The Claypools

The Boys - Spring 2011

2011-05-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

2011-04-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Ribbon Dot Boy Birth Announcement

Turn your favorite photo into a birth announcement.

View the entire collection of cards.

Welcome Eli!!

2011-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Announcing our newest edition!!!
Elijah Garrett Claypool was born on
March 26 at 8:52pm.
He weighed in at 7lbs 14oz, 20.5".
He joined us a very welcomed 2 weeks early!!

After 2 false alarm trips into the ER in a week, we were getting antsy for his arrival. Turns out, all I had to do was practice jumping with Jack (seriously...one jump did the trick), and my water broke at home on Saturday afternoon. It was a pretty quick and easy delivery, in fact, our nurse had gone on break thinking it would be a few hours at least before we met our little guy. She came back from break to quite a surprise.

As for Jack, he is going through quite an adjustment. We are definitely seeing a whole new side of him. We had been worried that he wouldn't really understand the new baby being home with us - especially seeing mommy give so much attention to someone besides him. He is having some jealousy issues, but we are hoping they will be short lived, and he will start to be happy about his new little brother. There have been a couple cute little moments between them, but for the most part, Jack is very suspicious of this new little bundle that cries and gets in the way of him crawling under the swing (because today he actually crawled under the swing - while Eli was in it - while it was swinging - and yes, it did hit him in the head...awesome).

Anyway, here are just a few pics of Eli's first days in the world...

It's Been A While...

2011-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Somehow time flew by, and we haven't posted since November. The holidays were hectic and crazy with snippets of family time in Philadelphia and West Michigan that we managed to squeeze in despite mother nature's attempts to keep us barricaded in by blizzards up here in New England.

Baby boy Claypool will be joining us sometime in the next 6-8 weeks. This pregnancy has definitely been a world better than with Jack. I still get boughts of nausea, but I am better medicated this time around, and find that it's much more tolerable than before. We haven't been able to settle on a name for this little guy yet. Nothing seems to be that perfect name...oh well, there's still time.

Our next big challenge comes on Friday for John as he will be having back surgery (discectomy and laminectomy) to repair his spinal stenosis and two bulging discs in his lower back. This has been getting progressively worse over the past couple years, and more conservative treatments have been unsuccessful. After an overnight stay, he will home recovering for 2 weeks, then back to work, but even then, no lifting for 2 months. Hopefully Jack will understand why Daddy can't pick him up and play with him like usual, and hopefully a fully pregnant Mommy can fill the gap and baby #2 can hang in there until Daddy is fully recovered. : )

Happy Birthday Jack!!

2010-11-08T10:10:00.001-08:00

Jackson turned 1 on Saturday, and to celebrate, we had a little party for him at Dave & Busters. My parents and sisters and even some of Jack's cousins were able to come out from Michigan to wish him a Happy Birthday. Thanks! And of course, a 1st birthday post would not be complete without the obligatory "destroying the cake" pictures, so here they are.

Bye Bye Summer!

2010-10-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

How does summer always seem to fly by so fast? We've been a busy little family since our last post, so we just wanted to share some pics from our summer. First, a congrats to John for completing his Masters degree! After a year jam-packed with work and classes, he is now ready to be a school administrator...anyone hiring??

And now for some pics of our summer travels. We made a trip home to Michigan with a quick stop in Central New York for the Hagan wedding extravaganza. The whole trip was a great time visiting with friends and family.
Jack had his first trip to the beaches of Lake Michigan, which, in my opinion top any beaches New England has to offer any day. He is pretty afraid of the water, and only seemed relaxed once John dug him a huge hole to play in far away from the water's edge. He was pretty content in his sandy "playpen" for quite a while. It's strange to see how much sand a baby can eat and not get sick...When we returned to Rhode Island we headed to Jamestown for a stay with John's family at their usual summer rental. While there, we celebrated Papa Bill Bill's 60th B-day with a family clam-bake.With September's arrival, we are back into our routines. We took advantage of a beautiful Indian summer weekend for our annual apple picking trip with friends.The next day Jack was baptized at Christ Church. Nana & Papa & Aunt Lee made the trip up to Rhody for the occasion. So that was our summer in a nutshell, the only bit left out is the news that most of you probably know about by now, and that is that we are expecting our second child in April. This was quite a surprise, but we are very excited. Having made it past the first trimester, we are anxiously looking ahead to November for the big news...boy or girl? Stay tuned...

Creepy Crawler...well, almost...

2010-06-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

We've been having so much fun watching Jack try to figure out this whole crawling business. He really tries so hard, just hasn't quite gotten there yet. At this point rolling and scooting backward are his fallback moves, so he tends to scoot backwards and get himself stuck in corners and under the coffee table. It really is funny to watch, until he starts screaming in frustration because he has nowhere else to go...
Also of note these days is Jack's insane hair. The spiked 'do' is out of control. I actually tried some of my mousse on it the other day to see if I could flatten it...it really doesn't work! There is a lady at our local Panera Bread that recognizes us when we go there for lunch now because of Jack's hair...it could also be possible that I just go to Panera Bread too often...Nana & Papa Bill Bill came for a visit last weekend. John had one of his last weekends of class for his Master's program, and I had to work, so they came up to play babysitters for the weekend. What a treat for Jack!Looking so much like his cousin Austin in this pic!Oh and did I mention the teething? Yep, two pearly whites on the bottom for our little guy. He is such a little trooper. And yes, that is a rash on his chest from the heat and constant drool. We have started putting bibs on him all day long just to keep him dry. And finally, a couple of pics just for daddy - in honor of Father's Day!

6 Months!

2010-05-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is 6 months old. We are both kind of stunned by it...as time seems to have flown by since Jack has joined our little family. We are so in love with this little cutie. His laughter melts our hearts every day.

We took him to Roger Williams Park a few days ago for his 6-month shoot. After a lot of funny faces and rattling keys, here are some of the best pics we were able to snap. Enjoy...we certainly do!

Because a picture doesn't do it justice...

2010-04-11T15:53:00.001-07:00

Jack is such a little laugher. His laugh makes my heart smile. I put together a little clip of him because hearing it so much better than seeing it in a picture.

Grandparents Galore!

2010-04-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Everybody loves Jack! What a lucky little guy he is...over the past month, Jack has had 3 visits from his grandparents. Living so far from family makes these visits such a special treat. Some pics from Jack's visitors...

And as promised to Aunt Becky...some more pics from Jack over the past few weeks...Jack with his Easter Ducky mmm...prunes!

4 months...and still standing

2010-03-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

Somehow we are already in March...it's all going so fast. Not much to update from the Claypool house. We are enjoying Jack so much. He is so animated and interested in everything around him. It's fun to watch him take it all in. He turned over for the first time last week, which is incredibly dull for everyone besides John and I, who, by the way, were thrilled - we now harass him constantly to do it again.

John is busy with work and trying to finish up his Master's program. He is starting the job search for an administrative position for the fall. Work is going well for me - a little exhausting lately, since Jack has decided that he doesn't like to sleep through the night anymore. He went from sleeping 8-10 hours a night, to waking up 2-3 times per night. He cries briefly and puts himself back to sleep which is good, but it is enough to wake me up, so my sleep is not exactly restful these days. Everyone keeps telling us that this is his "4 month sleep regression" phase, and that he will grow out of it. Let's hope so...until then, I just invested in some heavy duty under eye cream to mask the bags and dark circles from sleep deprivation.

Anyway, here are a few new pics of the little guy...

Jack's new Jumperoo which we have named the ADD MachineMicha sent me a Moby wrap, which is so comfy...it took me a couple tries to get it wrapped right, but now that I have it figured out, it works great

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-02-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

February 11 was John's 28th birthday, and we celebrated with a low key night at home. Dinner, a basketball cake and ice cream while hanging out with our sick little guy. He (actually we all) started out the week throwing up and has now progressed to a little cold. No fever, but just enough of a cough to interrupt his sleep and make him a little cranky. He really does look so sad.

Photo Session with Jack

2010-01-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

I couldn't believe Jack participated so well with me playing around with my camera...but here are the best ones from our picture time.

Almost 10 Weeks!

2010-01-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

Our little guy will be 10 weeks old on Friday. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by already. And at almost 13lbs...he's really not that "little" anymore either.

The last 10 weeks that I have been able to be home with Jack have been great. I feel so fortunate that I could have so much time with him before heading back to work. But, all good things must come to an end, and this week is my first week back.

