Author Archives: Father

Grandparents’ Jobs

I remember growing up, thinking to myself that there was just no way that my grandparents could have possibly worked. By the time I came they were either retired or very close and I would hear in spotted conversations about their work history. Figure here I can give you a very real observation on each one of your grandparents as they are all currently still working. I am going to use the names that I assume you will refer to them by, but who knows if that will stick or not. Let’s start with mom’s side…

Papa – Lawyer

Papa is a Lawyer that specializes in business and real estate law. He graduated from USC undergrad, and then went to law school at Southwestern University. He has been practicing law for over 30 years at this point, and works from home. He has about 3 huge clients that he handles and also is an avid investor in real estate and some stock market.

Mia – Teacher/Real Estate/Food & Beverage/Stay-at-home-mom

Mia has done a variety of different things in her career. She graduated from USC with a degree in Political Science. She was a teacher in Palm Desert when mom was little, and once they moves to Sun Valley she took on a more motherly role. Once mom got into high school, Mia started doing real estate. She has also been with Michel for about 10 years at this point who owns a high end french restaurant in Ketchum. She helps him run the restaurant and serves as a hostess as well.

Now let’s look at my side…

Boppie – Railroad Engineer

Let me start by saying that I broke the Donegan tradition. 5 generations of Donegans had worked for the railroad, I broke the trend (always feel a bit guilty about that). Anyway, Bop is a railroad engineer meaning that he drives trains. He started working for the railroad when he was 19 years old, and will actually be retiring in March (you are due in February) and will have been there for 41 years.

Nonnie – Finance

Nonnie has been an accountant since graduating college. She graduated summa cum laude from University of Arizona with a degree in finance. She went to work for Ernst & Young straight out of college, didn’t care for the corporate world, so focused most of her career in the non-profit sector. She has been an accountant, bookkeeper, controller and even a CFO. She has a masters in education and a masters in business, and currently works for Smith Optics as an accountant (could have a higher position, but doesn’t like managing people).

That is the current status of everyone. As you can see, they kind of run the gamete in terms of diverse professions. This should be a good thing because you will have plenty of experts in various fields. Hope this will serve as a reference point for you in the future and you can avoid the confusion that I experienced.

Love, Dad

 

Second Ultrasound

Last week we made our second visit to the doctor. This one consisted of another ultrasound as well as mom getting some blood work done (in addition to our billing meeting, basically paying for the whole thing which is not a fun meeting let me tell you). We haven’t got the results from the blood work back yet, but it appears that you are a healthy kid from the sonogram.

You are 2.9 inches long right now. That’s it! I’m looking at a business card on my desk right now bigger than you. But the cool part is that you are developing at a rapid rate. The first trimester, which is now complete, is the most important for a developing baby. Major complications are more likely to happen in the first 13 weeks than at any time during the pregnancy. You made it through and with flying colors!

You are developing bones. In the ultrasound we could actually see your spine, skull, fingers and toes, nose and other appendages. You were actually touching your face and kicking mom’s belly while we were watching you. It was incredible! You are growing by the day, and getting closer to the point when we can tell if you are a boy or girl.

We were also given another photo of you, this time with some labels.

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As you can see you are startling to loom like a real baby. You looked so big on the screen, we couldn’t believe that you were in reality so small. You can see the pics that label the hands and there is another without a label of your toes. It was a pretty cool thing to watch.

At this point, now that everyone knows, we can share the pics of you. Our next appointment isn’t for another 3.5 weeks or so, at which point mom will get a little more blood work done. We are so excited to meet you, and soon I will update you on the preparation of your room!

Love, Dad

The word is out!

Today we told everyone about you! This included from mom’s side: Papa, Aunt Kate, Tita and the remainder of mom’s friends. On my side we told Boppie, Aunt Madeline, my Nonnie and Boppie and all of my friends. We also put together a photo to post on the various social networks and send out to friends:

Announcement FINAL

Pretty damn cute right?

Now that the word is out I am sure we will be inundated with questions and status updates, but it’s all good. Just glad that we can finally talk about it freely!

We are more excited than ever to meet you, and love you already.

