Random Baby Pics

Big Brother Quintin


Big Brother Collin

Melody Taylor Simper
6 lbs 14 oz
20 1/2 inches long
Born December 18th, 2009

Daddy and Baby


Mommy and Baby

all done please

Contractions started again last night around 12:20 AM. They were not the cute little ones that get you excited. Everytime I had one it felt like I was being run over by a car on my back. They were every 7-12 minutes. After an hour I jumped in the shower before waking up the world (I don't want to be wrong again), packed up the suitcase again and went back to bed for more fun. They lasted until about 3 oclock but were slowly getting easier to deal with. So exhausted I went back to sleep only to have one about every half hour. Feels like a wasted night and I am not getting along with my children who decided 5:30 AM would be the opportune time to wake up this morning. Blah.............

tick tock tick tock

Went to the OB yesterday. Dialated to a 4 and had my membranes stripped (ouch) Sorry I am a wuss but that was very uncomfortable.
Spent the day with Carter and Grandma Carter making candies. Carter went up to Globe to meet with the rest of the family and I was too chicken to leave Coolidge so I did all the laundry and cleaned the kitchen (soooo tired of nesting)
No contractions happening just lots and lots of pressure. Come out baby, come out.

Heads up

For all of you poor people in the dark. Yesterday about 2:00pm I started having labor pains. They started 1 every ten minutes and dropped down to 1 every five minutes. They were strong enough to make me stop what I was doing and "concentrate." My water did not break or anything so I gave it some time. My parents got the boys around 4:15, contractions were still every 5 minutes.

We left to the hospital just in case around 4:30. Got to the hospital and contractions were back up to 9-12 minutes apart and fading :(

Nurse lady got mad at me because I suck at drinking water and long story short, I have an ugly UTI which is probably the cause of the contractions. They gave me fluids, prescription, and scolding and sent me home :(
Got to eat a wonderful dinner date with hubby, picked up kids around 9:30 PM and slept very hard when I got home.

Finals are over, papers are done.....this baby needs to come out. I need a trampoline or something. I am going to request to have membranes stripped tomorrow at the OB and we shall see if anything happens.......

The Christmas crap is up! (most of it)
Finals are this week, and term papers are due by the 15th. I hate this semester, I am glad to be done with it.
We finally wrote down some baby names for this poor little girl. Have we picked the names? No, but at least we have ideas now.
3 weeks of pregnancy left, with any luck she will be early so we have more time to recover before next semester of school.
Collin is doing great in school. Has had only one naughty day since the beginning of October and he has started to read on his own.
Quintin has finally started saying real words and when he says them, he is very proud of himself.
I am looking forward to the end of this year and starting something new and hopefully a little different than what this year was.

Did I mention I am not good at daily postings?

November - 20 - I am thankful for an early paycheck so that I can eat something besides peanut butter and jelly.

November - 19 - I am thankful for germ x. All of my classmates are sick and come to classes no matter what because it is bad when we miss something. However I want to sit as far from them as possible. Hooray for germ-x.

November - 18 - I am thankful that my AC is finally turned off. Windows are open with nice fresh air. That and a better electric bill.

November - 17 - I am thankful for organized deadlines and consistency. I love it when a professor sticks to the syllabus they made. Alterations and changed dates throw me off sooooo badly, sometimes I don't get those assignments done when they are extended. I know it's weird but I need that same date. If you give me an extension, I procrastinate and then forget.

November - 16 - I am thankful for kindergarten. Collin comes home each day saying new words (not always a positive), reading new words and writing.

November - 15 - I am thankful for perspective. Just when I think my life is well, sucking, I see someone else who I can not even compare to and feel blessed (and a little humbled)

November - 14 - I am thankful for ambition. It has been rare lately but when it is there I take huge advantage of it. Especially the nesting factor and getting my house ready for baby and Christmas.

November - 13 - I am thankful for naptime and that my two year old doesn't require a huge routine to take a nap. Favorite blanket, say night night and he goes and lays in his own bed with little complaint.

Uugh I suck at daily things.

November 7th - I am thankful for a professor that allows second chances to make up assignments and understands that students do have lives outside of college.

November 8th - I am thankful for NO SOLICITING signs that actually work, or at least people read them and understand what they mean.

