Post prego half marathon

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Spring Training

Well, well, well... this is not the longest we've gone without having a blog post but it's definitely been a little bit. Since our last post we've been busy traveling around and having fun. For instance, Liam decided to take a vacation from us folks and spend some time with the grandparents. He had a great time, but since he was on vacation, we decided to fly out to Colorado with our good friends the Wrenicks to do some skiing at Winter Park.

The following weekend Liam decided he needed to spread the love so he had us drive him to his other grandmother's house for the weekend. Since he didn't want his parents to embarrass him, we were not aloud to stick around so we took the opportunity to visit the Arnolds in Manhattan. As always, it was a lot of fun.

Now that we are back from all our travels, we plan to spend some time here in our neighborhood. Good thing too, spring is here and its time for spring training. Dana has started training for her first post-pregnancy half-marathon. Come out and cheer her on in Olathe, KS on April 16th. Lawrence has also started his spring training, but Liam thinks he needs to add a little resistance to the schedule...

We Love 2 Run

This last weekend we decided to run the 4 mile Love 2 Run race in Columbia. It is a couples race that adds up both runners' times as the finishers' total time, and their ages for the divisions. The Simple Simonsons (as our team name stated) decided to add a third "runner" and give Liam an opportunity to participate in his first race, so we bundled him up in his snow suit and buckled him into the baby jogger for Daddy to push.

Liam didn't much enjoy being immobilized by his tight snowsuit and buckles.

Warmed up and ready to run!

Turned out our efforts were rewarded - Liam enjoyed being pushed in the race, so much so he fell asleep mid-run, and we somehow managed to place 2nd in our division! Go Simple Simonsons!

3 States in 2 Days

Well, as usual, we had a whirlwind of a weekend. We visited the Beezley's and packed a load of boys' clothes back across the neighborhood on 2 strollers Friday night. If our neighbors didn't think we were strange before, they're surely on their way at least to that train of thought by now. Unfortunately we had to trek through the street as most of the sidewalks were still covered with snow/ice from the last couple snowfalls and Liam's first stroller isn't quite made for that kind of off-roading... yet.

Saturday, we traveled to Kansas to see our nephew Ayden for his 2nd birthday party.

Lawrence got Liam warmed up for the party with some "roly poly" playtime.

Ayden loves baby Liam and is getting good practice for

his little baby sister or brother that will be coming along this July!

Ayden also got to play with their cousin Evan who was visiting

from South Carolina, while his Mom (Sarah) played with Liam.

Liam had fun seeing the Simonson family, and cuddling up to his numerous uncles.

Grandma Karen got some cuddles out of Liam too!

We traveled back that night in order to get up early for another full day of traveling and adventure. This time we headed east and made it all the way to Illinois (as far as St. Louis anyway,) for a bike expo and swap. It was another first for Liam; not only traveling to St. Louis, but also to a bike expo that will surely not be the last if Daddy has anything to do with it. We also made it to Trader Joes, a very interesting, and infamous grocery store, with many organic foods and cheap wine to boot!

As you can tell, Liam had a pretty full weekend, but he's already resting up for the next adventure we're cookin' up for him!

4 Months In... 18 years to go

Welp, he done did it - he made it to 4 months, but more importantly, so did we. Liam is eating us out of house and home and now weighs 18 lbs - the same as most 9 month olds. He's also starting to act like a real baby, check it out!

Snow Day

We wanted to share the link to a special video that Cousin Kelsey pulled together for Dana's brother Grant, who is still recovering from his stroke and could always use more prayers. He has always loved the song "Lean on Me" and she thought it would be a good idea to gather pictures of his friends and family holding each word to the song and spell out the song so that he could see us singing it to him, as he is not able to hear much at all. We all thought it was a great idea - check out this very cool Christmas gift (especially the ending:-):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuRTIy5C7z0

Well the holidays are beginning to fade into the past and we are starting to get back into the swing of things. However, this past week's snow storm that hit Columbia slowed down the town a bit and resulted in many school closings, but it created an atmosphere for many fun adventures for those kids who got to stay home. This includes the Simonson boys who managed to have quite an adventure of their own. Check out what fun Lawrence and Liam had...

