My Week Before Christmas

Mommy still hasn't downloaded the pictures on her camera from this week, so you will just have to deal with these pictures of me.

Mommy puts my toys in these tubs. I don't think they should be in there, so I like to dump everything on the floor. On this day I thought it might be fun to play hide and go seek with mommy. Can you find me??

OH! You found me.....and I thought I was hiding so well. I didn't think anyone would see me playing with my toys under here.

No mommy - no more pictures, please.

Look! Oprah's on. I love Oprah and so does mommy. Daddy doesn't like Oprah much, so I guess it's good that he's not home when Oprah is on.

Here I am with my tub of toys again.

Humm....let's see what I can find in here to play with.

Cool - I found my remote control. I love my remote.....although I think I've figured out that it actually doesn't do anything. Mommy and daddy can't trick me for much longer.

Let's see....what else can I find to play with. WHAT!?!?!? Socks????

You've got to be kidding me.....who wants to play with socks? Oh wait - I do like to take mine off when I'm supposed to be taking a nap....

On this day, mommy put me down for a nap. I decided that I didn't want to nap. So, I just played in my crib. When mommy came in to check on me - this is what she found.

Yep - I figured out how to sit up all by myself. I was very proud of myself.

You may remember the picture of me with Santa that mommy posted earlier. Well - mommy pushed her luck and they made me sit on his lap again. I didn't like it this time. (also note my feet - yes I live in Kentucky now, and I guess you aren't allowed to wear shoes, and one sock on is the best.)

Mommy, Daddy and I are leaving in the morning to go to Columbus. We are meeting Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jack at mommy's aunt's house. I get to meet my cousins (well - mommy's cousins and their kids). My cousin Will turns one this weekend. I also get to have Christmas with my grandma and grandpa. I wonder what they got me.

I've Been Tagged

Ok - I've been tagged - so here you go.

A - Available or Taken - Taken - for what seems like forever!!!
B - Best Friend - Jay (of course) and Michelle
C - Cake or Pie - Cake - definitely Cake (except for Peanut Butter Pie from Sauder's Bakery)
D - Drink of Choice - Alcoholic - Maker's Mark and Sprite, Non-Alcoholic - Water
E - Essential Item you use everyday - Cell Phone
F - Favorite Color - Green
G - Gummy Bears or Worms - Bears - definitely (did you know that you can bite their head off and then stick it to your lip - it's a lot of fun!!)
H - Hometown - Born and raised in Archbold, OH - now live in Simpsonville, KY
I - Indulgence - Dove Chocolate
J - January or February - February - but I don't know why
K - Kids and Names - Alexander Diego - almost 8 months
L - Life is incomplete without - my family
M - Marriage Date - June 24, 1995
N - Number of Siblings: Legit or not? - One brother - Chris
O - Oranges or Apples - This is a hard one - Apples
P - Phobias or Fears - I'm scared of the dark - I'm sure that the boogey man is going to come get me.
Q - Favorite Quote - I don't think I have one (and that's not the quote!)
R - Reason to Smile - There are too many to name! - Most people who know me know that I smile most of the time.
S - Season - Fall - definitely fall
T - Tag 3 or 4 people - (ok - I'm doing two!) - Lori and Trace
U - Unknown fact about me - I was a Special Ed (high school) teacher in my first life, and a librarian in my second life (and I don't mean that I've been reincarnated - I've just had a couple of careers!)
V - Vegetable you don't like - All of them?! Ok - not quite - I don't like brussel sprouts!
W - Worst Habit - I'm a very messy person - I have a horrible habit of not putting my clothes away and then they just pile up - drives Jay crazy
X - X-rays? - On my neck last year - I have the beginnings of a bulged disk in my neck - fun!
Y - Your favorite food - This is also a hard one - have you seen my picture?! :) I would have to say Lobster - especially fresh, in Maine, bought off the side of the road
Z - Zodiac - Virgo

I Think I'm a Bad Mom

Ok - so I've been looking at tons of blogs. Everyone is posting these wonderful Christmas pictures with their kids opening gifts and playing with their new toys.

And now...I feel like a bad mom.

We made the decision to not buy Alex anything for Christmas this year. He's only 7 months, we don't have any other kids, he's received a ton of things at the baby showers we had, and there really isn't anything he needs. I did end up wrapping up a couple of his favorite toys to see what he'd do, but he wasn't interested in opening any presents.

