Baby Girl

April 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. our daughter was born and my oh my how time has flown since then, we celebrated her 1 year old birthday last week.

In just one year our house has gone from that of a growing family, to the home of a family. It seems as though most days we barely have time to catch our breath, as we are busy playing, laughing, loving, and doing everything else that a family does. It has been an amazing journey to say the least. I'm not sure if time is going by faster or what, but she seems to be doing everything so fast…. From walking to eating by her self, to beginning to talk there has been no slowdown at all. It makes me remember what an old friend of mine had said to me when our son was born, "Before you know it you will be saying goodbye as they are off to college". I only hope that it doesn't go that fast. One thing that made me laugh about her birthday party was that she seemed to have eaten so much dinner that she wasn't really interested in eating too much birthday cake. Maybe we won't have to worry to much about her having sweets!

But our beautiful baby girl is quickly becoming our beautiful little girl. While we are in no rush for this, we have no control over it and we are along for the wonderful journey that it will be. It has been that way since my wife went into labor with her, which if I haven't told that story, here is the abbreviated version:

On April 21st I went out to lunch with some of my co-workers to a restaurant they all enjoy very much. I went with a dish that had been recommended to me. It all seemed to go really well, it tasted alright and all of that. When I got back to the office I had a little bout of upset stomach, but it passed and I thought nothing of it. Later that night at around 10:30 p.m. I had another bout of upset stomach that led to some vomiting and diarrhea for about 2 hours. Meanwhile our toilet broke, which led to some improvisation but it got resolved. I hit the bed at half past midnight looking forward to some much needed rest……

Around 2:30 a.m. my wife woke me up and told me that she had been in labor for an hour… I remembered that we had read and been told that if labor was light enough it might be a good idea to try and sleep through it for a while, so I asked my wife if she thought she could sleep a while longer…. I know this was a bright shining moment for me. But anyways she couldn't sleep anymore and I could do no more than root her on from the fetal position. Around 4:30 we started to make arrangements for our son to be taken care of, now I was keeping time of contractions and everything but I was still very much in the hurt locker.

Fast forward to around 8:00 a.m. and we left our house, I was feeling pretty good by now, except I was tired. On the way we (or should I say I) thought we had time to pick up a coffee on the way to the hospital, I know another brilliant idea.

We got to the hospital and my wife was 8.5 cm dilated, that is when the wonderful journey began and it has never slowed from there!!!!!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful little girl!

Moved

This past weekend was a wonderful one by all measures, we were able to reconnect with old friends, as well as take advantage of an opportunity for all of our children to get to know each other better. We pulled into the hotel in Des Moines it was early afternoon and everything felt as it should, the children played and we caught up. It was a nice reminder of just how fun a little trip can be. After dinner we hit a park and watched the wonder of children at play, it was a peaceful and centering time. That night the ladies left me with all the children and headed to Ani Difranco's concert, everything was just perfect.

They had a great time at the show and built my own growing suspense for Sunday when my wife and I would go see Ani again in Omaha. As we said goodbye on Sunday morning I couldn't help but reflect on how great it is to be with beautiful people.

As we pulled into town we decided to drive by the venue of the concert that night to see if we could by chance meet Ani, we had no luck but instead met her opening act Buddy Wakefield. This made for a funny story as after my wife saw his show the night before she sent me a text predicting that he would be my next "man crush". He got a laugh out of the story and just having a chance to share the story with him made it all the better.

We headed home, caught a nap and went to dinner before going to see Ani again on Sunday. The line was short when we got to the venue allowing us to pick our spot to see the show with no problems. We got situated and waited for the brilliance to begin.

Live music is always a wonderful opportunity to witness live the brilliance of talent and artistic expression, this show was no different. Buddy's opening was fantastic and laid the foundation for a wonderful set from Ani.

One of the most exciting parts for me of this concert was knowing how my wife is a huge fan of Ani and has been for so long. I hoped that she would get a chance to hear some of the old tracks that helped her become such a big fan, as well I hoped that Ani's show would be different from the previous night, Ani delivered beyond our wildest hopes. It was a small venue which made it even better!

We got to hear 18 tracks of her greatest work, thank you Ani for such a moving experience!

Wisdom

Love is the ability
and willingness to allow
those that you care for to be
what they choose for themselves
without any insistence
that they satisfy you.


~ Wayne Dyer