Baby names

Hello lovely readers!

Yes, I am officially on vacation/maternity leave until March 30th and I could not be more excited,

I am 34 weeks today and I have 3 more weeks to go till the twins get here!

So what is in a name?

Before we were planning to expand our family, we always talked about names for our future children.

My MIL would throw out names at least once every time I saw her since the first day we got married, but ultimately it was going to be the Mr. and I who decided.

We determined that the name 

"Ford Michael Simmonds"

was perfect for our first son.

One of the first names we thought of and agreed on from the very beginning of this topic (years ago) was the name Ford.

We both felt like it was a strong name even though it is short and simple. 

I am also hispanic and even though it is wrong for me to stereotype my own people, I figured it would be a name that not only my family would recognize since half of them drive Ford pick-ups, but they would be able to pronounce it/spell it ;)

When we found out we were having twins, we thought if we had 2 boys, Ford would definitely be one of their names. The Mr. would have chosen Nash, Cash, or anything with ash at the end, just kidding...

I would have loved to name our second boy Jett, or Dean, Hudson would have been cool too. We are happy with our choice, and who knows we might have to choose another boy name in the future, sooo its good to have back ups. Michael, is my FIL's name so that was an easy choice for a middle name.

For our daughter, we settled on

Sloane Katherine Simmonds

The name Sloane came from my MIL. She mentioned the name years ago, and although I liked it, I was set on naming my daughter Hadley Grace after watching the movie "Written on the Wind" where the name of the family/town is Hadley, and I loved it as a name for my future baby girl. Well, the Mr. was never sold and thought the name was going to be very common soon (which it is now) so on our trip to London, there was a beautiful street we walked around named Sloane Street with amazing shopping and luxury apartments, and we decided then it would be our daughters name if we ever had one (which made my MIL very happy). We also really like the sound of Sloane Simmonds... I have always wished my name was Katherine since my real name is the Spanish version of that name. When I was growing up I hated how unique/long my name was, but now that I am older I like it much more. People always complement me on it (its Catalina BTW). So, my daughter's middle name is the name I always wish I had, there I said it!

Ford and Sloane also sounds nice, I think. So there it is, the reason why we chose those names for my twin babies.

What is the meaning behind your child's name?

Please share, and I look forward to reading about it.

Thanks for stopping by, 

~Mrs. S

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a great week, as always time keeps flying and December is just flashing before our eyes!

I was so happy that this year I was able to plan our Christmas cards early enough that they were sent out last Monday. I received a LivingSocial email for a huge discount on holiday cards last month, so I used Photo Affections this year. They had a nice selection, and I settled on these 

This week some new polls came out on the best middle schools in Texas, and I am proud to say my school landed as 14th best in the DFW area, and 17th in the state!

This is a huge accomplishment for our school, as we are the oldest in the district. I love where I work, and these accolades are just a plus :)

At my staff shower a few weeks ago, a fellow teacher gifted me a baby Gap gift card so I bought these adorable outfits for the babies. The whole store was %50 off, so I got them at a great deal.

Friday night, the Mr. went to SMU's football stadium to watch a high school game, and we ended up taking some photos at Dallas hall with the pretty christmas tree. There is a tree lighting every year, but since it is during the week, we are never able to attend. I kind of liked that it was just us :)

My babies and I in front of the tree

Saturday afternoon, we did some X-mas shopping and made dinner.

Things are starting to die down around here, and we are preparing for the babies more and more every day. The Mr. put in the car seats so we prepared in case they come. 33 weeks tomorrow, so 4 more weeks!

Hope you all have an awesome week ahead of you, and thanks for stopping by!

~Mrs. S

Week Update

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you all had a wonderful and festive first week of December!

I had a fast and busy week loaded with lessons, a baby shower with my coworkers, our first performance at school, and a trip to the symphony.

The staff at my school is so awesome about supporting each other whether someone is having a baby, getting married, or someone is going through a life changing event. 

Tuesday, the staff held a small shower for me at school complete with cake, punch, and tons of gift cards. I was so thankful for all of they love and support.

We only took a few pictures including these two of my cake, and my big belly :)

On Friday, I took 35 of my students to my Alma Mater, SMU, and we attended the symphony concert. It was amazing.

I miss playing in the orchestra so much, and I am so glad my students got to see the level of musicianship that can be accomplished though hard work and dedication. I loved being back at Meadows and seeing how much the orchestra has improved and seeing old professors.

My students loved it too, especially the piece with organ in it.

Saturday night, we joined some friends for a birthday dinner after a long day of shopping for the babies. 

Today, I taught lessons, went grocery shopping, and caught up on laundry, pretty lame...

Pretty soon here, I will be able to share the nursery, we are almost done!

Tomorrow I am 32 weeks, so 5 more weeks left.

