I'm an Auntie!!!

Nine months ago, my little brother and sister in law made a baby, and after my first prayer (healthy baby of course), I secretly prayed for a little boy! Last Sunday we were with my brother and his family and my Bigs were having a catch with Jeff. I watched Joe and his dad (specifically) having a catch and prayed even harder that my brother may have a catch with his boy some day... Well, God answered my prayers (and the prayers of my kids- minus Ali of course) with a big, huge YES!

When Danny came in to the hospital waiting room today and announced, "It's a boy!", we all started cheering and there were happy tears and embraces all around the room! Timothy Zigmund came into the world at 3:09 and weighed 8lbs 5oz. He was absolutely perfect and beautiful in every way and my brother and his wife are now two for two in the super cute baby game! It was hard to hide (or even tone down) my huge smile of happiness for my brother and his growing family!

Another emotional moment came when my mom got a text from my (great) Uncle Ziggy's son. Little Timothy was named after my Grandpa Drapal's little brother, Ziggy. My Uncle Ziggy is one of the most amazing people that you will ever meet. He has a way of making you feel like you are the most important person in the world! He has an amazing sense of humor, was an outstanding athlete and is a man to be admired in every sense of the word. To say my little nephew has big shoes to fill would be an understatement (but with parents like his, I have no doubt that he will)! Tears came again for me when I saw my dad get weepy (I should say that he was with my mom in this picture and it would have been great had she not blinked, so I did her a favor and cropped her out... hey, I know she would have done the same for me!). While I know that daddies and daughters have a special bond, so do dads and their boys and to see his son have a son... well I can only imagine the emotions! We joked afterward that it was a good thing that Danny had a boy to pass on the "Drapal" because "Drapal" is not a cool first name like "Jonasen" is...

Of course the highlight of the day for the proud parents must have been when they saw the love of their life meet their newest love! Maddy is such a sweet soul and she loves babies! She follows Sean all over the place calling his name and "Baby". He will be happy to see that she has a baby of her own, though when she learns that her little brother doesn't do too much, she'll probably be back to playing with her other baby (who is really only 6 months younger than she is).

Looking at this family picture reminds me that I was a big sister to a little brother. It reminds me that I was not much older than Maddy when I held my little brother for the first time and probably fell in love. And while there was no one in this world that drove me more crazy, there was no one in this world that I could count on like my brother. I am reminded of when my Grandpa Jonasen and his brother Erling were in town (they were in their late eighties early nineties) and my Grandpa said, "You know, there is no one you will be on this earth longer with than your brother." Thanks for making me an Auntie again, baby brother! Thanks for making my brother the happiest man on earth tonight, wonderful sister! And take care of that little guy, Maddy! No one will make you laugh harder than your brother! And finally, Happy Birthday Timmy Ziggy! May you always feel the enormous love that surrounded you this day! I love you so much!