Christmas Photo Contest

In case anyone didn't know, Alexander has been entered in a baby photo contest on americanbaby.com. If you're interested in voting for him just follow the link below. It's the same picture of him in the post below wearing the Santa hat. The last I looked he was ranked #25 out of 476 entries so every vote helps get him that much closer. Feel free to send someone the link if you think they may be interested in voting.

http://www.americanbaby.com/photocontest/vote.jhtml?entryId=1157300003

Thanks!

Couple of fun pics

Here are a couple of random shots taken recently.

Quick "down time" blog

Hi everyone. Hope all of you are enjoying the snow that we are currently receiving in CT. It's 6:30am and it's coming down quickly so I figured while I had some down time I get you all up to date on the Geragotelis family.
First of all, everyone is doing great. Xander is growing like crazy and really starting to develope into a little boy. I think he's currently about 26" long and in the vicinity 16.5-17lbs. In case you lost track, he just turned 5 months old. Michele actually thinks he might skip crawling and go right to walking which I didn't know babies could do. He really loves to walk and his balance is getting better and better. All he really needs is a couple of fingers to hold onto for ballance and he's off and walking. When we put him down on the floor on his back all he really wants to do is roll over. So he's doesn't seem to have much interest in crawling so maybe Michele is right.
As far as Michele and I go, I've been working late every night remodeling the kitchen which is going quite well actually. New drywall, new flooring, new cabinets and countertops. Even new outlets. So with that said I must confess that I have done NO Christmas shopping.....yet. We don't even have a tree yet....gasp......Anyway, I took some pictures of the kitchen that I'll post when I'm done. Of course we have new pictures of Xander too that I'll post when I get a second to breathe and have my camera handy.
Until next time, stay safe and if your looking for a good sledding hill with a stone wall obstacle course, drop by our house. lol

"Xander G: Future Red Sox GM?"

In case any of you didn't get to see it yet, here is the link to Xander on the Red Sox merchandise page, Born Into it. Just scroll down a little until you see the Nov 2 pic of the little boy surrounded by Red Sox logos.

http://www.bornintoit.com/

Poor little man :(

So our little man is sick. Poor little guy has a cold and an on-again off-again fever. His temp has been as high as 101 and he is super congested and has an occasional cough with a side of the squirts. So sad really. I wish I could teach him to blow his nose to help him breathe but instead we are stuck with suctioning out the boogs. Needless to say he's super miserable. Hopefully it's over with very soon for his sake so he can get some good rest.

On another note. Here are a couple of more pics of him not sick.

His first pics with Great Grampy

New professional photos

Hey everyone. Most of you probably don't know this but since Xander was born Michele and I have been getting his pics done professionally each month. It's really cool because you get to see the incredible changes he's going through by making a timeline of the really cool poses each month. Last month we didn't post the ones we got done but here are the ones we just got done saturday the 22nd for his 3rd month. Now it's a little confusing because we get them done at the end of the month so this is his 3rd sitting but he's actually almost 4 months old (November 5th) if anyone is trying to keep track. Anyway, here they are. Hot off the press. I hope you all enjoy them as much as we are.

Big Ole' smile

Here are just a couple of pics Xander having a giggle fest with mommy. It's so funny how fast his expressions can change from a straight face to a full out smile as seen here.
I also added a pic of Xander feeding himself to show people how well he is doing. It's a little something I've been working on with him. Basically I've been teaching him to hold his bottle while he eats. He can do it on his own but only if he is fully awake since it really requires him to concetrate to keep the bottle in his mouth since his hand-eye coordination isn't completely matured since he isn't even 3 months yet. There's no trick photography here or strings attached. He's actually holding the bottle up all by himself. I'm such a proud daddy :)

Just something quick

So I was just updating myself on my very dear friend Kari's site and so I decided to see what is new on my site. Well I was realizing that most of the pictures of my son and this women were not of me. I was thinking that I should make time to take pics of me and him. Don't get me wrong I don't mind him having pics taken with his auntie Kari. I just realized that I don't have that many of me and him that's all. You don't realize things like that until you actually see it. So that is my plan.
Also for those looking on the site I hope you all know that there are new pics on the slide show that Joshua put up there. So check them out.
So that's all for know hope to write tomorrow.........

