Finally.....

I have thought about this blog every day for the past 2 1/2 weeks. A number of my friends have recently had babies and within a day or two there are pictures galore up on their blogs of the baby and their trip home and their first bath, etc. I had EVERY intention to do that. Then parenthood set in. Two weeks of long nights, dirty diapers, blood curdling screams and most importantly intimate stares and quiet kisses - all of a sudden we are a day away from Easter.

As most (or all) of you know, Missy and I had our son on March 22nd. His name is Riley Grason. Riley is a name that we both liked plus it sounded like "Ryan" without being "Ryan". The earth would explode if there were two Ryan Delp's on the planet. Grason comes from the name of the town where our family has had a summer home for over 30 years. I spent most of my summers there growing up. It is a place I hold very dear to my heart. It is also where I proposed to my wife and where we found out we were pregnant. We had the middle name picked out before the first name.

Missy went into labor at around midnight and by 3:41 pm, our son was here. I was positive that I would be a blubbering mess when he came out. I was ready to bawl my eyes out. But I didn't. I couldn't. I couldn't do ANYTHING. I just stared at him, all beat up and slimy, with nothing but an awed look on my face and perhaps a gasp of amazement and excitement. No words could describe what I had just seen. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't disgusting. It was the kind of event that renders a communication major speechless. I have seen the Grand Canyon. I have seen the Atlantic Ocean at sunset. I have seen the coral reefs of the Caribbean. But I have never seen anything more incredible in my life than this. We had a son.

Since that day, I have had enough experiences and thoughts to fill 100 blogs. From the humorous - a six day streak of being peed on - to the beautiful - lying Riley on my chest and watching him stare at me until he fell asleep. I could spend a year writing about the experiences of the past two weeks. However, I don't have that kind of time (and I hope you don't either) and actually I (obviously) have less time now than I did pre-child. My hope is to write shorter and more frequent looks inside the phenomenal world of being a parent. I have already been hit with lessons of patience, love, teamwork (NASCAR teams would envy Missy and my efficiency at changing Riley's diaper - all we need are pneumatic wrenches) and most poignantly the relationship I have with my heavenly Father.

So here is an early favorite picture of our son. I probably won't have tons of pictures (unless requested) and give weekly updates of how much he has grown (1 lb. 2oz. since leaving the hopital - he was 8lb. 8oz. by the way). This blog is my take on life and all that goes with it. My life has changed forever. My hope is that I can communicate this life change not only so you can read it but that I can always remember it.