Thursday, September 25, 2008

My gift ...

... for dealing with almost-constant nausea; for getting kicked in the rib cage 24/7; and for having to get sliced open like a melon to bring Simon into the world.

Thank you, Kevin! I likey!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Coach Rod has made up Miles of ground

Last Saturday, as Michigan was self-destructing in the first five minutes of its game at Notre Dame, Aimee received a text message. It very well could have been a "What are they doing?" or "Can anyone catch the ball?" or even, "I told you about Coach Rod" (the last one from one of our "seasonal" Notre Dame friends). But, it wasn't a sharing of distress and no foul language was present. Nope, in fact, it was a simple message from one of Aimee's sisters: "He is so hot." And that little statement tells a lot about Coach Rod's status in our household.

At the moment that Les Miles finally put to bed the rumors that he would become the next coach at Michigan (displayed at the bottom of ESPN News), Aimee, like many Michigan fans, was devastated. Not only was Miles the heir apprarent to the Michigan head coaching job and Bo's mini-Me, Aimee likes the way he looks in his white trucker hat. Now that the Coach Rod era is well under way here in Ann Arbor, Coach Rod not only has made up distance on Miles in terms of popularity, he also has endeared himself to Aimee. Just ask her about her "ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod" moment.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Delayed 34-month update

Harmon turned 34 months old last Friday, Sept. 12. I completely dropped the ball on his 34-month update as we spent most of last weekend a) dodging monsoon-like rains and b) moving out of our den so it can become Harmon’s NEW bedroom.

He is doing well, despite a bit of a cold this week. We couldn’t remember the last time he even had the sniffles so that’s a good thing. As I said above, he is getting ready for the move to his new-and-improved, big-boy room. Our goal is for him to sleep in it Saturday night so we’ll see how that goes (and I’ll post pictures and an update on this separately). In addition to being excited about his new room, he’s also already excited for Halloween. It’s not so much for the candy (he still isn’t really a fan of sweets), it’s more for the decorations and his costume (to be revealed at a later date). He loves all the pumpkin lights we put up and also loves the costume we chose for him this year. He loves it so much that he cried big time when I had to take it off him after trying it on JUST to make sure it fit. Looks like we have another Halloween lover in the family!

The move to his new classroom at school has gone really well. He is excited to go all the time, especially on Thursdays when it’s show-and-tell day. The first week, he took his baby leopard and, today, he took his sea otter that my sister, Stacey, got him from the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. He has so much more independence in this classroom and that’s been great for him, with the exception of lunch time. He’s barely touched his lunch lately and we’re not sure if it’s because he’s too busy having fun OR there’s no one telling him he has to eat every bite. We’re hoping it improves but we’re pretty sure he’s not going to starve!

In thinking about ideas for his birthday, we’re at a loss because he’s still so in love with his cars. Cars and books are STILL his two favorite things with his stuffed animals running a distant third. He finally LOVES his Dr. Seuss books, which is good because I had to go through his library and remove some of his baby books. He was happy, though, to store them for Simon! One new development has been coloring. He is way into it now and wants to color every day. He’ll draw things and then tell us what they are and we work constantly on identifying, writing and matching letters, numbers, shapes and colors. He has one dot-to-dot book that he really likes so I’m going to have to find more workbooks like these to challenge him.

We’re ALMOST there with the potty training. Accidents are few and far between and, if there are any, they usually are of the pee variety. He’s been wearing underwear a lot at home and we’ve been easing him into them when we leave the house for walks or quick errands. He’s good at telling us when he has to go and is getting a lot better at just getting in the bathroom and getting on the potty himself. We’re SO close!

He says the funniest things lately too, as he develops more and more vocabulary. Lately, he wants to “throw things in the woods and get them all dirty” and, if you ask him about his pull-up or underwear, he’ll tell you, “yeah, I think it’s still pretty dry.” Sometimes he just rattles off paragraphs of stuff and it makes our heads spin. Kevin and I feel like he talks 24/7! Since it’s the season for political talk (VOTE OBAMA), we’ve noticed he might be a future lobbyist as he tends to LOBBY HARD for the things he wants. For example, when we’re out walking, he will badger us to no end and ask us, in every different way imaginable, if he can go to the park. Most of the time, it’s cute, but, sometimes, it’s like ENOUGH!

