Cory's 28th

Cory turned 28.

I got him Einstein Bagels for breakfast.

He got himself a dog as his present.

We went to Amber and Warren's in the evening.

They watched our kids while we went to Costa Vida.

We walked around the mall with no kids.

Then we went back and had cake.

Carson is 2!

Carson had a great birthday. We went shopping and sledding in the morning. In the afternoon we had his friends Olivia and Alice over. They jumped in the jump-o-lene thing. Then they had cupcakes and opened presents. His big present this year was a battery powered hot wheels track. He absolutely loves it! He plays with it every single day.

He is talking so much now! He forms these cute little sentences. He surprises me everyday with new words. And we think it's hilarious anytime he says something new.

He has started talking to his stuffed animals. He likes them to "help" him clean up his toys. 

His favorite food is PB&J's. 

He puts himself in time out on the stairs sometimes and I have to try hard not to laugh. 

Whenever he sees my bare pregnant belly he says, "Hi, baby!" 

He finally started walking up and down the stairs. He had this thing for a long time where he only wanted to be carried up and down the stairs. He would sit at the top of the stairs and scream and scream if I refused. I'm glad that's over. He walks like a big boy now. 

He copies everything we say! Today I was trying to fix his hot wheels track and I couldn't quite get a piece in right. So naturally I said, "Crap!" Next thing I know, he is repeatably saying, "Crap, crap, crap." 

He is a good boy and really fun!

My 24th Birthday

A few days before my birthday, Cory took me to Iowa City to go shopping! They have big mall and some outlets. We ended up getting more baby clothes of course. But I did get some maternity things. And I got to shop at Forever 21! I miss that store. Carson and Cory rode on the merry-go-round--but Carson mostly hated it. And Cory was sick by the end of it. (Which is why I didn't volunteer to go with Carson, shhh!)  For lunch I had Panera Bread, Cory had Panda Express, and Carson had Chick-fil-A. A win-win-win! It was a great day! 

On my actual birthday, Cory did a great job at making me feel special. He got me flowers and balloons and a cake. We had a nice relaxing evening. 

23 weeks here!

Carson Turned One!

Carson had a great birthday. He is so sweet and we are so happy he is in our family. Here are some pictures of his day.

I had to hurry and stop him from touching the flame.

This is the most daring he got.

He's grown so much!

-Oh how he's been turning into a toddler. If we take away something he wants, he gets so pissed! He kicks and screams. 

-He has been drinking more milk! Even though he still barely drinks any in our pediatrician's eyes, we've made big progress! 

-He's walking everywhere! Sometimes he sneaks up on me and it really freaks me out. He really started walking a few days after his birthday. He still falls All. The. Time. He's got bruises everywhere! Poor thing.

 -His favorite food is beans & rice. Ashley's recipe. :) And he LOVES cheese!

-He recently started opening cupboards and pulling everything out! 

-He tries to say "duck." (He loves his rubber ducky) And he has kinda said, "Santa" a couple of times.  I love it when he says that! His favorite word though is, "DADA!" He only says, "Mama," if he needs something or is sad. 

-If Cory goes upstairs, Carson gets very concerned and waits at the bottom of the stairs and yells, "Dada!" until he comes back. He loves his Dada.  

-It is suddenly SO hard to get this kid to smile on demand. He won't do it. No matter what you do, he'll just stare at you.

We took these at JCP in November. I thought I would share a few.

After the blizzard, Cory took Carson outside to get the mail. We were too lazy to get him bundled up so we put him in my hoodie. It was hilarious watching him walk around in that!

When he's done, he throws his food everywhere!

He is precious.

He's really good at Facebook shots.

My 23rd.

It was my birthday on Monday and it was great! Cory didn't have class! This was so nice because he had just finished boards on the Saturday before. So we hadn't seen too much of him. I felt like a single mom. I'm sure I'll have many more days and weeks of those here to come. 

Anyway, we went grocery shopping and Target shopping. And we had dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. Carson had a fit at dinner though. Like crying and screaming and kicking his legs. Nothing really calmed him down. He has never acted that way. He is usually fine if there is food in front of him. I wanted to just leave and take our food with us but Cory convinced me to stay. It was so bazaar because Carson was fine once we got home. I have no clue what was wrong with him.  Once Carson was in bed, Cory and I watched a chick flick. It was great to spend some time together! I had a great day! 

