Happy Birthday to Me!!

I'm 27 years old today!! I can't believe it! We didn't do anything special for my birthday, just kept it low key this year. El and I stayed home during the day and basically just relaxed and at around 5pm we went to my mom's for dinner and cake. Overall, it was a good birthday and I had a good time spending the day with my hubby and baby boy and a good night with my family.

Ethan's First Christmas

                                                  MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Yesterday we celebrated Christmas like every other year, except for the fact that it was Ethan's very first Christmas, so it was extra special this year. Like every other year, we celebrated with Elliott's side of the family first. We went to Sue's house at 10:30 am to open presents with Sue and Eric, and between 11:00 and 11:30 am Elliott's Grandparents, Uncle Mark, Aunt Pam, Cousins Nathan, Noah and Jill came over and we all had brunch. While we were there, everyone held Ethan which allowed El and I to take a much needed nap, since we really didn't get a whole lot of sleep the night before, which is just par for the course these days.  After Sue's house, we went to my mom's house around 6:30 pm and stayed until around 11:00 pm. We ate dinner and afterwards Elliott, Ray, Kevin, and I played three games of euchre. Overall, we had a really good Christmas and Ethan was spoiled and got tons of presents! Plus, an added bonus was that Ethan was awake for a good amount of the day, so that meant he slept through most of Christmas night, which also meant mommy and daddy got to sleep through most of the night too!  :o) Now we can only hope that Ethan stays on this schedule and continues to sleep during the night!

One Week Down...

I can't believe it's all ready been a week since little Ethan came into our lives. This week definitely has been challenging, but everything that Elliott and I have been through has totally been worth it. Now we have Christmas to look forward to, which seems extra special this year since we get to celebrate it with the best gift we have ever been given...our little boy, Ethan.

Little Baby Ethan

Ethan's been doing so well lately. He's sleeping at night more often and his cries are getting more predictable. It's been nice. Mimi and I have been able to take turns with him, but for most of the time we're looking after him together. It's a great bonding experience learning how to change diapers and feed properly. I look at Mimi now, and I feel like there was a place in my heart that was waiting for this. After holding Ethan and being there with Mimi after the delivery, it's like I found a whole new way to love. Mimi's been great through this whole experience and she's never once dwelt on the pain, difficulty or annoyances. She's the best mother and wife I've ever seen.

The Ethan Chronicles

Well, Ethan's home, safe and sound. He's been such a good baby. Obviously Mimi and I are paranoid and worried, but we couldn't have asked for a better baby. It's crazy to think it's been less than a week. He seems so different now. It's like looking at a time-lapse picture. Every time I look at him he looks a little different. I know it's just me projecting onto him, but it seems like little by little he's getting a personality of his own. I'm such a proud papa. I know I'm turning into one of those fathers I made fun of. I think my little Ethan is so strong and so smart, in fact, I know he's smarter and stronger than any other baby in the world!

Mimi and I were talking in the hospital about him, and we can't believe how much we love him. It's like being in love for the first time. Your heart is so full it feels like it's about to burst! I just look at him and I feel this "pang" in my heart. I can't even remember what life was like before and I don't want to imagine what it would be like without him. He's our little bundle of joy, love, happiness and the completion of our family. Everything is wonderful.

Now, if only he could learn to hold his pacifier in his mouth.

Ethan's Big Day!

Ethan Huntington Nelson was born at 10:28am on December 13, 2008 at St John's Hospital. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long. He's such a good boy and he's absolutely perfect! We are all exhausted, but so excited he's finally here! We had a pretty easy labor and delivery, but I will have a long recovery ahead of me, but it's all worth it and I wouldn't change anything! Hopefully we'll get around to taking and posting more pictures as the days go by. Ethan has his first doctor's appointment on Thursday morning, so we'll post updates!

Schedules?! Who follows those?

So, Mimi and I are at the hospital with our brand new baby. Ethan's finally here, and it's just nuts. I can't believe that we're finally done with the pregnancy. It seems like just yesterday Mimi woke me up and said, "I think I'm pregnant." Now, we're done. We've got our precious little Ethan and now the real fun begins. Mimi still has some recovery and we both have some mental processing to do. It's going to take a while to absorb, but I think in a few days we'll be ready to write about it all.

One last thing. I can't believe how much Ethan loves his mommy. All Mimi has to do is hold him and he quiets down and relaxes. I have mixed results, but Mimi, she's the baby whisperer.

The Day and Time is Set!

Elliott summed up everything perfectly in the post below. I couldn't put it better even if I wanted to! Instead of looking at this...

on my wall at work, in almost a week, I'll be looking at my baby Ethan in person instead of a just a picture! I can't hardly wait!

It's all about the end game.

So here we are, in the final days of Mimi's pregnancy. It's amazing and insane to think that Ethan's almost here. We just found out that December 18'th is the big day. Well, it is unless Ethan decides to come earlier. Mimi's scheduled to be induced on the 18'th. So, no later than that we'll be holding Ethan. There's something about the finality of a date. It makes this waiting process somewhat moot and more than that, it gives us a way to plan and a time to place our hopes at. He's coming, and he's almost here. I don't think I've ever been more excited, nervous and scared all at once. All this waiting and praying and we're almost done! Well, almost done with the "easiest" part of our new life.