My baby girl is 29 months old…I don’t know where the time has gone. Sometimes it seems like it is going by very slowly (like when she’s sick) and other times, it just flies by (like EVERY weekend and holiday break).

As she gets older, it’s just so apparent that E learns more and more of the things she knows outside the house. The wonderful Brenda who fills in in her daycare room told me on Friday that Emerson likes to “read” Brown Bear, Brown Bear. We have had this book at home for over 2 years and I had not seen her throw more than cursory look at it. I had read it on several occasions but found it kinda boring for a newborn.

Friday night, I pulled it out and put it into the rotation in her bedroom. She has more than a full main bookshelf of stuff to choose from so we switch some in and out for our own sanity sake. Sure enough, she goes through the pages and begins to ask ME what the animals are and the colors are.

The best part of this…I try to encourage her in most things she does. Putting a shoe on the wrong foot. “Great try”. Pouring her own water cup while flooding the kitchen. “Way to go”. Anyway,  there is a rainbow colored page in this book. E points to a blue section and asks me “what’s this”. As I name the color ‘blue’, my little girl looks at me and says “good job” like I’ve probably said to her 155,012 times in her 800+ days on Earth. It took everything in me to not just lose it…especially as she repeated the phrase as I answered her questions about ‘red’ and ‘white’.

She listens….she learns…she loves…and I love her more than she’ll ever know.

At the suggestion of my BFF, we enrolled E in gymnastics class. We wanted her to have a little structure, a little activity of her own with one of us and a whole lot of FUN. We did trials at a few places but eventually settled on one closer to home – man, these decisions seem so much more difficult when you are making them for your kid.

Well, I think a picture says a thousand words and these show that we made the right choice. They also do prayers during the stretches and everyone just seems so genuine. Also, I ran into a loooong lost high school friend there with her two kids!

I have now joined the rank of my family members with advanced degrees. My grandfather, Elmer Clay Burnett, was an educated man and surrounded himself with educated people. Out of my directs aunts and uncles, I can count at least 5 masters degrees and probably a doctorate or two as well.

After my sister finished law school (and I am still so so SO proud of her for that), I decided that I’d finally start on my own Masters in Information Systems. I mean, what’s a little sibling rivalry to drive you? In all honesty, I had taken the GMAT 5 years prior but was traveling a lot at the time so it just wasn’t feasible for me and I really wanted the in-class experience (Funny story – the only class I got a “W” on was a class I tried to do online even though that should have been much more convenient).

Anyway, this journey began with the spring semester of 2013. Becky and I were still technically newlyweds. On the date of my last class, June 28th, 2016, Becky and I are 50ish months into married life and our baby boy will be here to join our toddler girl in just a few weeks. I knew I would finish…it’s not in my nature to quit something I start but I can’t believe this journey is over. I took the slow road in getting there but what a satisfying feeling it is to have gotten this DONE.

Thanks to all those who helped along the way from words of encouragement to watching E to helping Becky out on my nights away. Party and celebration time!!!

Honestly, I didn’t care if our second child was a boy or a girl. I just wanted our fantastic daughter to have a playmate for life and someone to share things with in this crazy world of ours.

It’s only been since L has been here that I’ve actually started to think about what having a son actually means. None of these things are things that E won’t get to experience with me. Just the father/son dynamic will probably be a little different than the father/daughter one.

• The world will have 1 more Cubs fan.
• SItting on the glass at hockey games
• Throwing footballs in the yard and dunking basketballs
• Collecting Sports cards

I mean, how awesome is this little dude?

I’m so excited to watch L and E grow up together.

E is a big sister like I am a big brother. Instead of the almost 6 year difference between my sister and I, E will only have about 2.5 years between them. My sister and I never shared the same school or ride the same bus. My children will. This is all so fascinating to think about as I’ve never known anything except my own experience.

It has been fascinating to see the gentle care my 2 year old has for her brother. This crazy kid, who gets mad and will smack me and her mother and throw tantrums that would make a dictator mad, turns into a softie when she “speaks” to and about her brother. She’ll shoosh you if you are too loud or tell you that he’s sleeping. I don’t know where she got this from – it’s like an innate part of their being offspring of the same parents.

