Weekend Mornings

Noelle and I are sitting here while Laura sleeps in, so it is probably time that I come back to the posting game. Laura is having a much deserved morning of sleeping in since Noelle decided to wake up 4 times last night, not the normal 2-3 times.


Laura and Mom hanging out when Laura is actually rested.

Of course, now that I am up with her, she is sleeping soundly next to me. Oh, the life of a 2 month old! Lately it is becoming our routine on weekend mornings to hang out downstairs while Laura sleeps in a little and builds up her energy for the next week.



Outside of our weekend morning daddy-daughter time, things are going well in the Saxton household. Although we would rather have not had to all get together in the a week and a half ago, the funeral for Grandma Hayhoe was very nice. She will be interred in two weeks which coincides with Noelle's baptism. It will be good to again celebrate Grandma Hayhoe's life as well as Noelle's baptism with family and friends.


Celebrating Grandma Hayhoe's life.


Spending time with Grandma Carol.

Last weekend was our scheduled free weekend (yes, we had to schedule it). With everything that is going on with Noelle, my new job, and finally having time to reconnect with some old friends, we are trying to take one weekend a month to relax, spend time with Noelle and Maddie, nap, and watch all the shows that were piling up on the DVR. The monsoon-like weather last weekend enabled us meet those goals splendidly. After the weekend off, I really did feel a lot more refreshed, but also a little lazy considering I didn't do anything productive for two days!


Taking a walk and loving looking at the world.

This week we had the mild excitement of going to get our seasonal flu shots. Laura had received her first flu shot last year because of planning for Noelle, but this was my first experience. Laura's work had been telling folks for weeks that they would provide shots for employees and their spouses. However, when we arrived to get our shots, they had just put up a sign saying they were limiting the shots to only employees. I was upset about this since I had taken off work for the morning and driven well out of my way to get the shot, but I became even more upset when I found out that the powers that be made the decision the day before and failed to tell anyone about it. You'd think that it would have been easy to send an quick email to save people hassle and frustration, but apparently that would have made sense. However, one of my coworkers, upon hearing my frustration at Laura's employer told me that she had just received her shot at a Walgreens up the street. Apparently, inner city drug stores can plenty of shots, but major medical research institutions have problems with logistics and communications. So, a big thank you Walgreens for doing something that a medical system apparently cannot accomplish and give me my flu shot.

Last night we had a mini Miami reunion and had dinner with some friends we met in grad school. They all live within 20 minutes of us now, so we look forward to many more fun evenings together. It is always fun to reminisce about which establishment had the "stump game." This marvel of entertainment was a test to see if you could hit a nail one time and get it to go all the way into a, wait for it, stump. However, many of the nails just went flying around the room rather than solidly burrowing their way into the wood. I always wondered if it was a good idea to give people a hammer, nails, and beer at the same time, but who am I to judge?

Well, that's about it from the Saxton household. Tomorrow it is back to the grind of work, entertaining Noelle all day, and trying to make Maddie feel like she gets enough attention (even though she still gets more than she did before Noelle was born!). Although we keep saying it, we will really try to do better about updating y'all about our lives. And now, a couple more gratuitous pictures of the little one.


Noelle lecturing Uncle Michael.


Hanging out like a big girl.


Reaching for the camera.


Satisfied and with a full tummy after eating.

Goodbye, Grandma Hayhoe

Noelle and I have been visiting family in the Outer Banks the past few days. Unfortunately, last night Grandma Hayhoe had to be taken to the hospital and at about 1 am we got the call that she had passed. It was quite a shock since we had been to visit her on Thursday (and mom and dad had just seen her at the hospital and she had seemed ok) but it seemed her body had been slowly shutting down over the past few months. We are of course sad for this huge loss, but know she is no longer in pain and is now in a better place. We are all happy that she got to meet her great granddaughter and that we were able to visit her this week as well.

Here are some pictures of Grandma Hayhoe over the last few years...

