Grandma Annie (as called by Jack's cousin Michael Braden Powell..see Powells of Hampden link) came to visit for about 5 days. Jack's been soaking up her attention. Here, one of our favorite moments.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Smiles!
Jack smiled at Grandma Annie, Kristen, and Jim today....seemed intentional about it...so we'll go with the idea that it was on purpose. Tried to capture some of the sweet grins on film...managed to get a smile with a lot of tongue...
Grandma Annie (as called by Jack's cousin Michael Braden Powell..see Powells of Hampden link) came to visit for about 5 days. Jack's been soaking up her attention. Here, one of our favorite moments.
Grandma Annie (as called by Jack's cousin Michael Braden Powell..see Powells of Hampden link) came to visit for about 5 days. Jack's been soaking up her attention. Here, one of our favorite moments.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
JHP: 3 weeks old
Jack, intently listening to another of Daddy's amusing stories.
Daddy's story had a great surprise ending.
"Daddy, I bet I can stay awake longer than you..."
Again, offering prayers for world peace. (Jack has been very concerned about the continuing violence around the globe).
"Speak up, I didn't catch that last part..."
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Late Night Adventures of Jack
Well, Jack's late night adventures aren't actually super exciting...mostly eating and burping and being persuaded to fall back asleep as quickly as possible. Jim, however, is fairly entertaining at 3 in the morning. Now, Jim is a true champ, he changes all the diapers in the middle of the night, and will help if Jack is fussy or needs extra time before falling asleep...but as long as Jack is just eating, Jim keeps sleeping, which is fine with me. Several nights ago, I sat up feeding Jack and had pulled one of Jack's baby blankets over my shoulders because I was cold. Apparently the edge of the blanket had fallen on Jim's hand or shoulder as he slept next to me, and next thing I know, Jim has grabbed the blanket, pulled it off of my shoulders and spread it out over his chest...all without opening his eyes. Now, Miss Anne (Jim's Mom) has told stories about Jim's childhood blanket, but I didn't know the need still existed...
A few nights later, Jack was especially sleepy during a feeding, but at one point opened his eyes and looked at me. I said, "Oh there you are." Jim, again, sleeping next to me, stirred, but without opening his eyes, said " Here I am. I'm right here." then rolled over. Very reassuring.
Jack with his Dad...very snuggly.
Jack is usally pretty alert after he eats around 5 pm...which makes for excellent time with Dad and the guitar.
By the way, I think I can see some resemblance to cousin Eli in the picture above...anyone else?
Jack's 2 week check up was good. He weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches. He's been amazing us by lifting his head a lot when he's on his belly, tried to capture it on film, but only got the backside!
Family Visits:
On Friday we dropped Kristen's Mom, Kathy off at the airport, she was a huge blessing as she stayed with us for the past 3 weeks. Pics forthcoming from her visit. The rest of Kristen's immediate family came up for
Christmas. Jaymes and Katie arrived the day before Jack was born, and Michael came in on the 24th. We're looking forward to Miss Anne coming out to Utah from Baltimore in a few weeks...can't wait for Jack to meet his other grandmother!
Jaymes and Kathy with Jack
A few nights later, Jack was especially sleepy during a feeding, but at one point opened his eyes and looked at me. I said, "Oh there you are." Jim, again, sleeping next to me, stirred, but without opening his eyes, said " Here I am. I'm right here." then rolled over. Very reassuring.
Jack with his Dad...very snuggly.
Jack is usally pretty alert after he eats around 5 pm...which makes for excellent time with Dad and the guitar.
By the way, I think I can see some resemblance to cousin Eli in the picture above...anyone else?
Jack's 2 week check up was good. He weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches. He's been amazing us by lifting his head a lot when he's on his belly, tried to capture it on film, but only got the backside!
Family Visits:
On Friday we dropped Kristen's Mom, Kathy off at the airport, she was a huge blessing as she stayed with us for the past 3 weeks. Pics forthcoming from her visit. The rest of Kristen's immediate family came up for
Christmas. Jaymes and Katie arrived the day before Jack was born, and Michael came in on the 24th. We're looking forward to Miss Anne coming out to Utah from Baltimore in a few weeks...can't wait for Jack to meet his other grandmother!
Jaymes and Kathy with Jack
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Jack's first Christmas
Jack's first Christmas...an excellent opportunity to take photos that will embarrass him for the rest of his life. Please feel free to save these and use them against him when he hits those obnoxious teenage years.
Pardon me, but have you any Grey Poupon?
Jack offering up a prayer for world peace at Christmas time.
Handsome in blue.
Learning a few of the Powell favorite sing-a-long songs
Pardon me, but have you any Grey Poupon?