Love, Dad

12 Weeks Come and Gone

You are now the size of a lime!

Well, the length of one, you only weigh half an ounce.

Some of the more incredible developments this week include that you now have reflexes. You are able to open and close your hands, curl your toes, clench your eye muscles and even make sucking motions with your mouth.

You are also at the point where your kidneys are developed enough that you can create urine, which is just weird. Here is an image of what you kinda look like:

Picture of your developing baby

Look like a little alien in there!

We have a doctor’s appointment next week where we will get our next look at you. We will also get to tell everyone soon after because the chance of a miscarriage will be so low.

Next Thursday when we meet with the doctor you will be 13 weeks, and I will have another update on how big you are at that point. Can’t wait to get another picture of you and see you squirming around in there. Can’t believe how much you already mean to me.

Love, Dad

What Does Dad Do?

The last couple of days have been pretty exciting for me, as I was a contributor to a pretty major inbound marketing piece that was put out. Figure at this point it is a good idea to fill you in a bit on what it is that I do. I am very excited because I work in a field that changes it seems by the day, so by the time you are old enough to read this my role will likely be completely different.

In a nutshell, I help companies optimize their websites so they show up higher in search engines (primarily Google). I do this a variety of ways which I won’t go into, but it is a combination of code changes in addition to off-site factors that help to create basically an online reputation for the company website. My current title is SEO/Product Marketing Manager and this encompasses a few other things as well.

In addition to SEO (which is explained above and stands for Search Engine Optimization) I also manage web analytics, social media product development and PPC strategy. Let’s start with analytics.

Web analytics track everything that happens within a website, from traffic to time on page to the links that are clicked on. It has thousands of metrics that are accounted for, and I use these to draw conclusions on how we can better optimize and arrange the sites as well as report out to the brands that we work with.

On the social side, I manage the product strategy in what we develop. For example, we recently built a Facebook product that allows major brands (Wendy’s in this case) to post in geo-targeted areas on their national page. We are working on Twitter and Pinterest product currently.

Finally, on the PPC side (pay-per-click) I work with new clients on their strategy in terms of paid search. I work on what their approach should be in each market and then we have a team that will execute on making it happen.

It is almost guaranteed that I will not be at this company by the time you get this, but I currently work for a company called Balihoo that works with Fortune 1000 companies to help them market on a local level. Some of the clients that I do all the above for are Aflac, Pearle Vision, Kohler, Wendy’s and Behr.

The goal, and one that will hopefully be reached within the next decade or so, is to become a CMO or VP of Marketing for a company. I aspire to be an executive that runs an entire marketing department, or at some point possibly a company in general.

Anyway, thought I would fill you in on what I do now at the age of 29 and see where things are in the future. Can’t wait to see you!

Love, Dad

Back From Fishing, On To Rocking Chairs

Fishing Trip

I survived the camping trip. Not only that, but it was a great trip all around. We stayed at Garden Creek Campground on the East Fork of the Big Lost River, and it was pretty amazing. Basically just followed Trail Creek road, up over the pass and about 4 miles past the turnoff for Copper Basin (Wildhorse Road). Ended up being 29.9 miles from the stoplight in on Main and Sun Valley Road in Ketchum.

The campsite was killer, right on the river and no one else around. Here is a pic:

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After getting there and setting up camp we set out to fish. We caught about a dozen fish in an hour and a half which was a great start. That night we cooked up some chicken burgers for dinner and gutted some fish for breakfast the following morning.

After having breakfast, bacon and cutthroat, we headed out to fish the main waters of the Big Lost river. We started just below the dam of Mackay Reservoir and did really well. Caught another dozen or so fish, almost all on dry flies (orange stimulators) and then headed to the upper waters above the reservoir. Did not fair as well there, as Uncle Matt pulled just one fish out and other than that we were stifled.