Am I a bad mom? He really didn't have a "first" Christmas. Oh well - I guess I'll just add this to the mommy guilt that I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life!! :)

Bonding Part 3 (AKA Up All Night)

Well - I think Alex and I have officially bonded.

He wasn't feeling well yesterday. He had 4 dirty diapers!! (this from a guy who usually has one - and I know - TMI!!) He spent the afternoon just snuggled on my lap. He's never done that before. He will sit on my lap and play, but he just snuggled in and rested.

Last night he went down at about 9:00. I went to bed at about 10:30. He was up at 12:00 and wouldn't go back to sleep. I ended up with him on the couch with me. He fell asleep on my chest and slept like that for about 3 hours. (until I couldn't stand it anymore - I wasn't very comfortable) He then slept in his crib from 3:00-5:30 and then was up again. He's sleeping now - and mommy needs some sleep!!

We've been home for 10 weeks now, and I finally feel like he knows who I am - that I'm his mom and I will take care of him. It is an amazing feeling. I really didn't realize how important it is to feel that back from your child. I don't know how people do it with children with attachment problems. It's got to be so exhausting.

I'm going to try to get a few sleeps myself!!

My Fortune

We had Chinese takeout for Christmas Eve dinner. We didn't eat the fortune cookies at the time as we were getting ready to head for church.

So, Christmas morning I'm feeding Alex his breakfast. It was just the two of us, and I decided to open one of the fortune cookies - and of course I started crying.

I give this fortune to all of my blog buddies that are going through this amazing, crazy ride known as adoption.

It matters not what road we take but rather what we become on the journey.

Here's to all of us who are becoming/have become mommies on this journey!

Christmas Eve Thoughts

I'm sitting here on my couch at 10:00 on Christmas Eve. Jay is on the other couch (almost asleep), the dog and cat are hanging with him. Alex is sleeping. We met Jay's parents at their hotel tonight for Chinese and then went to the Christmas Eve service at church.

All I can think about is that last year at this time we were still TTC. We hadn't decided on adoption yet. We had talked about it - I had researched it - but we hadn't made our final decision.

It was Christmas last year that we made the final decision - and here I am with a child.

It was all I could do to not cry through the entire service tonight. We are so blessed with an amazing child, and our lives will never be the same. Not just because we are now parents, but because we have brought this amazing child, and his heritage, into our family. Our family tree is forever changed and I couldn't be happier.

To all of you who brought your babies home this year - enjoy your Christmas. For those of you who are waiting to bring your babies home - I pray that next Christmas you are enjoying them around your tree. For those of you who have yet to know who your future child will be - I pray that the new year brings you the same amazement that this past year has brought to me.

My God bless you and your families. Merry Christmas

Alex Clapping

Alex has learned how to clap. He gets so proud of himself. Here's a couple pictures of him.

(Ok - technical question - some my fellow bloggers have this nice border around your pictures on your blog - how do you do that????)

Here's a video I took of Alex the first time he started his clapping. Turn your volume down so you don't have to hear me sounding like a dork trying to get him to clap. :) Gosh - he's just the cutest thing ever!!!

My Secret Blog Pal Strikes Again

What a surprise! My secret blog pal sent this to me this week in the mail. It's a lovely picture frame with the word Family around the edges. She then printed out pictures of Alex from my blog and made a collage. I LOVE it. It's so wonderful.

Thanks Tracy!!!!

Beautiful Gift

Jay works with a guy whose family does woodworking. I believe that they mostly make kitchen cabinets and such. Well, Brad had his dad make this for us.

It's kind of hard to tell, but it's sort of 3-Dish. It is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. (and in case you didn't know - Alex's room is done in Noah's Ark) It was all hand made by Brad's dad, and I just can't stop staring at it! Now it's time to rearrange the room to make this a focal point. I still can't believe that he spent the time to make this for us. I've never met Brad's father, and I don't think Jay has either. I'm just overwhelmed!!

My Encounter at the Mall

We are all talking about how we handle things when we take our kids out in "public." If any of you have been reading this blog lately, you will know that I almost had an encounter at Wal-Mart. Here's my latest.

Yesterday, when we were at the mall with the whole crew, we took a break and let the kids play on the playground at the mall. I was sitting on a bench with Alex. (he was still in his carrier) Two moms with strollers and two little girls came up to the bench next to me. Both girls were precious, but I was particularly drawn to the one little girl.