Since I love the fall and winter, this is an exciting time for me because I can start to build his cold-weather wardrobe AND pick out his outfit for his three-year photos! Although there are more girl clothes to choose from out there, I couldn’t possibly have more fun dressing a girl than I have dressing Harmon. Then again, he’s easy to make look cute!

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Are you ready for some football?

On Saturday, we took Harmon to his first Michigan football game. Our plan was to do it for the Minnesota game last year but it rained so we had to postpone the big event until this year. While we have four season tickets in our name, we figured it would be awhile until the four of us (Simon included) could enjoy a game together so we gave away two of them. The problem THIS year, though, is that there are three of us and only two tickets (and, yes, ALL people must be accounted for no matter how young). So, I decided to take Harmon in with me first and then Kevin joined us after kickoff when a nice, older couple gave him a free ticket they weren’t using.

Kevin dropped us off on East Stadium Boulevard, near the entrance to Crisler Arena so we only had a short walk to our section. On that walk, though, Harmon LOVED seeing all the police cars and all the construction. We got inside just in time for the band to take the field and, although he was scared by the noise at first, he quickly joined in and sang “The Victors” with everyone else in the stadium. It was so sweet to seeing him “hailing” with his little right arm – that’s my boy! We are huge fans of Coach Rod so it’s not uncommon for Harmon to see him on TV or on the computer, not to mention the fact that we met him a few weeks ago. So, on Saturday, he was all fired up to see Coach Rod! When he led the team out of the tunnel I tried to point him out but Harmon simply liked seeing all the little maize and blue winged helmets bobbing up and down like bumblebees! At kickoff, people hold up their hats and twirl them around and Harmon decided to join in this tradition too. After watching each team’s opening drive (ours included a TD), we went to the concession stand to get some lunch. Harmon got a hot dog and a bottled water and was a hit with everyone he saw (I’m sure the name and the block M hat helped). We got back to our seats just in time for Kevin to arrive and then we all got to enjoy the rest of the half together.

At halftime, Harmon burned off lots of boy energy running around near the entrance gates and Kevin ate a late lunch. Our goal going in was through AT LEAST the first half of the game with Harmon – and we had achieved that – so we decided to get greedy and try for more. We ended up making it to the fourth quarter but it got a little rough. Harmon got bored and it got warmer and he drank a ton of water and, thus, had to go potty 100,000 times so we finally called it a day. On our way out, we got some cute pictures and, overall, I think it went well – Harmon was pretty well behaved and we all had fun. We might try another game later in the year just so he starts to love Michigan football just as much as Kevin and I do!

Friday, September 05, 2008

It was all good just a week ago

Last Friday night, after another yummy dinner at Pizza House, Kevin, Harmon and I went for a long walk around town. Instead of going south toward the athletic campus, we decided to head north – mostly so Harmon could see the fire trucks at the downtown fire station (located on Fifth, just north of Huron). We took Huron back to the car and passed by the Campus Inn. The football team stays at this hotel the night before home games but we’ve been by it a thousand times without incident so I wasn’t expecting any excitement as we passed by the main entrance. However, as we walked past the secondary entrance, I glanced back and immediately grabbed Kevin’s arm all the while trying not to yell “ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!” Just as I had glanced back, Coach Rod had glanced toward the street! I looked at Kevin and we KNEW we had to stop. What other opportunity would we have to meet U-M’s new football coach, especially with our connections to the athletic department dwindling! So, we turned around and made our way back to the hotel. He was speaking with some media types so we patiently waited our turn. When he was done, he turned around all smiles and Kevin introduced us all. Let me just say that a 2 ½-year-old is a great ice breaker! We chatted a bit – well, except for Harmon who went all shy on us (he’s all about Coach Rod at home) – and it was great! He was very welcoming and friendly and taller than we expected (he also had the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen)! He had a real down-to-earth appeal to him and his accent was downright endearing. I can see how he is a big hit in a recruit’s living room! Since he had team meetings to head too, we didn’t take up too much time (and we decided against a photo) but it still was a pretty awesome experience!

Of course, U-M lost its home opener against Utah the next day and then had some tough luck on the recruiting front this week – I hope we weren’t bad luck!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A butterfly to a lightning bug

Today is Harmon’s first day in his new “Lightning Bug” classroom at school. Since it’s a new school year, most of the kids started today in their new classrooms. While Harmon loved being a “Butterfly,” I think he’s going to love his NEW classroom even more. It has a very cool tree house for the kids to climb and hang out in and, most importantly, his Butterfly teacher – Miss Laura – made the move with him. She now is the lead teacher in the Lightning Bug classroom. Harmon has been lucky in both his moves since starting at Annie’s in 2007. Each time, his previous teacher has made the move with him, totally easing his transition.

