We would like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July.  Stay safe on this summer holiday and enjoy your firework displays.  A friendly reminder to keep your dogs inside while fireworks are going off.

“I don’t need a man.”  I can’t even remember how many times I’ve heard this quote in person.  How many times have I heard, “I don’t need a women”?  A couple times in country music songs.  Yeah, I occasionally listen to country music.  Where did things go so wrong that the semantics of the word need, is viewed by men and women so differently?  Lets take a look at the definition of the word need by Merriam Webster. You know that book we used to pull out in grade school. Need: something that is desirable, useful, a physiological or psychological requirement, a condition of requirement and so forth.  Now that we know what it means, lets go out into the cosmos and break apart this sensationalized pressure to be alone.  In the process lets discover for women why it’s ok to need a man, and men why it’s okay to need a woman.

Jolene is almost 28 weeks along.  We’ve known since she was 19 weeks along that our next baby will be a boy.  We’ve been considering names for a while now.  It didn’t dawn on me till yesterday that my son gets to pass on my surname if he so chooses.

As a first time father I remember things very vividly even down to the minute.  Jolene took four months off to bond with Johanna.  One of the first nights Jolene went back to work Johanna cried the entire night.  It was so bad that she finally fell asleep at 6:19 a.m.  I tried rocking her on her back, as well as her chest.  She wasn’t hungry.  She didn’t need to go to the bathroom.  Pedialax didn’t work. I paced back and forth trying not to step in the areas that creaked.  I tried music, nothing.  We have a tv in our room that I tried to distract her with.  Swaddling was of no use.  I even tried a car ride.  To this day she has only fell asleep in the car 4 times.  Her colic was so bad, it felt like my child was possessed by demons.  I too broke down crying.  

One of cool things about being a SAHD is that we don’t have to always maintain our beards.  I personally hate having to shave every day.  When I attended college I also worked as an officer for the University Patrol.  The department had strict guidelines about maintaining our facial hair.  Many companies have the same regulations.  As a stay at home dad I don’t have a boss telling me how to shave my face, or how often.  Or do I?

With a boom and a thud I woke up two mornings ago.  After a few seconds of realizing what had happened, I realized my wife was on the floor.  In my awakening awkwardness and fumbling words I called out, “Are you okay, are you okay?”  There was no response.  We’ve been married for 10 years and 6 months.  Jolene and I dated for 5 years and were friends even before.  Needless to say we know each other all too well.  So when I say my pregnant wife pushes herself too much, I know it’s not an understatement.

Having a baby is one of the most exciting events of our human lives.  Whether to a mother or father, pregnancy is a special 9 plus months of preparation.  Buying all the necessary tools you need to raise children, toys, clothes, receiving gifts from friends and even strangers, preparing your nursery are all part of the fun side of pregnancy.  What is not fun is that pregnancy is like 9 months of menstruation.

The week before Thanksgiving 2015 Jolene, Johanna and myself travelled to Chattanooga Tennessee.  My mom lives in Chattanooga, so occasionally we travel out to see them.  This time we decided to go around the holidays.  We decided to stay at the The Read House Historic Inn And Suites.  The Read House is a nice rustic hotel with a great restaurant attached.  It’s located in the heart of the city.  Porters Steak House has great food and is located in the hotel.  Porter’s is expensive, but well worth a meal if you can afford it.  During one of our nights there Johanna had one of her epic tantrums.

Johanna has been going to vacation bible school at the Calimesa Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  Their theme is the Maker Fun Factory.  She enjoys being around a bunch of kids her age.  My wife has been taking her all week.  Each day she comes home with another craft that they made. She really enjoys VBS.

On July 5, 1908 something special occurred for the first time in the United States of America.  On that day the first observance of Father’s Day occurred.  Father’s Day was celebrated in the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Late on June 19, 1910 the YMCA had their first observance of the holiday.  In 1913 congress attempted to establish Father’s Day as a holiday but was unsuccessful.  Decades passed before it officially became a holiday.  In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the first official Father’s Day holiday.  Ever since Father’s Day has been observed the third Sunday in June.