I think I’m a pretty good Aunt. I really like being an Aunt. But this morning I got up, went to check my Facebook, and saw an update from my sister saying that her baby turns 1 today. I was so taken back that I thought for a second that she’s crazy and she must be wrong. I could have SWORN his birthday was July 29th. How could I have forgotten? I’ve been eaten up with guilt all day because of it. Okay, not eaten up, but there was a little guilt. I mean, good aunts don’t forget birthdays, right?! And good aunts also don’t go an ENTIRE YEAR without ever posting a picture of her precious nephew! We’ve done pictures… newborn, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months… they’ve just never been posted. So I thought we’d start at the beginning.
   1 year ago today I was ready at a moment’s notice to go to the hospital. About in the middle of the afternoon I got the call: She’s progressing quickly and I better get to the hospital if I want to document this thing. So I run up to the hospital… only to have Calista’s (yes, that’s her name, Calista) labor come to a screeching halt. So we waited… and we waited… apparently that’s the thing with labor, it tends to take awhile. This was my first time to ever be in a room for a labor. Despite the fact that my sis has 2 other boys, this was my first time to be in the action. I spent the entire afternoon playing games on my phone and reassuring Calista and Chris that if they wanted to kick me out at any point they could. Thankfully they didn’t.   

Finally, later in the evening Calista was getting pretty obviously uncomfortable… The nurse came in and let us know that it was time, like, now. The second Calistaheard the tiniest cry she transformed from pain and pushing to a mother completely in love with her son. She was talking to him before he was even in her arms. At that moment Calista was the most beautiful and graceful I’d ever seen her.

   Witnessing a birth was one of the greatest experiences of my whole life.  Wesley is the sweetest and cutest baby you’ve ever seen, and I’m not biased one tiny bit. So Happy Birthday to the youngest of my nephews.