ZZZZZZ...

While it's true that the title of this post certainly applies to my activity on this blog, the fact is that I'm posting this little update on the fleeting nature of sleep. The last eighteen months have been a whirlwind. It has been one of the most productive, satisfying, frustrating, wonderful, and bewildering periods of my life, and I'm looking at the healthy, happy reason for all of that as I type this, the first remnants of a tropical depression just whipping the branches of the old live oak out in front of my home office.

Luke David Powell is something of a miracle. 

Jeanne and I had a rough time in 2015, with everything culminating in some bad news last summer that I don't need to get into. We went from soaring heights to devastating lows in a period of about ten days. Life is like that sometimes, of course, and when the dust cleared we clung to each other and our daughter and counted our blessings. Something changed in our home, and it was a healthy change. I thought we were moving forward, just the three of us.

But I still had some hope. I still wanted to try for another little one, and I kept the faith and, pretty soon, we found out that we were pregnant. We were elated, but we were also guarded. It's hard to invest yourself so fully when a large part of you is also scared to death.

The baby did well, though. He hung in there and, ten minutes before boarding our flight home to Portland, Oregon, for Christmas, we got the news that everything was perfect with his health and we could fully freak out in joy.

And freak out we did. I'll never forget the way the three of us hit the floor with happiness. He was healthy, and he would be with us soon!

Luke grew and grew and grew in there. By the time we were in range to deliver, we had to go with a c-section because he was so danged big.

He joined us a few weeks ago, and we've had a fantastic summer with him. He's a happy baby. He has the most beautiful mischievous grin, and he dreams like a champ. I don't know what the little guy could be thinking about, but he often laughs in his sleep. He is bright, aware, and just a joy to be with.

I'm teaching nights this term and staying home with him during the day. Three days into that schedule and we already have our routines. No fussing, no mess, no sadness. Just love in the simple act of being together. He eats like a champ, and we hit the YMCA together, sing together, walk together, clean together, play together, and write together.

It's just like it was with Lyla, and those were some of the happiest months of my life. It's such a blessing to have another chance at that time, and we're making the best of it.

Oh, and it's true that I'm a little sleep-deprived at the moment. I could really use six uninterrupted hours... But it's better--infinitely so--than the alternative, and it's hard to say just how thankful I am for that.