Thought I would share some pics of my little ladies…
And our newest addition…little baby Emilee…
Category Archives: Personal
More Pics of the Newest Addition…
We arrived home from the hospital yesterday but I wanted to share a few other pictures…
Even after giving birth, my wife looks really hot…
This is me just celebrating what I created…
The entire time we were at the hospital, all Sydnee wanted to do was see the helicopter. Yesterday, before leaving, I took her for a walk around the hospital, and we happened to run into one of the pilots who took us up on the roof to see the helicopter up close. Pretty cool!
Hello World…I’m Emilee
Well, I’m happy to announce that I’m the proud owner of a 2008 baby girl. It’s the E.M.E.E. model from the 7-11 series. She’s fully loaded with 10 fingers, 10 toes, and lots of dark hair. She’s gorgeous and her owners (her mother and I) hope she will be a smooth ride for the next 18 years!
Here’s the proof of how productive I, how produce my wife was today…
Last Day With One…
Well today is quite possibly the last day we will have with just one child. As most of you may know, my wife is quite pregnant. So her doctor has scheduled to induce her tomorrow morning. Which means if all goes according to plan, tomorrow we should add another bambino to our growing litter.
I’ll try to keep you up to date via Twitter and will post some pictures in the next few days.
Let the sleepless nights begin…
A Close Call…
As many of you may know, my wife is quite pregnant and is due in the next few weeks. This is our second so we are fairly familiar with the drill but anytime a baby is involved, it makes planning your business travel a little difficult.
So I fly into Baltimore last night where I will be speaking at the Maryland 4-H State Conference on Thursday morning. Which means I have all of today off and was just planning on getting some work done here at the hotel. I arrive late and get to bed around midnight or so.
Then the phone rings at 4am.
And it’s my wife.
Did I mention she is quite pregnant? When your wife is quite pregnant and you’re halfway across the country, you don’t want a phone call from her at 4am!
She said she was having some major contractions and was going to head into the hospital but to hang tight. So naturally I’m up and awake at this point, despite only a few hours of sleep. I begin browsing flight options and found the best option would be that I would fly direct to St. Louis, rent a car and drive 3 hours home. I’d be home for about 6 hours and then would drive back to St. Louis to catch a flight back to Baltimore so I could speak the next morning.
It was a pretty ambitious plan but I was ready to go. So I packed up everything, headed to the airport, with the instructions from the Mrs not to buy a ticket until they hear from the doctor. I get to the airport and am sitting there in the terminal just waiting for “the call” so I know whether or not I need to buy a ticket for a flight that leaves in about 45 minutes!
As it turns out, she was certainly having some strong contractions but her water hadn’t broken and she wasn’t quite there for baby-pushing time.
So thankfully I drove back to the hotel and took a morning power nap.
Quite an eventful morning!
Worrying About Things You Can’t Control…
Filed under Family, Personal, Thinking Out Loud...
This post may be more for me than for you.
Why?
This week there’s a pretty strong chance I’ll be worrying about something I can’t control. As I write this, I’m sitting in the Springfield airport where I’ll begin a trip that will have me gone for 6 nights in 3 cities where I’m scheduled to speak a total of 9 times. So what’s the problem?
Oh yeah, did I mention that my wife is due in a few weeks?
That’s the challenge of what I do. A big part of my job means that I’m on the road a decent amount. And when you have something like a pregnancy, it makes it difficult to schedule things accordingly. We make our living whenever I run my mouth and unfortunately, we can’t take off months at a time. After this week, I’m home for about 3½ weeks and technically, my wife is not due until July 13 so hopefully everything will time out fine.
So is it worth stressing myself out this week? Do I need to be panicked over something I have no control over?
Our daughter will come when she’s good and ready to come.
I just want to be there when it happens.
The Next 10 Days of My Life…
As a speaker, some seasons are busier than others. The next 10 days will be a “busier-than-normal” swing. Here is my schedule:
June 19 – Drive to Kansas City. Fly to Denver.
June 20 – Speak once in the AM in Denver. Fly back to Kansas City. Drive home.
June 21 – Home in Springfield, MO
June 22 – Fly to Indianapolis. Drive 1½ hours to hotel. Arrive around 1.30am
June 23 – Speak once at Purdue at a 4H event
June 24 – Do 3 workshops at event. Drive 2½ hours to Chicago. Fly to Baltimore.
June 25 – Day off in Baltimore. Sleep. Try not to die.
June 26 – Speak once in Maryland at 4H event. Fly to Atlanta.
June 27 – Do 2 workshops in ATL at National FBLA Conference.
June 28 – Do 2 more workshops in ATL. Fly home.
Did I mention that my wife is due with our second daughter in less than a month? Yeah. We try to keep things interesting in our lives.
After all this, I’m home for about 3 ½ weeks which I’m really looking forward to.
The Baldwin Family…
Just thought this was a cute picture of the Baldwin family we took over the weekend…
Swing Set Assembly
I spent a large portion of my Friday last week putting together a swing set for my little girl. I was able to talk my dad into helping me out and even between the two of us; it took a solid 7 hours or so. Enjoyed hanging with my old man but really enjoyed playing with my daughter on this massive contraption.
Sorry you have to see my backside, but I realized it was the only full picture of the finished product…
This little grin makes all the blood, sweat, and tears worth it (I did shed all three didn’t I?)
On My Own…
Filed under Personal
A day that I’ve dreamed about has finally arrived. For the last several months I have been trying to build a business as a speaker and author in the work I do with students. As I have worked at this business, I have also been doing some side jobs to help make ends meet.
When I first set out to do this, I thought I might be able to make the jump to full time in about a year to 18 months or so. But yesterday I talked to a guy I was doing some sales work for and formally quit that position. So now, I’m 100% self-employed and any income we have coming in comes from the business.
Holy Crap, that’s a scary thought.
But we’ve worked extremely hard and to be at this point where I literally answer to no one but myself (and my wife of course!) is a great feeling. I love that we’re able to be in control of our own destiny by being in control of our day to day schedules.
In fact, on this first day of working for myself full time, I’m going to take the afternoon off to put together a swing set for my little girl. Why?
The weather is nice. I like to play outside with my little girl. Time with my girls is more important than any project I could work on. But one of my favorite reasons for taking the afternoon off:
Because I can.
What are you waiting for to pursue your dream?
