The arrival of Makaiya Faith

This is a story of Makaiya Faith's birth from the view point of her daddy

Today is the June 25th 2015 and we have the arrival of Makaiya Faith Schwarz! It's amazing to me how each of the kids births have been extremely different from each other. On June 24th, Steph received a phone call from the midwives letting her know that all of them were going to be out of the office Friday-Sunday. While we found that weird and disappointing, the reality was that we had two choices. Go in on Thursday and kick-start the labor process or we could wait and have an OB doctor deliver the baby if she went in labor Friday-Sunday. This was a hard decision for us (and by us I mean Steph) to make as we wanted to stay as natural as possible. After much conversation, we decided that delivering by the midwives would be the preferred method. Steph made an appointment to arrive at the hospital at 7am this morning. I took the kids to daycare and was to the hospital shortly after 8am. 

Shortly after 8am they broke Steph's water to get the process started. They said that if she wasn't in labor by 2pm that they would use Pitocin to induce labor. Morning came and went, no major contractions. By early afternoon contractions started and Steph was in full on labor. Around 3:30 contractions were about 4 minutes apart. Just before things started to happen, the midwife asked if we wanted to play some music during the labor process. I brought up my Worship Spotify playlist and I was beginning to get emotional just listening to the promises of God and to have encouraging and uplifting music really had me at amazement of God's glory. At 4:15 they got Steph into position so she could begin pushing whenever she was ready. Unfortunately, that period of time wasn't as quickly as we experienced with Toby and Carina. The baby wasn't quite in position which causing a lot of labor pain, but no baby. At 5:30 the midwife suggested that we go with some Pitocin to try to intensify the contractions and to get Makaiya into position if the baby by 6pm. Finally, at exactly 5:59 Steph started to push and at exactly 6:00pm Makaiya Faith Schwarz was born.

After she was born they gave her immediately to Steph and they were able to have a special bonding time together immediately for a good 45 minutes. It was about 6:30 when I let my family know that Makaiya was born and if they could bring the kids over to see their new sister. At around 6:45, they took Makaiya and cleaned her off (which she was NOT happy about) and took her measurements. She was 7lbs 2oz and was 18" long. Both of her height and weight were less than Toby's, but more than Carina's. Shortly after 7pm we moved from the birthing suite to our room.

After we got settled in the room is when I finally was able to hold her and speak to her for the first time. As I held her, I looked at her and said "Makaiya, this is your daddy. Makaiya, I wanted to let you know that your name means 'Who is like God'. We were made in the image of God, after his likeness and you are going to be like God. When people see you, they will see God. You are born to do great things and you will do them to bring God glory." I then let her know about her middle name. I told her, "Your middle name is Faith, because without Faith it's impossible to please God." It was at this point that I was starting to get emotional and had to wipe away the tears. There is something about speaking life to your child for the first time that just gets me. In between tears and shortness of breath, I let her know "That I've seen dreams that can move mountains. Hope that doesn't ever end, even when the sky is falling. I just saw a miracle in you just happen, silent prayers from your mother and I get answered and broken hearts become brand new and that's exactly what Makaiya Faith can do.

At about 7:30 my parents arrived with the kids and a few minutes after Mike & Em arrived with their boys. Toby was sooooo excited about meeting his new sister. He ran right over to Steph while she was hold Makaiya and said hi to his new baby and that he loved her. It was so cute that it just made me smile. It's good to know that their big brother loves his sisters so much and that he will be there to protect them. Carina doesn't quite get it to the same degree that Toby does. She in her boastful Carina voice said "Hi Baby". Then she asked Pah to take her on a walk.

I document this as I don't ever want to forget the emotions and details of this event. I have done this with all three kids and it's something that I want them to have. Who knows if next month what I will remember, but since I've documented it all, now I will never forget. As much as I can, I highly encourage new parents to take a few minutes after the baby is born to type out the whole experience. 

To Stephanie and I, names are extremely important and we wanted a unique name with a good meaning. We landed on naming her Makaiya because it means "Who is like God" and we believe that we are made in God's image. It is our prayer that as Makaiya grows up that they will be able to see God through her. In a lost world, sometimes the only Jesus people will see is the Jesus in me. 

The meaning of each of our kids

Tobiah - God is Good

Carina - Beloved

Makaiya - Who is like God

I asked Steph earlier in the week if she thought she would have ever had three kids. She responded quickly is no, but as she thought about it she said when she was younger she thought she would have had 3, but never since we were married did she think that we would have three kids. I know that kids lead to chaos and craziness, but I'm ready for a little more chaos and crazy in the house. I think it gives life and energy. While disorder and crazy is against my natural personality, I'm excited for this journey with my family and find myself excited for what life has for us!        

The Arrival of Carina Joy

Carina Joy from the view of her daddy

At about 3:30am Steph woke me up letting me know that we should leave for the hospital soon. She let me know that my parents have been called and will be over shortly to watch Toby as we head off to the hospital. I jumped out of bed and at 3:45 my dad arrived and we were off. I asked Steph how much time I had? She said go fast. I inquired if it was obey all, some or none of the traffic laws? She let me know that some of the laws were OK. As we took off on HWY 5 she told me to slow down as I was stressing her out. On our way to the hospital, Steph was having contractions every 4-5 minutes. So that conversation in the car wasn't overly stimulating.

We arrived to the hospital around 4am. I pulled into the ambulance only drop off (heck to me at the time I was an ambulance). I walked Steph into ER and she checked herself in while I literally ran out to the car and decided to legally park it. By the time I got back in they already had Steph upstairs, admitted and in the hospital bed. They did all that while I parked the car within 2 minutes.

Steph was having contractions every 4 minutes or so the whole time we were at the hospital and was making significant progress towards delivering, so it was funny to watch the nurses ask her questions about health, birth plan, pain meds etc. Then there were questions that I could help answer (or they thought I should be able to answer). They would ask me the question, I would then look at Steph and ask her and then she would just give an exhausted look of why did I bring you along again? Of course it probably didn't help that they would ask the questions during her contraction.

At about 4:45am the midwife Jaime arrived and started asking Steph questions about how she was feeling and then checked her out. A little after 5:15 Steph let them know that she was getting close to pushing. They began to get prepped and at 5:24 Steph began to push and at 5:31 Carina Joy Schwarz was born. Carina was 6 pounds 10 ounces & 17 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful, but just a peanut of a thing.

