Weekend Away

This coming weekend is going to be both fun and sad at the same time.

It will be a lot of fun because Amy and I are taking a two-day trip to Chicago, our favorite city. We have not been to Chicago since August, which is a very long hiatus for us. While in Chicago we don't plan on doing very much at all. We will stay right downtown where we will do some shopping, try-out a wine bar on Michigan Avenue that we held-off of going to while Amy was pregnant, dine at Sunda (where we will probably run into more than a few of Chicago's "A-listers"), eat brunch at a trendy spot that Amy read about in one of her magazines, watch the Blackhawks game and Derrick Rose play in the All-Star game from our favorite Chicago sports bar, and probably get some deep-dish pizza. We can't wait to get away and spend the time relaxing, just the two of us. Very excited...

You might have noticed, in the previous paragraph I mentioned that, "we can't wait to get away...just the two of us." That is correct. Ryne will be staying behind. We are not going to be introducing him to the greatest city in the world until the weather gets warmer (we have a mini-trip planned for June to take Ryne to the Lincoln Park Zoo and his first Cubs game!). It will be the first time that we are away from Ryne overnight. I am sure that it will be difficult for both Mom and Dad. However, we are very lucky to have very good babysitters (grandmas) volunteer (beg) to watch Ryne overnight; thanks.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is less than a week away. I'll admit it, previously this holiday has never been terribly high on my favorite holiday list. Actually, I'd probably categorize it with New Year's Eve and Halloween (ever since 2005 when I did not win the costume contest while dressed as an in-prisoned Pierre Pierce, I've been bitter) as my least favorite holidays. My question was always, what makes Valentine's Day so special? Shouldn't you show your loved ones love all 365 days of the year?

Anyways, I have a new respect for February 14th.

Last year, Amy and I decided not to get each other any Valentine's Day gifts; we were just going to take a little weekend trip to Galena, Illinois and fore go gifts. I, however, thought I was being: a) sneaky and b) a great husband by getting her a gift anyways. It was nothing major, just a lunch bag and matching water bottle that she'd mentioned at Von Maur. I was going to give her the gift while we were in Galena.

When Valentine's Day came, prior to going to Galena, Amy told me that she'd gotten me a gift! I was shocked (although not nearly as shocked as I was about to become). She brought me out a small little package that was very nicely wrapped. Inside was a book titled, The Expectant Father. I'm no dummy, I knew what this meant. I'd always wanted children, but we hadn't planned this. I was a little scared and trying to hide that as best as I could while exhibiting pure excitement as well. It isn't that I didn't want a child, I did, it is just that I don't always deal overly well with things that aren't routine. I had NO IDEA what to expect for the coming months.

As time went by, nerves turned to excitement and excitement turned to happiness once Ryne was born. Now, nearly one year after Amy informed me that she was pregnant, I look back at that moment as a great memory. How can she/we top that Valentine's Day? That gift? It is not possible. Finding out that Ryne was on the way is the best gift that I've ever received. I will always associate that memory with Valentine's Day, which puts Valentine's Day in pretty good graces with me. Therefore, Valentine's Day will forever be a day of ecstasy as that was the day that I first discovered that I was going to become a Dad.

Play List for Ryne

It has been a little while since I've last blogged. There is no reason for the hiatus other than the fact that I've just been keeping busy with three of my favorite things: family, sports, and work. Not a lot is new; Ryne is now over three months old, he keeps growing and growing, he consistently sleeps through the night, he seems to like his babysitter a lot (as do his Mom and Dad), sometimes he will roll from his stomach to his back, he had his little heart broken when his Bears lost in the NFC Championship, everyone seems to think that he is getting teeth, he is able to grip one of his little balls, he is talking (although the language sounds foreign)...maybe a lot is new!

Recently Ryne was given an iPod full of "baby" songs. We've been listening to it with him, and he seems to love it! This blog entry is going to be about one of my other favorite things (sarcasm), music.








I've never played an instrument, and I've never enjoyed singing. I used to listen to a lot of music, but that has recently been replaced by a preference of sports talk radio. I do, however, love making play lists that have a central theme. Earlier today I made a play list re. fatherhood/parenthood that I'd like to tell you about...


Just the Two of Us - Will Smith

• It's not just the two of us (we have three), but the rest of the song sums up a lot of the feelings I have towards Ryne. And Will Smith, however corny his songs are, is awesome.
  