It's been an icky week

Well this week marks the first week our household has had a common cold. Michele got it first about 2 weeks ago and then after about a week or so Xander and I got it at the same time. Sniffles, coughing and just generally mild misery being congested all the time. Thankfully everyone is doing much better now and no one really got too sick. On another note, Xander is growing fast as can be and doing new things each week and on some occasions, each day. He now eats cereal at night and is really starting to learn how to use his hands to grab things that he wants to stuff in his mouth. He's even trying to suck his thumb every chance he gets but we're doing the most we can to keep that from happening. I hear that's a heck of a habit to brake a kid out of. Anyway, everyone enjoy the rest of your weekend and hopfully we'll be posting again real soon................hopefully :)

Is it Friday yet

What a day I have had. Does anyone feel like you are just never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Well that's how I feel. Some times I feel like I am chasing my tail when it comes to things. But let me start over!! So last night went really good Xander only really was fed once during the night. I fed him at about 9:45 and then I got up and fed him at 2:30 or so then he started to make noise about 4:30 to 4:45am but I just picked him up and took him to bed and we got up at 6:00am to eat. So really I can't complain about that. But I do have to say I can't wait until that night he sleeps though the night. I am sure I won't. I can't stand that I wake up every time he makes a noise. I sit up and check to make sure there is nothing wrong. I wish I could just let it be but I worry I guess. Oh well that's just the way things are.
This morning it was so funny he was awake until we left to go to Amber's ( Daycare). But when I was getting in the shower and getting dressed he kept doing this side smile for no reason. I would just look at him and he would be looking at me and doing it. It was so cute.
On a different note I feel really bad because Josh thinks that I am telling him he is doing something wrong when it comes to feeding Xander. But that's no the thing its just so weird that the only time that he is eating more then 2 oz is when he is just home with Josh. I don't understand why that happens but I feel bad when I tell Josh that maybe you should try something different besides feeding him when he cries. I am just trying to help. Oh what am I to do. LOL LOL I love you honey!!!:)
I have been so busy with everything I just wanted to say thank you so much to my very dear friends Kari and Ian for watching Xander over night last sat night. You guys are awesome and the good thing is that you still want to have a baby even after you watched him. lol. THATS GREAT!! Until tomorrow

Mom's back to work

So today marks my 3rd day back to work. I have to say when it comes to work it feels like I never left. But when I am at work it feels like I am missing something. I know what that is but it feels so good to go home at the end of the day knowing that when I walk in the door I have him sitting there waiting for me with his daddy. All I can say is it gives me chills even thinking about it. Being a stay home mom I wouldn't know what that feeling would be like. But I wouldn't miss nothing if I was. I do have to say sense I been at work I haven't been able to really sit down and spend time with him. In the morning I have to get ready for work well I guess feeding him is spending time with him. But when I get home I have something going on everyone's so far and then making dinner and next thing I know its 9:00 and its time for bath and bottle and off we go to bed.
People have asked me how I feel having him in daycare and I tell everyone that its good. Of course I would love to be home with him so I can see everything that he does for the first time but at the same time its good for him to be around other kids and learn from them. But the day care that he goes to his great she is layed back and she is great with kids and the kids love her. She is the type of person that if he did anything new that she would tell us right away. Because she gets exited just like we do its great.
So I am going to try to write everyday to give everyone updates on how he is and how things are going with mom and dad. Kind of a day by day thing. Of course I am going to try. So until tomorrow!!! :)

Hanging Out

So Michele and I tried Xander out in his JumpaRoo yesterday and we thought we'd share some of the pics from that experience. Don't worry he was well supervised and had a towel in there with him to help him fill the sling to keep his body still. It's kind of hard to tell from the pics but the obvious problem was he just isn't heavy enough yet and his little legs aren't long enough so his feet were about 4 inches from touching the ground. Needless to say that I don't think he's ready yet but we thought we'd give it a shot anyway and share the pics that has us rolling with laughter

Bi-monthly update

This past month has been like working for a traveling circus or as close to it as I can imagine anyway. Michele and I closed on our new house a couple of weeks ago so we got to move for the 2nd time in 3 months and doing that with an infant wasn't easy. I just want to send special thanks to those who helped out - Kari, Ian, Bee, Justin, Brooks, Little CC, Deb, Earl and couple I'm sure I might of missed.....even if you just baby sat for Xander it made a world of difference. Thanks a bunch!