I actually worked my first shift on Sunday, which was sort of a trial run. John was home with Jack, and all went well. Tomorrow is the first day of day care. John and I met with Sue and feel comfortable with her, but it doesn't change the fact that I am nervous about leaving him tomorrow. I don't know how much babies do and don't comprehend at this point, but I just pray that he doesn't get afraid in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar faces.

Anyway, here are just a couple more pics of my "peanut."

This one was taken by Aunt Lisa when we were home for Christmas.
She got a lot of cute pics, but I think this is our fave!

Last week he had his first boo-boo.

Occasionally he gets really frantic with his hands,
and he managed to cut his nose with his finger nail...
I swear, I really do trim them, but they just grow right back.

He is becoming so animated.
In the last couple weeks, he has started to smile a lot, and his laugh is so sweet.

Welcome 2010!

2010-01-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

Hello All. Another holiday season behind us...I had no idea what crazy was until this year. Experiencing holiday travels and festivities with an infant in tow is a whole different type of crazy!! Despite the chaos, we had a great time visiting family and friends. We started on the 23rd with a drive down to Philly. I had spent the day while John was at work attempting to get us all ready to go. Jack, however, was not very much a fan of that plan because that meant mommy was not very attentive to him. So after a lot of sweat and tears, we were on the road by 6pm and in Philly by 1130pm. Not bad for our first time traveling with an infant.

We spent 5 days in Philly with the Claypool clan. Having Liam and Ber with the two newborns was a lot of fun. Here are some cute pics from our Philly Christmas.

Jack and his new cousin Samuel Webb Kurtz ("Webb") on Christmas Eve.Jack's first Christmas morningNana and Papa Bill Bill with all the grandkids. Liam, Ber, Webb, and Jack.Webb KurtzPapa Bill Bill with Webb and JackMommy & JackToo much excitement...naptime for Jack.Alex, Lee, & Ber...aka the Galanii : )Uncle John with Liam, now almost 3, he loves, loves, loves his trains.Daddy and Jack were pooped after the Christmas morning festivities.Daddy & Jack with Maarten & Samuel Jacbos.

In a week of firsts for Jack, he also had his first trip to the park. It wasn't very snowy and not too cold, so we bundled him up and went to the park with Nana & Papa Bill Bill, Liam, Aunt Lee, and Ber. Jack seemed to like it. Here are some pics.

Aunt Lee & Ber with Daddy & JackNana Cis & Ber with Mommy & Jack Aunt Lee with John Berihu "Ber"

If we thought our time in Philly was a little chaotic with all the little ones, then we were definitely in for a shock when we arrived in Michigan for Christmas with my side of the family. We are up to nine grandkids in that family, with four new additions this year (the youngest just a couple weeks old...). It was hectic but still a great time. Here are some of the pics from Christmas in Michigan.

Ava...such a cutie.Aunt Sara with Landen & AidenUncle John with Landen...seriously one of the most photogenic kids ever!Jack loves his passie (how do you spell that??)Taylor with EthanEthan William Venema, just over a week old!Ava again...can't get enough of this little one : )Genna loves having her picture taken...such a cheese!At the end of the day, Genna and Austin decided they would make a little cash from all the food we had leftover. They put prices on all the plates and tried to get money from us adults...$5 for a Rice Krispy treat is a little rich for my blood... : )

Finally, after all of our festivities, we made our way back home to Rhody to the peace and quiet of our little home. Jack did amazing on his first plane ride. The poor guy spent 17 hours in a car seat on Sunday as we made our way home, and he barely made a peep. What a trooper!

I hope all your holidays were as enjoyable as ours!

New Pics...

2009-12-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hello from Babyland...Sorry I haven't posted more pics of our little guy. Life since Jack's arrival has been great and strange and funny and crazy all at the same time. It's weird how I don't manage to get anything done besides feeding and changing diapers, and yet I feel like things are so hectic and busy at times. How is that possible?

At any rate, we are still enjoying him immensely. We especially can't wait to see the rest of the families for the holidays, so they can meet him, but also so we can meet our other two new nephews - Samuel - "Webb" - who arrived last week, and Ethan who should be joining us any day now!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

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!!

2009-11-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

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.

37 Weeks

2009-10-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Another doctor's appointment this week to assess the baby progress, but not much has really changed. I am still dilated to about 2cm, with not much going on by way of contractions this week. Since I am still getting very sick and have lost a little weight again, it looks like they are going to induce me next week (unless by some miracle I go into labor on my own before then). The ultrasounds show that Jack is a great size (up to about 6 1/2 lbs now), and next week will be an amnio to determine if his lungs are mature enough to start the induction. If so, we will be on our way to meeting our little guy!

At this point I am grateful to have an end date in mind. Being sick for nine months has been difficult, and now knowing that I just have to make it through one more week is a blessing.

In the meantime, I am still holding out a slight hope that I might go into labor on my own. My midwife has suggested some "at home remedies" to try to get things moving. She is also hoping that I might either go into labor spontaneously or at least that some of the tricks will help make my body more ready for an induction. Some of them are not so great (castor oil anyone?), while others are pretty nice (prenatal massage)... So now we just wait and see.

Waiting...

2009-10-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well, another week gone by. Some slight progress on the baby front, but it is definitely slow going. I saw the doctor on Thursday, who says I am dilated 1-2cm, which I guess is good, but doesn't necessarily mean there with be any progress. She reminded me not to get my hopes up because some women can be dilated at 2cm for weeks. I had pretty frequent contractions most of the day yesterday, so I did get a little excited that maybe it was happening, but today the contractions have died down almost completely. So, we wait...

In the meantime, we have been getting last minute stuff done to get ready for Jack. The nursery furniture finally arrived this week, so we got it all set up. It looks great, and now we can officially say his room is complete. Another HUGE thanks to Nana Cis and Papa Bill Bill for Jack's baby furniture. We love it!

Passing the Time...

2009-10-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend! We went down to Philly for a short visit this past weekend for a friend's wedding, and also a baby shower. The drive down could have been a little better, as I required a few stops to deal with being sick, but the weekend was fun, and I felt relatively okay.

Maureen & Chandler's wedding was beautiful. It was great to see everyone one last time before we have baby in tow. Also, John's sisters took advantage of friends being in town for the wedding, and threw us a wonderful baby shower brunch. We are so thankful for such generous friends and family! As for me, I have officially passed the first week of my maternity leave. Being off work has its perks, but I have to admit, I mostly feel as though I am kind of bored. I shouldn't be because there are about a hundred things I could do around the house here that probably should be done before Jack arrives...but really, if I wanted to do those things they would have been done already and not firmly planted on that mental to do list that never really gets done. : )

So instead of doing all that stuff that I should do but don't want to do, I am starting a couple projects. First, I am making a baby book. I decided to do a hybrid of a standard baby book, a digital scrapbook, and photo album. I just didn't really like any of the ones I saw in the store, so now I have a little project for myself. I'll have to post some pages as I start making them. I also started knitting Jack a blanket about 4 months ago, and the progress stalled pretty quickly after it started, so I better get cracking on that as well.

Anyway, the other new trend seems to be that I wake up really early in the morning and don't fall back asleep. John thinks my body is preparing itself for a "baby schedule." Maybe, but for now I would rather have the sleep. Although, I must admit, getting to the grocery store at 6:45am to get a quick shopping trip done is really nice. You get the closest parking spot, you pretty much get the whole store to yourself, and no lines at the checkouts. That's because all the normal people are still in bed. Oh well, all the more time to get to work on my new projects.

Week 35...and already on leave...

2009-10-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

So another week has gone by - now 35 weeks into the baby extravaganza... At my appointment last week, I was told that I need to stop working. Partly due to the contractions and partly due to the fact that I am still not really gaining much weight...in fact I lost a little again. So here I am now on maternity leave, still sick as a dog, but with no baby yet.

I am kind of torn about having to be on leave this early. My employer gives me 13 weeks leave, which is really great, but I was hoping to work up until delivery, so that I would not have to waste any of that 13 weeks before the baby is born. Now I can't help but think that every day I sit home before he is born is just one less day I will get with him afterwards before I have to go back to work. On the flip side, this nausea/vomiting situation is worse than ever, and I was starting to have major guilt about calling in sick to work, so at least now I am just sick without the guilt. Not to mention my energy level is at an all-time low considering I hardly keep any food or nourishment actually in my body.

