The most important thing that's happened though is the birth of Kristi's and my new daughter, Adelaide Grace Stoeber. I needed her to come on a weekend for me to stay in school and not repeat 5 weeks, and God was very kind to allow that to happen. Kristi woke me up at 4:45 on Saturday, Jan 23rd to let me know she was in labor. After some grumpy dialogue I cannot recall (I had only had like 11 hours of sleep the past 3 nights due to school and work), we headed for the hospital. Labor went very smoothly, and our daughter was born at 8:13 pm weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. The transition home been great too. It actually has been a little easier than I thought it would be, although Kristi thinks it's been a little harder...which goes to show that it's better for the person not feeding the baby every 3 hours. I've been a little tired, but fatherhood has been great. Watching the whole birthing process was pretty amazing, and looking at my daughter for the first time was also amazing. People ask me alot if I had some type of epiphany when holding/seeing her for the first time, but as great as it was, I think it was pretty much like I expected...my personality is just weird like that.
Our daughter's first name doesn't have a whole lot of significance. It is a city in Australia, and it is a song by Anberlin. Don't worry though, because our daughter's middle name was chosen because it was the name of my grandmother who passed away several months ago. I had the privelege of being in the room with my family and my grandmother as she took her last breath. For me, both birth and death seem like the most sacred of events in the human life, and I appreciate being able to experience both firsthand within a couple of months of each other. My grandmother was a great Christians lady, and as my wife said to Addy tonight, "if she were still here on earth she would be praying for you every day."
In case you were worried, the pets are adapting well. Lucy is mostly upset about all the visitors, and Oliver gets a little grumpy that he can't be in the bedroom when Addy is asleep in her infant napper. Other than that Oliver is just curious, and Lucy is a little scared of her...she'll get used to her though, especially when she starts dropping food off of the high chair.
In closing, I'll give you my 3 biggest earthly fears as a new dad...ready?
1. Being a lame dad - I feel like fatherhood automatically lamifies me a little, so I'll have to work extra hard to be non-lame, although I think I'm fighting a losing battle
2. Parenting in a way that screws up my kid forever - I'm in a Psych nursing class right now, and apparently I have no hope of avoiding this one
3. The next poopy diaper - some of them are worse than others
Until next time...