Hope you all have an adventurous week of your own!

New Year with a New Baby

We would like to thank everyone for their patience with us as we figure out just how we will be adapting to our new family life. As you probably already know, we were blessed with a very healthy, 8 lb 10.7 oz baby boy on September 18th at 11:29pm. It was a stormy night, which should be no surprise as during all major events in our lives, the angels start throwing some loud parties to celebrate with us. This day has even more special meaning now because Liam Paul shares his birthday with his Uncle Grant as well as his GrammaLou and Papa's anniversary.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures & videos from Liam's first 3 months.

It's hard to believe that Liam is almost 4 months old! He already looks so different after going back through his first baby pictures, but we know he'll continue to change each and every day so we really try to live in the moment when we spend our waking hours with him. We will say those first 3 months did not seem short at the time, but we can appreciate that much more these happy days that we continue to experience as Liam develops in many ways other than his style of crying. He's having cooing conversations with us, holding his head up very well, and giggles when we cuddle up with him.

We hope to better keep up with our family blog so that you can share in the joy of Liam's development. You're always welcome to stop by and visit our cyber as well as physical home. Happy and healthy new year to you all!

The Wrenicks are the Best!

We would like to send out a huge thank you to the Wrenicks for having a baby shower for us! Also, thanks to everyone that came. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone and Larry couldn't get enough of practicing to be a dad.

(Dads hide in Thomas the Tank tents and scare children as they come close, right?)

We also really enjoyed the diaper cake. Although, they really should put a warning on those things. Dana found out the hard way that its a cake made of diapers, not a cake made to look like its made of diapers.

(They say pregnancy makes you crave some weird things)

With only 1 month until the due date we are getting really close to having everything ready. Everyone has gotten us really great gifts at the showers and Larry finished staining Dana's great-grandmothers old dresser.

The decorations are getting put up in the baby's room.

And Larry's co-workers have found a sonogram of what the little guy looks like.

Coolest Aunt and Uncle Ever

Well, as you probably noticed, we missed putting up a post last week as we were both busy (Dana) and lazy (Larry). Dana's excuse for being so busy is that she is having a little more trouble getting everything she likes to get done accomplished. Here she is having trouble figuring out what she forgot to do.

(Nobody tell Dana she forgot to put on one of her shoes, she can't see her feet these days)

Larry's excuse for being so lazy is:
1. He has always been lazy and he is getting too old to change his way now.
2. He is worn out after spending a long weekend partying with Emma and James (one of his favorite things to do!)

Here's a shot of Emma and Larry playing Dora the Explorer in the Devils Ice Box Cave.


To Larry's surprise, Emma kept telling Larry they should keep going, and even thought it was cool when they turned off their light when they were as far into the cave as they could go.

Not to be out done, James wanted to show off his adventurist side by having uncle Larry show him how to rock climb.

(Lookout Mt. Everest, here comes Sweet Baby James)

After a long hard day of spelunking and mountaineering it was time to hit the water park and show the niece and nephew how to stay out of trouble. First things first, plugging up the water jets.

Then....Boom!



Emma even showed uncle Larry a thing or two about her technique for plugging the water jet.



James preferred to stick to the water jets that were a little more his size.

Out of town

Well, as you probably noticed, there was no update to the Simonson life last week. That's because ever since Clarence (or gnome) was kidnapped and taken on vacation we decided it was time to get out of town. Thankfully the kidnapper and his accomplice returned Clarence after the ransom was paid.

(Clarence on vacation in Crested Butte)

Dana first headed to Paola for a baby shower before going onto Chicago for work. Before we left town the little Simonson's room looked like this:



When we got back and unloaded everything from the baby shower it filled the room so full we could not get in to take another picture. Thank you to everyone that attended. Time to get to work organizing and preparing for the big day.

