Be happy for the good things that come your way, and refuse to carry the bad any more than you must.

Congrats "Uncle", and to your extended.

How awesome is it that your little one will have a cousin their own age

There are good people, bad people, average people, and everything in between. We expect everyone to be good, and we expect everyone to meet the standard that we sets for ourselves. When someone isn't good, or someone doesn't meet our standards we get upset because we set an expectation that will never be met by all that we encounter in our lives. People fall short of our expectations due to human failings. Greed, jealousy, selfishness, etc. Regardless of how these failings manifest (violence, name calling, stealing, cheating, etc) themselves, they are usually based on the same very basic human emotions, needs, feelings. All that being said, when people don't meet my expectations, I don't get upset with them because anger and stress won't help me. Instead I realize that those people are "human" and there are varying degrees of humanity. I hope that these people will eventually learn to be more human, and will become better people in time. Instead of getting upset, or trying to fix the world I move on from these people. Remember, for these people life if there own punishment/prison. When I encounter people who meet or surpass my expectations I hold on them forever. If removing yourself from the equation (family for instance) is not an option, than understanding why they fail (low self esteem, stress, lack of validation, etc) will sometimes make the future interactions more bearable. Enjoy the aspects of that family member that you like, and insulate yourself from the aspects that you don't. Just remember, we are all human, and at times we all fail. Also, remember the parable of the frog and the scorpion and do not put yourself in a position to get stung by those with stingers...

Sorry kind of went on a tangent there

Congrats on your little one and becoming an uncle!

I expected to become an uncle this summer. My sister and BIL can't have children because of a condition of his. They had been working with a Christian organization to adopt through Poland. Back in the Spring Poland up and decided to change all of it's adoption rules leaving my sister and BIL not knowing where their adoption stands. I was very disappointed. I can't imagine how it felt for them. They are still working with the agency to adopt through Poland so hopefully next summer, but they aren't against going through another country if they must.

Again, congratulations and I'm glad it all worked out.

Congrats PASig.

I sometimes see a text and intend to respond then forget and get back to it later or leave it be since I missed it.

What you post on facebook does not go to every contact/friend you have to my knowledge. It used to but not anymore. Chances are it didnt hit their feed.

Lastly: "if you keep seeking approval, you will be chained" -Lao Tzu

Easier said then done and a new child is no small thing but it just being self-aware can help with a lot of things.

congrats again!