Holidays In, Holidays Out

Well the Holidays have come and gone for our new little family and they were quite enjoyable. Sorry for the lag in posts lately but with traveling and having guests we just haven't had any time to post! Our holidays started out with a trip up to Eau Claire to see Grandpa and Grandma Anderson and Eli was a traveling champ! Eli went on his first sleigh ride with the Anderson clan and was treated to lots of hugs and smiles from the Anderson clan. Eli proved again that he is a car champ as we decided to drive back on December 23rd during a nasty snow/rain/ice storm. It took us about 4 hours to get home and he slept most the way and when he did wake up he just hung out quietly in the carseat. The roads were pretty terrible and we were glad to not have to stop to nurse.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as a family and it was great. We were able to go to Blackhawk for church on Christmas Eve and were able to celebrate Christ's birth with Aunt Mary and Uncle Jon, which is always a good time. Then we came home and Eli went to bed, so Joel and I enjoyed some great steaks, wine and cookies in front of the fire. On Christmas morning, Eli has begun the age old tradition of waking up early to open christmas stockings. Joel and I are realizing that our days of sleeping in have passed, not to be found again until Eli is a lot older! Eli did have one small gift under the tree from mom and dad but he didn't seem to be all that interested in presents (see photo)! I wonder what it would be like if we did not give gifts around Christmas? Maybe he would realize earlier the true meaning of this season. At church, we participate in a new tradition called Advent Conspiracy in which we reclaim how we do Christmas. The idea is to Spend Less, Give More, Love All in order to Worship Christ Fully this season. So instead of spending oodles of money on gifts, we spend a little less each year and give to clean water projects and other assorted projects around the world. I would love for Eli to grow up with this definition of Christmas and not one of a season packed with business and presents. I want to take time with my family and not worry about the "perfect" meal or the "perfect" present. I want to try and mimic Eli's lack of interest in presents and hopefully an interest in serving and loving others fully.

(Can't quite open presents yet!)

After our family celebration, Grandma and Grandpa Grace came to visit Eli and a good time was had by all! We celebrated with the traditional Grace family breakfast (sticky buns, sausage, fruit, coffee, eggs), a trip to the yarn store and Eli got to experience a few of my Dad's famous stories about Eli. Apparently, Eli just finished running Grandma's Marathon, the Ironman, traveling to Antartica, discovering the solution to global warming and how to save the polar bears. Who knew! My parents babysat so Joel and I could go on a coffee date which was absolutely lovely! We went to Barriques and then I spent my Christmas money on a little treat at Orange Tree Imports. The weekend was capped off by my beef stew, some rousing games of rummikub (best game ever!) and some nummy cinnamon-craisen bread (recipe thanks to Aunt Joanna). All in all, it was a very excellent visit and Eli was nice enough not to cry too much at night for grandma and grandpa.

We've just finished up the holiday season with our very own New Years Celebration, which Eli wanted to celebrate 5 times last night (equals not a lot of sleep for Joel and I)! We went out to dinner with some friends but then had to call it an early night because Eli goes to bed around 8 pm. So Joel and I stayed up almost to midnight watching a movie and enjoying some adult beverages. Now we're into 2010 and who knows what this year will bring! What we do know, is that it brings new adventures and exciting milestones. This will be the year that Eli says his first word, rolls over, crawls and then begins to walk and who knows what else! We wish all of you a happy new year and a happy start to 2010!

Football as a Babysitter

On Sunday we found out Eli is a big fan of Sunday Night Football. Not sure he should be that drawn to the TV this soon in life. The ol' Electric Baby Sitter.

Now this is his reaction to Brett Favre throwing a touchdown for the Vikings.