I've Been Watching You - Rodney Atkins

• Because I hope that the chorus of this song is something is something that Ryne eventually does/says (minus the cowboy boots and camo pants!).
  

Anything Like Me - Brad Paisley

• While the lyrics of this song don't particularly describe me; I do wonder if Ryne will be anything like me.

It Won't Be Like this for Long - Darius Rucker

• I know this song is about a daughter, but it is my FAVORITE! Makes me appreciate soothing a crying baby, drinking cold coffee, running out of the house late for work most mornings, waking up in the middle of the night, etc. I'm sure there will come a time all to soon where Amy and me wish for these things/times to return.

The Best Day - George Strait

• Probably won't happen re. me taking him camping, but maybe he will say this about going to Kinnick Stadium, Wrigley Field, or some other place like that (fingers crossed!).

With Arms Wide Open - Creed

• Statement of clarification - I don't like Creed. However, the lyrics fit what I was looking for pretty well.

Forever Young - Bob Dylan

• The theme music from my favorite TV show, Parenthood.

Sweet Child O Mine - Guns N Roses

• It is about a girl so it isn't a perfect match, but GNR is one of my first favorite bands and I've always liked this song.

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith

• The theme song from a great movie, Armageddon, I always thought it was about the love between a man and a woman; maybe it is, but the lyrics seem to fit the relationship of a parent and a child as well.

There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney

• My third daughter song (sorry), and the first half of the song doesn't really describe the situation that Amy and me were in when we found out that Ryne was coming. However, the second half of the song is a better fit (although hopefully Ryne won't be going off to live in California anytime soon!).

Then They Do - Trace Adkins

• See "It Won't Be Like this for Long" and "There Goes My Life"

Tough Little Boys - Garry Allan

• I am fairly tough in re. to keeping my emotions in check, but I'm gonna bet that Ryne brings them out of me frequently.

Simple Man - Lynard Skynard

• One of my favorite songs period. As the song says, "All I want for you my son, is to be satisfied."

Beautiful Boy - John Lennon

• The title of the song pretty much describes Ryne to a tee. I wonder if John Lennon made a mistake by using the name Sean in his lyrics.

Original of the Species - U2

• Because there has never been another quite like Ryne.
  

Cats in the Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe

• This song is a reminder of how/what not to be (although it is a great song). I will always make time for Ryne regardless of what my career/job calls for.

December 27th – January 2nd – Best Week Ever/2010 – Best Year Ever

Last week was the best week of my life. Prior to today, I’d spent the last 12 days at home with Amy and Ryne. That is the longest that I’ve ever been able to stay at home with Ryne (I got five days at home after he was born before I had to go back to work).

Here are some of the things that we were able to do with Ryne over the break:

Celebrate our first Christmas together
Watching him smile with frequency
Mimicking me and sticking out his tongue
Learning to blow spit bubbles
Sit, listen, and focus for stretches were I would read him multiple (sometimes up to five) books at a time
Celebrate our first New Year’s Eve together – a nice little family dinner at Governor’s, and watching TV shows on DVD before falling asleep prior to midnight – it was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve had in a long time
Celebrate our first New Year’s Day together
Watch Ryne roll over for the first time

To someone without kids, this list probably looks lame. But it isn’t/wasn’t.

I knew that I would enjoy Ryne and love Ryne, but I never imagined enjoying him so much and loving him so much.

The joy of having a child and watching that child are indescribable. I never understood it until Ryne was actually here on Earth. You can not find joy like this anywhere else, from anything else.

I love the life that I have. I am blessed with a great family, good friends, a good job, and good health. I could not think of any single way that my life could be made any better. I am so blessed, and so thankful for that.

2010 was a great year, probably the best year ever. I told Amy that recently, and she asked me why. I told her, “Ryne.” Ryne is the sole reason as to why my 2010 was so incredible. 2011 looks promising, though, too. Just imagine all of the change and growth Ryne will go through. I will get my first Father’s Day to celebrate. We will take our first family vacation together. Ryne will celebrate his first birthday. And I’m sure that there will be countless other things that will make 2011 unbelievable.

