The Next Chapter.....

On the night of April 3, 2008 I played a softball game at Champion Forest knowing that the next day my world would change forever. I remember after the game, Bethany and I chatted with friends and headed home knowing that we had a 5am wake-up call. I remember I didn't fall asleep until around 2am that night. I was so nervous with thoughts racing around in my head about what was going to occur the next day.....How on earth was I going to be ready to be a "Dad"? I don't really know how to change a diaper, put a baby down to sleep, feed a baby, bathe a baby, etc.

At 7:26pm on April 4th, Bethany and I welcomed Madelyn into the world. I was so proud of Bethany and excited about having a little girl to love. Over the next few weeks, I quickly learned the ins-and-outs of how to take care of a little baby. It was astonishing how natural many of the tasks became.

Well tonight I was making the trek home tonight after another softball game at Champion Forest. I normally listen to the radio and hope that a Taylor Swift song comes on so I can sing (just kidding....I think). Tonight was different. I drove home with the radio off and started really thinking about how much our lives are going to change in a few days. How is Madelyn going to handle being a big sister? What is going to be like having three wonderful girls in my life? How am I going to provide for my family? How did all of this happen so fast? I then realized that I had similar questions back on April 3, 2008 and everything has turned out well.

One final thought.....Over the past two years, I have cataloged so many wonderful memories that involve Madelyn. Of course you always remember all of the "first time" events, but one of the things I treasure the most is something that probably got me in a little trouble from time-to-time. Before I would go to bed, I always wanted to check on Madelyn one more time....just to make sure everything was 'ok'. I would go into her room and watch her sleep for a few minutes. There is something about watching your child sleep......it calmed me down after a long day and I believe it helped give me a glimpse of what is important in life. As I mentioned earlier, doing this got me in a little 'trouble'. Every once in a while, Madelyn would wake up (due to Chaz making a noise or the door would shut a little louder than I thought it would). This gave me the opportunity to pick up my little girl and help her get back to sleep. Not a bad trade-off, right?