A word from dad to anybody who reads this...

Well, two words.

Thank you.

Two words, eight letters (if you don't count the space and the period) and they cannot even begin to touch on how I feel for everybody who has been part of our great adventure called life and especially the last two and a half weeks.

Thank you to our doctor, Dr. Heimburger, of DuPage Medical Group. He delivered Makenna and we've been working with him for the past four years or thereabouts and we followed him to Central DuPage Hospital to deliver Rylan because he's that good and we're that comfortable with him.

Thanks to the nurses in Labor & Delivery, Recovery and on the Mother / Baby unit at CDH. You love your work, you love your patients and it shows. This was our "second time around," not to imply it makes it any easier in the surgical post-op, but your attentiveness to Kelly and Rylan and insuring their care was top notch is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to the members of the Mom's Club who have been providing us meals for the past two weeks and continuing through this week. It has been a wonderful parade of people sharing food from their kitchens and hearts and making the bringing-the-new-baby-home pandelerium a little less hectic. Plus, the leftovers have meant that we've really not been lacking food at any time and that's one less thing to have to think about.

Thanks to all of our friends and friends of friends and family who have been so generous to Rylan and Makenna. The youngster is outfitted for at least the next six months or so, and that's assuming that he reaches Diva status pretty quickly and has multiple costume changes daily. Given his pooping frequency and strange means by which his clothes seem to be attracted to said poop, we'll give the wardrobe a workout.

Thanks to my family who have been so kind and generous with your time and gifts and love for us and Makenna and, unsurprisingly, with the addition of Rylan. Whether Ga-Ga and Pop-Pop and Auntie Kellie taking Makenna for an overnight, or "Unclebraddechantel" [Makenna runs it together] taking her to Chuck E. Cheese for an afternoon, or Nana watching the little guy so Kelly and I could have a grown-up night out on Saturday at Francesca's, or the wonderful decorations we came home to find after four days in that nice but still tiny box of a hospital room, my eternal thanks and love.

To Makenna, who I knew would be my personal project for these two weeks and the first couple of days home was a foreign hellion unknown to any of us, but quickly adapted to Rylan, I love you. Daddy and Makenna have had two great weeks together with all kinds of adventures and outings and trips and fun...daddy's got to go back to work tomorrow, so Mommy's in charge of nap time again. And I leave Saturday for Washington for five days, so be good to her at bedtime too, okay? You're an awesome big sister, you're a great daughter and laugher and the light of your daddy's eye.

And to the most important person in the world...my lovely bride. For the gift of you. For the nine months you nutured and cared for and watched out for that little guy inside of you (and you knew it was a boy...why didn't I listen after Makenna?) who made his grand appearance on the 20th of August forever changing our lives again for the better, my heartfelt and eternal love. The new chapters we write for the book of us are always full of exciting twists and turns and I could think of nobody better than you to walk that path with. To the moon and back...

So tomorrow, back to work. But certainly not now (nor ever) back to the way it was before I left.