Our little Assassino

April Fool's Day 2011. Our little Assassino was born. Ethan Ezio Crane was born at 12:40pm. He is our little assassino because his middle name 'Ezio' (pronounced 'Et-see-oh') is Italian (of course) but it is the character name of one of Colt's favorite video games: Assassin's Creed. The perfect combination of Colt and myself with the Italian blood line with video game influence.

We just love Ethan so much! It is amazing to feel the love you have for one child and have it inexplicably grow to engulf the second child. I don't feel like I had to split my current love for Cash to give to Ethan. It has truly grown exponentially. Amazing.

Anyways, our little Assassino was itching to get out all night the previous night but I tried to get some sleep. Cash had been sick and was not sleeping at all. Every couple hours when he'd wake up, I would feel some contractions but nothing painful enough to stop and think. I would try and fall back asleep. In the morning, Colt and I were prepping to get a storage unit, I wasn't feeling well enough to go to work, but I didn't want to stay in the house ALL day. I decided to time my contractions while I got ready, just as a measuring stick. I noticed that they were 2-3 minutes apart and progressively got worse throughout the hour. I finally submitted and felt like I needed to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, Cash needed to be taken to Colt's sister's (Lisa's) house...in Meridian. At first I was ok with it, but as the contractions got worse, I was really upset at Lisa (as we were driving to Meridian) wondering why she couldn't pick Cash up. In reality, though, it would have taken just as long (if not longer) to wait for her to gather her children and come and pick up Cash. Well we were driving to Meridian, weaving our way through traffic until we hit Meridian and the dreaded Sprawl. One lane roads with a HUGE line of cars that you cannot get around for any reason. Each contraction got worse and worse. I was not feeling well.

Finally we reached Lisa's house and Colt honked the horn and threw all of Cash's stuff onto the sidewalk and gave Cash to his sister and we sped off. It was hard to say goodbye to Cash because he was sick and miserable during this time, but it was also a blessing to have someone to take care of him while we sped off to the hospital.

Colt has never driven so efficiently and FAST. We flew on the freeway... who cares if we got pulled over, if anything the cop would probably give us an escort... but Colt felt that we would be fine. We passed TWO hospitals on the way back to our hospital in downtown Boise. That was torture!

I finally checked in at 11am. I was dilated to a 7 and 90% effaced. They felt there was not time for an epidural and that I would have the baby within 2 hours and so I was given an Intrathechal shot, basically a pain medication shot that would only last two hours. It is faster acting than an Epidural but the risk is if for some reason I do not deliver within 2 hours, I will not have any pain medication available for the rest of the time...well they did say I could probably get an epidural at that time, or I may be too far along for anything. A risk - but they were confident I would not go past the 2 hour time limit. I was given that shot at around 1145am or so. The doctor came in and broke my water and 15 minutes later I was ready to push my little guy out into this crazy world.

In real time, I probably pushed for a total of 5-7 minutes. Ethan came out so quickly that he bruised his face on my pelvic bone. It was gnarly! He looked like he was in a fight -he won of course - our little assassino! Having a baby is a very stressfull time for everybody involved. You can never really time things out perfectly and ultimately, things don't go as smoothly as you would like them to. The important thing is to remember that everything worked out well and little Ethan Ezio was allowed to join our family safely. Without great family to rely on, all of the stressfull and frustrating things that go along with having a baby would simply be so much harder to handle. We are grateful for the support we've received in bringing Ethan into this world.

Ethan Ezio became the greatest addition to this family we could have asked for. He is so adorable and looks so much like his brother Cash. However he does NOT have the cowlick or red hair Cash has. He has more blondish hair, that could easily become red, but no cowlick. His hair looks alot like his dad's. Next he has the Monzello nose (the nose from my mother's side) a good addition from my Italian side :)

Ethan is absolutely amazing. It is so surreal to have two children. Cash is intrigued by him. They are going to be a great duo. Kota is jealous but gentle around him. I am overwhelmed but excited for the next phase of our family. Our family of 4.

Welcome to the family our little Assassino!!

Our Little Day-Crawler is now Our Little Day-Walker...

Captain Cash of the Cosmos/Our Little Ginger Day-Walker can now start living up to his nickname. Cash is our Daywalker because though he carries the Ginger-vitus gene, he can survive in the daylight unlike other ginger kids/vampires. Therefore, he is our Day-Walker; Our Walker of Two Worlds; The Man who Walks his own path. And as of yesterday February 4, 2011 he is a true Day-Walker. Basically, if you're a bit slow on the up-take, my clever and witty writing is indicating that Cash started walking.

Cash took his first independent steps on Wednesday the 2nd of February, but he more or less stumbled from the couch to the ottoman in about 2-3 steps. We were excited of course but figured it was more likely due to luck that he "walked". However, to our delight, the little man began taking more pronounced and bolder steps from furniture piece to furniture piece. And then, just as Cash was preparing to take a ride with daddy to the store, he decided to let go of my hand and take not 2, not 3, but 15 steps all the way across the living room,  through the kitchen and into mommy's happy arms! Our Daywalker has grown into a little man.

Needless to say, Cash was hoisted upon our shoulders and paraded around the house while his happy, dorky parents cheered and proclaimed his achievements to any living soul willing to listen (Kota). We love our little ginger and the happiness he brings to our lives. Well done, our little man. Captain Cash of the Cosmos the Day-Walker goes where no fair skinned child dares to even dream!

My Name is Calvin Colt Crane

My name is Calvin Colt Crane. For a long time, I have gone by C. Colt Crane. I've done this for years because it is a way to differentiate myself from the numerous Calvins in my family. My official signature is C. Colt Crane and I haven't gone by "Calvin" for quite some time. I mention this because I am named after my grandfather. His name is Calvin Cottrell Crane and as of Christmas Day 2010, he passed away. I attended his funeral and as I walked through the church-house doors, there was a register to sign in the main foyer of the building. I picked up the pen and added my signature to the other names already written. I looked at my signature and noticed that I had signed it Calvin Colt Crane as opposed to my normal signature of C. Colt Crane. As I looked at my name in the book, I was overcome with emotion as I realized exactly what my name meant. Perhaps I have taken my name for granted all of these years. My name is Calvin Colt Crane and though there are many Calvins in my family, I was the only relative of my grandpa to carry the C.C.C. name until my first son was born. My son is named for myself and for my grandpa. His name is Calvin Cash Crane.

Three C's in my grandfather's name. Three C's in my name. Three C's in my son's name. Three generations of the name Calvin C. Crane. My grandfather built a legacy with his life and though I will still go by C. Colt Crane, the resonant meaning of my name is carried always within. The things I accomplish in life and the failures I endure throughout are connected through the eternities to my grandfather. He was a man of principle, hard work, and sacrifice. He built his life around the gospel of Jesus Christ and as such, he instilled in his descendants the desire and responsibility to live well. I loved my grandfather while he lived. I love him still. Since the day he passed on, through his funeral services, and even today as I write these thoughts down; the only time I wept was when I signed my name to that register. Perhaps it was seeing the ink in front of me or perhaps it was the realization and reminder of the short time we have upon this earth. Whatever it was, I know what my name represents. When my son gets older, he too will someday understand his name and the man that it honors. I hope to be a fitting recipient of my grandfather's name. Thank you grandpa, for trusting me with your name and for the happy memories that name evokes.