November 9th - I am thankful that on this day I am now 33 weeks pregnant and eventually will hit the big 40.

November 10th - I am thankful for my Daddy who on this day turns 60 years old.

November 11th - I am thankful for the lame food storage we have at the moment, that is helping us get through life when bills are extremely tight.

November 12th - I am thankful that in 30 days, this semester of doom will be over.

November 6th

I am thankful for things that cause double takes. Someone in our neighborhood purchased the Delorean from Back to the Future. I am not sure if it is the real one from the movie but it has the engine parts on the back from Part 2. Everytime I see it driving down our street or the boulevard I have to have a double take even though I have seen it more then once. I don't know anyone can look at this car and not smile, such a fun flashback of the 80's. (no that is not a real pic of the car in our neighborhood)

November 3, 4, and 5th

November 3rd. I am thankful for a friend that was willing (because they wanted to see it) to watch Michael Jackson's This is it! What a wonderful flick and I am glad I didn't have to go alone.

November 4th - I am thankful for the ability to procrastinate and still do well on a test or paper. I don't know how it happens, perhaps luck or I work better under pressure but I am thankful. Knock on wood, I hope I don't get punished for admitting that I procrastinate....

November 5th - This is lame. I am soooooo thankful for Tums, Rolaids and Pepsid AC. It lets me sleep at night, makes the burning nausea go away, too bad they don't taste good though.

November 2nd

I am thankful for parents who are willing to take may kids every Monday night so that I can go to class. My mom rushes home from work so she can be there by 4:30 so I can be at class by 5:00. She gives them dinner and deals with their incredibly picky eating habits. My dad takes Collin outside and teaches him about quads and tools. (somehow it is a good thing and bad thing that he does this) Thank you parents for putting up with our little family.

November 1st

Like always I must steal the blog ideas. Everyone is attempting to do an "I am thankful" thingy everyday (I will try to do everyday, no guarantee)for the month of November. Forgive me world if some of these sound forced out or really lame. It has been a long month of crud and I am trying to see something positive and happy. So here it goes.

November 1- I am thankful for a husband that puts up with all of my....everything. School complaints, work complaints, why does my five year old act like this complaints, is it Christmas yet I am tired of being pregnant complaints and everything else. Sorry Joe if your ears are about to fall off due to my verbal regurgitation I give you everyday when you come home from work.

A week lost

I just missed a week of life. I am so far behind on everything, why catch up. I just want to start from now and not worry about what I missed. Weekend of October 9th was my 10 year reunion for High School.
That week started off with a horrendous blood test from heck on Wednesday. I failed my gestational diabetes test so I had the joy of sitting in a lab for three hours and having my blood drawn every hour. I was doing great til the lady who took my blood last blew a vein (or whatever the term is) so that my arm looked like I have been doing drugs on the street.
I woke up the next morning feeling crappy but was asked to come into work for 6th graders. Stupid me said, I can do that. All they do is their social studies work and they switch classes every hour and a half....I can do that. No one told me the AC in the classroom was broken. No one told me the special needs and behavior kids did not have class that day so I had to take care of their different "needs". No one told me I was going to start feeling sicker as the day wore on.... I did demand a room with AC or I wasn't going to stay. I was given that room (had enough chairs and desks for half the class, but the students didn't seem to mind)
That night was decorate the class of 99 float. Fun but I kind of ended up doing all the painting and what not whilest others mingled and got drunk.
Friday morning at 7AM was shred BBQ meat for the party. 5 people showed up and that got accomplished but I started to feel really icky by this point. I went home and had a mini nap before the parade at 10:30. Woke up with a sore throat but kept on truckin.
Hot day in the parade and then time to rest til dinner that night at 5:00 before the football game. Ate dinner at FFA BBQ and played my horn with the high school band room for about an hour. We had the alumni band march into the field. Stayed at the game til a little after half time but it was too depressing watching the other team score over and over that our class left to the gallopin goose.
Stayed at the goose til about 12:30 ish AM. Good times but I started worrying about how people were going to get home after being so......well drunk. After making sure who was getting who home.....i drove home and crashed.

Saturday I needed to wake up and make a horsey for the big birthday party at the Abraham's. I dragged my carcass to the birthday party to make the appearance, then it was off to one more dinner party for the reunion. Good food good friends just hanging out together. Nothing really formal. But again stupid me stayed out til 1:AM.

Sunday it was all downhill. My body no longer liked me. My sore throat raged into the magic of the flu and I didn't leave bed for about 4 days. All of my family got the flu (yes it was the swine flu). Collin and I went to the hospital for high temperatures and breathing problems on Wednesday night. Got home around 2:30 AM the next day. The hospitals are packed with people right now. After getting a prescription for a drug that we really couldn't afford, the whole family stayed "quarantined" in the house til today. I almost feel normal again. My lungs still feel funny and I feel really weak. The boys no longer have fevers, just some clear boogers and coughs.

During the week of the flu, I missed a week of working, a doctor appointment for the baby, my son's first parent teacher conference, the last day of one of my classes, one final, one presentation and the first day of a new class that started. I completely forgot to buy my books for the new classes starting this week. (books come from Flagstaff so take a week to get here) I have been able to make up some of it, however I am not sure the quality of what I turned in. We shall see what happened when grades get turned in. Stupid flu

Oops, 1 Month Already.

Wow, it has been a whole month. Uhmmm let's see. School is kicking my rear end this year. I have teachers that aren't....well they are not very good at what they should be doing. So me with my spazzy pregnant brain and teachers who stink don't mix well. Not to mention the classes are squeezed into 8 week sessions instead of a full semester, so everything is soooo fast and papers are due constantly.

I have been subbing about twice a week. This hasn't been going so well either. Every time I go to Heartland Elementary, I get a teacher who leaves absolutely NOTHING for me in the classroom and I have the joy of ad-libbing. Not so bad for grader 1st-4th but if it is the older kids they do not stay interested and if it is a class that has some kind of special needs, I want stick my head out in the hallway and scream for HELP!

Collin has good days and bad days at school. Very rarely an in between day. He is very popular with the teachers and staff and they all love him. He just gets naughty a little more often than most. He is going to be tested for gifted in October and hopefully that will be a good outlet for his "creative" mischief.

Quintin is happy. He doesn't really talk still although he is improving on imitating sounds. He says bye-bye now with enthusiasm at the appropriate time. He is very lovey, social and very smart. He just doesn't talk.
It amazes me how complete opposites Collin and Quintin really are.

Baby is uhhmmmmm still a baby I guess. We are going to have another ultrasound on Monday to check on growth and all that jazz. I am excited because it will be another confirmation that it is a girl and not a "I think it's a girl."

And to finish off, here are some Collin's 5th Bday pics that I keep forgetting to post.

Stuff and Junk

Back to school, back to school. NAU teaching program started last week. Writing intensive everywhere. Not to mention I have a technology teacher who knows nothing about technology and says "oh well, you guys can figure it out." Technology is great but it freaks me out and I get really nervous trying to figure it out.

If you gave me a few more weeks without knowing what the baby is, I would have guessed a girl. I haven't been THIS moody or weird sick with the other pregnancies. I feel like I am cranky all the time and I need to find something to perk the mood. NO, chocolate does not help....actually not a big fan of it right now.

I have been subbing random classes for the district. It is fun to go back to my school from last year and listen to all the students say hi and we miss you. Hopefully I will get to be their teacher again before they all graduate someday.

Collin (very slowly, step by little step) has been improving in school. The teacher is not worried and assures me constantly she just has to find his niche. I applaud her constantly for her patience and persistence with him. I knew I picked her for a reason.

Behind on Blogs Part 2: Painting

Our house has been flat white inside for two years now. the paint was getting filthy due to little kids running around and touching everything. Thanks some wonderful people we got two main rooms done: kitchen and living room.
Colors are Stratosphere: Light blue
Brandied Pears: Rich Cream
Sprig of Ivy: Green accent.

