HalfLoaded.com

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

- Shel Silverstein

So, I am posting this everywhere and I now realize why new parents are so annoying. Last night, at 11:52pm, nearly 15 hours into labor, Rose gave birth to our first baby. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Rose had a pretty hard labor. Everything was progressing pretty quickly until baby decided she couldn’t make it down the birth canal. I am being blamed for her big head but I don’t really care now.

The doctors had to do an emergency cesarean section because of mom’s fever and baby’s heart rate. We were all scared but everything went smooth and she came out crying and breathing on her own.

I don’t know how I am going to leave her or her mom in six days. It will probably be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Here are some links for our upcoming deployment…

• 2d LAAD Bn Photo Albums
• Contact Me
• MotoMail - Send letters via e-mail
• Multi-National Forces West - The command for Al Anbar Province, Iraq (Good source for news. The part the national media doesn’t tell you)

So, my sister is going to have another boy. She sent out an e-mail today announcing the great news. I have no doubt he will be just as awesome as my other nephew, Hunter. I really hope I will be home to meet the new addition to my family before I leave for my deployment. Congrats Jess (and Sean, Lotus and Hunter!)!

So, the official word is in. I’m kicking myself for not writing down the ultrasound technician’s name. If she is wrong, she owes me some money for the suffering I have and will have to endure. After the appointment, I came home from work and found pink clothes all over the house. I thought, “It’s starting!”

Truthfully though, I couldn’t be happier. Every day, I think about what she is going to be like. I already know she will be stubborn. And, I have to admit that, she will probably be daddy’s little girl. What can I say, I’m going to be a dad. What girl isn’t daddy’s little girl?

Here is a shot: .

Besides that, nothing much is new. Just enjoying the fact that I am going to be a dad!

Oh yeah, her name… Angelica June. My little angle… I can already hear her saying, “But why daddy, I’m your little angle.”