The welcoming committee

These are the familiar faces that were waiting for him.

The grand entrance

This kid is adorable. We tried to throw a couple pictures up yesterday to appease his hundreds of new fans and admirers, and we've got literally hundreds more, but mom and dad have more fun holding him than playing on the computer; some of them will get up... eventually.
Props to Mom and Lindsey for taking most of these shots yesterday. I'll put some up in chronological order. These first ones are when he first arrived on the scene. Welcome to the family, mate!

Little Baby Firth

Baby Firth (we're still picking a name...) came today at 1:24 pm. Dani went into labor at 9, so from the very start to the end, it was less than 4 1/2 hours of labor. She did fantastic.

He weighs 7 lbs even, and is 20 inches long, and he's got plenty of curly brown/auburn hair. Mom and Dad are excited to finally have him in their arms.
He's adorable, we love him very much, and we know he has lots in store.

Here he comes

Yesterday at her 39 week checkup Dani's doctor told her that even though she is a first time mom, she is in such amazing shape that he could induce her before her due date. I guess that doesn't happen very often. So unless things change, this kid's birthday is probably going to be May 8th.

baby shower

so here's a picture of Erin and Kate- they hosted a baby shower this weekend, along with the evidence of how kind everyone has been to us. We were blessed that lots of family and friends showed up, including Janell from Portland (sorry Jani, we don't have any pictures of the family on our camera). We feel a lot more prepared now that we have more of what we need, and are very grateful for everyone's generosity.

comparison shots

Just for a comparison of how that little kid has grown, compare this to the very bottom shot (on this page) of Dani at Dad's office- the first one was not quite two months ago... He's getting ready to come (two more weeks or so).

Gabe

Easter brought a surprise to Dani. She is now the proud (but temporary) owner of a cute little bunny. She named him Gabriel (but still mostly calls him Bunny). He's pretty curious but very well-behaved. It was a crack-up to watch her open the box with him in it. He is now a happy camper in a laundry basket in our no-pets-allowed apartment (only temporarily...)

Michigan Here We Come

It's official. Three new Spartans will be making the trek to Michigan State University sometime in August. We're excited to know where we'll be for the next five years. It should be an adventure.