Where has time gone??

Greetings everyone!!

So it's been a long time since I last posted. We are busy as every enjoying Zoe and Wrigley and all of the activities we do as a family, including snuggle time and our down time!!!!

So a recap on events:
January -- Zoe got both of her teeth this month and really started to roll herself over.
February -- Long wintry month and cold!!! I kept busy with working and grad school while Zoe, Wrigley & Chris held down the fort at home. Chris and I went to the Men's Badger Hockey Classic at Camp Randall, that was a blast and I got out of class early to attend the game, beautiful!!! Zoe had her first Valentines Day and got a lot of cards from her "Valentines" out there, thank you everyone. She really started drooling and those pesky teeth are just bothering her but the next ones aren't popping through just yet! Zoe also had a lunch date with Papa Flynn & Grandpa Simon.... the stories are hillarious, you'll have to ask them for their versions!!
March -- Oh lots to celebrate! First it was Daddy's Birthday and we went to the Nitty Gritty for dinner with Gramma & Grampa Ensign, Grandpa Simon & Quynh. Zoe had a great time watching everyone and taking everything in. When she started to get a bit fussy I gave her my pickle spear and low and behold, she LOVED it!!! She sucked it dry and wanted more and more, so we passed the baby to the next pickle, what fun! Then it was mommy's birthday and St. Paddy's day. Zoe went to great grandma Endres' house and wore one shamrock outfit and changed into the other one for a night out to the Blue Moon for dinner for my birthday. Quynh's reaction was: "Why is everyone wearing green?" When we explained it was St. Patrick's Day, she said, "But we aren't in Ireland" ... oh the silly things we Americans do for fun! Zoe is still working on those teeth, she has such a chapped chin from drooling and chewing so much, poor baby girl! Wrigley is going for walks with Zoe and I after work and "The Simon Girls" love their walks,,, I just can't wait for nicer weather to get out more and longer. Zoe is rolling everywhere now and pushing herself up to a sit with little assistance. She is also trying to pull herself up to a stand when she gets near something that will hold her. So far not successful, thank goodness. She does love to jump in her jumper and is pointing at things with her pointer finger. Zoe's bigger accomplishment this March was that she finished her first parent & child swim lesson and even got her Red Cross certificate of completion. We are all ready for the next session, she is a fish in water and just loves to go to the pool and swim!!!!!! I am so happy for that!

I am just amazed and in awe at my family! I could sit and watch Zoe all day, watch her interact with Wrigley is funny too, Wrigley doesn't think so though, and the bond between her and Chris is just amazing!

Sorry there aren't any pictures with this post but oh well! Until next time, hopefully it isn't this long again, but hey I am impressed that I can keep up this well with an almost 8month old baby :) Cheers!!

Saturday at the Simon House ...

Well it's just a Saturday here at the Simon house ... Zoe woke up this morning just cooing in her crib and entertaining the mobile animals and her bear for oh about a half hour. When we finally went in she was all smiles and ready to start her day! After breakfast and some laundry we took this video of her working on her sitting up skills. She is doing such a great job sitting on her own and correcting herself when her balance is off. Later this morning we are going to go to hockey, I have to work, and she is going to Jane's house to visit with Nick, Ben and Jane for the afternoon. After that it's off to Gramma & Grampa's so that Chris can do our taxes and see if this little "Tax Deduction" helps us out this year while I work on homework for my Grad Class!! Zoe gets to play with Gramma and the exchange students staying with them right now, Quinn! I am not sure if that's how she spells her name but that's how it's pronounced!

Time Flies ...

So it's been a LONG time since I updated the blog ... a ton has happened as you can imagine. But I think that I am getting caught up somewhat. There won't be any pictures, sad I know but too much has happened since my last blog in late October, early November, so here are the highlights:
NOVEMBER:
Thanksgiving- Zoe rolled over for the first time and was cheered on at the Simon's Thanksgiving dinner... she had a great time hanging out with new family that she hadn't met yet!!

DECEMBER:
1. Had Flynn's Thanksgiving here at our house and Zoe was baptized, Keelee Stoehr and Uncle Patrick Flynn are her Godparents. All of this occurred on the same weekend...what was I thinking??? Uncle Mike & Aunt Stacey brought Zoe the biggest monkey to add to her Zoo of animals!!
2. Zoe got a bad cold, which then lead to 5th's diseas and the poor baby had the most terrible rash all over her body which we are still trying to get rid of ... and the driest skin around!
3. Tried solids for the first time, she wasn't having it but that was at the start of the bad cold!
4. Working on rolling over and getting much better at it :)
5. Nana visited and was eating a cookie and Zoe practically reached into her mouth to get the cookie so we decided it was time to try rice cereal again and SUCCESS!!! She loved it!
6. Christmas,,, oh boy were we busy ... Christmas Eve at Gramma and Grandpa Ensing's then off to Great Grandma Endres's to meet all the Endres cousins, Christmas Morning Grandpa Simon came over and spent the morning with us! Zoe got another huge animal for her Zoo a white Tiger!!! Then we were headed to IL for the Flynn Christmas for a few days. Zoe had a great time sitting on Santa's lap, opening gifts .. well just wanting to tear the paper so that she could try to eat it. She realized that the gift paper tasted better than the tissue paper!!
7. Daddy had vacation over Christmas so we did a lot of hanging out and shopping and snuggling and just doing the family thing which was wonderful!

