Blogging Again

As some of you know I started a blog a few years ago. From what I gathered many of you enjoyed it. However, I ran out of time and inspiration to keep it going. Furthermore, that blog really didn't have much focus or vision, it was for all intents and circumstance a series of ramblings. Well now I have a new vision and new focus. I have a daughter.

Clare Ellen was born on Dec. 17 at 5:20 A.M. Suffice to say my life as changed dramatically since then. Many people have told my wife and I that we should keep a journal to look back upon and reflect upon these beginning moments of Clare's life. Julia is good at sitting in bed at night and putting the pen to the paper and just writing. I am not a pen and paper kind of guy. I am a sit in the recliner with the laptop on my lap and a beer in my hand kind of guy.

Also, whenever I sit down to write something that is only for my eyes I am always filled with a feeling that can only be described as awkwardness. It is a feeling somewhere between "I feel like a third grade girl" and "Hey maybe I am one of those great renaissance writers who will be famous when he dies and someone finds my inciteful, deep, and provocative writings in an old cracked leather journal." Most of the time the former feeling is the prevailing one.

So where is all this rambling going: I write to share. I don't presume to change anyone's life or to even impress anyone. I only hope to maybe make you smile or laugh at the things that go into raising a baby. I know that not much of what I will go through will be unique or extraordinary. In fact I am sure that most of what people will get out of this are recollection of their own experience of dealing with babies.

As I write right now, I am not even sure where to begin. The thoughts that are running through my head are: Will I have time? How can I not sound pretentious? Will this even be interesting? I don't have the answers to these questions, but frankly I don't particularly care. I am going to attempt to do what I know how to do and that is simply write what I am thinking and experiencing. Hopefully it will make sense but no guarantees. Hopefully it will be entertaining, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will sound sane, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will be able to update it frequently for you, for me, and for Clare in the future, but no guarantees.

I do hope that you read this and get something from it. I look forward to the feedback and if we are lucky maybe it can even serve as a place where we can all share some laughs about the experience of raising a child.

I feel like I am rambling at this point. While I have already admitted that that will be the prevailing style, I fear that the rambling is starting to be senseless. I do want to leave you with a quck anedote though. I decided tonight that I would start this blog. It was on a whim, and basically happened because Clare was feeding so my hands were free. I started dinner, sat at the computer and just started typing. That was three hours ago. I was not out of words or ideas. I was simply out of availability. So since I have started this blog Clare has fed twice, Julia and I have fed once, I cooked pasta, slightly burned garlic bread, and gave Clare her medicine, whose directions by the way tell us to squirt the medicine in Clare's mouth, have her swish it in her mouth for thirty seconds, garble for a bit, and then swallow. For a two week old these directions are a bit daunting. Our practical directions have become: Squirt it in her mouth as quickly as possible, completely cover her shirt so we don't have to change it, and hope to God that at least some of the medicine stays in her mouth and doesn't end up being spit all over my hand. Well until next time I am off to change numerous diapers of various colors and consistencies.