Now onto my own sister…travel is going to be difficult for Becky and I the next few years. Heck, even a trip to Target takes twice as long as it used to. This weekend, K came to visit with her husband to meet her new nephew. She’s now got a niece and a nephew! My 30 year old sister is an AUNT. Anyway, seeing them together is just…beyond words. And E saying their names in her little voice was just the pay off of so many books read, picture albums looked at and just….time. Time together.

I so look forward to watching all these bonds grow – for the rest of my life.

In the summer filled with superheroes at the movie theater, sometimes think about the ones in your every day life. St. Thomas Midtown hospital has some of the most amazing nurses in their baby unit- pre and post. I honestly don’t know how they hire such perfect people for this job. I mean, grace and humor at 3 am?

We had repeat encounters with a few people in anesthesiology but also and met the wonderful Ashley, Kristin, Paige and Karen who all made our worries less and our second birthing experience a marvel. I can’t imagine two more different visits. It’s weird that we may never see them again but they had such a huge influence on this important time in our lives. 

Thank you to all my nurse friends, no matter what you practice. You deserve to be on the big screen….
Update: gotta add Leslie to the list

PS. This is a draft from almost 2 months ago that I just found…..enjoy 🙂

Our house is usually only quiet for about 6 hours a day. Emerson goes to bed between 7 and 8 PM and gets up around 6 PM (unless we are lucky OR unlucky). My lovely wife is not a morning person or a night person, especially during pregnancy. I really think she’d be ok getting up at 9 AM every day and going to bed at 8 PM. But she would fill those 11 hours.

Now myself..if I could, I would never sleep (this drives Becky crazy). I get these mini insomnia episodes every few months – they used to happen more frequently – where I get up at 4:30 in the morning and am just READY TO GO. Like that “Honey Do” list or whatever crazy idea I have in my head just motivates my brain and body in a way that energizes me. It normally lasts for a week to 10 days and it’s kinda what I imagine crack or a large amount of Starbucks would do to you. The thing is….I never crash. It passes eventually but I go back to my (in bed at midnight and up by 6:30 self).

All that to say…the house is full of energy and our schedule is constantly changing. Becky or I take Emerson to daycare in the morning (duh). Well, we don’t have set days. Sometimes Becky has an early meeting or E is just sleeping so sweet that we don’t want to wake her up.

This morning, E slept in about 10 extra minutes but we still got her ready in time for Becky to take her (miraculously). Becky and I (ALMOST) always kiss out of her driver side window after we’ve got E all buckled in.

Well on to the heart of the story…today I kissed Becky and Emerson said “I want kiss”.

Love-

B

I may have said this last year but that was 365 long days ago. Father’s Day to me is a celebration of my daughter, of the wonderful gift of live that she is and the wonderfulness that she has brought to my life. To the friendships she has made stronger and the family who have made much more frequent visits to Nashville. I am just lucky that God decided that I got to be her Dad.

Becky has made a theme out of getting me something “super” related for each of these last 3 Father’s Days. This year was a wall print mentioning how I am E’s superhero. One year, it was a Superman shirt that replaced “Man” with “Dad”. Being a Dad is not easy work…but it’s pretty natural for me. I have loved her from the first second I heard her cry (and a few months even before that) and I love her every night before and after she goes to sleep. That’s not to say it doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out when she ignores my request for the 50th time or she insists on jumping on the furniture. If someone, anyone, thinks that I am “super” in any fashion as a parent, I guess that’s good enough for me. It’s as simple as this – I love and I am loved.

As for the day itself, our church had a food truck event and I got some free Chicago italian beef (after a great sermon) We went to a little carnival at the mall and rode merry go-rounds and cars. Lastly, we checked out a new bbq chicken place in town and they even had Koolaid in mason jars. Awesome find!

It seems like the wait for Baby #2 has been going on forever. We can finally say that next month, July 2016, our son will be here. (Well, I guess there’s a chance it could be June but let’s hope not :)).

Family of Four

Dad of Two

Mom of Two

Big Sister

It’s just right around the corner! XOXO