Well, it took 4 days but Duende finally made her entrance today at 1:01 p.m – 8 lbs., 5 oz., and 20″.  Everyone is tired but doing great.  I drove home tonight and having 4 days with adults only enhances the pain of listening to bickering, whining, and yelling.  I need to have my orange earplugs permanently embedded in my ear canals.

Here are some pictures of our newest family member, my niece, Duende Bloo.  She’s even prettier in person!

This morning I got the call…my sister-in-law Rachael was having contractions.  Adlani was in the middle of his Taekwondo test so I told Josh (my bro) that I’d call him when it was over.  I ran home and threw some clothes in a bag and headed to Portland (Maine).  I think I arrived around 2ish, after stopping to load up on snacks (and beer).  Rachael was looking way too happy to be having a baby, but I thought she might just be hiding it well.

We hung around until the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and then called the hospital as instructed by the doctor.  They told us to come in and get checked out, so we took our time but eventually ended up at the hospital at 6 p.m.  The contractions were regular but not much was happening “down below,” so we asked if we could leave.  We went to Margarita’s for dinner and then went home for a nap.  I have a deadline Monday and I was able to finish my work and hit the couch at 11 p.m.

At 1 a.m. Josh woke me up to say it was time to head back to the hospital, and here we are.  It’s 3 a.m. and Josh & Rachael are walking the halls because there hasn’t been much change.  The baby is doing well and Rachael’s feeling sick which is a good sign.  I’m wishing I had a pillow.

Update:  Rachael just lost her enchilada (literally) so things are moving along.  She has a room and a cup of tea and she’s looking like we’ll be here for the duration.  I’ll keep you posted.

We started the first week of summer vacation off with a bang, when Aliya had 6 baby teeth pulled to make room for her adult teeth to slide right into the right spots (or close enough that her braces can pull them right into place).  I was picturing the baby teeth that we see when they fall out naturally, but in this case the roots had not been absorbed so they looked more like adult teeth – just smaller.  She had 4 shots of Novocaine and then the procedure went really quick.  She was very brave and had nothing but ice cream to eat for the whole day.

When we looked for her teeth at bedtime, we couldn’t find the little plastic container that the dentist had sent home.  Aliya wasn’t too concerned, having already negotiated for a tooth fairy-sponsored manicure and pedicure instead of a few bucks under her pillow.  The next day after R & R (Rest & Reading), Adlani handed over the teeth, after putting them under his pillow at bedtime and again at nap-time to see if the tooth fairy would think they were his teeth and leave him some money!  What a cheater!!!