Chapter 52

The very next day, Dayna went into labor, and later that night, another Blackhawk baby made his way into the world. Austin Matthew Seabrook was born at 8:25pm on June 18th, 7 lbs. 2 oz. 21 inches long. He was a spitting image of Brent. Austin and Easton are 8 days apart. And just like that, Stan was putting another announcement onto the Hawks website.

Easton had another check up with Dr. K, he was doing very well and he was also very healthy. His personality was starting to show and his smile was from ear to ear. After that appointment, Jon and I decided to drop the car off at home, put the stroller together and take a walk down the mile. We had started going out more as Easton was getting older, but this was the first time we decided to stroll down Michigan Ave. People had recognized Jon and said congratulations, but people were respectful and left us alone for the most part, which was what I loved about being out there, and I guess it would be anywhere else with professional athletes.

We were walking down the mile, about to walk into the Nike Store, when I see 2 very familiar faces, not two seconds later, the guy is yelling at Jon to get his attention

“Buff! What’s going on man?” Jon says, saying hi to Dustin, me saying hi to Emily
“Not much man, hey Jamie! How’s the baby?” He asks after giving me a hug
“He’s good! Oh and he’s awake,” I say, as I lift the blanket over the stroller
“Oh my gosh, he’s so cute!” Emily says
“Thanks!” I say
“How long are you guys here for?” Jon asks him
“Until Wednesday, we’re going up to Minnesota from here,”
“Well, we need to get lunch then! We’re leaving for New Mexico on Tuesday for 4th of July weekend,”
“Let’s do it! When’s good?” Dustin asks
“How about now?”
“Sounds good, does that work for you ladies?” He asks, looking at Emily and me
“Definitely!” We both say

So we make our way down to Rush, and decide to eat at Tavern. The walk down was nice, as Jon pushed the stroller while he and Dustin talked and Emily and I walked behind them, with Easton in my arms.

“So how’s life out here been?” Dustin asks as we all sit down at Tavern
“It’s been good, it’s different staying down here, but seeing my parents was good too,” Jon said
“Oh yeah, since you couldn’t fly, right?” Dustin asks me
“Yeah, since the middle of the 8th month was when my doctor cut me off,”
“Well, it’s for the best right,” Emily says
“Yep, and I was glad to see Jon’s parents too, I’m also excited to go home for a few days,” I say
“So you’ll be ok to fly then?”
“Yeah, we actually shouldn't even be flying until he's closer to 3 months, but he's doing good and this is our only summer trip,”
“I think I’m picking up on something here with all these questions,” Jon says suspiciously
“Well…” Emily says, trailing off
“Are you pregnant?!” I ask quietly
“Yes!” her and Dustin say with big smiles
“Ah how far are you?”
“12 weeks,”
“Aw, congratulations, that’s so exciting!”
“Thanks!”
“And you know Ladder’s about to be a dad too?”
“No way?” Jon says surprised
“Geez, talk about an NHL baby boom,” I say
“Yeah, Brandy is due next month I think,” Dustin says
“And Dayna had her baby too right?” Emily asks
“Yep, last night actually,” Jon said
“Boy or girl?”
“Boy, Austin Matthew,”
“How cute!”
“I know, he’s so cute, looks like Brent,”

Our lunch ended up dragging out for almost 3 hours, but it was good to catch up with the next soon to be new parents. A lot of girls never liked Emily, but I thought she was such a sweet girl, and I was glad to be able to meet her. Before we parted ways, the guys promised we would get together when the Hawks were in Atlanta, and Emily and I exchanged numbers to keep in touch also.

We walked back down to Michigan Ave with Easton asleep again, in my arms. Jon needed a new iPod so we went to the Apple store, he insisted on getting me a new one too, since my old one, which was nearly 4 years old, had seen better days. So we left with 2 new iPods in hand before we went back home to relax for the rest of the day. Jon transferred music while I fed Easton and then opted to take a nap with him on the couch.

Morning had come for us to head to New Mexico for a few days and I was a little stressed to make sure we had everything we needed for Easton, and ourselves. Jon had assured me that we had enough formula, clothes, bottles, pacifiers, etc. for him before we headed down to the car we were taking to the airport.

Easton had been doing good so far, I fed him before we left and then he passed out pretty quickly, so it made it easier on us to check in our bags and get through security. Once we were on the plane, I was glad that Jon was able to get the whole row of 3 seats to our selves, even though one was empty, we could spread out a little more. He had done better then I thought on the plane, with only waking up during take off and landing.

We had our successful first flight home with the baby and he couldn’t have done it better, especially for being so young. He was secured back in his car seat before we walked through the terminal to meet my parents on the other side of security

“Jamie, over here!” my mom halfway yells
“Hi!” I say, walking over and giving them both hugs
“How was the flight?” my dad asked
“Good! Easton took it well,” Jon said, shaking hands then hugs with my parents
“Let me see my grandson,”
“Here,” I say, lifting up the blanket to a sleeping baby
“Oh wow, he’s beautiful!”
“Thanks!” as we start walking to baggage claim
“Is he a good baby?”
“Yeah, really good actually, he only cries when he’s hungry, sleeps for like 4 hours at a time,”
“Wow, you guys lucked out,” my dad said
“Yeah, I took a nap with him on the couch the other day and it was amazing, I thought for sure he’d wake up,”
“We were able to borrow a crib while you guys are here, so he has somewhere to sleep, and then we have the new bed in your old room,”
“Awesome,”
“Everyone is excited to see you guys! Jason and Ellie are here and so are the Ducks and Katy and Lisa,”
“Oh wow, the whole group!”
“Yep! Are you guys hungry? There’s not much to eat at the house, so we could get an early dinner somewhere,”
“Can we actually go to Red Robin? Amy is there,”
“Yeah, that sounds good,”

So we end up going to my old work for food, it was good to see Amy, being that I haven’t seen her since the wedding, and she had only seen a picture of Easton, when I sent her one of the birth announcements. Only a few people that I worked with were still there. Amy was still in awe that I was a mom, because she always made me watch her boys, and said it would be good birth control. But she knew how happy I was with Jon and she liked him so she was happy to see us happy.

4th of July was the next day, and we were all getting ready to go to my aunt’s house for the family get together. Everyone was excited to see us and also see the baby for the first time. The protective momma in me came out when everyone kept asking to hold him, being that he was still young, I didn’t want him getting passed around. But they all understood, and looked on. He wouldn’t have gotten far anyways, he’s already a momma’s boy, and cried a few times when I wasn’t holding him.