The New Normal

I have been absent from the Grit Tree over the last month. There are topics I have wanted to talk about on the blog, but haven’t had the opportunity to discuss. I have been able to Tweet, but some topics over the last few weeks I have been itching to opine about: National Signing Day, Grantham, Alabama’s players getting arrested, the Braves newest acquisition in Justin Upton, the Braves in general, and the 5 game winning streak and the 3 game losing streak of our men’s basketball team. I’ll get around to it, but time has passed and it won’t be topical. I know you have missed my opinions on these matters and hope, reader, you have found a way to survive without them.

Work has been very busy and I have been traveling a lot out of town, and have had a lot of night and weekend commitments. But something else more important has kept me off the blog.

On February 6, 2013 at 4:56 pm, Mrs. Corbindawg and I welcomed a new “puppy” in the world.

Our baby girl was born healthy and happy. She is a tiny little thing; she weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19” long. There was only one problem; she strongly resembles her old man, and I guess that is one obstacle she will have to overcome. Of course, like I told my brother, I have gone through life being an ugly dude, and maybe a girl that looks like me will be pretty.

All along my wife’s pregnancy, folks told us that having a kid would be the best thing that would ever happen to us. Men told me that having a little girl was special for a daddy. I listened to all of this, and kind of thought, “Well, people just say that because it is what they are supposed to say.”

After holding my baby for the first few times, I know now what people meant when they told me about this feeling. There is nothing in this world I love more than that little girl. She is a sweet and precious blessing. My wife and I are blessed with more than we deserve with this new little addition. The best part of my day is feeding her at 6:00 a.m., and rocking her back to sleep before I get ready for work. The second best part of my day is coming home and seeing my two girls.

Another part of this experience has overwhelmed me. I relate it to the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, when the people in the community show an outpour of support for George Bailey. Our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors have been so kind and generous to our growing family during this whole experience. We have more food than we know what to do with, and our baby will not want for any new clothes. The only thing we have had to buy of any significance was a crib, a new chair for the nursery, and some pink paint for the walls. For the most part, anything we could need or want up to this point has been given to us.

When you graduate from high school, people do nice things for you. When you get married, friends and family throw showers and give you nice stuff. But with the birth of our first child, the outpour of support we have received from our loved ones has been a very humbling experience for me. Our little girl doesn’t know how good she has it, by having so many people around who love and care about her.

Our daily routine has been out of whack over the last two and half weeks. Life has changed. My wife and I are adjusting to what I call the new normal. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Corbindawg