The new classroom is considered pre-school so he’ll have a lot more responsibility. He’ll have to pick up after himself after free play; retrieve, layout and put away his nap mat; get his own lunch; maneuver his pants and underwear at potty time; and learn how to dress himself. We’ve been working on all these things at home lately and he’s been doing very well. I know he’ll make strides quickly at school too – he’s such a fast learner! The good news to Mom and Dad is that, with this move, his tuition dropped. So, we’ll have a few months at the decreased rate before we have to add Simon’s tuition to the mix!

So many changes for our little guy: a new classroom and new responsibilities this week; a new big boy bedroom in a few weeks; and a new baby brother in a few months. As is usually the case, he’ll just roll with it! It’s what he does and we’re SO glad he’s our little amoeba!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Kevin picked up Harmon from school on Tuesday and, while speaking with this teacher, she commented that Harmon’s cleanliness is rather refreshing.

Evidently, his class had painted earlier in the day – mixing colors to create new colors – and while every other child was BATHING in the paint, Harmon was distraught if the paint got on the wrong finger. We weren’t surprised as that’s how he is at home too. If he gets even a DROP of food or drink on his PINKY FINGER, he absolutely must have it wiped off immediately. Needless to say, our photo albums don’t contain any of those gross pictures of him with crap all over his face!

Harmon is just detailed, meticulous and must have everything just how he wants it. And, coming from me and Kevin, it’s really not a surprise. I actually think his future wife really will appreciate this quality!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Dec. 5

I had a doctor’s appointment today and Kevin and I had ONE goal – get a c-section date scheduled! I alternate appointments between my doctor and her nurse and, when we met with the nurse in July, we asked about scheduling. She explained that my doctor probably would schedule surgery about a week before my due date (Dec. 13) and she only does surgery on Mondays and Fridays. So, that left us with the choice of Friday, Dec. 5 or Monday, Dec. 8. We talked about it over the last month (and with the doctor today) and decided Dec. 5 would be best. It would allow Kevin two free days (Saturday and Sunday) to be with me (and Simon) during our hospital stay and it would be easier for my parents to take care of Harmon on a weekend versus weekdays when they both work.

Just for fun, though, we looked at the two dates from an historical perspective. We found that Dec. 8 was not so cool because it was the day we entered into WWII in 1941 and the day John Lennon was shot in 1980.

Dec. 5, on the other hand, is Walt Disney’s birthday! And, if you’re a kid, is there any better person to share a birthday with?

So, Dec. 5 it will be … unless Simon has other plans!

Working the phone

Most of the time, Harmon is fearless but there are a couple of things that scare him. One, of course, is the black panther. The other is … our phone. Since we rely mostly on our cell phones, we don’t pay for AT&T voicemail and instead have a phone system with a built-in answering machine. We’ve never set our personal message on the machine so we use the default message which is some weird, male, computerized voice. Harmon HATES this voice so much, simply because of the way the voice says “hello!” We can say “hello” in a similarly scary voice around the house or while we are out and it never fails to get his attention. In addition to the scary voice, the phones blink red if there is a message. For some reason, this red blinking also freaks him out. If need be, we’ll remind him – in that scary voice – that THE PHONE IS BLINKING RED and he’ll straighten right up. Whatever works, I guess!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Funny things

Five funny things Harmon has blurted out recently:

1. After seeing one of 10,000 relentless political ads on TV: “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”

2. In response to seeing the Goodyear Blimp at the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport last week (and being grumpy when he saw it): “I’m going to throw Isabel at the Blimp.”

3. His latest takes on my pregnancy: “Mommy, your belly’s getting bigger” and “I just love Simon!”

4. After watching this video (thanks to Awful Announcing):



“Where’d Coach Rod go?”

5. In response to a terse reprimand: “No, Mommy (or Daddy), don’t say that!”

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Name origins

The day we shared with everyone that we were having another boy; we also shared the name we chose for our second son. Overall, it’s gotten good reviews but people have been curious about just how we arrived at Simon Abner Bergquist. So, I figured a little background would be helpful. And, one day, when Simon is old enough to read this blog, he’ll know the origins of his name.

