Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day! We hope everyone is enjoying time with family and friends to celebrate the holiday. I'm generally not the sentimental type, but I think it's appropriate to take some time to reflect on all the things that John and I have to be thankful for this year. John is healthy and cancer free, in this tenuous economic climate we are both in secure jobs that we enjoy, we have amazing and supportive family and friends, and we have been blessed with the most amazing, healthy, happy little guy.

Jack is three weeks old tomorrow - I can't believe it - time is going by so fast. He had his first doctor's appointment last week and had already gained 13oz since leaving the hospital. I guess we don't have to worry about whether or not he is eating enough.

We were getting a little worried that his cord stump took almost three weeks to fall off since the hospital told us it would take about 7-10 days. It finally came off though, so John and I were excited to give him his first bath last night. Well, someone should have clued Jack into the fact that this was supposed to be fun time because he HATED it. He screamed the entire time and even pooped in the water as a little thank you for the experience.

Jackson's First Week

It has been just over a week with our little guy, and John and I are loving every minute of it. We have so much fun just watching all the little expressions he makes, and laughing at the craziness of it all - like the 3am projectile vomiting or the involuntary peeing when the diaper comes off...

We are starting to learn his routine. In general, he is a pretty relaxed baby. He sleeps away most of the day and night, except for eating every three hours. His internal body clock amazes me...he literally wakes up almost on the dot to be fed. The one thing he does get pretty angry about is having his diaper changed. In fact, if he could live the rest of his life in a swaddle, I think he would be happy forever. As soon as we have to take away the layers of clothes and blankets, he starts screaming.

This week has been pretty laid back, with both John and I off work and many visits from family and friends. My mom & sister Becky flew out on Saturday to surprise me, and John's parents came out over the weekend as well. Throughout the week, Jack has met some of our other friends and family too. Here are some of the pics from the week.

Papa Bill Bill and Nana came the weekend of Jack's arrival, and Nana stayed with us for a few days to help out at home.

A surprise visit from Grandma and Aunt Becky! I couldn't believe that John was in on it and managed to keep it a secret from me for almost a week. We are looking to next weekend when Grandma comes back to stay with us for a week.

Brian, Sarah & Miles Bhuta with Jack

Brian Wildeman with Jack - thanks for the yummy meals!

John with Mason Wildeman & Jack

Aunt Jo & Olivia Calnan

Welcome Jackson!!

We are so happy to share the news that we are the proud and giddy parents of Jackson William Claypool. He was born last night (11/6) at 10:37pm. The delivery went smoothly (and actually pretty quickly), and he is very healthy.

He came out with a full head of dark hair weighing in at 6lbs 14oz, and measures 20 1/2 inches. So far he pretty much sleeps and eats, and we can't help but just stare at him endlessly.

John's parents came up from Philly yesterday, but because of the swine flu visitor restrictions, we are still waiting for them to be able to come up for a visit later this afternoon.

As for me I am a little sore, but actually feeling pretty good. I haven't been feeling sick at all since yesterday. I'm still trying to decide if the hormones really do go away that quickly, or if I'm just too excited about this little guy to think about anything else. Either way, I'm feeling great!

So we picked a few pictures to post, which we had attempted to email out, but I think the file sizes we too big, so here they are instead.