I don't know what has to happen in order for a doctor to be willing to induce labor, but I am hoping that either I spontaneously go into labor soon, or that they will take pitty on me and induce me soon. I know it is not ideal, but this vomiting is out of control and taking both a physical and emotional toll on me that I am at my wits end with. I see my midwife again on Thursday, so who knows? They are going to do another ultrasound to measure Jack because I lost more weight last week, and maybe from there they will have to weigh the pros and cons of how long we will keep this up. I have to believe that he would be getting much better nourishment outside that inside at this point, but I am no doctor, so I just follow orders.

In the meantime, John and I are getting ready for Jack as much as we can. We still haven't gotten our furniture for the nursery (crib, changing table, and dresser) delivered yet, but hopefully it will make an appearance before Jack does. Last week I had a little panic attack because we didn't have our carseat yet, so we rectified that situation and have a carseat installed in my car - all ready to go.

Otherwise not much else going in our neck of the woods. We are finally getting a new furnace installed to replace the 80 year old bohemuth that currently resides in our basement - neatly wrapped in asbestos... Hopefully switching to natural gas instead of oil will be a little less costly for heating in the winter.

Baring any sort of labor scenario for the weekend, we are hoping to make it to Philly for our friends Maureen & Chandler's wedding this weekend. John's sisters are also throwing a baby shower for us. Something fun to look foward to...

Heading Into Week 34

2009-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we're in the homestretch...at least I hope. John and I have been busy getting things ready for Jack, although I don't feel like we are near ready enough. His room is done except for the lack of baby furniture, which is looking like it won't arrive until Nov 6. We'll have to take some pics when it's all set up.

I had an appointment with my midwife on Thursday. All seems to be going well. I had been wondering if it was normal to be having contractions this early, but truthfully, never having felt them before I wasn't really sure if I was feeling contractions or if it was just Jack moving around in there. Well, it turns out I'm not crazy...I am in fact having contractions because I had one while I was in the office. She was using the doppler to listen to the fetal heart rate, and she suddenly stopped and said, "You're having a contraction right now, do you feel that?" It was actually a little reassuring to know that I wasn't crazy in thinking that I had been having these for a while. So now I have to be on contraction count until my appointment next week. The thing is, sometimes I have them every 10 minutes or so, then I will go a while without having any. It's hard to count them. It's definitely a little too early for the arrival of our little guy though, so we'll see what she says when I go in next week.

I have pretty much already decided that anything beyond 36 weeks is fine by me. The nausea has not let up at all, and throwing up multiple times a day has become part of my routine despite all the meds they have me on...at this point I have tried Reglan, Compazine, Phenergan, Zofran, Pepcid, and Tums...The zofran is new as of this week and so far it has helped a little more than the Reglan without completely knocking me out like the Phenergan. Oh the joys of pregnancy...

Summer Fun

2009-08-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks of summer have been spent with family and friends. First we spent a week in Michigan with my (Sara's) family. While there, my Aunt's threw us a baby shower, we hung out at Coast Guard festival with the nieces and nephews, and of course stopped in for the Russ' soup bar as we always do when we get to go home. Some pics from our Michigan visit:

Avary "Ava", who has the bluest eyes and pudgiest little face...

...her twin brother Aiden...
...and big brother Ben.

We did a tour on one of the Coast Guard boats with Nick & Rachel and Austin. The kids could put on the body armor and hold the gun, which Austin thought was very cool......it turns out guns and armor are very cool for the big kids too.

Nick & Rachel and Austin on the Coast Guard boat.

On the drive back from Michigan, we stopped in Rochester for a visit with Joe & Sam. We got to see their twins too...so cute. John and Joe have betrothed Jackson and Ella, so John thought it was very important for Ella to meet her future husband ...in utero...

Ella (aka "future daughter-in-law") Cassara...and Brett Cassara ...Don't worry Brett, we'd all get scared from that face...

Since being back in Rhody, we have been spending time down in Jamestown, RI where John's parents are renting a house for a few weeks. His sisters and their families have been visiting as well. A few pics from our time with the Claypools:

Claypool family pic...not bad for a remote timer and two fidgeting toddlers...

John with his sisters, Lee & Emily

John & I...and baby Jackson

Nana Cis and Papa Bill Bill with the two grandsons, Liam & John Ber...

by Christmas we'll have two more boys to add to the bunch...

Alex & Lee with Ber, taking a swim off the dock at the house in Jamestown.

Liam, hanging at Bonnet Shores beach.

Staying Busy

2009-07-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

Hi all, I realized it has been a little while since last post, so here's a quick update on things with us...

Over the 4th we headed down to D.C. to visit Lee & Alex and finally get a chance to meet our nephew John Berihu. So much fun. Lee & Alex are doing such an amazing job settling in with him. While we were there he had his "baptication" as it has been referred to...He was already baptized in Ethiopia, so rather than re-baptize him, he was dedicated at Lee & Alex's church. John and I get to be God-parents! Some fun pics from the D.C. weekend...Our attempts at a family picture are pretty amusing with the little ones...it should get even more challenging by Christmas when Emily and I both have babies to add to the mix! : )
We have started to try to clean out the guest room and attic in order to make room for a baby nursery. Last weekend we finally had our yard sale which was a culmination of over a month's work sorting out boxes of random stuff that John and I have been carting with us over the years. Our dining room had become overrun with piles and boxes of stuff that is finally gone. It was definitely a lot of hard work, but we made a surprising amount of cash, so it was worth it. We were taken aback by the way people haggle over the smallest things...it's crazy. So many times the thought crossed my mind...Do you really need to haggle over a quarter? When it was over, we just boxed up any leftover stuff and headed straight to the Salvation Army...nothing allowed back in the house.

We also finally sold my car...the old Focus is no more. Well it is, but now it is for a teenage girl. We are grateful that it sold so quickly. Between the car and the yard sale we have a little extra cash on hand to buy some baby furniture.

I had another OB appointment yesterday. All is going well. Our little guy, who we have decided to name Jackson "Jack" William Claypool is growing well. He is moving around all the time now, and John can actually feel it too, which has been fun for him. When we were discussing names and had decided on Jack, John felt him kick for the first time, so he feels like Jack was giving his approval for the name. I had another ultrasound, and my direct quote from the tech that I took home to John was "Wow, his legs are huge - look at those thighs." John is now convinced that he has passed on his "pear-shaped" man thighs to our son. Some new US pics...

Boy...oh, boy!

2009-06-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know we had the joy of finding out the sex of our little one today.
The results are in: IT'S A BOY!!!

John had been rooting for a boy all along, so he is on top of the world today. I will admit I had been hoping for a little girl (Bill, I know you were on my team...), but was just so happy to see a healthy baby, and I am getting used to the idea of thinking of him as a boy now.

I also had to have a vascular ultrasound done to rule out a DVT in my leg. All is as it should be...both mom and baby are healthy. Here are a few picks from today's ultrasounds:

He's very obviously a boy...
I could see it before she even pointed it out,
and he certainly wasn't shy about showing it to us.

He wasn't cooperating with the US tech
who needed to get some pictures of his face.
He seems to spend most of his time curled up with his face against the wall.

When we went to the next US later for the vascular study,
he was a little more cooperative for the tech,
so he showed us his face for a brief moment.
Here's a little profile pic.

Excitement

2009-06-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

All is well with John and I and baby Claypool. After a trip into the ER last week for IV rehydration and nausea meds, I am feeling great. While I was there, they did an ultrasound to make sure baby was doing okay. We have quite an active little one in there. This baby was practically dancing all over the monitor. It was so cool to see. With all that moving around, I can't believe I haven't felt any of it yet. Definitely looking forward to that.

Anyway, I have started weaning myself off the nausea meds over the last couple days and am still keeping food down, so hopefully it's a sign that I have made it through the morning sickness stage. I had my follow-up appt on Wednesday, and I actually put on some weight over the last week, so no nutritionist required. Yay!

Now John and I are looking forward to the next ultrasound at 19 weeks. We are both really anxious and excited to find out if this baby is a boy or girl. Not only because we are just dying to know, but I look forward to being able to call "it" something other than "it." We have decided that it's probably a girl. Except for the Price's, all of our friends and family that have had or are having kids lately have had boys, so the law of averages says one of us is bound to have a girl, right? I am putting out the disclaimer that as long as this baby is healthy, I will be happy either way... (read: please, please, please let it be a girl... : ))

We spent an evening browsing at Borders, and came accross an add in a pregnancy magazine for something called Intelligender. We were intrigued enough to look it up when we got home. Apparently it is a urine test you can do that will change either green or orange to predict boy or girl. The adds say it is 94% accurate, but I can't seem to find anything online beside their own advertising that says it really works. And to quote a line from The West Wing, "If no one on the Internet wants a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?" I guess we will have to stop trying to rush this along and be a little more patient.

