Lucky Man

I have days where I hate my job,

This little town and the whole world too

And last saturday when the tigers lost

Lord it put me in a bad mood

I have moments when I curse the rain

Then complain when the suns too hot

I look around at what everyone has

And I forget about all I've got

But I know Im a lucky man

God's given me a pretty fair hand

Got a house and piece of land

A few dollars in a coffee can

My old jeep's still runnin' good

My tickers tickin like they say it should

I've got supper in the oven

A good woman's lovin

And one more day to be my little kid's dad

Lord knows I'm a lucky man

This song, sung by country duo Montgomery Gentry, hit home today. Every morning before I leave for work, I go into Keltan's room and look at him in his crib. He is usually lying there asleep, his head to the right (sometimes left), all bundled up, with his hands in the "stick-em-up" position. It is at that time that I feel truly blessed, and I thank God for the blessing.

Truly, through Keltan, I feel the effects of God's grace to me. I count my son as a 100% gift from God. I know I haven't done a whole lot of anything to deserve this kind of gift. Certainly I have done things I am not proud of, but yet God has found me to be trustworthy enough to raise one of His children. The thought is overwhelming to me at times.

When I heard the above song today while driving between jobs, I felt the full impact. And again, tonight, as I sat at the dining room table reading up on football rules, and he was in his glider making baby noises and reaching for the dangling toys, it hit me again. Particularly at this time of the year, people in my profession complain of the heat. Then, when it does rain, we complain that we can't get our jobs done. Then, when it is cold, we complain about there not being enough work to do. And, with football season here, I tend to get caught up in LSU and OSU. But, when I stop and put everything in perspective, the thing that truly matters is that little life we've been blessed with, and the wife that God made for me. I have to disagree with one aspect of the song, however - I am not a "lucky" man, but a "blessed" man (but that doesn't fit in the tune, so we'll let "lucky" suffice.)

Keltan is growing good these days, pushing 10 pounds. Grandma came down Friday and left Monday. Grampy and Nana came down Sunday afternoon and left today (Tuesday). We took Keltan to church service for the first time Sunday - he didn't do so well. As it was put by a couple others - he was singing along. Not content to stop singing when everyone else did, he was taken by mama to the quiet room. She brought him out for the last song and prayer, and he fell asleep promptly as the last Amen was being said. Figures.

Monday, Inga went to her old boss' funeral. Dr G died Friday morning, and was put to rest Monday. Grandma kept Keltan at home until the other set of grandparents came in to relieve her so she could head home. He actually did very well for them, which was a relief to us.

Inga gets to go back to work Monday morning - I'm interested to see how that will go over.

Our first church day

Little Kman is 6 weeks old. Man, time flies! Inga gets 2 more weeks until going back to work, then she gets to experience how much is sucks to leave the little man while slaving for the man for 8 hours. He is getting bigger (about 9 1/2 pounds now), his cheeks are getting chubby, and he is eating us to the poor house! I cannot fathom how much this kid is going to eat when he is 14! It seems everytime we blink, he is like a baby bird - mouth open, chirping, and looking for something to latch onto.

Uncle Craig, Aunt Kim, and Cousin J were down again this weekend to see the little fellow. It has come to my attention that they may be just a tad bit on the smitten side with this little guy that looks just like his dad - adorable, handsome, irresistable....or so I'm told. :-) Uncle Craig closed down Ham's Orchards Saturday in his usual way - emptied the shelves and the ice cream machines. I hope they don't set up next year's budget based on this unusually high income summer - if he doesn't frequent here like this summer, they may fall upon a great disappointment with sales. Saturday we all went to Chuy's in Dallas for dinner - sure hope Keltan grows up liking Mexican food (and peanut butter) (but not together). Hmm, although peanut butter tacos..........

We intended to take Keltan to church last Sunday, but hit a small snag. As I came in the house about 8 PM from working in the yard, I was met with the news that the water heater had sprung a leak. That set me on a journey to find one. Thing is, it was a 30 gallon heater, which is rare. Home Depot in Terrell had 40 and 5o gallon heaters, but no 30's. So, I turned to Lowe's in Forney. Too late to go get it Saturday night, so it was showers in the RV, and Sunday morning found me checking out at Lowe's with the last 30 gallon water heater. Whew! Sunday afternoon found me finishing up with the water heater. As has been the case with everything in this house, it was not a quicky fix.

So, we missed church last Sunday.

