Home as a family of four

Here are a couple more photos of the family at the hospital before we came home.

Someone told us that your other kid will look like a grown adult and they are right.  Summer looks so big in this photo...

But even more when we came home and her and Evan could lay out on the baby blanket.  It is really crazy how fast time flies and how fast they grow up.

When Summer was born we were soaked with rain for the next straight 20+ days.  One of the big rains brought more than 3" of rain after she was born, within a 24 hour period.  Well... Same thing happened with Evan.  We had almost 3.5" of rain over the weekend.

The garden beds drain fast, so they likely didn't get all of that to soak, so I had Evan help me with some watering.  Things are going pretty well at the house.  Evan is sleeping better than Summer, but the hard part is trying to entertain a 3 year old while caring for the newborn the entire time.  Thankfully Evan sleeps a lot and he is pretty chill.  Things are going well and I will check back in soon.  So blessed to have time to spend with the family and adjust to the new addition.  See you all soon!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Evan Joseph Michael, welcome to the world!

It's a boy!!!  Welcome to the world Evan Joseph Michael!

Here is Dawn and I before leaving for the hospital Thursday evening. Evan was a bit of a stinker during labor!  We got him out just fine, but it was a bit of a rough go overnight.  Since Dawn was full 40 weeks and gestational diabetic, the doctor decided to induce at 40 weeks and during the induction Evan flipped from his head down to now with his back down. We tried doing different positions for a few hours, but the doc came in at 3 AM to try to flip the baby back to the head down.  It worked! Evan was born at 11:59AM on Friday, August, 10th.

In the delivery room it was me and Dawn's mom there to help move the process along and help with the coaching.

My parents had Summer and she was a little unsure about what was going on at first, despite us preparing her the last few weeks.  But she finally got it and she kept saying "Evan, Evan, Evan."

Here is a quick family photo with all four of us.  Dawn was a champ!  This was only about three hours after birth.  Rock star!

Marcus is also back from Europe and he came up with my parents.  My mom said that Marcus really loved spending time with Summer.  Now Marcus can do more of that and also with Evan.  So happy to have Marcus home again... for however long that is. But anyway... my heard is overjoyed and Dawn and I got a decent amount of sleep at the hospital and I think we will have one more night here.  Summer will have fun with Dawn's parents and brother staying at our house for tonight.  I will be taking two weeks off, but I promise to do some updates on here.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Our final full day with Summer, gift from a friend

Man... The emotions are high at our house! With my crazy schedule working the overnight/early morning shift I go to bed by around 7PM and get home from work around 10AM.  We have been lucky to avoid daycare because Dawn watches Summer while I am sleeping or gone, then I take over when I get home.  So Dawn spends a couple hours every morning with Summer before Dawn starts work then gets to spend the evenings with Summer and does the night time routines.  Those two have been best buddies the last three years and two months.  Well it has been hitting Dawn that it will no longer be just the two of them since we are inducing this evening.  Lots of tears mix of sadness and happiness the last few days and especially yesterday. 

So in the photo above, Summer was opening up a gift form a good friend and viewer, Cathy.  Cathy knitted Summer a blanket, and a couple hats, when she was a baby and Cathy also knitted a new blanket for the next baby.  Cathy is a sweetheart!  She also got Summer this cat and Summer LOVED it!

It also was International Cat Day. We picked up the toys yesterday, with family coming to town, and the only toy she didn't want to put away was her new cat. 

I mowed the grass during her nap and then went out for my final run before the baby arrives.  Easy 3 miles around the neighborhood.  I have not ran in a week because I have an inflamed nerve in the front ball of my left foot.  Felt good to get a good sweat on, yesterday.

Today will be the pick day of the extended forecast to enjoy outside! We will be warm today with high temps in the mid 80s and a tad humid. We will start out with some patchy fog in the morning then sun followed by a few building clouds later in the day. There will be a push of some showers late in the day from the north, but as it moves in it will slowly dissipate, but there is a slight chance for rain late and mainly north.

Friday and for the weekend... and on... Get ready for a typical humid summer pattern. We will stay warm overnights with low temps in the upper 60s and afternoon high temps in the mid-lower 80s. We will be humid enough and warm enough for some pop-up isolated showers and storms possible each afternoon and early evening. I would not cancel outdoor plans, but be sure to have a backup plan in case one of the isolated showers and storms pop-up where you will be. This pattern will continue into early next week as well and then sticking around a while. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I plan on doing a post here once the baby arrives.  So be sure to check back in, in the coming days.

