My 100th blog post

So, this blog entry is quite a special one. Why you ask?

This marks my 100^th blog entry. I know, crazy huh? It isn’t groundbreaking news or anything, but it is an accomplishment in my book. What book is that? Not sure, but, it’s mine! It’s all mine, muwhahahahaha!

I was thinking to myself, this morning, on my way into work… "what should be my topic for my Centenarian post?"

Should I make this a thank you entry? Picture myself standing behind a podium; in front of all the blogging world… The spotlight on me as I wipe the sweat from my brow. “I’d like to thank blogger.com…. my wife, my son…! Hi mom!”

Should it be something profound and insightful or something funny and lighthearted? Honestly, I still have no idea. I figured that I would just write as I usually do… about whatever is in my cranium at that time. That is usually how it goes… if you were wondering how my mind works. I am ADD, I have never been diagnosed, but I am pretty sure I am. I am surprised I can ever stay on topic!

My blog was created for so many reasons. One reason was so that our out-of-town family could reap the joys of our experiences. My wife, Laura, and I wanted to make sure they knew what was going on with our pregnancy and beyond. OMG I’m A Daddy is mainly about my experiences with fatherhood and striving to be good dad. My experiences with my family and my son, MJ. My son was the true inspiration for this online journal. It was to document my wife’s pregnancy and how it affected me. I wanted to make sure I was able to give an account of my side of the story. My crazy stories… I cannot believe I have people who visit my blog and read the rubbish that I write. A blog is such a great outlet, though. I mean I could talk about Jellyfish, post-it notes (I invented post-its) or how I don’t like the color mauve. Why? Because this is MY blog and it gives me the freedom to discuss whatever I want to discuss. I can vent to my blog… I can put my thoughts out there and it is sort of liberating to tell the story of my life and have people from all walks of life read about it. It is mind blowing to me that people visit my blog, and for that I am thankful.

I have learned so much from when I started. It is amazing to me to think that I could find friends through this medium, but I have. I first was so jealous of all the other “daddy-bloggers” out there. I never thought I could write anything worth reading. All the other bloggers seemed so good at it… would I be worth conversing with? But, many of the dad-bloggers accepted me. “Why me?” I wondered. “What kind of insight would I ever have to offer?” I said to myself. I was a soon-to-be dad… I didn’t know jack! Well, I have an uncle Jack, but that is beside the point.

The friendships I have made through blogging staggers my mind. The guys (and gals,) are spread out all over the world… I have never met them, but I feel like I know ‘em. They are my online fam. They make me feel like I am not losing my mind!

So, I am patting myself on the back for once. I am proud of myself. I started something a year ago and am still going strong. Let’s hope that writers block doesn’t creep up on me because I still have a lot to say!

Cheers!

I must say...

I’m a very lucky man.

I just want to take a moment, to thank my wife, for marrying me.

This weekend, on June 7^th to be exact, will mark the day where my best friend and I tied the knot. This Sunday will be our 1 year wedding anniversary. I cannot believe how fast a year has gone by, but I have enjoyed every minute of being married to the one person who brings out the best in me. I am a very lucky man and I hope Laura knows how much I love her.

I am very, very excited about celebrating our 1 year anniversary, this weekend.

My wife is the kind of woman who is perfect, so perfect in fact I have to sometimes remind myself I am not living in a dream... the idea of her is unfathomable! We made such a beautiful child... Mauldin is.. well, perfect! I said it once, but will say it again... I am a very lucky man to be married to such a loving, caring, smart, beautiful, okay, okay...

Laura, I love you. That is basically what I meant to say at the beginning.

Thank you for marrying me. I am honored to be your husband. I love you.

Eric

A New Normal...

Today, it was certainly evident, to me, that my wife is getting frustrated…

Laura is ready, ready to… well, NOT be pregnant anymore. Now, don't get me wrong… this pregnancy has actually been a fairly easy one, from my point-of-view, and not too many complications; aside from the occasional pre-term labor scares and the couple of weeks on bed rest. But, she sent me a text message today that said…

"I can't wait for our baby to be here so we can just get back to a normal pace."