So living in a house again has been great. Even though we only stayed in an apartment for a couple of months it was long enough. It's nice to have a HOME again.

Anyway, about the little man. Xander has been doing great. Tomorrow he'll be 6 weeks already and I'm still amazed by how fast his looks change. I wish I had more time to post pics but it's been tough as of late but between Michele and I we will try to keep them up to date.
Thanks for checking in and feel free to say hi in the "comments" section.

Xander Update

So Xander is now 19 days old already and progressing superbly. His first pediatrician visit went great. His birth weight was 6lbs 8oz. but when we left the hospital he was down to 6lbs 2oz and by the time of his first doctors visit a week later he was up to 6lbs 14oz and had grown 3/4". So his weight gain has been great. The doctor was very impressed with his first week. I can't wait until our next visit to see how he's progressing. I can tell you this, I am totally amazed on how fast the days go by. I'm sure all you parents out there can attest to that. Anyway, back to what everyone wants more of.........baby pics!!! By the way, he had his first sitting with a professional photographer, see if you can figure out which ones she took....lol

Here are a couple of pics.....

Alexander Charles has arrived!!!

Hi everyone. This is Josh here to inform all that Alexander has arrived!!!! For those of you who haven't heard the great news yet, Xander was born Tuesday, July 5th, at 9:34am, 6lbs 8oz. - 19-1/4" long. Mommy and baby are doing great. Everyone is home now recovering and doing excellent. Michele did a phenomenal job and received much praise from the Backus doctors on how well she held things together for her first child. With that said I want to give special thanks to the Backus staff on how well they treated us during our stay. They did a great job of keeping the atmosphere loose and laid back especially during Michele’s labor and delivery. As all of you parents know, labor can be an overwhelming experience from start to finish and they did a great job keeping us calm and on the right track.

I would also like to thank Michele's coaches Kari and Berlynda.
- Kari, I'm sure you would have stayed later if you could. Unfortunately people have jobs to attend to and they require sleep. Something I'm going to be doing very little of for a while. LOL. We just want you to know we are very grateful that you were there as late as you were.
- Berlynda, you were awesome. You were there start to finish and experienced everything that I experienced. It felt so good to have another family member in the room with us during the night that could help support Michele when she needed it. Thanks for everything!!

The Timeline
Michele started having her contractions at about 7:15pm on the 4th of July. Of course we weren't home at the time. We had just finished supper with Michele's parents at their place in Jamestown, RI which is about an hour and 10 minutes from home doing the speed limit. ;) To add to the mess we had our dog with us and we had the wrong car. Meaning we had the car with nothing in it as far as baby preparation goods. Needless to say, by the time we got home and switched cars and were headed to Backus (about 1.5 hours) Michele's contractions were now between 3-5 minutes apart. Fortunately this isn't one of those stories that ends with the wife giving birth in the front seat of the car but believe me, I didn't know that was the case and the Taurus suddenly became a 4 door ambulance with total disregard to speed limits. In between contractions, 70-75mph. During contractions, 85-90mph.
We arrive at the hospital and finally get her admitted at about 9:30pm. From there she remained in hard labor until about 1:30am when they finally decided to give her Morphine for the pain since she's not actually dilating yet so an epidural is not an option. To our surprise the Morphine has little to no effect on the pain. At 4am they examine her and determining she's 2cm dilated. Time for the epidural. So after about 8 hours of hard labor with virtually no pain relief, they administer the epidural. I held her in an upright position on the bed and they did the rest. For those of you who haven't seen it done don't go out of your way if you're squeamish.
After that, things went smoothly. By 7:30am she was 8cm. By 8:30am, fully dilated. At that point they reduce the dose of the epidural. By 8:50am, she's ready to start pushing and after 14hours or so of labor, Xander is born at 9:34am.

