Tae Kwon Do

I cannot remember how many times I asked my mom while I was growing up to let me do Karate.  Lets be honest a lot of this (as it probably is with Jude) came from TMNT or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the movies Karate Kid, Sidekicks, and 3 Ninjas.  So in traditional kid fashion I asked all the time and then my mom would always respond in traditional parent fashion "No" and when pushed she would say "Because I said so". 

I do not know all of my mom's thoughts but I believe she told me several times that I couldn't take Karate because she didn't want me to fight or punch others.  Until I was a parent I never understood this thought.  I mean all I wanted to do was to do the awesome kicks, flips and break a board.  What kid doesn't watch a video of someone breaking a board with their hand or head and think they can do that.  I am pretty sure that there were multiple attempts at trying it as well.  None of those attempts were successful but luckily no serious injuries were sustained besides a big lump on the head.  

So lets fast forward to present time when Jude came up to us and asked to do Karate.  I am pretty sure that I had the very same thought as my mom.  No you cannot do that I am continually yelling to stop punching things and you want me to send you to a class that teaches you how to punch things.  I was very nervous to put him in any type of martial arts.  I must admit the reason that I was so nervous was due to my lack of knowledge.  I will be the first one to say that I am glad I did my research and took the time to educate myself.  

I took the kids to the Thornton Fest and Jude won a month of free lessons of Tae Kwon Do.  Again my ignorance showed off because I thought that all forms of martial arts were basically the same, I was so wrong.  We figured that this would be a good time for Jude to try Tae Kwon Do to see if he even liked it, little did I know how well he would do and how much he would enjoy it.  We went for our welcome night and he was very nervous to get out there but he did and he was hooked.  We have been going for about 6 months now and I am so amazed at the progress that he has made and how great it has been for him. 

Jude is built the same way I was at his age.  Tall and completely uncoordinated.  We will just be walking and the the next thing I know Jude is down on the ground.  Tae Kwon Do has helped him with his coordination so much.  He has been learning how to control his body.  He has to learn how to watch the instructor and copy the form.  The forms often time require them to do multiple moves with their hands and feet at the same time.  Yes it involves punches and kicks but it focuses completely on control as well.  The instructors will many times that you have to be able to control your body in order to control your mind.

I have to say I am so impressed with how well they are doing with him and would recommend martial arts to everyone.  I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I have but seeing the look on his face when he accomplishes a new form or gets a new belt.  I cannot wait to see how far he goes with this and will encourage him the entire way.  I am no expert but I am learning and showing him the enthusiasm that he needs, isn't that what every child needs?

National Teacher's Day!

Today is National Teacher's Day so I would like to send a huge THANK YOU to all the amazing teacher's out there.  I have never been a great student.  I did not enjoy doing school work and I struggled in school.  People find it amazing that I had a better GPA in college, especially after I got married, but I had someone (Censie) pushing me to do the best that I was capable of.  

I was thinking today on who one of my favorite teachers was and it was an easy decision for me.  David Nykirk at Rangeview High School was probably the most influential teacher in my life.  Sadly I saw that he just passed away after a long battle with cancer this year.

Mr. Nykirk made me laugh and made learning fun.  I had him as a teacher for several classes and his sense of humor was amazing.  He always made a rule at the beginning of his class that if he had a heart attack to pick him up and carry him out of the building before trying to resuscitate him because he said that he didn't want to die in the school.  He also was my teacher for Greek Mythology and he would not let us say sex because we were in school so we had to say that the gods were holding hands.

Not only was his humor amazing but also his ability to push me to succeed.  I remember I turned in a paper to him and he read it and then gave it back to me laughing.  He told me that I had no reason to turn in a piece of shit like that because I was capable of much more.  For some reason that struck me because he didn't sugar coat it he just had higher expectations for me and wanted me to meet those.  

So again today to all my friends and family who have been teachers I say thank you and please continue to push our kids to do the best that they can.  I cannot wait to see how teachers are going to handle our kiddos!  Be prepared!!!  

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Did you know that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month?