Birth Pictures

So I got up the nerve last night to look at the whole roll of pictures that were taken during my labor. My friend Kim was on picture duty during our birth and she did a beautiful job! It was interesting to see the process unfolding in pictures because some of the more painful memories of my labor are starting to fade (thank goodness). So I hope you'll indulge me as I share some of the photos with you, don't worry I edited out the ones that only Joel and I get to see!
Pardon the bored look on Joel's face, there wasn't many active things for him to do in labor except for support me. That support was HUGE for me, I didn't even want Joel to leave to go to the bathroom.Eli's heartbeat is being checked by Britt in the picture. They check the heartbeat about every 5-10 minutes in active labor. I was beginning to feel the urge to push and was trying to get the strength to do it.In order to push more effectively, they had me get out of the tub and onto the toilet (hey, it's a natural place to push!)For the actual birth, I was on my hands and knees. We were all lined up in our bathroom ready to bring Eli into the world.After Eli came out, I quickly wanted to get into bed. I was cold (because of all the hormones) and just wanted to lay down. It was great to be able to rest immediately in our bed and to be with the people I love. I don't regret or wish that I had given birth anywhere else than besides my own home. I realize this in not a choice that all people agree with or feel that they could make but I just know it's was right for us. (Though I did have a few moments where I was like "Where's my epidural?")

Christmas Time...

It's beginning to feel like Christmas time now that we have copious amounts of snow on the ground! Nothing like 18 inches of snow to get you in a festive mood. Last weekend we went with Jon and Mary to cut down our Christmas tree and Eli tagged along for the ride. I was quite excited to take him to get a tree even if he won't remember it later on in life. We went to a tree farm that is owned by one of my coworkers. We went there last year and had a blast, we had the top pick of any tree and were able to enjoy some hot cider with "papa and mama juice" in it (bourbon,mmmmm). So we decided to visit the same farm again and found our tree pretty quickly.

I'm not sure Eli cared, seeing as he was sleeping in the carrier the whole time! But we did make sure to snap some pictures, enjoy!



And, if you've been paying attention to the news or live in the midwest; you'll know that we just had our first big snowstorm of the year. In Madison, we got around 18 inches of snow and it is bitterly cold right now! It's weird how your perspective changes when you have a child. Yesterday morning, all I wanted to do was show Eli the snow and play with him in the it. Too bad he's only 2 months old and doesn't really understand what's going on around him. Next year I'll be even more excited to go sledding and build snowpeople with him because he'll actually remember it! I felt like a little kid again yesterday. Joel had a snow day because the buses weren't running, we had a snowball fight with 3 of the neighborhood kids, Joel helped people dig out and we went snowshoeing last night at the Edna Taylor Conservancy by our house. We even have a snowman in the yard thanks to our neighbors! There is nothing better than the first snow storm of the year, I hope I remember that in March when I'm fed up with the weather!
We even got enough snow that I had to snowshoe a path to the compost bin and we've lost a few of our lilac bushes. Oh how exciting it is that Eli was born in the midwest!

The Windy City

Our two-year anniversary celebration. We left the apartment at 9:30am, Eli in tow, and used buses and trains to visit the Shedd Aquarium, Spice House in Old Town, Dunkin Donuts to feed Eli, Millennium Park, the Art Museum and a Wildfire restaurant on north of downtown. All in one day without the aid of a GPS or iPhone. Not bad for having an infant along. We’ve found kids make it a little more difficult to travel but not impossible. You just have to be flexible.

Wednesday night we went to our good friend Jordan’s apartment on the north side of Chicago. We ate dinner, caught up, had our first taste of our home brew (quite nice), and Jordan got to hold Eli. It was great to catch up as it had been a year since we’ve seen Jordan. A lot happens in a year. Thursday Jordan left to go to back to Iowa to be with his wife and generously let use their apartment Thursday night.

At the Aquarium we were led by “spirit guides” (aka women in funny looking costumes interpretive dancing) through their special presentation of “FantaSea”. Penguins walked around in the crowd, beluga whales did tricks, and dolphins did their usual flips. They even had a lady in a canoe come from behind the crowd and lower into the pool from the roof. It was quite the show.

