Headed Home

Ok, now on to the main show. Here's our precious little boy:

This one is actually from Saturday, but I just found it on Mom's camera. He's precious!!
Now starts the Monday pictures...


My two favorite boys in the world.
Julie (Ryan's Mom) bought this outfit right after we found out we were having a boy. This is what inspired his nature room! It was only fitting that this was the outfit he would come home to his nursery in.
Our matching ID bracelets for our new little family!
Cutting off his security tag to go home
Getting ready to walk out the door!
He is not a fan of changing clothes.

First time working the carseat
I could just eat him up!!!
His room # and birthday: 228!
We're going home!!
Thanks so much, Bethany, for being our professional photographer as we left!
You and Peter showed up at the perfect time!!
Waiting on Ryan and Dola the nurse to bring me Parkwest ice--it's even better than Sonic ice!!
We couldn't be happier!
We're home!!
The Welcoming Committee: Dakota (our dog) and Belle (Mom's dog)
Dakota sniffed Gavin for about 20 minutes when we got inside. She's already more of a protector!
Chad and Megan (my brother and sister-in-law) got us these balloons to announce little Gavin's arrival!
It is so good to be home with the little man! Monday and Tuesday night, his favorite time to be up and awake was between 1-6 am. Whew! Wednesday night and Thursday night were so much better! Wednesday night, he slept for 4 hours straight!! I never thought I would be so excited about 4 hours of sleep! With all my naps last night and today in between feedings, I have gotten 9 hours of sleep today!! WOOHOO!! He's worth the loss of sleep, though! :) I can't even tell you how much I LOVE being a Mom!!!!!!!! I just can't imagine my life without him!

Parkwest Pals

We had the perfect amount of visitors come to see our little man while we were at Parkwest (the best hospital in the world!). I didn't feel exhausted at all and still was able to rest in between visits.

First, here's Uncle Chad playing for Gavin Sunday morning when the family came back in. Chad, you truly are gifted on the guitar! Maybe you can teach Gavin to play one day.

Cousin Carol

Lon and Sharon

Emilee and Elizabeth, I would put your picture here if I had one!! I can't believe we didn't get one of you. Thanks for coming, girls!

Josh and Sarah
Sorry that little Lucy Beth had to wait in the waiting room! Gavin can't wait to meet his future girlfriend! :)
Melanie--our guest blogger on Gavin's delivery day!
(Sorry that Jonathan & London had to wait in the waiting room!)
Joe and Liz
Get all the practice in now, guys! :)
Peter and Bethany
Thanks so much for coming, guys! We are so blessed with your friendships!

Happy Birthday, Gavin!

There's so much I want to post!! I should be catching up on my sleep, but instead I'm keeping everybody updated on my beautiful little boy. I'll post more recent pictures hopefully tomorrow. For now, here's all the happenings of Gavin's birthday that we haven't posted yet...

Enjoying a grape popsicle after a light epidural. Just in case you didn't know, I was going to try to go as natural as possible. I got no IV drugs, and wanted to see how long I could go without an epidural. I went from 4 pm on Friday to 10:00 am Saturday morning with no sleep and lots of pain--I was ready by 10:00 for some rest and relief! So they gave me the smallest dose of an epidural, so I wasn't completely numb and could still move my legs and feel the contractions, but it was SOOOOOOO much better! :) I highly recommend getting one! :)
The family anxiously awaiting the new arrival. They came up early Saturday from Chattanooga and had to wait all day to meet their grandson!
Mom knitted an entire washcloth in the waiting room. Now I'll always have Gavin's special one! Chad (my brother) practiced his classical guitar the whole time.
Welcome to the world, Gavin!
His APGAR scores were 9 and 10! Woohoo!
I couldn't believe how precious he was! I like to think he's smiling here. :)
The first time I was cold in about 9 months! I couldn't stop looking at my little guy.
First bath
This is one of my favorite things from the day that I will always treasure in my heart. Watch this video of the family seeing Gavin for the first time...

The Wade Family
Grandma Melanie: "Nanie" (pronounced like Nonnie)
Grandpa Terry: "Pop"
and crazy Uncle Chad mimicking Gavin
"Unk"
Aunt Megan

The Hughes Family
Grandma Julie: "Gram"
Grandpa Robert: "Papaw"
Aunt Amanda
Ryan's first diaper change in his life! He is a pro at it now!
I just want to tell you guys what a wonderful husband I have. Because of my C-Section, I had to take it easy, which is hard for me to do! Ryan helped tremendously and did more than I ever expected him to do. He got up in the hospital any time Gavin cried to try to take care of him so I could sleep. As of today (Wednesday), I have seriously only had to change about 2 diapers! He has changed every diaper, brought him to me when I need to feed him, changed his clothes when he has a leak or a blowout (which is quite frequently these days!), and brings me anything I need to keep me from having to get up. I really do not know what I would have done without him for these first few days.
I am so thankful for you, Ryan! I love you so much! You are a wonderful husband and are already a phenomenal Dad! Gavin and I are so lucky!

Introducing...

Gavin Robert Hughes
Hopefully these pictures will satisfy those of you requesting more for another day or so and then we'll post some more after we've gotten rest and are settle in at home!

He's a pro at nursing. He also loves Ryan's finger!

Who do you think he looks like now? From the ultrasounds, you guys thought Ryan. Has it changed? Vote on the right if you get a chance.

We'll update more pictures when we're home. We finally got a good Internet connection...and now we need to sleep. :) We're at the hospital for one more night and going home Monday afternoon. Healthy, happy, and precious baby boy! We just love him so much already! I personally can't believe how stinking cute he is!! I might be a little bias though. :)