It's here!!! Is today the day?

So today is our due date. I went to the doctors yesterday and they said that he is very very low and my cervix is very thin to the point that she can put her finger almost through it and touch the baby. It doesn't make sense that this is happening. So I have to just wait. I have to go to the doctors on Wed and then they will figure out from there what the next steps are. From there they may decide to dialate me using what's called a "Laminaria" which is a seaweed type cigarette they insert in my cervix that will expand forcing me to dialate. The thing is that he is so low that it's possible that they may not be able to give me a Laminaria. But I guess we will have to wait and see if I make it through this weekend without having the baby first. The doctor told me that things can change in a drop of a hat and not to be discouraged. We'll know more on Wed where I stand and at that point we will find out if they are going to decide whether to dialate me on Thurs. and then induce me on Friday or we may decide to wait until Sunday for the seaweed and induce me on Monday. The sec option would work for Josh since he has softball that weekend in Branford but I just don't know if that will work with the doctors. Where ever they can fit me in I guess. Until I know more or something happens......

Day 4 and nothing

Today has started off ok. I find myself having to take a nap after Josh goes to work. I don't know if that's because I am up so many times during the night or what. But after I layed down for a little bit I went for a walk and I made it 3 times around the track I thought that was pretty good seeing the past couple of times I could only do it once. I would have waited for Josh but this weather has been so crappy and you never know what it will be like when he gets out of work. We have been having so much rain but it seems like its really not cooling off that much.
So I have doctors tomorrow and I hope they tell me something besides "there has been no changes. SORRY!!!" I can't believe that I am due in 2 days and I have nothing going on. I have been having cramps for the past couple of days and I have had a stomach ache also. But besides that nothing really. But I guess we will see what they have to say and go from there.
I feel so bad that this weekend is the one weekend that Josh doesn't play softball and this will be the weekend that I will NOT go into labor. We both really don't want to have him on the 3rd or the 4th because that is taking away from him when it comes to his birthdays. Josh's friend Shawn has a party for the 4th at his house and everyone that I would have come to his birthday would be going to that. So...... But if it happens then it happens we will be just so happy that he is finally here.
But if there is nothing going on when I go to the doctors tomorrow then they are going to induce me Thurs or Friday of the following week. And that just happens to be the regionals for softball. He really needs to be there. I know it's not my fault I still wish that I could move nature along if you know what I mean. I feel that I really haven't done anything for him though this at least he could go and do the one thing that he likes to do. God I feel bad.
But he is so funny and cute. He is like a little kid just waiting for this special gift to get here. He is so sweet and he told me not to worry about anything and when it happens then it does.
Until tomorrow!!!!

Only day 2

So today is only day 2 of being out of work until this little guy wants to come out and see the world. And I was reading Kari's web sit and I figured that I would add to ours that Josh has started. Josh always thinks of things to start to keep everyone in the loop. What a great guy.
I can say when you get to the very end meaning I have 5 days to my due date which it looks like I am going to go over. I am do Sat July 2 for those who don't know that. It seems that time slows down and it really sucks to go to the doctors and the only thing they have to say to you is he is really low and ready to go but your not dilating. Great just what I wanted to hear. I feel that my body is ready to go! Doesn't that mean anything. Josh has been great for the past couple of weeks when he knows that I have been disappointed to hear the doctor tell me nothing is going on the baby is great but he is just not ready to come out. I know that I can be a pain and I think anyone that is pregnant can be. He really has been great with everything and makes sure that I am doing good or asks how I am feeling and even doing things that he doesn't want to do. I married a great guy.
I know he is really looking forward to the day that his son is finally here. He is so proud that he is going to have a son. He can't wait until he can play tee ball and hold that golf cub for the first time or kick that soccer ball around the back yard. I think he can't wait until he can be a kid again. He is going to have so much fun.
So that's all I have for today we will see what tomorrow will bring. I hope that I feel better so I can get some things done.

Michele as of April 21, 2005 (2 months to go)

Alexander at 20 weeks

Alexander at 10 weeks