Writers at DadBloggers

I’m a relatively new dad, balancing family and work. I’m a native Chicagoan, but I’ve been living in East Central Illinois since I came here for college. I majored in Architecture, but I work in radio. See the connection? I do…

Anyway when I’m not working- I spend time with my wife and almost 2 year old daughter.

I yearn to one day get back to the big city- I know it’ll happen some day...I just know it will. My wife may have different plans- she’s applied to 4 Grad schools. We should find out in March where we’re going...until then, we’re just circling the airport!

That about sums it up...I think.

Dobeman (AKA Chris Souther) is a professional writer (both technical and marketing) in the Atlanta area. He is married, with two small boys…neither of who like to sleep very much.

When he’s not changing diapers or blogging, you can find Chris either on the golf course perfecting his 30 handicap, or trying to rid his tiny garden plot of pesky bamboo roots left over from the previous home owner.

Doug (44) and his wife, Carmi, adopted their daughter, Eliana (5), from the Hunan Province of China in 2002. They are currently waiting on a referral for daughter #2 which is expected to come in 2008.

Since 1985, he has worked in the engineering department of a privately-owned plastics extrusion company as an AutoCAD Draftsman. He also serves as interim Worship Leader at his home church.

Doug’s hobby is web design. His passions are music and missions.

James and his wife, Maranda, have triplet daughters: Lily, Audrey and Isabel. While James mostly enjoys writing about the simple joys of being the father of triplets, he is also interested in prematurity, the March of Dimes, NICU Family Advisory Councils, and general issues relating to infant health and multiples.

A technical writer by trade, James at first longed for a definitive instruction manual for triplets (or at least a design document outlining the use cases and user interface). After reading most of the books ever published about raising multiples, he has discovered that it is more effective – and fun – simply to spend as much time with the girls as possible.

Jared (28) and his wife, Kelly, have one son, Ian (2).

He is a former English teacher, an occasional freelance writer and currently the webmaster and IT monkey for a foundation repair company.

When Jared first became a father, he realized two things:

“Fatherhood is just cool.” and

“Fathers get the shaft. We’re parodied, ridiculed and assumed to be idiots.”

So he writes...primarily for his son but also for himself because he doesn’t want to forget all the fun they have trying to understand each other. He also writes to demonstrate that fathers are involved, loving, and competent.

When I was a baby my Dad called me ‘Butterball’ because I was chubby. In my teens, I got the nickname ‘JaXon’ because I used to work in Chinese restaurant and that’s how my boss and co-workers said my name. In my early 20’s, I earned the name ‘One Step’ since I have a tendency to open my big mouth, stick my foot in my mouth, and go too far. In my late 20’s, I got the nickname ‘The Swede’ from all my Cuban friends, because they thought it was funny that I am half Swedish and it was even funnier to hear (and mock) me speak it. My favorite name is Daddy, and I like hearing my kids yell it as I come home. But my real name is Jason Berggren.

My wife, Lisa, and I have been married since 1999 and have three boys.
Here’s some other stuff to make me sound impressive so you’ll want to buy my book when it is finally done. I grew up in South Florida and started my first band at the age of 16, which was absolutely horrible. By age 20 my third band, Strongarm, was pretty good and signed with Tooth & Nail Records. I ran most of the affairs of the band, sang (more like screamed), penned all the lyrics, and wrote some of the music. While in the band, we recorded an album, shot a video, went on several small tours, and recorded a single for our upcoming second album. Although we were nearly finished with our second album, I decided to quit before I turned into one of those guys in my early 40’s still playing clubs and bars trying to make it.

After the band, I started a small construction company and finished school. After 8 short years, I finished my AA in Communication and BA in Theology. In 2000, I helped to start a church in Miami, FL called Calvary Fellowship. I served as an Assistant Pastor overseeing several areas until the end of 2005, when I decided to make a change and follow an ambitious childhood dream of writing.

Currently, I’m back in construction and working on my book. I have recently relocated my family from South Florida to the Atlanta area to better suit this dream. The WashingtonPost.com has linked my blog, GenerationPost.com, several times. On occasion, I also get the privilege of talking to different groups (college to adult) regarding issues of faith, family, culture, and church.

Jeff (38) shares a house with three other women...his wife, Liz, and two daughters, Suzanne and Sydney. Suzanne and Sydney were both adopted from China.

Jeff works as a theater stagehand. He desires to write because he thinks there are too many blogs out there written by moms (as he smiles)!

On a serious side, he hopes others will benefit from his stories and share in his hopes and fears about being a dad.

Jesse (36) and his wife, Teri, have one son, Kevin (3). They are expecting another son in March.

He has served in the military, been employed as a systems engineer and is currently serving as Minister of Students and Education at Berwyn Baptist Church.

Jesse wants to participate at DadBloggers because:

“The more I work with families and live with my own, the more I see the need to make sure that we are all sharing our triumphs and our failures. The blogging community is a great place to see that you are not alone in the things that you face and is a great source for encouragement. There are many influences pulling at fathers that encourage them to only provide material things. Too often dads fall into the trap of simply being providers and letting someone else handle the ‘caring’ part of fatherhood.”