In the evening we spent a couple hours walking through the new modern art wing of the Chicago Art Museum. I cannot say I appreciate modern art. One room had a huge cluster of fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling and sheet rock on the ground with a random pattern of holes smashed in it. Another was white canvas on the wall. Really? By far the strangest and most disturbing was the “crazy clown room”. Six screens were set up, one on each sidewall and four on the front wall with a 30-minute loop of a clown doing different creepy things. One screen had the clown tugging on some broom or stick hang off the ceiling, another had the clown sitting on the ground with his legs out front hitting his toes together, and to top it off one had a clown sitting on a toilet in a bathroom stall stuffing toilet paper in between the pages of a magazine. To top off the creepiness a the sound of the clown crying, grunting and screeching was coming from the speakers. By far best part of the night was watching people looking at the “art” confused, shocked, or laughing and then turn to see Eli and have look at him with smiles and admiration. Both the working man (aka security guards) and art connoisseurs look at Eli with awe. The Creator made Eli much more beautiful and intricate than anything man put on those walls (or floor in some cases).

The Soothing Nose

This is not recommended by the CDC. Do not try at home.

A New Hobby...

Well what is the one hobby that a father and mother should pick up after having a child? The answer: Homebrewing. Joel had saved up some money before Eli was born and is starting to experiment with brewing our own beer. He made a batch of beer about 2 weeks ago so we took advantage of having an extra set of hands this weekend and bottled the beer. It now has to condition for 10-14 days and then we'll see how it tastes! According to Joel, it tasted like flat beer this weekend so that's a good sign!

Relax! Have a homebrew!

Aunt Momo's Visit

Well we had a great visit with my sister this weekend, it was the first time that Moriah had seen Eli! It was so great to have her here and sadly, we probably were not the most fun. It's crazy how a baby changes how you spend your weekends. I am still getting used to being somewhat occupied for a good chunk of the day feeding Eli. He tends to feed for about an hour from start to finish so that limits how much I can do during the day with visitors. (I feel somewhat bad that they have to sit around.) We can go out and do things as I am getting more used to breastfeeding out in public, so that helps. I am thankful that Madison is a pretty good community when it comes to public nursing. There is a great initiative in town (and across the US) called Nursing Is Normal which is helping to remove any negative stigma about breastfeeding in public. I'm thankful that there are an army of mamas that have gone before me and paved the way to make nursing normal.

Speaking of the little munchkin, we had a doctor's appointment last week and we are now into double digits. He clocked in at a whopping 10 pounds, 21 inches long and a head circumference of 37 cm. He is starting to move out of looking like a newborn and starting to look like a baby. He also is sleeping more at night (yes!) and consistently will sleep for a 5 hour stretch. I feel like a new woman! He also is starting to smile which is so rewarding and makes me so happy. Here is the proof of how much he's growing!







On another note, my maternity leave is over halfway over and it's starting to hit me that in 5 weeks I'll have to leave Eli for a whole day, four days a week. I have to be honest, I don't want to go back to work (sorry any Access folks reading this!). Our intention was that when we had kids I would stay home and Joel would work, but that's not how it's going to work out right now. I have been battling with different emotions about going back to work. Most of me is sad/mad (not at Joel) that Joel hasn't found a job yet, frustrated that I only get 12 weeks when most of the developed world (example Canada) gets 9 months to a year off if a mother wishes, nervous about how Eli will do without me and many other emotions that I'll spare you. I keep on praying that God will give me peace about our situation right now and that I won't be angry at Him for allowing this to happen. But it's hard not to feel like He's not answering our prayers. Then I'm reminded of how He has provided/answered prayers for us during these past 10 months and I am humbled. He has provided most, if not all, of our baby stuff through friends/family generosity, He's given Joel a temporary job at EPIC so we have income during my leave, he's kept our car/house from needing any major repairs, He provided us with the ability and timing to refinance our house (saving us tons of money) and so much more. Those are the examples I cling too when I feel the most frustrated with God and I am reminded that He LOVES us and cares for us and has a plan for us even if I don't see it or like it right now. I cling to those reminders and in doing so, I trust Him.

