The Davolts

18 days old: Sleeping peacefully  During the past few weeks, Jeff and I are often mesmerized and entertained by the faces Nathan shows us. I try to keep my camera close at hand to capture of few of his looks! Alas, the smiles he shows us rarely stay long enough to snap a picture. 18 days old: Mild curiosity 18 days old: Not impressed by anything 18 days old: Really Mom? More pictures? 18 days old 19 days old: Morning stretches 24 days old: Relaxing with Dad 25 days: Humoring Mom again 27 days: Sleepy-grumpy face 27 days: How could you not love a face like this?!?

Jeff giving Nathan his first bath at home. Tomorrow marks the third week since Nathan's birth. In that time, we have enjoyed the company of new grandparents, David Murray and David and Melody Davolt. We were able to take Nathan along to the final gathering of our church life group and then to school this week to meet our colleagues. Everyone comments on his cute little chin (courtesy of his Dad). I think the question I'm most frequently asked about is if Nathan is on a schedule. Well, the answer to this question is yes and no. Yes, he wants to eat every two or three hours, often sleeping in between. Yes, he spends a couple hours every afternoon or evening awake. No, he doesn't sleep through the night yet. But, he is just three weeks old and we are all still adapting to this new life. 10 days old Thankfully, Nathan has regained the weight lost after birth, tipping the scales at 7 lbs, 5 oz at his two week appointment. The pediatrician, Dr. Ott was very pleased wi...

Today is fathers day, and while I certainly am no authority on the subject a quick reflection on my first two weeks of fatherhood seemed appropriate. Anticipation Nine months may seem like a long time to prepare for fatherhood, yet it is amazing how quickly that time flies by. When Erin initially told me she was pregnant, I didn't want to believe it. I thought no way, that was too quick I am not quite ready for this. Erin quickly reassured me that we would not have a baby for a while and that we had plenty of time to prepare. The problem was, I wanted to raise the perfect kid, (who doesn't) yet I am anything but perfect. I have way too many bad habits that I did not want to pass on to my future child. Bad eating habits, too much TV watching, not enough exercise, improving my spiritual life, my lifestyle needed some serious work. So of course I went on living my life exactly the same way. So for nine months I was in close to denial. I did do the things that most ...

First, my apologies for not updating this sooner. For the first several days following Nathan's arrival, I was so overcome with love and emotion that I couldn't look at pictures of him without bursting into tears, even though he was still in the room with us (I think Jeff thought I was going crazy for a few days). Over the last week, I've drafted this blog in my head several times and as each day passes, self-editing left me unsure of where to begin. Second, let me apologize for the length in advance, as I know this will likely be the longest post I will ever write. I've tried to break it up into sections so read what you choose. Pictures will be included near the end, so feel free to skip there if you like. Therefore, as is sung in the classic film, The Sound of Music, "Let's start at the very beginning; a very good place to start". The Date: June 2, 2011 Believe it or not, throughout the entire pregnancy, I had a feeling that our little one would arri...