5 Weeks Old

Our little man is growing (larger and more handsome) everyday! We are SO thankful for this bundle of joy the Lord has given us to enjoy! Happy 5 weeks, Jack!

Fishing with Daddy

Saturday was a beautiful, but windy, 70 degree day outside. What better weather could you have to go fishing? This was another one of Jack's firsts of course - Fishing with Daddy! Daddy and Jack (4 weeks 6 days old) fishing
Barrett caught a couple fish. This one was larger than Jack!

Jack loved hanging out in his stroller watching his Dad fish and enjoying a few hours outside in the fabulous weather.

1 Month Old

Our handsome baby boy is 1 month old. It is hard to believe he is already 1 month old, although the day he was born also seems like so long ago. We can't imagine life without our little guy Jack!
Baby Stats:
Sleep: Jack still likes to sleep like a newborn! He still sleeps a lot during the day. During the night he normally goes for 3-4 hour stretches between feedings, although he has gone one 5 hour and one 6 hour stretch in the past week. I'm hoping he will fit in a few more of those long sleep patterns sometime soon! When he gets up during the night I can feed and change him and have him back to sleep in about 30 minutes.
Daily Routine: Um...we don't really have much of a routine yet. Mainly he eats approximately every 3 hours give or take 30 minutes or so. We change his diaper (normally multiple times) around feeding times. Jack is having longer stretches of time each day that he is awake (1-3 hours at a time.) He is a very content little guy when he is awake. He loves just looking around with those big eyes of his. His favorite things to look at are the ceiling fans, lights, and daddy! Mommy has fun holding her baby boy a lot of the time too!
Feeding: Jack is our little "milk man" as I like to call him. He nurses every 3 or so hours. He has struggled some with latching on, but with the help of a shield he has become a very good eater. I love seeing milk dribbling down his little chin after he is finished eating.
Weight: Approximately 8lbs 14oz. He was last weighed with his clothes and a full diaper on so this is a close guess.
Length:20 inches
Diaper size: Newborn
Clothes size: Newborn size fits the best. He can also fit into 0-3 months they are just a little big still.
Hair color: Light brown
Eye Color: They are still a dark blue but are getting lighter with each day.
Funniest moment this week: I'll have to say the middle of the night diaper change. I was changing his diaper on our bed in the middle of the night on a changing pad. I took off his diaper and right away...he poops...all over the changing pad. Quickly I woke Daddy up to quick get another changing pad. The second the new changing pad was in place....the "fountain" started running! It never fails! I never know now when to change his diaper! Is he really done going yet I always wonder????
Milestone: Rolling over from front to back at 3 weeks old. He is still rolling over everyday!
Your favorite toy: Jack doesn't have a favorite toy yet. I guess I will have to say the ceiling fan. That is what is giving him the most entertainment these days. The fan isn't even on. He just likes looking at it.

Griffin Hamilton

A new cousin for Jack!!!! Jack has been waiting and waiting for his new little cousin. Here is Jack...waiting in the hospital waiting room for Griffin to be born.

The new BIG BROTHERS - Calahan, Korbin, Oliver, and Dylan

Griffin Hamilton

Born January 24, 2011

8:58am

8lbs 2oz

20 inches

Beautiful and healthy baby boy!

Cousins - Griffin and Jack

Me - holding my baby boy Jack and my new nephew Griffin - only 4 weeks apart.

Tara and I enjoyed our time being pregnant together. Now we get to enjoy having boys the same age together. Fun days are ahead!

4 Weeks Old

Jack is 4 weeks old! He is still a very happy and content little guy. Everyday is just so much fun with Jack. 4 weeks old
All dressed for church.

Relaxing with Dad

"Mommy and Daddy Love Me"

Jack with his choir music. He has been coming with us the last couple weeks to choir practice. We sit in the back and he just sleeps through the whole thing. He must remember being in my tummy and hearing all the music before he was born.

Jacks friend Zach came over to "play" this week. Fun! Fun! Fun! These two boys are going to grow up to be great friends!

Ha! I love these pants he is wearing!

Jacks first day to wear shoes!

Playing on Daddy's pillow before going to bed.

Rolling Over Already????

That is right! Jack is only 3 weeks old and guess what he decided to do this week? While laying on his tummy for tummy time he rolled over on to his back! When it happened I though, hold on, let me try this again. Maybe he was kind of over on his side and just kind of rolled over. So again I put him down on his tummy. Yes, HE REALLY DID ROLL OVER!!!! He would fuss and squirm around while on his tummy then once he made it to his back he was happy as could be! Of course he did this while Daddy was out of town in New York (that is why Jack is in his NY shirt - in honor of Dad being in NY) so quickly I turned on the video camera to see if he would do it again. My little buddy cooperated too - I got a video of him rolling from his tummy to back. There is proof! He did this for the first time on Tuesday and he has done it several times each day since then. Has anyone ever heard of a 3 week old rolling over before?