One Month Reflections

Eli turned one month old this past Sunday and it's crazy to think that a month has already passed. I'm not sure where that time has gone and I'm not sure if I really want it to slow down at this point. Joel and I have realized that we aren't really "newborn people"; we're more like "6 month old people". Things are a lot better than they were in the beginning around week two. We are now better at recognizing his patterns, cries, noises, grunts etc and knowing what we should do for him. We also are getting better at being able to soothe him; though we still have times when he's crying and we can't do anything for him! (Those are frustrating times.) Overall, I'm not sure if we have a "colicky" baby or just a fussy baby. From what I've been told, if you have to ask that question you don't have a colicky baby!

Eli is starting to have some greater periods of alertness where he is not crying and that has been so rewarding. We were at a play group the other day at Happy Bambino and he spent almost an hour just looking around the room. He was quiet, inquisitive and then calmly fell asleep in my arms. I sometimes wonder what he is thinking when he sees new sights or hears new sounds. Today, I was even able to put him down for a morning nap while he was "drowsy but awake" (that's what the books call it) and he didn't cry as he fell asleep. It may have been a fluke, but it was nice to get dressed without a crying babe.

And so this leads into the question we get about Eli's sleeping habits and patterns. It's interesting that people in our culture relate how "good" a baby is by how they go to sleep and sleep for their parents. Part of me feels that it's okay to have a baby that takes more soothing to get to sleep and that doesn't mean they are a "difficult/bad" baby or that the parents aren't doing a good job. (Granted it may be nicer for the parents if a baby doesn't require tons of soothing, but is that really the point? Babies depend on parents, that's the design.) Anyways, at this point in his life he developmentally doesn't have the circadian rhythms or the resources to fall asleep completely unassisted. Who cares if I want to rock my baby to sleep, I'm not harming him in any way. (Can you tell I'm a little annoyed by what some of the "sleep experts" say out there). Alright, I'll get back on track here...back to sleep. Eli is starting to have a longer stretch of sleep for the first part of the night which is really nice for me. Generally he nurses between 9-10 and then sleeps until about 2-3 am which gives me almost 4 hours of sleep. We are starting to approach the mark of sleeping through the night. Sadly, the definition of "sleeping through the night" is sleeping a 6 hour stretch at a time (who decided that?). But that could be from 8 pm until 2 am; there's a lot of night left after 2 am! Overall, I think I either am getting more sleep or my body has adjusted to the lack of sleep at this point!

We are also fully in the world of cloth diapering as we have made the final transition to 24 hour cloth diapers. Initially we were using disposables at night but I splurged and got us some more diapers so we could use cloth at night and not have to wash diapers everyday. That's right folks, we are also washing are own diapers even though there is an awesome diaper service in town. Actually, washing are own diapers is not that bad at all, we tend to wash every 2-3 days and have experienced the wonderful bleaching power of our very own sun! Last weekend I dried the diapers partially in the sun and they literally were as white as the day we got them from the store. I was amazed and will not poo-poo bleaching whites in the sun any more! It's great not to be using a harsh bleach to get the diapers white as snow.

So I bet you would like to know what I like about cloth diapers. Well, first of all, they don't really smell (at least yet, we are only dealing with breastmilk poo, not solids yet). I have found I hate the way the disposables smell. I'm not sure what it is in the diapers but it turns his mild urine in to a foul smelling mess. Second of all, I am glad that we're not clogging up a landfill with diapers that take 500 years to degrade. I understand that some would argue that we are wasting more energy with washing them but I just don't buy it. Third of all, I love cloth diapers because my babe hasn't had any diaper rash since we switched to all cloth, all the time. It's nice to know that when I wipe his heiny that I'm not causing him pain. Well I could go on but am realizing that this post is getting quite long!