Within 10 minutes of being born she was already eating and bonding with her mother. Carina stayed awake for almost 2 full hours after she was born. She finally feel asleep in mommy's arms after we switched rooms.

Back while we were still in the birthing room, I was able to hold her for a little bit and speak into her life. I let her know that she was created for a purpose and that purpose is to be a blessing to many lives. I also let her know that her name Carina means "Beloved" and that God said "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers". I also let her know how excited her brother is to see her. I'm excited to watch how Tobiah and Carina bond and how our family will be enriched by adding her giggles, smiles and charisma.

As major events happen in my life, I've always taken time to reflect and think about how good God has been in my life and this is no exception. I believe God's Word is true and I stand on His promises that he will always meet our needs and that he will do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. As I look back on the past 31 years, God has kept his promises and I trust in him to know that he still has a plan and the best is yet to come.

Where it All Began

Since my wonderful wife eluded to our story yesterday, I thought it would be fun to give my rendition of the events that happened 14+ years ago.

It start back in 1999 when I attended a Teens Encounter Christ (T.E.C) weekend retreat. At that point in my life I needed T.E.C more than T.E.C need another person to attend their weekend. Thankfully for that weekend that I was able to begin building a new association. Because of the bond that we built we got together almost every weekend. Through a series of events and parties, I met Steph. At that time of her life she was seeing someone. Obviously she didn't know I was available or that I was a big deal if she did she would have left him on the spot or I'd like to at least believe that.

Moving on from that day I may have seen her once, maybe twice until a memorable night in May of 2000. I was at another party outside of Albert Lea and that night I just received my senior pictures. As customary for people from Waseca (maybe this is common for others as well), I was writing on the back of my pictures a favorite memory or something like that. For some reason, there were a line of people waiting for a picture or two from me, which is hard to believe, but it is 100% true. Steph happened to be at that party and I gave her 2 pictures. Later that evening, I remember it as if it were yesterday, I looked into the dining room and saw Steph talking to one of her friend and God spoke to me and said that I was going to marry that girl. Now you have to remember, I just turned 18 and I wasn't looking for a wife and to be honest, at that time I was probably more interested in a few other girls that night. None of that mattered because God told me who my wife was going to be. I remember leaving that party a little freaked out and thought that God may have misspoke.

Fast forward a few months and I was ready to head off to college. Actually, almost all of my friends had already left for college. For whatever reason St. Thomas started 2 weeks after some of the other colleges my other friends went to. If you don't know me, I'm a very reflective and reminiscent person. The final few days before I was to go to college were a struggle. I remember trying desperately to hold onto a summer that was filled with laughs, late nights and plenty of fun! Maybe it was the fact that I was scared what the next chapter held and that going to college meant that I was no longer a kid and I was going to have to accept responsibility for my life. Either way I felt drawn to reach out to Steph and see how things were going for her. I don't fully remember, but I might have been inquiring about one of her roommates. Either way, God had me reach out and she turned out to be a great friend. It's funny how things progressed. It started out as an email or two a week, then it moved to daily emails and then multiple times a day. Then we started IMing (MSN Messenger) and calling each other. I quickly realized that I was gaining strong feelings for her.

At that point of my life, I never asked a girl out without already knowing the answer. I always utilized "the friends" to give me information and to let me know if a girl was interested or not and Steph was no exception. Steph's best friend at the time, April, went to college just a few miles down the road from me. I would talk to April once or twice a week to find out where Steph's interest was and if I had a shot with her. I was told that she had mutual interest and that I should ask her out. It may have been a weekend or two after we had this conversation that Steph came up and spent the weekend with April. I think they stop by St. Thomas Saturday early afternoon, we hang out for a while and we headed over to April's that night for a get together. At the time I was thinking that this was perfect and that everything was going better than I planned. It was at that party that I realized this sweet, innocent and angelic girl was a major flirt. As it turned out, the little get together turned out to be bigger than I anticipated and was more coed then I hoped. I really didn't know anyone at this event, but little social butterfly whom I thought was interested in me was flirting with this other guy almost the whole night. After a few hours of this tourture I told April that I was going to go back to St. Thomas as I was convinced that the interest just wasn't there. Somehow she convinced me to stay and as the evening wound down we popped in a movie and Steph cuddled right up next to me. Even though I was jealous, I knew that everything was going to turn out as God promised.

We dated for just over 3 years, we had a 6 month engagement, been married for 9 years. Our son Toby turns 2 this summer and kid #2 arrives in late fall. I truly thank God everyday that he told me 13 years ago that he had my bride, soul-mate & best friend picked out for me. I can't imagine what life would be like without her.

Stephanie, I am humbled to be your husband and I hope that I accurately show you how much you mean to me everyday. You are the perfect wife to me, a treasure to my parents and a best friend to my sister. My Waseca High School vocabulary can't describe what you mean to me. I pray that I can be a blessing to you like you've been a blessing to me. You are the best and I love you so much!

And now you know the rest of the story......

Day 5-9 of our Family Trip

The trip concludes, we have arrived home after our nine day trip. The thing that I'm most amazed of during this trip is how awesome Toby has been. He's loved everything we've done. He's been laughing and story telling the whole trip. There is no doubt that we've received over 100 compliments on how cute he is or how good he is. It's so true, he's been great and it's been fun watching his facial reactions to new things are different sites we've seen. If you want to see all 300+ pictures, you may click here.

Day 5 - The Strip District, Kielbasa & Toby's Cuteness

This was one of our few non baseball/non travel days of the trip. Since we spent the day prior downtown, I wanted to do something a little different. We decided to hit up what is called the Strip District. It is an area of town that has fresh markets, restaurants and different shops. The two main reasons we went there was the original Primanti Brothers & Klavon's Ice Cream. We had the hotel shuttle drop us off right in front of Primanti Brothers and we have another fabulous lunch. I will definitely miss those sandwiches. After thinking about it, it is definitely the clow slaw that makes it such a good sandwich.

