It's my fault, really.

Courtney and Christina gave birth last night to their first. James Roland Conrad Barnes. 6 pounds, some ounces, some inches, ten fingers, ten toes. That's how much I remember from the 5:20 a.m. call.

This is much earlier than expected - the official due date was June 11. Unlike the doctors, I do know why the baby was so early, and it's entirely my fault.

You see, just yesterday I booked a three-stop trip through Sacramento (three days for a conference), Los Angeles (two days of client training) and El Paso (three days to visit the new nephew and my family who will also be out there). Trish and the kids are once more making the trek to New Mexico in hopes of arriving before James got here.

Anyone familiar with Murphy's law will recognize the variation which reads, "if you purchase a plane ticket based on the due date of a baby, the baby's actual arrival will move as far away from the dates of the trip as possible."

At least James came early, so we'll still be able to see him when we're there.