What can I say? Life is extremely good right now. As I write today’s Thursday Rundown, I am glowing as I hammer away on my keyboard. Here we go with the latest five topics…

Leave – I took this entire week off to be with Sidney and Sloan. It has been both relaxing and not relaxing at the same time. It is relaxing in the sense that the high pressure birth process is behind us and we get to enjoy these precious first several days of our daughter’s life. It is not relaxing in the obvious sense that we are caring for a newborn (you know, they need to be fed and changed). But it has definitely been blissful and my mother-in-law has helped us out a ton!

Our family enjoying another day on leave today.

Pictures of Sloan – When my niece was first born, I routinely devoted spots in my Thursday Rundown to showcase cute photos of her. Now that I have my own daughter, you can bet that I am going to do the same for her! Here is a collage of photos I took today.

Here is a collage of some of the photos I took of Sloan today.

NCAA Tournament – Through the stress of Sidney’s hospital stay and Sloan’s birth, the NCAA Tournament proved therapeutic for me. I watched the first four days of the tourney from the hospital television, stimuli that helped calm me down during the tense time. Tonight the games start back up again and I will be able to watch them in our living room instead of the hospital. Of course I am rooting for Gonzaga. Best of luck to Mark Few, a class act and incredible coach, and the entire Bulldogs team as they take on West Virginia this evening.

The Preview That Was Right On – Ultrasound technology is amazing. About midway through Sidney’s pregnancy, her doctor’s office installed a brand new ultrasound machine. At the time we didn’t want to share any photos for personal and superstitious reasons but now that Sloan is here, why not? This is Sloan at around 29 weeks. Pretty close, right?

Ultrasound images gave us a pretty good idea of what Sloan would look like. This was taken around 29 weeks.

Different Cheetos – Even though this blog post has centered around Sloan, it wouldn’t be a true Thursday Rundown if I didn’t include some random snack food in it. While walking through the grocery store yesterday, I came across something new from the Cheetos brand. Called Sweetos, you can now purchase cinnamon sugar puffs or caramel puffs. Perhaps one of these days I will try them (and maybe even blog about it).

A look at some of the new sweet Cheetos (Sweetos) that are available in stores. I took this photo yesterday at our local Food Lion.

——————-

Thanks for all the support and well wishes over the past several days. Hard to believe that Sloan will turn 1 week old tomorrow. Although I will inevitably start to post less to Don’t Blink as I embrace my father role, I will still continue to keep in touch. Have a great weekend. Don’t Blink.