After eating we walked 11 blocks north to Klavon's Ice Cream. There are two interesting things to this, the first is that it was 95 degrees on this day and all commercial development disappeared. After about six blocks of walking the area become very industrial and somewhat sketchy. I kept look at my google maps app as a reminder that it was actually still there and actually coming up. We did finally arrive, to my amazement because it is an ice cream place in the middle of industrial buildings. Once walking in, I felt like I was in the 1920's. I LOVED it. I told Steph that it reminded me of an old fountain shop. The two ladies that were working were great. They loved playing with Toby and he was having fun with them as well. Steph and I had a banana split. Maybe this is the way they are suppose to be, but this thing was huge. It had a split banana, then it had a scoop of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. It was topped with chocolate, strawberry & pineapple toppings. Finally, it had three different types of whipped cream that they make on location on it, vanilla, chocolate and some flavor I've never heard of before (but it was delicious). It was quite tasty. I was impressed on how good all those flavors were together. The ice cream in combination with the atmosphere was so much fun. I regret not taking any pictures of the place.

That evening we wanted to do something fun and something very apart of the culture of Pittsburgh. We unsuccessfully drove around for a while trying to find "it". We arrived back to the hotel a little disappointed, but Steph asked the hotel if they had any thoughts and they gave a recommendation to a true German restaurant just 4 blocks away from our hotel. Quick history, Pittsburgh was (and still has the spirit) of the blue collar labor worker and when many of the Immigrants to Pittsburgh were German, Russian & Scandinavian. They all lived segregated from each other. The area that were were staying in was Duetschtown. So we figured that a German restaurant would be perfect. I was a little scared about having only German food (even though I am mostly German). I ordered the Kielbasa, and it was phenomenal! The sides were bland and needed some salt, but the Kielbasa was so good.

That night we retired a little early to try to get Toby to bed closer to his normal time. I wanted to watch the Twins/Pirates on TV. Steph put Toby down, but he kept getting up and looking over this pack and play laughing. He thought it was a game, he would throw this pacifier at us and laugh. It was so stinkin' cute. Steph and I were laughing the whole time. Once the game was over I turned the TV off and he went right to sleep. I guess he didn't want to miss out on any fun or he just wanted to stay up and watch the rest of the game.

Day 6 - PNC Tour, Our Cincy Hotel & A Night Out
This day started with us having breakfast at the Priory for the last time. I will miss their cute breakfasts and eating by the fountain. After we checked out we headed back to PNC for a tour of the ballpark. I was especially excited to take a tour of PNC for two reasons, the first is that I'm very interested in hearing the deep history of the Pirates and was looking forward to learning more about their franchise. The second thing I was excited about was the views that we were going to see. The sight lines at PNC are the BEST. Better than Target Field, and even better than AT&T park in San Fran. I was excited and took a ton of pictures of PNC.

After our tour we headed off to Cincinnati. I was excited for our hotel stay in Cincy because I was able to get a Suite downtown for a decent price. When I went in to check in, I found out that they upgraded up from a one bedroom suite to a two bedroom suite. That means that Toby got his own bedroom for two nights in Cincy. Not only that, but we also were on the 15th floor so we had and incredible view of the city. It was pretty cool to be in a hotel that was bigger than Steph and I's first two apartments that we lived in during our first few years of marriage.

Since we arrived in Cincy at around 5pm we decided to take in a little bit of the city. We walked down to Fountain Square which is apparently a well known area of Cincy. There was a live Salsa band playing when we got down there. Toby loved the music, the number of people and of course the fountain. Steph and Toby danced to a few songs. Afterward we walked and had Graeter's ice cream. Graeter's has award winning ice cream in Cincinnati. Their signature flavor is Raspberry Chocolate Chip. I'm not typically a raspberry chocolate ice cream person, but if it's the best, I might as well give it a shot. I'm very happy that I did. It was extremely flavorful and had a great balance of fruit and chocolate. The texture of the ice cream was super creamy. So good! It was a great way to end yet another fun filled day.


Day 7 - Eden Park, Riverfront Area & Ribs
This was our only other day that didn't involve baseball or driving. It was great to have another free day to checkout the city. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day. We game planned our day out and after a brief Target run we were on our way to Eden Park. Eden Park is very similar feel as Como Park, except they don't have a zoo and they are right on the river. We stopped and walked around an area that had an amazing view of the river and Newport Kentucky. We walked along their, fed Toby lunch and watch the ducks.


We went back to the hotel to give Toby a quick nap and we were off again. This time we wanted to conquer the riverfront area. This had us walk down to Great American Ball Park. We probably spent 90 minutes walking around the ball park and enjoying the atmosphere of what it is like before a game. We then walked acrossed a bridge that separates Ohio from Kentucky. This bridge is privately owned and is only a pedestrian bridge. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of the Brooklyn Bridge, except not as cool or as long. As we were walking we noticed some commotion on the Kentucky side of the bridge as we got closer to saw about 75 people dressed up for a wedding that was about to take place. Toby was just chatting away as we walked by. On the other side of the bridge was Newport Kentucky and they had an outdoor shopping center similar to Arbor Lakes here. Steph was extremely thirsty from our long walk and 90 degree day so we stopped in for a smoothie and walked back to Ohio.

Finally, we meet up again with Jeff & Julie for supper at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It is right on the river and is widely known for their ribs & bbq sauce. I got the ribs, Steph got a sandwich with rib meat in it. We were both happy with our meals. At one point Jeff asked me if they were the best ribs I've ever had and to be honest they were really good, but not the best. To me, my Grandma's bbq receipt is still the best on ribs. Overall, the meal was great, the company was fun and the view of the sun setting river was gorgeous.

Day 8 - Twins Game & Chicago Hotel
On this day we took in a Reds Twins game at Great American Ball Park. We arrived at the stadium about three hours early. We got something to eat with Jeff & Julie and then entered the ball park after the gates opened. It was fun getting their early and watching the Twins taking BP. It was cool getting close pictures of the players. The game was a Saturday game at 4pm on what seemed like a 90+ degree day. The sun was scorching, but I was excited to be at the game. I sat by a couple of cool guys from Cincy. They gave me some additional history of the Reds franchise, which was cool for me since I've never paid much attention to their history. I didn't realize that they were the first professional baseball team back in 1869. Such a deep and interesting history. The game itself was boring and somewhat depressing. The Twins played bad and uninspired baseball, but it didn't matter. It was still fun to see them play in another park.

