We just got back from a week at the beach with my mom’s side of the family.  Every year since before I was born, that side of the family has gone on vacation together every summer.  This year we got 36 people (yes, 36 - 4 generations)  into a house on the beach.  Danielle and I were so glad that my family was able to hang out with Eden just a few days after she was born…and glad for all the help they were with the girls.

Here’s a picture from last year’s vacation…my Grandma’s doing her best Pete Wentz imitation.

Isn’t this an amazing song.  And what a great idea to play some songs in Central Park.

Last night my cousins and I figured out how to use long exposure on my camera.

I love how the 50 mm 1.8 makes everything blurry, but the point of focus….cool stuff.

We’re with a bunch of my family this week so I’m hoping to get a little bit of time to read. Not sure how much time I’ll have since we have a one week old….. but i have a few books that i’m pretty pumped about.

The first is What is the What, by Dave Eggers. It’s an autobiography of one of the lost boys, told by Dave Eggers….who is an amazing writer. I’m about halfway through this one and love it.

The other is a book by a guy i heard on NPR. I know that makes me pretty nerdy, but it sounded really interesting. It’s called Foreskin’s Lament (yes, it was awkward to ask the lady at Barnes and Noble where to find this book) by Shalom Auslander. It’s a memoir of a guy who grew up in a really legalistic Orthodox Jewish home. I’ve only read a few pages, but I already like how funny/witty he is.

Have any of you read either of these books? Did you like/dislike them?

Also, I’ve listened to Viva La Vida about 8-10 times now, and absolutley love it. I love CDs that are put together with themes. I like knowing that intentional musical and lyrical decisions were made in putting the whole thing together.

We were able to come home from the Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Eden is sleeping and eating really well.

Danielle and I have been able to sleep a decent amount at night.

Bennett and I have enjoyed finding creative ways to play with Eden’s blankets.

Danielle and Eden are still doing great.

We had a great night….we got 8 hours of sleep…4 hours on either side of the night feeding.

Bennett can already imitate Eden….she’s dead on.

Thank you for your prayers.

Eden Hope Renstrom was born at 12:01 this morning. 7 pounds, 2 oz., 20 1/2 inches. Mom and Baby are both doing great.

Thank you for your prayers.

Well Danielle didn’t ever go into labor, so we’re at the Hospital waiting for her to be induced sometime today.  I was up most of the night sick…and found out this morning at urgent care that i have strep.  So i guess i’ll have a mask on during delivery.  Other than that things seem to be going well.  Danielle is handling this like a champ.

She’s doing a really great job of keeping her blog up to date…..blonderenstroms.blogspot.com.

Hope to have pictures soon.

I woke up feeling a little sick this morning, so Danielle picked me up some meds from the store and brought them by Providence. She also surprised me with Viva La Vida (the new Coldplay CD) to which she added her own sharpie artistic edit. She thought the lady would look better in a three-quarter length shirt. haha

Have any of you bought it yet? What do you think?

I really like it, my only thought is that their musical influences really come through….a lot more than on their previous stuff. I hear so much of the Beatles, Radiohead and U2 in these songs. But i’ve only listen through a few times. Still a wicked good CD.

Oh and still no baby. I’ll let you know.

Well the weekend came and went and still no baby. There were a few times that we thought contractions might be starting….but then they would go away.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bennett and I were able to go to the David Wilcox show in Durham on Friday night. Didn’t hear “How did you find me here”, but it was still a good show. I’ve never understood what people mean when they say, “so and so is an American singer-songwriter.” Seems like a really weird category to me. But I think I kind of understand why people would say that about David Wilcox. He had so many songs about what it means to grow up in rural America and about what Americans seems to find valuable. And he’s one of the best guitarist I’ve ever watched. I always want to write a song in DADGAD after I hear his music.

Here are a few pics from the show.