Another one enters the world

Our good friends Phil and April welcomed their new baby boy to the world yesterday. She was a bit overdue and the baby was so big they had to schedule a c-section. But everything turned out OK and mom and dad and baby are fine. We saw them last night at the hospital and got our first look at what life has in store for us, God willing, in a few months. From a practical standpoint, it sounds like their experience at the hospital was good, which is good news for us since we will be using the same hospital. Sounds like nurses are friendly and the experience good. Was also nice to see that birth can and does, in fact, happen, even to friends of ours! From all the videos we have seen I can sometimes feel like babies are something that happens to other people. But all went well with our friends and that is a comfort.

Also was a good reminder for me that my wife is actually pregnant and we, too, have a baby coming. I've been terribly distracted by life lately thanks to the Cardinals and their run through the MLB post-season. I am one of those fans who paints his face red and tried to go to or watch every single second of the game. I suppose that's not too bad, but I am also one of those fans who reads and posts on message boards during the series; one of those fans who skips out of church functions to go to a game; one of those fans who can get melancholy after a loss and be tough to be around; one of those fans who screams at the TV and yells at the manager for making a mistake.

I know it's weird for my wife who likely is very much used to the husband who is even-keel and middle-of-the-road on most things. "Spilled coffee on the rug? Oh well." "Burned the house down? That stinks." "Isringhausen blew a save in the 9th? I will KILL HIM!" What can I say? A friend of my sister taught me a valuable life lesson when I was about 20. She said "everything in moderation - including moderation." And so I am pretty moderate in everything, but I do go crazy about sports. Better that then drugs or pornography I guess.

Having said that, though, I do realize that I have been an absent husband, to say the least, lately, and so I realize I need to do something nice for my wife and remind her that I do still love her and care about her and care about her pregnancy, etc. I'll see what my creative mind can come up with.