This weekend was nice. The weather was beautiful. Sunny, cool and crisp. On Friday evening, Amy and took Logan on one of the longest walks yet. Now that Amy is no longer pregnant, and has recovered nicely from the delivery, it really is great to get out and start walking again. We used to take walks every evening before we got married, and it came to a hault after my surgery. Since we can no longer hit the bars, picking up our old routine seemed like the natural thing to do. It's a great time for Amy and I to spend some quality time together and Logan loves the walks too. Falls right to sleep.

Saturday was a rather busy day in the yard, but on Sunday we took it easy. We cooked banana and blueberry pancakes, and napped as much as we could. I really enjoyed spending the day with Amy and Logan. Later that evening, my mother-in-law, Marsha, came over to watch Logan so that Amy and I could go out and celebrate our wedding anniversary. Two years. It was so nice to be able to go out and have a couple of beers and just relax. A few beers at the Mean Eyed Cat and dinner at Z' Tejas, and we couldn't ask for a better evening. Just a few hours alone is all we wanted. Thank you so much, Marsha! Allowing us to go out on a date is the best gift you could have given us.

I Passed the L.A.R.E.!!!!

I did it! I did it! I passed, I passed, I passed!!!!! I passed all five sections of the Landscape Architect Registration Exam. Holy shit, I'm so excited!

I studied hard with the goal of passing my exams before my son was born and I did it. I won't have to worry about it again. I can now focus on my boy. Oh man, I just want to run up and down the street! This is huge. Not only that, but all on the first time around. No taking the tests over and over again. It just goes to show what a little hard work and discipline will do.

All I have to do is file the paper work with the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners and I can officially carry the title of "Landscape Architect".

...of course, I'll still have to deal with the fact that people think Landscape Architects mow lawns, but whatever. I have a dream that one day people will actually understand what a Landscape Architects DOES for a living.

My Son, Logan

It's only been 2-1/2 weeks, but it seems like 2-1/2 MONTHS! I hear it's that way. It feels like an eternity, but when you look back, you're amazed at how time just flew by.

On March 17, 2008 (St. Patrick's Day!) my son Logan was born. Weighing in at 6lbs. 14ozs, and arriving at 5:49 pm, he sent tears of joy down my face when I saw him for the first time. I can remember the look of utter exhaustion on my poor wifes face as the doctor laid him on her chest. Finally we got to meet our little boy.

The first night was a blur. We tried so hard to wrap our minds around it all. This infant, still a fetus in a sense, sleeping in the crib at the base of the bed. What now? What do we do? what was that sound? What would we have done without that nursing staff? Those ladies were the best. Oh how we wanted to just take them home with us! To hand them our son for the night so that we could sleep...priceless.






Now, two weeks later, we have a much better handle on things, but I have to admit, we're still making it up as we go along. We ask a lot of questions, and research as much as we can, but there never seem to be enough "answers". A lot of suggestions and a lot of theories, some better than others, but we try them all. In the end, we take it one day at a time.

Amy holds it down. She is queen bee. She works night and day to take care of the little guy, and I know he pushes her patience to the limit. At night, he is inconsolable. I do what I can, but I have work to focus on. I come home at lunch to give her a break, and I do what I can around the house so she doesn't have to. I am very proud of what she does and I think she is doing a wonderful job.

Let me add this: A million thanks to all of you who have helped us out over the past two, almost three, weeks. The food has been the biggest help. Not having to cook makes a world of different. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

What? Wait a Minute....

Tests are done. Not sure how I did. You never can tell. You just have to wait 4 weeks for the result and hope for the best. Since September, I've spent my time focusing on the tests and hoping the baby wouldn't come before or during. Now that those are behind me, I've been hit with the realization that "holy crap, we're having a baby". It was always on the horizon, AFTER my tests. Now, it's right now.

Though the baby is not due until March 26th, it doesn't look like we are going to make it to that. This weekend, the baby will be 38 weeks which is safe for delivery. With Amy having high blood pressure, the doctor is concerned with the onset of preeclampsia. For that reason, they will induce labor on Monday. Looks like we are going to have a St. Patrick's Day baby. Fitting then that his name is Logan.

Stay tuned...

Throw on Your Game Face!

Okay. Here we are. March. Time to put your game face on. This time next week, I will hopefully be taking sections A&B of the LARE, and section D on Wednesday. I say "hopefully" because we have entered the realm of "it can happen any day" in terms of the arrival of our little boy. Amy is now 1 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. She can have the baby in a week, or she could go past her due date and have it in a month. You just don't know. So, let's cross our fingers that little Logan waits until after the 13th. I'm game for any day after that. It won't be long folks! He's almost here!

