More pics of Eli's birthday (from nicki)

Josh had the great honor of introducing his son to his family and a few friends. The pride was evident as he was beaming while holding his newborn son. The grandmothers (Grammy & zoo-zoo) immediately cried.
Dan and Pop did a good job of capturing the moment on video. Eli is already receiving his share of photo/video attention.
Josh got to stick by Eli during his first shots and bath. Eli was a little unhappy during the first few moments of being removed from the comfy home his mommy has supplied for the last 40 weeks and 3 days.






Dan came in to see Josh and his new son. I think Josh was pretty happy to show him off.
MaMaw Chandler made her way back as quickly as possible. It is a little ironic that she showed up for bath time. She LOVES bath time.
I went back to check on Amanda while Dr. Carey was finishing up with her. She was all smiles. She did an amazing job. God truly blessed her with an easy pregnancy and labor. This smile shows her gratitude.
Josh and Amanda were both super complimentary of their nurse. They thought she did a fabulous job.
I love this picture. Josh came in to check on Amanda while the grandparents watched over Eli. They love each other so much. What a wonderful home for Eli to grow up in!!


Josh stopped to smile with his mom while Eli was finishing his bath. Then both moms posed with the new mom! Look at those smiles...LOVE IT!
After Eli's bath, his hair was combed. The jury is still out on whether he will have curls or not. Amanda's mom is sure it will be curly. Others say it will calm down. We'll see.
He almost looks like a different baby with the hat on. It is amazing how much they change in such a short time.

Josh got to stroll him down the hall then hand him off to his mommy to hold. It had been a while since she had seen him so she was more than willing to take him.

We were able to get pictures with Josh, Amanda, Eli and both grandmothers. Then, Amanda's dad came in and went straight to his baby girl for a kiss. After he knew she was okay, he was able to admire his first grandson!


It was a special day and one I'm so glad I was a part of. The Wilson family now seems complete. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!

Introducing Eli Daniel Wilson

Hi everyone! This is Nicki guest blogging for Amanda and Josh. I am proud to introduce Eli to all of you. Amanda did awesome and had a wonderful delivery. She only pushed for 20 minutes before Eli made his grand entrance into our world. He was born at 2:46 p.m. and weighed 7 pounds and 14 ounces. He is 21 inches long and absolutely beautiful!!!

I will post more pictures later but wanted to give you a sneak peek of our precious angel!

Eli's Coming!!!

If you're seeing this video then that means that Eli's Coming! Yes, we are on our way to the hospital to welcome our little boy! Check back to see pictures detailing his entry into this world. Say a prayer for Mommy, Daddy, and Baby!

40 weeks 3 days

Still VERY PREGNANT

40 weeks and 3 days...I must say when I first found out I was pregnant, I didn't think I'd still be pregnant at this point. My little boy, however, has decided that he likes his comfy home and would like to stay there as long as possible. Unfortunately for him, our doctor has decided that he doesn't need to stay there any longer. He's cooked long enough and he's done! LOL! Tomorrow morning Josh and I are going to go to the hospital to be induced. I, for one, am happy to just know that there is an end in sight. Last week, as those of you that follow the blog know, was my first week of maternity leave. All week I "nested" with the hopes that by the weekend I would have a baby. Things didn't go quite according to my plan. I even walked briskly every single day last week hoping to walk Eli out. Boy! Is he stubborn or what? We made it through the weekend with no baby and to our doctor's appointment Monday morning, my actual due date. Dr. Carey checked me and said I hadn't really progressed any more and that he recommended inducing. We originally had decided, if we were given the option to induce, that we wanted to induce Wednesday so we could be out of the hospital before the weekend. Dr. Carey checked and Wednesday wasn't good with the hospital but Thursday was. So, November 6, 2008, should be Eli Daniel Wilson's birthday. How exciting!!!

Today is our last day as adults without children. WOW! I think it's finally hit Josh. He keeps saying things like, "That was our last breakfast as a couple," "Today's my last day before I become a father," "Tonight will be the last night we sleep in our house without kids". Josh bought me the book "What to Expect the First Year" and he's been reading up on what to do with the baby once we have him. I think it's finally real for him :) I'm not worried at all though. He's going to be a wonderful Daddy to little Eli! I will admit that it's weird to think that tonight I will go to sleep with Eli still tucked safely away in my belly, but tomorrow night he will be out and in my arms! How strange...in a good way, I mean. It just blows my mind to think that this little person that has been growing and moving inside me for 9 months (really 10 months if you do the math) is going to be placed in my arms sometime tomorrow. How surreal! In some ways, it seems so long ago that we first found out we were expecting, but now it's here! It's really and truly time for Eli to come out!