After having Harmon – being the planners that we are – we thought we should think of another boy name just in case we didn’t have a daughter (whose name was to be Maizey Bryn Bergquist). Initially, we liked other “H” names like Heath and Hyatt but we quickly gravitated to Simon. We like how it sounds on its own and we like how it sounds with Harmon. Most importantly, though, we like that Simon wouldn’t be sitting in his kindergarten class with five other Simons around him. After being surrounded by other “Kevins” and “Amys” our whole lives, we decided early on that we wanted our children to have truly UNIQUE names.

Simon, according to babynames.com, is a Hebrew name meaning “to be heard.” While Kevin is Norwegian and German and I am Mexican and German, using a Hebrew name doesn’t matter to us in the least. We like it and that is that! And, just to be clear, it has nothing to do with the Bible, Alvin and the Chipmunks, American Idol (believe it or not, we’ve never even watched an episode), OR Michigan football.

As for Abner, this one was ALL Kevin’s doing. One day, way before I was even pregnant, we were talking about boy names and Kevin said “what about Simon Abner, you know, after Abner Doubleday, the inventor of baseball?” Of course, baseball was all I needed to hear and I was on board! We think it’s great because it’s unique and has its roots in baseball, which we both love. Abner is also a Hebrew name, which means “father of light.” Lastly, just like Simon, Abner has nothing to do with the University of Michigan.

So, there you have it! The name origins of Simon Abner Bergquist.

And, so as not to ignore Harmon, a quick note about his name. Kevin and I first became aware of the name while working in the U-M athletic department because of Tom Harmon, former U-M football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner. While we love Harmon as a first name, he is NOT named after Tom Harmon. We love it simply because it’s a TRULY unique name, not registering on the U.S. Social Security Administration’s popular baby names list since the early 1900s. Harmon, of German origin, means, “soldier.” Harmon’s middle name, Spencer, is of English origin and means “butler, steward.” Other than loving how it sounds with Harmon, it has NO context (not a family name, not a U-M athlete’s name, etc.).

Random photos

Two totally random photos from Monday, Aug. 4.

First, Harmon at the dentist with his hygienist, Kim. Overall, he was a good boy for his second dentist appointment, only crying a little during the actual teeth cleaning. He got over it, though, as you can see!



After the dentist, Harmon desperately wanted to go to lunch with his Daddy so Kevin rewarded him with a rare trip to Chuck E. Cheese. They both had a good time, despite the freakiness of the photo!



Tuesday, August 12, 2008

33

Harmon is 33 months’ old today. In just another three months, he’ll be three year’s old – unbelievable! He’s been doing fine enjoying his summer walks and trips to the park.

Another thing he’s been enjoying this summer is TV and radio ads. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an advertising genius one day. He loves any and all ads for freecreditreport.com, as well as ads for the DIA, Cedar Point and any window or roofing company (especially call 1-800-4-MR-ROOF)!

One thing he also has loved lately that we’re not too crazy about is the word “butt!” He says it all the time, although never really in context. He instead likes to slip it into nursery rhymes and songs and such. We DO say “butt” but usually in the context of playfully saying “I’m going to smack that butt” or “your butt goes on the potty” and stuff like that. We keep telling him it’s not funny and I think he KNOWS this. He just likes to test us.

We’ve spent a lot of time lately preparing him for his new role of big brother. We bought him six different books about becoming a big brother and he loves them all. The week we bought the books, we read them every night before bed and sometimes a couple of times during the day. This past weekend, we bought “Bear Feels Scared” and “Where’s My Mummy?” to break up the monotony of big brother reading. All in all, though, I think he’s getting it.

Part of becoming a big brother, at least for Harmon, is getting a whole new room. Instead of putting together ANOTHER nursery, we’ll move Harmon into the den and put Simon in the nursery. The den is painted a very dark shade of blue and I’ve already got his bedding. Now, I just need to take care of things like window treatments, lamps, rugs, sheets, etc. I hope he likes it because his new room will be the bulk of his birthday present!

The potty training is going very well. He is doing great at school – leading his class in potty stickers – and is doing great at home too. Although we’ve still been putting him in diapers at night (which are dry most mornings), he is in pull-ups the rest of the time. When we know we’re going to be homebound for a considerable amount of time, we let him wear underwear. He’s done pretty well – only a couple of accidents – but we haven’t ventured out of the house with the underwear yet. I think that probably will happen later this month. So, ALMOST there!

