Ready for Winter, Feels like Spring!

Esther's parents have been here since yesterday, we picked them up at O'Hare yesterday around 7:00 pm. Today, we all went to the mall and we had a gift certificate to The Children's Place (Thank you to John & Maria for the gift). With a portion of this certificate, we bought a winter coat and hat for Alex. It comes with a fleece liner that can be taken out and worn by itself as a spring or fall jacket. Doesn't he look so cute? I know a lot of our readers are in the midwest so you're getting the same weather, but we really don't have a need for a big coat right now, even though it is the end of December in Chicago. It was high 40's today and is supposed to be low 50's tomorrow & Monday. Someday we'll be glad that we bought this to keep him warm, but for now, we're glad we bought it just because he looks so cute.

We're Home!

Dave here. While the "front" and "back" side of our Christmas celebrations are enjoyable unlike a hurricane, we are in the eye of the celebrations. We just returned last night from Indiana and Esther's parents are coming tomorrow night until Sunday.

I will try to recap for you our time in Indiana. I want to put a lot more pictures in here, but this site is not letting me for some reason, so I'll just explain it and not show it.

We arrived in Winona Lake on Saturday the 23rd, around noon. Our family does a progressive dinner every Christmas and Saturday was the day. When we arrived at my parents, Barb Wooler came over to practice with my mother for Sunday's service at church (Barb was playing guitar and my mom was singing Mary Did You Know).
Esther suggested I sing with them.....so I began practicing as well. Also, Saturday afternoon, Alex rolled from stomach to back for the first time, this picture is the roll, in progress. YEA!

Saturday night was the progressive dinner. We had appetizers and soup at Scott & Kelli Schneider's house (Kelli is my second cousin), salad at Noel & Joan Hoke's (Noel is Kelli's dad), stuffed cornish game and green beans (Esther made the beans) at John & Maria Tucker's (Maria is my sister), and then we went to my parent's house for dessert and to open presents. I received a Selah CD and a crank flashlight from cousin Emil and Esther got pot pouri and a candle from Joan. The picture is of (L to R) my cousins Kaylin and Karla getting to know Alex.

Sunday morning I sang with my mother. Esther did not make the service because as she was getting Alex dressed, he threw up. This was not your average baby spit up, but rather a geyser of baby yuck! After the evening service, we ate chili at my parent's house with Uncle Charles, Aunt Frances, my brother Dan, sister-in-law Marna and my niece Maddy.

Christmas morning, like a 5 year old, I could not sleep, so I went down to read at 5:30. My mom is normally up at that time so we sat and talked for a while. Esther and Alex had no problem sleeping in. The rest of the morning we spent helping to get lunch ready. We had ham, duck, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, fruit salad, bread and four different kinds of pie. It was a feast for the ages. After dinner we opened presents and talked. That night, Esther and Marna beat Dan & I in the first game of euchre, but then Dan & I stormed back and took the next two games.

Tuesday morning, Esther went to drink coffee with the Pacheco women and Alex and I spent the morning hanging out at home. He cried a lot and didn't want to take a nap, it was terrific! They returned in the early afternoon and started going through a bunch of old family pictures while my Dad and I went out for a long walk. My old roommate Aaron Waggoner came over for a surprise visit after we got back from our walk. That night, my parents treated us to dinner at our favorite chinese place in Warsaw, Peking. It was fabulous. After Alex went to sleep that night, Esther and I went to visit with her Uncle Jim & Aunt Tammie.

Wednesday morning was spent at my parent's house and Esther's Cousin Tara (Jim & Tammie's daughter) came over to see Alex....and I guess the rest of us too. (Personal note: Tara, you made the cut, but the picture wouldn't upload for some reason.) At noon, we went to my friend Seth's house and had pizza with Seth, Missy, Brendan and Sam the yellow lab. After that, I dropped Esther off at her Christmas gift from my mother.....a 1-hour massage. When I picked her up, she was walking as if she were boneless. She looked extremely relaxed. Shortly after that, we left to come home to Illinois.

It was a great week in Indiana and Alex was so cute at his first Christmas!

Tomorrow we'll go pick up Esther's parents at O'Hare and celebrate all over again.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish all of our readers/friends a very merry Christmas! May you draw closer to Jesus as you celebrate his birth. We'll fill you in on all the busy holiday festivities when we get a chance. Have a wonderful time with your families!

Sleep Little Child.......SLEEP!!!!

