1) Nothing wrong with me 2) Nothing wrong with me 3) Nothing wrong with me 4) Nothing...

Well, it's been a crazy late September / early October for all of us in the Lemon Family.  Ash celebrated his 4th birthday in the emergency room with a bad case of the croup.  For those of you that don't know about Ash, he's had respiratory issues in the past (he had his own nebulizer before he was 1) so we didn't want to take any chances.  I came home late from the airport that night long enough to hear his shallow breathing and say hello to M and the kids, before taking Ash in.  Scary stuff for a parent, but the staff at the hospital were very good to him and he liked all the attention.  He gave everyone a hug on his way out and they even let him do rock hands when they took his x-ray.

Another huge update to share with everyone (in case you're not following us on Facebook) is that M gave birth to a 9lb 8oz baby boy - Alexander Nolan:

Mommy and Alex (M has started calling him Lexy) are both doing well.

Alex arrived a little earlier than expected.  I was still in St Louis for work when I got the call at 2:30am from M letting me know that she was in the hospital.  Maybe it was the early morning hour or maybe it was because none of our other children ever arrived on time, but I remember me asking M if everything was okay and why she was there (derp de-derp).  "Uh, I'm in labor.  The baby's coming.  Get your ass home."  Oh...right!  Long story short, I caught the first flight of the day back to Minneapolis and managed to get there in time to watch a few hours of daytime TV in the Labor and Delivery wing of Fairview Ridges Hospital before Alex finally showed up a little after 1:00 that afternoon.  YAY!

One of my favorite moments of those first few days with Alex and M in the hospital was when the kids got to meet their new, baby brother for the first time:

If you look closely, you can sort of see a face mask on Ash.  Poor kid had to wear this during his visits so he wouldn't get Alex or anyone else sick (remember the croup story?).  Unfortunately, the mask did nothing to stop the sickness and we all came down with colds immediately after this picture was taken.  It hit M and the kids first and then me.  I just now am starting to feel like the worst of it is behind me.

Anyway, that's been our updates for the past few weeks.  Thanks to everyone for the gifts, cards, phone calls, emails and overall well wishes over the past week or so.  For those of you still interested in sending a little something but not sure what to get us, we are registered at Target, Babies r Us and BMW of Bloomington.

Now, on with the post:

I sometimes tend to think I'm not all I can be, and that something is wrong with me.  Growing up, I had to be "that guy" who knew everything about anything and was doing it before "it was cool".  I'm starting to realize those days are over.  I was in the car the other day when I thought I saw a cop in front of me.  After slowing down and checking my seat belt, I realized it wasn't a cop at all but some hipster with an old school luggage rack on the roof of his 2005 Jetta.

I then started to think about the things in my life I have become resistant to.  At my work, we have phone extensions, voice mails, conference lines, smart phones, emails and instant messengers.  If someone is looking for you, they WILL find you. 

The problem, however, is when these things get in the way of each other and become counter-productive:

Even in my personal life, this whole "social networking" can be a little overwhelming:

As I was sketching this out, I came up with an alternative version (which just so happens to also be true):

But it doesn't end there.  I'm constantly being bombarded to join other sites just so I can see what other people are thinking throughout the day:

I used to love watching TV.  I had lots of different types of shows that I would watch throughout the week to help keep me educated on current events, opinionated on public affairs and entertained to no end.  Now that I have kids, my DVR is permanently stuck between the channels of 287 and 305 (PBS Kids, Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Boomerang).  So while people discuss the goings on of Snookie, the skinny girl getting voted off and who sang/danced the worst, I have a different story to tell.

Here is my list of major television events for 2011 (so far):

• Castle told Becket he loves her (thanks M and Nik)
• Sam finally told Freddy she likes him and they kiss (Ayris loves iCarly)
• Scooby and the gang are going to solve that mystery (which I am reminded of daily by Ash)
• Yo Gabba Gabba still freaks me out sometimes (Adler seems to be okay with it though)
• Dora and Boots still have yet to do what I keep hoping they will do* (see below for more details - parental discretion is advised)
• Finally some new episodes of Robot Chicken (though not as many as I had hoped)
• And of course, M still has a crush on House

For that last one, I'm still a little puzzled by that.  Sure, he's got a winning personality, is very handsome, is addicted to pain killers and spends all of his money on hookers, but what is it about him really?  His intelligence?

Every time M mentions House, I show her this picture:

Anyone who looks like this can't be too bright...right honey?

So there you have it.  Another series of random thoughts and tangents barely tied to together by a little imaginary word called "reason".

Before we end this post, I'd like to leave you with a picture I found on the interweb recently.  I can't say this is me, but I have to admit that it makes me laugh every time I see it:

Hope you find as much humor in it as I do...

-Cheers!



*If you've ever seen Dora the Explorer (still doesn't fricken rhyme!), at the end of each show, Dora asks the viewers what was their favorite part of the adventure.  My typical response lately (since I'm having a hard time continuing to watch this show after five long and painful years) has been, "My favorite part was when Boots went on a killing spree!"