We spent with weekend with
the family (some of it anyway) in Franklin. Had lots of fun.
Spent Saturday at Old Franklin Days and ran into some old
friends and classmates. It’s always interesting getting the
update on marriages, divorces, kids, etc. But then it can get
awkward as there isn’t much else to talk about. Oh well.
Weekends in Franklin are always fun because they are
unscheduled and relaxed. We just chill for a few days. Very
nice. Also got some good pictures of Lex and the family out in
the nature (my parents live in a nice rural area) and some pics
of Lex with his new toy – a giant Elmo! Thanks to Nate @ Sesame
Street :) I’ll try to get more pictures up in the next few
days. For now, it’s time for dinner and bed.

Lex had another 7 hour night last night.
Yay! But the problem with these longer nights is that it leaves
me with odd hours in the morning (and chock-full-o-milk and
ready to burst, but that’s another story). For example, this
morning the alarm was set for 5:30 (have to get to work a
little early so I can leave early :) ). Lex wakes up at 4:15,
so by the time he’s fed and sleeping again its 5:00 and I’m
wide awake. I think, well the alarm is going off in 1/2 hour
anyway, so I may as well stay up (’cause I’m wide awake). But
that means I’m starting the day at 4:15 in the morning! What’s
a person to do? Eat breakfast, blog, and take a nap on the way
to Franklin :)

I realized last night as
I was falling asleep that Lex has now passed his fourth
trimester. He’s really starting to look like a little
person these days, not as much like a helpless infant – except
when he gives me his sad little hungry cry. Then he’s just an
adorable tiny little thing.

While
searching for a good 4th trimester link, I came across this article. I like it. I also like
the quote, “what makes being a grandparent so great is that
finally you get to share the experience of parental love with
your child.”

Anyway, time flies when
you’re browsing the web before sunrise. I gotta go hit the
showers and get this day going. Happy Friday!!

I don’t have much time (gotta
pack!) but I wanted to say happy 3-month birthday to my boy :)
He’s growing so big. He’s wearing size 3 diapers now (which
probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone) and just in the past
few days started really picking his head up and looking around
when he’s on his stomach. He actually enjoys tummy time, for a
little while anyway. We were going to use our JC Penney coupons
to get 3-month photos taken, but turns out that Penney’s
doesn’t have any studios for miles around. So that was the end
of that thought. Too bad, so sad, ’cause we have lots of
Penney’s coupons. These days Lex is also very active and loves
to play on his playmat. He’ll lay there for a long time kicking
his feet, batting at the dangling toys, talking to himself in
the mirror, sucking on his hands (he loves those hands!!) and
just having fun. I understand now why babies eat and sleep so
much – he must burn a ton of calories just laying on that mat.
He’s always going. I’m sure that will be less enjoyable once
he’s on his feet (or hands and knees) and really going!

My blog here is serving me two
purposes – 1) keep friends and family fully satiated with baby
news, and 2) serve as a record of milestones and stuff.
Traditionally people kept baby books, but we decided to do this
instead. Someday I’ll read back through this stuff and remember
when he was just a baby :)

It’s been awhile since I posted last. I
always have ideas floating around in my head, but it’s hard to
get to the computer. I was thinking about a late night post
last night, but Lex slept until 4am (7 hours!!) and I had to
wake up at 6am, so I fed him quickly and we both went back to
sleep. It was nice. Now I’m sitting at work listening to a
webcast about Developing an Organization-Wide Mentoring
Program. I’m monitoring the webcast for technical
support and all, but that gives me nice time to do other stuff
to. Like blogging…

Time
So no matter
how early I wake up, I never seem to be able to get to work any
earlier. I try to get there by 8am, but usually don’t make it
until 8:30. Of course, this morning my nursing session lasted a
bit longer than necessary because Harry was fighting dead
people in an effort to obtain a Horcrux and it was quite exciting.
And if this is all greek to you, read the book! So, I ended up
getting to work at 8:30am again. Oh well. The group I work with
here is a bunch of workaholics (better than alcoholics at
least!). Everyone is here before me (even when I get in at 8am)
and leave much later. As 5pm comes and goes, and 5:15, 5:30…
I say I’m leaving and they say “Oh, is it that time already?”
Like I’m a part-timer :/ My boss even schedules meetings at 5pm
and later. Busy, busy, workaholics :) I say I have a hungry boy
at home and I’m outta here. Luckily everyone is super nice and
no one cares that I leave “early” .

Toes
I
think babies use their feet a lot more than grownups do to
explore and feel things. Lex uses his feet as much as his hands
to touch and explore. His toes are always going and always
dirty :) He even claps them together. I guess as you get older
you realize that the feet aren’t as useful as the hands so you
stop using them as much. It’s always fun watching him explore
things with his feet.

T-s
Jime and Julie
came to visit last weekend. We had promised we go to their
house this time, but we backed out at the last minute. Next
month though… definitely! Anyway, Jim brought Lex two
t-shirts that he found on Tshirt
Hell. One says “I can kick your baby’s ass” and the
other says “Hung like a four year old” :) Apparently they were
the “cleanest” of the options on that site. I’ll have to snap a
few pics of Lex in his new duds.

