Pictures as Promised

Visiting with Grandma & Grandpa


A view from the Chicago Architectural boat tour


After the boat tour & day downtown with Gma & Gpa


Am I cute or what?


Alex's room


Another view of Alex's Room


Office/Guest Room


Our Master Bedroom


Living Room


Dining Room


Our Pool


First Swim

Can I have a minute.....

Things have definately been crazy since we moved on the 14th. We are unpacked and all settled, but it feels as if I've been busier since we moved for some reason. Tonight is actually the first night that I've been able to sit down and even think about updating the blog. We are loving our new condo. We have been able to take a few walks on the trail with Alex in the stroller, and he has even been in the pool. He seems to enjoy the water. I think it is just a big bathtub for him.

Alex is almost 4 months old now. He is talking more and more, or I guess I should say babbling. He's starting to grab for things and bring them to his mouth as well. He is really enjoying standing up now. It makes him feel like a big boy.

In other news, Kent is now working part-time at his job downtown and part-time at home. He is enjoying being home more and having more time to devote to his own business ventures. He also is enjoying having Alex every other Friday. This Friday Alex was on his best behavior for Dad. :)

We would love to have visitors, so feel free to give us a call if you're in the Chicago area. We'd love to see you!

I'll post pictures later on tomorrow. Sorry, you'll have to wait to see them.

3 Months

3 Month picture


In the swing on the 4th


I may have been born as a big boy, but....my pants keep falling off now


Dad finally sees why this thing is so cool


Alex, Great Grandma & Claire


Going for a walk


Checkin' my email with Dad


Hang out in the swing


3 month picture from Sears

Busy, busy, busy

I think BUSY describes my life since I headed back to work. First let me start with work. It is going well for me. I received about 13 new referrals my first week back, so I have been busy doing assessments and also getting used to all of the changes. There are so many things that are changing at my office, so it is difficult to keep up with. To give you an example, I have no idea who my boss is right now, but I'm sure at some point someone will tell me that I'm supposed to report to them. :) My patients are glad to have me back and really love having music again.

As far as Kent's work goes, he is going part-time at his current company starting next Monday. He is really excited as this will give him more time to work on his own business. He is finally to the point with his business is enough to support us with him only working part-time. He'll be watching Alex every other Friday too, which he is very excited about. Working at home half of the time will also give him more time in the evenings to spend with myself and Alex.

Okay, that's the update on work. Next, here is an update on our housing! We bought a condo and will be closing on July 13th. We're not sure when we will be moving as the seller's having 30 days after closing to move out. We're hoping that we will be moving as soon after closing as possible. The new condo will be close to Brookfield zoo. It is a 3 bedroom and 2 bath condo. It is also right off of the forest preserve bike path and also has a pool. We're very excited to be in our own place again.

This last weekend was my parent's 25th wedding anniversary celebration so on Friday we headed to mom and dad's to celebrate!!! Alex did great on the ride there and was excited to see his grandparents, aunt & uncle again. By Sunday I think he was ready to be able to nap in his own crib again. After sleeping for an hour on the way home, he decided to let us know he had had enough and managed to scream for the next 30 minutes. Once we got home and got him out of his seat he calmed right down. :) He is doing wonderful at his daycare. I'm not sure how much he weighs now and how long he is, but I'm hoping to stop by the doctor's office to find out. He is now reaching and grabbing objects consistently. We're really enjoying his smiles and coos. It is amazing how he changes every day.




Cousin Claire



Aunt Shannon & Alex



Grandma & Claire



The best invention for babies



Our Little Peanut



Little Ladies Man

Alex's first road trip

This past weekend Kent, Alex, and I packed up the car and headed to wonderful Alexandria, Indiana. One of my good friends from college got married, so we took our first road trip with Alex. On the way there, he slept for the first 3 hours or so. We stopped to change him, which turned out to be a good thing since he had a major blow-out, and he then needed to eat. We put him back in his seat and took off again. He was definately a trooper on the way there. At the rehearsal he was a wonderful boy! He then fell asleep during the rehearsal dinner and was asleep most of the way back to the hotel. On Saturday, he had kind of a rough day, but pulled through and was great when he needed to be. He slept through the entire wedding ceremony and the reception dinner. He woke up in time for his first Mother-Son dance. :)

On the way home, we stopped in Remington to get gas, and realized that it wasn't too far out of the way to surprise my dad for father's day. So, we continued on to Watseka and looked for their vehicle at church. It turned out that church was getting out in about 5 minutes. So, after the closing prayer, we walked into the sanctuary and got to see some wonderful surprised faces. Mom and Dad were so excited to see us. Okay, who are we kidding, they were excited to see Alex!