She was a petite little peanut, and I could tell right away that she had to be from Guatemala. You know how cute our little ones are! I didn't say anything to the mom, because I didn't want to be one of "those people" - and what if I was wrong!! So, instead, I just stared at her kid!! :)

I eventually got Alex out of his carrier and had him on my lap. I could feel the mom of the precious one looking at me and Alex. She eventually came up to me and said, "Is he from Guatemala?" I said, "Yes, and your daughter is also, isn't she." She laughed, I laughed, we exchanged the important information (how old? when did she/he come home? who was your agency?) and then she was off to chase her daughter down.

I love it - and I love seeing more Guatemalan beauties!

What Was I Thinking?

What a day!! (and I think I'm crazy)

Alex got up at 6 am - had a bottle and played a little. Went to bed at 8:00 - slept for 45 minutes. We then got a bath, changed clothes, ate a little bit and then we were off.

We went:

1. To the daycare. We have our application fee in and the paperwork to fill out. I met the assistant director and she was really nice.

2. To the mall. (yes, you read that right - I went to the mall the week before Christmas) I met up with my friend Michelle, her three kids, her parents and my friend Cindy and her two kids. Michelle's kids got their picture taken with Santa. (her youngest - 13 months - screamed through the whole thing - it was priceless) We then ate and then played with all of the kids while Michelle took her youngest to a doctor's appointment.

3. Then we all went to yet another place that has to remain nameless. We went to get additional Christmas presents for the grandparents so I can't write about it since they both read the blog.

We didn't get home until 5:30. Alex had sort of a nap and sort of ate. Yikes!! He played for awhile - screamed for awhile - then took a bottle and went to bed a hour early.

I'm SO tired. There were so many people, and I don't think I've ever seen that many strollers in one place before! I'm just glad I didn't have to do any shopping.

13 more days until I go back to work.

Yogurt

Alex had yogurt today for the first time. (It was strawberry) I fully expected to see a weird face when he tasted it for the first time, but he acted like it was the applesauce he's been eating for weeks. It really surprised me. Now, strawberry yogurt is better than plain, but it's still a little tart.

I think he's either not feeling well, or those teeth are about ready to pop through. He's been sleeping more, and has been cranky more. Hopefully those teeth will come through soon.

Hiccups Anyone?

Alex has always had a problem with hiccups, but they seem to be getting worse.

Over the past couple of weeks, he has been getting a bad hiccups episode at least once a day if not more than once. He got hiccups this morning at about 4:30, and they were so bad, he was having a hard time breathing between the hiccups.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop hiccups in a 7 month old? I just feel so bad for him!!

I WON!!!!!!!

Earlier this fall I wrote about my fantasy football team. I've been doing fantasy football for about 8 years now. I've never done great. The best I did was two years ago I ended up with the second best record in the league. But, I've never made the playoffs.

I started out this year going 0-4 - I thought there was no way I could make the playoffs.

Well - I was in the worst division ever - went 7-7 and made the playoffs. I played a guy this week who was 12-2. He had a much better team than me. Going into last nights game, I was down by 7 points, I had my kicker going and he had Larry Johnson. (for those of you who don't follow football - LJ is a GREAT RB)

Well - LJ had a HORRIBLE game, and my kicker kicked butt (no pun intended!!). And I won by one point!!!!

This means that I now play the winner of the other playoff game over the next two weeks to determine the winner of our league.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!! :)

I'm Finished Shopping!!!!!

I made the decision to finish Christmas shopping today while Jay could watch Alex instead of dragging Alex out this week. I knew that I'd deal with more people, but thought it would easier without a 7 month old.

I was right!!

First - I have to say - that there is something wrong when I can do Christmas shopping one week before Christmas and it's 67 degrees outside! It was insane. Kids were lined up at our outdoor mall to take a "sleigh" ride with Santa - and I could have been in shorts.

I got everyone done - mom, brother, sis-in-law, and best friend's three kids. I already had my dad and our "adult" name exchange done. Now I just need to get everything wrapped.

Jay and I aren't exchanging presents this year. (although Jay asks me just about every day if that's still the case. I guess he's learned after being together for 16 years that he doesn't want to be empty handed if I got him something) We've also decided to take a couple of the toys that Alex hasn't played with along with the three toys we left at Michelle's (and that he's been without for about a week) and wrap them for Alex to open on Christmas day. He really doesn't need anything else from us this year, and I'm sure he'll get lots of toys from the family. He won't know any different, and my pocketbook likes it.