Over the past 6 years I've seen the Twins play at:
1. Metrodome
2. Target Field (My Favorite)
3. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
4. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)
6. Yankee Stadium (New York City)
7. Chase Field (Phoenix)
8. O.co (Oakland)
9. PNC (Pittsburgh)
10. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati)

9 ball parks down at 21 to go.

After the game we left for Chicago. We booked a hotel through Hotwire and it placed us at the Swissotel. It was by far the nicest and fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. Our view was of the Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. It was so beautiful and such and very breath taking.


Day 9 - Millennium Park, A Long Walk & Our Drive Back Home

The last day of our trip we wanted to explore Chicago and kind of relax. After we checked out of our hotel we walked along the Chicago River turned off onto a side street and had lunch at Al's Beef. This is also a Man vs. Food spot. I've had it a few times in the past, but it is so good. It is an Italian Beef sandwich with peppers dunked into au jus sauce. Soooo good!


After lunch we walked to Millennium Park, took our picture at & in the bean. As we were walking through the park, we decided to stop by Fountain Park. It has 2 50 foot fountains separated by about 75 yards. In between the two fountains are about 6 inches of water that eventually drain on the sides like an infinity pool. It was really hot again his day and we decided to let Toby walk in it. Steph was holding onto him as he was walking. Toby then decided that he didn't walk to walk anymore, but that he wanted to crawl. So Steph let go and he went absolutely crazy. He loved it as you can see. That was definitely the highlight of Toby's trip. The most depressing part was 20 minutes later after we took him out of the water. He cried and cried. He was really upset by it, but at least it let us know that he had a great time and that he definitely isn't afraid of the water.


We then walked to Buckingham Fountain (famous from Married with Children). This was the first time I've seen the fountain during the day. It was peaceful just to stand there and look at it. It didn't feel like I was in the 3rd largest city in America. I could of stood there for an hour. Toby was sleeping, so he didn't remember any of it. We then walked along lake Michigan then the Chicago River to our favorite bakery Magnolia Bakery. We were introduced to it 2 years ago when we were in New York and we fell in love with their banana pudding. Trust me, this is the greatest banana pudding you've ever had, even if you don't like banana pudding you'd love this. About a year ago they recently opened a store in Chicago and every time we drive through Chicago we grab some for the road. Since we were there, we grab 2 containers for ourselves and 2 for my parents & Mike & Em. That was our last stop. We then walked back to the hotel, grabbed our car and headed back home.

Overall it was such a cool and memorable trip. I can't believe that we were gone for 9 days. I'm glad we did it and that everyone enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I took all 392 pictures and took a little time to document our experiences. It will be fun going through this with Toby someday when he is a little bit older. Our first Schwarz Family Vacation.

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

View from our hotel on the last day

First 4 Days of our First Family Vacation

Here we are, on our first family vacation. We are currently in Pittsburgh and we are about to start our 5th day of our nine day trip. So far the trip has been a blast as you can see here by our pictures (I will be updating this link as we continue on with our trip). 
So far we've had an absolute great time. Toby has been a really good road tripper. He's enjoyed his hotel stays, he's even sleeping in. I wanted to quickly summarize what we done each day so far.


Day 1 - Lena, Zeke & Driving to Chicago
Before we could start our trip we were greeted with the news that Mark and Katie had little Lena that morning. So we headed over to Waconia and celebrated with Mark and Katie and their new miracle. It was fun to see how excited Marky was. I know how uncomfortable he is around babies, but it was great to see how in love he is with his new babe.

Next on the pre-trip checklist was Zeke's first birthday party. Toby was excited to attend this cousin's birthday, he was bummed that mom wouldn't let him eat any frosting though. Zeke is the first of five "1st" birthdays that we will be attending this summer/early fall. It was amazing to not only see all the people that Mike and em had over, but that almost everyone had at least one kid with them. Parties multiply fast when kids are included. I can only hope for a nice weather day for Toby's party, because not everyone will fit in our house other wise.

At a little after 2, we hit the road. The destination was Chicago. We stopped in the Wisconsin Dells for supper. We just did Subway, but this wasn't any Subway, this was some sort of magical Subway. This Subway had the regular restaurant area, but then it had additional seating on the opposite side of the restaurant. This section had tall ceilings and ceiling fans. Those two features are favorites of Toby, so through the entire meal he would shout in order to hear his echo and then he would stare at the ceiling fan. So needless to say that was Toby's highlight on the trip down.

At 9 we arrived at our hotel which was just outside of Chicago. We met up with Jeff and Julie, chatted for a few minutes and headed off to bed.

Day 2 - Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier & Driving to Cleveland
Our day began just north of downtown Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I guess I've heard people talk about it before, but never paid much attention to what they said. I thought visiting a zoo would be fun for Toby, since we haven't taken him to the Minnesota Zoo yet. Honestly, in my mind I was picturing that this zoo was going to be similar to Como Zoo: small, dirty and depressing. It was none of those three. It was tons of fun for everyone. It was fun watching Toby as he was learning new animals. I could only imagine that he thought most of the animals were more fun and playful than his lazy beagle at home.

We had one other destination in mind for the day, so we left the zoo after exploring slightly over half of it. It is definitely on my list of things to do again in Chicago and I highly recommend for families. As I mentioned, the other destination that we had in mind was the Navy Pier. Jeff has never been before, so we headed south towards the giant Ferris Wheel. We walked up and down the pier like every good tourist. We took pictures at the edge of the pier like every good tourist and we got some good pictures of the skyline like every good tourist.

Since we were in tourist mode, we finalized our trip by getting something to eat at The Goat Head. Interesting name I know, but it is fairly famous. President George H. W. Bush ate their while he was President and SNL created an sketch based on the restaurant's theme. The restaurant is essentially a burger place, they have other things on the menu, but at any given time there are hundred or so patties on the grill. The guy at the counter says "Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger. No fries, Cheeps". So we all figured that what we should get, except Steph, she got the single patty Hamborger. Boring! I got the quad patty! One we sat down and started eating, I opened my Serra Mist that I had with me and the bottle fizzed and exploded all over me. My shirt was drenched in Diet Serra Mist (thank goodness it was diet or that would have been soooo sticky). I laughed (after being embarrassed, then angry and then irritable), because everyone else was. Maybe the best part was that no one else in the restaurant saw it happen.