Dave here. This is one of the first pictures I took of Alex shortly after he was born. It is one of my favorites and I've included it here because it is the best picture I know of to describe what's been happening this past week. I left for work this morning shortly after 7:00 and my son was still sleeping.

For the past week, he has slept for at least 11 hours every night. What a blessing it has been, both for him and for us. Yea for sleep!

Look what I can do!!!

If you remember, last week I wrote about Alex's check-up and Dr. Pector's concern about Alex's floppiness. If you check out the picture you can see that there is already much improvement in this area. This was the first time he sat there without face-planting into the couch. If you look at his face, you can see that he is thinking "what is my mamma doing, jumping around and laughing. What is the big deal?" As a mom, I take great pride in my ability to get excited over the smallest things!

An update on the weight gain. I think that he has not been getting enough to eat. So we are doing some things differently and are meeting with someone on Thursday to help us remedy the problem (hopefully). There is not much that is worse then to know your child is not getting enough to eat. Thanks for your prayers! I have noticed that since we have been doing things differently, Alex has come alive. He is a different kid. He is still a good kid, he just laughs alot more! It is amazing what a full tummy can do!

New Toy.....But Not For Alex!

Esther and I got each other a gift this year for Christmas, but we got it early so we could use it during the Christmas season. If you've read our previous posts, you know that I got Esther a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera last year for Christmas. You also know that I'm the one that has used it the most since we got it.

Well, this year's gift to each other is sort of turning out the same way, except that this year it's partly my gift to begin with. We got each other a Quantaray 70-300mm tele-macro lens. I don't have a clue what all that means, but I do know that with this lens, we can zoom like we've never zoomed before. It's really quite cool. Along with that, we got several filters, including one that adds the little twinkle to lights or a flame. These are pictures of me playing around the with new filter. Fun stuff! I may have found a new career path.












Photos by Dave Pacheco (I must protect my work)

Christmas Morning

Every year that Dave and I will not be at our house for Christmas morning, we will pick a Saturday before Christmas to have our Christmas morning. Yesterday was that Saturday. Alex woke us up around 7:00 (the first year, with many to follow, of Alex waking us up on Christmas morning). I enjoy these mornings of Dave and I (and now Alex) just hanging out, making breakfast, opening presents...no rush to do anything!! This year Dave and I ate waffles, bacon, eggs, coffee and grape juice. Yum!
We always have a lot of fun making breakfast together! Dave got me PJ's that fit! I got Dave a Steelers baseball hat! We decided that Alex would not get anything, but he sat right next to me in his Bumbo while I opened my Christmas gift!


Later on in the morning Dave and I went out and bought our present to each other, a telephoto lens for our camera. It is sweet! We are already having fun with it! We also bought a filter that adds twinkles to our pictures. Dave took this picture of our tree! He is becoming quite the photographer. One would almost forget that the camera was what I recieved as a Christmas gift last year from Dave!


Saturday evening we had our friends D.A, Rebekah and Kayce over for Christmas dinner. I made a turkey for the first time (Dave helped me alot). It was good!! We also made mashed potatos, sweet heat green bean casserole and stuffing. This is a picture of Kayce. She is exactly 6 months older then Alex! She gets so excited when she sees Alex. She can not wait until he can play with her!!! I can't wait to see them play together!


Dave here: Steelers 37, Carolina 3..WHOO-HOO!!!

Christmas Parties!

Today in chapel at school, I was involved in the Christmas chapel. Staff and faculty sing for the students and its really a fun time. I was part of the duo that led the entire chapel. I hope I can get a male quartet going sometime here. I miss singing with my boys back in WL. Bob, Jeff & Mike, if you're reading this, I miss our fun times together!

We went to the Wheaton Academy Christmas Party tonight. All staff and faculty along with spouses were there. It was a great time, with great food and great fellowship. We took Alex and everybody was amazed at how much hair he had and how calm he was. He was just passed around from person to person and just took it all in stride. We took our famous (not really, but it sounds good) Sweet Heat Green Beans.

Saturday, we are having our friends D.A. and Rebekah Nichols over for dinner. Esther has never made a turkey dinner before so we are going to do that. Their daughter Kayce is 10 months old. She and Alex are going to be good friends.

