A Quiet Weekend

This past weekend we had perhaps the most beautiful weather of the year here in MD - 70's, sunny, and a beautiful breeze. We had thought about heading out to the MD Wine Festival but were a little worried how the little one would handle all that time out of her normal element (plus we are cheap!), so we decided to just hang out at home. Bryan did start the day by going to Wachovia and getting our little girl her very own savings account. Our Saturday evening dinner plans had to be cancelled due to a friend's minor illness, so the rest of the day we enjoyed Saxton time with the little one. So our Saturday was productive and relaxing all in one. Noelle is quite a fan of cleaning the house - she helps me vacuum in the Baby Bjorn, so we did get quite a bit accomplished. We also enjoyed the weather by taking Maddie and Noelle on a walk around the lake. The rest of Saturday was quiet with a stop at Rita's for a treat, a lovely dinner (if only Noelle would let both mom and dad eat at the same time!), some TV time, and an early night to bed. Noelle gave us a great present too - she actually slept over 5 hours straight both Friday and Saturday nights! Thanks sweetheart!


Noelle sleeps like a Saxton with her hands in the air!

Sunday started nicely with Bryan getting up with the baby and letting me sleep in! The addition of bottles to our lives this week has been great for giving me breaks and for letting B feed the little one. Later in the day, Noelle met another new friend, Ms Melinda. She has been a rockstar with all the meetings lately - she even behaved wonderfully at lunch out on the town two times last week! After spending time with Melinda, Noelle, Maddie, and I went for our weekly jaunt at the lake with Catherine. It is great that she lives so close now so that we can cath up on the week's happenings while getting a little exercise. We finished the weekend off with some grilling on the deck. So the quiet weekend pretty much confirmed that we love being geeky, going to bed early, and being homebodies...but at least we enjoy each other's company still after almost 5 years of marriage!


Noelle is still working on holding that head up during tummy time - she got a new play mat from mommy's work friend, Vince!

This week should be busy with B having two evening work-related networking events, a visit this weekend from Bryan's dad, an engagement party, and Noelle's first dinner at friends Sunday night. We'll post again soon with updates on these events!

One Month Old

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. With Bryan going to work last week, we needed to get in to a routine. At first, it was rough, as the little one seemed to think her final wake up time was between 3 and 4 am, and was basically taking no daytime naps either. This is what we looked like at our house at about 8:30 pm...



The past few days though we have made a lot of sleeping progress. Noelle is now taking 2-3 naps a day, eating slightly less often, and is sleeping in til when we wake up. She gets up twice during the night to eat and get her diaper changed and otherwise is sleeping pretty well. We have started doing a bedtime routine beginning with a bath at 8:45 pm which seems to be helping. She is loving daddy time in the evening after being bored with mom all day long!



In other news, Noelle is already a month old which is hard to believe. She is smiling, laughing, holds her head up pretty well, and loves both bath and tummy time! At her 1 month doctor's appointment today, she weighed a whopping 10 pounds and had grown an inch to 21 3/4 inches. She was also a rockstar when they gave her the second dose of her hepatitis shot. We are so proud of our little girl!



We promise to be better at updating the blog!

Trip to the OBX

This past week we made our first excursion to the Hayhoe's house on the OBX. First we had to get there so we left at 3:30 am in the hopes that Noelle and Maddie would sleep and we would make reasonable time. For the most part that worked, with just two feeding stops and a little crying. The way home was even better with just one stop and a short bout of tears when Noelle had to get back in to her car seat and Daddy didn't turn on the classic rock radio station loud enough for our little one to rock out soon enough!

Noelle got to meet her Great Grandmom Hayhoe while at the OBX. She visited three times, including one excellent lunch, and we got this family picture while we were at our first visit. Four generations of Hayhoe's represented!



Noelle has mastered many faces in her three weeks in the outside world. This is our favorite - the Who face. She uses it when she thinks her Grandmom is crazy or when she is just really confused with the world!



We didn't see a lot of sun the first four days there, but we did catch some rays the last 2.5 days! Our little one enjoyed all the outside time, especially in the shade, and she loved all the walks in her stroller with the dogs. She also loved just laying out with the family in the shade! Of course, she couldn't resist her daddy's sunglasses!



Despite the bad weather for most of the trip we had a good time. Highlights of the trip included eating crabs with the family, their neighbors, and our Miami friend Matt Wray, who had to be introduced to the art of picking crabs Maryland style; lots of games of pinochle; and catching a few extra moments of rest while Grandmom watched the little one. We also got several "real" baths in and while Noelle isn't loving the water yet we are sure she will be in no time!



Now we are back to the grind and getting in to our routine for the next 10 weeks before I return to work. B started his job this morning and Noelle and I are on our own for the first time. We are working on how to properly take naps early this week so that mommy can be slightly more productive than a slug. We'll let you all know how everything goes!

Two Weeks Old

This past Sunday Noelle turned two weeks old which is crazy since it seems like we just got home from the hospital yesterday. Noelle has been figuring things out here in the outside world. She seems to understand the difference between day and night which is great because she definitely eats less at night than during the day (where it seems like she is constantly bored by us when she is awake so decides the only thing that will make her happy is to have more food!) Noelle and Maddie are also still getting used to each other. Occasionally they are super cute and Maddie lays right next to Noelle, and other times Maddie remains jealous and either fears we don't love her anymore and goes and sulks in her crate or gets right in our lap between us and the baby. We keep telling Maddie that we are always home and giving her more attention than she usually gets but so far that hasn't sunk in!

Noelle has also been practicing her crawling and walking. She loves being on her tummy and she inches herself forward when she is on the floor. We think she is clearly a genius since this is obvously a very advanced move for a two week old!

Noelle also likes to practice walking with her daddy's help! She is really strong and has quite a grip on her and also is holding her head up for a few seconds by herself!

Bryan's mom visited with us last Thursday until Sunday so Noelle was able to meet her other grandmother. We had a very nice and relxing visit. We hung out watching TV, went to the park, cooked, and Grandma Saxton enjoyed holding her newest granddaughter! We look forward to seeing her again, and having Noelle meet the rest of the Saxton clan at Thanksgiving!

This week we are visiting the Hayhoe's at their house at the OBX. We'll post soon about the trip, Noelle's first time to the beach and in the pool, and meeting her 2nd of three Great Grandmas!