Happy 26

Cory turned 26 yesterday! 

We did everything he wanted to do. 

Which basically involved a relaxing day at home. :)

Cory,

I love you so much.

 I hope you had a great day! 

You are so sweet to me.

 You always make me laugh.

You're an AMAZING father. 

Carson loves you so much. 

We are so thankful for your hard work. 

Happy 26! 

Sincerely, 

Celeste

Carson Wesley Simons

Born 3:50 am Wednesday December 14.

6 lbs 15.5 ounces. 20 inches long.

Hypnobabies birth story is a work in progress...

In the mean time, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

1 week old.

My Birthday!

It was my birthday about a week ago! And I must say, I had a great day. I got to do whatever I wanted! If I wanted to go to Target, we went. If I didn't want to do the dishes, I wouldn't. If I wanted to stroll Hobby Lobby, we would. I never had to compromise! ha ha. 

Cory surprised me with a couples massage that afternoon. I mentioned a couple months ago how I would love to get a prenatal massage. I didn't realize he was actually listening! What a great husband. I was surprised Cory got one with me. He hates people touching him. And he's really specific about how you massage him. He always said he would never get a professional massage. But he knew I wanted him there. And his palpation class may have made him a little more comfortable with the idea. Even though we didn't talk during our massages, it was still nice knowing he was right next to me. I'm so glad he got one with me!

Afterwards, we tried out a Mexican restaurant we heard was good. (Thanks Tamara!) It was better than we expected! The menu was even in Spanish. Good thing Cory speaks it. I had to ask him what a couple of things said.  He ordered tacos. I ordered tacos, enchiladas, a side of rice, and a side of beans. When our food came out, the server asked individually, "rice...beans...enchiladas... tacos?" To each, I answered, "right here!" She laughed at me as she walked away. I was hungry okay?!? It sure was yummy! 

We also got me a birthday cake and cuddled up to watch the football game. We lost. Really bad. So I'm going to forget that part. I had a really good day. Thanks Cory for making it great!

For My Husband.

This is a little late. Cory's birthday was a week ago. But I still want to write about what we did. If you don't like the mushy gushy stuff, stop reading now. 

There were a few things that seemed to take away the fun of his birthday this year. 

-School. He had to study a ton.

-I was sick. Nauseous, headache, no energy, puking...the whole thing.

-He had to work.

-Because we announced my pregnancy that weekend, the baby got more attention than him. Which no one is complaining about. But it still happened nonetheless.

That being said, I don't want him to think his birthday was any less important this year. We didn't get to celebrate like we usually do. But we still got to do a few things.

-We went to his favorite restaurant, Outback.

-We watched a movie together.

-We made red velvet cake.

-Once I was feeling better I got him a new outfit. :)

Even though we didn't make his birthday as big of a deal as I wanted to, I have no doubt he will always remember his birthday this year. He will always have the birthday/pregnancy announcement video to watch. He will always remember what a special time it was for both of us.

Cory, 

I love you more than words can describe. You are so good to me. You cook me food, take care of me when I'm not feeling well, you tell me I can make it through at least sacrament meeting (even though sometimes I don't think I can), you put my things away, you do my laundry... I could go on and on. What more could I ask in a husband? You mean everything to me and I'm so grateful for this time in our lives. I can't wait for us to become parents. You're going to be such an amazing daddy!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Love, your wife.

Lately...

I love fall. The smells, leaves, weather, everything. This is my favorite time of the year. I am also reminded of when Cory and I started dating. We did lots of Fall time activities. And..... Tomorrow we will have been married for a year and a half!! So, congrats to us!

So I know my birthday was over a month ago. But I got a birthday card from Benihana. So we went a few weeks ago. I have always loved Tepanyaki but Cory had never been. So we went and it rocked. Cory loved it. Unfortunately, I was getting over an infection when we went. So I couldn't enjoy this dinner as much as I would have liked to. But it was still magnificent. They took our picture! I think ALL restaurants should do this.

I look like a poor cancer patient. Cory looks like he is doing his ill friend a favor by taking them out for dinner.

 So... I checked out one of my old YW leaders blogs. Her name is Chelsea and she is super cute. She made the cutest earrings out of buttons and I just absolutely had to try it. So I did. But somehow my little craft project turned into Cory's little craft project. He told me we had to get a saw from Home Depot so he could complete this craft project. When we got home, he immediately went to work. He loved it. And I loved that he wanted to make me earrings. They turned out great! Thanks Chelsea for this fabulous idea!!!