Jack offering up a prayer for world peace at Christmas time.
Handsome in blue.
Learning a few of the Powell favorite sing-a-long songs
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
One Week Old
First visit to the doctor today. Jack has grown almost two inches in length!! and weighed in at 8 pounds 2 oz. He's in the 75th percentile for height and 60th for weight.
The first week was a big one. Kristen's mom came to Utah on the 15th, and her Dad and sister arrived the day before Jack was born. Michael, her brother came up on Saturday, and the whole Burr family was able to celebrate Jack's first Christmas together.
Jack and Kaki (Kristen's Mom Kathy)
Jack in his Santa hat.
Jack and his Dad
Oh, and just in case you start to think its all fun and games here at the Powell household...a small reality check:
Friday, December 22, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Our new favorite person...JHP
Because we cannot get enough of looking at the little guy, we're positive the same is true of you, the blog viewer. So, here are 2 more.
This is the boy wide awake in Jim's arms.
Our friends, the Hewitts, reading Jack his first story. Thanks, McKenna
This is the boy wide awake in Jim's arms.
Our friends, the Hewitts, reading Jack his first story. Thanks, McKenna
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Family Portrait
Jack weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces, 19 inches and healthy and whole in every way! He also has long fingers and the biggest feet in the nursery.
As far as labor goes....we left the shopping mall at 10 pm when the extended holiday hours ended. We went up to walk around with my parents to see if we could get the process moving along...and Kristen had a few minor contractions while walking. We arrived home at 10:30 and contractions started in earnest at 45 seconds long and about 2 minutes apart. We checked into the hospital around 11:30 PM and Jack was born at 2:39 AM. Our Lamaze classes had us prepared with lotion for hand rubs and talked through various things to do while waiting through the early part of labor...we didn't have a chance to use any of that.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Some Pics of Jack
O.K. Blogger hasn't been letting me upload multiple pics at one time, so I'm going to do them one at a time. This just means that I'll probably only post a few today and perhaps a few tomorrow instead of all at once. Sorry, but I hope you enjoy seeing Jack the Boy just the same.
We wait no longer...
Friends, Family, random people stumbling across this blog,
Jack Powell has arrived! At 2:39 AM Tuesday, December 19, the little man with big feet made it into the world. He and mom are great. Very soon, pictures will be posted!
Jack Powell has arrived! At 2:39 AM Tuesday, December 19, the little man with big feet made it into the world. He and mom are great. Very soon, pictures will be posted!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Only 12 Days Away
No major pre-labor signs yet...but Dr. says we could go anytime. Right now we are feeling more content than impatient...trying to soak up these last few days of being just the two of us (and getting to sleep in).
Thanks to Tracy for the fabulous sweater...of course, if I get any lower, it'll be a flashy little midriff top.
In other news, it hasn't been above freezing in Utah for the past week. And I've never seen so many Christmas lights. At night, you can look towards the neighborhoods built up on the slopes of the mountains and you can see hundreds of rooftops outlined with christmas lights...pretty cool.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Another House Update
Here is a picture of the bathroom, finished (FINALLY!)
Unfortunately, I don't have a good before picture, so it may not seem like such a vast improvement to those of you who didn't see it before...allow me to describe it briefly: Fake wood paneling on two walls, the wall with the medicine cabinet was painted dark red. The medicine cabinet was brown wood set within a strange panel of hunter green corian (as in countertop material). Existing light fixtures: one was gold and silver metallic and one an ancient round glass ceiling light. Basically, awful.
So, here is the "after" picture...and it actually feels much bigger now that all walls and ceiling are bright white. We kept the exiting wall sconce, medicine cabinet, and sink cabinet and just painted all of those things black...paint can do amazing things.
Unfortunately, I don't have a good before picture, so it may not seem like such a vast improvement to those of you who didn't see it before...allow me to describe it briefly: Fake wood paneling on two walls, the wall with the medicine cabinet was painted dark red. The medicine cabinet was brown wood set within a strange panel of hunter green corian (as in countertop material). Existing light fixtures: one was gold and silver metallic and one an ancient round glass ceiling light. Basically, awful.
So, here is the "after" picture...and it actually feels much bigger now that all walls and ceiling are bright white. We kept the exiting wall sconce, medicine cabinet, and sink cabinet and just painted all of those things black...paint can do amazing things.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Oh, Wow...
So I went to a friend's house for lunch, and her 3 and a half year old daughter, Kylie, was there. After I'd been there for a little while, Kylie was walking past me and glanced my way and kept walking. Then she stopped, looked back at me again, and with wide eyes said, "Oh, Wow...Hey...Wow...How did your tummy get so full?"