Well, since it's midnight and the episode of Band of Brothers that I was watching just got done, I guess I should call it a night.

Love from Rhody

Happenings...

2009-05-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

John thinks I've been neglecting the blog these days, so here I am with an update while he is sound asleep on the couch...

In baby news, we had our 14 week check up on Thursday. All is well with baby Claypool. We got to listen to the heartbeat with the doppler, which was pretty cool. My midwife says everything is as it should be for the moment...for me it is a little different story.

A not so fun part of this pregnancy for me has been the constant nausea and frequent vomitting... From week 6 to week 10, I had lost a couple pounds, which I attributed to being sick all the time, and my midwife said not to worry about it. Well, from week 10 to week 14 I have lost another 14 pounds, which she is a little concerned about. Go figure, I have been steadily gaining weight for the past 8 years, and now that I am pregnant I seem to have suddenly found a way to lose weight instead. Anyway, I have to go back in two weeks and I am under order to gain weight by then or she is going to have me meet with a nutritionist to develop a weight gaining plan...awesome - as if I really need a strategy to gain weight.

Work has been going well for me. I was actually charge nurse for the first time today, which was a little surprising, but went well. Now I can actually check off one of those personal goals on my performance evaluation...

John is doing well too. He is chomping at the bit for the school year to be done, as the students are getting a little restless for the end of the year too. He has been having more problems with his back lately, so he saw the orthopedic specialist last week. He recommended that John schedule a Cortisone injection for next week, so we are hoping that does the trick.

We made it!

2009-05-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we officially made it through week 12 in this whole pregnancy adventure. Admittedly, this week doesn't physically feel any different that the weeks that preceded it, only psychologically. It's not to say that miscarriages can't or don't happen after 12 weeks, but we are at less than 2% chance right now, which is making us take deep breath and feel very secure about this whole thing.

Now for the morning/mid-day/evening sickness (yes, I seem to have them all) to pass...

Not much going on...

2009-04-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all...It has been a while since I posted, probably because there really isn't much to write about these days.

We just got back from Philly for a weekend to visit John's fam and his high school buddies. Brian & Sarah had their first baby shower, which we have all described as "lovely" in the way baby showers usually are.

John is back at work after taking a group of 8th graders to Washington D.C. for Spring Break last week. He got to see Lee & Alex before they headed off to Ethiopia at the end of the week to pick up their new little guy. We can't wait to meet him.

Work is trodding forward, same old - same old for me. I'm pretty exhausted, so 12 hour shifts seem longer than ever these days, but working only 3 days a week is a definite blessing. In baby news, all looks to be going pretty well. I had my second appointment last week, and she says everything is on track. I have been feeling pretty sick most days, which is not at all pleasant, but actually a little reassuring at the same time because it must mean my hormone levels are much higher than last time - silver lining to everything, right?

Anyway, I should be getting ready for work now,
Love From Rhody :)

Our News!

2009-04-03T10:41:00.001-07:00

Some of you already know this, but for the rest: I'm pregnant again!!
I am just under two months at this point, and based on our doctor's appointment last week, the baby measures exactly right, and has a heartbeat already. Seeing the heartbeat was so amazing and reassuring after last time when we never got to that point even at 10 weeks. We are due in November '09. John is hoping for a boy, but I really want a girl. Obviously we will be content either way, but we joke about it now. At first we were somewhat reserved with our excitement, but after seeing this we feel much more secure. We were thinking that we should wait until the 12 week mark, but through a combination of my own silly comment and my mom's, we kind of got outed on facebook today, so here it is.

I've been feeling pretty good so far...just a few episodes of nausea...mostly just fatigue. The main thing I have noticed is the effect that certain smells have on me. Some things I never used to find offensive, some others that have always bothered me now seem to be more intense than ever. Other than that, feeling pretty good.

So thanks to our family and friends who have already been praying for us...here we go again.

Back At It

2009-02-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

Vacation is over, and both John and I are back to work. I am off to my nursing competency fair for some in service today, which I am not exactly looking forward to, so I am putting it off by reading blogs, checking emails, and doing laundry.

John started back to work this week after almost 3 months off. He is enjoying being back and has been feeling great. He was greeted with an immaculately clean and organized room after some of the other teachers on his team came in on their winter break last week to clean it for him. I guess the long term sub that was covering John's class while he was out operated the room in a state of disorganized chaos and then topped it of by throwing a party the last day before break. Okay to do if you are going to clean it up, but I guess the guy just left at the end of the day with the room in disarray. John's friends at work figured that would be pretty annoying to come back to, so they came in over break to take care of it. Simple acts of kindness...

Our Jamaica Trip

2009-02-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well, after a couple days back in reality, I finally got around to sorting through all of our Jamaica pics and maybe after I post I will actually get around to unpacking. It drives John crazy that I can leave that suitcase there for days (...er, weeks...) before I get around to taking care of it after a trip. I mean what's the rush...it's not like I am going to need access to my capri's and flip flops any time soon (it's a bone chilling 24 degrees today). So sad...Anyway, we've been getting requests for more about the trip from the fams, so here it is.

I'll start with the hotel. As we mentioned before, we stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa which is listed as Montego Bay, but is actually near a smaller town called Lucea, about 30-40 minutes West from the Montego Bay Airport. We arrived Sunday morning to a beautiful open air lobby.We were reserved for a 1-bedroom suite, but somehow got upgraded to a Bungalow Suite that was right on the ocean, with it's own outdoor patio. Our Bungalow was the first from the left.The room was great. It had a huge king bed (that was hard as a rock...John was in heaven because he hates our soft mattress at home...me not so much...). The bathroom was huge with a big Jacuzzi tub...nice, relaxing, but since it was so big, it took almost an hour to fill to a comfortable depth. What was cool was the outdoor shower. The best though was the view from our room. We had a huge slider door leading to our ocean front patio.The resort had multiple buffet restaurants and 7 "theme" restaurants including a seafood place, steak house, Italian, Indian, Creole, Asian, and Mexican fare. We tried to hit all the different places, but we literally didn't find the Creole and Asian restaurants until the night before we left (the resort was huge).

As far as activities went, the resort offered a lot. We did do kayaking and snorkeling. The last time we went snorkeling I had a mild panic attack when I almost swam straight into two jellyfish because I was too busy looking down and not looking in front of me. John of course thought I was ridiculous, which I acknowledge was probably true, but I definitely have an exaggerated fear of all things water related (fish, sharks, jellyfish...drowning), so that was it for me with the snorkeling. We tried to go sailing the last day, but got to there too late, so no sailing for us. Otherwise we spent most of our time lounging on the multiple private beaches scattered around the resort or by one of the hotel's two pools. The larger main pool was an infinity pool with a swim up bar.We had a celebrity siting at the main pool that I should be a little ashamed to admit to since I am 27 years old...last year I got sucked into a show on CW called Gossip Girl, which is a high-school teen drama, sort of like 90210 was for the previous generation...this is the same idea only in Manhattan instead of Beverly Hills. Anyway, on the first day, I could have sworn I saw Jessica Szohr (plays Vanessa on the show), but John didn't believe me. Well later that day and again the next we saw her again, this time with fellow co-stars Ed Westwick (plays Chuck) and Leighton Meester (plays Blair).
One night the resort put together a Reggae Beach Party BBQ at Sunset Cove (one of their private beaches). The food was okay (I was really hoping for some jerk chicken), the entertainment was more R&B cover band than Reggae, but the sunset was amazing. They also had a DJ from Margaritaville there giving out prizes, and a fire eater/breather for entertainment.While there was a ton to do at the resort, we did opt for an excursion into Negril for shopping and a trip to Rick's Cafe. The shopping included a stop at a small duty-free mall and a local craft market. The mall was a typical tourist souvenir stop, but the craft market was something I had never experienced before. First of all, using the word market is a stretch. This was more like multiple rows of shanties all smashed together overflowing with wood carvings, paintings, T-shirts, skirts, dresses, hats, and jewelry. As you walk through the place you are bombarded with people sitting outside their shanty urging you to "Respect" and "Come on in to take a look." It's all so overwhelming and offputting that you don't even feel comfortable browsing. In the middle of the constant sales pitches there are also many offers to sell you ice cold Red Stripe beer and weed. The thing is, I would have probably enjoyed browsing and maybe even buying a thing or two if I didn't feel so much pressure.

