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!

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.

He's Here! He's Here!

Stephanie and I would like to introduce our son Tobiah William Schwarz. He arrived this morning at 5:21, weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 18 inches long. Both Toby and Steph are doing well. He is doing great during his first seven hours of life. Steph and I are both humbled, thankful and honestly a loss for words over how blessed we truly feel right now.

As I wrote last night we were in the hospital hoping that we would be parents by late morning/early afternoon. Little Tob had different plans. I sent last night's post out at around midnight and I stayed awake with Steph until about 1:15. Honestly I was a little excited/nervous about greeting my son into the world, but before I fell a sleep I told Steph to wake me if she needed me. At about 1:30 Steph started moaning a little bit, but it wasn't anything to unusual from what I've heard at home. Since she didn't say anything I fell back asleep. At 3:15 I awoke to a few loud and painful moans. From 1:45-3:15 Steph and the nurse were very active. They walked around the room, spend a few minutes on the birthing ball, filled and spent about 30 minutes in the tub. (This once again confirms that I could sleep through a marching band). At about 3:30 we moved Steph back to the bed and she began having sharp contractions. At 4:27 she began pushing and by 5:21 he was born. I got a little emotional seeing how much discomfort Steph was in and there was nothing I could do about it. I kept telling her how great she was doing and let her squeeze my hand to relieve some of the pressure.

I would like to make the disclaimer now that I know very little about children and all these experiences are new to me. Give me a little latitude as I share just how naive I really am.

After Tobiah was born he came out just a screaming. I was amazed on how quickly the got him into Steph's arms. While she was bonding with him they were cleaning him off and making him look more human. When asked, I passionately declined the option of cutting the cord. To be honest I was constantly checking for the nearest chair just in case I started getting a little light headed. So cutting the cord was a little to much for me. In the mean time they weighed, measured and administered his first shot and eye drops.

They dressed and swaddled him and I got to hold him for the first time. His eyes were open and I kind of introduced myself to him. I told him "You are going to be great, you are going to do great things." I started welling up with tears as I said "God saved you for this special time and you will do great things for him". I still get emotional thinking about that and I'm not an overly emotional guy. Maybe it was the first connection that we had, or a realization of what is to come. All I know is that I now have a human life that is completely dependant upon me (well...at this time Steph) to provide, raise and instill values that will uphold the nature of his name.

There is so much more to share, but I think some of that is for another time and maybe more things will come back to me as time passes and Steph and I relive our versions of this morning.

For those of you who are wondering the meaning of Tobiah: God is good!

God has definitely blessed us today with a miracle and I can't quantify the gratitute that I have and I honestly think the best way to summarize it is "God is good", he is SO VERY GOOD!

A Fresh Start

Let's be honest with each other, in today's society social media is a big deal and there a tons of people blogging and sharing their opinions on a number of items. I have always felt like blogging was never going to be for me, but my wife Steph (also to be known throughout this blog as Steppy) finally convinced me after she read my experience at a Twins-Rays lunch I attended earlier this week (Which I will post here either tomorrow or Monday). I got to thinking (which isn't one of my strengths), if I was to blog, what would I blog about. Honestly, how many people really care what I think about (I guess as time goes on we'll find out)? I came up with four topics that are really important to me that I'm extremely passionate about that I felt I could write about multiple times a week. Those four areas are:

1. Family - Steppy and I have been married for over 7 years now, we have a 5 year old beagle named Hunny and we are days (maybe even hours) away from our first child, a son (who at this point doesn't have a name). I will share my experiences as a man and first time father. I also have to throw the disclaimer that I'm not the best with kids (at least your kids), I'm not sure what they want, how to get to their level. This should be plenty of comedy for you and a great way to help me understand.

2. Faith - I've been born again since I was 8 (at story I will share in the future) and have been passionate about my walk with Jesus since. I will be the first to admit that I screw up plenty and I'm no where close to perfect and I hope that people don't judge what Jesus did for them based upon my inadequacies. I have to be up front and say that I follow Jesus and his Word. I am easily annoyed by religious traditions and why people do things in their church, but don't understand why.

3. Political - This will probably be the subject I talk the least about, but should be open to let you know that I am very partial and lean heavily one way, but two things you can expect from me. First, I will never rip a person because of the person he is. For example, our president I may disagree with many things that he does and says, but you will never hear me talk negatively about him as a person. Secondly, I will tell you why I believe the way I do. That way you can understand my thinking and you can rip me on my thoughts and you can give me the reason why you believe.

4. Baseball - Minnesota Twins baseball to be exact. I love the game and feel that I have above average insight as to how the game can be played. This may be a great outlet for me after a frustrating loss, a heroic comeback or strategic moves that need to be made based upon injuries, slumps and dynamics that is brought to the team. (I currently have a number of things to talk about regarding this topic, but I'm trying to start fresh and begin share thoughts going forward).

Now you know why I'm doing this and hopefully there are value adding items here for you. I would love interaction to my comments. Please send this out to friends that maybe interested in any of the subjects listed above. To be fair, Topics one and four will probably be my main discussion points, at least between now and October (hopefully late October).

Enjoy!!