Happy Birthday Ethan William

On August 15th, my youngest son, Ethan William turned one year old.  Having three older children, I knew the year would go fast but in this case it has been nothing short of a whirlwind!

Last year on the day of his "birth" things seem to go so very slow.  Labor, for Laura, lasted more than twelve hours and after so long the doctors made the decision to simply do a c-section and help him into the world.  He was not happy! 

His birth, while amazing and a terrific experience, was not at a fantastic time for me.  I was unemployed and would do my first of four job interviews with my current employer when Ethan was only two days old.  I was terrified of being the "unemployed" dad.  Ethan, however, did not seem to care. 

The first night he slept completely though the night and spend a good portion of that time sitting on my chest.  Laura slept very little as she would check on Ethan by reaching out of her bed to grab his hand and touch his face.  Holding him that first day met waiting your turn, even if you were his dad. 

Laura's Mother (Debbie), Father (Craig), sister (Kristi), Laura's friends (Elise, Laura, Heidi and Sarah)were all on hand to see Ethan come into the world and they quickly fell in love with him and demanded that they get to hold him. 

He was so amazingly big that he attracted the attention of nurse's at Bixby and they seemed to find a reason to come into the room to "help" with something.  This, of course, was kind of sweet to be honest. 

I spent the first month and a half of Ethan's life unemployed and with him and Laura everyday as she was on maternity leave.  It was, looking back, an amazing time. 

Ethan has grown so quickly that it is shocking.  At his one year doctor's appointment he was 32" and 27 lbs 6 oz.  He has been walking since he was ten months old and is now getting that he can (and does) ask for the things that he wants by pointing.  He loves to be held and played with and mostly he loves being read to. 

I don't know if I can express in words what this little boy and his Mother have done for me in the last year.  What I can say is this; "Ethan, you are one of the luckiest little boys on this earth.  You have a Mother, Grand Parents and Aunt that love and adore you.  You have shown me hope and joy.  You have two older brothers and an older sister that think you are the coolest thing ever! Ethan William . . . I love you and can't wait to see you grow into the wonderful young man that I know you will be".

Happy First Birthday, Son - Love, Dad

. . . . . ya know, life is WONDERFUL . . .

It has been a long while since I wrote anything - after promising myself that I would be more active - HA! Guess that I need to work on improving.  Well, improving on the blog that is.  In life - I am super happy right now and I have started to understand why. 

A while back I made the decision that I needed to be more "positive" with my general outlook and acceptance about things.  It wasn't that I was walking around angry and bitter but I was spending too much time thinking about things I couldn't correct or control.  Yep, I don't have the amount of money I want and geez . . . bills suck. Yep, I go for days and days without getting a return call or text from the kids and that sucks. But - none of these things are something that I can control and all I can do is be the best person that I am suppose to be, right?

One of the biggest changes that I decided to make was to stop from reading so many political blogs. Honestly, my "favorites" section on Internet explorer had more than forty blogs that I would read or look at daily. I also decided to give up talk radio in favor of K-Love (96.9). Both of these decisions have greatly helped me learn to walk away from thoughts and feelings that I have about the behavior of others and has given me "prospective". I have wrestled with this idea of "prospective" for a long time and even renamed this blog because of it. I, just like everyone else, have to contend with the idea that it, "prospective" is an ever evolving creature and one that can only be seen clearly with a firm foundation. K-Love, the music and commentary, has really helped me start building a better foundation or rather a more clear foundation.

Laura has been and remains nothing short of AMAZING and I can't express to her in words how much I appreciate and love her. During the past two years she has stood beside me and supported me more than I ever thought possible. She is an terrific mother and I am proud to call her, "my girl"! She has reminded me of the things that are important to me; my kids, family and believing / feeling that I am doing something helpful with my life.

I feel so happy and thankful for the great things that I have been granted; Jacob, Hannah, Knoah, Ethan and of course; Laura Leigh! My position at work is wonderful and I love what I do so it is much less work than something that fulfills my desire to feel as if I am helping.

Work has led me to meet some wonderful people and thinks to one of them, I have been nominated for a terrific opportunity that would be a great honor for me. The lead agency that is my program granter, has nominated me to apply for the American Express Leadership Academy. The program ran by American Express is a year long commitment that begins with "pre-conference" work before being invited to New York for a week to learn from professionals with American Express on how to integrate non-profits, NGOs and the corporate community. I am humbled just to have been nominated to apply and will be awestruck if I am accepted. There are only 48 persons a year admitted and if by God's blessing, I happen to be one of them, WOW. . . how cool is that!

There have been somethings that, in the past, would have been a "set back" for me; Knoah needing to be admitted into U of M (more on that later), not hearing from the kids, bills that seem to "pile up" but . . . they have not only been taken in stride they have each been good learning experiences for me.

I believe the biggest change has occurred for one reason - I have made the decision to commit myself to being the man that God would like me to be and to ask him for direction and assistance. I am so very thankful that he has accepted my apologies for my past behavior.

I have begun to surround myself with positive things and the one that has been most easily recognized has been in the music I listen to. Since I have switched to K-Love, I have found a whole new genre of music that is becoming more and more important to me for it's meaning and outlook. So - that is where I am. I am happy, content, satisfied and in love! Life is well.

Some of the songs / artist that have become important to me:


Bandon Heath - I'm not who I was


Tenth Avenue North - Losing


Big Daddy Weave - Redeemed

Enjoy!