Before returning from Chicago Dana stopped off in Lincoln, NE to visit her brother. He's been doing really well and is going strong with his recovery.

(Dana and Grant out catching some rays)

Hopefully by this time next year Grant will be able to join the Simonson's on a trip to Ragbrai, which is were Larry decided to spend his week since Dana was going to be Chicago. As always, Ragbrai was amazing but an entire week without Dana is tough on Larry. Luckily Larry's tent mate was there.

(Collin doesn't smell quite a nice as Dana but he's about the same size)

The entire gang had a great time but as always, what happens on Ragbrai stays on Ragbrai. So if you want the story's you'll just have to come by the homestead for a visit.

(Larry, Matt, Kyle, Eric, Collin)

Science be damned

A few weeks back Larry's father stopped off here at the homestead to visit and stay the night during one of his long hauls across the nation. During this particular stay Larry's father told us how back in the old-country people would put a rubber tree in their bedroom to prevent pregnancy. So we thought, we have a rubber plant - we don't keep it in our bedroom - but we have a rubber plant. Well, as we all know, this happened to Dana:

(Dana 30 weeks prego)

The day after Larry's dad told us this story we remembered that it was probably time to water that rubber plant. Well, it appears those old Germans might know a little something about birth control.

(Guess we should have watered it sooner)

Giving it another go

Due to popular demand and one threatening friend (be sure and take the time to email him with your opinion of his faculty picture), we are going to try and give this blog thing another try. Sorry we kind of let the updates fall behind but ever since Larry got a job with his dream company and Dana went and got herself pregnant things have been a bit on the busy side. That's not to say we haven't been having fun, just a little too much fun for much else.

Here is a picture of Dana at 20 weeks.

Currently she is 30 weeks pregnant and the Doctor says she's going to continue to get much bigger before she can be cured of the pregnancy. Apparently this little guy needs to grow a little more before he can come out.

Well, that's all for now. Be sure to check back at least weekly for the Simonson Life updates, good times, and noodle salad (if you can tell us were the "good times, noodle salad" line is from you'll win a high five).

Home at last

After spending weekend after weekend away from home the Simonsons finally got a nice relaxing weekend at home.


Dana spent the majority of her time at home working on some of her many projects. She was able to put a huge dent in all her sewing projects and really enjoyed the time she spent editing video and making DVD's. That's not to say she didn't spend any time relaxing.

(Dana loves to relax in what she claims to be the most calming room in the house, her walk-in closet)

Larry spent his time at home doing chores and making scones for Dana. He also spent some of his time running errands.




Now that it's fall, all the leaves have changed colors and both Dana and Larry agree that with all the trees and hills Columbia has to offer this is one of the prettiest falls they have ever experienced. There are so many colors. There are reds, oranges, yellow's, and green's and when the sun sets on the hills it looks like they are glowing. Dana saw this change in seasons as a great...

...and decided to get a few shots of what our backyard looks like in the fall.

(View: North East looking South West)


(View: Looking straight West from the patio)


(View: South East looking North West)

Unfortunately many of those pretty leaves are no longer on the trees and have instead decided to blanket the lawn. This can only mean one thing, it's time to pull out the dreaded rake. To avoid having to do any leaf raking Larry decided to celebrate the beautiful fall weather in the way he celebrates everything, with a bike ride. Here are a few pics showcasing the beauty of fall in Columbia from the handle bars of Larry's bike.

(Notice, you can't see the road because of all the leaves)

(It's hard to see from the picture but this gravel hill is around 12%, aka steep)


(This is one of Larry's favorite roads to ride)

Unfortunately, as the seasons continue to change, it's going to start to be too cold for Larry to stop at his favorite mid-ride rest stop.

(Typical Missouri yard art)

Hopefully they'll spring for a heated seat.

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