Boy's Club

After an ultrasound last week, we were given news of a little brother for Jude! Baby looked great...we are in for another active little guy around our house! I'm feeling great, and looking forward to being the undisputed Queen of boy's club. :) 22 weeks down, and 18-ish to go.

Spring is really trying here is Boise, but not quite there yet. We have had some nice temps, but a lot of overcast and rainy days. I was able to play in a golf tournament for fun a few weeks ago, and though our play left something to be desired on the competition front, we sure looked good and had a great time.

My folks will be out here for Easter in about a month. Hoping for some sunny days so we can break in the deck for the year. Happy Springtime!

We thought Spring was going to be Sprung but...

Well, this blog has been sort of neglected over the last few months but rest assured, Jude is still growing and things are going well with Chantel and myself as well. Jude is now about 10.5 months old and Baby X is still in the oven for the 17th week now. Chantel is doing great! She's out of her first trimester and is feeling much better. Jude is crawling on all 4's now and is pulling up on anything and everything he can get his hands on.

We've had a pretty quiet winter. The snow at Bogus Basin has pretty well sucked this year since late December. I feel kind of stupid for snubbing the early season skiing when there was good snow in favor of January and February skiing since it turns out there has been virtually no snow the last two months. I've nearly mentally moved on to Golf Season but I'm willing to give the snow another chance if A LOT comes to Bogus soon.

We are gearing up for a big spring of softball, barbeques, and possibly a road trip or two. We thought we were going to be getting an early Spring here since it nearly hit 7o degrees the day after Valentine's Day but winter held on and it snowed 2 days later. We're hoping for good weather soon so things can start to green up!

We get to find out what Baby X is around the middle of March. So, we'll keep everyone posted on that front. Jude's 1st Birthday is right around the corner (man, that went fast). He's been amazing. I think every week we say, "I think he's the happiest baby in the world". He really is a treat to have around. He's always laughing, smiling, and playing. We are both really lucky to be his parents and we're hoping for Baby X to learn some of this from his big brother.

My folks are here for the weekend to see (as my dad said), "our grandson", but I know they have a little bit of interest in seeing Chantel and I as well. It should be a pretty lazy weekend since the snow is back but hopefully the sun will be out and we'll get some walks in and maybe some swinging in the park.

Below are some photos of Jude from this winter. Christmas was in Fargo this year and when the weather started to warm up here, we spent more time outside at the park. He also got his first haircut (of many) from Dad.

ENJOY!

Back from sabbatical

I've had the best of intentions of updating our blog for the last few...months. But of course, life took over, and watching Jude grow before our eyes takes presedence over just about everything. He is starting to scoot around on our floor now, so not only do we have to step things up on the sweeping/mopping front, but we have to keep our eyes on him. It seems like his favorite toys are not longer the blocks and stuffed animals, but the intake vent on the wall and just about any electrical cord that is unhidden. Ahh...this might cause us to step up our parenting skills as well. :)


All is going well here in Boise, and Jim and I are anxiously awaiting snow (in the mountains only, please) so we can kick off the ski season. I got a chance to get out on the slopes only once last year, so I am ready for those flakes to come in droves. As of yet, no "official" accumulation to report, but I'm counting on La Nina.

The holidays are fast approaching, and we will be having my parents here for Thanksgiving, and then making the trip back to ND for the week prior to Christmas. I was able to rationalize the heck out of putting up the Christmas decorations this year, so Jim actually went for it last Sunday, and now the house is adorned in festive attire, and there will be no music played outside of carols until AT LEAST January 1. That rule goes for Jude, too. :)


Stay tuned for pictures from a fall photoshoot, we were able to have a few "formal" family portraits taken by a friend at a park near our house. And few more informal photographs...

Our baby & Jim's baby(Or, Jude & the deck)...

It's been a whirlwind of activity...mostly diaper changing, feeding, cuddling, and left arm/shoulder facilitation (Jude's gonna be a pitcher, he just doesn't know it yet:). I initially thought that since I would be home for a couple of months, I would have all the time in the world to play with our little guy and maybe pick up a few new hobbies. Well, that didn't go as planned. Seems like I look up at the clock just in time to Jim to walk through our front door, asking "What did you guys do today?" To which I only reply with a mystified look, trying to remember where the hours went. Perhaps those hours went right into the Diaper Genie with all the discarded Pampers throughout our day...hmmm...

Jim, however, has been quite productive. He has preliminarily finished our deck project. It is beautiful,and we enjoy sitting outside on watching our neighbors! Railings are in the works, but builing has been postponed due to a downturn in the economy. Looks as though we did not budget for baby gear shopping and new mama attire shopping), so the railing have taken a backseat for the time being.

