Wouldn't trade it for the world...

Byron posting here tonight:

In the beginning, it was just my dog and me. After April 6, 2001, life as I once knew it, changed.

I've found humor in a few things that I've learned about being married and having children.

When Sharleen and I met, I proudly owned a house in Sacramento. I put considerable thought into what colors I wanted to paint the interior rooms of the house. Apparently, having a deep, red, kitchen and olive, green, living room weren't necessarily the first, choice colors for her. Among my bachelor "had to haves," was a regularly played slate pool table. Boy, it sure didn't take long before it was turned into a convenient, or rather, more practical laundry table.

Then the day came (December of 2002) when it was confirmed that we were pregnant with our first child. We were both so happy and excited. Little did we know what was to come. I learned very quickly about the roller coaster ride of emotions and "ALL DAY, morning sickness" associated with my wife's pregnancy. (We can laugh about this now, but at the time, it was definitely no laughing matter.) I remember this one particular day early on in her pregnancy. Upon returning home from work, my lovely wife would request something specific for dinner. (Something that sounded good only at that exact moment, mind you.) Keeping foods down was a huge burden and task for her on most days. Wanting to help make things easier, I would attempt to make "that" for her; whatever "that" was. Minutes later, something else appealled to her. Without saying a word, off to the store I went. Upon returning I would begin to cook again. The smell was overwhelmingly nauseating, so nix that dinner menu too. By the time I ran around "like a chicken with my head cut off" and/or tried to make something to eat, Sharleen would instantly, without hesitation, decide she was just going to bed. "What?" Oh yea, and I was strongly encouraged not to wear any cologne or use any soap that had any type of fragrance to it. What's a man to do?

My wife is also learning how men wear their wardrobe. When clothes are lying on the floor in the bedroom, it means that "we" are still going to wear them. When clothes are lying near the hamper, it means that there are two days left of wear in those clothes. When they are on top of the hamper, it means that there is one possible last day to wear that item again. My wife puts my clothes in the laundry, as soon as they come off my body. Sometimes, I would come home with a new pair of pants, lay them on the edge of the bed intending to remove the tags, and before I turned around, they are in the laundry.

These days, I even find it a challenge to take a simple shower. We have approximately 37 types of shampoo and conditioner bottles in our shower. I have to stand perfectly still. If I bend an elbow or knee while washing I'm liable to bump into the bottles and they come crashing to the floor. Then my wife will come in and ask me if I could try and be little quieter so I don't wake the baby or the girls. No kidding. When I am finally able to apply shampoo to my hair, I have 37 different bottles to choose from. I pick up one and it is for permed and colored treated hair. The next one is for managing frizzy or tangly hair, or some other special type of conditioner. "Where is JUST shampoo?" By now the water is growing cold and it is time for me to get out of the shower.

Now on to our beautiful children. I am currently and constantly working on character building in our household. Sometimes, in the evenings, my wife will put two of the children to bed before she leaves the house for the gym. The only thing required of me, is to put the last one to bed within the next half hour. Well, needless to say, the baby makes a little "peep" and I want to get him up to play. Then the oldest one needs something so I let her get up as well. And I still have not put our third child to bed yet. After about an hour, give or take, Sharleen returns home from the gym. And what does she see? Nothing less than ALL of the kids awake and running around having a GOOD time. I try to avoid any eye contact with her as I'm sure the "I love you, good job honey" look will not help us get the kids back to bed any sooner. There's tomorrow, right?

And guess what? I wouldn't trade it for the world!