Thanks for reading, there are many more reflections I have and will try and find some time to post later this weekend.

Handing in My Man Card

Due to recent circumstances I may have to turn in my "Man Card". I admit I have been wearing our Moby wrap (see pictures from an earlier post) to carry Eli on a regular basis for the past month. It's black, but is by no means manly. Sometimes I feel like less of a man wearing it and get comments like, "Ohhhh, you have him in your little papoose ". Really a papoose, I don't remember seeing any pictures of Native American men with papoose's, but they didn't have to navigate Woodman's with a three week old. I've found my feelings of lost manhood are counteracted by what I am able to accomplish with a child on me. I think to myself as I walk through the grocery story looking at other shoppers, "are you grocery shopping with a child attached to you". I can bend down to the bottom shelf to get a box of Life, I can leave my cart behind since Eli's with me, I can glaze windows, and best of all I'm not lugging around a big clunky car seat. They're heavy and awkward. I've also found with Eli in the wrap it surprises people. The public can see a car seat coming a mile away and assumes there's a baby in it. With him on me and a sweatshirt on they don't notice until I walk by and then when they see his head sticking out little girls nudge their moms and say things like "mommy look" and point at me while I'm five feet away as though I have a goiter sticking out of my neck. I have been sold on using the wrap, manly or not it quiets Eli down and allows me to carry on with normal activities outside of holding him. On the man front, yesterday I found out we have a pair of Carhart overalls for Eli when he's a little older. I think this may make up for my use of the wrap, and it will protect his legs from chain-saws.

side note: If you google Papoose most of the hits are a gansta rapper, nice.

Like Father, Like Son...

Well, so far I have managed to keep my hands clean while changing Eli's diapers (see previous post). No major poop blowouts on my hand! Eli and I are getting used to each other a little bit more each day and are starting to fall into some routines. It's funny to see ourselves in him and I am sure that we will only see more of our selves each and every day. One thing that I've found about Eli is that he likes to nap on his stomach (don't worry, he's checked on often and he doesn't sleep on his stomach at night) just like his papa. Joel has a tendency to sleep on his stomach for a good portion of the night and will be on his stomach if he has trouble falling asleep. It's no wonder that Eli seems to like this sleep position as well and I just get the biggest kick out of it! Also, when Joel is sleeping really soundly, his mouth tends to hang open a little bit and Eli is taking after his father in this respect. It so cute to see Eli in a deep sleep and recognize Joel in him. So I couldn't resist taking some pictures one afternoon while Eli was napping; my little man.

Momentary wakening

Just Like Joel

Another thing that we get a kick out of is when Eli is finished eating because it's like he is a drunk on all that good breastmilk. He usually pops off and immediately his arms flop to the side, head rolls back and he makes a nice sigh (usually with a little milk dribble as well). The calmness that comes after his feeding is wonderful, he is satisfied and looks around briefly to take in his small world. When it gets time to switch sides he tends to stretch sleepily and settle in for what is to be the end of a really good meal. As much work as breastfeeding takes, I wouldn't give it up for the world. The opportunity to settle in with Eli and bond with him is great, sometimes it's even great at 3 am! (Though not always as I'm pretty tired!), We've tried to capture his delight on camera and this is the best we could do at the time.

Late Night Surprise...

This is going to be a short post as I am trying to eat lunch and then head for a nap while Eli is sleeping but I just HAD to post this story. So last night was a little rough in the Anderson household, Eli was bound and determined to not sleep on his own after the hour of 3 am. Oh he would sleep, as long as he was laying on top of either myself or Joel, needless to say that doesn't really allow me some good quality sleep (basically I got about 3 hours or so, interrupted. Sweet.) But there always is some sort of silver lining and I am starting to learn that you can find humor in all situations, even in the middle of the night.

