Leeland.

Being as our first child was exactly on her due date, we half expected our second to follow suit. He, on the other hand, had other plans.

Our due date was set for June 29th, and we marked it on our calendars. People at work were placing bets that he would be born on July 4th, giving us a second holiday baby. The 29th passed, and the 4th passed, and still no baby.

(By the way, this post is written by Anthony. It is a miracle that woman forget many parts of the day they go into labor, but makes it hard for them to write an accurate depiction of the day.)

We scheduled an induction on the morning of July 7th, and we showed up at 6:45 a.m. to get the ball rolling. Allison was induced by 8:00 a.m., and the waiting game began. We passed the time by watching The Proposal from the hospital's movie collection. By noon she was having painful contractions about 3 minutes apart and steady. At this point, she was ready for the epidural. We called in the anesthesiologist, and I recognized him immediately. He was the same guy we had last time! Possibly the most awkward human being on the face of the earth, but an all around nice guy.

At about 2:15 a.m., Allison was telling the nurse that she felt ready to push. The nurse tried to convince her to wait a little bit, saying she didn't think she was ready yet. However, this train did not want to stop, and the doctor arrived at 2:35 p.m. to get the pushing under way. Unfortunately, the epidural had little effect, and Allison could feel almost everything. She was a champ, though, I must say. It only took 22 minutes of pushing, and he was out at 2:57 p.m.. The doctor's face immediately turned into panic when he came out, which basically stopped my heart for a second or two. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck three full times. There have been countless babies that have died from just one wrap. By the grace of God, labor didn't take too long, and the cord was wrapped loosely. Just a few quick unravels and he was crying and breathing well!

Leeland Ezekiel Nelson. Healthy, strong, big boy. 8 lbs. 12 oz. Considered a "Large for Gestational Age" baby. 21" tall. Dark olive skin, full head of dark hair, and long fingers and toes just like his dad.

We are blessed to have such a healthy and handsome young man in our family, and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for him.

Here are some pictures of the new family :)