I’ll finish by recounting my version of dropping Ryne off for his first morning of daycare (which was today), which officially concluded my best week ever. Ryne woke up early, which was good because we were not rushed getting out the door, and because Amy and me got to play with him a tiny bit. I didn’t think that taking him to the sitters would be difficult, I really didn’t. However, as it got closer and closer to the time that I needed to leave the house, I started to move a little bit slower. I didn’t want to put him in the car seat. Unfortunately, I did because I had to (he needs diapers and formula – those things cost money – mom and dad have to work to get money). While at the sitters things went fine. He wasn’t fussy and he didn’t cry (he dealt with this much better than his mom and dad did). After talking with his sitter for a couple of minutes I had to tell him goodbye and that I loved him, and kissed him on the cheek. As I turned to leave I watched him watch me out the door with his big, wide-open eyes; it looked to me like he looked a little sad and a little scared, which made me A LOT sad. And while I didn’t cry, I did get choked up and was forced to fight back the tears. I never saw this coming. It was much harder than I’d expected. I can not think to imagine how much harder these things will get as he gets older…I don’t want to imagine them; I’d kind of like for time to just stand still.

Hawkeye Memories

The 500 word essay that I submited to Hawkeyesports.com regarding Hawkeye memories in an attempt to win tickets to Iowa football and/or basketball games...if I win, I'll let you know!

I love sports. Football is my favorite. The Iowa Hawkeyes are my favorite team. This has been the case for as long as I can remember. I grew up east of Iowa City, in the same hometown of former Hawkeye great Marv Cook. My parents are both University of Iowa alums. I would usually get to go to one Hawkeyes game each season as a child, but I always watched them on TV. Nick Bell was the first player that I recall being my favorite, but other favorite Hawkeyes from my childhood included: Vernon Rollins, Damien Robinson, Sedrick Shaw, Tavian Banks, Bashir Yamini, Jerry Montgomery, and Fred Barr before my age equaled that of the players on the roster.

I was fortunate to be an undergraduate at the University of Iowa while Kirk Ferentz was re-establishing Iowa as a regular Big Ten contender. I had season tickets and I never missed a home game. Actually, my fondest memories of college took place while attending Iowa football games on the road in places like Minneapolis, Madison, Champaign, Miami, and Orlando, but those memories are longer than 500 words would allow. After graduation I moved to Davenport and gave up my season tickets as I became a graduate student taking Saturday class. Nonetheless, I still followed the Hawkeyes. My wife and I would travel to Iowa City for a handful of games each fall, and I would watch the rest on TV. Even when occupied by class, during games I would receive play-by-play text messages keeping me updated.

This year, however, I was done with graduate school. My wife and I purchased season tickets. Expectations for the season were the highest they’d been in my adulthood. Not only was 2010 going to be great because Iowa was going to contend for the Rose Bowl, but it was going to be great because my wife and I were expecting our first child on October 13th! The pregnancy was going well; my wife was a trooper going to the Iowa State, Ball State (staying through the rain), and Penn State games with me. After the Penn State game, I thought that I was in the clear! There were 20 days until Iowa’s next home game, and surely our son would be born prior to that. My son, knowing how much his Dad loved the Hawks was timing his entrance perfectly! Then the due date passed. The Michigan game came and went. My attendance at the Iowa/Wisconsin game was questionable. My wife agreed that if we were out of the hospital before Saturday, I could go to the game. We had Ryne on Thursday, the 21st. We were in the hospital on the 22nd, and we left around 10am on the 23rd. I decided to skip the game; I would be watching the Iowa/Wisconsin game with my family in our home. Unfortunately Iowa lost, but I’d never been in such a good mood after a loss due to the presence of my newly born son!

I'm not sure if I will win, but I'm pretty sure that I should win.

Christmas Movies

Like the song says Christmas, "it's the most wonderful time of the year!" Spending time with family, Christmas shopping, all of the lights (wish I could make some sort of connection to the Kanye West song that goes by this title, but there is unfortunately zero connection), the one time during the year when snow is tolerable, giving, the sending and receiving of Christmas cards with people that you haven’t found time to communicate with often enough, the decorations, the smells produced by Christmas trees and baking Christmas treats, the time off of work (sorry if this does not apply to you!), bowl season, the NFL playoffs starting to take shape, the Bulls back to playing on Christmas day, and wearing Christmas ties are amongst the many reasons why I love this time of the year. However, the intent of this entry is to elaborate on a recent Facebook status of mine, “My five favorite Christmas MOVIES,” because I LOVE staying in when it is cold outside and watching Christmas movies with my family (and a glass or two of red wine and/or dark beer).

Honorable Mention: Bad Santa, Elf, and Home Alone

5.) Family Stone: this is my guilty pleasure on the list. It is funny, it is serious, and it is sad. Like the late, great basketball coach Jimmy Valvano said, there are three things that you should do every day: think, laugh, and cry; this movie can bring you to all three of those things.

