Born on the 4th of July!

Well, friends, I don't know how you celebrated Independence Day, but I personally decided that yesterday would be a swell day to have a baby. At 12:01 a.m. Yes, buddies, the kid squeaked into firecracker territory by 1 minute. How cool is that? And, well, Circus Act turned out to be a...

BOY!!!

It feels weird not to be able to announce his real name, since that's the sort of thing you usually do when announcing a birth, but alas, Circus Act he will remain for now. Anyhow, little dude was 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 21.5 inches long. I'm not going to go into the whole birth story right now, although I will share it soon. However, I will tell you that I ended up being induced the morning of the 3rd, and labor hurts a lot. And also, moments after being told by the labor nurse that she thought a c-section was likely because he was still so high in my pelvis after I was fully dilated, and moments after being told by my doctor right before I started to push that she thought she'd have to use a vacuum to help get him out, I proceeded to push that kid out in exactly 11 minutes. If you're looking for a woman who can push babies into this world, call me.

And now we are home, Phook is unhappy (more details on that later), Circus is sleeping, and I'm going to share some pictures. Everyone is luckily very healthy and we are very, very blessed.

Here I am laying my eyes on Circus right after he was born:

Here is our first photo with the new addition...Daddy is VERY happy to have a boy (can't even tear his eyes away to look at the camera):

Here is what your woefully bruised, woefully broken blood-vesseled little face will look like if you are forced from the elevation of your mom's throat to the outside world in 11 minutes, all with your cord wrapped around your neck:

Here I am with my boy, the special person on this earth who presumably will beat people up in the future on my behalf if they choose to slander me:

Here is the very tired big guy enjoying new fatherhood:

Another close-up shot of Circus "No, Those Aren't Freckles" Act:

Here is Phook leerily meeting her new brother:

She did decide to be hospitable and offer him her blankie, the most special object on this earth as far as she is concerned:

And a look at the little old man with his eyes open this afternoon when we packed him up to bring him home:


I will tell you more later, but that is the story for now. Thanks again to everyone who has been checking in on me via blog and sending good wishes in the general vicinity of my family. It is greatly appreciated.

Oh, and one more thing. I love him.