Happy on his back after rolling over

We emailed this picture to Daddy while he was away in New York this week. What a cutie!

3 Weeks Old

Our sweet little buddy is now 3 weeks old. My how our lives have changed in just 3 weeks. We are having more fun than we should be allowed to have with one adorable baby boy named Jack! 3 Weeks Old
This week we pulled a new trick out to use - the swing. Until this point he has always been perfectly content just lying down. Now, he likes movement! So off to the swing he went. I think this will be a well used piece of baby equipment for us!

I also had fun trying out the Moby Wrap carrier. This will be getting a lot of use too!

Boy time - Hangin' out with Dad playing the PS3.

Jack had his first trip to "Mom's On Main" in Aubrey for a delicious breakfast (for Mom and Dad that is.)

Look at his hair sticking up all over the place. His first case of "hat hair" since I had just taken off his hat. Funny thing, Jack is beginning to have an opinion on whether he wants to wear his hat or not. Sometimes I put it on him and he starts fussing. I take it off and he stops. I was surely hoping that this boy would like to wear hats and would just be used to it since he always had one on. It's not looking like it. He knows what he wants!

A new outfit - "Mommy says I'm the BEST BABY EVER." It's true!

All dressed for church!

Jack took his first trip to church at 3 weeks old. While Daddy sang in the choir, Jack and I sat in the service for the music then slipped out during the sermon for Jack to eat. Next we took him to our bible study class where he slept quietly the whole time! What a nice little boy he was for Mommy and Daddy.

More Smiles!!!!

Jack's Birth Story

I wanted to have a record for myself of Jack's birth story. Feel free to read along. Here it goes. December 25, 2010 - Christmas Morning: 4:30am - I woke up early Christmas morning, not only because I was excited that it was Christmas morning, but because I was feeling what I thought felt like cramps. I tried to go back to sleep but sleep would never come with the off and on occurrence of these cramps.

7am - My alarm clock went off. Of course I popped right out of bed since I had been laying there somewhat uncomfortably for the past 2 and a half hours unable to sleep. Off to the kitchen I went to start on making a Christmas breakfast - breakfast pizza - yum, I'll have to share the recipe another time.

9am - We leave to have our annual Christmas morning gift exchange down the street at my parents house. My parents asked how I was doing and I let them know I was a little uncomfortable with some minor cramping, but that I was fine. They asked how often they were happening. At this point I wasn't even really thinking they were contractions, just cramps so I hadn't even thought to time them out. But apparently contractions really do feel like cramps. They seemed to be convinced that I really could be in the early stages of labor. I sat through the fun time of the gift exchange (where my mom gave me a baby's first Christmas outfit "just in case") and then headed back on home.
11am - At home Barrett and I (along with his parents who were staying with us for Christmas) exchanged our Christmas gifts. While sitting on the couch opening gift I would glance at my watch every few minutes when I would feel what I would now call a contraction. They seemed really close together - anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. They were not horribly painful in any way, they didn't stop me in my tracks or anything, just a minor annoyance. It did strike me as odd that they were so consistent and so close together. I decided to go lay down for a while and see what would happen. Still the same. Next we decided to go for a cold walk outside to see if that would make a difference. Still the same, every 3-5 minutes.

3pm - The contractions were still 3-5 minutes apart and were the same whether I was sitting, standing, walking, or lying. Although they were not super strong yet we still decided to go ahead and call the doctor since they had been going on since 4:30 that morning. Of course I felt really bad calling the doctor on Christmas day, but what else was I going to do? I described to him what was going on. His thought was that it could be the start of something but right now it just sounded like braxton hicks and that I would be more uncomfortable if they were real contractions - like toe curling, take your breath away type pain. I felt better having at least talked to him. So now we were off to enjoy Christmas dinner with the Walch family at our house. Thanks to Barrett and my mother in law there was a Christmas dinner to serve. I was no help at all in preparing for it.

Sunday, December 26th - 2:30am - I tried really hard to just go to sleep but still, no sleep came for me. The contractions were still close together and by this point were what I would consider strong. We called the doctor again and were told to go ahead to the hospital to get checked out.

3am - The car is now packed and we are headed to the hospital

3:30am - Once we got to the hospital and got checked in, the nurse checked me and I was at 4-5 cm already! All Barrett and I wanted to know was if that meant we were staying or not. "You are here to stay" was what the nurse told us. We were both relieved that this was the real thing and that we were going to be in that hospital and meet our little boy that day. Right away we called/texted our parents and let them know we were officially going to meet Jack that day. They made their way to the hospital right away, also excited for the fun day ahead.

