So this guy, a divorced dad with a beautiful daughter and a Russian KGB hamster named Hammy, nominated me to take part in the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge and I have accepted. Okay, he’s actually my good blogger friend, Gary Mathews, and he’s full of witty sarcasm and lots of love for his precious girl. Check out his blog if you get the chance, he always has a great story to share about his day.

The Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge require you to post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo (It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or simply a short paragraph) and then nominate another blogger to carry on this challenge. Accepting the challenge is entirely up to the person nominated, it is not a command. I have no clue on the origin of this thing, but hopefully you’ll enjoy what I have to share.

Excitement (or was it lethargy) filled the air the first day we brought Avery home from the hospital. You know that new parent feeling of having to be so delicate with every move you make so as to not break your precious cargo/baby? Yeah, that was us.

I remember being stunned as I watched a nurse handle Avery at the hospital and thought any move faster than the trickle of tree sap was too much. With a year and half under our parental belts, I am more confident with tossing Avery around to do flips in midair, but will never forget that feeling we had with newborn Avery.

Seriously, so much innocence and beauty. Despite being tired because, hospital, and having nothing to eat I still went on a hot run fueled only by the excitement of being Dad. Okay, and I’m stubborn/stupid as my wife and mom would say. Sometimes it’s hard to disagree.

We were lost with what exactly to do that first day, but luckily my mom and grandma (visiting from Pennsylvania) were there to get in the way give us support.

Today I am nominating Gil Noriega from FanDads.com, who is partners with his friend, Victor to talk about video games, comics, toys, movies, and, oh yeah, being a parent. They have been featured on multiple sites and have plenty of content for all types of dads from geeky to sporty, or a little of both like me! Check them out, maybe you’ll see a new toy that they reviewed and you just have to get it. For the kids, of course.