We headed off to Cleveland to spend the night. On our way there, we took I-80, which is a turnpike/toll road. I was amazed on how few exits there were along this road. Typically when I drive down I-35, or I-94 there are exits with towns every 10 miles or so (or so it seems). Here there was none of that. There was maybe 10 exits from Chicago to Cleveland and that is a six hour drive. To me it was amazing on how little civilization there was for such a long period of time of a major interstate.


Day 3 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Progressive Field & Driving to Pittsburgh
This has been the casual day of the trip so far. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day as we only had 2 things to do for the day. Before tackling the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we decided to grab some lunch. We walked to an office building about 2 blocks away with a food court. I didn't recognize any of the restaurants and to be honest most of them looked shady. We decided to take the sit down restaurant on the second level. Place looked nice, so we entered. We must have caught them off guard because, one wrap, two salads and a cheeseburger took them over 1 hour to make AND there were MAYBE 8 people in the place. UGH! The important thing was that we had time, so we laughed and joked at how Jeff's ceaser salad was holding everything up.

After our interesting lunch we tackled the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was fun, but the bummer of it all is that you aren't allowed to bring in cameras. While it was cool and I'm glad we did it, that part wasn't cool. Either way, I enjoyed walking through the history of Rock and Roll. To me what stuff is fun and interesting. It is also interesting to see how music shapes and reflects how society is. You go from Chuck Berry and Ray Charles to Elvis & the Beatles to lot of the 70's hippie music. I knew it would be something that Steph would enjoy and I don't remember a lick of it when we were there 12 years ago on our choir trip.

We then headed to Progressive Field to watch the Indians take on the Reds. It was pouring when we walked over to the game. It rained really hard for 90 minutes and I was thinking to myself, self, I hope it stops raining soon so we can watch a few innings of baseball before hitting the road.  It wasn't a few minutes later that it did stop raining, so we took a few pictures of the stadium, Jeff and I each had a 1/2 pound hot dog. It reminded me of the big shots that the Metrodome used to have from Hormel. To be honest, it was delicious, but it still wasn't a Hormel dog. Hormel how I miss you.... In Progressive Field they have the Indians Hall of Fame in the stadium, very similar to Yankee Stadium, except there aren't any really good Indians. Looking through the list, they had some REALLY bad teams and didn't have exceptional talent until the mid 90's. Shortly after seeing that, the game started. To be honest, because it wasn't the Twins it was hard to care or get really invested. Each team scored runs early, so that was exciting at least. Toby was starting to get tired and we still had a two hour drive to Pittsburgh, so we left early.

Then we headed off to Pittsburgh and on our way, we talked about how dirty and "eh" feeling we both had about the city. Outside of coming to watch the Twins play, I don't have much of a desire to go back to Cleveland.


Day 4 - Our Hotel, Hanging out Downtown Pittsburgh & Twins Game
Yesterday was definitely the best day yet. We started the day off by checking into our hotel. We are staying at a historic place about 3/4 miles away from PNC & downtown Pittsburgh. I can't quantify it with words other than it is really cool. The set up of the hotel is bed & breakfast (which we will be partaking in as soon as I finish typing or if Toby wakes up), with a lot of old charm and character. I love how friendly the staff here is. Last night after the game we bought some frozen lemonade popsicles from the grocery store and offered them to the staff. They loved it. It will be a bummer to leave here in tomorrow.

After checking into our hotel and getting settled, we walked into downtown to have lunch with Jeff & Julie. They were staying at the Wyndom hotel, which is extremely modern hotel. It was fun to see how different of places we are both staying in, but how we both enjoyed it. They are on the 12th floor with an amazing view of the bluffs. After marveling at how different our two hotels are, we went out for lunch. My buddy Matt Finley & Man vs. Food host Adam Richman told us that Primanti Brothers is the place to go. Primanti Brothers is known for their sandwiches. Let me paint this picture for you. They have thick, soft & fresh bread, then is your meat, I naturally got roast beef. Then they pile on their clow slaw which is a very sweet slaw. Finally it is topped off with provolone cheese and tomato (I wanted my sandwich to taste good, so I had the tomato removed and onion replaced instead). In my opinion, this was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I loved the flavor of the roast beef in combination with the sweet of the slaw to the melted provolone cheese. DELISH! I'm not sure if Jeff and Julie were as impressed as I was, but I definitely want to go back before we leave Pittsburgh.

After lunch we wanted to go to the top of the bluff. In Pittsburgh they have these cable cars or trolleys that take you from the bottom of the hill to the top and from top to bottom. It's like a cable car mixed with a ski lift. Once we got to the top we were able to see some amazing views of the city. I maybe took 50 pictures trying to capture the view, the skyline and overall how cool it was.

After that we went back to the hotel and got ready for the Twins Pirates game at PNC Park.We arrived at PNC early to watch the Twins take batting practice and to get some close up pictures. Toby loved crawling around on top of the dugout. He was just a singing and a laughing the whole time. We also got to meet FSN's own Robby Incmikoski. We got to chat with him for about five minutes or so. He gave Toby his first baseball. Robby's a super nice guy and wanted us to have a great ballpark experience. I felt bad for the guy because game time temperature was about 90 degrees and he has to wear a suit and tie for the broadcast, but I guess those are the struggles for a guy who gets to travel around with sports teams for his job.

I was really impressed by PNC Park. I loved the view of the city from our seats. I liked that part of PNC better than Target Field, but overall, Target Field still gets the nod from me. Overall, I really liked the park and would like to go back again. Even though the good guys lost (and played terrible baseball), it was so much fun to come watch them play. Maybe we'll come out six years from now when the Twins play in PNC again.

There you have it, our first four days, very quickly summarized. Take a look at our pictures if you have a few minutes. I will get one or two more posts in before we arrive back in Minnesota on Sunday night.

6 Months & Courageous

I know it's been a while, but life just happens sometimes. There have been several events and thoughts that I've had that I wished I would of documented better. For any new parent out there, I would highly encourage them to document events and take as many pictures as possible. Time flies by and the hours quickly become days/weeks and eventually it's been six months.