And, for the third year in a row - we bought all of our Christmas presents and didn't charge one single thing!!!! That's with me not having a paycheck for the past month. We recently paid off all of our credit cards and I want to keep it that way. (now the adoption loan - that's another question - but we'll get there soon)

Bonding - Part 2

I read whatever I could about this bonding thing before we brought Alex home. Even with that, I never realized that it was such a chore! I love this little guy so much - but the bonding is just taking longer than I expected.

He's been such an easy baby (except for today - he didn't want to nap, and now he doesn't want to go to sleep even though he is WAY tired). But, I wasn't sure if he was bonding to me yet. He lets me take care of him, plays with me, has a HUGE smile for me when I get him up from his naps, or I enter a room - but I still wasn't sure.

Earlier this week, he was sitting on the couch with some toys, and I was sitting right next to him. (he has to sit still - yeah right! - after he eats or he spits it all back up) He played for a little while, but then he did something that made me cry. He started whining - turned towards me - and lifted his arms to me to be picked up. This was the first time that he really initiated wanting to be with me.

We are continuing on this process.....which it is....a process. But - I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Alex and the Babysitter

Tonight was a big night. Alex had his first babysitter. Up until tonight, either Jay, my mom or I watched him since we picked him up. I had a haircut appointment tonight and Jay had a retreat for work.

So, K. came over to watch Alex for me for a couple of hours. He did fine - me - not so much. I really wasn't nervous. I trust K. and knew she would do fine. It was just very weird to leave him with someone else. He had a great time and was all smiles when I got home. I'm glad I got through that first milestone.

Why International Adoption is Better than Pregnancy

When I realized that I wasn't going to get pregnant I went through a period of mourning. I mourned over the fact that I would never experience that little life inside me. Since I've finished our adoption, I've come to realize that there are many reasons why Adoption (especially international) is better than Pregnancy. Some of these are serious (and some aren't). (I'm not trying to make pregnancy out to be something terrible, so I hope no one gets offended.)

Here they are in no particular order. Does anyone have any others to add to the list?

1. No stretch marks (at least not from the pregnancy!!! LOL)
2. No epesiotomy
3. No swelling (I was able to wear my wedding ring through the whole adoption!)
4. No one coming up to me and wanting to rub my belly
5. I only had to go see my OB/GYN once during the adoption process.
6. No pregnancy hormones (now - adoption hormones - another story!)
7. I was able to spend my maternity leave enjoying my son - not trying to recover from giving birth.
8. No needle in my back (although there were times during the process an epidural wouldn't have been bad!)
9. I could still drink during the adoption process!!!! (where are the margaritas??)
10. No ugly hospital gowns.
11. No horrible hospital food (we got to eat the yummy breakfasts at the Marriott in GC!!)

12. No feedings every 2 hours - even at night. (mommy likes her sleep!)

13. Newborns are scary - they are floppy and tiny. Alex could hold his head up and had good body control when we got him

14. A newborn basically sleeps for the first 6 weeks (at least) of life. I got to spend the last 9 weeks playing with Alex.

15. I got my husband to leave the country - twice!

And the best part - I got Alex!

Pictures

My mommy says I'm cute all the time. But, she thinks I'm really cute when I'm sleeping.

I remember this day. Mommy got me up from my nap, and I was still kind of sleepy. I still had my pacifier in my mouth, but look - mommy gave me my favorite - puffs!!

Humm....now usually I can just pick up a puff and put it in my mouth. Something isn't right here. (and why is my mommy laughing and taking pictures of me??)

Hey!! I'm a happy guy. Take my picture mommy!

Here's my latest trick. I can suck on my bottom lip. Mommy says it makes me look like I'm not very smart, but I think it's pretty fun to do.

Mommy, your jokes are hilarious! I had no idea that you were that funny. Tell me another one.

Ok - that one wasn't very funny. How about I tell you one?

So this rabbi, a priest and a penguin go into a bar......

Ok - mommy, I'm done with the jokes. Can I just go to bed now?

Mommy, I MEAN it! I want to go to bed NOW!!!!

When the Baby is a Rocking....

........he's about ready to crawl. (Ok - I know that there are some sickos out there that didn't think that's what I was going to say!!!)

I think the play date with Landon on Saturday has paid off. Alex is now getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He's only been able to move backwards (a little bit) and hasn't figured out how to move himself forward, but it shouldn't be long now.