Here are some shocking statistics from the CDC report from February 2012

• A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds
• More than five children die every day as a result of child abuse.
• Approximately 80% of children that die from abuse are under the age of 4.
• It is estimated that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.
• More than 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.
• Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.
• About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.
• About 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.
• 14% of all men in prison in the USA were abused as children.
• 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. 

These statistics are shocking aren't they?  This is something that I see and work with every day of my career and they are saddening to me.  Most of these children do not have a voice or an advocate for them.  You can be that person.  If you feel that abuse or neglect is taking place you can contact the local authorities or Department of Social Services to make a report.  

I think that it is fair to say that there are many friends or maybe even family members that you have had contact with that were victims of abuse or neglect in some way.  Do not assume that it cannot happen within your family or even your community because it can.  

Remember that when a child is brought up in an environment free of Abuse and Neglect that they are more likely to thrive.  When a child is brought up in an environment of Abuse, Neglect, constant stress and unhealthy relationships this affects the child not only physically but can have life long mental and emotional impacts on the child.  

Please continue to educate yourself, your neighborhood, and your community about Child Abuse and Neglect and what we need to be doing to help these children.  It takes a village to raise a child!  If you want a great website to go to get information about child abuse and how you can help please go to www.childabuse.org

Daddy why do you have a bag?

Dad you have a bag?  This is a question that I hear pretty frequently now a day from my son Jude!  He knows that I have an ileostomy and that I now wear a bag on my stomach.  He always asks why do you have a bag?  I have to explain to him that daddy was sick in his tummy but that this has made daddy feel better.  He then goes into to explain to me that I have poop in my bag.  I am glad he at least knows what is going on with itJ

 

These are the things that you have to deal with sometimes when you are an ostomate and a parent.  It has been a pretty large life change for the past 6 months.  I went in to the hospital on January 9^th for my surgery and I have been living with my "bag" ever since, and will be living with it for the rest of my life. 

 

Physically I have been feeling better up until recently.  My wound had healed to the point that I didn't have to go to the doctor daily anymore on May 16^th, but then in the first week of June I had problems with it. They just thought that it was something minor but I went in on the 12^th of July and the wound has reopened.  We are not sure why but I have to go in daily again to have a nurse pack the wound with dressing.  Let me tell you it is a BLAST!  Not only did this take a hit on my physically but I would say more so emotionally and mentally.  It is hard dealing with this wound that does not appear to be healing.  Overall though physically I am much better.  I am able to go out and do things with everyone without having to worry about being sick.  I do have to worry about bags coming off or leaking oh and the fun alien noises it makes but so far those have been far less common then when I was really sick and in a flair.  It is nice being able to plan to use the bathroom besides having to run to the bathroom while squeezing your butt cheeks together praying to all that is holy that you make it in time!

 

I am able to wrestle around with Jude but he knows that he has to be careful of my tummy because I have a bag.  It is an experience trying to potty train a little boy and living with an ostomy because things are done so much differently than how he does things.  He is just very curious about it but is not shy about telling people about my bag or wanting to see my bag in public, yeah that’s a fun one!

 

Mentally I feel that it has been harder than anything else.  If you have spent much time with me you know that I can be a little obsessive compulsive but I am constantly checking my back to make sure it is not leaking.  It can get annoying for others and for myself.  I also have not been dealing well with the self-esteem pieces. This will come and I know it and I am working with a counselor for it but it is a hard thing to deal with having a "shit bag" attached to your stomach every day.  There are days that I am angry at having to have it but I am trying to remain positive and remember that I am healthier with a bag than I was without one.  Overall the past six months have been an up and down roller coaster at times but I am glad that I can smile with Jude when he walks up and wants to see my bag or says why do you have a bag?  I want a bag too daddy! And I can smile at him and say I hope he doesn't but knowing that love makes it worth it!

Secret Subject Swap!

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. 17 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

 

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

 

www.BakingInATornado.com                             

 http://menopausalmother.blogspot.com/ 

http://lifeonthesonnyside.blogspot.com/

http://suburbiainterrupted.com/                             

http://www.bigaandlittlea.com                               

http://ibddaddyandme.blogspot.com

http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/

www.3monkeysandamartini.com

http://sadderbutwiser.wordpress.com/

http://www.somethingclever2point0.com/

http://www.themommyref.blogspot.com/

http://rushingforbagels.blogspot.com

http://gocheapgohome.com

www.rebekaches.com

http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/

http://slackermomof4.blogspot.com/

http://www.mommyunmuted.com/

                

My subject is Share a bloggy goal that you hope to achieve this year.  It was submitted by http://www.bigaandlittlea.com . Here goes: 

So my goal this year is to tale over the Daddy blogging community (insert diabolical  laugh at this point).  No really I want to be able to grow my audience and share with other fathers and also others dealing with IBD and after Wednesday now dealing with an Ostomy.

This has been a major change for me over the last couple of days and actually I am in the hospital as I am writing this.  I have a permanent Ileostomy on my stomach so I will be blogging about how the surgery and the recovery goes. 

I am pretty new on the blogging scene so I am just starting off so I have a lot of goals. I think that I keep coming up with new goals everyday.   I think that there a lot of daddy blogs out there but I feel that there are several that control the whole scene and I would like to infiltrate that tight knit group and bring in a fresh look and also a armature approach.  I am not a professional writer, I actually suck at writing but I am not going to give up.  Thank you so much for everyone for letting me be part of this blogging post.  I will try and type more as the pain meds wear off but thank you again!

2012 What A Year!

2012 You Win!

 

I have been sitting here for the past couple of days thinking about how do I write a creative post for my first review of a past year  I have read over many blogs and have seen how many people have done their review, but I want to try and be somewhat original in my post.  I am still working on trying to find my blogging voice as many have said but I just started this blog fully a couple of months ago so I think that it will be coming so watch out!

 

 

This year has definitely been filled with its ups and downs.  We found out earlier this year that we were expecting our second child, as you know this was a huge point of excitement for Censie and I.  The pregnancy was not easy by any means but we welcomed Teagan on 10/20/12 and she is a beauty.  I consider myself very blessed to be the father to two wonderful children.  Now next years blog could be about the challenges of having two children and all that those things mean.

 

Jude had a good year, even had his first broken bone.  Have to love how kids want to put their fingers in doors.   The way that Jude is I have a feeling that we will probably be at the doctors for these types of things in the past.  He is pure boy and likes to be rough and tumble.  We celebrate his second birthday with a train themed birthday party, he loves his "Choo-Choos".  We were lucky enough to have my parents come out for the birthday party and Jude loved having both of his Grrrrmama's and Pa's at his birthday party.

 

Sadly we lost my Papa three days before Teagan was born.  This was a difficult and trying time for me. I was very saddened by the lost of my Papa but then also taking in the excitement of my daughter being born.  We knew that he had been sick for quite some time, but as everyone knows it does not make the passing any easier.  I continue to miss him and wish that he could have been here longer but know that he is watching over my family and I an is no longer in pain.

 

The last couple of months of this year as you can tell kicked our family's butt.  We had the death, the birth, the funeral, then Censie got sick and needed surgery, then I got sick and ended up in the hospital.  Censie's surgery went well and she was able to recover but during that time my Ulcerative Colitis flared up and I ended up in the hospital again.  We decided to move forward with the surgery option at this point for my Ulcerative Colitis and had a plan and were hoping to make it through the Holidays.  We made it to the 27th and then I ended up in the hospital again that is where this great post is being written from. 

 

This year has been very tough for health but the good news is that it seems like we will be starting 2013 moving forward.  I will be having a total proctocolectemy on January 9th.  Now I know that this is going to have its challenges because I will have a permanent Ostomy, a "Crap" bag as Censie calls it.  I am ready for these challenges and am ready to be healing and not just trying to maintain without any success.  This illness has run my life for the last three years and I am ready to grab life back and take it and run.

 

I am so excited for this upcoming year of hopefully good health and being able to have a life again.  Censie and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year, it is amazing!  We are trying to find something special to do.  I am hoping that we will be able to go up to the mountains more this summer with the family so that I can go fishing with Jude and teach him about my love of fishing.  I am excited to see my family grow and the children grow upand be more active with us.  I have a lot to smile about despite some of the low points of this year.  I hope that everyone has an amazing new year and a great 2013!!