Toby currently has two bottom teeth, he's sitting up on his own and he's going to start crawling any day now. My two favorite things about him is how he talks all the time. Some of his sounds are actually real words! Of course he doesn't know what he's saying, but it still so cute and it melts me. The other things that is absolutely adorable is his smile. The smile he gives me when I come home, wake him up from a nap or when I enter the room, is so big and full of life. It's hard to explain & pictures don't even capture it. Looking into his eyes, you can tell that he's a loving, sweet & very intelligent boy. A lot of that is because Steph is such an incredible loving mother. She's definitely has a sweet touch & Toby absolutely adores her. We also have the blessing of having Steph's dad (Dana) stay with us & help watch Toby while we are at work. Dana enjoys being Toby, the two of them play, learn and play. They read together, sing together and count together. Toby laughs and giggles with Dana all day. I feel at peace knowing that Dana is watching him.


Recently, I saw the movie Courageous and let me tell you something, it hit me hard. I strongly recommend this movie for anyone who is or plans on being a father. Until I saw Courageous, I've only cried during two other movies. During Courageous, I cried during four different scenes. The movie isn't about crying or even the fact it has a good message. The movie is so much more than that. This movie can uniquely connect to the deepest parts of your emotion and to the parts that show how my "good enough" falls way short of God's standard. This movie showed my Spirit man on what type of father I want and need to be. I refuse to live life of mediocrity and excuses. I know it is my calling to be a player, an impact player, one that holds the standard and fights the good fight. I will be a father for my son, I will teach him about what is right, not some liberal school system, not video games and certainly not TV. My son will know who is father is and will know that he is loved by him. Toby will see what it looks like for a man to submit to God and to know that all good things come from him. I look forward to instilling my values into Tobiah and I'm excited for all that life has in store for my family.
Below is the Resolution message and final speech from the movie "Courageous".

The Resolution Message:
"I do solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children. 
I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.
I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.
I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.
I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly. 
I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy. 
I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion. 
I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.
I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.
I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God. 
I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will. 
I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. ---Joshua 24:15"

 The Final Speech
"There are some men who, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are and to teach our children to do the same—and whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction. And we are inviting any man whose heart is willing and courageous to join us in this resolution. God’s Word shows us that God desires for every father to courageous step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. More than just being there for them or providing for them, he is to walk with them through their young lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their Father in heaven. In my home, the decision has already been made. You don’t have to ask who will guide my family because, by God’s grace, I will. You don’t have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ because I will."Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting my family? I will. Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family? I will. Who will pray for, and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their father, I will.

So where are you, men of courage? Where are you, fathers who fear the Lord?
It’s time to rise up and answer the call God has given you and say,
I will! I will! I will!

Leadership Quotes & More Pictures

Steph and I had the opportunity to attend a leadership conference this past weekend. John Maxwell was one of the keynote speakers. For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge Maxwell fan. I receive and listen to an audio CD every month and have read several of his books. I credit a lot what what I learned about leadership to him. He's taught me what questions to ask as a leader and how to develop a team. At the conference he talked about and promoted his new book, The 5 Levels of Leadership. He talks about how there are five different levels of leadership and allows you (the leader) to gauge where he is with each member of his team. I'm looking forward to reading it and learning.

I feel very strongly about personal development and continuing to better myself as a person. I think everyone enjoys the betterment of themselves, but they just don't want to take the time to read, study or listen. Secretly we want the information downloaded into our minds. Below are a few of my favorite John Maxwell & other leadership quotes. Hopefully they will give wisdom, knowledge and understand that wasn't there previously. Enjoy!

These are notes from only three of the books I have read (it took me 2 hours to type these notes up). Other books that I have read of his are: Developing the Leader Within You (Amazing book), Everyone Communicates Few Connect (Great for basic relationship building), Failing Forward (creating proper mindset for failure), The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day, Today Matters and Road Map for Success.

Thinking for a Change

·         The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little. The truth is that you can spend your life any way you want, but you can spend it only once.

·         Calendars and  journals remind you of how you’ve spent your time, show you whether your activities match your priorities, and help you see whether you are making progress

·         Hurting people hurt people

·         There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being, to help someone succeed

·         If you want to improve your world, then focus your attention on helping others

·         People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less

·         If you help others get what you want, you’ll automatically get what you want

Being a People Person

·         If you want people to act right toward you, you act right toward them and many times you’ll change them

·         Even a quick affirmation will give people a sense of value

·         Charisma – Be more concerned about making other feel good about themselves than you are in making them feel good about you

·         The secret of motivating others is providing them with hope

·         People must have affirmation and praise in order to maintain a high level of performance

·         One of the surest ways to build confidence is to find one thing you’re good at and specialize until you are special

·         Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence

·         If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem will look like a nail

·         No gain is ever made without the possibility of loss

·         Careless confrontation can be devastating

·         Not seeing people as they are, but what they can be

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

·         Without leadership ability a person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could be

·         When talented teams don’t win, examine the leadership

·         Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less

·         Knowledge alone won’t make someone a leader

·         Champions don’t become one in the ring, they are just recognized there

·         If you fail to learn from your mistakes, you are going to continue to fail

·         If you can’t give credit and take blame, you will drown in your inability to inspire

·         Trust is the foundation of leadership

·         One measure of leadership is the caliber of people that follow you

·         Who you are is what you attract

·         People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care

·         If you want someone on your side, don’t try to convince them, connect with them

·         Nothing is more effective than sincere accurate praise

·         Nobody does anything great alone

·         Self-conscious people are rarely good leaders

·         Nothing is more confusing for people than to receive good advice, but see a bad example

·         The leader finds the dream then the people

·         You cannot kindle a fire in someone’s heart unless it is burning within your own

·         Activity is not necessarily accomplishment

·         The greater the leader, the more he must give up

·         Today’s success is the greatest threat to tomorrow’s success

·         The right action at the right time will bring success

·         Everything rises and falls on leadership

Tobiah continues to grow as well (but obviously in a much different way). By grow, I mean getting taller, because the kid is still super light (under 12lbs). Steph has been doing tummy time with him more often, and Grandpa Ford has been reading stories to him. Last week, Tobiah began reading to grandpa and adding his own commentary. Maybe he'll be a sportscaster someday!! Today while I was holding and talking to him I notice he was mirroring me, which normal for kids to do at his age. But when I say he was mirroring me, I mean he was mirroring me. The same furrowed brow, the same forehead lines, even the same looks! I told him that it has taken 29 years for me to master these looks and he has done it in just over two months! Below are some of my recent favorites. I saved my favorite for the very last. Enjoy!

