Family Expansion

This weekend 2 new members were added to my "close" family. On Saturday my cousin Ellen got married Neal in Ann Arbor. Before we even left for the wedding (2.5 hour drive) it turned into a whirl wind day. As we were walking out the door Erin's sister called and said she was going into labor. With the unique situation of Erin being a labor and delivery nurse she had planned to assist in Gwen's delivery.

We decided to start driving across the state since Gwen was still in the relatively early stages of labor. We were able to see the wedding and even enjoy part of the reception.

Around dinner we finally decided that Gwen's labor was getting close enough to drive back to Grand Rapids. Fortunately everything worked out and Erin made it to the hospital in time to help with her sister's delivery. Samantha Jean was born as a healthy 8 lb, 14 oz baby. Erin really enjoyed being part of her first niece's delivery.

On Sunday Evie and I met Samantha. Sam is Evie's first cousin and Evie seemed to like her, although we didn't let Evie get too close. Those mischievous little hands are not meant for babies.

We've been training Evie to be the enforcer amongst the cousins. She wanted to get started right away, but we'll wait until Samantha has a fighting chance.