New babies are even more awesome when they're part of your family!

I'm shocked that it's been almost a month and a half since I've posted last. Time is truly flying by so fast I feel like it's slipping through my fingers.

Perhaps it's time to take a moment to step back and reflect on the whirlwind that my life has become.

Between home school and girl scouts and eBay and family obligations I feel like the world is rushing by me in this uncontrollable fashion. Is it true that Christmas is leering around the corner at me with it's maniacal wide-eyed grin?

And beyond that a whole new year?

I think I'll look back at 2010 as the year I forgot to breathe.

In the time since I have posted last, I gained a whole new family member!

The Man's cousin, who I will from now on refer to as Em, added another mushy little ball of awesomeness to our family. And it's a funny story actually.

Over the past few years Em and I have grown pretty close. Our kids love each other and we're family and so far we're the only two women born in the 70s in the family. So we stick together and we try to have each others backs.

But Em, God love her, is just surrounded by drama. If something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen to Em.

And the birth of her youngest child was no exception to this rule.

It seemed like it was going to go just fine in the beginning. Epidural, pitocin, all that garbage. Em looked happy and relaxed and everything seemed A-OK.

Until it wasn't.

At some point the nurse began making concerned noises and glances at the heart rate monitor. She turned off Em's epidural and had Em roll from one side to another. But still, the heart rate monitor was causing some concern. Evidently, the baby didn't seem to be getting the oxygen he needed and it was causing his heart rate to drop drastically every time Em had a contraction.

And then craziness ensued. Somehow Em moved from 3 cm dialated to 9 cm dialated in like 45 minutes without an epidural. All you ladies reading this can now say a big Hell Yeah to that... because any woman that endures that kind of a transformation and PAIN deserves a freaking gold medal and an after-hours shopping trip at Neiman Marcus.

Em was told to push. Em told me to take pictures. The doctor looked at me with a mean face and sternly told me to PUT THE CAMERA DOWN. I did. He scared me.

The doctor told Em if she didn't push the baby out in 5 minutes she was going to have to have a C-section.

Em didn't want a C-section.

She pushed.

And pushed.

And pushed.

And no baby came out.

So the wheeled her down the hall toward the Operating Room.

And all the while, Em screamed "I don't WANT to have a C-Section!!!"

And this part was done without me in attendance because no one was allowed in the OR at that point....

Just before Em's IV was going to be all hopped up with knock-you-out medicine, she pushed that baby out.

Because Em did NOT want to have a C-Section.

Welcome to the world Baby X!