Daddy Daycare & Taco John's

There haven't been a lot of times that I have gotten to spend alone time with Tobiah, but this week was an exception. Steph had a baby shower for one of our good friends Megan and then Thursday she wanted to go spend time with her friends at the IOS. This meant that Daddy Daycare was needed two nights in a row. To be honest, I was a little nervous because Steph is really good at knowing what he wants. I can do the things that will settle him, but I can't easily identify them myself. Wednesday night I got home and within 30 minutes he was beginning to fuss. Long story short, after about 20 minutes I was able to get him settled down. Later that evening he was beginning to get hungry, so I warmed up a bottle in his steamer, but I accidentally put too much water in the steamer, so when his bottle was ready it was too hot. Tobiah began ranting on how bad a father I was and asking aloud why would mommy leave him with this unfit man. I quickly cooled the bottle down under cold running water and things immediately got better.

The next night I was even more nervous, because I wanted to account for my mistake and have a little bonding time with ToBuddy. Thursday night was much better. I changed and feed him appropriately!! He was also fuss free! So we spent a little time playing on his mat, singing songs and watching a documentary on the Revolutionary War (hey the kid has to know that freedom wasn't free). I felt much better when Steph came home on Thursday letting her know how good of boy she has (and Tobiah was good too)!

On Saturday Steph and Tobiah made the adventure down to go see Suzy and the kids at their new house in Mason City. I was unable to go with because I needed to work. Steph told me how much fun the kids had talking to Tobiah. They gave him toys and trucks to take home. They asked cute questions like "Auntie Stephy, make sure to let us know when he turns 4 or 5 so that he can play with us" or "We can't wait to see him walk next time we see him" and "When will he get get his teeth"? All sweet innocent question that come out the mouths of naive children.

When Steph got home I asked what they had for lunch. She told me they went to Taco John's. I love Taco John's! Taco Tuesday, Six Pack and a Pound and sweet sweet Churros. Steph told me that it wasn't very good, which is disappointing because when its bad, its bad. I think Tobiah didn't care for it much either because that night Tobiah threw/spit up 8 times (I'm talking major outfit changing and burp rag filling)! He had 4 poopy diapers, one of them was a MAJOR blowout that required a bath, he peed on himself while being changed and finally he had gas ALL night! I know what you are think how gross that all is, and it was, but I couldn't help but to laugh uncontrollably throughout the entire evening! I told Steph that she may want to lay off the Taco John's for a while after the adventure we had last night! I guess this is all a part of raising a family, but it was definitely a memorable and gross night. One that I hope doesn't occur too often.

This morning was of Veggie Tales. We now know that God is bigger then the Boogie Man, we know that we should only pray to God and not man even if it means that we could be thrown in a lions den.We also learned that we shouldn't steal from others and that we need to be kind to others. Finally we learned that not everyone has a water buffalo. So we can't go around singing that everyone has a water buffalo. We were going to learn at some point, might as well been today.

Two Months, Moneyball & the Apple Orchard

 At this point in life time seems to being going by so incredibly fast. Tobiah is turning two months tomorrow, work requires me to be better than my best and the seasons are changing so fast that I thought summer just started. Add that all up and carry the one equals a great life with tons of excitement going on.

As I already mentioned my little Tobuddy is turning two months tomorrow. TWO MONTHS! Wow! It is literally hard for me to comprehend that he's been a part of our lives for two months. When I first think about it, I feel like he was just born yesterday, but as I continue thinking about it I can't really remember what life was like before him. I know that's weird and probably doesn't make much sense (heck I would of called me crazy if I heard that 3 months ago). To think back on all the things we've brought him to and experienced with him. He's went to his first (of MANY) Twins games, we did the State Fair, he's been to bonfires, birthday parties, a drive-in restaurant and he's got to meet hundreds of people that are so very special to Steph and I. Of all the things listed above, I enjoy most when Tobiah gets to meet or spend time with people that Steph and I respect and have developed good relationships with. To me, its another area that Steph and I can share our lives with people.

On Friday night my parents graciously volunteered to watch Tobiah so Steph and I could watch Moneyball. Before the movie (I have to give a plug for my Husband of the Year Nomination), I made a nice supper for Steph. I grilled two different types of steaks, the first was a bacon wrapped sirloin and the second was called a canoe. It is a thinly sliced (probably 1/4" inch) sirloin with mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese on top of it. Then the steak is folded up so the steak acts as a canoe for the mushrooms, onions and cheese. Quite delish! I also make jalapeno poppers and broccoli with cheddar cheese. After supper we were on our way to the movie. Overall it was a wonderful movie and I strongly encourage people going, especially if you love baseball. I won't give to much of it away, but the movie does a good job of sharing actual baseball lingo and gives an actual depiction of what happens behind the scenes at the front office. Afterwards my dad asked what I thought and I shared my feelings and shared a little bit more of the storyline with him. Then he asked would it be in my top 10 baseball movies, I said absolutely, but then he asked me something I wasn't prepared for. He asked what are my top 10 baseball movies. I sat there frozen, with no real good answer for him. So below is my top 10 baseball movies of all time.

1. Field of Dreams - I talked a lot about it in my Tobiah's First Twins Game post.
2. The Rookie - An emotional story about a man's dream of playing major league baseball.
3. Fever Pitch - Jimmy Fallot's character reminds me of a cross between Scotty & I.
4. Moneyball - Probably the best pure baseball movie made. Real good, I can't wait to own it.
5. A League of Their Own - Such a quotable movie. "There's no crying in baseball"
6. For Love of the Game - Chick flick & a great story of his past and recounting important memories
7. 61* - This is a great movie about Maris and his 61 home run season
8. Bull Durham - Lot of bad language, but hilarious and a lot fun
9. Major League - Again some inappropriate language, but love the line "Just a bit outside"
10. Eight Men Out - A good rendition of the 1919 Black Soxs and how they were banned from baseball
Honorable Mention - Pride of the Yankees - I recently saw this movie and learned a lot about Lou Gerhig and his remarkable streak, but then also his rapid decline because of ALS. Emotional movie.

