Category Archives: Fatherhood
Cool Gifts for Dads
1MiniMe.com specializes in custom bobbleheads, specially made dolls to look just like you. It’s completely handmade and requires hours of preparation and care. The product is usually offered as a gift for birthdays, weddings, retirements or for Valentine’s day. They come in various shapes, models and even bigger sizes.
Product Features:
- Fully handmade and customizable
- Customer can modify as many time as he or she requires
- Item is molded to ensure quality and durability
- Express shipping service is available
To get your own personalized dad bobblehead go to 1minime.com. Trust me, your dad will love it!!!
Fives Weeks
A little over two years ago I became a dad for the first time. 15 months later I became a dad again!! Now, I am five weeks into another little bun in the oven!!! That’s right folks my wife and I are expecting another baby!! If your keeping track that would mean we will have had a baby in 2009, 2010, and 2011!!! WHAT ARE WE THINKING?!?!?!
Honestly we are both very excited and I can’t wait to share this journey with you, my readers!! Over the next 8 months I will be posting pics and updates of how things are going, how we are preparing for the new little Wilson, how our two boys are adjusting, and how we are feeling ourselves as parents!!
Being a mom or dad is a draining experience that can wear you out!! I know, I’ve been there!! Heck!!! I am still there!! But I know that at the end of the day, when I get the chance to look into my little boy’s eyes as we pray or read a story together, all the stress and frustration is worth it!!!
I must confess however, that though I love being a dad I often am easily stressed by holding down a full time job, trying to be a good husband to my bride, and trying to be in the moment with my boys when I am at home. It’s not an easy task but it can be done!! I believe that being a dad and husband are two of the greatest callings a man can have and I vow to give it my all and learn all I can from others who are doing the same!! As a dad I want you to know that there are others out there!!! We are in this together!!
I look forward to what God has for us as a family this year and pray that you will be encouraged by our journey!! God Bless and until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
A new look and a new focus
I have been thinking a lot about what I want this blog to be. I would love for it to be one of those cool dad blogs that gets attention from cool kids shops that want to advertise on here so I can quit my day job and just blog all day!!!! But I don’t see that happening…………………yet!!! So, since no one is paying me yet to blog I figured I would really try to focus this in a new direction with a new look as the first step.
So, here is my plan:
I want to really focus in on being a dad/husband and how I am living that out. I want to share my story with you!! I want to share what I am learning and the tid bits of information I have gathered along the way. I want this to be a place where you can come and get a good laugh, some cool daddy product info, and maybe a little insight or advise for your journey as a dad.
I love being a dad and want to share what it means to me to have this great opportunity to influence the next generation. I plan on writing as often as I can with updates, pics, videos, etc. to help all the dads out there that feel that the world is against them in this journey so that you can know just how important you are to your wife, kids, and the world. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts and I look forward to connecting with all of you through this new focus. Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
Updates from muggy South Louisiana
* Have I mentioned before how much I love crawfish? Well, if I haven’t, I DO!!!
* I have been on a zombie movie kick lately!! Zombies are people too and I think they get a bad rap!!
* I’ve got 3 books in the works right now!! 2 non fiction and 1 fiction.
* I have seen some pretty amazing miracles in the last month!! Truly amazing!!
* My dogs have cost me more money in the last couple of months than they both cost themselves!! But boy do I love them!!!
* I will not be getting the new iPhone 5. I just got the 4 and I will not fall for Apple’s marketing scheme.
* Kait and I took the kids to the zoo the other day and I must say that I loved it!! Watching your kids see cool animals is so much fun!! Truett wanted to get in with a couple of them but I had to explain why Daddy would have to kill the lion and the tiger if we did that. He was cool with it.
* If you don’t follow Will Farrell on twitter, you should!!!
* I don’t feel like linking today.
* I am sunburned and tired.
* Listen to the podcast called, “We’re Alive-A story of survival” from iTunes. It’s free and AMAZING!!
* Read the book, “World War Z” by Max Brooks. Again AMAZING!!
* we’re pregnant.
Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
Thumbing it
I wanted to try my hand at mobile blogging since I am on the road a lot and have an iPhone. While I prefer the ease of a real keyboard the fact that I can blog from my phone is very cool!! So, since it’s been a little while since my last entry I thought I would give a few updates. I plan on using my phone to blog a little more so I can update a little more frequently. Let the updates begin;
* My youngest son turns 1 next month!!! I’m not ready for that!!
* My oldest son is really coming alone in talking and it is so much fun!! I love to hear him say new words. It melts my heart every time.
* To say that the last few weeks have been tiring is just an understatement!! I am wore out!! A vacation is in order.
* I REALLY need a fellow dad to share life with. I have a lot of friends but at this point in my life I don’t have one really close like I have had in the past and I REALLY need one!!
* I struggle with the definition of success.
* I turn 30 this year and I wonder if I will be as different in 10 years as I have been over the last 10 years. 20 to 30 is a totally different world!
* I turn 30 in 3 months!!!! I can’t believe that!
That’s what I got for now. Check back soon for more!! Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
“Throw me something mister!!” Mardi Gras 2011
Mardi Gras season is here in South Louisiana and this past Saturday my wife and I took our two little boys to downtown Baton Baton Rouge to kick off the season. Taking the time to hang out and enjoy the parade was so much fun. Being that we have two little boys it is often hard to get out and do a lot of things, but this past Saturday was just AMAZING!! This was our little guys first ever parade and so we had to get them updated on how to call out for beads. Of course as we did it a couple of times my two year old son Truett really got the hang of it and started calling out to those on the floats to throw him some beads (he didn’t even have to flash them!!). As you can see from the picture he jumped in with both feet!!!
This truly was a great time for us as a family and I am so glad my wife and I took the time to take the boys to their first parade. I love my city and am really looking forward to doing more things with the kids so they can get a feel of the great city and people that they live around. Baton Rouge is a fun city to live in and we plan on enjoying it as much as possible as a family!!! Below are a few more pictures from Saturday Night at the parade. Hope you enjoy. Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
Truett and Uncle John
Kaitlyn and Truett
Graham and Me
Family Pic
It’s SuperBowl Sunday!!!
Superbowl Sunday!!! This is by far my second favorite holiday besides Christmas!! I love this time of year!! There is nothing like working hard all year cheering your team on to the big game and then having them lose in the first round to the Seattle Seahawks (Sorry fellow Saints fans, this year was just not meant to be. BUT NEXT YEAR!!!)
But I digress. Really though, Superbowl Sunday is a great day in American culture. It’s where families and friends get together to eat, fellowship, and watch commercials that we would usually fast forward through……..oh, and we watch the big game too!! Why do I love it? Well, mostly because it gives me a reason to have the NFL on TV ALL DAY LONG without my beautiful bride trying to tell me to turn it off or take me to the mall to go shopping. It’s one of the few days of the year when you can go to church with your favorite players jersey on and not feel like God is mad at you(of course we Saints fans get to do that all the time because the Saints are God’s team…….sorry Cowboys.), and it is one of the few times of the year that you can really get away from eating this:
Oh yeah!! This is what I am talking about!!
However, that is not the only reason I have look forward to the last 3 Superbowl’s. I’m a dad now and there is just something divine about sharing the festivities of Superbowl Sunday with my boys. While they are both under 2 (I know I said 3 Superbowl’s. My first son was born 2 weeks before the last Superbowl that the Steelers won.) being there to share the fun, excitement, and wonder that is the Superbowl with my 2 little future Hall of Famers is just something every dad should do. It’s almost like a yearly right of passage. Like a second birthday that you both get to share!!
Being a dad on Superbowl Sunday is more than food, friends, and fun. It’s the opportunity to pass on a legacy to our kids of consistency (cheering our teams every year!), losing gracefully (knowing that our team can’t make it every year.), and being a good sport (cheering anyone other then the following teams in the Superbowl: Cowboys, Steelers, Patriots, Bears, Panthers,and the Giants, we HATE all those teams in my house!!)
