Simon Abner Bergquist

The Bergquist family is proud to welcome Simon Abner Bergquist, born at 11:32 p.m. November 25 at University Hospital in Ann Arbor. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches long. Daddy, Mommy and big brother Harmon have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Three-year photos

The Friday before Harmon’s birthday party, my sister, Stacey, was kind enough to take his three-year photos. Stacey, my Mom and I got him all dressed up in his brown-themed Baby Gap gear and headed to Gallup Park. I thought this would be a great spot for photos because he loves going there with my Mom on Wednesdays. We did lots of photos – some along the many trails, some near the water, some near the rocks – and they all turned out great! The one at left is the main photo we’ll give out to our family members AND include in our holiday card/birth announcement. Check out our Flickr page to see the other SIX photos we chose (we just couldn’t narrow it down).

Many, many thanks to Stacey, once again, for her great photography skills!

Birthday – Part II

While the big party was before his birthday, we STILL wanted to do something special with Harmon on his actual birthday. So, Kevin and I decided to go into work a little late on Nov. 12 and take him to breakfast. Since he loves pancakes, we decided to introduce him to an Ann Arbor classic – Angelo’s! Harmon had his usual – pancakes, sausage and milk – and Kevin and I had pancakes too (my chocolate chip ones were AWESOME). We also got him two SMALL presents – the Backyardigans’ Austin and If you Give a Cat a Cupcake. After that exciting morning, we left him with my Mom and sister, Stacey, to have more fun on his birthday!

Third birthday party

On Nov. 8, we celebrated Harmon’s third birthday with a small family party. Because he’s been in love with the Backyardigans lately, we did a Backyardigans-themed party. Unfortunately, we didn’t do a good enough job of hiding the decorations and presents. We hid them away in Simon’s room – a place he never goes – but he must have sensed it and sniffed them out.

After dinner, we headed to the basement to open WAY too many presents. Kevin’s parents got him a tricycle, among other things. My parents and sister, Stacey, got him a ton of clothes as well as some classic games like Hungry Hungry Hippos and Let’s Go Fishin’. His BIG gift from us was the LeapFrog ClickStart My First Computer. He got many other things too and loved them all! He did not, however, love being the center of attention for the singing and the cake. In fact, it freaked him out and he cried as we sang. And, he wasn’t the least bit interested in his cake.

Overall, I think he had a great time and everyone was so happy just to be with him!

FAIL

God, I SO suck at blog updates lately. I’m 36 weeks' pregnant and TRYING to prepare for Simon’s arrival; I’m worrying about Harmon; I’m thinking about the Thanksgiving dinner I’m not going to enjoy; I’m wondering HOW I’m going to get my Christmas shopping done; AND I’m trying to work a very busy few more days before I go on maternity leave. I have ALL KINDS OF BLOG TOPICS on my mind but just haven’t gotten to them – forgive me. In the very near future, I plan to write about Harmon’s third birthday, his first trip to the movies, his three-year photos AND the differences between the Harmon and Simon pregnancies. Those are four topics that are top of mind, for starters.

In the meantime, as Kevin and I were driving to work this morning, we were talking about Harmon and how his life is now versus how it will be in just over two weeks. Here is a direct quote from Kevin, which was hilarious:

“He’s got a good gig! He gets to stay in his jammies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; he has show-and-tell on Thursday; and Tuesday is garbage truck day. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

Three!

Harmon, you are three today! I remember when our friends with kids used to tell us just how fast time went by AFTER you have kids. We thought time went by FAST ENOUGH on it’s own but, they were right, with kids it’s like warp speed! It seems like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital in your orange kangaroo outfit. We put your car seat in the middle of the living room floor and thought, wow, what do we do now? After three years, though, I think we’ve got it figured out! Then again, you’ve made it pretty easy on us by being such a good boy.

From the beginning, you’ve been relatively laid back and pretty low maintenance. You’ve been so healthy (knock on wood) and that may be because you got a jump start on most other babies by being born over nine pounds! You’ve always been a great eater – we’ve really had no problems with formula or any foods – save for the eggs and the fish that one time (we should probably test those things again). You never once fussed about all those incoming teeth (we still can’t believe it). You were quick to sleep through the night and you did great when we moved you to your crib. You also were easy to break from both your bottle and your binky. And, being that you’re a boy, I must admit that the potty training has gone relatively well too although Daddy can attest there were days I thought you would NEVER get it.

You’ve been a blabbermouth since you started yelling “dadadadada” when you were six months old and your language today makes us simply shake our heads. We just can’t believe all the things that come out of your mouth! So, while you thanked us for your birthday presents, we thank you:

For your brown eyes
For your perfect profile
For suddenly showing people that you look like Mommy, too
For all your snuggles and hugs
For telling Daddy “you have a big belly”
For your manners (most of the time)
For smiling and posing for more than 1,500 photos (so far!)
For being so loving to all of your family members
For serenading Mommy with shouts of “Mama!” when she comes out of work
For being a fan of Coach Rod (even if you didn’t want to say ‘Hi’ to him)
For being excited about being a big brother
For being a good boy at “school”
For being gentle with your “little sister” Isabel
For dancing in the living room and shaking your booty
For the voicemails when you wake up from Friday naps and say “Hi, Daddy”
For sitting through three quarters of two Michigan football games
For knowing the words to “The Victors”
For being so good on the potty, even telling us, “I’m going to be here another minute”
For all of your singing, even if it is the Backyardigans theme ad nauseum
For the happiest three years of our lives
For being you

We love you, Harmon

Witnessing history

Last night, almost 64 million Americans went to the polls and elected Barack Obama as this nation’s 44th president. It was a landslide, a mandate of sorts, that Americans wanted change and Obama was the clear choice to bring about that change. Of course, after eight long and horrible years of the Bush administration – which I’m sure will go down in history as the worst presidential administration of all time – it’s crazy to think there were people out there that didn’t want change!

Anyway, as I watched MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann call the election in favor of Obama just seconds after 11 p.m. (when the polls closed on the West Coast), I began to cry. I didn’t think I would but I did and there were SO many reasons for these tears of joy – reasons I hadn’t come to grips with until I saw people celebrating in the streets like it was New Year’s Eve.

I looked at the crowd that gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park and it was in stark contrast to those that had gathered for McCain’s concession speech in Arizona just moments earlier. While McCain’s crowd consisted of mostly white supporters, Obama’s crowd was a true melting pot – white, brown and black and young and old alike. It was amazing to see so many different people together supporting one man to bring about the change that most of us have desired for so long.

While I recognize what Obama means to the black race and all they have endured throughout history and while I am SO happy to be able to see and be a part of this historical election, Obama’s election means so much more. These are 10 things that ran through my head as I listened to him once again speak so eloquently to the American people. I thought about having a president who:

1. Is intelligent, thoughtful, diplomatic, calm and steady.
2. Is willing to work with others and doesn’t live by the rule “it’s my way or the highway.”
3. Will listen and consider the opinions and thoughts of others, even if they differ from his.
4. Will restore our standing in the world.
5. Will value the military and will consider all other options before sending our men and women off to war.
6. Will tell the truth.
7. Will fight for all Americans, not just the wealthy ones.
8. Will fight for our children – especially when it comes to things like education and health care.
9. Will bring us together, not divide us.
10. Will inspire us, not scare us.

I could go on and on but I’ll stop after just two more things.

I can’t wait until Harmon reads his first history book and asks me about this historic election. I will be so excited to tell him all about it. I will tell him how important it was and how – even at almost three years old – he was totally into it yelling “It’s Barack Obama, Mama” every time he saw Obama on TV or saw that wonderful Obama logo on magnets, stickers, billboards and yard signs!

And lastly, from the moment the election was called until much later when I finally went to bed, Simon kicked me like crazy (more than usual, which is saying a lot). It was like he knew what was going on outside and he wanted to get out and be a part of it all. And, honestly, today, I can breathe a little easier about bringing him into this NEW world.

VOTE!

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