Relaxation at the Lake home

Sorry I haven't posted this sooner, Hannah has been a little cranky the last few days and wants to be held all the time. Here is more from our time in Minnesota:

Hannah did great on her first trip up to Grandma and Grandpa Clapper's lake home. We came up on Wednesday morning after I got a much needed haircut. We have been able to relax and had lots of snuggle time, Joe and Bobby went tubing, Joe and I went for our first jog with Hannah in the jogging stroller, I got up on one ski (after a few unsuccessful attempts), Joe got 9 holes of golf in with my dad, Joe and I went on a paddle boat ride, Chris (Joe's cousin) was able to come over to meet Hannah and we were able to just sit around and relax. We enjoyed some great food and great company. Here are some pictures from the long weekend:

Meeting Friends in the Twin Cities

We are now at the cabin after spending some time in the Twin Cities. Hannah met a lot of people over the past week, she went to Bob's Special Olympics Track meet, Church at Incarnation on Sunday, Burger Jones for lunch on Monday, Bob's Kickball game on Monday night, and many people over to our house in between. Here are some pictures from our Twin Cities adventures:

Watching Bob at Special Olympics Track on Saturday
with Great Aunt Deb and Cousin Meagan

Burger Jones in Uptown with Tjersti on Monday for Lunch

Gillian and Dan Lawrence on Monday afternoonBob's Kickball game Monday afternoon with her soon-to-be Godmother EmilyTjersti and Andrea at Bob's kickball game

Kelly at Bob's Kickball gameConnie and Ashley Aram on Tuesday morningAlong with meeting all our friends, Joe and I left Hannah with her grandparents for a night and went out for our first dinner without her. It was sure nice but we talked about her the entire time!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to all the father's out there! It was so fun to be around our dads for Father's day and very fun for Joe to celebrate his first Father's day. Joe, Hannah, and I came to the cities yesterday and arrived safely with only one stop. We're staying in the cities until Wednesday when we make our way up to the Clapper cabin.

Father's Day consisted of some fun awake time with Hannah in the morning at Zabell's, church at Incarnation Lutheran Church, lunch at the Clapper's, and a barbecue at Zabell's for dinner. Here are some fun pictures from our day:

Life of a 16 day old

Hannah has continued to do quite well. She has been a little fussy at night and feeding quite a bit before bed, but we are just trying to keep her happy and figure out why she's upset. We are amazed at how much Hannah learns each day and how much more alert she is. Hannah has learned to form her body to snuggle to someone, which makes us want to snuggle her even more than we already are. Hannah also has learned to roll herself on her side which I think is really cute and of course took a picture of it.


Joe got to feed her a bottle for the first time yesterday as I had pumped at a bed time and she ended up going on a hunger surge soon after. Joe stalled her with the bottle and I literally watched him melt as Hannah looked up at him and grabbed his finger while he fed her. It was such a cute sight.


Joe is finishing up his Pediatrics rotation this week and then we are off to Minnesota for a week to enjoy some time in the cities and up at the cabin. We are pretty excited to enjoy some time with friends and family.

Hannah Update

Hannah has been doing great! She spent the first couple nights in the pack 'n play in our room, but has slept in her crib since and is doing well! She is still working on figuring out a sleep schedule, but I guess that's pretty normal. We still think that every move she makes is the cutest ever, even when it's peeing on dad (which has happened at least 3 times so far).

This past weekend Hannah met her uncle Bryan and aunt Jessie who came all the way from Michigan to make lunch and meet her. She behaved very well and slept well while we all ate lunch. She also met Kelly (Laura's good friend from college) who came down from Minnesota. Hannah also behaved and slept the whole time we were at Wig 'n Pen for dinner.


Although we enjoyed the company and help from friends and family over the last week or so, it is nice to get back into a routine and figure out how to get everything done on our own. We have been enjoying some good snuggle time with our little girl, Joe even read to her the other day.

Adventures since coming home...

Since Hannah has been home she has had a lot of adventures. She has had multiple blow-outs and a couple baths. She is quite the snuggler and has her eyes open more and more every day. Nights are still a little tough on mom, but we seem to be getting better with each night. In true Clapper form at 3 1/2 days old she made her first trip to Target and did excellent! Hannah had her first visit to the Pediatrician on Wednesday and she is in the 20th percentile for weight and head circumference and the 90th percentile for length (thank you Grandpa Zabell). She is already rebounding and gaining weight after her post-birth drop. The doctor had no concerns and said she looks healthy. Each day brings a new adventure and we are loving every minute of it.

Here are some pictures from our adventures (try clicking on the collage to view larger):

Bringing Hannah Home

Hannah came home on Monday around lunch time after we were discharged from the Hospital.

Here are some pictures of our adventure home:

Hannah in her carseat at the hospital
We made it home! Mom and Dad with our little girl
Getting out of the carseatProud parents!In the crib that Grandpa Clapper made

Meeting the Family

Sorry we haven't updated more recently, we've been a little busy... We are so thankful to have help from our families the past weekend and continued help from my mom this week. (Thanks for letting us steal her for the week Dad and Bobby!)

Labor and Delivery went fairly well with the help from my wonderful husband and coach. Joe did such a great job and there is no way I could have made it through without him.

Here are a few pictures from late at night on Saturday after Daddy brought Hannah back from transition. Hannah met her grandparents and uncle Bob.

Joe brought Hannah in to me and as you can tell he was only slightly excited to have his daughter in his arms.

Our Family

Grandma and Grandpa ClapperGrandma and Grandpa Zabell

Uncle Bob

Hannah with her beautiful eyes open

She's here!

Hannah Elizabeth Zabell
May 30, 2009 at 9:34 pm
7 lbs 5 ounces
20 inches long