The Simmons Crew: 06.10

27.6.10

Teddy photos

Here are some new pics of Teddy, mostly per family requests. I need to take more 'fun' ones, but this'll do for now. He sleeps a lot, is a great eater, and just so much fun to snuggle and watch. We love having his sweet spirit in our home!

How sweet is he? I love this picture...

Newborns pull the funniest faces.....he has the grin of the Grinch here :)

For some reason he looks so big here!

Happy Birthday Derek!

This week has been crazy with our new family of four and Derek's busy work schedule that I didn't have time to wish Derek a HAPPY HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY! A few weeks ago I threw him a surprise birthday party (pictures to come soon) just in case the baby came....and boy am I glad that I did!

I still wanted to make his birthday feel special somehow, so I managed to sneak in a gift, put a few decorations up, and had his parents grab some yummy Thai Pasta and Baskin Robbins Bday pie. It wasn't exactly over the top, but it was fun spending it as a new little family.

Derek is such an amazing father and husband and continues to amaze me with his zest for life, dedication and hard work, and love and patience for Jack, Teddy and myself. There is nothing he can't do when he puts his mind to it, he is an amazing friend to everyone, and I just love going through life's journeys with him. I love you sweetheart!

23.6.10

Theodore James Simmons

Saturday I was paddle boarding, and two days later we got an early surprise! ... And surprised we were! We had a full week of plans (including our anniversary, Derek's Bday, business school gathering, a heavy work load, a baby shower, you get the point...) but those quickly got pushed aside.

Teddy came almost 2 weeks early. I felt my water break in the middle of the night on Sunday, but just slowly, and no contractions. I wasn't exactly sure if it had indeed ruptured, so Monday morning we went to the Dr. to get it checked out, and sure enough I was going to have a baby. We were admitted into the hospital, after which Derek took Jack home so Bill and Nina could watch him (Thank you!!). The contractions mildly began around noon so I got an epidural and pitocin. About 4 hours later the contractions started to really hurt and all of a sudden I was fully dilated and the baby was coming. No more than 5 pushes later we welcomed Teddy into the world. It was a night and day experience from Jack to Teddy. I can actually think about having another one, where with Jack that wasn't going to happen any time soon!

Theodore James Simmons was born at 5:34 pm, weighed in at a tiny 5 lbs 9 oz and 17 in long. He is just a little squirt but is as cute as can be! It's amazing to think that Jack was this tiny size just a few years ago!

Bill and Nina brought Jack over to visit and see baby brother. He was so excited to see him and wanted to hold him and give him kisses. But I think he got more excited about the fun new toy baby brother brought for him.

He has been a great little guy, just as precious as can be. I can be completely content with just staring at little Teddy for hours on end. It is an adjustment going from two to one, but I'm sure we will figure it out. I just love our little family and the newest addition to it!

19.6.10

Lately

We've been keeping super busy lately, enjoying our time with just the three musketeers until we become a family of 4. A while back we headed up to Dana Point for a 'stay-cation'. Since baby boy is coming smack in the middle of summer, we don't really have time for a vacation. Luckily, Derek's parents have a timeshare there, right at the beach, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We really treated it like a vacation. We went to the beach, Derek got to surf a bunch (T-Street, Salt Creek and Lowers), went walking on the beach trail, visited the Spectrum, ate out, went swimming at Ladera and Talega, and met up with lots of friends. Unfortunately I only took pictures one day when we went to the beach with the Mullen's (but we sure had fun!).

Living a bit more inland has its perks, as we don't get too much of the June Gloom our way. So, we've been having tons of fun at the pool and playing outside. Here we are hiking Elfin Forest one day.

Last weekend we went out to Lake Elsinore to meet up with friends, swim and bbq. Later the boys all went golfing while us girls played at home and took the kids to the farm. (btw- it has the best chocolate milk ever!)

This weekend has been super fun. Friday night we had a little family outing to Pizza Port and the Park in Solano Beach. Jack loved playing the games and of course made instant friends at the park. (He is really into playing with 'friends'.....pretty much anyone and everyone. He's always been that way, but really verbalizes it now).

Saturday we went to the Carlsbad Lagoon with some friends to enjoy the Paddleboard Demo Day. Parking, water usage, and boards were all free. Jack could not get enough of "surfing" and paddling with Dad. He would just sit in a froggy position and enjoy the ride. I even got out there, with less than 2 weeks to go in my pregnancy. Balance was a bit tough, but atleast I never fell over. We had a great time (thanks to Alan & Elke for supplying us with some boards!).