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Cancer is a word that non of us want to hear, but all too often do. I just got word that a close family friend has been given 3 months to a year to live.

I thought that it was in remission. I thought that he was going to be ok. I hoped that he would out live us all. But the reality is, the cancer has come back.

But today, as I sit at my desk, trying to fight back the tears. I remember that my friend is still with us. He still has time left here on this earth. And if anyone can beat cancer, it is him.
Today, I pray for my friend. I pray for his family. I remember the things that I learned from this great man, this great leader, this great retired Air Force General. He treated me like a son.
He taught me so much. He trusted me to do things. He gave me the confidence to take risks and grow from my mistakes.

Today, I sit and really hate cancer and what it is doing to my friend.

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Perspective can be a noun, verb or adjective. And in my humble opinion can be best summarized as how we view things, situations, the world, etc.

There has been a lot going on lately, work, kids, Baby B and speech therapy, finances, life, family, etc. But today, I took a different look and changed my perspective on how I am viewing things. A close friend had a stroke today. There will be a long road ahead, but they are alive. Baby B has a session with the speech pathologist this week, but he is making sounds and trying to speak. Money is tight due to some unforeseen things that popped up, but we can eat and have food on the table tonight.

Perspective can make or break you, because depending on how you look at and view a situation, can determine how you react/handle a situation. So tonight, I will go home and hug my boys. I’ll play with them a little longer tonight. And before I goto bed, I’ll say another prayer for my friend, that even though she has a long road ahead, she is alive. She will be here to give me a hard time.

So how will you look at life?

What will your perspective be?

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We finally got the call from the speech pathologist and she confirmed what we suspected, that Baby B, needed speech therapy. Actually, she said that he qualified for expressive and receptive speech therapy.

I am a web developer, I don’t have the first clue what expressive and receptive speech therapy means? I did a lot of Google searches and this site, for me, helped put it more into perspective, click here.  And this summary, basically says it all:

Receptive language disorder means a child has difficulties understanding what is said to them. Other names for receptive language disorder include central auditory processing disorder and comprehension deficit. In most cases the child also has an expressive language disorder, which means they have trouble using spoken language.

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I still don’t know how Baby B scored on his test, not that it really matters. Though, I would like to see where he is on the scale, meaning how severe of a delay is he? But, he is going to start speech therapy soon and that will be the start of getting him back on track. He has already started saying more words, and as we encourage him more to speak, he seems to be saying more words everyday.

Now, we just wait. We ask more questions. We encourage him to speak more. And we the help of speech therapy, Baby B should be going strong and talking in a matter of no time.
Or, that is what I’m telling myself at least.

 

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I broke down Monday morning and made a purchase, one that I normally would not make, but I bought the Jawbone Up.

If you aren’t familiar with this little gadget, you aren’t alone, neither was I. But my wife had purchased a fitness arm band to help encourage her to get in shape and I figured, why not?

Day 1 – 550 steps in 2 hours.
Not bad. Just have to keep it up and do more. My goal is 5,000 – 8,000 steps in a day, but this will also require going to the gym more often, which may or may not happen.

This is just a transformation into becoming a healthier person and increasing my longevity of being around for my boys, which is what I need to do and be focused on.

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We take it all for granted, until it hits close to home.  As I have blogged about in the past, Baby B has been slow with his speech development. This past week, a Speech Pathologist did an initial evaluation on him and started working with him to encourage him to talk. But, an amazing thing also happened this week too. He started talking. Not a lot. But, he did say 2 new words, Baby and Blue. Though not huge in anyway, but he has not only said them, but he keeps saying them.  And he says them correctly when referring to either a baby or the color blue.

This past week, work has been crazy. A lot going on. I was beyond stressed off and I was getting close to the end of my patience. And then something happened. I was playing with the boys and I asked Baby B where his hair was? And he touched his hair. Then we proceeded to go through all of the body parts and for the first time, he touched each and every single one of them as I asked.  And as he sat and smiled, holding his toes, he pointed to my shirt and said “Blue”. At the end of a rough week and all that I have been wanting is for my son to say something, anything, he says “Blue”. I could have cried. And then for him to go through all of the body parts was equally as exciting.

Maybe his delayed speech development is attributed to his brother talking for him? Maybe he just did not have anything to say?  Maybe the speech pathologist helped?

Regardless the reason, he did it. He is beginning to talk. Speech is the form of communication that we know, but it was something that Baby B was not ready to do.

So, we encourage him to talk more. We are still separating them on Saturday mornings.  And we continue to ask questions and help him learn new words. We are still waiting on the report from the Speech Pathologist, but this is a good start.

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Today marks Day 1 of a new challenge that I have setup for myself and one that I hope that will continue for a very long time.

Ever since I turned 21, I have been reminded that both sides of my family struggles with alcohol. I have known it and have always been really mindful of it. The last 2 – 3 weeks have been really stressful at work and instead of coming home and having a beer or a glass of wine, I was doing 3 – 4.
I was drinking to get through the stress. I knew it. I didn’t want to admit it, but I recognized it. And when I said out loud that I was doing this, I felt like the world was being lifted off of my shoulders.

This past Sunday night, my wife and I had a long conversation and it was really me more or less mapping out what I wanted to do, to try to ensure that I am here for a long time for the boys.
And for the first time in my life, I acknowledged, that if I didn’t make changes, that I wouldn’t be here to watch the boys grow up. So, I asked my wife to give me 2 – 3 nights a week that I could work out
at the gym. I’ve already been doing a pretty decent job with the meals, so I wasn’t as concerned about that.

Today marks Day 1 of this new journey. Day 1 of a new me and a new life. I am fortunate that a few friends are taking this same approach to getting in better shape. I think that the biggest feeling for me, is that there will be accountability, because
several good friends will also be doing this and we will be able to keep each other on track.

 

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Memorial Day is the start of summer for most. But it is also a time to get together with friends and families and BBQs.

This year, we have family coming over and I’ll be enjoying a lot of quality time at the grill and smoker.  Brisket, Baby Back Ribs, Chicken, Burgers and Brats, and the list goes on.
But as much as I love standing and smelling the food cooking, I love the fact that I get to spend the weekend with my boys.

So take time this Memorial Day weekend and spend time with your loved ones.

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Do you worry? Worry about life? Your kids? Finances?

Well of course you do, you are human and we all worry about something.

While driving to work today, a buddy of mine sent this to me as a text message and I thought that it was only  appropriate to share.

34Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.
Matthew 6:34
https://www.youversion.com/bible/392/mat.6.34.cevus06

I’m not saying that after I read that passage, that I didn’t worry. But, I was reassured. So take a moment, look outside and enjoy those that are around you.

And try to not worry so much.

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Tonight, I sit speechless. I put the boys to bed, as usual. But it wasn’t usual tonight. I talked with them about life, about God, and anything and they sat and listened. We talked, we laughed and we prayed for my best friend that lives just outside of Oklahoma City.

As a Christian, it is times like this that I wonder. I wonder what God was thikning when thi s happened. I believe that there is/was a plan, however we will never see it. So as I read that 51+ are dead and 24 maybe kids, I just wonder, “what was God thinking”.

It isn’t my place to question God like that though. I only hope and pray that he uses people as a way to show how to overcome adverser.

#OklahomaStrong

 

 

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Sometimes in life, you just have to Let It Go.

Life can get you down really quickly. Pressures from work can get you down really quickly. Relationships can get you down really quickly.
So what do I do? I Let It Go. And this little band called Cowboy Mouth has the perfect song for that.

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