A few other totally random things. Yesterday, he was stacking his cars on top of a semi-truck he has. When we saw this, we thought we HAVE to find him a car carrier. So, last night at Toys R Us, we did just that. We found him a car carrier that holds six cars and he was as happy as a clam! The smile on his face was priceless – he’s a kid with simple needs! While at Toys R Us, we had him try some tricycles. We’ve tried in the past and he’s not been interested but he was last night. So, I think we might get him this one. He’ll get some use out of it before it gets cold and then he’ll have it all next summer. Lastly, and I’ve meant to write about this a million times, he LOVES his photo albums. Kevin and I take WAY too many pictures of him (at LEAST 1,300) and I put them all – complete with dates, locations and captions – in photo albums. So far, there are eight albums and they are in his room on his bookshelf. He pulls these out and will flip through them for huge chunks of time. He just loves seeing his family members along with the places he’s gone and the things he’s done. It makes me feel SO GOOD about all the effort I’ve put into those things over the last 33 months!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Are you ready for some football?

Michigan started football practice on Monday and even though most experts think a .500 season is in the cards, I’m still pretty damn excited about what is to come. Here are 10 things I am SO looking forward to this season:

1. I literally have NO IDEA what the first offensive play of the game will be. The predictability of the past and our stone-aged offense are GONE!

2. The team probably won’t run out of gas and blow a game in the fourth quarter. And, we won’t have to see the fat lineman with their hands on their hips after Ohio State spends an afternoon in our backfield.


3. We probably won’t see opposing offenses - seemingly hemmed in - breaking free and running down the sideline for a touchdown while our slow, fatass players are laid out on the turf.

4. The offense MIGHT go for it on a crucial fourth down instead of wimping out, punting and playing the good ole’ field position game.

5. The new coaching staff won’t coach scared and hopefully won’t worry about dropping 50 on someone if need be. Don’t fool yourself, style points count!

6. Young coaches with fires in their bellies who will get in players’ faces (as opposed to reading them poetry and feeding them milk and cookies).

7. Seeing players actually play to their potential. In the past, SO many players haven’t been coached, developed, prepared or conditioned the right way while at Michigan. And then fans wonder why these players go on to succeed at the next level.

8. Seeing a Michigan football program that is open with the media instead of hiding EVERYTHING inside of Fort Schembechler.

9. Not having to watch Michigan Replay and hearing Coach Carr say “well …” every five seconds while trying to explain away another loss.

10. COACH ROD!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Maternity clothes (and a manatee)

Well, it finally had to be done. At 20 weeks, I finally had to bust out the maternity gear. I took a few hours on Sunday to dig it out of the depths of my closet and then wash it so it was ready to go for work on Monday. So far, it’s been … OK. That might, however, have something to do with the fact that I’m still in my regular PANTS. The shirts were the real problem – just too tight across the chest and belly. I figured it wouldn’t be such a good idea to pop a button and put someone’s eye out. Although, if that DID happen, the unfortunate soul couldn’t be in a better place – hello, Kellogg EYE Center!

With Harmon, I made it to July (my sixth month) before the circus tent clothing made an appearance. I almost made it that far this time (I’m in my fifth month) but, alas, the body (well, the abdominal region) remembers.

I guess I can handle four months of the maternity gear if I get another kid as cute as Harmon in the end. The hard part, though, is looking and feeling like this:

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Morning sickness eats it

OK, I’m almost 21 weeks along so enough of the morning sickness already.

I’ve felt nauseous 24/7 since the day I took my pregnancy test – only getting a break while I am SLEEPING. Granted I haven’t puked as much as I did with Harmon but I’ve FELT sicker. Yesterday was a crappy day and today is even worse. I puked right after brushing my teeth this morning and then had to have Kevin pull over on the side of the road to puke again on our way into work. Right now, I’m fighting off another puking spell. I have a meeting at 10 a.m. and then a doctor’s appointment at 11:30 a.m. so I hope I can get through both of them puke-free.

I hope I have a better day tomorrow because this is getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Birthday weekend

Yesterday, I turned 35. Ever since I hit 30, I really don’t even think about birthdays anymore. Sometimes, I’ll even forget how old I am - must be the aging brain. Anyway, despite getting older, I had a great birthday weekend! On Saturday night, Kevin and I dropped Harmon off for a sleepover with my parents and we headed downtown to the Tigers’ game. One of my presents was tickets to the Champions Club. The Tigers’ started offering these last month and it looks like they will for the rest of the season. I must attest that they are worth every cent of the $90 per ticket!

