Simon

My (not so) baby brother is getting married this month.

Wow.

Just typing that out is crazy to me. 

I am so proud of the man he is. He was my best friend growing up. He understood (and may still understand) me better than anyone in the world. He still knows exactly how I feel with just one look. And that's one of the best things about Simon, not only does he understand, he cares. He has always been such a caring person.

I remember while my mom was pregnant wanting a little brother. He was such a cute little baby.

Even though he was a cutie, we was not a very happy baby the first year of his life. He Had pneumonia and needed tubes. The earliest memories I have of Simon were of him crying... all the time.

We were always in daycare during the week but I remember him crying all weekend long.

Once he was healthy things got a lot better. He started to be more fun to play with.

I loved being a big sister. I basically felt like a princess. I had a little helper who would do anything I told him to (Haha! I wished.). Even though we mostly played what I wanted, Simon would never let me dress him up like a doll. 

He HATED when I tried to put hats or wigs on him.

Some of my favorite memories:

When we would catch frogs Simon would always squeeze them so hard that they would pee on him.

Anytime we would go on trips we would quote our favorite movies from beginning to end. 

Mostly The Emperor's New Groove. We loved that movie.

Another thing I remembered was that Simon ALWAYS wanted to be around me. Even at my birthday parties. 

He always wanted to do what I did, sing what I sang, and eat what I ate. At the time it drove me crazy, but when I think about it now it makes me smile.

He usually went along with all of the dorky things I wanted to do. When we were 9 and 5 our parents were looking for a new house. Every time we went in to a new house my brother and I would find the biggest bedroom and roll around on the floor in the empty room while singing "roll around, roll around". We were such dorks!

I remember when I was getting ready to move away to college I freaked out at the thought of Simon learning to drive while I was away at school. I took him to a big empty parking lot and I taught him how to drive. It was so fun, and probably the most irresponsible thing I ever did. He was 14...

Any time I would come home from school Simon would always and still to this day, give me a huge hug. Those hugs are my favorite. I could always tell how much he missed me. The hardest part about moving away from home was Simon. I didn't want him to be all alone. But little did I know that Ashley was already in the picture. 

Simon was very nice and sweet to Christopher. I remember him telling us that he had planned on being a jerk to scare him off but he liked him too much once he met him.

About 2 years ago Christopher and I moved in to my parents house for a while. Simon was very good about it. I doubt it was easy living under a roof (and sharing what used to be your own bathroom) with your sister and her husband.

When Chloe came along Simon became an Uncle. I think he was kind of intimidated at first. But he is a wonderful uncle. And not only is he a wonderful uncle he is giving my daughter a sweet, kind, loving, beautiful, and graceful Aunt. 

Simon you are a HUGE piece of my life and a big part of my heart is yours, I love you so much brother. I would be so proud if my kids grew up to be like you!

Love you Simon!