Ryan McLean : Slightly Unconventional

Look At Me I’m 23

Today is my 23rd birthday. When people ask me how old I am I joke and say 27, because they tend to act shocked that I am married with a 1 year old at 23.

Birthdays are a time to celebrate you, people buy you presents and take you out for dinner and spoil you. But today, thinking back, I am grateful for all the people who made 22 such a good year. It was a massive year for me and us as a family and without the help of friends and family I wouldn’t have come out so happy at 23. I think with all the screaming Sasha has done this year I would have come out stressed off my nut.

Kelly
I could have not survived this year if it wasn’t for the love and support of my sexy wife Kelly. We have been through some hard times this year. The birth of our first baby Sasha on March 4 was a landmark in both of our lives and I think the first 6 weeks after that were kind of a hazy blur of sleepless nights and pointless fights caused by lack of sleep.

I watched ‘Going The Distance’ last night (chick flick I know) but they said “I think you will only ever be happy if you marry your best friend” and I think that is exactly what I did.

Sasha
Having Sasha this year marked 22 as the best year yet. Yes her consistent screaming, whinging and poo’ing can be frutrating at times. But the laughs, the cuddles, the wrestling and trips to the beach made it all worthwhile. Now I have two beautiful girls in my life and I love it.

Yesterday I took Sasha to ‘my spot’ and it was actually the place I asked Kel to marry me. It was really early in the morning so it would have been nice to just sit and cuddle and watch the sun come up. But not for Sasha! She wanted to walk around (which meant I had to hold her) and as soon as she saw I puppy dog she was the one yapping. That’s Sasha for you, can’t sit still for longer than one baby einstein episode.

When I drink too much I talk to much. The filter between my mind and my mouth disappears. So I say whatever I think. And the other day when we were out with friends I kept saying to Kel “Where’s Sashi”. I was having the time of my life at the beach (and hells yeh I was) but I fricken missed her. It was kind of frustrating…but I’m her dad so I’m allowed to miss her.

My Mums
Where would I be without my Mums? Ron Ron and Ju Ju….ok I never call them that. My mum gets “Nana” and Kel’s mum get “Grandma”.

My mums are the best grandparents anyone could ever ask for and without their help me and Kel wouldn’t have had a night to ourselves in 11 months. Thanks Jill (Grandma) for allowing Kel to go back to work one day a week and for reading Sasha bible stories. From us she dances to “Put your hands up for detroit” and from Jill she sings to old christian songs…I love it. Thanks Mum (Nana) for all the overnight stays and random last minute drop offs so we could go out and have fun.

Sasha loves her Grandmas and I can see why. They are the best.

Tim + Carol
T+C, you guys should name your daughter Lulu or Larry or something starting with an L, so then you can be TLC. Anyway Tim and Carol have been the best. They were there in hospital visiting us when Sasha was born and they bought us toothbrushes, toothpaste and dry shampoo…all the essentials of course.

The other weekend we had brunch out with them and Sasha, and Sasha freaking loves them. All she has to do is look at Tim and laugh. Actually come to think of it Sasha is probably the only person who would laugh at Tim’s corny dad jokes…not because they are funny but because she just thinks he is the best. And she loves her Carol cuddles and soon Sasha will have a new little friend to steal toys off and push over, you know all the loving stuff big sisters do.

As the year has progressed I have noticed how much more comfortable we have become with these two…that is mainly because I have noticed an increase in sexual connotation comments (mainly from me)….these aren’t always received well but our friendship rolls on. 22 was great with these guys but I think this next year will be even better as we both will have kids and they can relate and contribute to the copious amounts of poo stories.

Bec + Scott + Lucy
These guys made 22 the craziest year yet and it was awesome. Some people would think that having a kid would be enough, but the 4 of us decided one kid wasn’t enough we wanted to move in together.  Whenever we told anyone they had this weird look of their face….”But you both have kids”….but we did it anyway. It may not have worked out as planned but I will always look back of that time with a smile and laugh about how we all just flew by the seats of our pants.

Why I am really grateful when it comes to the Jordans is that we actually had another couple our age who understood our plight. They understood how hard it was being young and married with kids. And because neither of us could go out we would spend countless nights hanging out together playing cards, eating Kelly’s World Famous Korma, drinking a mixed variety of God knows what, and watching “When In Rome” (I’m trying to forget that one). It was good to hang out with people and not feel awkward if your kid screamed or vomited on their couch/carpet…..thanks guys. And thanks to Lucy for giving Sashi a best friend and someone to play with and get covered in spagetti sauce with.

Ani + Nath
Where do I begin with these two? Fricken hell. Hung out with Ani and Nath at the turn of 2010. In 14 months they have managed to be on again off again 3 times…but I always had faith they would get back together. Now they are back together (or are they) and they are loving life…reminds me of me and Kel when we were dating. We had the best night out in the city the other week….ever! Without these two cool cats it would definately not have been as fun. And the beach on Australia day…genius. Turns out Woonoona (where we went to the beach) is “rough as guts” and we were lucky not the get shanked…good picking guys! But that was some of the most fun I have had in ages. You 2 remind me and Kel that we aren’t old and grey yet so thanks.

I have so much fun with these two and I can see myself hanging out with them when I am 45 and our kids have gone down the beach at Burrill Pines Holiday Park to light a bonfire and get drunk like we used to do. I suspect that Nath will owe me $50.00 before my 24th Birthday.

My Sis
Growing up the nicest things my sister would say to me was “Fuck off” and “Fuck you” and the funny thing was that I was the one who got in trouble because I told her to shut up. I never understood why we were allowed to say fuck off and fuck you but not shut up….weird family rules….gotta love it.

This year has been the best year I have had with my sister. She is great with Sasha, though I am glad that Sasha is now old enough to respond to Sara’s overwhelming affection towards her and desire to play with her 🙂 I went and saw “The Karate Kid” with my sister this year and that kicked ass (get it…haha) and me and Kel have had quite a few dinners/hang outs with her this year which has been really fun. I look forward to building a better relationship with my sis this year.

Casey + Viv
Lastely, but not leastly, Casey and Viv. Just knowing you guys are there if we ever need you means the world to us. And the fact that you would drive us home at 11 o’clock at night when we locked our keys in our car at YOUR house, says a lot about the kind of people you are. You are very generous with your time and I appreciate that.

For all the awesome lifegroups, and the sometimes not so awesome ones (****Cough****…..DVD…..) thank you. Speaking of the DVD, I respect you guys a lot of seeing that through and making the absolute most of it even though it was a bit of a miss. Looking forward to bubbi #2 this year and hectic lifegroup as it gets invaded by little minions (aka everyone’s babies).

So thanks everyone for making this year great. Sorry if I missed you in my thankings in this post but my hands were tired so I couldn’t keep going. I love you and am grateful for you anyway.



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