Congratulations Liz, Philip, Naomi, and everyone in the Seager
and Ayres families!
Eli Seager arrived at two-oh-five this afternoon, about
eleven hours after he gave his mother the early morning wake-up call to let her
know he was just about ready to be born.
He was eight pounds, four ounces; is very healthy; and looks like his
daddy.
That news – at least that Liz had gone into labor – reached
us before Tai Chi this morning; so Michael passed that nugget on to his mother
and sister between the time he went home and met up with me again for the walk
to school. Aunt Leanne sent regular
updates to Mom because she went to the clinic with Uncle Adam when he got the
call at three o’clock; and stayed until Aunt Deborah came in for her shift
after doing the morning feeding with Leah.
Michael, Rowen, and I weren’t the only kids with that
grapevine story by the time we got to school.
Some of the kids and teens heard about it through their own family
connections while others heard about it through the teachers – and Mr. Seager’s
absence today. In a school as small as
ours; substitute teachers are noticed by the students. Thanks to having Mr. Ayres as our teacher, I
was able to get regular progress updates through Nurse-Aunt Deborah; so we also
knew that Eli had been born by the time we started our last class of the
afternoon.
I don’t often think about the fact that Liz is Uncle Nick’s
sister, or that Aunt Deborah was helping to deliver her nephew today. Some people may have been surprised that
Uncle Nick worked all day, but I’m sure that was easier on him than sitting in
the waiting room all day doing nothing.
He was the first kid out of the classroom after Geography class, though;
and his timing getting to the clinic was probably pretty good by the time Eli
was cleaned up and presentable.
Though I would have liked to go and meet Eli then too, I
knew it would be too busy at the clinic with the Ayres and Seager clans there
along with the rest of the regular patients.
The good news is that the appointments don’t need to be juggled around
much anymore now that we have two doctors.
The biggest issue Uncle Adam likely has right now is with days like
today when he has to deal with Magi births around a non-Magi best friend and
fellow doctor. Mom’s worked on that
problem with him and Aunt Deborah; but I haven’t seen them in action yet.
Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went to the Inn
for our after-school study session. It
was raining by then; but I didn’t go outside again until after game night was
over. We got our assignments out of the
way and had a little chat and snack break before Tim and Rowen left so that
Michael and I could get to work in the kitchen.
We had extra diners tonight because the proud Seagers and Ayres
grandparents brought their combined clans and some friends over for a quick
dinner before most of them returned to the clinic again. That made for a busy night in the kitchen,
and Rebecca, Michael, and I pretty much worked straight through until game
night started.
Eli’s arrival and the rainy weather combined for a low
turnout for game night. Miranda was okay
with that because she had Mom for her partner this week; and they fairly
handily won the senior championship this week.
Michael and I didn’t win the junior championship; and neither did Tim
and Rowen because Caleb Palmer and Erica Bassett took the title this week. The fact that the four of us spent as much
time playing with Ethan and Ehlana as we did playing the games might have had
something to do with why our teams were closer to the bottom than the top –
even when there wasn’t a lot of competition.
Mom had driven over with Ethan and Ehlana, so we didn’t have
to walk home in the rain; and Miranda sent leftover game night snacks with us
to drop off at the clinic on our way home.
Michael came with us to help with that delivery; and we ended up staying
there for nearly a half-hour because Liz had been up and nursing Eli. We got to see them; Mom, Ehlana, and I each
held Eli for a minute; and Naomi decided that she needed to have a sleepover
with Ehlana instead of her grandparents – a decision that worked for all of the
tired-out adults in the building.
Uncle Mark was taking the first half or more of the night
shift, and Uncle Adam had already gone to bed after only getting a few hours of
sleep last night. Liz was probably
disappointed, but Uncle Adam couldn’t do a full healing with her all at once
because Uncle Mark would be checking up on her during the night; but I’m sure
that he did as much as he could. Mom had
a private chat with Liz while everyone else was busy with the snacks; and that
gave her a chance to make sure that Liz and Eli were both doing fine too.
We dropped Michael off at his house on the way home, so that
didn’t give us much of an opportunity for a goodnight hug and kiss – especially
with Ethan and Ehlana giggling at us from their car seats. That needed to be a quick stop because
Grandma and Grandpa Ayres followed us home with Naomi so that we didn’t need to
move her car seat into our minivan in the rain.
Having three toddlers to get ready for bed kept Mom and I busy for a
while before they were tucked in for the night; and then we did a Magi lesson
in my room before Mom went to bed and I got started on my studies.
That was hours of work ago now, and it’s after three
o’clock. I should’ve wrapped up an hour
ago, because we have another long day ahead of us that’s going to start with
helping Mom with Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi again. We have another home football game that Rowen
and I will be going to with Michael and Tim; and hopefully we’ll get to have a
little cuddle time and a movie after that – though I’m looking forward to
seeing Dad after he’s home again too.
For right now, though, I’m beat and need to crash for a few
hours; so that’s all I’ve got for tonight.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
