Happy Valentine's Day, Amy

Valentine's Day will always be special to me because I will always associate the holiday with you giving me the Expectant Father book two years ago. I must admit that on that day I was hesitant in regards to what our future held, but two years later...my life has never been better!

Amy, we have now known each other for almost 10 years (January 2003 was when we first had class together). As most people know, I fell in love with you when I first saw you. My love for you continues to grow each and every day. I don't ever want our marriage and/or relationship to become stale so I should make a point to tell you things like this each and every day, not just when Hallmark tells me to.

Thank you for cooking dinner every night - and often times making the meal extra cheesy and extra spicy, just how you know I like it

Thank you for allowing me to sneak out of the house early in the morning to squeeze in a work-out

Thank you for being in the field of education. You were meant to be an educator/teacher because a) you are unbelievable with children, and b) it is how/why we met

Thank you for taking an interest in sports (both in person and on TV)...you still have room to grow ;-) but you've come a long ways and I realize and appreciate that

Thank you for making me want to be a better Dad. Seeing you be such a good Mom all of the time pushes me to try and be an equally good Dad

You are the most genuinely nice person that I know, Amy.

You are my best friend. I love you.

Books, on books, on books

I wanted to compile this list so that Ryne can refer back to it (later, when he is older, and maybe his children of his own to read to) and remember what his favorite books were during the first two years of his life.

All of the Duck and Goose books

Little Blue Truck (the farm one, not the city one)

Mr. Brown Can Moo

Goodnight Moon

Baby Bear, Baby Bear and Brown Bear, Brown Bear

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Chica Chica Boom Boom

I love reading. I love to read for my own entertainment. I love to read to gain knowledge. I love ending my day by reading a book. I value reading. As an educator, I know how important reading is. I love that Ryne has taken a liking to books. One of my absolute favorite things is when Ryne brings me one of his favorite books, plops himself down onto my lap, and lets me read him one of his favorite stories.

Ryne and his Dad

Whoa! Haven't written anything since early November...two reasons for that: 1) I don't go on long runs anymore (typically when my mind wonders to think up things to write about) - it is too cold so I use the cold months to let my body recover/rest in preparation of training for another half-marathon (in Chicago!) once it gets warmer. 2) Last year, when I blogged much more regularly, I was not nearly as busy at work. This year I have much more responsibility and many more tasks to occupy my time, which results in my mind not being able to drift and think about much else outside of work. Anyways, I've had this topic in mind for quite sometime so here we go.

Ryne is starting to expand his vocabulary. As his father, I am proud of EVERYTHING that he does/is able to do, but let me share some of his spoken "words" that have me feeling especially proud: "Batman," "ball," "football," "basketball," "baseball," "Bulls," and "touchdown." He is my son. And because he is my son, here are some of my favorite things that we have in common:

1) We share the same middle and last names - Bailey Ewald - it is crazy how you really start to appreciate your last name so much more once you pass it along to someone else

2) We both tend to be "early to rise"

3) We share a liking for sports, iPods/iPhones/iPads, books, and Batman, and MOST IMPORTANTLY...

4) We both LOVE his Mom/my Wife ;-)

It is too early to tell who he is going to take after, looks wise. His appearance is constantly changing ever so slightly. At birth I thought he looked like Kyle, sometimes people say he looks like Me, sometimes people say he looks like Amy, sometimes people say he looks like a combination of his parents. Regardless, he is devilishly handsome!