It's Been A While...

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!!

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!

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...

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!

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...

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!

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 Duckymmm...prunes!