I've also called the rest of the daycares in our area, and no other ones take kids on a part time basis, so I guess my decision is going to be made for me. :)

I'm going to try to download some more pictures tomorrow. I got some good ones. :)

My Secret Blog Pal!

I think I have the best Secret Blog Pal (although she's not so secret!)

Her name is Tracy. She comments on my blog, has sent me an ecard, a couple of emails, and I got a present in the mail this weekend.

It's a wonderful baby book in a Noah's Ark theme. It's wonderful and I love it!

You can check out Tracy's blog by clicking here .

I also think we need a new picture of Alex. :)

The Joy of Friends

Today two of my friends came by for a visit - Debbie, Kirsten and Kirsten's son Landon. I work with Debbie and Kirsten used to work with us. Landon is only a couple months older than Alex.

We had a great time. We ate, let the kids play, caught up and just had a wonderful time. It reminded me, again, how wonderful it is to have great friends. Love you guys!!

Alex had a blast "playing" with Landon (if you can call what a 7 and 10 month old do playing together) Alex thought Landon was pretty cool. I think he was checking out that crawling thing that Landon was doing. Maybe he'll figure it out now. Alex completely missed his afternoon nap and fell asleep in my arms at around 3:00. He slept until around 6:15 - he was tired from all of the playing! We had a great day.

I Made Progress and our First Post Placement

I'm back!!! I made a number of phone calls yesterday to a couple of day care centers. A couple of them that I called don't take part time kids. I did find two that do. I actually went and visited them yesterday also. I liked both of them, although I liked one more than the other. I have a few more to call on Monday before I make a decision. I feel a little better now - but I still am not looking forward to putting him in day care.

We went to Owensboro today for our first post-placement meeting. (Hi Jeannie and Marie!!!) We took Alex to them so that both Jeannie and Marie could see him. This was Alex's longest car ride - 2 1/2 hours one way. He did pretty good on the way there, but then screamed for the last 45 minutes. It was fun!

We had fun playing with Jeannie and Marie - and of course Alex put on a show. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of being back in the care - slept through our lunch - and slept the WHOLE WAY HOME!!!

It was nice to see Jeannie and Marie again. They are WONDERFUL ladies that do a great job helping families bring their children home. If any of you reading this live in Kentucky and are thinking about adoption, give Jeannie and Marie a call at Mary Kendall Adoption Agency. I have a link on my main page. Love you guys!!

I'm In Denial

I'm sitting here - 3 1/2 weeks until I go back to work - and still don't have child care.

I have a list of places in our county - I haven't made one phone call yet.

I'm finding other things to do. I even just emptied the dishwasher......all to avoid making those phone calls.

Ok - I'm not going to allow myself to blog again until I get all of the phone calls made and the list narrowed down.

I guess you'll hear from me again in January!! :)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

Mom and I put up our two Christmas trees on Friday. We put up our "big" (it's really not that big) one in our front room. This room is supposed to be a dining room, but it's my piano room. It has a front window, and I love having a Christmas tree in the front window.

Here's the tree during the day.

Here's the tree at night lit up!!

Our second tree is much smaller and pre-lit! We just put some small ornaments on it (including a number of Baby's First Christmas ornaments we received as presents)

We also took Alex to see Santa on Saturday. We live in a very small town in the middle of horse country. (I'll have to go out and take pictures of our horses and post them!) We have a store in our town called Metzger's Country Store. It's a combination pet food/tack/feed/knick-knack store. It has a little bit of everything. I noticed that they were going to have Santa at the store on Saturday to have pictures taken with your kid or pets. I thought it would be better than going all the way into the mall. Boy was I right!!

They had a great set up, and wonderful Santa - and we were able to pick the pictures up within 30 minutes. Alex wasn't scared of Santa at all. (unlike his dad!) He kept wanting to look at him. It took some doing to get this picture. (I had to take pictures with my camera of the pictures we got to get them digital!)

But of course I had to get this picture also!

The Lady at Wal-Mart

I've been waiting for that day when a complete stranger (or maybe an acquaintance) makes a rude, or uninformed comment to me about Alex. I'm prepared. I've been working on my responses, I've read what others have had to deal with, Jay and I have discussed what our reactions will be.

I don't think I've gotten any comments yet since, at this time, Alex is so light complected.

So - yesterday I was at Wal-Mart. (Ok - some of you think it's very red-neck to be at Wal-Mart. It's not my favorite place, but it's the closest for me. If I need to go pick up a few things I can drive 5 minutes to Wal-Mart of 20 minutes to Target) I was looking at the children's clothes. This lady just starts talking to me. Not polite small talk that two strangers looking at the same kid's clothes might exchange, but chatting with me like she was my best friend.

