Month: March 2009

Alex is making his first trip to Paducah for Easter. Mom has been trying to help me find a cute Easter outfit. Who would have thought one of the best children’s clothing stores I have seen is in Paducah? We have used the same box to mail numerous outfits back and forth. Part of the problem is Alex’s size.
Below is a Newborn size that is way too big:

This one isn’t too big, but it’s too thin:

I really like this premie outfit, but I don’t think it will fit in two weeks:

The hunt continues.

We woke up to quite a bit of snow on the ground – silly Milwaukee. Wade had arranged a wonderful surprise for me – an afternoon just for us. Nate and Amy had agreed to watch Alex so we bundled him up:

and let him play in the snow:

After dropping Alex off we had a Japanese lunch and then headed home. Wade took a long nap and I finished a couple of organizing projects I have been working on. What a great afternoon!

Happy Birthday Heather!

Today was a wonderfully lazy day. We stayed in our pajamas till around 3 or 4 and did a bunch of nothing! It is supposed to snow tonight (6-9 inches) so I voted for an evening in with a fire and popcorn. We had Amber, Nick, and Abram over from across the street for a little Wii action in front of the fire. (They even brought yummy birthday cake.) Amber had to leave before too long to put Abram to bed, but we kept Nick up for a while racing and talking.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today was a day of errands (without Alex). Wade came home to babysit and I had a doctor appointment, a dentist appointment, and made a run to the grocery. Of course, I also had some time to play with Alex and Madison:

I have never been a good napper. The problem used to be that I would wake up incredibly grumpy – regardless of how long or how short or where I slept. Now that I really need naps I find that I am rather particular. I don’t seem able to nap unless I am home alone (with Alex), on the couch with a blanket, and it’s daylight. With all my weird quirks maybe I should just give up on it all together….nah. I’m off to take a nap.

Wade took Alex and I out to dinner tonight. I chose one of my current favorite restaurants, Claim Jumper. For the second time I got a free piece of their motherlode chocolate cake. The first time we had placed a carryout order online and their system hadn’t received the order. To compensate they threw in a lot freebies – including a piece of cake. Tonight we have no idea why we got the free dessert. The waitress just brought a piece of chocolate cake and a piece of carrot cake when we were ready to leave. Yumm!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Beverly!

I’m pretty sure Jerry was hiding 20 dollar bills for Emily and Wade long before I was around. Every time we see each other (whether they come here or we go there) Jerry is sure to hide a 20 for Wade and a 20 for me. Sometimes we find them quickly and sometimes it takes a long time. When everyone came to visit for Alex’s birth, I found a 20 in his crib. It isn’t the first time Jerry has hidden money in Alex’s room, but I couldn’t figure out why there was only a single 20. When I found two more 20s in the candy bowl in the kitchen, I realized Alex was now getting a 20 too. Until he’s old enough to realize it, we are adding his 20s to his college fund.
Last night as we were getting into bed Wade and I both found a 20 and a Reese’s egg under our pillows. I went to Alex’s room and he had a 20 and a box of Peeps (long family story there). Anyway, Alex wanted to say thanks.

Wade and I had our first real date since Alex arrived. Emily flew out this morning, but Judy and Jerry are staying till tomorrow morning – just so we can go out. I took a nap this afternoon to get ready and then we went to the movies and dinner. We saw Duplicity, which I thought was a little predictable. Then we had an awesome dinner at Fleming’s. The food was good, the service was fantastic, but I think it being just the two of us was the awesome part. The waitress even sent us home with two boxes of chocolate covered strawberries to celebrate our first evening out!
Pop and Granny spent lots of time holding Alex and we got just a few pictures.
Pop:

Granny:

Happy Birthday Christina!

Wade and I both were quite surprised when Alex was born with a head full of hair. To date, he still has all of it. I know it’s unlikely that he will keep it all, but it sure makes for good pictures now. Immediately after a bath, the hair sticks straight up and stays that way. We think it is similar to the little boy in the end of Zoolander. Regardless we look at it and laugh.

Wade took today off work and we all did a bunch of nothing. Judy and Jerry brought Alex a bunch of gifts from people in Collierville. He (read that as me) had a lot of fun opening them.