So, new pics for those of you curious about the size of my tummy:
In other "big" news, the nursery is finally complete. Along the way, we learned words we never really had to use before, like "miter" and "cope" (as in a crown molding technique involving a small hand saw). Jim is totally my hero for learning how to do all the trim work and we've included some detailed pictures of corners and angles so you can be just as impressed as I am with his carpentry skills. I think its safe to say that the odd ceiling shape of the nursery presented more challenges than a normal square room. What a room to learn on! We're pretty excited about the finished product...more pics to follow when we move in furniture.
First, a before picture...just to see how far we came....
So, new pics for those of you curious about the size of my tummy:
In other "big" news, the nursery is finally complete. Along the way, we learned words we never really had to use before, like "miter" and "cope" (as in a crown molding technique involving a small hand saw). Jim is totally my hero for learning how to do all the trim work and we've included some detailed pictures of corners and angles so you can be just as impressed as I am with his carpentry skills. I think its safe to say that the odd ceiling shape of the nursery presented more challenges than a normal square room. What a room to learn on! We're pretty excited about the finished product...more pics to follow when we move in furniture.
First, a before picture...just to see how far we came....
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
November already?
With only 6 weeks left in this pregnancy, the pressure is on to finish the nursery. Of course, the time crunch has no effect on Jim, who is always up for taking a little time out to pose for the camera.
Since our last update, the nursery walls have been retextured, primed, and now painted "lime sorbet" in Sherwin Williams Harmony paint which has no VOCs (i.e...doesn't smell!). Jim's put down new Baseboards around half of the room (kept the existing other half) and we've started painting the bead board. Windows arrive Thursday and new carpet next wednesday, so hopefully we'll have a super cute nursery photo in a little over a week!
Meanwhile we decided to also attack the bathroom (why stop at just one project?). We'll post pics of that soon too.
In other news, Jim was the lead singer in an 80s cover band for the college 80s party on Oct 30th. Since that night he's been seriously wondering if 80s cover band singing is really one of his spiritual gifts...and how he could possibly use this special talent more often. I'm just glad that we don't have to listen to Van Halen and Bon Jovi on repeat anymore.
More things we've noticed about Utah:
Fry Sauce. This is a concoction of ketchup mixed with mayo that is served at various burger places. As in, "Could I get a few packets of Fry Sauce with my happy meal?" or "Fry Sauce is over there at the condiment bar." Tastes okay, but I'm still a fan of straight ketchup.
Coffee part 2. The church staff had dinner at Carrabbas, and about 8 of us ordered coffee with dessert. It took a little while for them to bring the coffee out (had to make it fresh...you wouldn't just keep it on hand.) and when Rich asked for a refill, the waitress said it would be a little while, as they were out of coffee mugs and had to wait until they could wash a few mugs (apparently health code prevents you from refilling the glass/mug directly, you have to get a new one). We all pondered the fact that this restaurant only had about 8 or 12 coffee mugs in stock. Fascinating.
Since our last update, the nursery walls have been retextured, primed, and now painted "lime sorbet" in Sherwin Williams Harmony paint which has no VOCs (i.e...doesn't smell!). Jim's put down new Baseboards around half of the room (kept the existing other half) and we've started painting the bead board. Windows arrive Thursday and new carpet next wednesday, so hopefully we'll have a super cute nursery photo in a little over a week!
Meanwhile we decided to also attack the bathroom (why stop at just one project?). We'll post pics of that soon too.
In other news, Jim was the lead singer in an 80s cover band for the college 80s party on Oct 30th. Since that night he's been seriously wondering if 80s cover band singing is really one of his spiritual gifts...and how he could possibly use this special talent more often. I'm just glad that we don't have to listen to Van Halen and Bon Jovi on repeat anymore.
More things we've noticed about Utah:
Fry Sauce. This is a concoction of ketchup mixed with mayo that is served at various burger places. As in, "Could I get a few packets of Fry Sauce with my happy meal?" or "Fry Sauce is over there at the condiment bar." Tastes okay, but I'm still a fan of straight ketchup.
Coffee part 2. The church staff had dinner at Carrabbas, and about 8 of us ordered coffee with dessert. It took a little while for them to bring the coffee out (had to make it fresh...you wouldn't just keep it on hand.) and when Rich asked for a refill, the waitress said it would be a little while, as they were out of coffee mugs and had to wait until they could wash a few mugs (apparently health code prevents you from refilling the glass/mug directly, you have to get a new one). We all pondered the fact that this restaurant only had about 8 or 12 coffee mugs in stock. Fascinating.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Progress of the Nursery
Here's a few pics of the progress on the nursery. Beadboard Ceiling is almost done...and for those of you curious about the progress of Kristen's bump...there's a picture for you too.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Moab, Lamaze, and Beadboard
This past weekend we spent three days camping in Moab with 47 teenagers. Having a baby will be a piece of cake.