So last night, I was changing Eli (which he hates most the time which leads to screaming at 2:30 am) and he was starting to settle down and look like he was going to sneeze. You know the face, eyes crinkled up and brow furrowed. Well normally I don't pay too much attention to sneezes so didn't think anything of it as he got ready to let it loose. Along came the sneeze and the next thing I know my hand is covered. It was warm, wet and yellow. Yes folks, it was poop. Fortunately most of the poop was caught on my hand though some did make it across the room and hit the doors on the closet and landed on his diaper pail.

For an instant I had no idea what to do, then I threw a diaper on him right quick in case we had any other explosions. Needless to say, the only thing I could do was laugh. I mean, what else are you supposed to do at 2:30 in the morning with a hand covered in poop. After laughing, the clean up began and now I am even more cautious when I see a sneeze coming.

Baby in the Sun

What you're really hoping for.......

Daddy Observations

Since Eli arrived I've noticed a few things.

"The Look" - no matter what I'm doing or where I go people look at me differently. Let me rephrase, they look in my general direction while completely focused on Eli. They often let out little "ahh's" or just get a little smile as tilt their head to the side. Sometimes the thought runs through my mind they should come over at 4 in the morning when he's crying and you have to get up in an couple hours and see if they're still smiling then. People also open doors for you, randomly come and talk to you, ask what his name is, whether he's a boy or girl, etc. The power of a newborn.

"Responsibility" - i've been amazed at how much of an urge I feel to get things done as soon as I wake up or get home from work. I wouldn't say I was messy before Eli came but I tended to put things off or leave them until "tomorrow". Now I have a sense of responsibility that I need to pitch in so mom and baby are taken care of. I empty trash more, clean up messes, wash diapers, empty the dishwasher, etc. Thankfully because of my upbringing this, not fear, is my response to having a little one.

"When Newborn cease being cute" - it's really difficult to like Eli when he's awake and fussing or just making lots of noise at night. Half the time he's fine sleeping on his own the other half he wants to be held and lets it be known. Then he wakes up every couple of hours (note: I can't complain much since I don't actually spend 45min-60min feeding him) to feed. It's at these times I don't thing he's all that cute. A full uninterrupted night of sleep would be amazing (sigh).

"Fire Hydrant" - little boys do pee everywhere. As soon as the diaper comes off the flood gates are thrown open. At one point his "equipment" was point at his head and he watered his stomach, chest and even got the back of his head. People that buy cloth covers for their changing pad either likes doing laundry or hasn't had a boy.

"The Rudder" - like the small rudder that steers a larger boat Eli directs much of our lives at this point (ref. James). We can still leave the house, visit with friends, go for dinner or coffee but have to take his feeding and fussing into account, which isn't an exact science at this point. There's also so much equipment to bring along: carseat, diaper bag, blankets, a wrap, stroller, etc. It's amazing how much Eli, an 8lb person, affects what we do.

"Man Time" - I like helping Eli participate in man activities. I let him hold my machete, watch me cut down a tree, come to the hardware store, and I even successfully glazed a window while wearing him. It's great to have a buddy to do manly stuff with.

A Few Weeks in....

Well, we are approaching the two week mark into our new life as a family of three. We are starting to get pretty good at certain things and some things are not feeling as foreign. For example, changing diapers is getting a little better for us though I still haven't quite figured out how to not get peed on during a diaper change. We also are getting better at wrapping Eli's bum in a cloth diaper, we're hoping as we get better we'll have fewer and fewer leaks. There was one day where he went through two outfits in like 2 hours because we didn't wrap the diapers quite right. Needless to say, getting wet with urine makes you a little more vigilant when applying the next diaper!

Eli is growing fast it seems, he definitely is heavier than last week (we'll have our check up this week and we'll see how much he gained!) and he is starting to fill out some of the sleepers we have for him. He still isn't quite big enough for most of the bottoms we have for him but we try and make it work. It's crazy to look at him and see him grow seemingly before your eyes. It makes me want to cherish all the little moments now as he moves up in size and age.