I guess after almost 39 weeks of sharing my body with something I would be ready to have it back too!

It struck me… Normal pace? We will never be living at a normal pace again. No matter if our son comes today or two weeks from now… we can never go back… we will have a "new" (slightly sleep deprived, yet improved) normal from the moment he is born! Please, understand, I am excited about our "new" normal, but I know we both do not take a quick change as easy as people may assume.

One thing I am confident of is… Laura is keen on getting back into shape and back into her old clothes… She complains about how nothing fits anymore… how her "cankles" ache. (Please NOTE: her idea of cankles are hardly cankles!) As we walk by the bikinis at Target or she flips through the Victoria Secret catalog… she automatically says,

"oh, one day soon my friends… just you wait! I will be with you soon!"

I know that she is raring to go and have this labor begin. Although, when it starts she may change her tune; we will just have to wait and see.

I know that my wife is one of the strongest and most positive people I know… so labor, complete with epidural, should be a walk in the park. (Notice how I can say this because I am a man and have no idea what it would feel like to have something the size of a watermelon come out of my… well okay.) I, of course, will be there supporting her the entire time… One thing I will not be doing is making sure I institute the teachings of the church of Scientology. If my woman wants to scream… let it be known… she can yell, scream and shout out anything she wants!

We are truly ready for our lives to never be the same. One day maybe Kelly Clarkson will change her mind... this is such an exciting time for us... I couldn't imagine not wanting to experience being a parent.

Not to get too psychological, but after the labor, our "new" normal will begin to unfold… the new tapestry that is weaved into our lives will be set forth into motion. The old becomes new, different… and our future will have arrived!

Mauldin will be our "new" normal…

Racing the clock....

“Hey babe,”

I said while talking into my cell phone to my wife, Laura, on the other end. It is a nice phone, it is my crack-berry, as my wife so eloquently calls it. It is something I have come to find I cannot live without. It is about a three inch high black and gray blackberry that has become one of my appendages. Mainly so because I am awaiting a call that says... "IT's time! Really, it is time!"

“I just got out of class and I am on my way home…I am starving…!”

It was 7:33 PM and I knew I would be cutting it close to get home in time to watch “Survivor.” It is a new season and the third episode would be coming on. I hate missing it. Between thinking of missing “Survivor” and eating I really started to have an mild panic attack.

You may wonder... "Survivor?" Okay, I have loved this show since the first season in Borneo. I have even tried out a couple of times. Well, when I was in my early 20s, that is. I would love to be on this show... mainly because no one would suspect I would do well. One day, one day... I will have my torch and I will be "the ultimate sole Survivor!" hahaha

“What have you had to eat today?” said Laura with a tone that I hate to hear. It is like she is disappointed in me… a tone only a mother usually would use.

“I ate.” I said, with short and to-the-point resonance.

“Ate what?” Laura asked.

“I had a Venti, non-fat, w/ whip Carmel Macchiato,” I said. “and a blueberry muffin!”

“Eric,” Laura said with a sultry sigh. “That is not enough…”

“I’m on my way home.” I interjected quickly, “can you maybe fix me a Caesar salad when I get home?”

“Yes.” She replied. “But, we don’t have any mozzarella cheese, can you pick some up at Publix?”

“Yep!” I said, “anything else? I was hoping this would be all because I was fading fast. The amount of sugar in my body was at an all-time low. I could feel my heart racing, I began to sweat and could tell that my caffeine buzz had worn off and all I had left were the jitters that caffeine leaves behind. I was basically a crack addict, but only thing was that my drug was coffee.

“Yes,” she said.