Actually, it was a great weekend, the annual Christ EV student ministries camping trip to Moab. For those of you who haven't been to Moab, its a fascinating place of red rock formations...home to the much photographed Delicate Arch. We know better than to take valuable electronics on trips with teenagers, so no actual pictures were taken on the trip...but if you want to see what Moab is like, just go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moab,_Utah . Its a little bit like visiting Mars with lots of hippies in VW buses. A team of adult volunteers went down to cook for the weekend, and stayed in camper trailers...so Kristen actually didn't end up sleeping in a tent on the ground.
Lamaze classes. Just finished our 3rd of 4 classes. Besides the fact that Jim and I are one of the oldest couples in the class...most first time parents are still in college at BYU!...we like it a lot. Many striking similarities to Bill Cosby's childbirth routine (check it out on You Tube). We've got three breathing techniques mastered, learned about various relaxation strategies and tonight our class actually included Jim giving me a foot massage. What's not to love? As a bonus, Matt will be happy to know that at no time have we been forced to share our feelings with our classmates. Nor has anyone mentioned calipers.
Beadboard goes up on the nursery cieling. Not totally covered yet, but significant progress has been made. Jim's gotten to use lots of power tools and the peeling bumpy cieling is almost a foggy memory. Still to come: new windows, remove tacky paneling, more beadboard on walls, fresh paint, new molding, new carpet, and, oh yes, new baby. Hopefully in that order.
Baby update: Currently I'm at 31 weeks, still due Dec 17th. Dr thinks the baby's at around 3 or 3.5 pounds. He moves a ton...very active. Jim thinks he's working on little building project of his own and it definitely feels like it sometimes. He loves it when we practice music (for college worship) or sing at church on Sundays...he moves all around...pretty distracting and pretty entertaining.
More things we've noticed about Utah:
They love Halloween here. More than TX, MD, or VA. Remember how Coppell houses get decked out for Christmas? Its like that here with spider webs and ghosts and moaning sound effects and orange lights. They've been working up a Halloween fervor since the end of September. Fascinating.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Amazing.
Final thought: Take a few minutes and check out Sunday Bloody Sunday as performed by President Bush on youtube.com. Excellent entertainment.
Actually, it was a great weekend, the annual Christ EV student ministries camping trip to Moab. For those of you who haven't been to Moab, its a fascinating place of red rock formations...home to the much photographed Delicate Arch. We know better than to take valuable electronics on trips with teenagers, so no actual pictures were taken on the trip...but if you want to see what Moab is like, just go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moab,_Utah . Its a little bit like visiting Mars with lots of hippies in VW buses. A team of adult volunteers went down to cook for the weekend, and stayed in camper trailers...so Kristen actually didn't end up sleeping in a tent on the ground.
Lamaze classes. Just finished our 3rd of 4 classes. Besides the fact that Jim and I are one of the oldest couples in the class...most first time parents are still in college at BYU!...we like it a lot. Many striking similarities to Bill Cosby's childbirth routine (check it out on You Tube). We've got three breathing techniques mastered, learned about various relaxation strategies and tonight our class actually included Jim giving me a foot massage. What's not to love? As a bonus, Matt will be happy to know that at no time have we been forced to share our feelings with our classmates. Nor has anyone mentioned calipers.
Beadboard goes up on the nursery cieling. Not totally covered yet, but significant progress has been made. Jim's gotten to use lots of power tools and the peeling bumpy cieling is almost a foggy memory. Still to come: new windows, remove tacky paneling, more beadboard on walls, fresh paint, new molding, new carpet, and, oh yes, new baby. Hopefully in that order.
Baby update: Currently I'm at 31 weeks, still due Dec 17th. Dr thinks the baby's at around 3 or 3.5 pounds. He moves a ton...very active. Jim thinks he's working on little building project of his own and it definitely feels like it sometimes. He loves it when we practice music (for college worship) or sing at church on Sundays...he moves all around...pretty distracting and pretty entertaining.
More things we've noticed about Utah:
They love Halloween here. More than TX, MD, or VA. Remember how Coppell houses get decked out for Christmas? Its like that here with spider webs and ghosts and moaning sound effects and orange lights. They've been working up a Halloween fervor since the end of September. Fascinating.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Amazing.
Final thought: Take a few minutes and check out Sunday Bloody Sunday as performed by President Bush on youtube.com. Excellent entertainment.
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