Travel
Going to
visit the parents this weekend. Should be fun. Mom wants to
show off her grandbaby at Old Franklin Days :) I have actually
been talking with a classmate of mine from high school who will
also be there. Probably lots of other people I know too. I
always like the opportunity to show of the baby. Like mother
like daughter, I guess :)

Thinking back
Thanks to my friend Mike, I was thinking back to freshman
year the other day. This time 10 years ago (yes, 10 years!!!)
we were moving into dorm rooms and meeting all sorts of new
people. Mike is so good at bringing things together and put up
a new blog for a bit of reminiscing. he’s
also a great writer, so read up.

Ok, I
gotta get back to work now. Been nice rambling.

Alan recorded the best video yesterday of
Lex laughing. He’s standing up, holding Alan’s hands and Alan
is laughing real big and Lex just starts laughing as well. It’s
hysterical. The movie is pretty big, but I’m going to try to
put a clip of it online this weekend. We couldn’t get Lex to
laugh last night, but we did watch the video several time. On a
related note, Lex is very intriuged by watching himself on tv –
sometimes its literally larger than life :)

Lex also started pushing up with his arms from his belly
last night. Does that make sense? Probably not. Usually when we
do tummy time he just fusses, but last night he started pushing
with his arms and getting his upper body up. He didn’t hold it
for long, but he got his head up a few times. It was a big day
for the boy :)

Alan and I watched a
bunch of the movies we’ve made of Lex so far. Even though he’s
only 2 months (almost 3!) he looks sooo different in his
newborn movies. There is one where he looks so scrawny and
lizardy :) It’s pretty amazing to see how far he’s come in such
a short period of time. We also realized that he doesn’t do his
cute little “o” face anymore. Ah well.

I got lots of ribbing about how long it
takes me to post photos these days (new baby, hello??) so I
tried real hard to get them up quick this time. Hopefully I’ve
apeased the masses :) Just playing, I know everyone likes to
see the pictures – especially the ones of my little one ;)
photos.datdec.com

On a happier note, today is my
sister’s 25th birthday. Yay! We are all getting older so
quickly. We had a little celebration this past weekend, but
today everyone should send her happy birthday wishes. I’m sure
she would appreciate birthday goodies as well ;)

So being at work is hard. Today is the
first day I haven’t gone home at lunch time and it looks like
this may have to be the norm going forward. One of the
activites required of me at my new job is to run a series of
webcasts, all of which have been scheduled from 12:00pm –
1:30pm EST… which definitely cuts into my long lunch breaks.
So now I’m torn. I want to do the job well, obviously, and
don’t want to be difficult on my first week here, but I also
want to make sure my baby gets the best care possible. So I’m
basically giving myself a self-induced guilt trip. :/ On top of
that, I really don’t like pumping at work. Well, I don’t like
pumping in general, but I like it even less at work. And I
really miss my boys! Just pile on the guilt. I keep reminding
myself that tons of people go back to work and leave their
babies with caregivers, and I’m leaving mine with daddy, so
there is no need for guilt. Unfortunately I’m not very good at
reassuring myself. I’m going to have to talk to Alan soon so he
can reassure me. He’s good at that :) For now I’ll just try to
concentate on work and try not to miss him too much. The end of
the day is nearing…

So the price of gas, for the first time in
all my years here (2), is higher than the national average!! NA
is $2.53/gal, but up here it’s closer to $2.56. What’s with
that?? Must be all that extra gas spent getting up here.
:/

Anyway, had a fabulous weekend. I
love family get togethers. I think the boy is looking forward
to a relaxing week though :) Probably eager to nap in his crib
and not get woken up by a momma who’s eager to socialize. Hope
he relaxes well though, ’cause the next few weekends will be
busy too!

Fairly bored at work. Can’t
wait until next week when I get my own computer (no longer have
to share with the guy I’m taking over for) and can sort of
start to settle in. Last week and this week are sort of
“shadow” weeks as I try to learn all the stuff he does. Next
week I’m on my own.

So the whole (yes, whole) family is in
town. Grandpa’s 80th birthday is next month, so (logically) we
threw him surprise party today. My uncle’s from CA and FL are
both here and my cousins whom we haven’t seen in ages. It was
great. My aunt had it catered (A Moveable
Feast Catering, very tasty) and Grandma got everyone
matching shirts (photos to come soon) and we had a blast. My
mom even wrote up a family history trivial pursuit game… with
the answers being decided on by general concensus. Great
questions such as “Why did Greg loose his trucking job?” (he
rolled a truck!) and which town in NH has the worst campgrounds
(Keene apparently, but rumor has it they have the best drinks
;) ). We all had a blast and my team won! Yay!

Tomorrow is another day of fun, so I’m off to
bed now. These long days wear Lex right out and he sleeps well
at night. Yay! :)