"Wow! I'm a Daddy!!!"

It was NOT intentional. Trust me. I last posted at 4am, on the morning that my daughter decided to show up and bless me and Squirrel with the greatest gift I've ever gotten in my life. I got a LOT of comments from you folks, some very, very nice sentiments, that truly touched me. And for those not on my Facebook, or Twitter, I guess I may have left you in the dark a little bit the past four days. For that, I apologize. I know some of you readers could probably care less about my private life, and that I'm having a baby. That's cool, I respect that. After all...my blog DOES appear on a poker website.

For those who come for the poker...fine. I have a tiny little bit. On Saturday I logged on and played in about 5 games on Lock Poker. I min cashed in one...and in the $10 Bounty tourney with 123 players...I won! That's two wins online in a week. Last week I won a $6.60 PLO tourney on there. Both wins were good for about $180. No big deal money-wise, but a win always feels good, no matter where it comes. Especially ONLINE...where I have always run pretty bad!

I will try not to get too much into the details...but when it was looking like we were going to get Carley late in the afternoon or maybe even in the evening...she suddenly decided she was ready to join us! First Cheryl's water broke. Then just a few hours later...on her 19th push (I was counting...I guess because I'm tremendously A.D.H.D. perhaps) Carley came flying out and into the Doctor's hand. WOW! I cut her cord...which we discovered was in a big knot! Not only that, it had wrapped itself around Carley's neck. Suffice to say...after discussing all this with our doctor, it was apparent that we had just received a bit of a miracle baby. So much could have gone wrong. And yet..it didn't. The look on Cheryl's face when she was handed Carley for the first time, is one I will never...as long as I live, forget.

Everyone said to prepare for the nasty, mean, evil things Squirrel would shout at me during delivery. Never happened. Everyone said I would get queasy watching the whole thing. Nope. Not even close. I stood (until my knees started to throb with pain...then I kneeled on my memory foam pillow) in amazement...watching the whole process with excitement. And did I cry when she was out and wrapped in her blanket? Not really. I think what made me tear up was watching Cheryl's face when Carley met her for the first time.

A steady stream of friends came to visit us in the hospital, mostly Cheryl's girlfriends. Okay...ALL Cheryl's girlfriends.

 None of my 'boys' decided to come by. I guess that's okay, and pretty normal. We got lots of flowers...we had meals delivered to us from Claudia, and Brandy Conway...and if I forgot anyone, I'm sorry. And on Friday morning...we finally got to leave. We were getting real tired of the tiny, cramped room they had us shoved into. I drove so slow and cautious on the way home...I got passed on the highway TWICE by OMRG's! Both at least in their 70's! How embarrassing!

Is anyone curious to know who won the Carley Grace Baby Pool? Well...the way it went down was amazing. The guy who won my March Madness Pool...for around $4500...and who I met playing poker a few years ago...ended up buying a spot late in the action...for the time slot of 12pm-1pm on Wednesday the 25th...and with Carley coming at 11:54am...he became the winner! So what does he do? And I hope he isn't mad at me for telling you all this...he turned around and donated his winnings to us. We were both speechless. So nice. Tim Thompson is his name...and he will be playing some tourneys in New Orleans in May...so if you happen upon him, know that he is a great guy...and maybe give him a 'walk' in his BB if he's in need!!!

The winners of 2nd and 3rd was interesting too. Brian Delatte had purchased two time slots at the last minute...back to back...which made him the winner of 2nd and 3rd place, and totally cutting off Matt Bannantine...who would have won 1st were it not for the late entries...and certainly 2nd and/or 3rd at worst. But in a very classy move, Brian decided to split the $450 with Matt...then went ahead and donated his $225 to Squirrel...to pick something nice up for Carley. Once again,  I was touched by the amazing kindness and generosity of people in our lives. I've been running sports pools now for about 15 years...and some of the greatest people I've met have come from those pools. I will never regret getting involved in the pools. Brian won my Master's Pool this year...and will also be playing the WSOP-C event in New Orleans. I look forward to seeing all of my poker/pool/Carley pals in NOLA next month!

So...what else? Carley shows up...and all my teams start winning! My Seattle Mariners...who had just been swept at home by the White Sox...including getting a perfect game thrown at them, suddenly got hot when she arrived, sweeping the Tigers in Detroit! And my NY Rangers...in a all-or-nothing Game 7 on Thursday night at home against Ottawa...beat he Senators, and advanced to Round 2 against Washington, who they beat in Game 1 yesterday! So we were undefeated..until yesterday...my Mariners finally lost to Toronto 7-0. Hey...I really didn't envision the Mariners winning out and finishing 152-10! But I do think she might be my lucky charm for the Rangers! I'm counting on Carley to deliver us a Stanley Cup in 2012!!!

 

Okay...well, I figured I owed you all a post today! I have lots to do around the house...and two dogs who are feeling a little bit ignored...since they haven't been allowed in the house since we got home. We are taking baby steps (no pun intended) with how we introduce the dogs to Carley. We did let them see her for a minute or so. I did something that I think proved to be a good idea. I took the towel Carley was wiped off with, and the blanket she was first wrapped in...and brought them home on Thursday afternoon, left them in their sleeping area...and to get the scent in their nose. As soon as they saw her....they both started sniffing like crazy, and I'm positive they knew what the deal was. 

Mollie is not used to not being able to sleep in our bed every night...and she is NOT happy with being outside every night. But I think she will be okay.

One of things I'm going to have to spend more time doing now is spending time with the dogs away from the baby. They love going to the beach...and we have been down there the last two Sundays. It's really hot today...and maybe after the temperature goes down a bit...I will take them down today and let them have some 'quality time' with me. Cheryl has taken to providing a special shirt...that before I go outside to pet them, throw them the ball or do anything else...I have to change into. Then I have to wash my face and hands (and change back into my 'normal' shirt) once I come back inside. Yeah...Squirrel is a wee bit paranoid. But I guess you can't blame her a bit. We went through a LOT to have this special package delivered...no sense in doing something stupid and screwing it up!!!

Okay...hope you all have a great Sunday!!!

Monk-Daddy!