Then today we took Tobiah to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. It was such a perfect day for it. The weather was 65 degrees, but the sun felt so warm. It truly was a beautiful fall day. It was Steph, Tobiah, my parents, Mike, Em & Zeker that all went. Tobiah and Zeke were so good. They both were looking around and smiling. I know they don't understand where they were or what they were doing, but it was fun for us to take them there and enjoy such a nice day. The orchard was set up real nice, there is a lot of open space for people to walk around, they have a petting zoo with llamas, goats, rabbits & chickens. Finally they had a really cool and fun corn maze. The corn was probably 8.5 feet tall and they did a good job of creating routes and dead ends. I was really impressed with the maze and the whole orchard. The weather was a big piece of it, but I would strongly recommend anyone with kids should take them there and let them run loose. I know someday Tobiah will enjoy that.

It's Been A While....

It's been a while since my last post. I honestly don't like that fact that it has been such a long time, but sometimes life gets in the way and laziness over takes ambition. A lot has happened over the past month that I need to share and give updates on.

My last post was about Tobiah's first Twins game and how special that was. Unfortunately, not much has gone well from them since that day. They are in a stretch of losing 35 out of their past 44. Not only are they playing terrible baseball (situational hitting, fielding, baserunning & pitching....to think about they aren't doing any one thing well....UGH!), but they aren't even putting a MLB team on the field each night. The Twins would be fined by MLB if they had this lineup playing in Spring Training games. At the end of the game tonight, only Michael Cuddyer was the true major league hitter and to think I  (and 39,000 other people) have paid for these games and are receiving such a poor product in return. The only thing that can be said is it's embarrassing. I hope Mr. Pohlad and the Dave St. Peter have the guts to fire Bill Smith, the training staff and potentially Joe Vavra. Paul Molitor needs to be some where in Ron Gardenhire's coaching staff, preferably as hitting coach. To say the least, the Twins have many offseason moves ahead of them and it will be interesting to see what they do. A slow start next April (and a difficult schedule they have) could lead to a lot of open seats in Target Field throughout the rest of the summer.

Also since my last post the political environment has heated up. President Obama gave his Jobs Bill Act Speech (which should be passed, Right Away. Right Away Congress should pass this bill) last week and even though it was delivered OK (he's a great orator, anything he says will sound good), he knows that it will never pass because of the tax increase that are attached to it. I would bet that most House Republicans would  support the bill if instead of income tax increases for the top 2% wage earners, he cut spending somewhere to pay for this bill. If you look at the proposed Act from a very high level, it is government spending and taking money from one group and redistributing to another group. Raising taxes is never a good idea in the midst of a slowed/stalled economy. Capital and cash needs to remain flowing in order for the free enterprise system to fully function.

As far as a Republican Presidential candidate for 2012, the field doesn't look quite as weak as it did just a few short months ago. I watched parts of the first two debates and even though the field is missing a few key names such as Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush, the current candidates are getting the attention of the American people. In my mind the party has two legitimate candidates, one that I fully support (Rick Perry) and the other I don't want to see get the nomination (Mitt Romney). Below is a list of the top 5 candidates and a quick summary of how I see each of them:

• Michele Bachmann - Tea Party Republican. Outspoken, adds tons of energy to the party and I agree with most things she believes, she is unelectable. She's too polarizing and has too many gaffes, the media would destroy her just like they did Sarah Palin in 2008.
• Newt Gingrich - Former Speaker of the House. Great leader, good speaker and has outstanding insight and experience. Unfortunately for him he has marriage issues (mainly he can't stay married) and a large majority of his close campaign staff left him this spring. Newt could be a good VP candidate or even a good cabinet member, but not President.
• Ron Paul - Libertarian. Has good grass roots support and not all of his ideas are bad. Let's be honest, he's too extreme, polarizing and isn't likeable. The longer he stays in the race the more he hurts the party.
• Mitt Romney - Moderate Republican. Successful businessman and in a time when the country faces its most difficult financial challenges. He's become a career politician and plays the game well. Unfortunately for him he's known as a flip flopper (John Kerry) and for me way too moderate and doesn't have the conviction and leadership that this country needs.
• Rick Perry - Conservative Republican. He's added a lot of energy to the party since he announced he was running. Has stolen a lot of Bachmann's support and has catapulted to the top of the polls. There are a lot of unknowns about him and what he would do as President, but initial thoughts are he is the best candidate and has a really good chance of defeating President Obama in the 2012 election. 

Also, in the last month has been the rise (and fall) of Target.com. As mention earlier, Target has taken their website back from Amazon who supported the website for the last several years. The transition from Amazon to Target hasn't gone that smoothly. There has been several issues with getting the Amazon system and orders history to sync and transfer to the new Target platform. In addition to that, there have been the expected system issues that come with launching a brand new website. Finally, Missoni (right, I didn't know what that was a week ago either), has been successful beyond Target's wildest imagination. The craze was not only like a Black Friday day at the stores, but the traffic overloaded the website. All this means is that I've had to work more hours than initially anticipated. While it has been fun and exciting, it has come at a time when I long to be at home. This has put a lot more pressure on Steph to take care of Tobiah while I tend to matters at work. Thank goodness Dana (Steph's dad) has decided to move in and be an extra set of hands around the house. The important this is that Target.com has learned a lot and should be in great position come the Christmas season and beyond. The growing pains should end shortly as well as the long hours.

Finally, my new favorite subject, Tobiah! He's such a good little guy. He's starting to smile more and more. He's not nearly as fussy as he was two weeks ago. He truly is a happy baby and it is so much fun watching him and wondering what he's thinking. When he's sitting in his bouncer he will usually be looking around at what's happening and then he'll just start talking. I've added "The Great Communicator" as one of his new nicknames because he'll just start talking and he uses voice influctions like he is actually speaking! It really is amazing! It's fun taking him out when we run errands or when we go on family walks. He'll just be chatting away. Between him and Steph there won't be room for me to say anything. I continue to make progress on being a dad, for example, the other day I was holding Tobiah and he spit up on me. Previous Darek would of freaked out and gotten a new shirt, but not that day, I embraced the spit up and continued to burp him and clean him off before changing out my shirt.


That's all for today, I know it was a ton, but I really wanted to give an update on how things are going. Stay tuned for more posts and adventures of Tobiah!