Busy Week

Over the course of the last week, Jackson graduated from preemie to newborn diapers, outgrew his first outfits, had his first immersion bath, left the house on his first social trip, met more family members, went to church and reached his due date. Whew!

Early in the week we found ourselves running low on diapers and Laura decided we should use up the rest of the preemie diapers and replace them with the next size up. That happened sometime during the night of the 6th. Over the course of the week we also had to retire several of the outfits he'd been wearing since we brought him home because he's finally outgrown them.


On Thursday, we gave him his first "official" immersion bath. Official because even though it was our second attempt, it was the first time he liked it enough for us to see it through to the end.

After getting all cleaned up, we left the house on his first social trip. To this point he's only been in the hospital, at the doctor's office and at home. Thursday night was dress rehearsal for our church's Easter production, "The Healer." Normally, we'd both be involved behind the scenes but with a new routine to adjust to we decided to focus on things at home. Despite our absence, our friends at church had been keeping us in the loop as though we were still part of the team and we really wanted to see the show, so the dress rehearsal seemed like a good way to avoid the crowd for Jackson's sake. Thinking it started at 6, we got there with some time to spare and got to catch up with several friends we hadn't seen in a long while. Then we realized it didn't start till 7 so we got to catch up with even more friends... I even picked up a "Healer" Tech Crew shirt and to avoid a guilty conscience wound up fixing a light. Before things finally got started, Jackson received his first mention from the pulpit as it was announced to the cast and crew that he was in the audience. No mention of me and Laura... In the end though, it was a great evening, the show was great and Jackson gave it his highest seal of approval, by sleeping through the whole thing.


On Friday, Mom and Dad arrived just after lunch but not before Mamaw and Papaw. Mamaw's been quite the loving great-grandparent and Papaw apparently knows his place. Ever since Jackson's birth all I've heard Papaw say on the phone are three words, 'here's your Mamaw' at which point me and Mamaw will discuss all things Jack for a long while. They got to stay through two feedings and a storm system which dropped golf ball hail on the arsenal and toppled several trees in the neighborhood including one over the fence in our backyard. No damage to our house though and the long visit was nice as they had not seen Jackson since he was in the hospital right after he was born.


Mom and Dad stayed the night and on Saturday my Grandmom and Granddad came down with my aunt Paulette from Nashville to see Jackson for the first time. They stayed for most of the evening and got to feed and burp Jackson who took it all in stride and enjoyed hearing some new voices and seeing new faces.




On Sunday, Jackson's due date, we got up and made it to church for Easter Sunday, discovering in the process that it now takes two hours instead of one to get everyone ready in the morning. Remarkably, it felt less crowded than the dress rehearsal a few days before. Probably because we slipped in late for the service and nobody knew we were hiding in the balcony. We think Jackson enjoyed his first sermon as we noticed him smiling frequently from the comfort of his car seat. It was a bit hard to believe that this was the first church service for Laura since before Christmas. Lunch at her Mama's afterwards was also the first time since then that she'd been east of the hospital! It is good to be getting back out and about...

As if all that wasn't enough, I also got the fireplace and mantle finished,


mowed the yard, fixed the green monstrosity I call a mower,


replaced the blue truck's bumper, worked on a changing table for Jackson and cleaned out the garage.

I know, I know, it's no excuse for neglecting to update the blog for a week though. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Before we go, a fashion update: