I love my daughters. I really, really do. But I am beginning to think that the fact that our third child is a boy is not only a blessing, but a matter of God ensuring my own mental and physical long-term well-being.
Archive - family
RSS Feed
Bragging on My Wife
OK, guys, don’t get jealous. But I just have to brag about my wife for a minute.
She is working herself to the bone taking care of our two girls (3-1/2 year old and 15 month old) while taking care of our house and keeping us fed. She’s co-writing a sit-com (you won’t see it on TV, but it’s literally the equivalent of a sit-com… 22-25 minutes of script, big laughs, crazy characters.). She’s starring in said sit-com. And she’s 6-1/2 months pregnant. Aches, pains, sciatica, muscle strain. Add grocery shopping, too many doc appointments, weddings, funerals, baths, snacktimes, naptimes, bedtimes, screaming-fit times.
She’s Superwoman.
And she’s mine.
I wish I were rich so I could send her to a spa, on a cruise, hire a maid and a nanny, just so she could live the life of the royalty that she is.
9/11 – A Life-Changing Week for Me in Many Ways
A day late, but… [and I warn you it's the longest post ever...but I think it's worth the read.]
The significance of this particular date on the calendar makes me feel guilty for going about business as usual today. I’ve been knocking off items on my to-do list, doing my thing.
But then again, I’m almost overwhelmingly grateful that the victory God has allowed our nation to have over that day seven years go is what enables me to have a ‘normal’ day today.
I took Kenni to preschool this morning, then zipped over to Starbucks to do some reading and plug away on email…phone calls. Then I stopped by the office to check in before grabbing lunch with my wife and daughters. Then back to the office to take care of business.
If evil had won that Tuesday morning in 2001, there’s no telling what I’d have been doing today. Or whether or not I would even be alive.
Think about that.
God is a God of freedom, justice, and mercy. So much so that both the assailant and his victim are eligible for the same mercy.
So, that being said, I reminisce every 9/11 on what that day/week looked like for me. [get your hanky]
Monday morning • 9/10
Flew to Dallas, Texas to hang out at Metro Bible Study at Prestonwood Baptist Church.
MercyMe was the ‘new band’ at Metro, I met them and took some photos of their worship set.
I had never heard of them before…it was my first time hearing the song “I Can Only Imagine.” That song was heard quite a bit after that week.
Went back to the hotel, probably read a little or watched some TV.
Tuesday morning • 9/11
Alarm went off at 6-something. Flight home was to be later that morning.
For some reason turned on the TV and tuned in to the Today Show (NBC). That wasn’t part of my normal routine. They were talking a LOT about Michael Jordan’s return to pro-basketball, and interviewing Jack Welch.
For some reason I rotated the TV towards the bathroom door and turned it up loud so I could hear while I took a shower.
While in the shower, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric started talking about the first plane hit. Sounded like an accident.
Got out of the shower. Started getting dressed.
Second plane hit. No longer sounded like an accident.
Still had a plane to catch.
Caught an eventful ride to the airport. Listened to radio… [PLEASE let me take off before you shut down all flights in the country.]
Gov’t cancels all flights in the country.
Arrive at airport. Check in anyway. Sit down in an airport Chili’s.
Tower collapses.
Airline now ‘officially’ cancels flights.
To Delta counter. They are going to put me in a hotel. Catch ride to said hotel. Check in.
Phone rings.
It’s “her.” “She” is ‘that cute girl I talked to at Bible study last Friday.
I had told her I was flying to Dallas. She thought maybe I had said Dulles. One of the planes was from Dulles. She got scared. She wonders why she got scared. She realizes that it’s because she may ‘feel something’ for this guy in Dallas/Dulles.
She asks if I need money…offers to wire me some. Not sure why. She didn’t have any money to wire me anyway.
“I’m fine. Thanks for calling. Crazy day, huh? Wow. Alright. Well, I’ll see you Friday?”
Hang up.
What? Huh?
I realize I’m standing on the bed in this hotel room.
Standing on the bed?
I realize it may be because I might ‘feel something’ for this girl in Dallas. (Dallas, Georgia…where she lives.)
Friend calls. He’s a pilot for Delta.
“You okay? We’ve got friends who live in Dallas who said you can stay with them if you want.”
Weigh the options… Hotel…alone? Or a house with friends of friends? Option B.
Friend of friend turns out to be an illustrator a Wycliffe Bible Institute.
He picks me up and takes me back to their offices. Get a tour. Learn some cool stuff. End up spending the rest of the afternoon watching coverage with a bunch of people in the break room.
Head back to friend of friend’s house. Meet family. Eat a homecooked dinner.
Phone rings. Friend from Atlanta who’s a partner at Accenture was in Houston for the week. Somehow managed to get a rental car. He’s driving back the next day. Want a ride?
Uh…yes.
Enjoy the new friendship of very gracious hosts.
Lay down in bed.
That’s as far as I got. Am I nervous about the civil situation, or intrigued by the phonecall from “her?”