Regan and the beautiful bride


Alex and the Bride



Alex and Mom's first Mother-Son dance


On the way home

Back to Work

Well, the first two days of work have gone pretty good. It was different to go back to work on Monday, but good seeing all of my patients this week. Tomorrow and Thursday I will be heading in to team meetings. Hopefully I'll get a few referrals while I'm there. While I have been out, there have been a lot of changes as far as staff members leaving, so it will be a challenge as I try to convince the nurses that their patients need music therapy. Eventually they'll get used to having me around again. Everyone seems excited to have me back so that has been encouraging.

Alex has been a good boy at daycare so far this week. Jennifer loves having him and continues to say that he is "such a perfect little boy." It is good to know that he is in good hands. I do miss him during the days though.

I'm including a few pictures of this past week. Alex absolutely loves his baths so we thought we would take a few pictures last night. There is also a picture of Alex after his first day at Jennifer's and then a picture with Jennifer and her girls.

Alex after being at Jennifer's



Bathtime



Jennifer, her girls, & Alex

Company and work

This past week Alex got to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Thompson for the first time. Kent's parents came to visit us on Thursday and Friday. It was good to see them, since it had been since November, and it was great for Alex to finally meet them. The time was mostly spent staring at Alex and wondering what he was going to do next. Funny how adults do that when they get around babies. :) We did venture out to get Oberweis ice cream on Thursday evening. Alex was great and fell asleep as we were all enjoying our treat.

On another note, I head back to work this coming Monday. I'm having mixed feelings about it, but overall I think I am ready to be back at work. I am excited to see my patients again, and I know that they will be excited to see me, as they have been without music these past 2 months. I also know that Alex will be in great hands with Jennifer. (We'll post a picture after his first official day with her.) I am a little worried about how tired I will be after working a full days work and then getting up at night to feed Alex. Hopefully I will find the strength and energy to compelte the tasks that I need to. I'm sure it will take some adjustment, but I'm hoping that time will be quick and painless. :) So, if you think about me on Monday, send up a little prayer.

Like my hat from Kendra?



Alex and Grandma



Alex with Gma & Gpa Thompson

2 months already!

I can't believe that Alex is 2 months old already! He is growing and changing so much. He went to the doctor today and received a clean bill of health. He weighed 11lbs 9oz and was 23 1/2 inches long. He is starting to become more and more interactive. He has started to sleep longer through the nights. Right now he is only waking up about once a night (usually around 2am) and then he sleeps until about 6am. We can't complain since he is only 2 months old. Alex will start daycare on Monday, and we're looking forward to Jennifer watching him. We are confident that she is going to be wonderful with him.

Mom and Alex



2 Month Photo



Another 2 Month Photo



Having fun on playmat

Newest little Illini fan...

Of course Alex already has an ILLINI outfit. We've already been practicing the claps and "cheers" that he'll need to know when he goes to his first game, which will hopefully be this fall. He'll be ready! It is sad that he will never get to see the Chief do the dance at halftime.

GO ILLINI GO!!!

A Possible Breakthrough

Before Alex arrived, I had started to read the first part of a book that was recommended to me by my sister. After he came however, I forgot everything that I read in it. Well, in my search for the "magic cure" of Alex not wanting to take naps in his crib, I came across this book again. Apparently a lot of people online highly recommend it as well. I decided to review what I had previously read and we decided to try his recommendations. We started to look for cues that he was getting tired (before he started to fuss and cry), swaddle him, lie him in his crib, and give him his pacifier. We were going to follow the "let cry," meaning that we would let him cry himself to sleep. Thankfully, we haven't had to even let him cry becuase he has fallen asleep by himself after only a fuss period of 5 minutes maximum. So far this is our third day on the program and it is working magically!! I'm not saying that we have found the answer, but it seems like we are on to something here. Hopefully this will continue to work because I am able to get SO much more done throughout the day if I'm not having to hold a napping baby. I'm not on edge wondering if he is going to wake up and scream either. So, Thank you Dr. Weissbluth!!!

Recommended reading for all new parents:


How Alex takes his naps now:


Alex's New boy clothes from Italy:

Memorial Day

Alex had a visitor today. Erin came from the north side of Chicago to see him and of course hang out for a little while. We were able to go and enjoy a nice lunch (without Alex) and then came back to play with him for a little bit. It is so great that we have such close friends from college and childhood in the area.

Picture for the day.

White Sox Game

Last night we got to go to the White Sox game. Alex was on his best behavior!! He slept the whole train ride there, woke up to eat, and then was happy and alert until we left, when he fell asleep for the ride home! We couldn't have asked for a better baby. Kent's boss had rented a Diamond Suite box, so it was a lot of fun. We were spoiled by having a buffet of food as well as the lovely dessert cart stop by our suite. Definately not your typical baseball game.

A family portrait



Our view from the box