So Dad’s, sit back grab a burger and enjoy the big game with your little man/woman and try not to eat to much or use words that your kids will repeat when Mom is around. Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
Growing up too fast!!
My son Truett turned 2 last month and my son Graham turned 9 months today!! I can’t believe how fast time goes by!! It seems just like yesterday that I first held them in my arms and now they are growing faster then I can keep up with!!
I know that one day I will be watching them drive away as they leave for college but for now I just want to enjoy watching them dance and play together!!
I never thought that I would ever not want to see a day coming but the day that my boys leave home to be on their own is a day that I dread!! Not because I am afraid for them, but because I just want to be in their lives everyday!! I love them that much!!
It was almost over
I must admit that I have thought long and hard about ending this blog and just melting it together with my main blog. However, after much thought and consideration I have decided that would not be a good idea. Mainly because:
1. I want to talk about dad stuff in a dad environment.
2. I wanted to have an outlet of dad information that could be separate from my normal blog.
3. My other blog mostly covers topics on religion and politics and not everyone would want to wade through my normal rantings to get to the dad stuff.
4. I just really like the look of this blog!!
While those are just some of the reason I am keeping this blog around, I hope to begin to blog here a little more often then I have been. Actually, I plan on it!! Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
Fatherless to Fathered.
I have been a dad since January 22, 2009. Since that time my life has changed in ways that I could not even begin to describe . Everything, from my faith and political opinions, to my work schedule have changed since my first son came into my life. Now, with the addition of my second son who came on May 1, 2010 I find myself even more affected by these 2 little creatures who have so radically altered my life. The reason I am writing this is because I am a dad who grew up without a dad. Like many of you I was fatherless. Abandoned. Alone. Broken. Hurt. While I didn’t fully understand the pain of not having a dad in my life would cause me, when I found out my wife and I were pregnant with our first child I knew that everything in my life was about to change in several BIG ways.
The biggest change came in the area of my faith. I am a Christian (though I prefer the title of Follower of Jesus, as the name Christian has become more of a joke then a title of honor) and as a Christian I have been taught my whole life that God was my Father. While I understood this is the sense of Him being the Creator of everyone and thus my “Father,” I never really understood it as Him actually wanting to be my Dad. I just couldn’t get it. I got Him as Creator and all the other great titles we give to God but the one I didn’t believe the most and the one that caused me more frustration and confusion then any other was, Father. That all began to change the day my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby!! To be honest, having a baby scared the CRAP out of me. Why? I had never really seen one before. Sure I had friends whose dad was around, but I never had one around. I never had a dad tell me to be strong here, don’t go there, treat girls like this, etc. I felt like I had been robbed.
The months leading up to the birth of my son were months of deep soul searching. I would stay up late wrestling with my thoughts and beliefs about God and His nature. I would wrestle with whether I really believed all I had grown up believing. This time in my life caused me to question EVERYTHING I believed in life. From God to politics. While I grew up believing that God was the “Father” of all people, I learned that I didn’t really believe that for myself. Then January 22, 2009 came and that all changed!!! In a single moment on the 4th floor of the Baton Rouge General Hospital, I got it. I understood it!!! In one moment that can only be described as a miracle I finally grasps the idea and understanding of God as Father. I got the fact that He loves me for me. He loves my smile and laugh. He hurts when I hurt. He cries when I cry. He gets angry with the things that hurt me and cause me pain. He is GOOD, KIND, and LOVING!!! I got it because in one moment I became a father and this is how I felt toward my child!!! If I could feel this way, how much more does God feel toward us?!?!
That moment changed everything about me!!! This journey from fatherless to Fathered has been difficult, but amazing!!! While I don’t usually go into my faith on this blog, I must admit that it play a HUGE role in me being a dad and how I approach fatherhood, so I thought it good to give a little background into my heart and where I am coming from. I love being a dad. I love having a faith that is more then rules and religion but relationship. I believe that God reveals Himself to us through the things around us in our lives. I think the 2 biggest ways He does that is through our wives and our kids. For now, thanks for taking the time to read a little piece of my story. I look forward to sharing more with you in the days ahead. Until next time.
Much love,
Shawn