4 Months Old!

Yesterday Alex had is four month check up. So after dropping Dave off at work, Alex and I headed to Dr. Pector's. We were her first appointment. As I was getting him ready for his weigh in, I realized that he had a very stinky and messy diaper. So that was fun to clean up before putting him on the scale. (For those who do not know, babies are weighed naked) I always get nervous when Alex gets weighed; I have a fear of the fountain that might happen!! He weighed in at 13.3 pounds. Dr. Pector checked him out and found him in good health. Everything that should move moves, and everything that should not move does not move. So that is a good thing!! There are two things that Dr. Pector wants to keep an eye on in the next month. He only gained about a pound in the last 6 weeks. Babies should gained about an ounce a day and Alex has only gained about 16 oz in the last 45 days. Alex's trunk control is also a little delayed. He is still floppy when you pick him up. So if you think about it, say a little prayer for Alex and I as we figure out how we can eat better and sit up better. We go back to Dr. Pector on January 12th.

The picture I have posted is from this weekend. Saturday night, while we were in Indiana, we had dinner with some friends. Here is Alex with Scott and Jodi Feather's kids, Raylee and Camden, and Mo and Karla Grimm's kids, Avery and Ally

Hectic Weekend, Car Issues & Night Sleep?

Well, it was a good, but busy, weekend for Esther and I. We went to Indiana for Seth and Missy's wedding reception on Saturday. We drove back on Sunday and then back to work for Dave on Monday. However, due to the fact that the Cirrus was in the shop as of last Friday, Esther had to take me to work. I took her car today to work because I had to go downtown to drop 10,000 envelopes off at our printer so they can mail out the newest issue of the Connection (the Wheaton Academy magazine that I publish).

Anyway, I get a call from the Naperville Auto Garage (catchy name, I know), telling me I have a very loose left-side front tie rod end. If that baby goes, the car could violently swerve and I would have no control. Not good. So aside from the battery and transmission issues they fixed, we have an extra expense for the car.
(Please send all gifts to Pacheco Car Fund, c/o Dave & Esther, 1421.....) :)
I should have the car back tomorrow and then Thursday starts the Christmas party season in full force as we attend the Wheaton Academy Employee Christmas Dinner.

Now about the night sleep. I have good and bad news about last night. The good news is Alex slept for 11.5 hours straight. He slept from 8pm - 7:30am. The bad news is our cat, Mia, yacked up a hairball at around 1:30 and I couldn't get back to sleep until about 3:30. Not cool! We really need Alex and Mia to coordinate a little better!

Have a super day!

The picture is a random pic of Alex we took before his haircut at 3 months. If you've seen him since, you'll tell the difference right away. He looks more like a little boy now, instead of more and more like a little girl.

Steelers 27 - Browns 7

All is well in the Pacheco house. Steelers win and Browns lose. Guess who's writing this entry! It was a dominating performance last night by Los Hombres de Acero! Let's just review some of the stats for the game.









Score: Pittsburgh 27, Cleveland 7
Total Yards: Pittsburgh 528, Cleveland 294
Rushing: Pittsburgh 303, Cleveland 18
Rushing: Willie Parker (above) 223, Cleveland 18
T. O. P.: Pittsburgh 38:47, Cleveland 21:13
Smiles: Pittsburgh - Many, Cleveland - 2 or 3


I really feel bad for Cleveland fans. I mean, how do you cheer for that kind of performance. They don't even have colors that are nice to look at. Esther is this close (fingers almost touching) to switching over from the dark side to seeing the Black & Gold light.

First Family Dinner

Like most couples with no kids, Dave and I have gotten used to eating dinner in front of the TV. When I was pregnant, I told Dave that I want our family to eat dinner at the table. Dave agreed. Since moving into our new place, we have been really good at eating at the table. Alex is either in his swing or on the floor beside us, but tonight we all sat at the table, thanks to the new baby invention, the Bumbo seat. When babies are able to support their head weight, they can sit up in these seats. Now Alex is still a little wobbly, but as you can see by the picture he sure does try!!

Thanks for praying for Dave's car!!! When Dave got home tonight, he headed out into the cold to see if his car would start and to our surprise, it did!!! Let us hope is starts tomorrow too!

Dead Car! Red Robin! Visit from Grace!

I woke up on Sunday morning and went to start my car at 6:45am to go set up for worship team at Church. I turned the key and.......NOTHING! I stole my wife's car for the morning and told Esther she had to fend for herself to get to church. Okay, it wasn't quite that harsh, but its pretty much the way it happened. It's been another busy week at work and so I haven't had any time really to figure out what to do. I'll take some time off work on Thursday to try to get everything taken care of.

Tonight, we went to Red Robin for dinner on a spur-of-the-moment decision. Lo and behold, our faithful cat-sitter Allison greeted us with a hearty "Welcome to Red Robin." We had no idea she worked there, so it was kind of a funny moment.

