What My Dad Endured

My Dad was all boy growing up.  He played Cowboys and Indians, stayed up (unknowingly to my Grandparents) and watched Sammy Terry, and was known for his love of reptiles.  My poor Mamaw.  I cannot tell you the number of stories she told about lost and found snakes, the alligator in the basement, and snake skins. 

My Dad lettered in four sports in high school.  I'm pretty sure his favorite food is steak.  He adores his St. Louis Cardinals and he still sports a Colts jersey, even after the season is over. 

My Dad is a guys guy.  A guys guy who got stuck with a daughter as his only child.

I tell you this not because he ever felt sorry for himself or because he found it a struggle to raise me (or at least I think).  But since we recently found out the news that we are having a little girl, perspective has, well, changed a little bit.

On our way home from the lake when finding out that we were, in fact, having a girl, there was a slight moment of panic by both Nate and I.  The thought of the arguments over tiny tank tops and too short shorts.  She'll go on dates.  She'll buy bikinis.  She'll...well, she'll make us worry more than we ever thought possible. 

Of course, this is all speculation.  But I've heard enough from those of you who have boys and girls that the girls are just worrisome.

So this brought me to thinking about a list of the things that my dear Father endured, and quite possibly still endures.  Not only did he have a girl, he had a girly girl.  The worst kind!  My poor Daddy.

1) Slumber parties.  Whether it was our yearly Miss America party or birthday sleepovers, my Dad would have to put up with about 10 giggly teenage girls as we ate, gossiped, and laughed throughout the entire night.  Because we didn't sleep.  Unless you wanted to be drawn on.

I remember that Dad would leave the house and escape to my Grandparents for part of the night when all of the girls came over.  He never stayed the night because he was on hand for help should my Mom need it.  But we didn't see much of him.  Thank goodness for the capability of having cable television in more than one room in the house!

2) Losing softball teams.  And boy, was I on my share of them.  My high school softball team didn't win ten games in the entire four seasons that I played.  My Dad never missed one game (neither did my Mom for that matter).  He never yelled in the stands, he never got worked up, and he was always supportive.  After the game he would always give me advice that was both patient and helpful.  I know that sometimes it probably didn't seem like I was listening, but my batting stance came entirely from his directives.

3) Getting kicked off of the Internet at night (while we still had dial-up) because I wanted to chat with my friends on ICQ.  Yeah, you remember it.  It was before AIM became the thing to chat on.  He always got off of the Internet when I needed him to.  And he might not admit it, but I know he didn't like it!  That was just the kind of stuff he did for me.

4) Prom dress/formal dress/Easter dress/little black dress talk.  I'm that girl that started shopping for her prom dress when she was in middle school.  I kid you not.  I had magazine after magazine full of dresses that I just knew would hold my future prom dress.  My Mom, Grandma and I had the best times looking for those dresses.  And my poor Dad had to sit through conversations that were I'm sure miserable for him.  The trips that he took with us to find the perfect gloves or the perfect shoes or the perfect jewelry.  He did it.  And never complained once.

5) My many, ahem, failed attempts at driving.  I'm not a perfect driver, I'll admit it.  While I've never had any major fender benders, I typically find myself running into inanimate things.  Like, the garage wall.  Or that truck in the parking lot of Honeybakers that was a good 50 feet behind my car.  And you know what?  He never raised his temper when I would call.  In fact, when I told him about the truck I'm pretty sure he chuckled a little bit.  He knows how I am.  And he's accepted me for it.

6) Constantly running late.  Constantly.  This is something that I still do and now instead of driving my Dad crazy, it drives Nate crazy.  Both of them are very punctual.  If you're not ten minutes early then you're late.  I got this trait from my dear Mom, so my Dad hasn't escaped it totally.  But only having one gal to wait on rather than two has got to be a little easier.

7) Watching his daughter be a cheerleader.  My Dad is a basketball guy.  He loves to watch it.  He knows a lot about it.  He was pretty good in his day.  And his daughter became the cheerleader.  Luckily, he was able to go watch the basketball games and see me cheer at the same time.  So that one actually worked out pretty well for him.  Except that he never got the chance to teach me how to shoot the perfect lay up.  Unless you count that time that I tried to play in 5th grade.  We try not to talk about it.  It was pretty painful.  By the way, my folks never missed a game that I cheered in either.