4.) Four Christmases: two reasons why I like this movie – 1) to a degree this is what Amy and I do each year, and 2) Vince Vaughn. Anything that Vince Vaughn says is funny due to his delivery. The best two parts of this movie: “Woman! Do your job and swaddle this baby!” This was all I knew about swaddling babies prior to Ryne. And, “I'm gonna vomit. I'm about to throw up. Oh, God. I'll get sick. I can't be here. Take it away from me. I'm sorry. I love you. You gotta get out of here. I can't breathe.”

3.) Die Hard (One & Two): one reason John McClane. He is the baddest fictional character ever who isn’t a superhero (second only to Batman). I remember seeing, and loving, Die Hard Two in the theaters on a rainy day when I was seven while vacationing to Lake Okoboji.

2.) It’s a Wonderful Life: classic. It really is a wonderful life for us all. Unfortunately, Clarence is not available to show all of us the little, subtle things that we do/have in our lives that are appreciated, enjoyable, and meaningful. However, when we slow down and take a step back to reflect, it is evident that our lives are meaningful to many others around us.

1.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: this is the end goal. I want to go out with the family and cut down a tree from a tree farm. I want to host the family for Christmas (prerequisite: owning a larger home). I want to dress the house in lights that attract a crowd. I want to go sledding very fast down very big hills (though preferably not into traffic and/or Wal Mart parking lots). Through all of their faults and flaws, the Griswolds are a great family; a family that wouldn’t be horrible to model.

(Three favorite “Holiday” themed TV episodes/shows: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Seinfeld – “The Strike” (which should be renamed to the Festivus episode))

Reading is FUNdamental

Before I begin...Ryne is now smiling from time to time!

There are MANY things that I hope Ryne will achieve/experience in his lifetime. First and foremost I want him to be happy and healthy. I would like for him to be well educated throughout his life, and well employed once he is an adult. Yes, I would like for him to be a world class athlete (or just an athlete for that matter), but that would just be icing on the cake; I honestly feel this way – Ryne could chose not to participate in athletics, and I would be fine with that. Although, hopefully he will at least choose to take an interest as a spectator of sports…

Anyways…I really hope that he becomes an avid reader. I love to read. Reading is enjoyable. Reading is relaxing. Reading is how you educate yourself. Reading is the sign of a life long learner. These days, life long learners are what we try to create in schools.

Prior to Ryne being born, I would read (usually) every night before going to bed for about half of an hour. I would (usually) finish about a book a month. I still read, it is just harder to find the time to read for long stretches of time.

I realize that I have many obligations as a parent while raising a child. Amongst the obligations, I feel obligated to model reading and I feel obligated to read to my child. I do read to Ryne, but I feel as though I should be reading to him more. It is hard to read to someone who is still too young to show too much reciprocal interest. However, he will sit and listen and stare at the pages if you catch him in the right mood; I LOVE to read to him when I can catch him in the right mood!

Ryne has a quite large book collection, considering he is still less than two months old. My favorite books to read to him are Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, and during Christmas season How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I can’t wait to steal a Griswold family tradition and begin reading The Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve! I also enjoy reading the little cardboard books to him that contain facts about my favorite sports teams (it is NEVER too early to learn; Amy even usually learns a thing or two when I read these to Ryne).

Sometimes I will even read whatever it is that I am reading to Ryne. The fathering book that Amy gave me told me that babies liked to be read Sports Illustrated because of the colorful pictures (YES!) so I do that sometimes. On occasion, I will read him articles from the newspaper and the internet. When he was first born I was reading a book by John Wooden, and I read him the little anecdotes/life lessons that it contained.

Currently, (and this is kind of funny, to me) I am reading a book about the greatest team that I’ve ever seen – the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. This was my favorite team ever (and during this particular year my favorite player was Dennis Rodman), I think that my family probably watched a majority of their 82 regular season plus playoff games! I regress, last night I read aloud a few of the chapters to Ryne. Unfortunately this is not a picture book, but I noticed that Ryne was staring intently at the cover. I kind of thought (hoped) that he was staring at the front cover as there is a collage of the different Bulls on that cover. However, it seemed he was staring at the back cover…a picture of Dennis Rodman…in drag. Oh well, I think it is kind of funny…but maybe I should stick with cardboard picture books.