Tax Time

Jake writing here.

April 15 has always been a special day for me. In my parent's household this beloved of all days was a time to gather the kids together as close to midnight as was possible and drive as fast as possible to the Airport Post Office, the only office that stayed open 24 hours. Dad would then rush inside and make sure his hand-prepared, hand-calculated tax forms were stamped and post-marked before the impending IRS deadline. Afterward we would sometimes go out to get a doughnut or some other treat to celebrate another year of beating the IRS clock.

As I have grown up and formed a family of my own, this tradition is one that I have not chosen to adopt. In fact, Jenny and I are proud to say that we use TurboTax to file our returns in February using newfangled e-file. With the loss of this tradition, April 15 of the last few years has become a hum-drum day just like the 14th or 16th. Not any longer however!

Jenny and I are proud to announce the birth of our new baby girl,
born yesterday April 15 at 10:32 pm! She is 9 lb, 1 oz and 21.5 inches! Jenny did very well with the labor, and the delivery itself was pretty quick. We did get some help from our friend Pitocin to augment things a bit, but Jen was awesome, she really did everything herself. Mom and baby-girl are doing very well right now and Madison and I are hangin' out for the next few days. We have family members coming to stay with us in a week or so.

Not long after Jen delivered, I sat holding our new little angel and contemplating names.

We have talked about naming here Emery, Emrie or Gracie. The ring-ring of our phone interupted my thoughts and as I picked it up I was greeted by my mom. She of course was tickled pink to hear of the successful and healthy delivery and gave us her congratulations. She then asked where I thought she was. I thought it an odd question, so I answered, "I dunno". Her response brought back a flood of nostalgia and inspiration. She and dad were on the way to the airport post-office to drop off their taxes!

With the memory of the April 15ths of yesteryear fresh in my mind I looked down at our little girl and thought of a new name to consider... Iris! What other name could remind me of the tax-time memories of my past each time I consider the joy of my future! I'm not quite sure why Jenny didn't like the idea. How rich.

What do you all think?

We are overjoyed and excited with the growth of our family. Madison and I were with Jen and baby this morning and they are all very cute together. I am home now while Madison takes a good, long nap. Mom is at the hospital with baby recovering, otherwise I would never get away with a post like this! We are very grateful for the blessing of our own little family.

We want to give special thanks/props to the Lau Family who watched Madison all day and overnight. We couldn't have done this without your help!