Seven!!!

On December 19th, 2002, while at work finishing up report cards with my team, my water broke. I carefully drove home, called Aron and then my midwife, took a shower and when Aron got home from work, headed to the hospital. I was planning on having an all-natural birth, but after about 10 hours of labor, decided an epidural sounded really nice and it allowed me to rest on and off for the next 5 hours. Then it was time and about an hour later, our lives were forever changed with the words, "It's a boy!" Nathaniel Aron Rice was born on December 20th, 2002 and has blessed our lives every day since.

He's such a great son and he's constantly reminding us that he is definitely his father's son. He is so much like Aron, it's crazy! In fact, he even told me the other day, "Daddy's really crazy, but I'm catching up!" He loves to goof-off, gets easily unfocused, but also well understands what needs to be done and is proud of himself when he does it. He LOVES football and is quite obsessed actually. He's very athletic, naturally it seems, and loves playing outside, even if he has to do it alone.

He has an amazing memory and already has his life planned out, although some of the details change on a regular basis, such as where he's going to live. However, some of the details, such as who his wife is going to be and how many kids he's going to have, have stayed the same, no matter how many times we ask him about it (by the way, he's going to marry McCayla and have 5 kids, 2 of whom will for sure be named Jack and Jake :)).

He is a great big brother and is fine with the added responsibilities we've given him as the oldest, such as making sure Anna's buckled when we get into the car. He has a very tender heart and often tears up when thinking about sad things or when watching shows with me, like "Extreme Home Makeover."

We are so very proud to be his parents and our family is blessed to have Nathan a part of it. It is no question that our family is great, but not because of us parents but because our firstborn 'gets it' and sets the stage for the rest of his siblings. We love you NATHANIEL ARON RICE!