At about 4:30 in the morning on a year ago today, I got woken up by my excited and nervous wife with the words, “my water broke, we need to go to the hospital now.”

Having been at the hospital for a bit the day before and having Amy be pregnant for almost nine months, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. As they say shit got real. So we grabbed our stuff and headed down to the Fenway area to the hospital.

We got set up with a room and then proceeded to wait. Somewhere between doctor visits and some pain medicine being administered I even managed to grab a quick breakfast.

After a few hours while watching a show on cruise ships the doctor came in to check on my wife and said whoa, this little fella is ready. Now before the end credits rolled, our little boy had come into the world, we got a quick picture and he was wheeled to the NIC unit where he had to get some treatment while my wife had a couple hours to recover.

During that time we tried to figure out a name. We couldn’t agree on anything prior to and after the birth until we started talking about the cruise ship show that was on and how it was almost like someone was trying to tell us something. You see we met on a cruise, got engaged on a cruise so water and boats were at every life event so we said let’s name him after a famous captain.

Ahab? NO

Kirk? NO

Santiago? NO

How about Noah? YES

Once settled in the family room we were reunited with Noah and man I can say I never believed in loving someone that quickly. I also couldn’t believe how much noise could come out of something so small and delicate.

Since then, everything has been a whirlwind for us and a continual learning process. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and have really learned a lot over the past year that I never really considered in the first 30 years of my life, but I am sure glad I learned to:

Appreciate the little things – from little smiles to saying daddy and taking steps, every little thing has taught me to take a second and enjoy life’s small things…

Who needs sleep? – no matter how little sleep baby Espo has allowed us to get, smiles and caffeine can cure all…

Family first – work isn’t everything and letting something wait a few hours will not hurt anything. Taking a few seconds here and there really can make the difference. It also helps to call home every now and then…

No such thing as being on time – why rush when you don’t have to…

For all of this Noah I have to say THANK YOU as you’ve taught me more about life than you’ll ever know… Happy first birthday my son…

At about 4:30 in the morning on a year ago today, I got woken up by my excited and nervous wife with the words, “my water broke, we need to go to the hospital now.”

Having been at the hospital for a bit the day before and having Amy be pregnant for almost nine months, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. As they say shit got real. So we grabbed our stuff and headed down to the Fenway area to the hospital.

We got set up with a room and then proceeded to wait. Somewhere between doctor visits and some pain medicine being administered I even managed to grab a quick breakfast.

After a few hours while watching a show on cruise ships the doctor came in to check on my wife and said whoa, this little fella is ready. Now before the end credits rolled, our little boy had come into the world, we got a quick picture and he was wheeled to the NIC unit where he had to get some treatment while my wife had a couple hours to recover.

During that time we tried to figure out a name. We couldn’t agree on anything prior to and after the birth until we started talking about the cruise ship show that was on and how it was almost like someone was trying to tell us something. You see we met on a cruise, got engaged on a cruise so water and boats were at every life event so we said let’s name him after a famous captain.

Ahab? NO

Kirk? NO

Santiago? NO

How about Noah? YES

Once settled in the family room we were reunited with Noah and man I can say I never believed in loving someone that quickly. I also couldn’t believe how much noise could come out of something so small and delicate.

Since then, everything has been a whirlwind for us and a continual learning process. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and have really learned a lot over the past year that I never really considered in the first 30 years of my life, but I am sure glad I learned to:

Appreciate the little things – from little smiles to saying daddy and taking steps, every little thing has taught me to take a second and enjoy life’s small things…

Who needs sleep? – no matter how little sleep baby Espo has allowed us to get, smiles and caffeine can cure all…

Family first – work isn’t everything and letting something wait a few hours will not hurt anything. Taking a few seconds here and there really can make the difference. It also helps to call home every now and then…

No such thing as being on time – why rush when you don’t have to…

For all of this Noah I have to say THANK YOU as you’ve taught me more about life than you’ll ever know… Happy first birthday my son…

At about 4:30 in the morning on a year ago today, I got woken up by my excited and nervous wife with the words, “my water broke, we need to go to the hospital now.”

