Aunts and uncles

Aunt Katie and Uncle Brandon, that is.

As Brandon put it, "There's going to be a baby around at Christmas! Like, this Christmas! That's going to be so weird."

My sister, Calli, called recently to tell us Baby Bitner is on his/her way. Apparently all I could say at the time was, "Wow...wow...wow." Because at some point in the conversation, she was all, "Katie, if you say 'wow' one more time, I'm hanging up."

So I quit saying wow.

Anyway, this whole situation has caused a couple of mildly humorous situations between Brandon and I.

To begin, the night my sister called, after we were in bed, Brandon asked, "You don't think this is going to start some sort of race to see who can pop out the most in the next five years, do you?"

I, very calmly, replied, "Well, Dear, if there's anyone who thinks that, I'm mailing in my white towel tomorrow." Because I'm not even remotely close to jumping on the baby bandwagon.

Then, every time we would talk to my parents, we'd say, "Hey, Grandma!" Or, "What's up, Gramps?" Or some other variation. And Brandon would ask my mom how Uncle Morgan and Uncle Mason were doing.

So a few days later, I asked him, "You know, you keep talking about Uncle Morgan and Mason, but you do realize you're Uncle Brandon too, right?"

"No, I'm not," he replied, "Not a real one anyway. I'm only part of all this by marriage. It doesn't count."

"So, your 'Aunt Ann' isn't your 'real' aunt? And my 'Uncle Dale' isn't my 'real' uncle?"

"No comment."

So I guess it's going to take a while for Brandon to adjust to this whole idea.

Apparently, Uncle Mason isn't so sure about his new role in the family either. From the story I heard, my parents and Mason were all in the car watching Morgan's baseball game when they received The Call.

From all accounts, the hangup was followed by a solid five minutes of silence while all three of them sat in shock.

The first words came from Mason: "Uncle. ...I'm going to be an uncle in the eighth grade."

My mom corrected him, saying he would be in high school before the baby arrived. Then they finished the baseball game in silence.

Now that the surprise has worn off, we're all gearing up for the fall arrival. Some of us more so than others (ahem, ...Grandma). I mean, the kid is probably the size of my big toe right now and already owns cowboy boots.

Congrats, Baby Sister. And welcome to the family, Baby Bitner.