I have been able to get back working out and running in the past month, and ran the Race for the Cure 5K with two friends. Jim and I are also playing softball one night a week - which Jude loves - though our record seems to be going the way of Shanley High softball when I played. (Read: the stars have yet to align to invoke a win). We like to get out and at least get a little dirt on our cleats...

We have been hearing so much about the baby boom in Fargo; so many friends have just had new little ones, and many are finding out they are expecting. It makes us homesick, but so excited to return in 2 weeks for Jude's baptism and a little open house to see all the local family & friends.

Jude is growing like a weed, and just beginning to smile at us. It seems like I try and try to get him to smile at me by singing & making all kinds of wacky faces, but to no avail. We went to my 6 week post-partum followup appointment last week, and the Dr. greeted Jude, who rewarded my MD with a HUGE smile. Go figure! We love Jude to pieces, and everyday brings new experiences, expressions, and vocalizations...he is so much fun.

BATH TIME!!

This is the time we've all been waiting for!!! Okay, maybe not....but we've had this little guy for 6 days now and its time for a good scrub down. He was cleaned up at the hospital but it was done in the nursery and neither of us were up for observing at midnight after he was born. So we have forgotten that bath time and are dubbing THIS bath time, The Inagural Bath of Jude. The 4 photos and the video below pretty much sum it up. We did it next to the sink and just used a soapy wash cloth and a rinse wash cloth. We're not suppose to dunk him yet because his cord hasn't fallen off yet. There will be another time for that and I'm sure many more pictures of his first.....everything. Thanks to all for following along.

Jude's 1st week

We have had a large request for more and more pictures and videos of the little guy in the last few days. It has been a big week for Jude. He's been to the doctor's office twice already since leaving the hospital. He had a standard weight check on Saturday that revealed that he had lost too much weight in his first few days and needed to step up the eating a little bit. We went back on Sunday at the doctor's request to recheck his weight and see how the supplimental bottle feeding was working out. He had gained back a half pound of the pound he'd lost since birth and received the big "okay" from the doc.

Jude also received his first "man"icure. It was a all-male event and we think we did a great job! He has been sleeping better at night if he's being held but still hasn't figured out sleeping on his back in the crib or bassinet without one of us there with a hand on him. He tends to be wide awake and ready to work on his eyes whenever we let go of him. He will sleep like this after he eats in the middle of the day and is in what Chan has dubbed, "Coma baby".

Jude also was able to get in his first stroller ride and trip to the outside world this week. We ventured out in his stroller for a walk around the block with T&K before they took off on Monday. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess this will not be his final journey in this stroller as he was zonked out the entire trip from all the vibration and movement on the rough roads.

Overall, this has been on heck of a week and Chantel and I could not be any happier. Chan was able to test her metal as a mom yesterday when I had to get back to work for the day and Grandma and Grandpa Frappier took off early in the AM for the long drive home. They had a great day and from what Chan says, he saved all of his messy diapers for her once we were all gone. I returned home from work to find them both snoozing on the couch, happy as clams.

Babies first attempt at a Mo-Hawk didn't go so well but with all this hair we'll figure it out eventually.

I don't know that I've ever taken a better picture then this one below. This was Sunday afternoon after a BIG lunch for Jude and a late night/early morning for Chan. They were both pretty tired and were enjoying a much deserved nap onthe couch in the glimmer of the sun. Jude didn't move once the entire nap and it must have lasted at least 2 hours. I actually had to go poke him a couple times just to reassure myself that he was okay and still breathing.

Overall we had a great time with Chan's parents while they were here. I've put a few more videos on this post since my hiccup cam was such a HUGE success. I don't know that we ever really looked at each other after Jude was here but we sure did a lot of baby staring. Jude is happy and healthy thus far and is more aware and alert everyday. ENJOY!

Home again, home again. Fiddle Dee Dee

As the title of this post says, we have decided to come home. We were pretty sure that if all was going well and all were happy that we were going to try for a brief hospital stay. The nursing staff didn't seem to think this was the brightest idea because Lil' J was having some trouble with feeding but we kept trying and he's starting to get the hang of it now. We came home around 9:30 last night and began our family adventure. One midnight run to 24 hour Walmart for a few supplies while mom and baby ate and a "Tag, you're it" approach to staying up and holding Jude so he could sleep got us through our first night at home. Chantel is doing AMAZINGLY with this whole thing. It all seems to come so naturally to her and Jude is definately feeling and showing the effects. He is very happy and a GREAT sleeper........right now (I know, famous last words) and seems to be settling in pretty well with the rest of us.


Kaylin and Terri presence has been outstanding. They've been super supportive and are more than willing to hold and snuggle with the little guy. They are very proud and happy grandparents and have been broadcasting from the hill tops about their perfect new grandson. They are here until Monday so we'll have to try to figure this out without them pretty soon.