Well, we took him today - to bible class at least. It was awesome to get back to church, and to show him off - I always love that opportunity! He did very well. The class leader (David) put him to sleep rather quickly. I think it was right at "Hello" when he decided to check out. He awoke in time to tell us it was time to head out of the classroom. Who needs bells in the church to let us know the time? My boy has a great internal clock! We did not attend worship, but hope to next week. We kind of figured we would test the waters slowly to see what to expect. I'm not into having a screaming baby in church - looks like he may need to chug-a-lug before service, as he was in a full fury by the time we got home (about 45 seconds from the church). Next week, maybe Nana and Grampy will want to attend with us to see just how well he does at church.

Some of you are aware that Inga and I are Ramseyites; I usually listen to his radio show pretty much everyday while at work. On his show, there are a lot of calls about "life" - those calls have more to them than just money situations. One particular call this week really got my attention, and got me to thinking. A lady called in to see what should be done about a situation involving a sister and an elderly mother. The mother was apparently legally incapable of handling her own affairs, and the sister in question had power of attorney. The other siblings were asking her to open the books and show where the mother's money was going. She was reluctant, and it appeared that legal action was going to have to be taken.

I hear these stories often on the show and run into these situations from time to time. It makes me think of how blessed I am to be in a family where we realize the family ties and relationship is so much more important than a selfish need to be in power or that the family is too important to ruin the relationships with selfish corruptness. Uncle LC Curt was talking to me about how Mom's family was after Grandmother died, and how things were handled without hard feelings. I look at how Craig, Karen, and myself are able to deal with the estate that Dad left behind, and how we are able to work together to fulfill Dad's wishes. I am so thankful that Keltan has this kind of legacy to inherit. As I told Craig this weekend, we are truly blessed. We still miss Dad and Mom like crazy, but the knowledge that we are so blessed helps to heal the hole in our hearts.
Another thought came to my mind on the last 2 visits of Craig and family - we sure miss our 4th player! Dad, Craig, Jessica, and I always loved to play games when together - Uno, SkipBo, Hearts, Spades, Dominoes, Rummy. Now, we play just the 3 of us, and it doesn't seem right. Hopefully Keltan will grow up to take the place....

ONE MONTH OLD!

So, today, I looked at my phone. The date was 8/3/2009. I thought "something happens on August 3". Then I just thought I was crazy and forgot about it. A few minutes later, it hit me...Kman is 1 MONTH OLD today!

This past week, we have had a few visitors:

Wednesday - Friday Grampy and Nana (Inga's parents)

Friday - Sunday: Craig/Kim/Jessica

Saturday - Sunday: Curt/Sherri/Steffani/Megan down here.

We had a blast with everyone being here, and I think Grampy is quite ready to return. According to Inga, he was asking Nana when they were going to come back down. Funny, because until July 3, 2009, we used to have to bribe peeps to come down. Now, we have to bribe peeps to stay away! :-) No, seriously, we love having our family come down to see us, I mean, Keltan. In fact, I think Uncle Craig may be a regular on the US Air Force Express from Tulsa to Garland each month with Uncle LC Curt (no longer Uncle Sgt Curt - he was promoted and I was behind the times!).

Keltan is growing so well. We weighed him Saturday evening, and he was up to 8#4.6 oz and about 22". The little fella LOVES to eat. And, I have discovered something else about him - he loves music! I was sitting with him on the couch Sunday night, and turned on Pandora Radio on my Blackberry. The little guy started grinning, and just instantly relaxed. So, tonight, he was fussy and malcontent, and I once again turned on the music. He stopped fussing and just laid there to listen to the music. Inga got a new CD for him today "Baby's First Sunday Songs", and we put that in the CD player. It wasn't long before he was CONKED!

Inga and I continue to be so thankful for this little blessing. Craig asked a question the other day - how many years was this in coming? The smarty answer, of course, was 35 1/2 years. But, the deeper answer is about 3 years. We started in 2006 getting our lives back on track both financially and marriage-wise. We went through several disappointing miscarriages, the last of which was just downright heartbreaking for us. Inga had to have some medical procedures, and we finally found the cause of the miscarriages - blood that clotted too quickly. So, we were able to remedy that situation, and were blessed with a baby that stuck around. In the great anticipation and excitement, we lost Dad. Once again, a heartbreaking blow. Then, the joy of the birth! What a roller coaster ride! All this brings me to a word: Passion - a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. The noun version is defined as the object of such a fondness or desire. I think the ups and downs we have gone through the past 3 1/2 years, and especially the past year, has brought passion to our lives for Keltan. It is hard to describe the feelings I get when I have to leave the little sleeping guy in the mornings, and the anticipation of returning home to him in the evenings, or the satisfaction of napping in the recliner with him asleep on my chest. Yeah, I'm lovin' having this baby around!