Probably both.
Wednesday • 9/12
Friend arrives in Dallas. Picks me up. We start driving.
Drive.
Drive.
I mention the girl.
Hmmmm…
Drive.
Drive.
Thursday • 9/13
Arrive in Atlanta very early.
Friend drops me off at Hartsfield to pick up my vehicle.
Sleep.
Sleep.
Wake up. Eternity sets in.
This craziness.
That girl.
Wait.
Friday • 9/14
Work.
Wait.
Finally…Bible study time.
Obviously an emotional night for everyone.
Bible study wraps up.
YES! We’re alone for a minute.
“Soooo… How ya doin’?”
“Everyone’s going to Applebee’s. Wanna come?”
Late dinner.
Chit chat.
Next thing I know, we have plans for tomorrow night.
The plan?
Dinner, and then watch The Holy Grail. Yes, people… Monty Python.
Saturday • 9/15
Cleaned my house. Probably got a haircut, worked out, prayed that she’d like me, etc.
Early evening: Doorbell.
Opened the door.
Dang! Gorgeous.
Dinner at Long Horn.
Talked forever.
Back to my house. (Don’t get any ideas, people… We didn’t even hold hands.)
VCR (yes, VCR) messed up.
I’m crawling around playing with wires or something. She thinks to herself, “I think I’m going to be seeing a lot more of this.”
Fast-forward 5 months to February, 2002.
Got buddy passes from same friend who hooked me up with a ‘room’ on 9/11.
I give “her” the biggest bragging rights in her entire elementary school…
The other teachers ask, “Soooo, what did he do for Valentine’s Day?”
She’s able to answer, “Oh, he just took me lunch at a nice Italian restaurant…IN MANHATTAN!”
Sidenote: Daytrip to New York City is a VERY good way to win a girl’s heart. We were only there for 12 hours, but had a BLAST.
BTW, we visited Ground Zero. Sobering. It was still a HUGE mess. Dust on the tombstones at George Washington’s church…orange spray painted arrows on the side of Burger King that read <–TRIAGE / MORGUE–>
Late Februrary, 2002
I sell all my worldly possessions and buy a dang nice ring.
Mid-March, 2002
She says yes.
and…
“So, I guess I have to kiss you now?”
[no joke]
June 29, 2002
“I now pronounce you…”
September 11, 2002
We recognize the 1-year anniversary of 9/11 in a little blue house we rented from her Granny.
And they lived happily ever after.
Latest on ‘Little Dude’ Parris
The visit with the perinatologist was good… Nerve-rattling, but good.
There are no ‘structural’ problems with our little man other than the 2 vessel umbilical cord ‘anomaly.’ That means he most likely doesn’t have any life-threatening issues. There is still a very slim chance that there is SOME sort of chromosomal abnormality, and only an amniocientesis or birth could tell us for sure. So we’re just going to monitor his growth with monthly sonograms, and as long as he’s growing like he should, we’ll just roll on like normal.
Thanks for all the encouragement and prayer. We love y’all!
Uncertainty
So Annette shared a few days ago that we found out via ultrasound that our next addition to the family is a boy! I can’t lie… Now that we know, I was really hoping for this. In fact, the Sunday before we found out Annette was pregnant, I was walking through our kitchen when I had a random rush of thought run through my head, and I just blurted out to God, “I would really like to have a son.” Go figure.
Our baby man is scheduled to arrive somewhere around January 31. He looked pretty good and is measuring on target. In fact, Annette’s post originally got pretty specific about his measurements. Fortunately we re-read it and she made a subtle change. It originally said:
But I digress.
He looked good… His heart has four chambers and they’re all thumping along at the right speed. His arms and legs are all where they should be, and he’s moving them all over the place.
But while the ultrasound tech was going through her checklist, she made that “hmm” sound that you never want a doc or nurse to make. Not a long, cataclysmic “hmmmmmm,” but a quick, “hmm” that translated to, “that’s odd.”
She explained that it appears that “Little Dude” (Annette has gotten in the habit of calling him that) only has two blood vessels in his umbilical cord. Obviously, with a two-dimensional, run-of-the-mill ultrasound it’s tough to see too much detail in there. But she checked from a few different angles, and only briefly thought she might see the third that should be there. The doctors call this “SUA,” or Single Umbilical Artery. There are some pretty serious issues that can be associated with SUA, and to be honest, the odds that there’s nothing at all out of the ordinary linked to the SUA aren’t all that encouraging. Some studies show that one in four SUA kiddos are born with birth defects, and another one in four are born prematurely or at a low birth weight. (And since both our girls were tea-tiny, this fella needs all the help he can get.)
So, today at 2:30, we will be driving across town to visit with a Perinatologist. He’ll supposedly look at Little Dude with some pretty serious ultrasound machinery to see what he can see. Personally, I feel in my gut that he’s going to fire up his big machine and pretty quickly find that third artery, or at least see that the blood flow in the one remaining artery is nice and strong letting us leave his office with nothing but serious peace of mind and some pretty cool pictures of our kid. But there’s obviously that wee bit of apprehension that makes this a pretty nerve-abusing day for us.