After the shopping trip we went to Rick's Cafe, which is apparently the tourist thing to do when in Jamaica. We wanted a chance to try the jerk chicken - which was pretty good, and we were told the sunset's in Negril were the best in Jamaica. John also wanted a chance to do a cliff jump.
Overall, we had an amazing time. It has us both longing for future travels, maybe somewhere in Europe next. For now it's back to normal life after a much needed respite.

Last Day in Paradise

2009-02-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe a week has flown by this fast. We have had such a relaxing time here in Jamaica, it's so sad that we are leaving tomorrow. While we feel like we didn't even come close to taking advantage of all the resort had to offer (John is especially bummed that we never got around to the archery), we had a great time. I have a ton of pictures that I will share more of after we get home, but here are just a couple from the week.

Jamaica Man!

2009-02-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hello from beautiful Jamaica!

Just wanted to pop in and say hi while we have a little downtime here in Jamaica. It has been such a great time so far. We checked in on Sunday, and pretty much slept to make up for our uncomfortable overnight layover in Charlotte.

Yesterday was amazing. We spent the morning by the pool soaking in the sun (about 82 degrees here on Monday). We had a real celebrity siting...more on that later. After lunch we went kayaking in the bay to scope out some good sites for snorkeling. From above the water we thought we were going to be disappointed, but we were in for a surprise. You can get snorkeling gear from the resort, but we brought our own, and we are glad we did, because we plan on snorkeling a lot. We saw so many fish and other things I don't even know the names off...we even saw a baby swordfish (which was cool but a little scary).

It was a little overcast and rainy this morning, so we laid low for a little, but even as I am writing this, it looks like it is clearing up, so we are going to head back to the pool.

I haven't really taken many pictures yet, but hopefully will upload some and post later this week.

It's Time to Relax

2009-02-05T20:38:00.000-08:00

John and I are headed to Jamaica for a much needed vacation. Now that all the craziness of the last few months is behind us, we are looking forward to a relaxing (and warm) time in the Caribbean. We decided to do this way back in December, but we had been putting off making a decision about a location. Plus we wanted to wait for some great last-minute deals. We finally booked the trip this morning, and we couldn't be more excited.

Our trip will be to an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay called the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Spa and Resort. From all the pictures we can find, it looks beautiful.

Here is what we have to look forward to in just 8 short days...

Ringing the Bell

2009-01-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

Well, John's chemo is officially done. He had his last dose of the third round of treatment yesterday, and we are more than happy to put this chapter behind us. He will still have to see his oncologist for check-ups and scans every 6 months, but the treatment is over.

At the treatment center there is a bell mounted on the wall. The tradition is for the patient to ring the bell after the last dose of treatment. It seems a little silly, but it was actually pretty special. All the staff and patients in the treatment room applauded as John rang the bell. They told us we should bring the camera to commemorate the moment, so here are a couple shots we took at John's last day of treatment.

Last Round

2009-01-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a busy couple weeks for us. John's sisters were in town for a visit for a few days, then a bunch of his buddies from high school and college came last weekend for some guy time. It has been great for John to spend time with friends and family to take his mind off treatment.

Today was John's first day of Round 3 of his chemotherapy. He has been pretty nervous about it after how sick he felt from round 2, but day 1 went well. They started him on a third med that he takes each morning that is supposed to help with the anticipatory nausea. We are hoping it helps make this round go a little smoother than the last.

We are also spending time trying to decide on a great vacation. We figure after everything that has been going on for us over the last few months, we really needed to take some relaxation time. John usually has a two week recovery time after each round of chemo which puts us at Feb 14, and it just worked out that the next week is his Winter break from school, so he gets an extra week before he heads back to work. Thankfully I got the same week off work, so we are heading somewhere warm. We have been looking at all-inclusives in the Caribbean. It is so hard to choose, they all look beautiful. I'm not too particular...all I need is a beach, temps in the 80's, and a fruity drink.

Go Eagles!!

2009-01-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

John is so excited that the Eagles beat the Giants today and are only one win away from a trip to the Super Bowl. Who would have thought they had a chance considering the beginning of their season?

Not much else going on with us. John has been pretty much out of commission this weekend after finishing the second week of chemo. He is very fatigued and the nausea has been pretty bad even with three different anti-nausea meds on board. Since I had to work this weekend, John's mom has been in town to help out, and I know he is enjoying that.

Work is going well for me. I started my first IV today, which I was so proud about. Especially because John and I had a little deal going. His oncology nurse (at the hospital where I work) had offered to let me start his IV last week because she knew that I hadn't had a chance to start one yet, but John was not really down with me using him for "practice." We both tried convincing him that he should let me, but instead he made the deal that if I successfully did an IV between now and two weeks from now (when he goes in for his last week of chemo), that I could do his next IV. He made the deal because he knows that I rarely get the chance to do IV's. By the time patients get to our floor they are coming from the OR or the ER, so they usually already have IV access. But lucky me, my patient's access blew today, so I got to give it a try and I got it in on the first shot. Poor John might actually have to follow through on his deal.

Anyway, I really should be off to bed, but instead I am tooling around here on the Internet...

A New Year

2009-01-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. We hope your holidays were filled with great times with family and friends. We were able to spend time with both our families over the past month. We got back from Michigan on Sunday night...just in time for John to watch the Eagles beat the Vikings.

Now that all the holiday fun is behind us, it's back into the swing of things for us. John started his 2nd cycle of chemo on Monday. The nausea is a little worse this time around, and his hair is thinning out a lot. Also his blood counts are all pretty low (especially the white count and absolute neutrophil count). Basically this means that his risk for infection is pretty high. After the weekend of travels he ended up with a sore throat with some white spots and some post nasal drip, so they started him on antibiotics this week. Hopefully the infection won't get any worse.

As for me, I started my new shift this week. I am now on 11a-11p three times a week, with every other weekend 7a-7p. No more nights for me. I actually liked the night shift and the people I worked with, but I didn't love having to sleep for a day to make up for each shift. So far so good. I forgot how busy day shifts can be.

Well, off to bed for me. We'll keep this posted as John progresses through Cycle 2.

An Update...

2008-12-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Well it's been a few days... just wanted to post an update on how John's doing. He officially made it through the first week of treatments. During the treatments, he was experiencing a bit of fatigue and some nausea, but nothing that wasn't controlled with the meds that he was given.

We stayed home the whole weekend and just laid low, so he has been able to get plenty of rest. Today the nausea was pretty bad, so we have been trying to find foods that are easy on the stomach that he will be able to keep down. Hopefully the nausea will pass. Here is John in his go-to spot these days:
If there is any upside to the fatigue that John is feeling, it has to be that I am not making him help me dig our driveway and front walk out of the foot of snow that we have gotten in the past couple days. John's friend Brian offered to come over to help with the shoveling...I might have to take him up on that.

Anyway, four days until Christmas. John's parents will be coming on Tuesday to visit for a few days. If John is feeling well enough, we are planning to go to the Boston Pops Christmas Concert and do dinner in Boston on Christmas Eve.

Also, I wanted to post a couple pics of our Christmas tree. John went to a tree farm with Brian & Sarah and Jason & Julie while I was in Chicago with my mom and sisters. They were all a little shocked that I let John pick out a tree by him self because I am insanely particular about Christmas trees, but I think he did an amazing job. It is just the perfect size to fit next to the fireplace. Last year our tree was too big, so we had to keep it in the dining room because it didn't fit in the living room. This one is perfect. I'll be sad when we have to take it back down.

Merry Christmas

Now You See It...Now You Don't

2008-12-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well leave it to John to dive head first into this whole process. Since he is determined to avoid losing his hair in random clumps, he decided it would be best to just preemptively shave it all off. He had some fun in the in-between stages, but he is officially now beardless and bald (the beard was an addition since his surgery). Here's a little picture of his new do:

Anyway, he had his first day of chemo today. It went pretty well. We had been told he would have to be there for about 5 1/2 hours each day, but they had us done in about 3 hours. So far he has not had much nausea. They put him on a pretty solid regimen of anti-nausea meds, so we are hoping the rest of the days this week go as well as today. We'll keep you posted...

Next Up...Chemotherapy

2008-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

We had our follow-up visit with the oncologist in Friday, and they finally had all of John's test results. The good news is that his PET scan was clear, and all his tumor markers returned to normal. The other news was that the pathology of his tumor showed that he has two types of cancer in the tumor. The first is embryocarcinoma, which is fairly common and not terribly aggressive. The second is choriocarcinoma, which is rare and much more aggressive with a higher chance or recurrence. Usually when a choriocarcinoma does recur or metastasize it shows up in the bone, lung, or brain, which would obviously be not good. That being said, he has a Stage 1 choriocarcinoma which is highly treatable, and in fact, even more rare because usually by the time someone is diagnosed with this type of cancer they have already advanced to Stage 2-3. In this sense, John is extremely lucky to have had intervention this early.