I can't wait till these babies are here, 2 more weeks at school and then its a waiting game :)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mrs. S

Thanksgiving Break

Hello Everyone!

One of the awesome perks of being a teacher is we get Winter, Spring, Summer, and Thanksgiving break. My district is pretty much go-go-go from the first day of school till november so that we can have the full week of Thanksgiving off, which couldn't have come at a better time this year as we had so much stuff to do in the nursery!

Monday we went and checked out the hospital where we will be delivering. It is literally 2 years old, and beautiful. We feel really lucky that we get to have our baby there, it is only about 15 minutes from where we live, and it just felt right. Afterwards, we went to dinner at a new restaurant in McKinney square called Harvest. It is one of those new "farm to table" concept eateries and we enjoyed everything we were served including the introductory bread basket, the cajun shrimp, and my delicious burger. The decor and ambiance did not disappoint either as we felt like we were in a chic New York restaurant with dim lighting and cool art on the walls. 

Tuesday, I met up with a former student (who gifted me this adorable bow set for Sloane)

for lunch.

We decided to go to Tulsa for thanksgiving and left Wednesday afternoon.

It took us a little longer to get to Tulsa than usual since EVERYONE was traveling on Wednesday, but we made it and headed out to dinner (at 9:00pm).

Thursday we had Thanksgiving lunch at the Mr.'s grandma's house, it was lovely.

This is Nan, his grandma...

This is me and the bullies being lazy after stuffing my face...

We are very close to his grandma, she has been such a blessing to us many times. 

Friday we headed back to Dallas where I rested for about 1 minute, I was too anxious to use the sewing/embroidery machine my mother in law let me borrow. We headed to Jo'Ann to stock up on thread and supplies for me to be able to monogram items for Ford and Sloane. 

Here is what I have come up with that I have pictures of, so far!

The machine is so easy to use, and it is going to save me so much money since I will not have to pay for items to get monogrammed, I mean look at this cuteness,

All done by yours truly!

Saturday night, I finally got to meet my new nephew Jacob, who also got a monogrammed blanket from my latest embroidery adventures, and he was a doll.

So tiny and cute!

I am getting more and more anxious to meet my little ones, and if all goes well, that will be in approximately 5 or so weeks. 

I have 3 weeks left at school before Winter break, and I know for a fact, it will go by so fast.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving holiday, I can't wait to read all about them on your blogs!

~Mrs. S

#simmondsbabies2015

Hello Lovely Readers!

As I relax on my bed watching the AMA's, (and grow two babies) in my belly I wonder how I got so blessed with so many wonderful friends and colleagues. 

Last Thursday, my fellow orchestra teacher friends threw me an incredible mid week no less shower for the babies. I had such a lovely time eating delicious food, visiting with my friends about all things baby, our upcoming week off, and opening some amazing gifts!

My hosts included the 2 high school orchestra teachers that my school feeds into, and a fellow middle school teacher and her daughters. I will let my pictures do all of the talking :)

How fun is this cake?!

All my orchestra teaching colleagues

Delicious Moldovan spread

Adorable gifts for Ford and Sloane

I chose this high chair because the color is Catalina Ice, I couldn't resist a high chair with a color that's my name!

We got a ton of diapers, and funny enough, we read our babies could use anywhere from 900-1400 diapers in the first 2 months! I think we are good on at least that, but geez!

I have my fifth and final baby shower at school with my fellow teachers and coworkers the week we get back from break, and I am so excited.

I can't believe tomorrow I will be 30 weeks! We go tour our potential hospital tomorrow, and I go see my babies on Wednesday to make sure everything is good. I feel them moving all day long I cant wait to actually see them again. 

Stuff we still need to do/take care of:

Install car seats

Get rug/curtains for nursery

find a pediatrician

Arrange pregnancy leave paperwork

and so much more...

AHH!

Please pray for me and my babies/family these next few weeks,

and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

~Mrs. S

#simmondsbabies2015

Hi lovely readers!

It's been a hot minute, and although I could do bumpdates, and update y'all on all things Simmonds Babies, I have been too busy teaching lessons, having concerts, and trying to spend as much time resting since I am so tired by the end of the day.

Anywhoooo, enough of the excuses, I want to share with you the awesome baby shower my husbands aunts threw for me in Tulsa.

I didn't expect to get so many lovely gifts, especially from my mother in law who outdid herself on about 10 outfits for each baby, plus hats, bows, shoes, bibs, basically any accessory that can be worn by a baby. These Oklahoma ladies sure know how to spoil an expecting mother, here are some pics of the day.

This was me by the beautiful cake :)

My MIL on the very left, and her two sisters who threw me the shower

As you can see from all the gifts around me, the Mr.'s family is very giving.

This is one of the 2 beautiful quilts that one of the Mr.'s aunt made for me.

I had a lovely time celebrating the coming of my babies with the Mr.'s family, I am so grateful to all these ladies who showed my babies so much love!

