The Nephew Has Arrived

This past January, my sister and brother-in-law shared the news that they were expecting their first child this Fall. My parents and I were instructed to close our eyes and stick out our hands in anticipation of receiving a small gift. We stood in my small kitchen, eyes closed, and curious as to what all three of us would be given. When they gave us the go-ahead, we opened our eyes to discover none other than three pregnancy tests with the word, pregnant, scrawled across the digital screen. We were ecstatic to learn about the newest member of our family and the remainder of the night was spent talking about baby. Then we were all left to wait...

It seemed like it would take forever for this little one to make his debut! My sister and brother-in-law planned for their child and they found out that she was pregnant when she was three weeks along. That meant we had at least 37 weeks until the big day! Luckily, we got many updates along the way, largely due to the fact that my sister is a sonographer. We spent time examining ultrasound pictures of his chunky monkey legs and his little hands that he held near his face. We felt the crazy guy kick around and watched as her stomach would go up and down in waves. However, I'm sure none of us were as anxious as the parents-to-be. 

Baby boy inherited my family's late gene and decided that he would take his sweet time. Her due date came and went. My parents and I waited for a phone call saying that she was in labor. Nothing. Then one evening we received a call saying that she was being admitted to the hospital.. We jumped in our cars, drove down, and watched as the parents-to-be walked into the lobby... what?! They had been released, even though her contractions were five minutes apart, due to an influx of patients in the maternity ward. Damn full moon! We decided that we might as well go out to dinner and headed over to the Macaroni Grill. Our family was in rare form and my sides ached from all the antics that ensued. I assume Tamara felt the same way because her contractions grew stronger and were coming as close as two minutes apart! Chris and Tamara returned to the hospital later that evening, only to be sent home once again around 5 am. 

The waiting game continued. We stayed with them for days on end hoping that he would arrive. Finally, the doctor's pinned down a day to induce labor. Thinking that I would be safe in doing so, I left for a turnaround trip to Las Vegas. It was my friend's bachelorette party and we were staying for a single night. He couldn't possibly arrive during such a small time frame. Wrong. The girls and I returned to our hotel room at 5 am and I discovered multiple text messages blinking on my phone. My sister had been induced around 10:30 pm and they were expecting baby boy to make his debut early that morning. I was restless for the remainder of the night and eager to get on the road.

I received the phone call that Dylan Carter was born at 12:48 pm. My heart sank when I discovered that I was too late. Unfortunately, we had hit a ton of traffic coming back to California-- at that moment I was cursing the fact that we weren't driving in an Inspector Gadget vehicle capable of weaving through the many cars. It took two nonfat mistos, one rice krispy treat, eight hours on the road, and a quick trip to the grocery store (for balloons and flowers) before I finally arrived at the hospital. In fact, it was so late, I had to be smuggled in by the nursing staff! 

Dylan is incredibly good looking- he is already throwing seven kinds of smoke with his impression of blue steel from Zoolander. I've been enjoying every moment that I get to spend with him and I miss him terribly when I'm not visiting their family of three. I guess you can say that I am a very proud auntie.

Congratulations, Tamara and Chris! He is just perfect! ;)


Dylan, I look forward to all the memories to come. I can't wait to see your little personality shine through. You have already brought so much joy to the lives of everyone around you and I know you will continue to bring smiles and laughter to all of us. I love you, little llama. xo

Welcome to the family, baby boy!