Trip to Philly

On Sunday, Noelle, Maddie, B, and I made the trek to Philadelphia to see Great Grandma Gidjunis and to meet the rest of the Gidjunis clan. After making sure we had everyone and everything, we made sure the car doors were firmly locked, and got on our way. The drive wasn't too bad, and the highlight was definitely when we drove by the "closed" Delaware rest area to see that it had actually been demolished and was just a pile of ruble. But we made good time, Noelle slept the whole ride, and we were soon in Philly.

My aunts and uncles were supposed to be coming over for a simple lunch, which in Gidjunis world means there was so much food that there was no room on the table for plates, so we feasted on ham, three kinds of salads, quiche, potato casserole, etc. and then immediately followed that up with about five kinds of desserts for the nine of us.

After lunch, Noelle decided she wanted to play with the family. Her speciality is scooting across the floor by pushing off against my hands and this entertained us all for a good half hour. Then everyone took their turn holding the little one before we all had to head home.





The drive home wasn't as peaceful - a long line for the DE toll plaza (isn't the EZ Pass line supposed to not get backed up?) woke up the little one. She cried for about 20 minutes until we could stop, change her diaper, get gas, and move B to the back seat. She spent the last hour of the trip staring at her dad - I guess he is either super handsome or super funny looking. We finally made it home and after a short play time, Noelle had her bath and went to bed. Apparently the Gidjunis visit wore her out because she has slept 6 hours straight the past two nights! We'll take it!

So much for being better at posting...

So I lied...I really mean to post more, and it is not like I am being productive during the day while Bryan is at work, but for some reason it just isn't happening. Maybe next week will be the week I post several times. Don't hold your breath though!

Our weekend started with a visit from Bryan's dad. Noelle enjoyed meeting her grandpa - mostly she loved his hat!



We enjoyed a quiet Friday night, lunch Saturday, and then a stroll through Ellicott City for the Fall Festival. If you have never been to Ellicott City, it looks like Harpers Ferry, or anyone of those old towns that is built into rocks with antique shop after antique shop. We checked out a couple of stores, listened to a (not very good) band, had some snacks, and just enjoyed the fall weather. The sky did look rather ominous during our adventure, but thankfully we left just in time and made it back to the house after our walk up the hill just as the rain was starting!

Later in the day, Bryan and I had RSVPed yes for an engagement party before we knew his dad was coming to town so we headed off to the city. But first, it was time for what has to be one of the most traumatic moments for any parent. Yes, that is right, we left Noelle for the first time. It was somewhat easier than it might be since Catherine, my most trusted friend since 3rd grade was in charge, but there was a tear. Perhaps thankfully,our departure wasn't very smooth since we forgot the bottle at home and I had to go back for it, making us late and needing to depart quickly. We said our goodbyes, gave the little one a kiss, and whisked off in the pouring rain to Baltimore. The journey was interesting, with the combination of a truck trying to run us off the road, and then hitting 100,000 miles in the Beast Hyundai, but in the end we made it unscathed.



The party itself was lovely. Well actually, mostly it just made us feel old, but still it was lovely. Bryan's work colleague just got engaged to one of his classmates from Maryland, so we went to celebrate their upcoming nuptials. There was lots of food and drink, and beer pong was played (with actual ping pong rackets - a new addition to what we have seen in the past). We were one of two married couples at the party, and definitely the only couple with a kid to get home to, so basically we were the last people there and the first to leave, but it was good.

Sunday night we went to dinner at our friends Mario and Kristin's house. There house is awesome, and Kristin made a great dinner (complete with bacon fat for flavor, which of course makes everything better) and we were able to eat outside and even enjoy the fire pit. Noelle was mostly on her best behavior for the evening and we had a lot of fun!

Perhaps the most exciting part of the weekend was that Noelle slept over 6 hours straight both Friday and Saturday night! I could hardly contain my excitement, both during the night when I realized how long we had been sleeping, and the next day as I walked around fully rested. If only we could get Noelle to sleep that long during the week - but we'll keep working on it!

So all in all our weekend was good. Here are a few pictures of our growing little girl. She continues to be the light of our lives and is super cute if we do say so ourselves!