Ryan and Casey plus 2

Football season has arrived which means all the men in our family start using "uh huh" and "mmmm hmmm" as their main vocabulary.  This is especially true on draft day when all of them gather at the Sims house for good food and lots and lots of football talk!  The girls make sure they are "seen and not heard" on this day and usually congregate far away from the madness that ensues inside.  Picture this: 15 or so guys huddled over pages and pages of spreadsheets listing every football player worth anything in the NFL, scrambling to make just the right pick, only to receive 'smack' talk from all the other guys about how that wasn't the pick they would have made.  Bret doesn't mess around and has a larger than life poster to list all the draft picks with color coordinated stickers.....Im telling you if you haven't experienced this you won't believe your eyes!!  Once the draft if over (after about two hours of the above craziness) they a...

Oh how I dreaded this week.  The past seven months were glorious at home with Whitney and the thought of leaving her to take on more responsibilities seemed impossible!  God works in mysterious ways though because I could not be happier.  I LOVE teaching in the afternoons and have a really great class this year.  Whitney loves Jenny, Emma, Caroline, and Tucker.  I was worried about her not sleeping but she is taking naps there in the afternoons and even slept one day for 2 hours, whew!  Perhaps God knew that if this didn't go well I would have quit the first day and came running back home to stay with Whitney forever; I might have even turned into one of those "helicopter" parents they make fun of at Miami!! Jenny is the perfect fit for our family, as we knew she would be, and Whitney is becoming more comfortable everyday.  Good ol' Jenny knows what it is like to be a mommy of an "emotionally needy" baby and takes good care of bot...

Jay, Elaine and J.J. met Ryan, Whitney and I for dinner at Paxton's tonight.  We love this place and were excited to show Jay what it was all about, even though Jay secretly wanted to eat at the Works!  Both J.J. and Whitney did great -- no crying or screaming and even if there was, I am not sure it would have been a big deal because it is such a noisy place :)  After dinner we decided to go to the dairy whip down the street for some ice cream.  Its nice to have dinner dates with people on our same schedule...its absurd for most people to be home by 7:00 but the six of us have no problem enjoying the early bird special! J.J. is tickling Whitney's toes and by the look on her face, I am not sure she knows what to think of it! Whitney loved playing with Aunt Elaine's bracelet!! J.J. had just given Whitney a kiss and even though her face suggests otherwise, I think she liked it....at least she didn't cry!! Whitney loves her new set of keys.  She saw J.J.s ...

Whitney and I traveled the short distance (yay for living closer) to Lori's house to fetch some toys Bryce isn't playing with anymore.  Bryce was so nice to share all of his things and even help entertain Whitney as Lori and I got to work.   For some odd reason Whitney has developed a liking for dinosaurs.  A few months ago we turned on the tv and a show called Dinosaur Train was on which made Whitney go crazy.  She was laughing, squealing and waving her arms all over the place, ever since then she gets excited to see dinosaurs.   Bryce had several out this morning and her eyes got big and she was sooo excited.  Being the sweet cousin that he is, he offered a larger dinosaur to Whitney and told me she could borrow it for a little bit.  Bryce helped carry it out to the car and place it with Whitney in her car seat.  She loves it and honestly played with it quietly all the way home.  Perhaps we have a tomboy in the making haha:) In this...

Whitney met her best friend forever and ever (B.F.F.A.E, that's for you Bret) last night!!  Ellie Olivia is the newest addition to the Heimann family.  She is just adorable and oh so tiny!! Jeff and Stephanie Heimann are great friends of ours and had their daughter Ellie just four weeks ago.  Ryan and Jeff grew up together and both were in our wedding, as we were in theirs.  We joked when Steph was pregnant that she was either carrying Whitney's soul mate or her best friend forever!!  We are so glad they are only six months apart and look forward to the many play dates we have in our future!! Ellie is going to have to share some of her hair with Whitney...too funny to see a 7 month old baby that is bald next to a four week old baby with a full head of long hair!!!  AND dont worry, although we loved holding a teeny tiny baby in our arms we did not catch the baby bug....Whitney is quite enough for us right now ;) Whit looks like a giant here!...

All day long we were watching the skies hoping that it would not rain so that Ryan, Whitney and I could get our pictures taken by our friends Nick and Chelsea Schmalenberg.  We were lucky that when 5:00 rolled around, the skies cleared up and the sun even broke through the clouds! Nick and Chelsea were so great with Whitney.  She was a little shy at first but honestly did a great job tonight.  She smiled and giggled a few times at four grown adults acting goofy trying to make her look our way!!  We were at it for about an hour!  There were quite a few people on the bike trail but we were able to find places that we could get some great pictures.  Who knew there were so many special places down there, guess thats why I am not a photographer....don't quite have that eye!!! Before turning our computer off for the evening we were alerted that Nick and Chelsea posted a "teaser" picture of Whitney on their photograph website.  I absolutely adore this pic...

We gathered tonight to celebrate the birthdays of Elaine K, Kyle and Ryan (a.k.a Tony) at Bravo.  I was expecting the over crowded restaurant in Mason but the Bravo in West Chester is much nicer and a lot more spacious.  We had our own room, a goofy but very efficient waiter, and a large square table for 12.  Believe it or not, no drinks were spilled no kids cried, all of us were able to finish our meals, and no ugly stares were given to the "loud" table.   A great time was had by all!  Thanks Jim and Elaine for treating all of us to a fabulous dinner! ***We do not force our daughter to slouch in her seat, she was "hook sliding" as my grandpa would say and obviously teething as you can see by the whole fist in her mouth :)

Two blogs in one day, I know a little much but when you have something to share...you have something to share:) Now some of you might watch the video and think I am crazy but Ryan and I heard Whit say "mama" for the first time today.  She was looking at me and although I do know that it doesn't mean "mom" it made my heart melt!!  As you will see she is very tired so the quality of her words are not the best but she was saying it all day today....you believe me right? haha What a cutie!

12 years ago this past weekend Ryan and I met at the St. Johns Festival for the very first time.  Although he didn't really talk to me that night all that much, we became friends and later that year started dating.  I have always loved going back to the festival because it holds so many great memories for the two of us as well as with our friends and family.  For the past five or six years we have helped serve at the beer booth with Jim and Elaine and sadly we didn't get to do that this year.  We were bummed and plan to pick up the tradition next year. As some of you know, at last years festival we won a baby basket full of things like a stroller, car seat, bedding, bathtub, etc.  It was so fun and exciting that I decided I had to do it again this year.  So we braved the heat and took Whitney to her first festival on Sunday night.  We met Jim and Elaine at the baskets and picked out the ones we wanted to put our tickets in.  Just like last year ...

Whitney and I were excited to spend the weekend celebrating Ryan's birthday.  He got off of work early and tried to take a little snooze with Whitney but she just wanted to play!  By the time we were ready to leave for his birthday dinner at Montgomery Inn, she was still awake and was about 2 hours short of her usual daily naps.  I even said as we were walking out of the door, "this is going to be bad."  I just wasn't sure I how bad it was going to be for us. Whit usually loves being out and doesn't cry at all, especially for me or Ryan.  Boy was this time different.  We were seated and the happy Whit lasted about 20 minutes, just enough time to feed her and then she let loose!  Unlike Red Robin, Montgomery Inn is rather quiet and her cry seemed louder than ever as I tried to sing and calm her down.  To make a long story short, Ryan and his parents ate their meals (quickly Im assuming...poor guys) as I walked up and down the hallway trying ever...