Joe and his lovely wife Jane are full-timers with an international missions organization. They are the proud parents of son Junior (b. 2003) and daughter Joy (b. 2005). They hail from Richmond, VA but are known to frequent Dallas, TX as well when they’re in the States. In fact, they plan on being in the U.S. on furlough from June 2006 to July 2007.

Although Joe and Jane are considered missionaries, they never use that term when overseas. They are currently serving in a sensitive location where the term “missionary” means something on par with “street evangelist”. Joe has spent much of the past four years as a graduate student, where he has received his Master of Letters (M.Litt.) and continued on in a Ph.D. program.

Joe has been blogging since June 2004, and has been ‘Jungle Pop’ since October 2005. He usually likes to blog about daily life, culture, theology and parenthood. In Joe’s words, “I’m jazzed about the emergence of dad blogs, so I jumped at the chance to join DadBloggers.”

Kevin (31) and his wife, Leah, jumped into the parenting pool’s deep end by having two kids within 15 months: Alexis and Tyler.

Kevin grew up mainly in Utah (yep--devoted Mormon), but Leah is from Perth, Australia, and that’s where they live. After two and a half years there, Kevin has learned the rudiments of rugby league, rugby union, Aussie Rules and cricket, although he has found himself to be a hopeless cricket bowler. He teaches high-school English and enjoys learning and writing about parenting.

Kevin has written articles for BabyZone.com and a print mag called ePregnancy.

I’m 37, and have been married for almost 15 years to an amazing woman. We had some trouble having kids early on, but after some patience we adopted our first son. He’s now 3 and a half - I refer to him as BigBrother. Soon after that, we got a new doctor who had a different perspective. 18 months after we got BigBrother, LittleBrother was born.

It’s very odd to think that I’ve known my wife for half of my life now. We met when we were both in college, and I was studying for my oh-so-practical History degree. The History thing didn’t really work out, so I ended up in technology. I have a stressful but great job, with a 20 hour weekly commute. So my time with the kids during the week is limited.

I’m very grateful that my wife stays at home with the boys. I do my best to balance work with being a father and husband....and having enough time to do some “me” stuff too.

I’m a 40 year-old virgin of sorts. Not in the biblical or movie sense, but in the 40 year-old first time newbie dad kinda sorta way.

My wife Anna is a professional Piano teacher and we have a 6 month-old baby boy named Aidan. I worked in the high tech industry for years until the dot bomb fallout of 2000. I now work as a project manager for a large financial institution.

I have a BA from UC Berkeley in Interdisciplinary Studies by combining Business, Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology. I think the University made this major up for people like me who suffer from Attention Deficit Disor---, hey Go Bears!

My baby boy is blessed with 3 aunts, 2 uncles, 4 cousins, 3 grandmas, 3 grandpas, 1 surviving great-grandma and a gazillion extended family members. We currently live in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland, CA.

On being a dad: I, for the life of me could have never imagined how much love I have for this little guy. There’s nothing else that I can compare to being a parent. It has changed my entire perspective not only of myself, but of the entire world.

On blogging and producing videos: Doing the best I can to ensure that my son is in therapy for years to come.

Steve, also known as RockerDad, lives in New Hampshire with his wife, Tonya and their daughter(6), and two sons (4 and 2).  He splits his time between his family, teaching English at a local high school, the kids’ band he started in 2000 and working on the 140 year old Victorian the family lives in.

In 2000, Steve released his first CD, Dinosaur in the Grocery Store, and followed that in 2003 with Treasure Buried in My Backyard.  Currently, he is working on the third CD, but things have slowed down a bit in recent years for some reason.

Steve says, “I love writing about being a Dad because I love being a Dad; it’s a little like playing music - I never get tired of it.”

David lives behind the Zion Curtain (Salt Lake City) with his wonderful wife, Jami, and his four children. While the beautiful state of Utah has always been home, David has also lived in Philadelphia, PA and Anchorage, AK.

David has a B.S. in Information Technology and works for a national medical laboratory in their IT department.

Along with being a father, David’s passions include singing, acting and all things theatre. David and his wife met in a theatre production and together operate OnStageInUtah.com to share that passion with others.

On being a father:

“I was never prepared and am still constantly amazed at how being a father can be so uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time.”

Tom is a team manager for one of the largest third-party claims administrators in the country. He has spent the last 15 years in the insurance industry, mostly handling workers’ compensation claims for large companies. He says he went into the insurance business only because (1) he needed the money, and (2) he couldn’t make a living as a broadcaster, which was his first career choice out of college. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Industrial Relations.

Tom and his family attend a Southern Baptist church, where he is lead worshipper.

Tom is also an avid baseball fan. Despite his better judgment he roots for the Chicago Cubs.

He and his wife have two daughters.