Wade’s family arrived in Milwaukee this evening – Granny, Pop, and Aunt Emily. They checked into their hotel and then brought Chinese for dinner. Most of the evening was spent watching Alex, who was on his best behavior.

Courtesy of Wade, a picture of one of my favorite outfits on Alex:

We made it to the dog park for the second day in a row. Milwaukee has had awesome weather with temperatures in the sixties and I wanted to take advantage. Of course, I failed to realize that warm weather would also mean lots and lots of mud.

Thank goodness Madison was willing to take a swim to clean herself up.

I actually have quite a few “best gifts ever”. The current one is my heated mattress pad. My sheets get cold while I get up to feed Alex and I love having them nice and warm for me when I return only half awake.

Wade and I have attempted church for the last several Sundays, but we haven’t quite made it there. We are having trouble because Alex isn’t quite old enough to go to the nursery and we don’t want to be “those people” with a crying baby in church. Today we were all awake and ready on time. We filled Alex up with milk and headed out the door. Suprisingly, he didn’t sleep through any of the service, but he was content with his pacifier. I think we have one more week and then the nursery will take him – thank goodness!

Is it just me or does my hair really look red in the last couple of pictures?

The day started out great – Alex slept two four-hour stretches last night! Mom and Dad love the extra sleep. We started the day with a bath – not Alex’s favorite activity:

However, as soon as he is covered up he is happy again. Now I can really call him my little toadfrog:

Next, we ventured downtown for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

After a quick bite of lunch we all took a long afternoon nap. Then we decided to invite people over for some Wii and Wee (Nintendo and Alex). You have to love people that say “yes” to last minute invites. We’d never see anyone if not!

Note the oreos on the counter – courtesy of Mike – Thanks!

Alex has quite the social life. Tonight Christin and Kyle stopped by on their way to work out. Christin doted on Alex and Kyle doted on Madison – everybody wins.

I feel like I have accomplished a ton. For the second time since Alex was born I cooked dinner. I figured I’d start Alex early on learning his way around the kitchen.

We have been spending quite a bit of time lately with the young couples from our church. The boys have gotten together quite a few times for Mario Kart so the girls decided it was our turn. Tonight Heidi invited us all over for dessert – yum! Wade was out of town so Alex tagged along and I don’t think the girls minded a bit. Before the month ends we’ll have another baby in the group – Carissa and Mike are havin a little girl.

Melissa and Chris stopped in Paducah on their way up and brought some things we had left at Christmas. They also brought a few baby gifts and some toys Leigh Ann is passing on from her kids. Most of them will have to wait till Alex is a little older, but Madison decided to go ahead and check them out. I was feeding Alex at 3 am and looked up to see this:

Alex has had a rough start. It took him three weeks before he showed any weight gain (transitioning from bottle to breast feeding and then back to some formula). Now he is starting to grow and fit into some of his new clothes – these were gifts from Wade’s cousins Marie and Tina.

We decided to venture out for dinner with Alex. We ended up at a Japanese restaurant (Sushi for me) and Alex slept through the entire thing. We spent the rest of the night playing cards and eating sweets from the bakery right down the street. I wish Melissa and Chris could stay a little longer.

Melissa and Chris have come to Milwaukee. Melissa is currently getting her MBA, while working full time. Her spring break was timed perfectly with Alex’s arrival. Melissa, Chris, and their dog Bailey drove up yesterday and arrived last night in time for dinner. We’ve spent the day just hanging out. Melissa has held Alex and the boys have played Mario Kart. I’m not really sure what I’ve done all day.

People have been wonderful about bringing us food – all the couples from church, Dawn across the street, and the Rogers Family. I mentioned the Rogers a while ago here. We met them on craig’s list when they came to look at our dishwasher. They didn’t buy the dishwasher, but we have kept in touch with them ever since. Mary brought dinner by with four of her ten kids. She also offered up herself and a few of her kids as babysitters – perfect!

Alex had his first trip to the zoo today. Amber (across the street) invited us to join her and her son for an afternoon stroll with the animals. We had a good time, awesome weather, and Alex slept through it all.

We went to the doctor yesterday and she suggested adding a little bit of formula after nursing. Obviously it was a good suggestion. Alex is now a much happier baby and sleeping like a dream.