8) Girls bring on a lot of drama.  I mean, it's just in our nature.  And my Dad had to tolerate all of the drama that I brought home.  Whether it was because I couldn't get the newest pair of shoes or I wasn't allowed to go to a party on Saturday night, he had to deal with me.  I've gotta say, he was pretty good about it.  I think he just let it roll right off of his shoulders.

There's so much more that I could tell you.  So much more that I could share that would make you see my Dad as nothing less than a saint.

And to me, he is.

Because even though I didn't play basketball except for that one failed attempt, even though I won't be able to pass on the family name, and even though I might be late to Sunday dinner, there are a few things that he did instill in me. 

I love the Three Stooges.  Dad once told me that I bleed Cardinal red.  I have a stack of Bibles that anybody would be envious of (for those of you who don't know, Bible collecting is one of my Dad's "things").  I can hold a conversation about IU basketball with the best of them.  I love my Mother unconditionally.  I wake up with the birds in the morning, which could only come from him. 

So while I'm not a boy, not even close, I still have an amazing bond with my Father that I wouldn't trade for the world. 

He put up with a lot from me.  Just like Nate will easily, wholeheartedly do with our baby girl.

I love you Daddy!

What I've Been Up To

I've been absentee for a while.  I feel like we've been in a whirlwind and we're finally starting to get caught up.

Sort of.

We've had a lot of stuff going on lately so here is a quick update on the lives of the Myers family.

1) I've been getting, well, large.  I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow and painting my toenails this morning was all but impossible.  In fact, I vowed to only have my toenails painted professionally until this one comes out.  This pregnancy is a whole lot different than the first.  I'm carrying more out front than I was with Cooper.  And I mean OUT FRONT.  Girlfriend is large and in charge folks.  I have a check-up on Wednesday.  As I try to stay off of the scales in between visits, I'm scared of what they might say.

Prayers are welcome.

2) Nate has started coaching an 8th grade baseball team.  In fact, we spent a large part of our day today at the ballpark for a double header.  It's so much fun to go watch.  He seems to be in his element.  It makes me wish that I would have known him when he was playing.

Well, kind of.  Because I tell Nate all the time that I never would have married him if I would have known him while he was in college.  There were a lot of shenanigans. 

3) Did I mention that we're having a baby girl?  The three of us went to see the ultrasound at 18 weeks.  We had the technician write down the sex on a piece of paper (without telling us) and then we made the long drive out to Lake Monroe.

Lake Monroe has a lot of significance to us.  Nate and I had our first date there, we were engaged there, and we found out that Cooper was going to be a boy there.  So it was only fitting that we find out the sex of baby #2.

We are excited and anxious about having a little girl.  We know boys.  We have a boy.  Girls are a whole different ballgame.  While I dread the middle school years, I can't wait to go prom dress shopping and plan a wedding and all of the fun things. 

But I'm a little concerned about my wallet.

4) Lola was given a new home.  Cooper has been a very sick little boy.  A constant runny nose and constant ear infections were just a few of the things.  We're trying to cut out everything that we can to make things better for him.  So we gave him to my wonderful friends Ben and Kelley McClain.  Folks, this girl is living the high life.  She is treated like a queen.  They take her on trips, she goes on walks frequently, she gets new collars for different seasons, etc.  I'd say she doesn't miss us too much.  I do miss her little smushy face though.

5) Speaking of Cooper, he's growing like a weed and he's a total doll face.  He loves to play basketball on the hoop that Nannie and Pa bought him for Christmas, and he throws a total fit when we try to bring him in from the outside.  He is an outdoors boy if I've ever seen one.  He loves to go on walks and he loves to ride in his little car.  He is currently learning ABC's and he will tell you the sound that any animal makes if you ask him.  Knock on wood, he has been free of sickness for quite a while now and we feel very happy about this!  Let's hope it stays that way!

6) School is out in just four weeks.  FOUR WEEKS!  I can't believe it.  But as soon as we're out, Mission: Nursery will go into full effect.  We have, well, nothing.  I mean, girlfriend's already got a ton of clothes, but she has nowhere to sleep.  Her room is full of scrapbooking things, old prom/bridesmaid/formal dresses, and stuff that we have no idea what to do with.  So, who wants to help? :)

Between school, being a Mama and wife, and finding time to eat (obviously) and sleep we've been pretty busy around here.  I've written down all kinds of ideas for this blog.  And hopefully, since things seem to be **kind of** slowing down, I'll have more time to sit down and write.  I love doing it.  It's such a release. 

Yes.  I need to blog more.  Yes.  I'm GOING to blog more.

Glad we got that settled.