Day 3.5 at home

Man am I tired!  We have been home for three nights, one of them "good" and two of them "bad".   They really aren't bad nights because we love the little tyke but they were sleepless and left us feeling a little helpless and lost at times.

People try to tell you what it's like but you can never get the full impact until you have been there.  Andrea's mom has done a load of Eli laundry every day, we only have three diapers left in the 40 pack we opened upon getting home from the hospital, and I think we are getting around 4 hours of sleep at night.  We get ready for bed around 9:00 PM and are in bed shortly after 9:30!  We have been getting up (staying up) around 8:30 AM.

Beautiful Baby Eli!

A little post nursing cuddle time.

We have had a few milestones... Eli went to the doctor on Monday and they said he was an amazing baby.  No problems with color and great weight gain.  He was born at 7 lbs 8 oz and was discharged from the hospital at 7 lbs 2 oz, two days later he was back to 7 lbs 7 oz!!  He also had his first bath, it was a sponge bath on the counter in the bathroom.  He was not a huge fan of it but he needed one because he smelled of spit-up :-)

Not enjoying his bath.

The cloth is not as much for privacy 

as it is to keep him from peeing on everything

A few memorable moments from the last couple of days....

One night, no clue what time it was, Andrea and I were changing a very wet Eli.  He had soaked his diaper, t-shirt and blanket.  The shirt he was wearing was one from the hospital and for some reason it has a rigid seam at the bottom, it does not stretch.  Well, it was sticking to him because it was wet and you had to slide it off, but it wouldn't slide.  My reaction... "Lets cut it off!"  Andrea would not hear of it!  I tried to get it off again and no luck, I again suggested to cut it off.  Andrea was able to take the shirt off, but it took her a while.   The next morning we cut slits into the corners of those shirts.

So peaceful!  (The blue hands and feet are normal)

On his first night home I was changing him, again at some unknown hour of the night, on the trunk at the end of the bed.  I heard an odd sound, a pitter-patter if you will, and I looked down and saw a fountain coming from Eli.  I followed the stream with my eyes and saw that its landing spot was our down comforter... I processed for a second and then it all clicked, and I called Andrea :-)  She threw a cloth on him and the tide was over!

I love this outfit!  It was supposed to be worn

 to the Dr's, I even wore a Light Blue Polo to match it.... 

yeah, it never made it out of the bathroom!

The fun is just beginning and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Trip Home

Well we just had our first night at home and all I can say is we are tired!  I do not know the amount of sleep we had but I know the casualties included 3 blankets, a shirt, a onesie, a sleeper, our down comforter, a lap pad and six diapers!!!  It is worth it because he is so amazing.  Right now momma is sleeping and I am learning to type one-handed.

Eli's "take home" outfit (as well as almost everything 

else we tried) was way too big for him, but man was it cute!

Momma ready to bring her boy home!

Our trip home was uneventful, thankfully.  Eli was okay in the car.  He was not a huge fan of stopping, but on the interstate he zonked right out.  When we left the house they had started the process of paving our road, when we returned we were saddened to see our shady tree canopy drive was now very open.. :-(  We were super excited, however, to see that one of the rangers from work had left some fun "It's a Boy" balloons at our door!

Old man in a car seat.

Buckle up for safety.

The introduction to Doc went well.  Our friends who were watching him had taken one of Eli's blankets home and let him sleep with the smell.  They haven't interacted much but Doc was very concerned about all the noise from our room overnight!  We have a sweet dog too!

Doc got a so-so smell but then 

he found feet and dug in to investigate.

I think they shipped us giant baby furniture....

Well it is off to sleep.  If you have not met Eli come on by, just don't be insulted if you spend more time with Andrea's mom then with us :-)

It's A Boy!

Introducing Baby Eli

Eli Joseph Gwinn arrived on 08/21/08 at 4:44 am.  He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 22 inches long!!  It was an incredible process  and we are tickled to death.  Andrea was able to have a natural birth, without pain killers!!!  One of my favorite parts was when she looked up and said "Geez Louisiee!!" during a contraction :-)  We won't share the details on here but WOW is all we can both say.

Eli and his Ranger Duckie.

First family portrait.

We are totally smitten!

Sisters and their babies!!!

Proud Papa!

41 Weeks

Well, 41 weeks and one day is where we sit right now.  Andrea is still pregnant with very few, if any, signs of labor.  We were at the OB's for 4.5 hours yesterday with one thing and another, but in the end everything was okay.  We go back to the Dr.'s on Thursday, for another check.  If all else fails we will go to the hospital on Sunday night for an induction first thing Monday morning.  We are really hoping to avoid this.

41 Weeks

We also saw three of the four Renfrow's this weekend for a surprise 30th Birthday Party for a friend from church/Andrea & Alison's HS days.  It was fun.

Me, Claire, and Wyatt finishing off a chocolate chip cookie.

Wyatt loving the party favors.

40 weeks - Nine Months..... and still waiting

So, we have reached our due date but there is no sign of baby Gwinn's arrival.  There will hopefully only be one more Belly Pic and that will be the picture on the way to the hospital!  Otherwise we have another Dr's appointment on Monday and will take another picture then.  The plan is to put up a pic/video of the finalized nursery soon! 

Week 39

Week 40

Miscellaneous Stuff

I thought I would share some random stuff from work and around the house.  These are just a few things that I was able to take a camera phone pic of or had fun doing.  My job is very fun but everyone gets moments when they dislike what they do or become disheartened by complaining or cursing park visitors; but these are the things that make it worth it!

Below is a Barred Owl I was able to track through the woods while I was doing boundary work this past winter.  I heard it calling and then when I got in the area I saw it swoosh from one tree to the other.  [It really is amazing how little noise they make while flying!]  I was able to get within about 30 feet of the owl!  It was really fun.  I got a camera phone pic but, it only gets you so close!

Barred Owl

Another thing I love about my job is the variety.  Weekends are full of Law Enforcement and visitors, but weekdays contain chain saw work, or education programs or something of the like.  We are currently building a new backcountry campground as a staff.  Once a month we have a staff work day to work on the project.  Every campground needs a toilet... so a couple weeks ago a few seasonals and I dug this toilet (building to follow).  I enjoy manual labor, it is a good release and you have the instant gratification of a job well done.  Is this a beautiful hole or what?  In a few weeks you can come camp in the park and poop in it :-)

42"x42"x42" Hole :-)

Another bird, but this is a Red-shouldered Hawk that was sitting on the mailbox of a park neighbor.  Eno River is a park that is fighting development.  A lot of the park boundaries are along neighborhoods.  I see this Hawk frequently, hopefully the homeowners appreciate it as well.  [Another camera phone pic]

Red-shouldered Hawk

This picture is from the house, but two weeks before I took this I saw another Black Widow in the park.  Post grilling "lunch" I went back to work and left the grill out to cool.  I left the grill cover next to the grill and thought nothing of it.  When I put the grill away that night I picked up the cover and brushed something off with my hand.  When I looked down to see what I knocked off I saw this Black Widow!

Black Widow