Having been at the hospital for a bit the day before and having Amy be pregnant for almost nine months, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. As they say shit got real. So we grabbed our stuff and headed down to the Fenway area to the hospital.

We got set up with a room and then proceeded to wait. Somewhere between doctor visits and some pain medicine being administered I even managed to grab a quick breakfast.

After a few hours while watching a show on cruise ships the doctor came in to check on my wife and said whoa, this little fella is ready. Now before the end credits rolled, our little boy had come into the world, we got a quick picture and he was wheeled to the NIC unit where he had to get some treatment while my wife had a couple hours to recover.

During that time we tried to figure out a name. We couldn’t agree on anything prior to and after the birth until we started talking about the cruise ship show that was on and how it was almost like someone was trying to tell us something. You see we met on a cruise, got engaged on a cruise so water and boats were at every life event so we said let’s name him after a famous captain.

Ahab? NO

Kirk? NO

Santiago? NO

How about Noah? YES

Once settled in the family room we were reunited with Noah and man I can say I never believed in loving someone that quickly. I also couldn’t believe how much noise could come out of something so small and delicate.

Since then, everything has been a whirlwind for us and a continual learning process. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and have really learned a lot over the past year that I never really considered in the first 30 years of my life, but I am sure glad I learned to:

Appreciate the little things – from little smiles to saying daddy and taking steps, every little thing has taught me to take a second and enjoy life’s small things…

Who needs sleep? – no matter how little sleep baby Espo has allowed us to get, smiles and caffeine can cure all…

Family first – work isn’t everything and letting something wait a few hours will not hurt anything. Taking a few seconds here and there really can make the difference. It also helps to call home every now and then…

No such thing as being on time – why rush when you don’t have to…

For all of this Noah I have to say THANK YOU as you’ve taught me more about life than you’ll ever know… Happy first birthday my son…

At about 4:30 in the morning on a year ago today, I got woken up by my excited and nervous wife with the words, “my water broke, we need to go to the hospital now.”

Having been at the hospital for a bit the day before and having Amy be pregnant for almost nine months, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. As they say shit got real. So we grabbed our stuff and headed down to the Fenway area to the hospital.

We got set up with a room and then proceeded to wait. Somewhere between doctor visits and some pain medicine being administered I even managed to grab a quick breakfast.

After a few hours while watching a show on cruise ships the doctor came in to check on my wife and said whoa, this little fella is ready. Now before the end credits rolled, our little boy had come into the world, we got a quick picture and he was wheeled to the NIC unit where he had to get some treatment while my wife had a couple hours to recover.

During that time we tried to figure out a name. We couldn’t agree on anything prior to and after the birth until we started talking about the cruise ship show that was on and how it was almost like someone was trying to tell us something. You see we met on a cruise, got engaged on a cruise so water and boats were at every life event so we said let’s name him after a famous captain.

Ahab? NO

Kirk? NO

Santiago? NO

How about Noah? YES

Once settled in the family room we were reunited with Noah and man I can say I never believed in loving someone that quickly. I also couldn’t believe how much noise could come out of something so small and delicate.

Since then, everything has been a whirlwind for us and a continual learning process. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and have really learned a lot over the past year that I never really considered in the first 30 years of my life, but I am sure glad I learned to:

Appreciate the little things – from little smiles to saying daddy and taking steps, every little thing has taught me to take a second and enjoy life’s small things…

Who needs sleep? – no matter how little sleep baby Espo has allowed us to get, smiles and caffeine can cure all…

Family first – work isn’t everything and letting something wait a few hours will not hurt anything. Taking a few seconds here and there really can make the difference. It also helps to call home every now and then…

No such thing as being on time – why rush when you don’t have to…

For all of this Noah I have to say THANK YOU as you’ve taught me more about life than you’ll ever know… Happy first birthday my son…