Now - I'm a very outgoing person and have yet to meet a stranger - but she was kind of freaking me out. Of course she started commenting on Alex and how cute he is. (but of course she did, since he's the cutest kid EVER!) She then proceeded to tell me all about her grandchildren (four boys and a girl).

I was just waiting. I was for sure that she was going to be the one - she was going to ask me something inappropriate.....I was ready!!!

As she was telling me more about her wonderful new granddaughter, she said, "My daughter and son-in-law adopted her from Guatemala." (with a twinkle in her eye) I must have had a pretty shocked look on my face - and told her that Alex was adopted from Guatemala also. She smiled and said, "I thought so - but didn't want to come out and ask." She then proceeded to show me pictures of her granddaughter (who, by the way, is really cute). She and Alex are about 2 weeks apart in age and they came home within two weeks of each other.

So - I guess I learned my lesson today - not all annoying women in Wal-Mart are inappropriate!

I'm the Happiest Mommy in the World!!!!!

One of the important things when adopting a child is making sure that your child becomes attached and bonded to you. There are lots of books - lots of ideas - lots of things to try. You talk to people and you hear lots of ways to make sure that your child is bonded to you.

I've taken a modified approach. I've done some things that the "experts" say you are supposed to do, but I haven't gone to the extreme.

That said, I've been worried about Alex's attachment to me. I've been his main caregiver for the past 8 weeks. But - he's such a good kid. He hardly ever crys, he's happy all the time, and he's a major flirt. I keep asking Jay if we are raising a future serial killer!

I was playing with Alex tonight on the floor. Jay came in the room and got down on the floor to play with him. I left the room, and Alex started crying. I came back in the room, he turned around, saw me and reached for me!!!!

I can't begin to explain how happy this made me feel!!!! I was just about crying. How is it possible that my child crying can make me so happy?????

Ok - I'm Going to Try This

For those of you who know me, you know that I sing. My parents joke that I was singing before I was talking. I would sing just about anything, but most of my singing has been done at church.

I've been in lots of choirs - high school, county honors, regional honors, Interlochen, college, church. I've also been in some musicals. I enjoy singing.

I sang at my wedding, my brother's wedding, and - this weekend - I sang at Alex's baptism.

Here's the video of my song. The video quality isn't great, but the audio quality is pretty good.

So - I'm putting myself out there in blog land. Be kind!!!

Big Week

We've had a big week. My parents came into town on Tuesday for a convention. Alex and I went into Louisville to see them on Tuesday, mom, Alex and I went shopping ALL day on Wednesday (and I mean all day - Alex slept 20 minutes), my mom, dad and brother came over to our house Wednesday night, mom and dad brought the RV to our house on Thursday afternoon, mom, Alex and I went grocery shopping on Friday, my brother and sis-in law came to our house on Saturday and Alex was baptized today. Unfortunately Jay's mom wasn't feeling well, so they didn't make the trip down yesterday. We missed them today!!

Alex was a real trooper all week. He's sleeping and eating schedule was way off, but he did great. The baptism went well. I sang - if I have the nerve, I may post the video of me singing. I got through it without a problem.

So, as we are up front at church Alex decides to be a flirt. He was looking back at everyone in the choir and making faces at them. He has also learned how to fake cough, so he was doing that. He had everyone cracking up.

It's amazing how much I love this kid! He's just the coolest thing ever!!


Here are some pictures from today.

Here's Alex leaning all the way back. He kept doing this and cracking up the congregation.

Alex getting baptized.

Alex wasn't so sure about this lady putting water on his head! Here he is pushing Rev. Claudia's hand away.

I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE this picture!!!!

Here's my family. Jay and I are in the middle - my brother and sis-in-law on the left and my parents on the right.

Pictures

I've downloaded some more pictures!

Do you think he might be a rapper some day??

Here's Alex all ready for the Ohio State vs. Michigan game.

Here are pictures of Alex's first trip to the park. He actually really liked the swings - we just didn't get any pictures of him where he looks like he's having fun!

Alex likes to play with his toys - so Jay decided to put him IN with his toys. He thought this was pretty cool.

One of the guys Jay works with, Jeff, graduated from Notre Dame. He got Alex this sweatshirt. You can sort of see Alex's teeth in this picture.