My fear was alive and well; she was going to have me meander around this store looking for something that I could not possibly find… it was probably going to be something of a womanly nature… like pads or something… however… I was cut off from my thinking when she said…

“Sweet tea. The Publix sweet tea, it is right next to the deli.”

What a sweet woman. She knew, to tell me, exactly where to go because being in my current state-of-mind I would need all the assistance in finding said beverage. By this time it was already 7:46 PM,; I knew I had less than 15 minutes to get into Publix, pick up everything I needed and be home in time for the opening montage.

I make it to Publix… I decide while there I will pick me and Laura up a sub so we can eat together. I am glad I did because, come to find out, Laura hadn’t eaten since 3 PM! I was in no mood to get into an argument, so I let it slide. I knew the argument would seriously cut into both my show and the affection I may receive later...

“Okay, I am home!” I said while running in and dropping off my laptop on the near by love seat. The love seat we have is so nice. It came from Rooms-to-Go, however, it sure has held up pretty good. But, everyone keeps reminding me that our house will soon lose its luster when Mauldin arrives.

“I’m glad to see you.” Said Laura.

I could tell she was waiting for me to notice she was there. I looked at the clock, it was 7:59 PM. I had made it! I couldn’t believe I made it home and had not missed my show! I ran over and kissed my wife ever-so gently on the cheek and embraced her. It was hard to get a good hug in lately due to her pregnant belly. I can’t pull her in as close as we used to without it being in the back of my mind that we are about to squish Mauldin to death. In my mind it felt like we were in slow motion. My mind was racing a million miles a minute due to the amount of caffeine I had ingested a few hours before. I was so hungry my primal instincts began to take over. I wanted food… I wanted it now…

“Yes,” I replied. “I am so glad to be home!”

I finally got home to eat salad, my sub; see my show and love on my woman.

Moral of story… Venti coffee’s from Starbucks.. can really mess you up. Get a grande.

A free weekend, oh the possibilities....

Okay, this weekend we are pretty much free to do whatever we want because, unlike most weekends, we don't have any pre-set plans. Atleast any we decided to attend... but with that being said we honestly wanted to have atleast one "free" weekend for ourselves... just ourselves. We contemplated jet setting off to Disney World for the weekend of thoughtless frivolity, but alas, our responsibilities got in the way... sorry Mickey! We really want to be there... (Don't worry, those days are over... *sigh*)

I mean we certainly deserve it don't we? My wife, Laura, is a very hard working teacher and during the week her stress is extemplified ten-fold due to endless meetings and never-ending piles of paperwork. I, on the other hand, have a full-time job and am a part-time student. I am a communication/event coordinator for several Atlanta Business Associations. I am at work everyday from eight to four-thirty, and most days have class until atleast 7:30pm. Whenever we get home we say our hellos, talk about our days, give a hug and a kiss and then spend the rest of the evening either on the computer, side-by-side, or watching a few hours of our favorite shows... usually TMZ, How I met Your Mother, Heroes, Survivor or past seasons of the Mole or Smallville. Then it seems like we are back to work as soon as we got home... it's frustrating! I will try and digress... or change the subject;

Ohhh look! Shiney!

(I do tend to be a tad ADD at times... )

I don't mean to whine, I mean I am glad I have a job! Certainly, but, I guess, I wish there were just more hours in the day... Damn Earth, why couldn't you just revolve a little bit slower?

So, when the weekends get here it is often full of things we have planned to do during the week, but never found time to do because we were so busy. Weekends are usually full of parties, weddings, family get togethers, writing papers, etc...

But, thankfully, this weekend, we are free to do whatever we want... I miss the days when Laura and I would stay home, and just play video games all day... yes, I have a wife that will play video games... and honestly sometimes a LOT better than me. I hope I can sit around with Mauldin and have some quality hand-eye coordination with him... of course we will go out doors and do things too! Catch! Okay, lets go back and finish that level! HAHAHA

Laura and I get so intranced in our games we actually have "no shower" days! I know she will probably say...