JANUARY:
1. Mommy went back to school and we started a new daycare situation. Toni now stays with Zoe all 4 days a week and she gets to spend Tuesday afternoons with Great Grandma Endres which is fun too!!
2. Zoe started eating oatmeal, adding to her selection of foods ... then we moved onto sweet peas and squash .. She totally loves the new foods! Tomorrow we will be starting pears! I was eating a nectarine the other day and before I knew it she was leaned over while I was holding her and she was sucking away. I suppose you can't get anymore "Natural" than the real fruit itself!
3. Still rolling around and very very close to crawling. She can get up on her knees and scoots on her forehead, ouch! But she just rolls everywhere when she can't get to something! She is also sitting up with minimal support now, which is cool.
4. Zoe is really squealing and communicating with us. She is such an incredibly happy baby! She loves to talk to you and laugh and giggle.
5. FIRST TOOTH!!! Out of no where we realized that Zoe was getting a tooth! Watch out when you put your finger in her mouth, ouch!!!
6. Swim lessons started a couple of weeks ago. Zoe is such a natural in class, trying to put her face in, grabbing and popping the bubbles that I blow and in general just being a silly giggly little girl in the water, she just loves it! I have Thursday's off from teaching and so we go to parent child classes in the morning then just chill the rest of the day. Sometimes we do some shopping or errands but usually right after lessons she is wiped out and naps :)

Well I suppose that's the easiest way to update the blog ... I am not sure if I will have pictures or just link the snapfish account to the blog .. either way I will make sure that some pictures are up for everyone to view!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Forgot about some October Fun

The weekend of Wisconsin's Homecoming we had some visitors ... The Van Oss family ... Tom, Jackie & Emma ... Zoe wasn't sure what to think of Emma but they had fun! It was so nice to see Tom and Chris as two proud daddies of beautiful little girls!! Hopefully they will grow up and be as good of friends as their daddies are!

Grandpa came over and had some snuggle time with Zoe at dinner. She loves Grandpa Simon and likes it when he comes over to visit.

Zoe also had some wardrobe changes ... the little denim dress was just too cute to pass up as was the "Little Black Dress" onsie. Anything she wears is cute on her!!

Wrigley thought that tummy time was over for Zoe and thought that she needed some time on Zoe's blanket ... she is a cutie pie too! Then there was daddy and Zoe in the Bjorn getting ready for a walk. We weren't sure if she'd like the Bjorn but before we knew it she was out like a light while we were walking!!

We are so enjoying the time with family and friends and introducing Zoe to new people and experiences. She seems to be enjoying it too!!!

USF Football - Pat's Last Game - Love ya #4

Yesterday I flew solo to Pat's last football game of his college days! The weather was awesome and even though they lost it was still a great day with family. We celebrated his success each and every weekend by supporting and watching him play. Zoe made it to 3 games this season which was fun and an adventure in itself!!! I think that Patrick enjoyed that. Zoe stayed home yesterday since we weren't sure what the weather would be like and Chris got the house ready for winter. While Chris was doing that cousins Michelle and Amanda came over and watched miss Zoe while he was outside. She seemed to have had a lot of fun!!!

After the game Mikey left for his engagement party and Pat, Mom, Dad & I went for a bite to eat before they all headed to the party as well. Chris and I missed the party but really hope that Mike & Stacey enjoyed the night and we will have to get caught up at Thanksgiving!

Thanks Patrick for some fun football Saturday's!! We wish you the best of luck and hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. Whether we were there in person or listening on line you were in our thoughts each and every game day! Love you little brother!!!! xoxoxoxo

Zoe's Got Mail

Zoe received her first package the other day from her Great Aunt Laura and cousins Hannah and Jake from Reno. They sent her 2 sets of animal hats and gloves, cute frog and ducks and a cute pink outfit with bows for her hair (someday) that are as big as her head but very cute! The other pictures are of her in her outfit from Nana with matching vest like mine. On Sunday it was so nice out that Zoe got to hang outside with us while her big sister got a bath. Good times!!!

First Trip to Cabin 2009

I had two days off last week so our mini vacation started with a visit from Marcia, Daria and Jane. We had a great morning chatting and passing off babies and getting caught up! Daria is such a tiny little squirt compared to Zoe but she is 9 weeks younger too!

After the visit Wrigley went to stay the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Ensign while the rest of us headed up to the cabin. Zoe, Chris and I met Grandpa Simon, Nana & Papa at the Cabin up in Park Falls, WI. Zoe slept the whole trip up which was nice and went right to sleep shortly after we arrived.

That weekend was Nana's birthday so I made an apple pie, well 2 of them, and made a pumpkin out of the dough for the 2nd pie ... we didn't have flour for the pie so I used a secret ingredient instead, can't tell ya or I'd have to kill you! And I think that those pies were my best yet this fall!!! Cheated and bought the crust, oh well.

Saturday was Zoe's first of 2 things. Her first Halloween and her first snowfall. I couldn't resist putting her in her Pumpkin outfit and getting her out in the snow for a few pictures. Then it was another wardrobe change into her Badger gear for the game. She insisted on lifting up her skirt, good thing that she had her warm snugly pants outfit Aunt Keelee bought her!!!

So since Chris was sick all of the weekend with a head cold, Zoe got to spend a lot of time hanging out with Nana & Papa. It was sure nice having a lot of family around this weekend since Chris was sick. The dogs loved to keep tabs on Zoe too all weekend.

We came home on Sunday and Zoe snoozed the whole ride home too, and I tried but didn't get too many zzzz's on the way home but did get a few. We made it home just in time to see Farve beat the green and gold packers! Zoe and I both put on our purple and cheered for the Vikings! It's always fun to tease daddy and Grandpa Simon about the Packers!!!!! Go Bears!!??!!