Behind on the Blogs. First Day of School

Collin had his first day of school on August 3rd. The day went well in the morning. He woke me up and said," I get to go to school today!"
Around 11:00 we started getting him ready for school ( he has PM kindergarten) and he decided to have a meltdown. He didn't want to wear his new shoes to school. His other pair are falling apart and gross and he wanted to wear them. He then didn't want me to comb his hair and screamed he wanted his hair messy.
After much fighting, we drove him to school and had him line up with the classes. They meet in the library where they are escorted to lunch. After waving goodbye we left him with his group. At pick up time he was so excited and happy. A much better attitude then when we dropped him off. We took him to his classroom door for pictures and said he loved it. He even got to eat a corndog, tater tots, and chocolate milk for lunch (healthy i know.)

So far he has been in time out twice (that I am aware of) and didn't get to go to recess because he was poking people. Hopefully this will change soon. I don't want to feel I need to apologize to his teacher all the time. The weekend has confused him and he doesn't know why he not going to school on Saturday and Sunday.

It's A.......

Things

I am fat. It is hot. Yeah that won't stop running through my head. I need to go to the store but am very unwilling. It is not worth loading kids into an oven and letting them burn themselves trying to put on buckles.
Blah.

I want to start preparing for a baby thinking it will make time go faster. Nope. I have a mental list of things to do but they are things you don't do until a month before the baby is here at the earliest. Like shampoo carpet, wash everything from top to bottom, go through the baby clothes, and all those weird pointless things that don't really matter. What I really want to do is paint the front room, kitchen, and hallway but there is a slight $$$$$ issue at the moment. Need to pay off baby and some other debts first. Anyone want to buy pecans? I still have about 15 gallons sitting in my garage.

Collin gets to go to school this year. He is very excited. I get to start the teaching program this year. I would be excited if I wasn't so nervous. I also get to sub this year. I was worried the school was going to cut all substitutes out of the budget. Yay for substitute teachers!!

4th of July Highlights

Collin next to a HUGE train


Ride a couple of times around the track


No parade is complete without a shriner


Smokey the Bear


I guess tiny people aren't allowed to park here

4th of July Sugar Cookies

One of my favorite people of my childhood died. Yes, he got weird as he got older with all of his problems but I am still really sad. When I was kid I used to wear a glove on one hand and sing his songs. I also have trading cards of him before all of the surgeries


LA Times
Michael Jackson is dead [Updated]
2:06 PM | June 25, 2009

[Updated at 3:15 p.m.: Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.]

[Updated at 2:46 p.m.: Jackson is in a coma and his family is arriving at his bedside, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Jackson was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home at 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took him to the hospital, Ruda told The Times.

[Updated at 2:12 p.m.: Paramedics were called to a home in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson had rented the Bel-Air home for $100,000 a month. It was described as a French chateau estate built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater.

The home is about 2 1/2 miles, about a six-minute drive, from UCLA Medical Center. An earlier version of this post incorrectly described the time to travel between the home and hospital as two minutes.]

The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

In May, The Times reported that Jackson had rented the Bel-Air residence and was rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called "King of Pop" back on stage.

His backers envision the shows at AEG's O2 as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a "Thriller" casino. Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt.

—Andrew Blankstein and Phil Willon

Almost Ready

Tiny but very sweet

Craptacular Day

This little baby is starting naughty a little early compared to the brothers. Joe and I went to the ER today. On Saturday I was spotting a little and wasn't truly concerned. Then I spotted again last night bright red and significantly more. I called the triage nurse lady and she said if there isn't any pain or clots just call the doctor in the morning. In the morning still bleeding (not large amounts) I called and they told me to come on in to check on everything.

My poor dad was having his knee replaced this morning but fortunately it was the same hospital I needed to go to, so we got to visit him when he woke up. After many hours of being hungry and watching crappy midday tv, everything turned out fine. The only conclusion was I may be overdoing it a little, but that was it.

Poor little baby, the ultrasound took a large amount of time because the doctor people asked if a student could try to do the ultrasound. Sure why not. After almost forty minutes of prodding and poking both inside and out I was shown the screen with the baby. Baby did not like being poked any more and was swinging arms and legs trying to get the thing away. I haven't really felt kicking (12 weeks along now) but today there was plenty. After the ultrasound the due date has been changed to Dec 26th due to the size of the baby.

Oh and speaking of my dad, he had his left knee replaced two weeks ago and had his right one replaced today. He wants to use as little sick time as possible (he is going to take around 10 weeks off of work) I swear my dad never gets sick and he never has the courage to be naughty and call in saying he doesn't feel well so that he can go out to play. Because he is so good he has around 18? weeks of sick leave built up. Dad, go away and take a break!!!

