...and we're having a little...

9/8/15

We had our 20 week ultra sound tonight, and we're having a ...

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BOY!!!!

We're having a little, baby boy!!!  A BOY!!!

We sat through almost the entire ultrasound before the lady said, "well, let's see if we can tell what this little baby is..."  A few seconds went by.  My eyes were still straining to make out features on the screen and she said, "well, there is the scrotal sac."  It took me a second before I asked,  "Soooo, it's a boy?!?!"  I'm sorry...I guess I refer to certain features with less nerdy terms than those in the medical field!!!

Laura and I both didn't have a worry/care about whatever gender our little one was hiding from us until tonight.  Erica stole my heart from the first second I set my eyes on her, I knew I would enjoy another little girl as much as I'd enjoy a little boy.  Selfishly though, every guy secretly hopes for a boy.  Maybe it's a macho thing, I don't know, but we hope for the boy.  For me, my hopes were to have a boy who I can take hunting and can carry on the family name.  Fortunately for me, I know I'll take Erica hunting a time or two, and hopefully much more.  Who knows, maybe my little dude won't be into hunting...but I'm still excited to have a little baby boy!

I'm excited to have a boy!

As I think about it now...as I write...I'm excited about a boy for a couple of big reasons:

1 - I want a boy who I can teach to be honorable who lives his life with integrity.  It seems that we live in a world today where people become passionate about silly things, and almost overnight.  At the end of the day, so many of these things just don't seem to matter at all in the long run.  I want to help guide my son on a path that will show him that he should follow his heart, know the difference between right and wrong, treat people fairly and with respect, and to always do the right thing.  I guess you could say, I want to help raise someone who will be someone that contributes positively to society.

2 - To have a sense of pride in his work.  My dad always taught me (and, damn did it piss me off at the time!!!) to work hard and do my best work at everything I did.  I see students who don't care too much about anything and don't take the time to put much effort into simple assignments.  I want to show my son that hard work pays off, even if you don't get that pay off immediately (something my dad left out of his mini-lessons!).

3 - To treat women the right way.  Pop culture today makes women appear to be objects and things that don't deserve respect.  I fundamentally disagree with how a lot of society treats women.  I want to teach my son that women are awesome and that they deserve respect and to be treated fairly.  I'm certainly not a feminist by any means, but I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to chivalry and being kind to ladies!  I'll teach him:
-to never hit a woman
-to love her unconditionally
-to open doors for her
-to buy her flowers without reason as well as to buy her flowers when he messes up
-to cook for her
-to call her beautiful each and every day
-to tell her sweatpants and hoodies are sexy
-to say "thank you" for all of the little things she does around the house because she keeps the house running and it'd fall apart if it wasn't for her
-to say "yes, dear" in most arguments, because he'll lose them even if he's right
-to appreciate her and pamper her to the best of his ability while she is pregnant with your child
-to change a diaper because you're responsible for half of that shit!
-to be at her side when she is sick
-to buy her jewelry and other sparkly things
-to always tell her she looks good in those pants
-to never say she looks fat
-to always compliment her cooking (until many years have passed, you cannot say anything bad about something she makes!)
-to tell her each day that you love her
-to hug her each day before you go to work
-to work harder on the marriage when some days seem tougher than others
...and lots of other things I'm undoubtedly leaving out, but am forever thankful that my wife does for me...and for other things that my mom used to do for me.  Basically...not to take an amazing woman for granted! And, not to be shallow and petty if he's with a girl that he finds himself no longer having feelings for.  I remember when I was in high school (and I see it still happens to students today) that guys would break up with girls for stupid reasons they'd say just so they wouldn't have to tell the truth...that they weren't committed or mature enough to be with the girl they were with.

As I think of it now...I plan to teach Erica all of those things too...and would've taught those same things to our next baby had I found out tonight that we were expecting a girl!  These are just simple things descent people should live by!  And good men should live by these things as well, so now...I'm excited and humbled by the responsibility have to always serve as a role model for my little boy when he arrives in January...because he'll always be watching me, just like all little boys should grow up watching their dads!

Thanks so much for reading this entry!  I'm so pumped!  I hope you're excited too!  Do me a favor...I'm not big on "re-posting" or sharing things on social media...but if you liked my list from above, pass it along to some people in your life and see if they'd agree with the things I think all dads have an obligation to teach their little boys.  Let me know what people think?!  Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary.  As always, we appreciate your well-wishes and best thoughts.  I'll keep you posted on Laura, Erica and my future little guy!  Take care!

Enjoy a couple pics of our little guy...just like his mom and big sister...he's so damn cute!!!