of time, but will post a picture of the move once we are moved.'

7th Anniversary Bash!

This past Sunday (6/24) was our 7th anniversary. So much time has passed since our nuptuals. We looked at our pictures from the wedding and couldn't believe how young we looked. How could we at age 23 know what we were getting into? God has been good and knew what he was doing when he brought us together.
This weekend we went to Tammy and Paul's cabin with Brad, Jessica, Marika and Nathan and had a little bit of time to reflect on our marriage. Marika asked what years were the best and which were the worst. We both agreed that this past year has been the best, despite Simon's early arrival into our lives and the stress that that caused. The worst year was 3 years ago with the culmination of the heartbreak of losing our dog Jackie to a hit and run, Becca going back to school, multiple minor car accidents and expenses, having to take on extra jobs (paper routes) to be able to pay our bills, and me trying to find a steady contract job with a school district in a new town with no connections. Whew! That stresses me out just thinking about it.
Even through these years of ups and downs, I can truly say that the best part of our relationship is that it grows stronger every year. Sure there are times when Becca wants to strangle me because I didn't pick up my socks, but the bond and closeness that we have has intensified every year since we said "I Do". Now with the addition of Simon to our family, we have someone to include in that bond. Our love is wonderful. Truly. Madly. Deeply.