My orchestra teacher colleagues are having a shower for me in a few weeks, so excited to celebrate my babies with loved ones!

Thanks for stopping by,

~Mrs. S

#simmondsbabies2015

Hello Everyone!

The past few weeks have gone by pretty fast. 

Performances at school, countless lessons and Saturday's spent at orchestra related events have made time go really fast!

This is why I was so excited that today I finally got to spend some time celebrating my little babies at my TCA shower. My husband is a football coach at a high school and the other coaches wives decided to throw me a shower. 

It was such a lovely afternoon spent eating ice cream, playing games and opening some great gifts for the twins. 

I loved the beautiful banner my hostesses made

The ice cream bar was complete with delicious toppings for all to enjoy

One of my besties Kursten

This gift was actually for the Mr. it was a basket full of goodies including this apron titled "Daddy's Diaper Dooties" :)

One of the coaches wife made a quilt for both Ford and Sloane

The whole crew.

Feeling very blessed these days.

So much love coming our way,

thanks to these wonderful ladies for a lovely shower.

~Mrs. S

#simmondsbabies2015

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was my first baby shower and I couldn't wait any longer to share it with you all.

My family helped host this shower and although the decor and details turned out beautiful, I was most impressed with how many people came to show my little babies so much love and support.

Not only did my aunts from McAllen come up, but so many other loved ones from my high school viola teacher to several of my student's parents to old babysitting bosses were also there to shower my little babies.

I am literally speechless about the whole event so I will just recap with pictures to describe the wonderful time I had. 

My sister had been to a party at this venue before, so after we settled on it, we decided to make the baby shower rustic/burlap themed.

From there we went crazy with all things blue/pink/burlap

We decorated mason jars with burlap ribbon and put candy in them as favors. Since we knew we would be able to find both pink and blue hydrangeas we went with those colors for the flowers. 

My sister saw this project on pinterest and made it for me.

My other sister Aby made me the beautiful "Ford and Sloane" signs. By the way, that's the babies names! My sister also made the darling diaper cake, how cute is it??!

We went with two different cakes and cupcakes as the desert, and they were so delicious!

This is all of my sisters and mom, and my aunts and grandma from my dads side.

We thought of doing a fun photo booth type backdrop with props, we all had a blast taking photos.

My student on the very left, my silly niece and my cousin's girl :)

Another one of my favorite students and her mom

I babysat for the two ladies next to me 14 years ago and taught the one on the very right's 2 kids.

My precious family

My sis who is expecting in a month and my cousin who is expecting in 4 months!

No baby shower is complete without some games, so people had to guess how many sheets of TP measured around my belly, obvi my aunt thought I was way bigger than I actually am...

My sis doing her hostess duties and writing down gifts I received

These premie onsies were a trip, they were soooo tiny and cute!

I loved all my gifts, these two babies are going to have so much stuff by the time they arrive!

It was an amazing time, I feel so lucky to have such loving family and friends.

I still have a few more showers left over, which I am excited about and can't wait to recap with you all.

Thanks for stopping by, and taking a glimpse into my pregnancy, its been a beautiful ride so far!

~Mrs.S 

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Gala 2014

Hi all!

I had been looking forward to September 13th ever since I found out that world famous violinist 

Itzhak Perlman would be playing at the DSO's annual gala.

I wasn't sure how much fun I would have considering I am 5 months pregnant and I knew the Mr. would not be able to go with me. I was sooooo glad I ended up going because unlike the past two years I attended, this year was more special for several reasons...

1. My babies got to listen to one of the best violinists in the world, from the womb

2. This month marked the 25th anniversary of the Meyerson Symphony Center which is a very special place to me considering I played countless concerts there in my youth, I got to play a solo my senior year of high school on that stage, I worked there as an usher in high school, my students now get to perform on that stage, and it is one of the original Dallas Arts district buildings!

3. My sister, who had never been to the symphony before got to come with me

4. I got to see my old viola teachers and tell them the news about my babies

5. Before the symphony played their first piece, they played the Star Spangled Banner and the audience in the hall sang along, it gave me chills it was so cool.  

But enough of the talking, here are the photos I took starting with the master himself

Itzhak Perlman and Maestro Jaap Van Sweden

The entire DSO, crazy because there are so many members!

The dinner part of the gala set-up, stunning!

After Party deserts, from The Original Cupcakery

More sweets and gorgeous table-scapes

Me and the bump

Michelle, Tiffany, and I

Me, Tiffany, and Kirsten

My loubies were killing me by the end of the night, so foot massages compliments of the Ritz was just what the doctor ordered

It is tradition in the Mexican culture to take flowers from a party, so I did.

I dont think anyone minded since there were thousands everywhere!

Amazing night with amazing music.

So glad I got to experience it!

Thanks for stopping by,

~Mrs. S