One thing that I've appreciated during these two weeks is Joel. I'm not sure what I would do without him! He has fed me, held me when I'm crying for no reason (or when Eli is screaming and nothing seems to console him), he's made sure I take a nap each day, gave me time to myself at my favorite salon and so much more. This huge change has definitely brought us together more than I could have imagined and I'm not sure how people do it alone. So without boring you, I'll just say I have an awesome husband.

Well he's done feeding now (that's right I'm posting while breastfeeding, what else am I supposed to do!) and we're gonna go for a family walk and enjoy the last evening light.

A Photo Update...

Well people have been asking and looking for some pictures of Eli and we are finally starting to come out of our first week haze. I must say, when people told me about the "baby moon" I didn't believe them as to how much I would love it! It feels like we are in our own little world, safe and warm. We have been venturing in the the outdoors a little more each day, starting with a walk to the park (around the block), our backyard to watch Joel chop down a tree, to Best Buy and yesterday to a coffee shop. Joel is off for his first half day of work and we'll see how I do almost on my own (my mom is still here). Well, enjoy the pictures... we'll try and keep more posted.


Eli being weighed by Britt


Eli's newborn assessment

Eli's first Moby Wrap ride


Eli's swaddle (the only way he sleeps on his own)


Eli's first car ride (which almost induced an anxiety attack for Shannon, crazy drivers...)

Game Changer

I've always said I was born ready. I guess my son was too. Eli James was born October 8 at 5am, nearly a week before his due date. Shannon's water broke as I was cleaning out our tub drain with the drain trap completely off, and she was making some spicy soup she would regret later. From the start we've found babies don't really always come at the most opportune time. I figured I should probably get the drain back together so I put it back on and ran to the grocery store for some draino and a few last minute birth items.

A long story short, Shannon started labor in our bedroom, moved to a birth pool and then finally to the bathroom to birth the baby. I'm still in awe of the fact that: one a woman's body can grow and birth a child and two that she did it all without any pain medication or intervention. During labor I was calm for the most part until the very end when she really started pushing and released some "primal" screams. At that point I a bit overcome by the pain she had gone through and was currently going through. Then Eli was born and almost instantly was placed in Shannon's arms. There was a huge change in her demeanor from 10 minutes before he was born to right afterwards. Near the end of pushing she didn't respond to questions and had the droopy eyes and cognition of a cross between a three year old and a college student at the end of a long night of drinking. As soon as Eli came out her eyes were wide open and her whole demeanor had changed as she received the "love hormones" that come along with birth.

Since the birth it's been one new thing after another. First night with a baby in the bed. First bath, poopy diaper, pee all over my hand, trip outside, putting clothes on, typing emails one handed while holding a baby, and much more. Being at home to figure out all these new things has been wonderful. It's nice to be in a place where you and the baby are comfortable to learn together. A few weeks ago I had some worries and fears about having the baby at home, but now that he's come I think it's the best thing we could have done. It makes the transition for us and him some much easier.

Ever since a sermon a few months ago titled "Game Changer" I've been ponder how a baby was going to change our lives and what that means. The lack of freedom and sleep. The new found joy in small things (first poop, cry, step, word, etc.). Not going to movies. Having a third person to consider when we make decisions. A lot changes, so I'm told. Now that Eli has arrived I'm excited and ready for the game to change.

The Beginning of the End (Which is Truly the Beginning)...

Welcome to our new family's Blog! Joel and I are still waiting for the arrival of our little bundle of joy and have 2 weeks left until my due date (15 October 2009). Though from what I hear, kids don't always follow the schedule or path you have laid out for them so we are trying to remember to be flexible. We're so glad that you are here and interested in our new family. We will try and post consistently to keep everyone posted about how we grow and change!

Thank you for the love and support you've given us so far!