Earlier this week, we took Ember for some medical appointments in Forth Worth as part of her routine follow-ups after being diagnosed with Spina Bifida.
A highlight of the trip is seeing the photos of Ember’s MRI as the Neurologist scrolls through. Most of the time, they look like something that I would expect. But, every now and then, something really creepy pops up and that’s the fun part.
Here’s a photo that I got of the monitor:
A few months ago, my son said something that stuck with me. I don’t remember the full context, but either my wife or my mom was using me as an example for him to follow. In that moment, he said something along the lines of:
I wish I could be half the man that my dad is.
At the time, it was flattering that my son sees me as someone to emulate. But, it’s also been something that’s stuck with me for many months now.
I think part of why it stuck with me is because I don’t want him to feel like he has to measure himself against me, as if my life is some ultimate yardstick. I’m proud of the man I’ve become, but I’m certainly not perfect, and more importantly – We’re different people.
He shouldn’t strive to be a version of me. Instead, what I would suggest is that my son pick out traits of mine that he admires and attempt to emulate those. Perhaps it’s work ethic, drive, or the way that I care for our family and the people that we bring into our family.
Taking this outlook is much more robust as it provides many more examples of what greatness looks like and doesn’t set potentially unrealistic expectations.
To my son – and really to anyone who finds themselves looking up to someone else – I’d say this:
Don’t aim to be half of someone else. Aim to be fully yourself, inspired by the best of what you see in those around you.
We’ve recently welcomed Ember Mae to our family! 🥳
After two surgeries, 7 weeks in the NICU, and then some acclimating at home, I wanted to take some time to share a few photos.
It was many months from learning about Ember’s Spina Bifida to her leaving the NICU. That said, I’m only sharing a few snapshots of our life over that time.
Let’s start at the beginning: the first major milestone was Ember’s surgery to close the opening in her spine while she was still in Sara (my wife). This procedure, performed before birth, was nothing short of mind-blowing. The first photo shows Sara pre-op, and the second captures her post-op, recovering with some Pokémon: Indigo League to keep her spirits up.
Let’s be honest, it was more so to keep my spirits up.
As part of Sara’s post-op care, we were instructed to relocate to Houston—about six hours from home—two months before Ember’s due date. We made the move, and on our first weekend there, July 6th, we took our son to Galveston to enjoy the ocean.
That weekend, though, a different kind of storm loomed. Hurricane Beryl was on its way and made landfall on July 8th. The storm left us without power or Internet and introduced a series of challenges:
And then, on July 8th, amidst the chaos, Sara’s water broke. Whether it was stress, the storm’s pressure changes, or just Ember deciding it was time, we’ll never know.
Ember was born on July 10th, weighing just 4 lbs. She went directly to the NICU, where she stayed for seven weeks. During that time, she underwent another surgery to place a shunt to relieve pressure on her brain.
One of the earliest photos we have is of her patch shortly after birth. While it looked tough, the doctors assured us it was healing well. After a few weeks, we were finally able to hold Ember under specific conditions—a moment we’ll never forget.
Seven weeks later, we brought our little fighter home. Ember’s journey with Spina Bifida isn’t over, but we’re incredibly grateful for how well she’s doing now. She retains the use of her legs and, for now, doesn’t require catheterization.
Though the future holds uncertainties, we’re cherishing every moment with our healthy, strong little girl.
This past week, Sara and I went to the Wichita Adult Literacy Council’s annual book fair. We ended up getting about 60 books for about $75!
Here’s a photo of much of my book haul.
You’ll notice that there’s quite a bit of Terry Pratchett. I picked up every Terry Pratchett book from the book fair that I could find after Konstantin Obenland recently told me that he was reading a book by the same author.
I’m currently finishing up the Ender and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card. But, I’m looking forward to picking up these books later this year!
I was introducing ChatGPT to a friend the other day and decided that it’d be fun to create some images of sheepadoodles.
Here’s one of a sheepadoodle relaxing and reading a book.
I needed to get out of the house for a bit yesterday. So, I took Sara for a quick bike ride to Qdoba for lunch. It also turned out that they were doing buy one meal get one free for Valentine’s day.
After generating a logo for my son earlier, I decided to take a pass at generating a photo of my sheepadoodle puppies and was able to get the following with ChatGPT.