Esther's friend from a missions trip to Mexico, Grace (that's her name, not the school), just came over tonight. She's in town on business and just popped in to say Hi!

We are very much looking forward to Christmas vacation and spending time with family and friends.

Christmas decorating

Every year I get excited about Christmas decorating! I love to change up my decor for Christmas and I allow myself to buy one new thing every year! In years past, I put all the decorations up on a Saturday since I work during the week and who wants to do that much work in the evening. I was all excited that this year, since I am home now durng the day, I could get my decorations up on the Monday after Thanksgiving! Monday morning came and I started decorating, then Tuesday came, and Wednesday and Thursday came and finally Friday morning I finished decorating!!!! I may pass on buying something new...who has the time???? What normally took me one afternoon to do....with a child, it took my five days!!! Keep in mind...I do not have a lot of Christmas decor. I put up the stockings, put some glass bulbs in a glass bowl, put out a few knick knacks, and put up the Christmas tree! Of course it did not help that Alex decided to make this week a feeding frenzy! Feedings that only took 20 mins before are now an hour long! Not sure if this is a growth spurt or he just loves being with his mama!

Winter Wonderland!

Dave here. We woke up this morning to the white stuff falling down. I've included some pictures of the beautiful snowfall. The Principal of my school called me at 5:30 to tell me that school was cancelled today. I sprung into action with our Instant Alert system that calls every school family in a matter of minutes, as well as the Emergency Closing Center which simultaneaously notifies every major TV network in Chicago that Wheaton Academy is closed for the day.












We had a nice relaxing morning making breakfast, giving Alex a bath and putting up some more Christmas decorations. All of the expressways here in Chicago were like parking lots, so I'm glad we could stay in the warmth and enjoy the views, Christmas music and family.

It was a great morning to wake up in December!

Expired Plates & Worship Team Rehearsal

Dave here. This is the sticker for my Cirrus that we got in the mail after renewing our license plates online. However, I tucked them away and did not put them on our cars right away. Over Thanksgiving, our friend Steve, who we stayed with in Akron said that his neighbor said, "You've got company from Illinois? You'd better tell them their licence plate is expired." First of all, that's a perceptive, if not nosy, neighbor. Thankfully, we never got pulled over without the new orange sticker on. I just put it on last night before I went to Worship Team Rehearsal.

I've been very fortunate to get involved with the Crossroads Community Church worship team. There are some amazingly talented musicians and singers that enjoy making music to glorify Christ, and to lead our congregation in corporate worship on Sundays. It's really been a blessing. Last night, we had rehearsal down in Len's basement. I've attached a few pictures.....some of you may recognize a few of the guys if you helped us move this past summer. If you didn't help us move, shame on you!


LtoR: Len, Michael & Eric


LtoR: Eric, Amber & Kristi


John

The Tryptophan Has Kicked In!

We're all tired. Alex is crying as I type. It was a good day though. Alex slept through his first Thanksgiving Day meal, but we at least put his bib on him to get a picture. He met so many new relatives today!

Great Grandma Miller


Great Grandpa Miller


Cousin Josh


Aunt Nancy


Cousin Joanna


Tio Eloy & Tia Patsy


Cousins Bryan & Tammy


New relatives that Alex met who aren't pictured are Uncle Steve, Cousin Ben and Cousin Matthew. We had a lot of good food, fellowship and football. We even completed a Thanksgiving Ven Diagram. It was a great day with family and we look forward to more fun in Columbus starting tomorrow. Good night!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Wednesday night, 11/22/06 and Esther and I have arrived in Akron, OH. We are going to spend Thanksgiving day with Esther's mom's family and then on Saturday we will be with Esther's dad's family in Columbus. On our way home to Naperville, we will stop for a few hours in Winona Lake at my parent's house.

Alex did a great job on the trip today. Lead-foot dad got the family to Akron in 7 hours, including a 40 minute stop for lunch. That was the only time we stopped....he's such a good traveler.

We are staying at Steve and Melissa Yoak's house. Melissa and Esther went to high school together and have remained close friends. Natalie Yoak is 1 year old and Esther has already tabbed Natalie as a possible life partner for Alex. WHOOAAAA!
Slow down there little lady! Anyway, we had fun playing with both of them tonight, but now they're both off in dreamland.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ, His son!

Black & Gold defeat the Brownies

In what could be considered an underwhelming match-up this season, the Steelers sent the Browns to the bottom of the AFC Central division with a 24-20 victory. Esther was in tears....Dave was gloating....Alex was drooling....it was quite the emotional Sunday afternoon at the Pacheco household. Below is the transcript of Dave and Esther's conversation immediately after the outcome was decided.