Busy work day, yesterday, before the baby

Three posts in three days?!?!  It is like I am back to my old ways!  I plan on doing some posting too when the baby arrives.  In case you missed that update: here is my post from a couple days ago.

Yesterday was busy at work trying to get as much done as possible before the baby.  We shot the gardening segments for the time off I have planned.  LOTS of viewer questions from my Facebook LIVE videos from the garden.  Be sure to catch those on Saturday mornings!

We also had a fun promo shoot for Good Day Columbus yesterday.  I am excited to see how they turn out.  Then I went home and made tacos for Tuesday then made some garden salsa before taking a nap.  Gotta rest up!

Roads will be wet in spots this morning from some overnight showers and storms and get ready for more today. We could see a few spotty showers for the morning, but then once we heat up in the afternoon scattered showers and storms will develop. The chance of severe weather is very low today, but heavy downpours possible. A cold front will pass through tonight and push the rain out of here. Patchy fog possible overnight and for Thursday morning. Thursday looks like the best day of the week with partly cloudy skies, slightly lower humidity, and warm temps. There is a slight chance for some spotty showers sneaking in from the north later tomorrow, so adding a 20% chance of rain for Thursday evening, but that is the only change from the previous forecast. Another approaching front will help to trigger scattered showers and storms for Friday and the weekend. Temps will top out in the lower 80s as well through the weekend. So staying warm, humid, with the chance of rain for a lot of the extended forecast. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More rain for your Tuesday, one dry day on the way...

Another day with LOTS of coffee!  I managed to get a nap yesterday, but only about 4 hours of sleep last night.  

I did have Summer help yesterday with shipping out my first orders from my Etsy store. She loves doing anything possible to help around the house and will be a huge help soon with the baby coming later this week. 

We did have a few storms roll through early this morning, but with less energy overnight the storms continued to weaken as they moved in. 

The rain will take a bit of a break for the first half of the daylight hours today. Mostly cloudy today and muggy then more scattered showers and storms will develop this afternoon with a Marginal Risk for some gusty storms. The rain will weaken some overnight with just a few showers or storms lingering. More scattered showers and storms Wednesday for midday and the afternoon then some drier air will start moving in for the evening as a cold front moves through. Partly cloudy on Thursday and most of the state will stay dry with temps in the mid 80s. More pop-up showers and storms possible Friday and the weekend with highs in the mid-lower 80s. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Baby #2 is coming this week!

So I want to make a promise... I will get into a better habit of updating this! Instead of one or two big entries a week, I would love to get back in the habit of updating my blog daily.  Especially with the changes about to come with the family.  I want to make sure I document all the memories our family is about to have from going to the three of us to four of us!  More on that shortly! The weather team was the grand marshals for the Ohio State Fair.  Lots of fun out there!

I surprised Dawn with tickets to go see En Vogue and TLC at the Ohio State fair for an anniversary gift.  Last Monday we celebrated our 7th year of being married.  

With baby #2 on the way this week I have been spending a lot of time with Summer and just enjoying being a kid.  Grass is a little fried from the lack of rain, but the flowers are still holding on!

Summer and I had fun in the backyard making s'mores and camping out. 

Such a fun time!  She did NOT want to fall asleep.  She wanted to talk and keep checking on the fire to see if it would come back awake.  But it kept sleeping when she checked on it.

We woke up bright and early for a run with my buddy Maclin.  My running will be cut back big time soon.

The garden has been "off" this year.  The heat in May and June caused most of the vegetables to push hard and not get big.  So I was able to make a little salsa, but not as much as last year. 

This photo is from Saturday.  Our cousin made the Centerville soccer team and they were scrimmaging Dublin, so we went to watch.  It was HOT! Dawn was a champ for sitting out in the eat and being 39+ weeks pregnant. But we had fun watching Jake... So more on the baby on the way...

