He's here!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of
William Russell Simonson.

Monday, January 14, 2007, 11:26 pm
8 pounds, 12 ouncer, 21.5 inches long
Mom, Dad, baby Willl, and big sisters Emily and Claudia are doing well.

Our Year in Review

Another year has come and gone and what do we have to show for it? Well, a couple thousand digital photos that will never see the printed page, let alone some fancy scrapbook. In lieu of such obvious things to do with our pictures I decided instead to post some here for the world, or the six of you that read this, to see. Enjoy!

Some highlights:

Spring:

In April, Claudia turned two and she was thrilled just like she is in every other picture we ever take of her.

May was Cinco de Mayo time and our little town puts on quite the party. Here the girls are rocking out. Claudia actually looks happy in this one. She really is a very happy little girl but for some reason the camera brings out here serious side.

Summer:

Here is Claudia both serious and not on her Great-Grandpa Dale's horse farm.

While they raise Arabian horses there he also dabbles in other animals just for fun. Here Emily is riding one of his miniature ponies. It is only slightly larger than our dog.
While Emily was riding the Mama the tiny little baby just followed along behind.

Here Emily is peeking through a whole in the barn trying to see the sheep. She was both incredibly excited by them and a tiny bit terrified that they'd come after her. They never did, although she eventually worked up the courage to try to touch them.

In July, Grandma Marilyn took Our family and Eric's sister's family to Kansas City for a long weekend. The girls were giddy in the car the entire way there and home. I have no idea what got in to them but I wish that I could bottle it. Lately we can't get across town without them complaining that the five minute ride is too long. I have to say though, I'll take 1000 crabby 5 minute rides across town for the joy of two four hour rides to another state.

The girls loved watching the fountain outside our hotel room, if not actually playing in it.

What they did love was the party room our hotel turned into with the addition of their four cousins... and Eric.

Also in July, RAGBRAI (The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa, or something to that effect) came by our town. The girls loved watching all the bicycles going by... for about 20 minutes, then they'd had enough.

Luckily there were huge slices of watermelon to save the day.

Claudia and Daddy have a moment in the sunset at Aunt Lynn's house.

Autumn:
In September, Claudia was so thrilled to be at the ultrasound where we found out that we were having a boy that she fell asleep. Emily was so excited that she chose to go to a friend's house rather than come at all.

In October, Emily turned five and continued her love... um, obsession... with all things Curious George. I think that it goes without saying that I had no part in making this cake, unless you count picking up the phone to order it and writing the check to pay for it having a hand in making it.

Also in October, we took our annual death-defying ride atop a local fire truck in celebration of Fire Safety Week. It was freezing cold and as always, there were tree branches to hit the adults in the head at 30 miles and hour and daredevil kids hanging off the side.

Winter:
Here, in early December, the girls played for hours with a fleece blanket that we got last year as a gift at a grab bag Christmas party. Who needs a toy when you have a blanket?

And finally, earlier this month, the girls took a "Big Sister" class in anticipation of their brother's arrival. It is put on by the hospital where I will have my c-section and the girls learn such things as how to hold a baby and how to change a diaper. Even with their new-found skills I think I am unlikely to let either of the girls change many diapers, let alone do the babysitting that Emily is convinced that she is ready for.

The happiest kids in the world

I have uploaded the photo of the girls on Santa's lap for those that have been waiting on the edge of their seats. And really, when it comes down to it, who isn't waiting on the edge of their seats to see other people's children on Santa's lap. I know I am.

In any case, either scroll down the page or click here. http://simonsongirls.blogspot.com/2007/11/getting-their-requests-in-early.html

I swear to you they really did like going to see him.

Really.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

When a state-wide winter storm and ice warning is sent out many families decide to stay in for the weekend. Not us! In fact, there is rarely a weekend that you won't see us making the hour-long trek to Eric's parent's house for the weekend. This icy, cold one, where we fully expect that we might get stuck away from home, or even on the road, is no exception.


In fact, early this year Eric actually drove us here in snow that had piled up higher than the van and had been cleared only in a single car wide path on the highway. We, in our cruddy old van that held our beloved small children, ventured down this path only to come upon a car heading right toward us. After a small stand off we ended up backing up almost a mile, uphill, through blinding snow in a car wide path of six foot high snow. We are not the smartest people that you know.



Even still Eric and the girls are enjoying the icy covering in the backyard.

Ben, our dog, likes it too.

Getting their requests in early

This is a picture the the Ft. Dodge paper put on their website after the girls and I were caught visiting Santa on Friday. If there is a less attractive position for a very pregnant woman to be in than squatting down, I can't imagine what it is.

Here Santa is asking the girls what they would like for Christmas and I am translating from very quiet, shy girl speak into English. The two girls ahead of us in line had each written a book, the heft of which would rival War and Peace, of their wish lists. My girls are much less greedy. One thing makes them as happy as a hundred.

When Santa asked Emily what she wanted she said a fish, that's it, nothing else. "Really?" Santa inquired, "Nothing else?" she said, "Mmm, maybe a tank for the fish." (Hear that Dean and Cynthia?)

Next Santa asked Claudia what she wanted. She answered, eyeing the box of candy canes that Santa gives to all the children that come to see him, and said that she wanted a candy cane. "Anything else?" asked Santa. No, that was pretty much all she wanted.

Here are the girls on Santa's lap. Clearly they are thrilled.

Halloween!

Ahh, Halloween! Here Claudia (as a Lion) and Emily (as a bride) sit just before heading off to trick-or-treat on Wednesday.

Although we did have a big, uncarved pumpkin on our front step you cannot see it in this photo as someone took it earlier in the week. We have decided that it was a poor child that could not afford a pumpkin of his or her own and not a total jerk that was just trying to be mean. Somehow roving bands of poor pumpkin less children make us feel better about our loss.

There was a smashed pumpkin in the street around the block from our house. Luckily, it was a pumpkin that had clearly been carved and so, although there was a great sadness about the destroyed pumpkin, the girls didn't seem to suspect that it may have been our beloved, still missing pumpkin splatted there in the street. The girls were obsessed for two days by the pumpkin roadkill, begging me to drive that way home any time we were out. They would crane their necks to look out the windows while pleading, "Drive slower! Please slow down so we can see it!" Then, once they had worked up the courage, the three of us walked over to see it up close and that seemed to give them the closure they needed.

Also, in general, we do not have a mini trampoline sitting against our front steps but we are in the process of fall cleaning and everything is being cleaned and stored (or at least moved somewhere else) and this trampoline was on it's way to the garage for the winter.

From out of the mouths of super hereos

At Emily's Halloween party on Wednesday another mother and I were approached by a little boy in a Spiderman costume that was quilted in such a way as to make him look muscular.

We smiled our little room mother smiles and then he looked up at us and asked, "I really like being Spiderman and all, but why do I have these big boobs?"