I’m a daddy

At 2:28am on Friday baby Reed entered the world. It has been the most amazing 24 hours of my life. Words cannot explain the feeling of sitting through 30 hours of labor and finally watching a human being whose very existance is only possible because of you. What I can say is that my love for my wife multiplied a thousand times over in that moment where she pressed relentlessly to deliver this baby boy. My ability to love in general has grown. I never knew i could love and have the feelings I have today. Its all just an amazing feeling.

Here’s some pictures:

This really was a yawn, he looks mad as hell lol…

Our little baby boy has a name…

On May 5th, Jessica and I found out that we would be having a baby boy. Leading up to this day, we had discussed various names but never came to any conclusions. Shortly after this, we began having serious discussions about names. I threw the name of my grandfather out there. His name is Reed Brown and my wife just adores him because of the similarities between him and her grandpa who passed away several years back. She liked the name and Reed became the first name of choice. After choosing the first name, we then had to determine a middle name. Since Jessica was giving the honor of first name to my family, I wanted to let her have a family name for the middle name. This is where it gets difficult. You see, the three most direct male relatives to Jessica, her father, and two grandfathers were Ralph, Ray and Rex. A pretty difficult group to try and fit with the first name Reed. We were bordering on frustration with this part of it and then I told Jess we should just use her maiden name, Howard. She bought into that idea, and the naming search was over.

Reed Howard Ennis has yet to make his debut in this world, but if name has anything to do with it, he’s already off to a good start. My grandfather is among the most decent human beings I’ve ever met. If you looked up the definition of humble in the dictionary, his face should be right there. Rarely have I ever heard him say an ill word toward anyone or anything. Having heard some of his war stories, I know he had a mischevious streak when he was younger. I had a bit of a streak too I suppose. I am just glad there is someone like him in my life that has set an example or the blueprint to living a solid life. As a farmer living his whole life in rural Tennessee, he is a simple man, but there is much to learn from his easy going demeanor.

My grandpa said after we told him about naming the baby Reed, “I think that boys going to be alright…” In name, he certainly will and we will do everything to see that he lives a great life…

Who I am today

The person I am today is a very stark contrast from the person I thought I would have been when I was a teenager. I grew up in a small town, played sports and was brought up in a much simpler world than the one I live in today. In some sense, I guess this much can be said for just about everyone. The internet has changed everyone’s world in some way, but this goes much further than that. Up until my early 20’s, I had never really thought about what I was going to do with my life.

When it comes to pivotal moments in my early life, there are two (my marriage to jessica is the greatest moment of my life to date, but this isnt about special moments, its about moments that change the direction of my life). The first moment was in 1995. It was at this time that I started doing the things that stupid college students do. Partying way too hard and having little recognition of where it was I wanted to go. Hell, it didnt know where I was going from day to day. Part of this reason for this behavior was to escape the turmoil building around me. My parents were divorcing, my father was fleecing just about everyone in the family and I was falling into a depression because of it. So about 2 years went by. I worked but didnt really build much traction when it came to a legitimate full time career. I was starting to get into web design. In late 1997, my depression came to a head. I withdrew from just about everything and did nothing but experimented with web design day and night. I know my mother was pretty concerned about it, but I think everything going on around me had forced me to vigorously pursue the web design thing on my own. It was pure trial and error, but I was hellbent on doing web design and doing it well. That was when the second pivotal point took place. I sent letters out to over 100 businesses in the area and got about 5 responses. I designed those websites with all my heart and soul. They werent the best, but they got me going in this industry. That was the epiphany that changed my life. Having the ability and power to make something like that happen charged me like never before. Getting back to my upbringing, nothing before that had ever infused me with the drive to do something. I didnt see it coming and hadnt really stopped to think about it until recently.

So I went on to deliver pizzas in 1998 and I can remember delivering pizzas in the nice neighborhoods and always thinking one of these days, I’ll have one of those houses. A few years earlier, that would never have entered my mind, but I was suddenly driven.

I know I am rambling here, but it just amazes me that I travel all over the country and deal with professionals from coast to coast on complicated matters. Not bad for a country boy from Woodbury.