March 2017

Unconditional Love can be defined as the following from dictionary.com

affection with no limits or conditions; complete love

And the older that I get, the more that I get to experience that type of love from my children and it just blows me away. Last night, I was tired. I had been up since 4 a.m. and had not slept well. I was exhausted and had been cooking, cleaning, watched a basketball game and by 9 p.m. I was asleep on the sofa.

And in one of my not so finer moments, one of the boys came trotting downstairs and I got upset. He should have been asleep over an hour and a half before. I was frustrated. I was tired. I was upset and most importantly, I was WRONG! I was wrong in my behavior and my actions, but something happened, after I put my son back to bed, even though I was hard on him, he asked me to hold his hand.

I never knew the love of a child and how no matter what, they will love you with a pure and innocent unconditional love. They will hold your hand and want to feel safe, but they will also show you, me, us as parents, that it is ok. Last night, I learned a very important lesson, that no matter what, my children will love me. They will be there when I need them, just as I am there when they need me. They will hug me or hold my hand when I have a bad day. But they will also teach me a lesson when I need on too.

It seems as though I am never truly shocked by what my kids do or what they will say. Sure, there are things that I wish that they would do differently and there are times that I have to get on them, as they need to know right from wrong. But, they too are teaching me that when I do something wrong, they are right there to let me know that they are ok or that everything will be fine.

I am truly blessed. I am blessed with two amazing twin boys that I love to the moon and back. I am blessed to have a wonderful wife, that when I need a swift kick in the butt to get me refocused on being a better parent, she is more than willing to kick me. But I am blessed to have two sons, that love me no matter what and they show me what unconditional love, truly is.

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Well, it is the day after my vasectomy and man, that was nothing. 15 minutes in and out.

For months, ok, I started a week after we had the boys and now almost 6 years later, it finally happened. This wasn’t something that we took lightly and discussed numerous times and at the end of the day, it was the right decision. And after talking with a few friends, I felt like I had a good handle on the procedure and the recovery.

Granted, I have a pretty high toleration for pain, but I really was surprised that I didn’t have really any pain. There was a few moments of discomfort, but that only lasted about 20 seconds total. All in all, it was a great day in the recliner, but even though there was no pain or really any issues, I am still taking it easy for the next few days, Doctors orders and honestly, I need to rest.

I’ve gotten to do a little reading, planned out some new recipes to try for the boys, found a tent for us to get and do a little camping this summer. All good things, all good things.

So, the day after has gone like this, no pain, a little swelling, the dog is in my lap, the boys are playing and I’m sipping on coffee. If you guys are thinking about doing a vasectomy, talk with your Doctor, talk with friends that have done it, but from my stand point, as I am starting the day after, I’m really happy that I did it, for many reasons.

Now back to the sofa.

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The date is finally coming up and no, I’m not referring to the ACC Basketball Tournament. Though, I did schedule out my vasectomy with that in mind. There is only 1 time a year that I can imagine laying on the sofa all weekend and this is it.

I was asked by a few friends if I was scared or was having second thoughts and I just couldn’t imagine answering the question in any other way. No, I’m not scared and no I’m not having any second thoughts. The reality is very simple, it is safer, easier and cheaper if I have this surgery than my wife having anything done. And besides, she carried not 1 but 2 babies around for over 8 months, so this is the least that I can do.

But at the same time, I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not looking to a few days off my feet. Though I will do some light cooking on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll be limited. Not so much because of pain or discomfort from what I’m told, but more just not over doing it. And when I had my consult with the Doctor, who was awesome by the way. Great sense of humor is a key thing for me in a physician, but when you work with enough of them like I do, you understand why it is important. It sounds like the time from start to finish is 15 minutes and the pain is the same as a bee sting.

Oh, the best part, “homework”. That’s right, sex with my wife 15 – 20 times or 2 months, whichever comes first (no jokes here kids). What a great reason to have a lot of sex! And as I shared with one of my best friends, it is going to cost me more out of pocket to not have anymore kids than it did for them to be born. Obviously I’m excluding IUI, IVF, etc. and all the other stuff. I’m only simply talking hospital time.

So, I’m a few days out now from having the procedure and in a sad and twisted way, I’m looking forward to it. More to come.

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