So with all that comes treatment. He still has to have an MRI of the brain this week to insure that the cancer has not spread there at all. From the way the doctors sounded, they do not believe that is has spread (based on all the other test results), but they still have to do this last MRI to be sure. Next comes chemotherapy. John will be going through 3 cycles of chemo therapy, each cycle lasting 3 weeks, so 9 weeks in all. We have a teaching session scheduled for this Thursday with one of the oncology nurses, where they will go over the procedure, the side effects, etc, and we are supposed to come armed with all of our questions.

His first cycle of chemotherapy begins on Dec 15th. The 3 week cycles are broken down as follows:
Day 1-5 - come in for chemo each day for about 5 1/2 hours, may experience nausea, fatigue
Day 6-10 - at home, probably will feel okay
Day 11-17 - at home, will feel the most fatigued and weak, since this is the stage where all his blood counts will be depleted from the meds. Will be most susceptible to infection, so definitely can't be at school around kids
Day 18-21 - will be feeling better, recovered for next round of chemo (to start Jan 5th...and round and round we go)

His doctor has said that he cannot work during any of this time, not only because he will be feeling pretty lousy, but also because chemotherapy depletes the immune system, especially during Day 11-17, so being around school kids with all the stuff they carry, would be too risky. Even a common cold would be very dangerous. In fact, were supposed to monitor his temperature. If he starts running a fever at all, he will be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics. His boss has been very supportive through all this, and his district has approved his medical leave for the 9 weeks that he will be going through the cycles.

That's all for now, we'll keep this blog posted with updates on John's treatment.

A Loss

2008-12-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd wait until after Thanksgiving to share this news, so I wouldn't be a Debbie Downer for the holiday...

Last week I had a miscarriage. My hcg levels dropped, and my midwife had me do another ultrasound, which confirmed the loss. They scheduled me for a D&C last Wednesday. Physically, I am still in a little discomfort, but overall feeling well...emotionally, John and I have been trying to cope with this as best as we can. We have definitely been wrestling with this. It had seemed that God's hand was really in this pregnancy considering the timing along with John's cancer. With John's treatment may come fertility challenges for us, so it seemed as though getting pregnant when we did was such a blessing.

All we can do at this point is take one day at a time. We return to John's oncologist on Friday after some more blood work and a PET scan this week. We will find out whether or not John has to do any chemo.

In addition to all that, John is also seeing his orthopedic specialist this week. He had been having low back and hip pain for a number of months. When he was diagnosed with cancer, there was a concern that perhaps the cancer had spread and the pain was a manifestation of the metastasis. That does not appear to be the case. His MRI showed that in fact the pain was coming from spinal stenosis and two bulging discs in his back. When he sees his doctor this week, they will discuss the treatment options. From all the reading we have done it looks like they will be considering either cortisone injections along with more physical therapy or surgery. Right now, with everything else that is going on, the surgery option seems daunting... Anyway, we will find out more after he sees the doctor this week.

At this point we are just feeling a little overwhelmed. I am not naive, I know there are people in the world who are much worse off than we are, who deal with tragedy and hardships...however, for us in this time, it seems like it's just piling up a little too heavily.

We thank you for your continued prayers.

***
My friend Kristin posted some thoughts on her blog that were really encouraging considering all that we have been going through. In the margin was a link to another random blog entry that was edifying as well...read them here.
***

Good news so far

2008-11-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

Well, just an update on how things are going with John. His surgery went well, and according to Dr. Wong, his CT scan looked clear. That might mean that the surgery got all the cancer. He goes back to both the urologist and oncologist next week for follow up tests to make sure his tumor markers have gone down, and to check on the pathology of the tumor. I guess from the pathology they can tell how aggressive/invasive the tumor was, and it will determine if he might need a couple rounds of chemotherapy. We are not in the clear yet, but right now he has been having the best possible results. Hopefully it will continue that way.

As for his recovery, he is doing well. He is in quite a bit of pain, and aside from the occasional walks around the house, he is not really getting around too much just yet. Thankfully, he is doing the stairs pretty well, so at least he doesn't have to sleep in his chair in the living room. Our couch is a little too deep and low to the ground, so it is kind of painful for him, so we have one of our Lafuma lawn chairs that reclines completely set up with blankets for him in living room. He has pretty much been living in that spot for the past few days.

Other than that, all is well. I had another ultrasound on Friday, at which point they still couldn't see the heartbeat, but based on the measurements they say the baby is growing which is all they are worried about. From all the reading I have done about this whole tipped uterus thing, it seems pretty common that they are unable to see the heartbeat at the beginning. Some women have said that they were unable to see the heartbeat at all until the second trimester. That being said, they told me dates which absolutely make no sense. We are really waiting until the uterus flips forward to get an accurate date. All in all I am still feeling well. Still no nausea, and I'll feel really fortunate if it stays that way since I am terrified of throwing up.

Well, gotta go. We'll keep this updated as we know more.

All in Equal Measure...

2008-11-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a busy past couple weeks.

About a month ago, John and I learned that we are going to become parents. We are very excited, and so far everything has been going pretty well. I have been feeling great - aside from some late-night heartburn and the fact that I just can't shake the feeling of being tired. Working nights probably doesn't help the fatigue, but it's not all that bad. We went for our first ultrasound last week, however we have to go back this week because they were unable to see the heartbeat. It turns out I have a tipped or retroverted uterus, which is not really a problem for the pregnancy because at about 16-20wks it will just flop forward into the normal position on it's own. Until then though, it makes it difficult to see the baby's size or heartbeat on ultrasound. Because of that, we have been getting dates that are all over the map. All I can say at this point with any certainty is that at some point next summer we will hopefully be having this baby... :)

The other news that we learned last week is that John has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was supposed to have a CT scan yesterday, but it got rescheduled for today. Hopefully it will give us some more information about the extent of this tumor, such as whether or not there is any lymph node involvement. His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Thurs) at 10:00am. We are really asking for prayers for him at that time, and we are praying for the best case scenario which is that the tumor is removed and there is no other cancer.

We are also praying for a speedy recovery for John. He is having a radical orchiectomy, which is an outpatient surgery, so they will operate in the morning and only keep him in recovery for a few hours before sending us home. At the very least, he is probably going to miss our ultrasound which is scheduled for the next day, which he is really disappointed about. They told him to expect a 2-3 wk recovery before returning to regular activities. I know he is not looking forward to being stuck at home for that long, not to mention having to get lesson plans ready for a sub for that amount of time.

I guess that's really everything. Please keep us in your prayers during this uncertain time.
Love,
Sara

Lazy Saturday

2008-10-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the fall weather has set in, and it has definitely gotten colder. I love the crisp air in the fall, that is, I love it when I'm outdoors....but our reluctance to turn our furnace on for the season has left me not loving the extreme crisp air indoors. The inside of our house actually seems to be 10-15 degrees cooler than outside, which has been getting a little uncomfortable.

You might ask why we don't just turn on the heat. Well, we strive each year to hold out as long as possible. I thought we might last until Thanksgiving, John thought until just the beginning of November. We might make his mark if we can hold off a few more days, but we definitely won't make it to Thanksgiving.

The reason we procrastinate on turning on the heat is that we have an 80 year old giant of a furnace that sucks oil in the the most inefficient way and is sadly not all that effective unless turned up pretty high. Thankfully, it looks like oil prices are dropping a little, but considering we have a 250 gallon oil tank in our basement and oil is still above $3 a gallon...we are not looking forward to having to fill it.

Take today for example. I worked last night, and slept most of the day, and while I am cocooned upstairs in my bedroom with the space heater running, it's actually pretty comfortable. Once I leave this room, that's when comfort ends, because the rest of the house is frigid. Unfortunately, John is down in Philly at his parents new (warm) house, so I am left here in the cold all by myself. I was thinking of going to Panera Bread for two reasons - 1) hot soup sounds amazing, and 2) they heat that place... The only problem is, I really need to shower if I am going to allow myself to go in public, but the thought of my ice cold bathroom is enough to deter me from my dreams of steaming cheddar and broccoli soup with a grilled chicken caesar salad.

Okay, so it's possible I may be overstating it just a bit, but it's just really cold in here...

