Eliot is almost 5 days old.

Here's a picture of the mother of the year herself (I'm slightly biased) giving her sweet boy a kiss:




















We hate to jinx it, but man, so far, Eliot is SO laid back. When he's awake he just looks around and squeaks, and mostly, as in almost constantly, he sleeps. Kate has to wake him up to eat most of the time. Boy, we feel so lucky and honestly, it's been a lot of fun.

Anyway, Kate's still recovering, of course, and Graham is still adjusting, but overall I just couldn't be more thankful.

It's been so helpful to have Mana and Grandaddy here. It's helped immeasurably. Here's mom and the boy after his first minutes of life:



















Here's three generations of Forman-Brandon-Shaw-ness.




















Here's Grandaddy with Eliot. What a smile on the older one!

A few more Eliot!

Here's proof that Jonathan was there:



















He's been sleeping like nobody's business...



















Graham came to visit and used his special "baby voice" to talk to Eliot:




Finally, Kate wanted me to put up a picture "with his hair in it." Do you think he looks like Daddy?

The Brand Newest Shaw: Eliot Philip Shaw

We are so excited to announce the arrival of Eliot Philip Shaw: born June 28, 2010 at 3:45 pm.

He is 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 19 7/8 inches. He's healthy and a sweet little thing.

Mom did an amazing job. 13 hours of labor paid off: even those last yells and my (Jonathan's) deeply squeezed hands before Eliot made his appearance.

The new Shaw family:



















Mom and Eliot's first moment together.




















Graham giving new brother a kiss.

Buckroe Beach and the Capital

We have taken some very fun family trips together these last couple of weeks. We went to Washington D.C. a couple weekends ago as a last hurrah as just the three Shaws.

It was a total blast, and Graham really loved seeing the museums, especially the Natural History and Air and Space ones.

He also really loved running around on the mall and making new friends.

We had a wonderful time, and by the end of the day everyone felt as tired as Graham looks in this picture:

But, he recovered quickly!

We also went to the local beach, Buckroe Beach, and had an amazingly fun time. Graham was in heaven and I think we're in the process of making a beach bum.

Tonight I had an extended conversation with Graham about the arrival of his new brother soon. It started out as he sat up on my platform of a belly (it's a nice spot for him to ride!) while we walked to the playground. The conversation went like this:

-"Mommy, you're tummy's getting very big!"
-"Yes, it is isn't it? That's because the baby is getting big, he's going to be born soon. After the baby is born my tummy will get small again. What do you think about that?"
-"Oh." Contemplates this information quietly.
-"Are you excited for the baby to be born?"
-"Um, no."
-"Why not?"
-"Because the baby will cry."
-"Yes, the baby will cry sometimes, because he won't know how to talk. But we will love him and help him to feel better when he cries."
-"Like Baby Maya?"
-"That's right, just like baby Maya."

It's incredible to me how he can put things together. We haven't seen baby Maya since she was just over a week old, but seeing her parents lovingly attend to her when she cried obviously made an impression. He is a very sensitive soul, so I know the crying among other adjustments will be difficult for him. We're all in for a big change when the baby comes! Pray for us, especially Graham, in that transition.



We had to put this up because he was so proud that he achieved his first somersault! Yay!

In a couple days we'll put up a post about our trip to DC last weekend. We had a great time.

Funny Story

I had to share this funny story from Graham this afternoon. He picked up one of Jon's and my wedding photos and this commentary followed:
Graham: "Ah! Your Wedding Mommy!"
Me: "Yes, that's when Daddy and I got married".
Graham (seriously): "You're very beautiful"
Me: "Thank you Graham, that's very sweet of you to say!"
Graham (smiling): "Did you dance like a girl?"

I can only guess that he remembers what fun we had dancing at Brandon and Elizabeth's wedding. I'm not sure what it means to dance "like a girl", but I assume that's better than me dancing like a boy!

He's getting so excited about having a little brother. Yesterday he came up to my belly to give it his usual generous hugs and kisses, and lovingly, in a quiet voice said "Bebo [the name he's given the baby] you're getting so big! You're growing!". I can't wait to see how these brothers get to know each other!

I'll add a cute picture from Mother's Day last year just for fun. Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms!

Hope you are all well. We're enjoying Jon being done with classes although he still has several papers and his thesis to finish up. It's great to have a few more hours together as a family.

Love you all!

Getting closer to being a big brother...

Hello all!

I've been meaning to do another post for a while so I might as well just do it! My belly continues to grow and Graham is loving it, looking forward very much to being a big brother. He has named his baby brother "Bebo" and calls him that all the time. Each day he must have several opportunities to "Snuggle Bebo" which consists of a lot of hugging, kissing, and generally loving my belly. Although the other day my baby bump got in the way while we were trying to play a game and he politely asked "Mommy can you take belly off, please?" Not yet! A little less than 2 months (give or take a bit) to go!

Graham and I have both enjoyed the beautiful spring weather, spending lots of time at the sandbox and nearby playground where we have met lots of new friends. He is generally quite wonderful with other kids and loves to see them; if he sees anyone over at the playground he's yelling "Hey kids! What're you doing? I'm happy to see you!" While we walk over. His other favorite new game is hide-and-seek, which he thinks is just hilarious, and he loves to try to count to 10 while I hide.

We're both looking forward to spending a bit more time with Jonathan/Daddy once his classes are over next week, although he will still need to be doing lots of writing and other work. Hopefully we'll even get to the beach a few times as a family before our new addition arrives.

Hope all is well with you all- Much love!