E: Why do the Browns cause so much pain?
D: What are you talking about, they always make Steelers fans happy.
E: I'm talking about their own fans, we are always in pain.
D: Hey, did you know the Steelers won the Superbowl last year?
E: Yes, when did the Browns win their last Superbowl?
D: Never, the Steelers have won 5.
E: Oh really? Are you ever in pain because of your team?
D: No, we've won 5 Superbowls.....there is no pain. Why don't you
make the switch?
E: I don't like pain....GO STEELERS!

Well, it's official, the Black & Gold have a new fan. Welcome Esther!

Snip Snip

Can you believe, at 14 weeks our son needed a hair cut. For the past few weeks, everytime we gave Alex a bath I (Esther) would comb his hair and think "The boy is looking more and more like a girl, He needs a hair cut!" So I finally called and made him an appointment. I would have done it myself only I was afraid that I would snip him instead of just his hair! He did a great job. He was the youngest baby the stylist had ever done. I guess not a lot of 3 month olds are getting their hair cut. Now Alexander looks like a two year old!!!


Look how long his hair was!!!! I could have put it in a pony tail.


Some kids are more attached to their hair then others...he was a little sad to see his curls go....or was that mom????


"I am handsome now!!!"



Alexander is now ready for Thanksgiving. We are going to Akron, Ohio on Thursday to eat Turkey with his Grandma Robinson's family and then we are heading Columbus on Saturday to eat turkey to his Grandpa Robinson's family. Alexander needs to be looking his best before he meets some family members for the first time. He is very excited...we talk about it every morning!

Alex Likes Bath Time!

Dave here. We have gotten into a good routine with bathtime at night. His face is priceless when we first lower him into the water. It's a mixture of wonder, enjoyment, and uncertainty. Whatever it is it's cute.

These are a couple of pictures from last night of Alex and his crazy hair. When he's in the bath, he just sort of "soaks" it all in. He is very content in the bath, and yet he doesn't smile a lot. He just sits there and enjoys the massaging shampoo and soap. Afterwards, he's all smiles.

We enjoy bathtime right along with him. He's learning the night routine, which has made our lives easier and happier. Tonight, he went right to sleep with no fussing.

In response to Esther's previous post...."Browns Won".....apparently she was not talking about any past Superbowls.....OUCH!!!! Go STEELERS!!!!

Browns Won!!!

For those who do not know...there is a conflict in our marriage. I grew up in Northern Ohio and therefore am a Cleveland Browns fan and Dave jumped the bandwagon back when the Steelers where winning Superbowls and became a Steelers fan. Now for those who keep up on Football, you know that Steeler fans and Browns fans do not get along. The picture I have posted is a picture of my husband encouraging our son to follow the black and gold. I can not believe I allow it!!! We have fun with it!!

3 Months Old!

Our little guy is 3 months old today. We celebrated by letting him cuddle with us in bed this morning when he got up. We also celebrated by sending Dad to the grocery store. We continued the celebration by taking him to Red Lobster for dinner. He wanted to go there....it wasn't our first choice, but we suffered through it, what with all the Cheddar Biscuits they throw at you....it's just disgusting. The celebration culminated with a bath during which Esther bonked his head on the bottom of the cupboard....no blood....no tears....no foul! It was quite the celebration today.

We're so happy that he's eating well, sleeping well and growing strong. He is cooing(sp)up a storm now. When we hold him against our chest facing away from us, he will move his head back and look up so he is looking straight up at us, and then he'll just start to "talk" away. It's quite cute. What a gift from God!

Silent Auction......I'll Bid For You

For those of you that do not know, I work at Wheaton Academy, a private Christian high school in West Chicago, IL. We have a Silent Auction coming up next week to raise funds for our student scholarship fund, as well as the Zambia Project, which is a student-led initiative that over the past four years, has raised over $400,000 to help an AIDS ravaged people in the country of Zambia. Anyway, I put together the booklet for the evening. You can view the items portion of the booklet by going to http://www.wheatonacademy.org/AuctionItems.pdf. We've got a lot of good items, and I'd be happy to bid on some items for you if you let me know which ones and the max amount you'd be willing to pay. All the proceeds will go to the two great causes listed above. Have a super day......Dave.