"Eric! I can't believe you put that in your blog!"

Really tho, spray on some cologne and apply some deoderant (antipersperiant) and you are good to go for another... say... 6-8 hours! Depending on your activities, of course.

I'm sure there are A LOT of people who have no shower days... (I know of plenty, although, I won't name names... )sometimes consecutive and I doubt they are going to criticize... although, I will say, after a day... a shower and shampoo are a must!

Now it is not like we play "World of Warcraft" like they do on south park, but our video game days do sort of go long... how long? Sometimes we start at 10am and don't finish until... okay we sound really dorky don't we? Alright, I hope you all enjoy your weekend!!!

Have fun while it lasts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life Moves Pretty Fast...

“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it!” –Ferris Buller

It has been a couple of weeks since we moved all of the furniture out of one of our spare bedrooms, which is now our nursery. The nursery has been empty, for about three weeks, all except for some baby clothes in the closet, a vintage, antique dresser that was my great aunt Lillian’s and about 40 pieces of white computer paper taped together to show where the baby furniture is to be placed. However, this week we have gotten the baby furniture delivered, thanks to the coolest father-in-law a guy could have. Bill, Laura’s dad, picked up our baby furniture and drove it all the way to Canton. We are now proud owners of one convertible baby bed and dressing station. Not to mention, all the new baby accessories we have acquired throughout the last few months. All of Laura’s new wardrobe… and my wonderful mother, who has bought us our high chair! It seems we have all this new stuff and we haven’t even had one shower, yet!

It is amazing, we don’t even have photos from our wedding yet, but we have all this baby stuff!

Our next goal is to gain some storage in our home… one thing is for sure… if we don’t I may go a little crazy!

The other day Laura and I were riding in the car discussing what we were gonna do on our upcoming trip to Disney World.

“We need to make sure we put the deposit down on the ‘citi-mini’ at USA Baby.” I said

The citi-mini is a travel stroller we saw in a store and would love to have it for our upcoming trip to Disney.

“We will, but we have some time…” replied Laura.

“Hey- what would you have said if someone had pulled us aside and told us the next time we would be at Disney we would be parents?” I said in a hushed tone as if it were a secret.

“I would of not been surprised” replied Laura in such a matter-of-fact tone. “It was our plan, wasn’t it?”

“Yes” I said, “but our last trip was this past December! I mean we weren’t even married yet!!! Sometimes I just look around and think, wow, I’m gonna be a dad! It just makes you realize how fast life changes…” I said.

“Yep, but I think it’s for the better, don’t you?” said Laura and she reached over and kissed my cheek. “You are gonna be a wonderful father.”

If you are lost… let me tell you a little bit about what I am talking about! Laura’s family and my family are all going to Disney World this September. You can read more about this at: You know when you’re a fan…

Laura and I have been wanting a ‘citi-mini’ stroller ever since we saw it in the store.

“I love how it just compacts like that,” said Laura very enthusiastically. “It’s perfect, it won’t be that heavy for you, I mean us to carry on the buses.”

Notice how she said, you first? Freudian-slip if I ever heard one.

“Yes, it is nice…” I said in agreement. “I like the red… easier to pick out in a crowd.”

“Definitely!” said Laura.

It is perfect for traveling and it would be almost impossible to take our “travel system” with us on the trip, no-less, the plane! Although, I am sure parents do it every day. However, Laura and I want as little as stress as possible… considering we will be traveling with an infant. And, in my old age… I have begun to hate flying. (Not so much flying, as lift-off!)

Funny how your priorities change, isn’t it? About a year ago we were discussing wedding plans… and I was working on paying for our honeymoon and now the baby. It seems like no matter who you are you are always in a constant flux of change. Okay, sorry, didn’t mean to get so Confucius on you all.

I guess the days of being jet setters are behind us… although, one day, when we are retired… oh, no, nevermind! HAHAHA!

Stress... stress go away...