Zuchinni Patch Girl?

Uncle Brent and Aunt Halina totally surprised us yesterday with a birth announcement of their own. Looks like Anna's new cousin might steal the show at our next family Thanksgiving. Check out their message...

Announcing the arrival of the newest member of the Rice/Siwolop family! After roughly 2 months of hard labor in the garden, our beautiful baby entered the world this evening at 6:47pm, weighing in at 2 lb. 1 oz. and measuring a sleek 16 inches! More formal introductions will follow once we have decided on one of three names we're considering, so for now any affectionate term of endearment that approximates "large", "tasty", "delicious", etc. will do.

Mother and vegetable are both healthy and resting at present after a long night with little sleep. Halina was induced around 6:46 pm to go outside and cut the vine, but her progress really took off between 6:46 pm and 6:47 pm. By the time she got to the garden, she was fully tired and ready to go back inside. I tell you what, it's hard to label Halina, but she cut like a champ in this case - 2 minutes from the time she went outside until our little one made her grand entrance. Very impressive if I do say so myself :) The only problem we encountered during delivery was that the vine got wrapped around the baby's, uh, "neck". However, she was quickly able to cut it, and after some vigorous shredding, our little one turned into the sweetest loaf of zucchini bread I'll probably ever eat. Both parents were able to be here to taste her, as well as one set of grandparents. Needless to say, baby Rice/Siwolop is getting eaten fast!

I hope you enjoy these first sneak peaks of our girl. If they whet your appetite for more, we have set up a blog so that you can follow her adventures as she gets used up. This way, instead of sending you multiple emails each time we make her into another dish or she does something hilarious (unlikely), you can just visit www.watchhalandbrenteattheirbaby.com any time you want and stay up to date on what we're eating in our world. I know some of you may not be terribly familiar with zucchini recipes (neither was I honestly), but I hope you'll bookmark our site and visit it often. Then you can brag to your friends about how hungry you are! There will also be a way for you to order recipes of your favorite dishes if you like. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. In the meantime, be patient as I try to get things uploaded while catching up on making fritters and sauteing.

Each of you holds a special place setting in our hearts and we are thrilled to share this moment with you. Our love and a piece of zucchini bread to each of you!

Brent and Halina

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Ahhh, the joys of gardenhood. Takes me back to our own bundle of joy last year