But, Jessie said, “Wait, ain’t good enough!”  So, Jessie found Chad and she married him, because we know you don’t want a dangling Chad!  And, the rest is history unfolding:

Turns out Chad and Jessie like each other a lot!

So, they begat Mackenzie.

And, the result was VERY GOOD!

On the seventh day of Labor, Mom rested!

So, Dad stepped up to the plate!

And, finally, we meet the Lady Mayo, known to family as Sharon!

Now, we’re getting some folks in the fold!  Grandma Snyder!

And a rare visit from OGO (Oh, Great One!) himself on the other side of the camera!

Uncle Tyler approves!  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but EVERYONE in this family is good looking!

And, Mom, Dad and Baby wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

Proud Granddad Mayo’s reason for holiday joy.  What a present!!

It is rumored that Grandpa will settle on one spelling of his granddaughter’s name by the time she enters school.

11:12 tonight!!!! McKenzie Paige Snyder!

More to come…

Now, that brought us to an interesting question: If she were born on the 31st and we stayed into the 1st, would the insurance company charge us a deductible for just 1989, or the deductible for 1989 and 1990?  Couldn’t believe the answer; two deductibles!  Doctors and insurance companies weren’t always on the same page back then, either, so the doctor told us he would induce rather than let that happen.  He said Carly was ready to come out, anyway.  She claimed she wasn’t ready quite yet and that we should all mind our own business.

But, around 9:00 the morning of December 29th, it all became a moot point when Carol went into labor.  Having already had one kid, she was cool as a cucumber and said she would tell me when the right time to go to the hospital was.  Around 3:30, she said it was time.  Having been around her easy attitude all day, I sauntered around getting things together for the car – when she told me to hurry my ass up, didn’t I get that it was time?!!

Thank God the traffic wasn’t worse than it was.  We got to the hospital at 4:00 and they said that the way Carol looked they were going to dispense with a lot of the paperwork and get her to the delivery room right away.  Zip, zoom, we are up there and they tell her she is dilated four and that it won’t be long.  She asked if she could have the pain blocker and they checked her again.  She was dilated ten!  They told her to get ready for that natural childbirth that she hadn’t sought!

Well, they had the neatest machine at the hospital attached to the mom’s head.  It showed what the imagery was of the mind as the mother entered the birth process.  I have that image today of her first impression of Carly:

Carol said it felt like she rode in on an elephant!  I asked a woman about what childbirth felt like once and she told me that it was like passing a Volkswagen – and she wasn’t talking about traffic!  Essentially, that doctor sat down there with a catcher’s mitt and caught that little late Christmas gift as she barreled out.  None of this “Push, push, push!!” urging I always see on TV.

Actually, this picture is of Carly taken yesterday with her fiancée.   They went to Great America and took a ride on Valerie, which Carly says is the nicest elephant she’s ever ridden.  Like she rides an elephant every Thursday.

My, they do grow up so quickly!  It really does seem like yesterday…

Any great birth stories, Moms?