Uhgg. I feel yucky. Very little food wants to stay down and I keep freaking Collin out every time I run to the restroom. Not to mention Collin has to tell everyone "mommy's sick" or "mommy threw up in Wal Mart today"

I have no energy and my poor kids are bored and restless. I kick them outside frequently but it is starting to get to hot. If Quintin is outside, he has to be watched. For some reason he wants to fill his mouth up with little rocks.

Does anyone have a grapevine? This is the first year our grapevine is producing. The grapes are starting to turn red but they are really dinky. I water them every other day but don't know how to get the grapes bigger. Any ideas?

Official Due Date
December 28!!!!

Joe is a Christmas Eve baby, maybe this one will come before or after Christmas.
(no that is not a picture of Joe)

DQ (doom quilt)

Joe and I went to the OB people a week and a half ago to find out anything about this baby. We got "yep, your pregnant." (duh) and then a "not sure your due date either." So we are going in again this Thursday for an ultrasound to find out how big the baby is. Hopefully insurance will cover this or else I might ask if it is bad to wait until the more "official" ultrasound to find out how pregnant I am.



Anywho, I went to Holbrook for a week while Joe was scout camping, hiking, and heat exhaustioning. The day we arrived in Holbrook Quintin and I got really yucky colds. With that we watched a lot of old dorky movies, Stephen King's The Stand, Jurassic Park marathon and way too many Disney movies. While watching all of these movies, I decided to finish a project I have been holding off for "gulp" six years. During my first year of marriage I made Joe a quilt top for our first Christmas together. I figured I would finish it sitting in the apartment in Flagstaff. Two years later I made the back, got some filling and basted the silly thing. It has sat in the closet ever since waiting in the dark.

My mother in law asked me what I wanted to do this week and putting my head down in shame, said "I don't really want to but I should finish this stupid quilt." We then made jokes about how I was going to be handcuffed to the sewing machine until I was done. ( I think she may have been serious) After at least 5-7 hours a day working on it, except one day when morning sickness did not want me to move, it is DONE. The quilt of doom is done. Finished on June 6th which creeps me out a little. 6 years, 6 months and 6 days. I don't really believe in that stuff but still it is creepy.

Possible Due Date

I looked up one of those online "find out your due date" thingies. Looks like this baby is either going to be a an exact Thanksgiving baby or an exact Christmas baby. Poor little baby.

Well Brie is giving me a wonderful blessing today and it was the perfect day to do so. She took my kids for a few hours. My hormones are all jacked up and just about anything makes me want to cry. I stubbed my toe this morning and it set off the tears. I don't think Quintin has ever seen me cry but he did not like it one bit and he started bawling along with me.
Anywho, I go to see the doctor finally next week to find out how pregnant I am. Yes, I am taking my time. I wanted to get through finals and other stressful messes before we started the doctor visits. How pregnant am I? Who knows. I am not what you would call a "normal" person when it comes to that.....so let's say the due date is Early November-Early January? Maybe even late January?
We are also probably going to start a betting pool to see if we can keep this baby's sex a secret. I am terrible at keeping secrets and waiting for surprises so most of my family has already voted against me. Oh well let's get a due date first and see how long I really do have to wait.

Collin Quote

"Pickles are not vegetables because they taste good"

1+1+1=?

Collin just loves being a big brother!!



Every day they have so much fun!!



Quintin decides to sleep on the idea.


And decides "I want to be one!!!!"(big brother that is)

Big 2

He's not my baby anymore. My little Quintin man has turned 2. He turned 2 last Sunday but we were in the mountains celebrating Allison's first communion so we set the birthday thing aside. Instead we waited til yesterday to throw the big shah bang. We set up a mini water park for the kids including one medium pool, two dink pools, inflatables galore, water guns up the wazoo and a slip n slide. To top it off we had hot dogs and something that I can not pronounce, let alone spell....I want to say squadoosh but I know that is wrong. Ask Leaner or Abenanna. Quintin got bored of opening presents and just wanted to play so we let daddy have a go....very dramatic. Anywho it was wonderful (except the yucky wind)