We arrived early and ate WAY TOO MUCH food from the impressive spread (the dessert cart was amazing). We also camped at two seats along the windows and ending up staying there for the whole game. While we originally planned to wander the ballpark (part of the $90 was a standing room only ticket), it was simply too nice up there to leave. The only thing that ruined the night was the outcome of the game – GD White Sox!

On Sunday morning, we slept in until 9:30 a.m. and then squeezed in a showing of Step Brothers (so funny) on the way to my parents’ house. I asked my Mom to make taco salad for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert and both were perfect. As for the gifts, I got a few small things (a new Adidas Michigan LS t-shirt, a cool electronic photo cube for my desk, gorgeous orange daisies, etc.), some cash and some gift cards to do some post-pregnancy shopping. I requested NO maternity items – what a bummer that would be for a birthday. Kevin and Harmon also got me pedicures for August and September at a “real” spa (I’ve never been) so I’m hoping to schedule one this coming weekend. I am so excited and pedicures are SO underrated – especially when you’re pregnant and are having a hard time reaching your toes.

One of the best gifts, though, was having Harmon sing “Happy Birthday” to me this morning. He was too shy to do it with everyone else last night so he sang it to me this morning while he was eating his breakfast. He is the sweetest, cutest kid ever!

Monday, July 21, 2008

You want a piece of me?

Usually the answer is, “no, I don’t want a PIECE, I want the WHOLE THING.” But this was not the case for Harmon who was involved in his first schoolyard rumble (kind of) last Thursday.

As the story goes, Harmon and this other little boy (I will withhold his real name but let’s call him Jordan) met at the gate that separates the classroom from the stairwell. Harmon was on one side and Jordan was on the other and they both wanted to come through. Evidently, Harmon put his hand up (in a “talk to the hand” kind of fashion) and, while he didn’t TOUCH him, Jordan still took exception and bit Harmon’s right index finger. Stunned, Harmon didn’t know what to do so – like most 2-year-olds – he cried. His teachers gave him lots of hugs and kisses and iced his little finger and he was fine. When Kevin arrived to pick him up, his lead teacher explained what happened but didn’t tell him who the culprit was. Harmon was having none of that, though, as he interjected with “Jordan bit me!”

On the way home, Kevin did everything he could NOT to tell Harmon to “bust the kid in the mouth” and we had more than a few bad things to say (under our breath, of course, about the cretin). Kevin also later told me that Jordan was in the classroom and standing near the door when he picked up Harmon. He said he wanted SO BAD to smash his fingers in the door – I DIED!

Although I highly doubt Harmon will get pushed around as he gets older I’m glad, in this case, that he was the bitee, not the biter. If he was biting kids at school, we would have a big problem on our hands!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

It's a boy! Oh, boy-oy-oy-oy

We are pleased to report that Harmon will have a baby brother, Simon Abner Bergquist, in December. His due date is Dec. 13. Here is the latest ultrasound photo of Simon, taken July 15. Simon would not sit still during the ultrasound; he kept spinning and kicking and punching, just like his big-brother-to-be. I have a feeling we are in for another active one. Simon did not want to show his "boyness" at first, but finally came around, literally, at the end. The ultrasound tech thought she knew early on, but did not want to say for sure. But, she did say something like, "he is an active little guy," so we had our suspicions. Harmon is so happy; he tells us that Simon is in Mommy's belly and he rubs the bump. Aimee is doing fine, and all was normal during the ultrasound.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

On the road again

After a week in Minnesota with Kevin’s family, we are off again this weekend for another Bergquist family function. This time, Kevin’s cousin is getting married in Beloit, Wis., so we’re making the drive. Although we’re going for the wedding, Kevin and I are sneaking off to a Brewers game on Friday night. I can’t wait to see the Sausage Race! To make the weekend even better, we MAY stop in Chicago on the way home on Sunday. If we do, I have these three things on my to-do list:

1. Cheesecake Factory – Note to Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake: I still love you. My pregnancy nausea and food aversions have not changed that.
2. Garrett Popcorn Shop (mmmm, cheesecorn)
3. Niketown (I can buy clothes for when I’m no longer the size of a small manatee)

Harmon will have fun too. He’ll get to use his favorite backpack again, there’s a pool at the hotel and there will be plenty of people there to spoil him rotten!

All in all, should be a good one!