To my Aunt Wendy

Dear Aunt Wendy,

I am really excited to hear that you're getting better. My Daddy really enjoyed talking to you on the phone this morning, and my Mommy and Daddy get huge smiles on their faces every time Damon or Mimi and Grandaddy update them on your progress.

I am super excited to meet you. My Mommy and Daddy say that you're going to be an awesome aunt. I just wanted to write you this letter to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Nicholas Scott Andrews. I was born two days ago on July 30, 2010, at 3:22 p.m. Mommy and Daddy tell me that I'm really cute. I have cute little cheeks, perfect little lips, big bright eyes, and dirty blonde hair. It's the same color as Daddy has. Mommy tells me I'm really handsome like him.

Here are some pictures of me since I was born. Mommy has taken a bunch even though I'm not even 48 hours old yet. But I guess when you're as cute as I am, it's hard to resist taking pictures of me.

This picture was taken of me when I was just a few minutes old. I came out with my eyes wide open and ready to greet the world.

This is me getting weighed. I'm just a skinny little thing, weighing in at 6 lb. 9 oz., but I'm really tall - 21 inches long.

I cried of course when I first came out, but I guess that's just what babies do.

This is Daddy (your brother Scott) holding me. We were having some male bonding time. This was when I was a day old (on Saturday, July 31).

And here I am just wide awake, looking around the room.

Mommy loves this picture of me with my spiky dirty blonde hair. Aren't I so handsome?

Here I am on Day 3 of my life (not quite 48 hours old yet). I was laying next to Mommy, looking up at her with my big bright eyes.

And then I fell right back to sleep. I sleep a lot, but they tell me that's normal for a baby.

Here I am taking a nap near the window. I am a bit jaundiced today, so Mommy and Daddy are trying to get me a little sunlight to clear things up. I'm eating really well now and Mommy is keeping me nourished, so that should help too.

I love you so much Aunt Wendy! I can't wait to meet you in October, and I hope you keep getting better and better every day. When I'm awake again, Mommy and Daddy will take another video of me and will send it to you.

I LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Nicholas Scott Andrews!

Dear Nicholas,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You are so amazing and precious to us already. The moment you came out you were crying and had your eyes wide open. It was the sweetest cry I had ever heard in my life, and your Daddy said that it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. You can't imagine how much we love you already. I hope you never get sick of hearing the words "I love you," because I will never get sick of saying them to you.

The moment you came out they laid you on my chest and all I can remember is tears of joy flowing from my eyes, and you were just looking back at me, melting my heart! You were so warm and soft and amazing! Your delivery was amazingly easy - I pushed for 2 minutes and you came right out. Thank you for taking it easy on me! You were born at 3:22 p.m. on July 30, 2010.

This is one of the first pictures that your Daddy took of you!


Here you are for your weigh-in. You came in at 6 lb. 9 oz., 21 inches long. And you have a full head of dirty blonde hair - the exact color that your Daddy's hair is today. A perfect mix of the white hair he was born with, and the dark brown hair that I was born with.

Here is a picture of you looking up at me - you are so adorable!
And here we are together...an extremely happy Mommy with her perfect baby boy!

We love you Nicholas!

Can't wait to meet you Baby!

Dear Baby,

Your big day is only two days away now, and I can't believe it's already here. You're going to come out one week earlier than we anticipated and even though we're nervous about this, we can't wait to meet you. We got to see you in 3D in the last two ultrasounds, and I must say, you are adorable! It looks like you have chunky little cheeks and full lips - a perfect little face to receive lots of kisses (even from Wingnut)!

Last Saturday your Dad and I went on a date to a nice restaurant.

Of course we talked about you the whole time! We just want to be the best parents in the world to you, because we know you're going to be the best little baby.

We love you and can't wait to meet you Baby!

Dear Baby,

I talk to you in my belly all the time, but this is the first time that I'm putting my thoughts down on "paper." As I write this, you are 6 weeks away from your scheduled grand entrance into this world. Your daddy and I can't wait to meet you...we're definitely nervous about what lies ahead, but we are ready to embark on this new phase of our lives as a family.

Our adventure with you truly began on the morning of Sunday, November 29. We had been in Memphis for Thanksgiving and, well, let's just say that I had some signs that maybe I was pregnant. On the way home, we stopped to buy a pregnancy test for me to take first thing Sunday morning. I had a hard time sleeping that night because I was so excited to find out the results. I woke up early Sunday and took the test...and it was positive!

Your dad was still in bed when the results finally started showing up, and I said "Um, Scott, are you ready to have a baby?" He sat straight up in bed and said, "What?!?!" and came to the bathroom to look at the test and we just hugged each other in complete disbelief!

The next few weeks were difficult because we were so excited about the news, but didn't want to tell anyone until we were sure that I was really pregnant. We went for our first ultrasound on December 11, 2009 (6 weeks, 1 day), to confirm that you were real...and you were! You were just a little speck, about the size of a grain of rice, right there on that ultrasound...I've never been so happy to see a grain of rice in my entire life! And of course that started your nickname, "Baby Speck." But the most amazing thing was that you were a little speck with a heartbeat! It was amazing to watch your little heart beat (you'll learn in AP Bio class one day that it was really your "fetal pole" beating - not even a full heart yet)...yes, your mom is a dork!