 

 

 



Nominated for a Liebster!

I am so honored and humbled I was nominated for The Liebster Award by Photography by Beverly! What is a Liebster? Well, it's a shout out to blogs with less than 200 public followers, who are interesting...quirky...awesome to read.

 

 

The Rules 

- Each blogger that is nominated must post 11 things about themselves

- Answer the 11 questions that the blogger who nominated them asked

- Nominated blogger creates 11 new questions to ask the bloggers they nominate

- Choose 100 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate, link them in the post

- Notify the nominees of their award

- No tag backs!

And away...we go!

1. I just started blogging this year and am hoping that I can get my blog to grow and help others.
2. I am honored to be a father to my son Jude who is 2 1/2 and my daughter Teagan who is just over a month old.
3. I have been married to my wonderful and extremely supportive wife Censie for over 9 years, we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in August.
4. I am a huge sports nut, I enjoy watching almost any type of sport but Baseball is my favorite sport.  I am a huge Red Sox Fan.
5. Music is an essential part of my life and my daily routines.  I enjoy all types of music but classic rock is probably my favorite.  I am a huge Beatles fan if you can't tell by my son's name.
6. I started going to school to be a youth pastor but changed my mind and have been working as a social worker for the past 5 years. 
7. I am currently surviving a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis, this has resulted in three hospital stays in three years and now we are looking at possible surgery to cure this illness.
8. I have recently started getting back into making art and had an art show in August at a Denver Gallery, I have also opened an Etsy shop The Eccentric Mind. 
9. I love watching the Food Network and have a dream to be an awesome cook.
10. I have 11 tattoos and am in love with this type of body art, if I could have many more I would!
11.  I have been diagnosed with depression and moderate social anxiety, these are challenges that I also must face every day as a person, a husband, and a father.

Here are the questions that Shannon challenged me with!

1. What is your favourite holiday tradition? My favorite tradition is putting up our Christmas tree, it has been something Censie and I look forward to doing every year.  I am excited to start building more traditions with my family, taking Jude and Teagan to go see Santa is also amazing. 
2. What is your favourite movie from your childhood? This is a hard one for me!  I would have to say that my favorite move as a child was "Never Ending Story"
3. Do you have any pets? How many? What are their names? We have two cats Pun-kin and Sophie.
4. Do you consider yourself *green*? What do you do to be eco-friendly? I do as much as I can but it has been hard but we do as much as we can to recycle and not cause extra waste.
5. Do you love your home? I love my home immensely.  It is my favorite place to be because it is full of laughter and love. 
6. What is your go-to night-on-the-town outfit? Hmm I don't really get dressed up to go out but usually just a dress shirt and jeans.  Nothing special. 
7.  What is your favourite appetizer to serve guests? I don't really have guests over but I would say that chicken wings are the best to give to people.
8. If you could have a dream vacation, where would it be? For me my dream vacation would be taking my family to Disneyland or Disneyworld.  I have never been there so I am excited to share the excitement of going for the first time with my family.
9. Where did you go on your honeymoon?  Censie and I went to Meadow Creek Bed and Breakfast in Pine Colorado.  We have gone back several times after!
10. Do you believe in paying it forward? I do I think that we as humans should always step up and try to help out someone else that is not in our position. 
11. What was your first ever blogpost about? My first blog post was about an introduction to myself and about being a Daddy.


Whew this has taken a while!  Good thing I am just sitting in the hospital so I could complete this!

Here are my questions for my blogs that I am nominating!

1. What is your favorite Season of the year?
2. What is your favorite book?
3. Why did you start a blog?
4. What is the one thing that you can always go and do to relax?
5. Who is the most influential person in your life?
6.  What is your favorite type of food to eat?
7. If you were given one million dollars what is the first thing that you would do?
8. What was your first car? Did it have any special meaning?
9. Do you have any daily routines that you would consider to be weird?
10. Why is blogging important to you?
11. If you could have dinner with any person in history who would you have dinner with and why?

Want to know their answers? Go check them out!