Best of Summer '08

2008-09-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

I have been going through some of my photos from the summer, and there are so many that I haven't even gotten to yet. That's the thing about digital photos, I feel like some of them will never be put to any use. They will stay neatly filed away in folders on my computer. Probably never printed, and for sure never displayed...how sad. So, here are just a few that I thought deserved to see the light of day.

These were taken when we went home to Philly one weekend in June to do some packing. While there, Cissy took me to Chanticleer Gardens in Radnor, PA. The place was beautiful. There were so many flowers in bloom, fountains, sculptures, ponds, trails...needless to say my camera got heavy use that day. Since flowers are my favorite thing to photograph, I snapped away all afternoon while Cissy patiently waited. Here are some of the best shots.

September...Full Swing

2008-09-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well we are officially back into the swing of things here. I am in my second week of night shifts, which will be my regular shift for the foreseeable future. I like the shift, and I like the girls I work with, but getting my sleep schedule on track will be the challenge over the next couple weeks.

John is back in the routine too. In fact, he will be a lot busier than usual this year. He is starting his masters degree at the University of Rhode Island this fall, so he has class a couple nights a week on top of everything else. Between work, school, physical therapy, Bible study, homework club, basketball, and intramurals, I don't know how often we will actually see each other. Most days I will be gone for work before he gets home from work, and vice versa in the mornings. Oh well, I'm sure we'll make it work.

Not much else going on with us. My task for today (which I am putting off by tooling around on the Internet right now) is to start sewing the cushions for our front porch furniture. I'll take a picture and post it when I'm done. Well, I better get back at it...

I haven't decided yet...BUT...

2008-08-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

There is obviously no secret that I am a Republican surrounded in a sea of liberals living up here in New England, so I always feel outnumbered at election times. That being said, in general I consider myself an educated citizen. I don't just vote a straight ticket Republican for the sake of voting Republican.

Anyway, I was really anti-Hillary during the primaries, but I don't really get that excited about McCain or Obama either. I figured I would just have to learn a little more about both of them before the election. Well, here is some interesting reading about Obama that would really make anyone think twice about voting for him. (http://www.clintons4mccain.com/)
The best part is, I can't even be accused of presenting Republican biased information, since this information is put forth by a group called Clintons 4 McCain. This is a group of Democrats and Independents who really can't stomach the thought of Barack in the White House.

The sad part is, most of the info and video that they provide pretty much stands alone as proof of Obama's naivety, dishonesty, and even his own running mate's belief that McCain is a better qualified candidate that Obama. Watch for yourself:

The end of summer...

2008-08-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer has flown by so fast. It seems like no time at all since I graduated and started my job, but now here we are near the end of August already. John actually had his first day of school today.

Since my last post, we have been trying to enjoy some of our summer. John's family was up in Rhody, and we stayed with them at the amazing house they rented in Jamestown, RI. It was beautiful. Good times, good views, good eats...

I enjoyed snapping some pictures while we were there. Some really cute ones of our nephew Liam. Also having Narragansett Bay literally in the backyard provided great opportunities for photographs as well. Here are some of the faves:

Our backyard dockOn one of the days of bad weather, I snapped shots of what I thought was a tornado, but what was actually called a waterspout...which is really just a type of tornado.
This was literally right off our back deck. Kind of cool...

Taking pictures of Liam at the beach was fun. In a two hour timespan I managed to take over 200 pictures...I can't imagine what will happen when we have kids of our own...

Liam the future quarterbackSunrise on the bay - view from the backyard...not too shabby.

Sara Claypool, RN, BSN

2008-07-27T19:53:00.001-07:00

Hi...okay, so I did exactly what John said I would do... I posted a few times, and then got side-tracked and forgot about the blog. Anyway, since my last post, a few exciting things have happened.

I started my new job at Miriam Hospital, which I am really enjoying. I am on 3 North which is a med-surg floor. I am in my 5th week of orientation on the day shift (7a-7p), and in 3 weeks I switch to the night shift (7p-7a). It's going well, but I am pretty exhausted...I'm not exactly a morning person, so 7a is a little bit of a challenge for me.

Also, even better than the job is that I took my boards on July 15th and passed. I am officially an RN. No more studying, no more practice questions...!!!

John and I officially joined Christ Church. We have been going to church and small group Bible study there for a couple years. Every time we saw the announcement for the new members class in the bulletin we said we should go, so we finally did. Here's their website:
http://www.christchurchec.org/robb/index.php

Other than that, John and I have been getting underway with some more house projects. John has been working on trim and painting in the kitchen and I am working on the front porch. Always something to work on in this house.

Everyone needs one...a good mechanic.

2008-06-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tow charge from Tasca Ford to Precision Automotive.....$60
New battery, battery cable, and labor.....$167
Finding a good, honest mechanic to rescue me from the fangs of the Ford dealership...Priceless!

A couple days ago I went to Roger Williams Park, as I have been doing a lot these days, to relax and take some pictures. I brought a lunch, with the idea of spending the afternoon there. As I was pulling into the park, there was a little bit of a road block as a mass of geese and a couple swans decided to cross the road all at once. There were cars lined up in both directions honking at the birds as if that's the way to motivate them to get out of the way...it wasn't. I found the whole situation a little comical, and since there was a swan in the bunch, I got out to take some pictures. You see, my mom started a photo scavenger hunt for the month of June, and one of the items on the list was a "bird that is mostly white." I have taken pictures of the swans at the park before, but one of the rules was that the picture had to be taken this month, so I figured this was perfect.

Anyway, I parked my car and spent a few minutes taking pictures of the swans and geese, and got back into my car to head to the picnic area to eat my lunch. Well, my car wouldn't start. It wouldn't even turn over. Unfortunately, John was still at school, so I was stuck. I wandered around the park for a while and found a place to eat lunch. I was hoping by some stroke of luck that when I made my way back to the car, somehow my car would just start up...wishful thinking.

After a couple hours at the park, and many phone calls, I finally got in touch with John to come meet me and a tow truck. The tow truck driver, who was really nice, took a look at the car before we left, and showed us that the problem was leaking battery acid that had eaten through the positive cable and connectors on the battery. The battery would be a simple fix, but the cable which ran from the battery to some mysterious location underneath the engine would require a lift to get under the car, which we did not have. So we needed to get to a mechanic.

Unfortunately, Ford Roadside Assistance will only tow cars to Ford dealerships, so off we went to Tasca Ford in Cranston. They said that just to look at the car to tell us what was wrong (even though we had already told them what was wrong) would cost me $90 for a "diagnostic fee," but not to worry, the cable was probably covered under my extended warranty in which case the $90 fee would be waived. Two hours later, a phone call from Ford told us that in fact the part was not covered (how convenient-nothing ever is), and that the parts and labor would cost $835!! We were floored, since my brother-in-law had told me to expect somewhere around $200.

So, now I was in search of another estimate because obviously $835 was a little insane. I called a few friends for recommendations, and then thought to call my church for a recommendation as well. Jodi, in the office, referred me to Mike at Precision Automotive in West Warwick. He gave me an estimate of around $150-$200 for parts and labor. After the quote from Ford, I am not sure what I was expecting, but definitely not that low! We had the car fixed yesterday for $167, and even though we had to pay another $60 for a tow to another garage, it was worth it.

I did call the Ford dealer to let them know that I was taking my car somewhere else. I tried to get out of paying the $90 "diagnostic fee" since all they had done was tell me exactly what we had told them when we walked in the door, but it was to no avail. Basically, I took a $90 gamble that the part would be covered under my warranty, in which case everything would be taken care of free of charge, but things never seem to work out that way with Ford. I bought that extended warranty for times just like this, but every time I take my car in, nothing seems to be covered under the warranty. The problem is, they won't tell me whether or not a part is under warranty until after I've paid the $90. They are holding my warranty hostage, and I told them as much when I called. I also questioned how they can feel right about quoting $835 for work that only cost $167 elsewhere. Instead of responding to my question, I got a polite, but annoyed "Can I help you with anything else, m'am?"

Is there really any wonder why Ford is tanking? When a company sells useless warranties, doesn't stand by their product or abide by their recalls (this is not he first problem with this car), and has service people that are trying to rob you blind, is it any wonder why people would rather buy a Toyota?

Flutterby

2008-05-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary, so John took the day off work to hang out. We went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo, mostly because I was really interested in going to their new butterfly exhibit called "Flutterby." The majority of the zoo was kind of a disappointment, as it seemed like many of the animals were not available or something...a lot of empty spaces. Plus they are doing massive construction on the zebra/elephant/wildebeest area, so we couldn't see the zebras or elephants either.