(Wish me luck on the tests! )

Mug Shot

Once again, Amy and I met the whole family yesterday at Clearview Ultrasound to take another gander at 'ol Logan. Last time we took a peek, Logan wanted nothing to do with it. Said Sandi, the woman who gave the ultrasound, "you know, if they don't have a name yet, they often don't show their face." With not one glimpse of his face, Amy and I decided to give him a name before our next visit. His name: Logan.

When we first took a look during our second session, he was in exactly the same position. We were afraid that, once again, he wouldn't show his face. What's more is he wasn't moving around; He was asleep. Go figure, we ate turkey for lunch. So, to get the baby moving, Sandi gave Amy some chocolate (sugar) to get him going...and it worked. For the rest of the session, he kept his hands out of his face. What we saw next was the face of a baby that looks so much like me it's unreal. As my sister said, he's an Amy version of me. But enough. What do you think?...









My nose maybe? Amy's eyes? Whatever the similarities, it's amazing to see his face already. To be able to see facial expressions....wow. In a way you feel like you're cheating. In the same way some people don't want to know the sex of their child until their born, I guess some wouldn't want to know what the baby looks like until they arrive. Amy and I on the other hand are all about it. We are excited at having the technology available to us. It was a surprise when we saw him yesterday, and when he finally arrives in a few weeks, we'll be able to see him with even greater clarity. Through the various ultrasounds, we've been able to see him with just a little more clarity each time. Like a variable lens scope, the distant object gets closer and closer with each adjustment. 1x....2x....4x....8x.....birth. It's exciting and Amy and I can't wait to hold him in our hands.

Looking Back on 2007

Rolling into 2007, I imagined that the year would bring many great things. Sure, in the whole cosmic theater of life, 2007 is probably no different than any other year, but to me I felt it to be "special", whatever that means. Lucky number seven I guess. Rather than set my sights on any specific resolution (since most resolutions fade after a month or so), I set forth with the notion that this year I would make the most of everything. The problem with such a broad focus is that there really is no measure of whether you succeeded or not, especially if you are an overly critical person such as myself. I'm sure I could beat myself up and say "damn, if only I pushed a little harder". But in the end, would it have made for any better of a year? That being said, I think it's more important to focus of what I did accomplish, rather than what more I COULD have accomplished.

The year of 2007 did indeed prove to be a very special year. I think it goes without saying that the highlight of the year was the conception of our little boy. With 3 more months to go, the joy of birth will actually fall in 2008, but so much happens in the "9 months" leading up to that special day. Thanks to such modern technologies as 3d ultrasound, I feel as though I already know the guy. That and he kicks my arm at night when I rest it on Amy's belly as if to try to knock it from atop his very cramped quarters. So, Logan alone has made my year very very special.

So much more has happened, however small they may appear in comparison, that have also made 2007 s great year. For example, I started taking the LARE. Yes, if I had pushed a little harder, I probably could have finished this year, but would I have had the time to do the other many great things I did this summer? The important thing is that I started, and the sections that I DID take, I passed with flying colors.

Right around the time I was testing, and perhaps this is the reason I got distracted, I found a couple of canoes on Craig's List. I had been looking for a deal on Craig's List for some time, so needless to say I was excited to finally have them ("Them" strikes me as funny because I really did not set out to get two, but I'm glad I did). Living in Austin, it is almost essential to own a canoe if you spend as much time outside as I do. Whether fishing with my dad or taking a leisure paddle with Amy, those canoes gave me access to many places I had not yet explored.

All in all I spent more time hunting and fishing this year than I have in a long time. Much of that was valuable time spent with my father. In fact, I spent more quality time with my family in general this year. I think it's the revived sense of family Amy and I have obtained since she got pregnant....yes I said "she". Let's face it, even though we are in this together, I'm not the one who has to shove a baby out of my crotch. She alone will hold that over our son's head when he lacks gratitude...

...Family. Perhaps that is the greatest accomplishment of 2007. Whatever the reason, I've seen my family, and my extended family, grow closer together over these 12 months. Above all else stands the bonds you share with family. So important are those ties, especially when family gets placed on the back burner in modern politics and pop culture. Of course, much of this may stem from the start of my own immediate family, but I think all of us will agree that this has been a good year for growing closer together.

With that being said, I think my New Years Resolution for 2008 is to just be the best father and husband that I can be. Anything that I accomplish beyond that is icing on the cake.