Because I love Fall so much, I wanted to make a lot of Fall time treats. Last weekend I made these pumpkin cheesecake things with a ginger snap crust. I thought they were delicious. But Cory did not. We ended up having a small Halloweeny party last night. Me and Cory and Amber and Warren made some great stuff....

A & W's Monster Claws. (Chicken Fingers)

Cory's Halloween eyeballs ( deviled eggs)

A & W's pumpkin cake!!!

My homemade wassail. It smelled SOOO good!

And my pizza mummies. Don't laugh. They tasted good at least.

Trevor and his girlfriend Karin stopped by and made us muddy buddies! Delicious! We watched the Halloween Charlie Brown. Classic. Me and Trevor used to watch it all the time! Cory bought me a 3-pack of Charlie Browns. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All-in-all we have had a great month. We are excited for the holidays. And we can't wait for Black Friday.

21

One week ago today I turned 21. I don't usually feel different on my birthdays. But this one I definitely felt different. I was finally an "adult." I couldn't help but thinking about how the next time I go on a cruise I won't need a chaperone. Or that my license will now read horizontal. I actually felt like an "adult" And I had a great day.

I went to school. Got a great parking spot. Got a 4 out of 4 on my quiz. Came home. Skipped work. Laid around on the couch watching tv. Took a nap. Woke up and went to Olive Garden with Amber and Warren and my hot husband. Then was surprised with a cake back at A&W's place.

At 10:00 we all went to Comedy Sports. I saw one of my BFF's Brittany. She was in line too. Practically made my night. We met up with Trevor and his date inside. I laughed my guts out and came home to bed. Saturday Cory took me birthday shopping! I got some cute skirts and some other things. Cory also allowed me to get a few girly movies from RedBox. I also got some good Mexican food that night. I had a great weekend. It was ideal.

I am so glad I am finally 21. I've looked forward to this day my whole life. Growing up, I couldn't wait to be 8. Then 12. Then all I cared about was being 16. Then 18. Now 21. The next big step is 25 so I can rent a car and a golf cart on Catalina Island. But really being 21 is a lot more fun than being 25. The best years of my life are right here. So I am going to live it up!

2 Dozen Years Old

Cory turned 24 on Monday and boy was he surprised when he woke up to SNOW...??? Why did it have to snow on my honey's birthday? The rest of the day wasn't too bad except that he had to go to school. He was lucky enough not to go to work though! But he spent the whole day studying. But he did have time to take a few breaks.
His birthday celebration began a over week before his birthday. I bought him a few shirts that I was planning on giving to him on his birthday. But of course he wanted to go shopping to the exact places I had already gone to. So I just gave in and showed him his presents early. And of course after that we went shopping even more. But we had a lot of fun doing so. We went to Tucanos for dinner the following Monday and he LOVED it. I didn't think he would ever be done eating. He just kept going and going long after I was full. On Sunday night Amber and Warren stopped by to sing and give him some carrot cake. On Monday I bought him a cake instead of making one like last year... Unfortunately they spelled his name wrong even after I clearly verbally spelled out C-O-R-Y. oh well. It was still yummy.

(You can see the "e" that does not belong in his name)

I also gave him one of his favorite movies, Wolverine. That night we went to Cory's favorite restaurant Outback with Amber and Warren. That was fun too. But today, the big one came.  We bought a brand new tv with a Blu-ray player built in!!! This has got to be the best present he has ever gotten.

But Cory has more good news...

He got an amazing promotion at work. He has moved up in the world from lame Latin American sales to product support. This means no more Spanish speaking (even though he is fabulous at it), full time, normal hours (8:00-5:00), benefits, insurance, and a HUGE pay raise. WHOOPEE!  So, we will be staying in Provo forever and will be starting a family soon..... JK. That is so not true. The downside is we will be in Provo an extra 3 months than planned. We'll start Palmer in June instead of March. The upside, more money, we don't have to sell our contract, and maybe I'll have a chance finding a full time dental job once I'm done with school in December.  So my poor Cory has been juggling school and his new job. Things will mellow out in the next few weeks though and not be so stressful. We've had an eventful past few days. But Cory had a good birthday. Thanks to everyone who called and texted him!