Daddy's New Year's Blog

Kendell asked me to do one thing over this holiday break, and that was to create a post right here on MichelSpot. I wasn't sure what I would write about, or what would be interesting to read, but then I thought that it might be fun to reflect on the crazy year that was 2009.

Last year at this time, Kendell was spending her new year as an expectant mommy, and I was a nervous father to be. I was excited for the baby to get here, but I was also nervous as to what he or she would bring to our lives. Everyone always says..."Oh kids make your lives so much better" or "I can't imagine what it would be like not to have kids now". Well I was still a bit on the fence.

Those months leading up to May really flew by. Kendell was busy at work, and I was in the middle of state assessments at school. When we weren't at work, we were busy planning for our little one's first appearance. We were buying cribs, changing tables, wall decor, clothes, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and countless other items. Would all of this be enough? What do we still need? The questions kept coming.

All of those answers would come in May when Ledger James Michel was finally born on May 5th, 2009. What a crazy day that ended up to be. I could go into lots of detail on things that happened that day, but if you are reading this blog, you probably already know what happens. The one thing I will say, is that I was so proud of Kendell for handing everything so well. She was so very brave, and made everything so calm and easy. When the moment came that night, and Ledger was finally born, it took awhile for it to sink in that I'm a dad now. It's funny but it's almost 8 months later and I still feel that way. I'm someone's dad....crazy huh? :)

The next few months were a blur, and I have to tell you that I was so nervous to be home alone with him this summer. What do I know about babies? What do I know about being a dad? Well I guess we both survived each other, but I have to tell you that being alone with a 3 week old will stress you out just a bit. I was stressed, but I knew that with each day things would get better. And I was right...days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Everything was going so quickly, and my stress level kept going down.

What I really liked was when he got a bit older, and i could "play with him" a bit more. Guys tend to like to be a bit more rough with their kids, and I am no exception. In addition to that, it's been so cool to watch him start to develop his own personality and watch him get bigger.

Well there are lots of things that that I could have talked about on this blog today, but the one that that really changed for me this year, was the fact that while all those people said "I can't imagine what it would be like not to have kids now"....I realized they were exactly right. I love Ledger so much, and I can not imagine him not being in our lives. I feel that Kendell and I are so very blessed to have such a wonderful thing in our lives. It is the most wonderful thing in the world to be married to the one you love, and to have someone come along to make that love even more grand. My family is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I am so very thankful for them.

I want to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Daddy