10am - I was about 6 cm and the doctor wanted to give me pitocin to help speed things along. The nurse informed me that I can expect the contractions to get stronger and closer together now. I figured that this was about the right time to go ahead and get my epidural. At this point I wouldn't describe the pain level as being horribly bad, but I wasn't up for more pain. The main thing I was really wanting by now was sleep! I had been up since 4:30am the day before and was sooooo tired! I wanted to be alert for the delivery and then be as rested as possible to take care of my baby. I will say that the epidural was wonderful! The anesthesiologist was very good and did a great job. It took away the contraction pain but I could still move my legs and have the sensation to push when needed.

12pm (noon)- 10cm and ready to push! Barrett and the nurse were great coaches during this time! It was nothing like what you see on TV, it was a very peaceful time.

1:20pm - the doctor and whole delivery team came in the room for the delivery

1:25pm - after one push once the doctor arrived, Jack Ryan entered the world at 6lbs 5 oz, 19 in. What a moment! After all the years of waiting for a child, he was HERE!!!!! I am not a crying girl but I had tears in my eyes for this! We spent the next 2 hours in the labor and delivery room getting to know our baby boy. The new daddy took a trip out to the waiting room to deliver the good news to the 30 or so family members waiting to hear the new of Jack's arrival then to later take Jack into the newborn nursery to give everyone their first glimpse at our little guy. What a day! It could not have gone any better than it did. The day of Jack's arrival will be a day we will look back on as one of the happiest days of our lives!

Wide Awake and Playing

Jack is now 2 1/2 weeks old. Yesterday he had a much more alert day. He was awake and ready to play! Playing on Mommy's lap.
Finally captured his smile on camera.

Jack is a strong little guy. Here he is laying on my chest and lifting up his head to look around. He has done this since the day he was born. Too cute!

We read our first book together - "My Little Miracle." He was able to focus in on a few of the pictures and follow the pictures when I moved the book around in front of him. I'm looking forward to many more story times together.

Play time on the play mat in his room.

Bath Time

Jack had his first "real" bath this week since his cord fell off. This little guy LOVED it! I guess it felt like being back in mommy's tummy. He just sat there, relaxed, and almost fell asleep during that first bath. Jack's first bath - 2 weeks old
Here he is during his 2nd bath - asleep! Right after we set him down into the bath tub, he was out and slept through the whole thing. All clean, cozy, and ready for bed.

2 Weeks Old

Our little guy is 2 weeks old today! How can it be possible? Jack got an extra special treat for his 2 week birthday....SNOW! Jack has had another great week! We are really enjoying our time with our little man. He is so peaceful and calm most of the time. He still sleeps for most of the day. I love just holding him and snuggling him during these times. He also has his awake times when he is just content either being held or lying down looking around with those big eyes of his. Right now he is eating about every 3 hours. He did struggle this week with nursing, but we took a trip to the pediatrician to get help and now all is going great with his eating! We are so thankful for that!
All snuggled after bath time.

Jack no longer likes to have his arms swaddled in his blanket. He prefers to have his hands free and often times stretched out over his head when he sleeps.

Wide eyed, wrinkled forehead, and cuddled up with mommy.

Mom-mom and Pepa checking out their new grandson. It is so nice having them just a block away to come and visit and help out whenever needed.

I love this little man!

Sorry, this picture didn't rotate right. But here is Jack taking his first nap in his crib upstairs.

I have been dreaming of taking my very own baby for a walk in his new stroller around the neighborhood and finally had my dream come true. Jack loved the walk - slept through the whole thing.

Daddy and Jack watching their first football game together.

My 2 favorite boys!!!!!

GramPam and Pa-pa stayed with us this week. What a blessing they were! They cooked all our meals, let me take naps, babysat while Barrett and I took a quick trip out, and spent lots of time
holding their new grandson.

Our Family

Jack's first time in his bouncy seat. He is making a silly face in this picture but he really did enjoy it.

My old lunch buddy from school and her baby Luca (10 months) came and visited us. The two of us talked over many lunch's over the years dreaming about when we would have our own little babies. Here we are with our dreams come true - our little babies.

SNOW DAY! Today Jack is 2 weeks old and today is Jack's first snow day! We bundled him up in his "Let it Snow" outfit, several blankets, and his hat and took him out to see the snow for just a couple minutes. He wasn't quite sure what to think of cold snow falling on his face.

Checking out the snow.

Jack's "Let it SNOW!" outfit. How appropriate for a day like today!