Nicki is going to be posting for me while I am in the hospital so be sure to check back tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow night. There should be pictures of Eli on the blog by then. For now, please say a prayer that everything goes according to plan tomorrow. Pray for me, Josh, Eli, the doctors and nurses and everyone that is going to be involved in the delivery. Pray for family and friends that will be driving in for this momentus occasion. Josh and I are excited but nervous (as I think all couples expecting a baby are) to welcome our son into this world. He is a gift from God and we could not be happier.

Happy Halloween

I would like to dedicate this post to my former "baby", Maggie. Maggie is our golden retriever that Josh and I have had since we got married. She was our first baby :) When Josh and I first got married, someone gave us some very good advice. Before you have kids, buy a plant first. If after a year the plant is still alive, get a dog. If after a few years the dog is still alive then you can successfully raise children. LOL! Josh and I actually followed that advice and I'm proud to say the plant and the dog are both still alive. Good parenting skills already!

Josh and I bought an ivy and dubbed it our "love ivy" (we stole that line from the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.") Our "love ivy" lived and in fact, is still alive, so we made the jump to an animal. Maggie was born March 30, 2002, and in late April 2002 she came to live with us. She was such a cute puppy! She spent the first 2 years of her life as an inside dog before "we" (really I) had to come to the realization that having a 65 lb. shedding golden retriever in the house was not ideal. She became an outside dog then and has been ever since. It was an adjustment for her and for me, but we both have managed.

Since I didn't have a human child, she quickly became my dog child. We took walks together, played together, and she became the subject for all of my photographs. I loved taking pictures of her and she didn't seem to mind either. Unfortunately, I think her days as my photography subject are about to end for the most part. Last night, Halloween night, I decided to do a photo session with Maggie. She cooperated well as always. She didn't go trick-or-treating but I thought she needed a doggie costume to celebrate the night. I found this cute, inexpensive jester collar for her and put it on her. She willingly obliged (only because I was holding a treat in my hand behind the camera) and our photo session began. Here are pictures of Maggie the jester. What a cute jester she is! I really can't wait until I can photograph Eli and Maggie together. What a cute Norman Rockwell"ish" picture that will be...a boy and his dog. I can see it now!

Maggie, the Jester

39 weeks and still hanging in there....

Well, for those of you that voted that this baby would be born before November 3rd, I'm sorry to inform you that I think you're going to lose. Unless, he comes sometime today or tomorrow, it looks like Mr. Eli Daniel Wilson is going to be a late baby. Josh and I go back to the doctor Monday, my due date, to see if I've made any more progress. I really, really hope I have! I'm starting to get very impatient, not that I'm miserable or anything. In fact, I feel great. I have a little bit of pressure and pain every now and then, but that's it; it's life like normal other than those few times. I am having those practice contractions more frequently now, but even those are bearable. I'm not tired of being pregnant (you probably never thought you'd hear a pregnant woman say that!) I'm just ready to meet my little boy!!! I guess I created too snug of an environment for him because he seems very happy and content. He's still moving all the time-not so much kicking, just rolling and squirming around. It's fun to watch. He's gotten so long that you can see his foot roll across my belly as he changes position a lot of times. Pretty soon he's going to outgrow his little home and he's going to have to come out...whether he wants to or not! I'm ready to see him!

This past week was my first week of official maternity leave from work and I had a wonderful time! It was so nice to be able to wake up and know that I had nothing pressing to do every day. I could eat breakfast and get ready at my leisure and then plan the rest of my day according to what I wanted to do. I thought that Eli might be here by now, so the first thing I did was get a pedicure. It felt so nice to be pampered! A few days ago though, I told Nicki that I might have to go get another one since Eli has decided to delay his coming by a few days. I want to have pretty feet in the hospital! This entire week was supposed to be devoted to "nesting" but I seemed to finish everything by Monday afternoon. His nursery is ready, bags are packed, the car seat is installed, every baby thing is assembled with batteries installed, ALL of his clothes are washed from newborn to 12 months, my house is spotless, and I have several nights worth of meals prepared and frozen in the freezer. I guess I'm TOO ready and he knows it!

Next week begins Josh's paternity leave from work-baby or no baby. He's decided to take 3 weeks off from work to spend with Eli and me. I am looking forward to having him around so much! I can't wait for the bonding time between all three of us. It's going to be so much fun! Like I said earlier, we'll go back to the doctor Monday for my next visit and I guess we'll know more then. Keep saying those prayers that Eli and his Mommy and Daddy will have a safe and happy delivery! We can't wait to meet our little baby boy! For now I'll leave you with my 39 weeks belly shots. I'm going to pop soon!

I'm starting to outgrow my maternity shirts! Eek!