BUT, the Flutterby exhibit was awesome. It was a small greenhouse filled with flowers and swarming with various types of butterflies. I had way too much fun with my new camera taking butterfly pictures. Of the 700 or so pictures we managed to take at the zoo, well over half were of the butterflies. I tried to get pics of each of the different types of butterflies they had in the exhibit, but I think I missed a couple. There was one butterfly, a Buckeye, that made a home on John's finger for the majority of our time there. He named it Cleveland. Here are a few of the butterfly pics...it was hard to choose.

"Cleveland" the Buckeye

Swallowtail Monarchs

Zebra Long WingPainted LadyGreat Southern White

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

The kick-off to summer...

We had a great weekend, although four day weekends seem to fly by way too fast. This is the first year that our anniversary hasn't fallen on Memorial Day weekend, so we decided we would put off the anniversary festivities until next weekend. Instead we spent time with our friends, Brian & Sarah on Saturday. Brian did smoked BBQ ribs, which were awesome.

On Sunday and Monday we busted our behinds in the yard trying to plant more flowers and get rid of dead grass. We had a huge dead patch which we thought was from over-fertilizing. We were going to pull the grass out and reseed in that area, but when we pealed the grass back it we saw the real culprit - grubs. They have infested part of our yard. So we ripped out the infested grass and spread grub killer everywhere. My mom gave me a trick to keep the grubs away from my flower beds. She told me to poor beer in a lid and put it in the flower bed level with the ground. Apparently the grubs are attracted to the smell, but will die when they crawl in the beer. Hopefully, because I really don't want them to kill all my plants.

Anyway, we also went to dinner with John's Uncle Pete & Aunt Dawn yesterday. They are in Rhody for a week or so, but will be doing some traveling in Europe before they head back to Kazakhstan where Pete is currently working. Such world travelers...

Seriously...seriously...

2008-05-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

So, I got my diploma in the mail today, and before I had opened it, my friend Carin called me to alert me to the errors on hers. Not only did they mess up her honors as they did mine, but the word Bachelor was misspelled. So I opened my diploma to see if the same mistakes had been made on mine, and sure enough... I have been awarded a "Bacheor" of Science in Nursing with magna cum laude honors instead of summa. I have tried calling the records office like 6 times today, and I guess their solution to deal with this mistake is to simply not answer the phone. I did leave a message, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Cake That Keeps on Giving...

2008-05-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura and I worked in the office at the Donovan Dining Center during our time at Rhode Island College. Since we were both graduating this year, Debbie and Marsha invited us for lunch and cake. Debbie made the cake and decorated it herself, which we were all pretty impressed by, not only because it was super cute, but also because it was delicious. It's still yummy and moist four days later. We've still got leftovers in the fridge...did I mention it was huge? Anyway, thanks again to Debbie, Marsha, Vinny and all our friends in the office. It was really nice. Unlike Laura I have not loaded my picture frame yet. I am still working on choosing pictures for it. I have too many, I can't decide which ones make the cut.

A Busy Week

2008-05-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, the past week and a half has been very busy, but great. The weekend of May 10th, we were treated to an amazing time in New York City by John's parents. We went to The Cloisters, which is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was very cool, mostly because I got to take my new camera, a Nikon D60 (a graduation gift from Bill & Cissy), for a spin. It is amazing! I am having so much fun with it. We also had a wonderful dinner at Chez Josephine before we saw Wicked on Broadway. Wicked was by far the best musical/play I've ever seen. I highly recommend it. The actress who plays Glinda the Good Witch really steals the show. On Sunday, we walked through Central Park and went to see The Frick Collection.

I took hundreds of pics with my new camera, so it was hard to choose just a few to post here. Here are a couple faves from the weekend that were taken at The Cloisters. There are a bunch more posted on my flickr account (link at right).
After the great NYC weekend, I had my last final on Monday!!! My family came out to RI over the course of the week for my graduation. They rented two cottages in East Matunuck, RI, and I got to play tour guide. We spent some time at Roger Williams Park, visited the mansions in Newport, and took the ferry over to Block Island. A few of them took a day for a trip down to NYC, while others headed north to Cape Cod.

Here are a few pics from the week of sight seeing:

A Venus Fly Trap at the Botanical Center (RWP)
It's still got part of the bug in its trap...

Orchids at the Botanical Center (RWP)

Chinese Tea House at Marble House (Newport, RI)Marble House (Newport, RI)
Jeff & Lisa on the Cliffwalk (Newport, RI)Carey Mansion (Newport, RI) - now part of Salve Regina UniversityOn the ferry to Block Island, RILobster pots (Block Island, RI)Block Island, RIBlock Island, RI

It ended up being a really great week that culminated with graduation on Saturday. The ceremony was long and really kind of boring. Rhode Island College's president is retiring this year, so the ceremony ended up being 3 hours worth of praise to John Nazarian. I guess that's okay, but there seem to be plenty of other occasions for that, like his press conference, the Commencement Gala, the Alumni Awards Dinner...and on and on. It would have been more appropriate to let graduation be about the graduates...call me crazy.

Anyway, this was probably not as big of deal as I felt like it was (as is the case with most things, I'm sure), but I was kind of perturbed at graduation because the program said I graduated with magna cum laude honors, when in fact, I earned summa cum laude honors. I know, not a huge deal, but it was to me because I felt like I worked really hard to achieve that. Oh well, let it go, right?

Here are a couple pics from graduation:

The Contest

2008-05-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last night John and I went to Tazza Caffe to watch the 5th round of The Contest at Tazza. Apparently, there were over 100 bands that started in the contest, and they were down to the top 5 last night. We went because Mike & Sharon Mancuso, who lead our Bible Study, have a son, Brent, in one of the top 5 bands. I wasn't really expecting great music, but I was definitely blown away. All 5 acts were great. Two were solo artists, one late 20's-ish guy (Nicky P), and one girl who was only a junior in high school (Sara Barillo...not to be confused with the actual pop star Sara Bareilles). The other three were groups. Roz Razkin and the Rice Cakes , The Low Anthem and Brent's band, The Red Attire. His band wasn't so much a band as it was two guys, one with a guitar and one with an electric bass, which was pretty cool. The rules for the contest were that acts could play any style, any genre, as long as it was original music. The prize for the winner is $2000 and a song in an upcoming movie. They were all great, and we are hoping we can make it next week to see the top 2, especially if Brent's group makes it. Here are a couple pics from Tazza.

Me & John

Brian & Sara Bhuta
Jason & Julie McFarland
The Red AttireBrent Mancuso of The Red Attire

Over the last big hurdle...

2008-04-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

Well...I took my HESI test on Monday, and I passed with flying colors. That was the last major feat before graduation in a couple weeks!! I am so excited. Just a couple minor exams left, and I am officially a college graduate.

Since clinicals are done now, I have had some spare time on my hands, which I guess I better get used to because I am going to have 6 weeks worth of spare time after graduation. I went to Roger Williams Park near our house and took some pictures for fun. I was only there for about a half hour before my camera battery died, so I definitely want to go back and take some more pictures. They have beautiful ponds, bridges, a zoo, and a botanical garden. I saw a swan in one of the ponds, so I started taking pictures, and made a beeline toward me. I was a little afraid that it might fly up at me or come out of the water and peck at me... Do swans do that? Anyway, it was really close, and I never realized how huge swans are. I got some really great pictures. Here are some of my faves.

I should be studying...

2008-04-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I took off this whole week from both jobs, and I only have class on Thursday. John is gone in D.C. with a group of 8th graders for their Spring Break... So there is no excuse for me not to hit the books full force in preparation for my HESI test next Monday. And yet here I am, tooling around on the Internet, chatting with mom and Lisa on the phone, making a little shopping trip to Old Navy & Target, even spending an hour on the treadmill at the gym. In a day that should have been dedicated to studying, I think I have only actually spent an hour doing one practice test. I am the worst procrastinator in the entire world...

Greetings From Rhody

2008-04-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of having these blogs as a way to see what it going on in the lives of friends and family. I peek in on some every now and then, and keep thinking to myself that someday I would start one too. So, finally, I did it. Even though I sometimes feel as though I have absolutely no time, I am going to try to be regular with posting.

So, the latest news with me here is that I got a job offer at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI. I am doing a Collegiate Nurse Intern program there how, and they offered me a full time position there to start in June. I will be working nights, which isn't great, but that's where most new grads start, so I'll take it for a while.

Graduation is May 17th!!!! I am so excited. My whole family is coming out to visit. They are renting a place down on the ocean in East Matunuck, RI. It should be great.