Below are a few more photos for everyone and I'm making my first attempt at loading a video on here. Its from this morning when Jude was first waking up and had the hiccups for a solid half hour. Its a short video and if it doesn't work I'll try to figure it out again.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and congradulations! We feel very fortunate to have so many people in our lives that care so much and are so supportive. I promise I'll keep the photos (and hopefully videos) coming. Our best to everyone!!

Jim and Chan AND JUDE'S Excellent Adventure

Well.....she did it. Or I guess we did it. But after watching Chan go through labor with Lil' J I'm pretty sure they did it. Welcome into the world Mr. Jude Thomas Clapp. He arrived at 4:47 PM on April 7th, 2010 weighing in at a (I think) impressive 8 pounds 4.2 ounces and 21.25 inches. He has his fathers head already boasting the need for a 13.75 in fitted Twins cap. Everyone is happy and healthy thus far. He rarely cries and really enjoys being a burrito and being all wrapped up. Chantel did great throughout the entire labor.

Picking up from where the last one left off.... She quickly moved from 4.5 to 7 to 9.5 cm dialated in a few short hours after the epidural numbed the pain. She started to push about 12:45 and was still going 4 HOURS LATER!! Dr. Hodges came in around 4 and really turned things around (literally, Jude was face up instead of down and needed to be turned). Mom and doc worked together and found the energy to push through the final 45 minutes of labor to get Jude into this world.

Since then, we've had some visitors to share in our happy time. Chantel's parents are hear for the week and were eagerly walking around downtown Boise waiting for the phone call. We've moved out of Labor and Delivery and are going to stay the night in a regular hospital room. Jude received his first.....everything. Bath, diaper (courtesy of dad), feeding attempt, snuggle with mom, etc etc etc.

Jude is now resting with Chan and happy as a little clam. We don't know when we'll be heading home yet but for now, things are GREAT and we couldn't be happier. There will be plenty more to come so stay tuned.

Held on until the last day

We had scheduled the induction to get Jude moving for 4/7 at 7:00 AM but he decided that wasn't necessary and contractions started at 2:00 AM. Chantel didn't wake me up until quarter to 5 and we were off to the hospital by 5:45. We narrowly missed not getting admitted because we were third in line to have scheduled an induction but we were able to budge in front of girl #2 because her labor was active and she was having contractions every 2.5 minutes. The contractions were getting pretty intense for awhile when they had us walk the halls for an hour to allow her to progress enough to officially call her in active labor and get her admitted. We really didn't want to have to go home and were very glad we were allowed to budge.

We have now been admitted and are in our room. The epidural has been started and things are going MUCH better. Her pain is pretty much gone and she's able to rest. The nurse and resident physician that's hanging out with us feel like Jude should be here before Happy Hour but nobody's willing to commit to a time yet. Our doctor hasn't been in yet and Chantel is resting so I thought I'd take a minute to update this blog.

More to come as we progress....

The final countdown...

Happy Easter, all! The sun is trying valiantly to peek out from behind the clouds this morning...we've had some pretty gross weather all week; hail, sleet, rain, clouds. Very unusual for us. My patients have been saying it's because we missed winter here in Boise that all the weather is coming now! However, April showers bring May flowers, and its nice to see the tulips and daffodils coming up.

I finished my last day of work on Friday; it was good to have the distraction of going-going-going all day, but I was just beat by the end of the workday. I look forward to at least a couple of days off before Jude comes to join us! The doctor had told me almost two weeks ago that he thought baby's arrival was just around the corner...but apparently his crystal ball was not up to snuff that day, and we are just waiting (impatiently). :) I did get the go-ahead from the Dr. to induce at any time, since it just looks like Jude is being pokey -- so we have a date for 7am on April 7th, like it or not.

Jim has started working on our new deck -- of course, what better time to start a big contruction project than when your wife is 8 1/2-9 months pregnant?? Ahem...he has all the framing up, just need to get the floorboards and the railings down. Not sure of the estimated date of completion, but it would be nice to see it finished before we enroll Jude in kindergarten. :)

My mom & dad are leaving today from Fargo to drive out here to Idaho. I believe they are stopping for a little R & R (and showshoeing) in Big Sky, and then meandering out here in time for Happy Hour on April 7th. The wine fridge is stocked, and shnacks abound...in fact, the wine fridge has been stocked since about August, come to think of it. I have heard "a little dust on the bottle" only improves the experience -- hopefully this is true with cheap wine, as well.

Hope your hunt for Easter eggs was a successful one, and that the spring is a reminder of ALL of our blessings; especially new life!! :)

Chan