So after Penelope was born they rushed us out to finish sewing Susan up. The grandma's and I went and watched them checking her out. Her APGAR score was 8 the first minute and 9 after 5 minutes. She is just perfect. I'm sure most parents fell that way. But now that my daughter is here you have her to base perfect off of.

Tuesday came and we went to our last Dr.'s appointment in Redlands. Our doctor told us to head over to St. Bernadine's in San Bernardino for an induction. After they induced her we had to wait 12 hours for whatever they gave her to kick in. So we spent the night watching crappy TV waiting and wondering. By the end of the first round they gave her something else and it seemed to be working. By 6:30pm on Wednesday nothing had progressed and our Doctor recommended a C-Section. Susan was thrown off by this and it wasn't part of the plan. It was a bit of a bummer at first. But by the end of the night it was all worth it. After being stuck in a bed and not eating for almost two days I can only imagine how she would of felt trying to push her out.

Penelope Free Bahula was born at 9:07 on December 17th 2008. 7 1/2 pounds 19 inches. Strawberry blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She is perfect in every way.

The whole thing was amazing and everyone was super nice to us. They were all surprised that we were married. They said they see more single moms and young kids coming in. Even the guards who checked me in at night were surprised. "A Husband? Don't see that anymore."
I was glad the grandma's got to be there. Waiting off to the side listening to everything. Susan and I are very lucky to have moms like ours. Susan's mom even stayed the night so I could go home and get some rest.

That drive home was surreal. Driving home to a snow dusted Yucaipa. Broken trees in our yard. The snow was beautiful. Thought it was pretty cool to have Penelope Come into this world on a snow day.

This is what it looked like going to work last Monday. I think nightmare is the right word.
My chains broke and I got stuck for about half an hour. I kept thinking this was the day Susan was going to go into labor. After my 30 minute ride turned into a two hour tour I made it to work in time for my boss to call and say work was cancelled. He kept us stay anyways and I got a few hours of work in. The drive home was a bit better. I was able to fix my chains in the shop and got home with no harm. It was pretty crazy.

Well Christmas is near and Penelope is taking her sweet time coming out. Susan's Uncle Tim said she isn't coming out until the 25th. Let us hope he's a liar. I cut down a tree the other day. Screw paying up to a hundred dollars for something that will die in a few weeks.

It's the first time in a long time I'm excited for the holidays. We have lights up outside. The tree is slowly being decorated as we buy 70% off decorations.

This life is a blessing. Our friends and family care so much for us and our soon to be born daughter. I can't believe what has happened these past 9 months.

Happy Holidays Family!