We decided to head back to fish around camp, and the next couple hours were pretty dead. After that the fishing picked up, and while your uncle went for a hike I pulled 4 rainbow trout out of the river just south of the campsite. Overall is was a success. Here is the biggest fish from the trip:

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Rocking Chairs

Mom has this weird obsession with the south. She loves plantation style homes, the big trees, the culture and the large lot sizes. She wants us to move there and has for some time. When we were looking to leave San Diego, she was sending me jobs daily in places like Charlotte, Atlanta, New Orleans, etc… and asking me to apply. I of course obliged, but the jobs were never really specific to what I do. The funny thing about it is that mom has never really been in the south for an extended period of time. She has never been to Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston or a number of other places that she wants to pick up and move to. I cannot explain how she came to have this fascination and love for the area (although I am pretty sure that Young House Love had a lot to do with it), but regardless she feels a connection.

With that in mind she came up with the idea of how to tell our extended family and friends about you when the time comes (which is only about 10 days away now). We ordered some rocking chairs that were delivered last week and we will be taking a picture on our front porch with Layla, your mom and I. We will be holding up signs that say the due date and that we are pregnant. The signs will be blank and I will photoshop in the text later on. We will then be sending out an email with the news, as well as posting it on Facebook and Instagram (really curious to see if these social medias still exist when you are old enough to be online). We will of course contact directly our immediate family that doesn’t know and tell them before posting it anywhere, but this way we can hit everyone we know and care about.

One thing that you will learn about your dad is that he is good at a lot of things, but handyman tasks are somewhat of a weakness. It is weird, because MY dad is great with these kinds of things. He actually built the first house I ever lived in from the ground up. Unfortunately I was too busy with other things growing up to learn from him (although he will tell you I never took the time to learn despite his best efforts). Anyway, I will be assembling the rocking chairs this week all by myself as your mom is still gone for another 5 days, so if the picture is missing the chairs it is probably because the assembly did not go according to plan. 🙂

 

We have another doctor’s appointment a week and two days from now and get to see you again in the ultrasound and I am counting down the days. Cannot wait to tell EVERYONE about you next week either. Enjoy your time in that womb of yours, because once you get out of there you are going to be smothered by people who want to be around you and love on you.

Love, Dad

 

11 Weeks & A Couple Trips

11 weeks has come and gone, today is 11 weeks and one day. More importantly, it is just 13 days away from our next doctor’s appointment. Really nothing all that cool will happen at the next appointment, other than we will be at the end of the first trimester and can safely tell people about you.

Today also marks the day that your mom is leaving for a trip to the Caribbean, St. Maartens to be exact. Yes, your mom is spoiled. She will be going for a little over a week. This will actually be the longest we have been apart since being married, if you can believe that. Here is what mom’s life will look like for the next week (this is even a pic of where she is staying).

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However, in her absence, Uncle Matt and I are going fishing/camping over the weekend. We are heading up to Copper Basin, which is about 30 miles Northeast of Sun Valley. Going to fish a river called the Big Lost, starting with the East Fork of the Big Lost and then heading to the main waters tomorrow. Here is our campsite as well as where we will be fishing tonight.

Trail Creek Rd Mackay ID 83251 Google Maps

 

Just to keep you in the loop on me, I am also training for another half marathon. The funny thing is that I don’t care for running all that much, but I have found that unless I have a goal that I am working towards it is hard for me to stay motivated regarding fitness. I will be running in the City of Trees half marathon here in Boise on October 13th.

At this point you are apparently the size of a fig. Your hands are forming and your fingers are as well. Your bones are beginning to solidify and you are starting to get teeth as well. Most exciting part is that you are beginning to stretch and kick! Even though mom won’t be able to feel this for another couple months, it is pretty cool to think that you are starting to rock out there in the womb.

I will be out the next couple of days, but will try to get some pics of the fish. Hopefully someday you and I can go together, as that was one of the best things I ever did with my dad and I would love to share that with you. You are constantly on my mind, and cannot wait to meet you.

Love, Dad

Uncle Matt is “in the know”

So I know it must feel at this point like we have told a lot of people, but truly this is not the case. We have told key individuals mostly because our daily lives could not operate and we would be caught in a constant lie. But in this case, we told Uncle Matt because he is in town from college and will only be here for a short time.

It was a pretty simple process. We got back from breakfast, were standing in the kitchen, and we just dropped the bomb. He was in shock. Good shock, but had no idea that is what we were about to tell him.

