The Hatching of Baby Chick

Today is a special day in the nest.  Today is the day we celebrate the 8th birthday of the "ours" in the "Yours, Mine, & Ours" scenario that is our blended family.  To say the arrival of Baby Chick was a surprise would most assuredly be an understatement.  The shock and surprise of seeing the "pregnant" symbol s l o w l y appear on that little white pee stick could not have been equaled.  I remember sitting on the closed toilet lid and wondering how in the world I would break the news to Daddy Owl. 

When he and I married in 1999, we both brought 2 children with us from previous marriages and never ever planned on having more.  After all, we were no spring chickens and both time and energy were in short supply.  But as life and well-made plans tend to go, God had other ideas and nine months later, Baby Chick was hatched.

Here we are eight years later and now we can't imagine life without him.  He is the only one in the nest biologically connected to everyone else in the nest, but somehow he has connected us all in a much deeper way than blood ever could.  He probably has the oldest parents at 2nd grade school functions and Daddy Owl has been referred to as his grandpa more than once by well meaning strangers (I tell him to correct them by saying, "I'm not his grandpa, I'm his brother" and see what kind of reaction he gets).  Baby Chick keeps us on our toes, exasperates us and brings great joy.  His is loving, curious, and very stubborn.  He is imaginative and perceptive and maybe someday he will begin to understand what his birth meant to our blended family and how it tied us all together when we needed it most.

Happy Birthday Baby Chick!  We love you.