1. http://theheartofahomemaker.blogspot.com/
2. http://ihaveulcerativecolitis.wordpress.com/
3. http://stolencolon.com/
4. http://mywifemykidsmydogs.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.idads.co.uk/
6. http://forcefamilyjourney.blogspot.com/
7. http://www.thecrazychaotichouse.blogspot.com/
8. http://www.bloodpooptears.com/
9. http://readbradthedad.com/
10. http://www.lifeonthesonnyside.com/
11. http://itsadomelife.com/

Whew!! I hope you made it this far, and if you did...two big thumbs up!

Time for an Update

Time for an Update!

 

I was sitting her looking back at my blog and was thinking that it has been a while since I had written a blog post.  I know that this has been tough for those of you that are following my blog.

 

The last blog post that I wrote was a difficult one for me because it was about my grandfather's passing which still hits me hard every day.  I will find myself thinking about him and getting teary eyed because of the flow of emotions. 

 

Three days after my grandfather passed away I was blessed to welcome our daughter Teagan Evelyn into the world, I love the feeling of being a father.  It is something that I cannot put down into words that feeling of holding her for the first time.  I am so blessed to have two wonderful children in my life and one amazing wife! 

 

The week after Teagan was born my parents came out for the funeral, it was another wave of emotions going from being so happy about my daughter to having to deal with death again.  It was amazing hearing all the great stories about my Papa he was a quiet man but he had a profound impact on my life an who I am today. 

 

My parents then left and the next week Censie went into the emergency room because she wasn't feeling well and it was discovered that she had gall stones and that she was going to have to have her gall bladder out.  This was a shock to us as she had an attack a year ago but we were not told at that point about the gall stones.  We scheduled her surgery for after Thanksgiving so that she could enjoy the holidays, oh and a baptism, and then my parents coming out again.

We were blessed enough to have my parents and my grandma come out for Thanksgiving and the Baptism, Teagan's middle name is Evelyn from my grandma.  We were so thankful that they could come out for this time of celebration. 

While my parents were out here my body decided that we didn't have enough stress in life so a Ulcerative Colitis flair was in store.  I will be going into this into more detail later.  Censie had her surgery and it went well, I was a nervous nelly the entire time I am only used to being the sick one.  I now know what Censie has to go though every time I am sick.  I was able to help her as much as I could but then had to return back to work and then my body decided we were going to increase our flair. 

Needless to say this first six weeks of having Teagan at home has been a whirlwind but I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family to share this with.  I will be trying to blog a lot more and I appreciate any support from anyone.  I hope I can get this blog going and share my story with how I am doing at this point.  Thank you for sharing some time reading this. 



Amazing Family Time!

I LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH MY FAMILY!!!!

I have to say I have had two amazing days these last two days.  Yesterday Censie and I decided that we wanted to take Jude to the zoo.  It was a little cooler but Jude loved it because the animals were up and moving around a lot more.  Jude did really good and he walked quite a bit and held onto my hand most of the time very well.  

Censie and I rode the train with Jude at the zoo.  He had a great time he loves the "choo-choo."  

It was a special day and I got to ride the Carousel with Jude.  He wanted to ride a cheetah, we had seen them earlier in the day.

Then since today is Columbus day I got to stay home with him and hang out with him for the day.  We slept in and then hung out and watched some of his shows.  

 Jude helped me make waffles this morning for breakfast in his pajamas, he had fun stirring the batter.  We then got dressed and played with toys and then we headed out to one of his favorite places, Chuck E. Cheese.  

Jude had fun dancing with the Big Chuck E. Cheese while we were there because they gave out free tickets to the kids dancing, he even got a hug from Chuck E. Cheese.

Jude had fun riding his rides and playing his games, he got to ride in a monster truck there today. 

He loves eating their pizza there, it is not great but it is good for lunch.  We ate our pizza and played more games he had a great time.  He was so tired he didn't make it home before he fell asleep.  It was such a great weekend.  I am so lucky that I get to be a dad to such a wonderful boy and a husband to such a wonderful woman.  We had a great time this weekend with him.  He makes me smile so much and knows how to make me smile and laugh,  Again I am one lucky man!!!