So if you happen to think of this as you go about your day, would you mind praying for Little Dude? Like I said, I have a pretty severe peace about the whole thing. But in the interest of full-disclosure, I’d rather my peace stem from his being 100% healthy than from being able to accept and pull through a frightening prognosis. Know what I mean?
I’m sure Annette and I will both be blogging what we find out before we hit the sack tomorrow night.
In the mean time, we sure could use some stories from those of you who have experienced this same “anomaly” only to find out everything was fine and dandy.
The Olympics and My Children
I have a 3-1/2 year old (McKenna) who is absolutely mesmerized by the Olympics. She’d rather watch any Olympic competition than Playhouse Disney right now… That’s saying something. My 1 year old (Caia) can even get a little fixated depending on how much action is on the screen.
Last time the summer games came around, Annette and I hadn’t even bought our first house yet, and we were only expecting McKenna.
But what’s freaking me out today is that the NEXT time the summer games come around,
We’ll have a 3rd grader,
A Kindergartner,
And a child in preschool.
My, how quickly things change.
Baby Names We Have Rejected [Updated]
So Annette and I have been brainstorming names for our new addition due in January. We won’t know whether the tot is blue or pink until September 4, but most of the names we’ve come up with have bent towards the blue column.
Some of the names we have seriously considered but put on the ‘probably not’ list are:
Jeep
Lucy
Quest
Grayson (because it means ‘son of gray haired one’)
Graydon (because it means the same thing as Grayson)
Ellianna (we’re not that classy)
Cheech
Stephen Christopher (Annette said “no”. Boo.)
Buick
Regal
Apple
iPhone
Apple iPhone
W
Karen
Kegan
Kirran
Kallan
Or any other name that begins with K. Only because we call McKenna “Kenni,” and our youngest is Caia. So to folks who don’t know that we spell Caia with a “C,” they would thing we named all three of our kids with a K-name, which would not be good here in the South.
Barack
Obama
Osama
Jonathan Edwards
Hillary
Some names we are keeping on the short list as “maybe’s”:
Ronald Reagan
Skip Caray
Bernie Mac
Michael Phelps
Any other names you think we should put on the “no” list?
UPDATE: Grayson can go back on the list… Found out it can also mean “Son of the steward.” I can dig that.
Life Lessons from Stevi B’s
Last night, Annette went galavanting with the girls in our Journey Group. I think they went to see Mamma Mia or something because she’s been singing broadway tunes ever since. I attempted to keep both of my daughters alive in public while driving all over town to take photos of some of the Community Makeover recipient families. The ultimate task of keeping Kenni and Caia alive was mostly successful.
After peeling Kenni’s very core of existence off of a pony named Trinity at McKenna Farms (the first photographic location), I drove her screaming figure and her hungry sister to Stevi B’s. A little pizza buffet and S’mores dessert always makes everyone feel better.
Some things I thought while there:
1. There’s nothing like knowing the needs of your target audience… Just past the plate stacks, there was a basket full of disposable ramekins full of Cheerios with a sign that said, “For your little ones.” VERY customer-centric. ESPECIALLY when any parent knows what bringing Cheerios to the table as finger-food ultimately brings…a scattering of said Cheerios across the floor, highchair, and table.
2. Why doesn’t EVERY restaurant feed children 3 and under for free with the purchase of an adult entrée? Because every parent also knows that there is no circumstance under which a 3-year-old will eat a meal for which you have actually paid. Mac’n'cheese, nuggets, pbj, grilled-cheese. If the child sees money change hands for the food at his or her plate, there is a instinctual drive to eat no more than 3 cornflake sized bites of the outer edges…ESPECIALLY if the food is “too hot.” Stevi B’s knows that the child will only receive nourishment if the food is served for free.
3. If you are a man sitting by yourself at a table with 2 or more children that appear to be under control, said man will feel like a celebrity being watched by every woman over the age of 43 in the restaurant. I swear, I felt so much pressure to keep the girls well-behaved that I started to develop a tick. Middle- to older-aged women all over the place were watching the girls with smiles across their faces whispering things to their table mates.
4. Diaper changing tables in every public restroom should be a Federal requirement. There is no excuse for any establishment, ESPECIALLY restaurants, not having a diaper changing table in the women’s AND men’s restrooms. And they MUST be IN the largest stall available. This was my only hope for keep Caia alive while I McKenna took care of her business without rubbing her hands all over the toilet and then licking more S’mores pizza from her fingers. Did Caia enjoy being strapped down to a shelf? Probably not. But again…ultimate goal of keeping the children alive was achieved. If you run a business with public restrooms but do NOT have a diaper changing table, may I suggest you make a purchase here.
5. Never, ever leave the restaurant without bringing the 3-year-old’s beverage along. She WILL remind you later…with tears. Many tears.