We went back for another ultrasound on December 22, 2009 (7 weeks, 5 days) to make sure that you were growing like you should be, and you were. You were now the size of a raspberry! Since it was so close to Christmas, we figured the best present that we could give your grandparents and your aunts and uncles was to show them a picture of you. So we took your ultrasound picture, gave it a little Santa hat, and sent an e-mail to Abu, PaT, Andrea and Gaby with just the picture of you attached:

Everyone was so excited!! We had to wait a few days to tell Mimi, Granddaddy, Wendy, and Chris, because we wanted to tell them in person when we saw them at Christmas. So we printed a picture of you onto a card, and gave it to them in Mississippi (Chris wasn't there, but we called him to tell him the news).

The first few months that I was pregnant with you were an adventure. I was always a little bit nervous and anxious, just waiting for the next doctor's appointment to confirm that you were still in there. And of course then I started getting sick to my stomach a lot...which wasn't fun for me, but it meant that you were growing and healthy, and that's all that mattered to me! I was willing to endure a few weeks (or months) of nausea if it meant that you were ok. And you were. We went for our next appointment on January 22, 2010 (12 weeks, 1 day) and got to see you again...and this time, you looked like a real person!

On February 16, 2010 (15 weeks, 5 days), we went back to the doctor to check in on you and we got amazing news...we found out you were a boy! Of course, we were a little shocked because all you have are boy cousins, so we couldn't believe we were adding another little boy to the family. But we were so excited! I won't tell you the exact words that we used to break the news to the family...at least not until you're old enough to hear them.

After that point, my nausea started to go away, and I could tell my body was changing a little bit. I wasn't showing yet, but I could definitely tell that I was pregnant. Over the next few weeks, I was feeling little flutters in my belly, but wasn't quite sure what they were. But on March 18, 2010, when I was exactly 20 weeks pregnant, I felt a lot of flutters and I was sure that they were you just kicking away inside my belly.

This is what I looked like on April 8, 2010 (23 weeks):

My pregnancy with you has been so different than I ever expected, but I have loved every minute of it. Sure, it has come with some weird 'side effects' - like being congested all the time, and walking around with a very pronounced waddle. But they've all been worth it.

My favorite part about being pregnant is feeling you move inside my belly. I love that I can tell how much you're growing because your kicks and punches get stronger every day. And when you roll around in there, I can see my belly shift and move as you move. It's amazing!

Here's what you looked like on April 28, 2010 (25 weeks, 6 days). I almost think you look like you're wearing a pair of glasses in this picture (just warning you, with our horrible vision, you will probably wear them one day!).

On May 5, 2010 (26 weeks, 6 days), we finally got to see you in 3D, and boy are you cute! You have the cutest, fullest little lips!!

Your daddy and I took a trip to Islamorada, Florida for our 6-year anniversary, and it proved to be a very special trip. Your daddy got to feel you move and see you move (remember that belly shifting that I mentioned?) for the first time, the day before our anniversary. That was such a special day for us, because it really felt like we were together as a family, and your daddy could finally feel what I had been feeling for so many weeks.

Since then, my belly has continued to grow as you get bigger and bigger, and the belly shifting is more noticeable with every passing day.

This is a picture of your daddy and me on June 5, 2010 (31 weeks, 2 days), the day of my baby shower. I hope you can see the joy and excitement in our faces! We love you so much little one!

And this is me at the 32-week mark (June 10, 2010), with my new "mommy" haircut.

And today, I am 34 weeks pregnant and counting down the weeks until I get to meet you. You are already the love of our lives little one!

Baby Shower

Last weekend I went to North Carolina for my sister’s baby shower. Before I left, I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the flowers in our front garden.




The hit of the weekend was Alex, our (currently) youngest nephew.

This is how the weekend went, from his point of view...

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I’m a curious kid, and I saw this shiny metal bowl with stuff in it, so I went to explore. First I stuck my finger in it. I licked my finger and it tasted pretty good. It kinda tasted like the stuff I swim in at the Brooklyn YMCA. So figured I could probably try swimming in it.

That didn’t really work the way I had hoped. I kinda don’t like this feeling…but I don’t really want to get up either.

I got all cleaned up and went to play outside...but I hate the grass. I'm a city boy, what can I say? Just look at how my toes curl up when I crawl on the grass!

I love my cousin Sully - he's really fun to play Frisbee with.

THE SHOWER
On Saturday I went to my aunt Gaby’s baby shower. Nothing like being surrounded by 30 women – I was a little intimidated by all the estrogen, so I just hung out with my Pa-T.

Once I looked in the mirror and realized how handsome I am, I was ready to hang out with the ladies.

There was one little lady in particular who I liked.

My aunt Gaby and uncle Ty look really good together, don’t they?

My aunt Chich made my future cousin, McSqueezy, a cute bib.

Here are some of the other ones that I liked:

Gaby really enjoyed all of her presents.

My aunt Chich made some yummy cupcakes, and my Abu made some cute booties as party favors.

It was a really long day...and I was happy to get ready for bed.