Christening Pictures

Alexandra and daddy waiting for the ceremony to begin. Check out her dress. It has been worn for 4 generations (including Alex) and is about 100 years old. The bonnet is an Irish Christening bonnet that babies wear on their Christening and then use as a handkerchief at their wedding.

Veronica (Alex's Godmother), Deacon Tony and my father

Us, the proud parents! Alexandra is wearing a Christening shawl that her great grandmother (Oma) made

Party time!

Yum! The spread: chicken riggies, chicken francais, french onion potatoes, chef salad, jello and sausage pepper and onion sandwiches

The crowd: glad it didn't rain!

Busy Busy Busy

Pphheewwwww...the month of June has FLOWN!!! I cannot believe it is the 20th already :) I haven't even had enough down time to blog. The only reason I'm still connected to facebook and not going through withdrawal is because I have it on my phone. Good thing, or I'd be out of the loop, lol.

Anyway, we've been super busy the last three or so weeks. Dan's sister, Veronica, was here for three weeks. She watched Alex while I briefly went back to work. When I wasn't working, Veronica, Dan and I were getting ready for Alex's Baptism and party. Pretty much this is how my day went for about two weeks: get up at 6am, go to work, get home, feed Alex, go run errands for the party, get home at 9, eat about 9:30, go to sleep at 10:30. Sounds relaxing, huh?

I had a great time with Veronica though, and wish she lived closer-or at least in the same country. She was a huge help in getting ready for this party. While I was at work, she did some landscaping, cleaned, took care of Alex and cooked. I swear, the girl is superwoman. That chick gets things done! But we had some nice girl time too-which I think was needed on both parts.

Alex's Christening was awesome. She was such a good little girl during the ceremony and seemed to listen intently to the Deacon as he spoke. She looked at him in such a serious fashion-as if she knew how important the day was. Too cute. She didn't cry or anything when the Deacon put the oils on her or the water on her head. The party went great as well. I'm very thankful that there was no rain because it was touch and go all day-and I have no idea what I would have done with 50 people had it rained! We certainly would have been jam-packed in the house! It was definitely a special day-not just because of the service, but because Alex was able to meet the rest of her extended family. I love the fact that she has so much family around...it's a great support system to grow up with.

And by the way, not that I'm counting down or anything but......3 1/2 more days of work until I'm off until September 7th! Huzzah! :)

Alex's First Trip to Camp!

Auntie Veronica playing with Alex

The View

Alex enjoying some deck time

Alex and daddy up at camp-her first time up!

We brought Alex and Veronica up to camp for the first time (well-Alex's first time anyway) for Memorial Day weekend. It was really cool to go up as a family of three, as last time we had been there, I was about 23 weeks pregnant and was so excited to think into the future about bringing our child to camp. I had been going there since I was a baby, so it's a nice tradition to continue.

It was a packed weekend. My parents, sister, her boyfriend, Veronica, Dan and I and Alex were all staying in the cabin...along with three dogs. Fun...but crowded. All the cousins were up too-so it was kind of one big party. A nice way to kick off the unofficial start to the summer! I have to say though that packing with a baby is an experience. This was our first overnight trip (we were actually gone 3 nights) and I packed wayyyyyy too much. I think I brought half of Alex's wardrobe-but I wanted to be sure we had everything for ANY type of weather, lol. Live & learn :)

Back To Work!

Wellllllll.....my maternity leave officially ended on Tuesday, when I went back to work for the first time since December! The day before, it was my 30th birthday, so I'm glad I didn't have to go back that day. But I was definitely kind of bummed and dreading leaving Alex. I had a few good cries that day and was feeling pretty guilty about going back. I never really realized it would be so hard!!!

In the end, it was a bit like going to the dentist-the buildup is worse than the actual event. Yes, I woke up a little sad on Tuesday, but I was in such a rush to get ready that I didn't really have time to feel sorry for myself. Yes-I missed Alex like heck-but I called home every two hours or so, lol. It definitely made it MUCH easier to know that Veronica, Dan's sister, is watching her...and that I only have to work for three weeks until I have the WHOLE summer off!!! So yeah-it hasn't been too bad. And I have to say, it was kind of nice to see my colleagues again and to practice some problem solving skills non-related to babies. However, that's not to say I wouldn't love to stay home-because I would. Just trying to find that elusive silver lining. And we have our trip to Australia in July to look forward to as well. So hopefully time will go by fast. Until then, however, I will keep watching the clock and bolting out of the door at 3:25 every day! Next September...when I start back "for real" we may see a lot more waterworks ;)