I am an Aunt again!!!

Yeah! Brayden Houston came into the world at 9:42 PM on Friday, August 11. He weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He has light brown hair and his momma "is just in awe" of him. It was a long day for her....they started to induce at 5:00 am, but both Mommy and Baby are doing fine! I can't wait to meet him.

So, I am sitting here in our hotel room in Pigeon Forge and I CANNOT SLEEP. This same thing happened to me last night too. Both times I woke up at 3:45 to go potty and then can't go back to sleep. DRIVING ME CRAZY. So, I got caught up on emails and journals (thanks to Hubby's computer) and thought I would post real quick before I try to go back to sleep.

So, we decided to leave on Thursday afternoon/evening as planned. I am glad we did because if we would've waited for Brayden to be born, we would've not been able to come. So, we spent the evening with my parents on Thursday....Sister has the stomach flu, so we didn't want her to come over (no offense)...but BIL did stop in for a bit. "Dim" as FAB calls him. Neither Hubby nor I slept well at my parents house. After I woke up at 3:45, I think I spent the rest of the night/morning in prayer. SIL and Baby were just heavy burdens on my heart. Not just for the delivery...but for real life now. And my prayers for them honestly continued all day. I don't know that I have ever had a day like that before....where the entire day I felt like I was in constant communion with God for them.....even in the midst of what we were doing. Very odd....but very neat feeling.

We got up and got ready and headed to Pigeon Forge. Hubby drove the whole way...we had to stop quite a bit for potty breaks, even though I hardly drank anything. Our hotel is VERY nice. It is Christian owned and has biblical pictures and such in the rooms. They also have a church service here on Sunday morning. How cool is that? So, we have a balcony and a refrigerator and microwave...it is very nice. We got checked in and...well, I should say that on the way here and all day we talked to SIL or MIL every two hours to check in. I felt like a pest...but I wanted to know what was going on! So, we got moved in to our room...we took a quick nap and then headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. YUMMY. Then we went shopping at the outlet mall. I got 3 really nice bras for $21. That made me very happy. We also got Hubby some jeans, I-Man some shirts and FAB some shoes at Old Navy. OH...and Hubby and I-Man got matching jackets there too. Then we headed to see the show MIRACLE. It was an awesome musical about Jesus' life. Actually, it started at creation and really showed the "battle between good and evil". The performers were amazing....the effects were awesome...it was a great show. And I loved how their "lucifer character" was nearly always present. It was just really neat. Probably my favorite part of the show, though....because it was so well done....was at the very end, right before Jesus ascended....ALL of the music and special effects stopped so that "Jesus" could give "the great commission". I LOVED how they did that because we need that reminder and they made it so important by stopping the theatrics for a minute to get that point across. AWESOME show. Well, right before it started, I was walking around and called the hospital. FIL answered the phone and said she was pushing and having a contraction. So, I got to hear everyone counting and stuff. I got all choked up. So, we knew it would be soon. Well, this kid next to me during the show annoyed the heck out of me....at one point she literally had her head on my arm. I was ready to kill her....so at intermission we moved to different seats so we could stretch out (my back was killing me) and be able to jump up and leave if our phones rang. So...sure enough, right before the betrayal kiss...Hubby's phone rings and he ran out. He came back in beaming with the news that he was an uncle! SIL called him herself and you could tell Hubby was pretty emotional. It was a long day for all of us. I just felt a bunch of tension release when he came back in with the news. Can't wait to meet that little guy! God is so good.

So, after the show, we came back to the hotel and did email and stuff and then went to bed...and that is where we are now! I need to try to go back to sleep....the "deluxe continental breakfast" doesn't start until 6:30...so I can't eat yet! Not sure what all we are going to do today. We have to hear the time-share presentation at 3:00 and then we have tickets to the Comedy Barn at 5:00....don't know if we will make it or not. Hubby's co-worker is the sister of the owner...so she got us free tickets. And we also have tickets for a show at 8:00....so who knows if we will be able to do them both. And then tomorrow, we head back home.

I miss my kiddos. This is the first time we have left them for 2 nights....actually the first time we have left FAB at all....besides just spending the night at my parents house when we are right there too. But Hubby and I need this time before Gracie gets here. I am very excited for her to get here....only 7 more weeks to go!!!!

Well, I am going to try to get some sleep. Love to all and Happy Birthday to HBM! Enjoy this last year in your 20's!!! Love ya!