Dawn is due Friday with baby #2.  She has gestational diabetes (again), which can often lead to big babies and our doctor wants to induce this week because of that and the fact that this pregnancy has been harder on Dawn.  Plus big babies are on my side of the family... I was the first of my four siblings at 9 lb. 9 oz and the smallest...  Dawn has been a trooper and Summer and I have been helping as much as possible with her.  So unless the baby comes early, then we are inducing on Thursday night and likely have the baby on Friday, which is the due date. Not sure of the gender yet, but we are pretty sure on the names for both genders. We are beyond the moon excited to expand our small family, but it was a little sad this weekend thinking that it would be the end of just the three of us.  Excited for the next chapter!  I will be sure to update the blog this week with any updates and also have more photos once the baby is born.

Maybe not the best timing, with a baby on the way... but in the past few weeks I officially started a new business.  I have been making my own balm to style my hair for the past few years.  I have been giving it to my coworkers to test out and get feedback and they have been telling me to sell it because they think it is so great.  So I finally got all the paperwork in order to start selling it.  It is all natural with organic and as-many-as-possible locally sourced ingredients like beeswax from Honeyrun Farms in Pickaway County.  No chemicals... just pure ingredients to use to style your hair or on your skin as a moisturizer.  You just scrape a small amount of it with your fingernail, rub it between your fingers to warm it up, then apply how you like... and a little goes along way!

I have four scents.  The first is Unsceneted, which still has a slight hint of shea butter and beeswax, but you have to have a nose like a bloodhound to smell that.  I also have a Clean version that has a light scent of lavender.  Mint and Forest are pretty straight forward.  Forest is my favorite.

I spent Sunday stocking up my inventory.  If none of them sell, then I will be set for decades! Each one normally lasts me about 3 to 4 months, so it really does not take much product to get my hair set.
If you are inclined to try it out, you can buy it at the craft store in Hilliard called The Burlap Sunflower.  I also have a shop on Etsy and can ship it anywhere across the country.
Here is a link to get to my store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BalmByBuck

If you want to check out the social media accounts, here they are:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalmByBuck
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BalmByBuck
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balmbybuck/

The heat will stick around for one more day then rain will help cool us off. Today we will top out near 90 again, just like the last couple of days. There is a slight chance for some pop-up isolated showers or storms this afternoon, but most of us will remain dry, other than sweating in the heat and high humidity. On and off rain on the way starting late tonight through the next couple days. The models are indicating the first push of rain will be during the early morning hours Tuesday then mostly cloudy and another round of scattered showers and storms in the afternoon and evening Tuesday. So have the rain gear handy for your Tuesday and then again on Wednesday with more scattered showers and storms. The rain takes a brief break on Thursday then more isolated showers and storms return Friday and for the weekend with highs staying in the mid-lower 80s.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Gardening, Summer time, baby preps, moped fixing

The garden is trucking along.  Not nearly as big of a crop this year because of the odd weather.  Summer has been a big help and loves helping pick the vegetables. Tomatoes are doing well, but will likely have a quick harvest and peppers are just not flourishing as well as previous years.

I did have a tomato worm issue, but we could not find it.  I think the birds got him.  Dawn, Summer, and I all went out and looked for him at different points in the day.   Luckily no new foliage damage the past few days.

Friday I went down to the Jazz and Rib Fest with Summer.  She actually helped introduce the band.  I told the people in the audience that she was the only Summer Rain that I was responsible for that weekend.

Saturday I also emceed the Darby Creek Trail Run.  It was put on by FLIP Cancer Now, which raises awareness about cancer prevention and being active.  It is also the first race that I helped get the station to sponsor and it was great.  They asked for me to run and I actually ended up winning the 5k. First race I have ever won!  

Fun times and lots of fun people.  It also helped that they had Chipotle cater food for all the runners after the race.  Then Saturday afternoon was getting the nursery ready and getting our go-bags ready for the hospital. We are 2.5 weeks away from the due date!

Had some cousins come up on Saturday.  Maybe they are nephews/niece... I am not sure.  Anyway, they needed help with their moped and we got that running.  Also had issues with the lighting system so we also fixed that.  I made that dual headlight setup 7 years ago and it has been sitting in my parts boxes so I as happy to put that on the bike so they can see and be seen better now.  I kinda miss taking a broken bike and bringing it back to life.