It was a good night

Around 4:00 in the morning, by body starts to wake up for the routine early morning feeding. But this morning, as I laid there waiting for my son to call me through the monitor, I heard a strange thing....SILENCE! I think Dave went in twice to make sure he was still breathing. Alex feel asleep last night around 8:15 and did not wake up until 7:30. And the best part, he woke up in a good mood. I love to go in and get him in the morning. He is full of smiles!! I should have taken a picture of it and shared it with you.

First Dr.'s Visit for Alex

Esther took Alex to see Dr. Pector today (pictured here with our jolly Naperville mayor, George Pradel). He has a cold, a fever and a rash on his cheeks. The Doctor said the rash is due to baby oil. Isn't that ironic......a lot of babies have reactions to baby oil. How does Johnson & Johnson get repeat customers? Anyway, Alex did not take to kindly to the nurse practitioner poking and prodding him. He was pretty whiny the rest of the day. He cried and cried when we tried to put him to sleep, but after some timely singing and gentle rocking from dad, he finally fell asleep at about 8:15 and we haven't heard a peep since. Here's to hoping he stays that way.

My friend from Warsaw, Brian Aust, came over at around 9:15. He is staying with us for a couple of nights as he is in the Chicago area for some training with Intervarsity. He works at his alma mater, Purdue. He and his wife, Sarah, just had a little girl....Lauren. We are guessing she will be one of Alex's first "girlfriends."

Just for the record, I'm in second place in my FBL (Fantasy Basketball League) after the first week of action. You probably don't care, but it's my blog so it got posted. Have a great day and hug your loved ones if you can!

Boring Day? I think not!

Esther woke up today with a sore throat, so she and our crusty-nosed Alex stayed home from church this morning. Alex has had a little bit of a cold, so they just took it easy. I sang in the worship team at church this morning, which makes for a long day. Since Crossroads Community Church meets at a high school, and there is a pretty elaborate setup, we have a lot of tear down to do. I get there at 7:00am and don't leave until about 1:00 pm. We sounded great this morning, if I do say so myself. :) It was a good service all around with Pastor Daren talking about faithfulness....especially in prosperity.

So then I stop on the way home from church to buy Esther some grape juice, because I learned from my Mom that grape juice chases away any cold. Let's hope she's right. Esther made a Pizza Hut style chicken club pizza for lunch which we quickly demolished when I got home. I held Alex most of the day because Esther didn't want him to get her sore throat. He didn't nap well today, but he went down at about 8:00 tonight without any fuss. WHOO-HOO!!! He's been such a good kid.

I watched a lot of football today....especially my Steelers going down in flames this year. Apparently the Super Bowl rings are a little heavy to lug around. Esther scrapbooked about 482 pages tonight. She said, and I quote, "I'm on a roll tonight." I immediately thought about Cinnabon's, but that's for a different post.
Until next time, may you draw closer to Christ!

Oh, and as for the picture at the top....it's just one we took several weekends ago in Columbus, OH. It is Alex with his Great Grandpa Robinson! I figured the picture might actually get you to read this. :)

Cyber-Idiots

Dave here.....well, the blog experiment has hit an early snag. We apparently can't upload pictures anymore. We'll get it all ironed out and be pixel-ing again in no time. I've had a long week at work & church. I've been leaving at 7:00 everyday and Monday did not get home until about 8:00 and last night I did not get home until 10:00. I was at work this evening at 5:30 after an afternoon full of meetings and I just thought that I had not seen my son awake this week, except for about 10 minutes when I got home on Monday. I just quit what I was doing and said it could wait until the morning. It was good to eat dinner with Esther and Alex. We had Chili and Corn Bread from Trader Joe's. Esther said, "I ate way too much corn bread." She's apparently not feeling well. I think it's the raw cookie dough she's eaten lately.......but that's for a different blog entry. We've had our share of milk and cookies lately. Well, Alex is crying himself to sleep, I'm blogging and Esther is watching The Biggest Loser. Hopefully she'll let me catch the end of the Bulls game. Later!

Could it be????

Over the past month, Dave and I have been told that our son looks like Suri Cruise (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter) Is it possible, could Suri look like our son (maybe b/c his mom looks like Katie Holmes??)



















Keep in mind...one picture was professionally done and the other one was Mom done!!

The day at the park

Today in Naperville, we reached a beautiful 60 degrees! So after Alex's 2 hour morning nap, we headed to the park to take some pictures. Alex is only 3 months old and the camera loves him!
There did come a time that Alex, in his gentle quiet way, had to tell his Mama that is was time to go home and take another 2 1/2 hour nap. He was asleep before we got home!