You will learn that Uncle Matt is pretty freaking smart, so it was no surprise that he then dove in to telling us all about the biological process that mom was about to go through. He would have spurts of nerding out on the anatomical aspects and then jump back to the realization that we were pregnant with you. Bottom line, he was extremely excited.

Here is a recent picture of Matt and I for reference:

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Uncle Matt and I are going fishing next weekend, and your mom is in SV with him as I write this (I had to stay back and finish up some consulting work). After he leaves we won’t see him again until Christmas, when mom will be close to pop with you!

Anyway, the day that we can tell everyone is getting closer and closer. We can’t wait to meet you, and love you already.

Love, Dad

Another Person “in the know”

It is funny writing about these people that we are telling about you. Not because there is a random reason for letting them know or any other reason than by the time you read this they may no longer be around. Hopefully they are, and my assumptions tells me that they will be, but you never truly know.

Regardless, we told Gina about you the other night. Gina is mom’s best friend, and one of mine as well. She is absolutely awesome and we are lucky to know her.

The reason we spilled the beans is because mom sees her on the regular, and at this point it is impossible to hide. She is around us too much to try and lie and, honestly, we wanted to tell her anyway.

How did we do it? Well, in true Gina fashion, we incorporated a dumb commercial that is currently running right now. Doubtful that this link will work when you try it, but you never know:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA

I found this commercial to be fall on your ass funny. I know it is stupid, but wow I could not stop laughing. Gina shared my love for the commercial and it prompted me to buy this:

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I know, stupid right? Well, right now it is awesome!

Anyway, I brought this out when Gina was visiting and her eyes lit up with excitement over it. Just for reference, here is your mom’s reaction to it:

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So after showing her the shirt, I said “and there is something else a little less exciting but also worth showing to you” at which point I pulled out your ultrasound picture. I laid it on the table, she looked at it briefly, looked up at us astonished, and broke into tears. She was so excited she couldn’t stand it. She then proceeded to ask one million questions (which if you haven’t noticed yet is a trait your mom shares) and hugged us vigorously.

We can’t wait to tell more people, August 17th I believe is the day that we can make it public, and are trying to hold it in until that date. We can’t wait to tell everyone, but even more so cannot wait to meet you. Love you already.

Love, Dad

4 Year Anniversary

Today is 4 years that your mom and I have been married. Not just saying this, but they have really flown by.  My next task is to write about our story and how we came to be, but today is not that day as we have plans and I don’t have time.

Just to give you a bit of insight though, July 26th, 2009 was our wedding day. We got married in SV at Trail Creek and it was an amazing day. Here is a pic:

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As you can see, I had a lot more hair than I probably do now.

Anyway, tonight I am taking your mom to the Shakespeare Festival here in Boise. We haven’t been yet and the venue is pretty close to the house, so we are going to ride our cruisers down there with a picnic basket and watch the play from the grass. We also got each other a present yesterday: new rocking chairs for the front porch. Now don’t think I am totally lame for wanting a rocking chair as my gift, I would much rather have had some type of new electronic device, but mom really wanted them and sometimes it is good to compromise. They are pretty sweet chairs, and we will be using them to take a picture in the near future to announce YOU to the world!

The festivities this evening will have to be brief, as Uncle Matt is flying in from North Carolina after finishing his first year at UNC. That reminds me that I need to give a brief synopsis on everyone that you will know in their current state, because by the time you read this he will likely be much older and established. Want to ensure that you know what a little shithead he really was.

4 years may not seem like a long time, especially since your mom and I have been together for over 10 as of now, but it really is quite an accomplishment. We really waited to make sure that we were right for one another and have established over and over that we are. I love your mom more than anything in life, and cannot imagine going on without her. She is an intelligent, strong, loyal, stable, funny, and beautiful person. She is everything I could have ever asked for, and if you ever ask Nonnie or Boppie about her and I getting together they will say that she is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

This is the first picture I could find of your mom and I together, I will continue to look but as you can see we are pretty young:

IMG_0544Every great relationship has to have a great story, so in the near future I will write about ours.

This is the most exciting anniversary we have ever had, and it is because we know you are coming. We love you already and cannot wait to meet you.

Love, Dad