The area of low pressure that triggered scattered showers and storms for Friday and the weekend will continue to bring scattered showers and a few storms to the Ohio Valley this week. The center of low pressure will be sitting over Kentucky and Southern Ohio the next few days and as it weakens it will need help from the heating of the day to fire up some scattered & isolated showers and storms. This means the best chance of rain will be in the afternoons and early evening for Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday we will have cold fronts passing through to help trigger some isolated rain each day and this will allow for high pressure and more sun for Friday and Saturday. The Euro model is going a little slower with the fronts and lingering some rain into Friday, while others are dry. Another cold front on Sunday and potentially bringing more rain.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

BIG post... baby, running, wings, Taylor Swift... so much more...

So, the news is out... Summer is about to be a big sister!  We are now less than 5 weeks out until the next ball of joy joins us.  We don't know the gender, but I am leaning towards boy.  Summer has been such a big help and really seems to understand the whole change about to happen.  She wanted a sister the first few months, but she now says she wants a brother.  This baby coming is one reason why I have been running so many races lately.  I know that when there are two kids that my time to run will be greatly cut back.  I do the morning show then I go into full time dad with Summer.  It is nice avoiding daycare because it is so pricey. Anyway... Michael baby #2 is due August 10th.

Speaking of... I finally found the one race photo from Mohican Trail Marathon.  This was after we were in the woods for 13 miles and about to hit the middle aid station for some fuel. 

I also went back to Cleveland to visit the in-laws one final time last weekend, before the baby.  I was not planning on running, but I found a group planning to run the Hinckley Reservation outer loop.  It is, hands down, my favorite place to run.  A good mix of single track, open prairie, hills, farms, road.

Good fun!

I was asked to take part in a hot wing eating competition on Friday, National Fried Chicken Day.  I competed at the Easton location of Hot Chicken Takeover and ate 10 wings in 2 minutes.  Which means 2,000 meals, in my name, will be donated to Food Rescue US.  Good fun for a great cause.

Saturday morning I helped emcee and run in the inaugural Hilltop USA 5k.  It is the largest race ever held in the Hilltop and we had 300 runners sign up for the race!  I went to a coworkers pool party for a little big then...

Went with a friend to the Taylor Swift concert.  The weather was FANTASTIC!

When you entered the stadium they hand you a wristband that had a few LED lights.  They are lit up red at the time of the photo above.  But they change colors throughout the stadium to match the music and it just added to the effect of the event.  Really cool.  Traffic... was WAY worse than any event I have been to at Ohio State.

Sunday I woke up and got the driveway ready for a neighbor to re-seal it.  He does a big group of the neighborhood one weekend a summer and it is a great value! But I had mocked up garden bed in the garage, so I had to get all of that out since you can't walk on the driveway for a few days.  My strawberry garden bed started rotting some last fall.  I was able to get through this year fine, but it needed to be replaced.  My neighbor's tree shades this bed so it doesn't dry out as fast as the other beds.  I also did not use treated wood 3 years ago because I didn't want the chemicals to get into the soil.  Well I don't want to replace it again in 3 years, so I went with treated landscaping timbers that were on sale.  But... I lined the inside lower boards with plastic so there is no contact between the soil and the boards.  No nails or screws either.  I drilled 1/2" holes through the boards and then used 1/2" rebar hammered through the holes.  It is snug enough that it should hold all the boards together and if it ever needs taken apart then it is just pounding out the rebar. The old bed was held together with screws and it was a pain taking all of those out, so I wanted to avoid that.  Hoping these beds will last at least 10 years.  I think I can get another year out of the other 3 beds, but will see how this one turns out before jumping ahead of myself. 

What a beautiful weekend for Central Ohio! We managed to warm up to 87 on Sunday and likely getting just a tad warmer for your Monday with plenty of sun and some afternoon clouds. A tad humid today with a very slim chance for a stray pop-up shower in the afternoon, although most of the area will stay dry until Tuesday. Mostly clear and warm tonight followed by more clouds Tuesday. A cold front will pass through tomorrow and that will help trigger scattered showers and storms, mainly for the late morning and afternoon. The Storm Prediction Center has Central and Southern Ohio are in the Marginal Risk for storms to become severe on Tuesday. Most of the area will see rain, but not everyone. Northern Ohio may not see much rain since the cold front will pass through earlier in the day, before the heating of the day helps for rain development. Sunshine comes back for Wednesday and less humid air, but temps stay in the mid 80s. We slowly warm up through the rest of the week and stay dry for the workweek. There is a slight chance for rain next weekend, but it currently looks light and spotty. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael