Blur

Life seems to be going so fast that it's all a blur since my last entry. I think I'll just skip September and cover October. I was busy with the foundation fall fundraiser. I started a Facebook page for the group and did a couple of fun public relations photo shoots, including one where I held $10,000. The fundraiser was held the night after Simon's first birthday so that was an incredibly busy weekend.

Simon is such a snuggly guy. He grins when people hug him. He's gone from being somewhat of a challenge to a complete joy. I love this age.

We took a number of pictures from his birthday party, which I'll print and put into his time capsule. Here's a few. He wasn't all that excited about his cake, but he was a good sport.

 I think he got more cake into his eye than his mouth.

 The whole family, including my sister that lives in Des Moines were there to celebrate. Fun was had by all.

 Simon's favorite things to do right now include sitting in chairs, throwing things at people, and snuggling.

 We had an orange theme going one day.

 Halloween was really fun this year. Mina insisted on drawing her own jack o lantern design.

 Mina was Cat Woman. I was happy she didn't want to be anything scary.

 Charlotte made an adorable Wonder Woman. Don't tell, but this was my favorite of the costumes.

 Simon didn't care for his clown hat, but maybe Nana was able to get a decent picture. I sure didn't.

 He looked cute anyway (both boys).

Mina has been loving kindergarten. She strives to move up the behavior chart into pink or purple. So far she's gotten pink twice. She's working on reading and has wonderful handwriting. Mina has also lost five teeth and has a sixth wiggly one. When we pick her up from school, she says good-bye to everyone she sees and greets them by name. I love how social and kind she is. Mina is a people pleaser.

Charlotte is really growing in preschool. She loves playing with her friend Zoey. She's learning to zip her coat up all by herself and is pretty patient about it for the most part. She's convinced she has some wiggly teeth, but she doesn't. Charlotte plays so nicely with her brother when Mina is at school. She has a very strong personality, but she makes me laugh. She can be incredibly sweet.

Simon has six teeth and is learning to walk. He's taken a few steps, but he prefers to crawl. He lights up a whole room with his grins. I can't help but smooch on him whenever he's in my arms. It's kind of a challenge to kiss his neck while he's nursing. He's sleeping well and loves to play independently sometimes. He's really good about getting dropped off at the gym's kid care almost every weekday. I'm so thankful for that.

Jon has been busy dealing with the RV and working. He's also been going to CrossFit almost every weekday at 6am. He's improving all the time. He went kite boarding with the best man from our wedding in early October.

I've been a busy lady. The foundation has been taking up a decent chunk of time between the fundraiser and future planning. I'm still active in the local MOMs group and have meetings for that almost every week since I'm on the planning committee. I was asked to be on the associate pastor search committee and will start having weekly meetings for that important task soon. My house is a disaster, but I'm getting by. Jon is so helpful and so are my parents and Jon's parents. My sister, Emily, picks up Mina from school a few days a week so Simon and Charlotte can take uninterrupted naps. I am so incredibly blessed.

And once again, Simon is up. However, he just took a three hour nap. YAY! I bet he's ready for some smooches.