Decisions can be difficult.

Life is full of decisions, big and small, that affect us one way or another.  For example, yesterday the decision was boot camp or run.  Of course boot camp is the obvious choice, it's a solid workout guaranteed to be killer, on the other hand so is a 4.5 mile run around Burke Lake.  Boot camp is also an all around full body workout, sure we focus on specific areas sometimes but there has never been a class that we have not used both upper and lower body muscles for something, running is just legs and cardio.  On the other hand I also have the Army 10 miler coming up in just over ten weeks (more to follow on that training plan this week) so an extra run here and there will do nothing but help me in the long run....get it long run, okay I'm done.  The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday so either way I wanted to be outside, both offered that.  As a recent father my son is now majorly influencing my decisions as well.  I get about an hour and a half with him on the nights I go to boot camp, maybe two.  After class I get home somewhere between 6:45 and 7 PM.  Eli goes to bed somewhere around 8:30.  One and a half hours, that sucks.  That is not enough time.  This was ultimately the deciding factor on the boot camp or run decision yesterday.  If I run Burke lake I am finished by or before 6 PM, that puts me home before boot camp even ends giving me an extra 30 - 45 minutes with my family.  Needless to say, that is what I did, I ran Burke Lake and it was glorious.  Such a beautiful night and I thoroughly enjoyed my extra time with my son.  It's tough to manage life, working out, work, family, and free time.  Decisions can be difficult.  How do you do it?  How do you fit in all the things you want while still making sure all the things you need are handled?  Every day is hard, there is always something that comes up, I guess the key is to find that balance that keeps you and your family happy and safe.

We make plans and God laughs.

Eli Giora DeLong born 5:15 PM on February 24th weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 19" long.  Instead of sticking to the plan and joining us in late March he decided to grace us with his presence a whopping three and half weeks early.  Luckily we were as prepared as we could be which is not at all.  Bathrooms and nursery were complete but really how do you prepare for something like this?  I received the call around 10 AM on Monday while I was at work that Hila's water broke so I left work and met Hila and her mom at the hospital.  By 4 PM she was fully dilated, started pushing an hour later and in a matter of minutes we were holding a beautiful baby boy.  Even though he was born early he was not considered premature and has passed all his baby tests with flying colors.  Both Hila and Eli are perfectly healthy and doing very well.  We decided to not find out the sex of the baby so needless to say seeing that we were having a boy was beyond emotional for me.  I have never felt more blessed in my life, as a father to look into my son's eyes for the first time and tell him I love him has been one of the most amazing moments in my entire life.  I cannot wait to do it everyday until the day I die.

We were released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon and have been home since.  I am only able to take off a limited time from work so unfortunately I need to be back in the office on Monday.  I cannot stress about this limited time off but at least Hila is off for the next six months.  I will miss him and his mom but luckily work is only an eight hour day.

Thank you to everyone who has come by with lunch or dinner, or stopped in for a visit in the hospital.  We are blessed to have such a great group of friends.

I have been lucky enough to do many interesting things in my life, I have traveled the globe, scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef, eaten scorpions in the streets of China, floated in the salty water of the Dead Sea, jumped out of an airplane for no apparent reason but never in my life have I been more excited to start this new adventure with my wife and son, the adventure of parenthood.

This is my baby picture, as you can see there is a remarkable resemblance between father and son!!