Here's to a great daddy

Several years ago, ( my brother's 21st birthday to be exact) I met the most obnoxious, big- headed prick I've ever known. You might ought to know I ended up married to him.  I'll save the rest of the "how did you meet" speech for our anniversary or something because this post is not about us, it's about him. 

Who would have ever thought that very same guy would turn out to be one of the greatest dads anyone could ever ask for?  I did!  Would I have married him if I thought otherwise?  Doubt it. 

Anyway, he's got two great years of being a dad under his belt.  From day ONE, he's been nothing but the best.  The second that baby girl came into this world, I literally saw his heart melt through his eyes.  That was it.  He was a goner. 

This little girl doesn't even know how lucky she is to have this man for a daddy.

Luckily, Madelyn began sleeping through the night early on. But Jeremy was there, right along with me, when she didn't.  He endured those sleepless nights like a champ.  Poopy diapers, spit up, cranky baby with gas, blowouts, routine shots--he was there for everything.  He got up, went to work, came home, helped with dinner, helped with our daily baby chores, went to sleep, got up a couple times throughout the night, and did it all over again. 

Fast forward a bit to present day. 

Here I am, typing up a blog post and where is he?  Work.  Was this planned.  Absolutely not.  I never would have thought I'd be a stay at home mom.  Never thought I'd enjoy it so much.  The plan was for me to go back to work after the summer had passed and find a good childcare for Madelyn.  Never happened.  I just couldn't bear to part with my sweet little girl and Jeremy saw that.  I feel so blessed to have been able to spend all this time with her.  To raise her and teach her as I choose.  Is being a stay at home mom for everyone? No.  But for me, I feel it was the right decision.  Will I always be able to stay at home.  Who knows?  But I will continue to sieze this opportunity for as long as I possibly can.  Jeremy works so hard in order for us to have this lifestyle.  He knows how important it is to me and has done everything in his power to make this possible.

When he comes home from work, Madelyn's little eyes shimmer.  As soon as I mention that daddy's home, she gets so giddy.  He comes in, locks the door, and it's full on Madelyn time from there.  Every second of the evening is focused on Madelyn, on me, on us.  The "hi honey I'm home, sit in your man chair, drink a beer and watch the game" daddy is simply a myth in this house.  Ours is more like this... Come in, change clothes while a little girl is clinging to you, sit at the table and enjoy dinner as a family (no tv), help clean up, sit to watch a little tv with everyone (even if it is Dora),  tea parties, dress up, family stroll by the bay, bathtime, pajama time, Madelyn's prayers, goodnight kiss, go to bed Fred (Madelyn).  From the second he walks into the door to the time we go to bed, it's all about us, our family.  What a valuable daddy and husband we have!  Many women would give their right arm to have their husband do a third of what he does. 

Do you know what I love best?  He stands behind me.  He trusts my decisions when it comes to Madelyn and follows through with what I ask.  He's on MY side.  He knows how important certain issues are to me and agrees with them and the way we go about dealing with them. 

Jeremy dreams of the day where he's running along beside Madelyn and our future children playing soccer, or football, or whatever it is they choose to do.  He looks forward to being the coach that our children just so happen to call "dad" too. He envisions me as the mom who is involved with our children and their school and after school activities.   He dreads the dating years and we argue over how we'll go about boys and cars (good thing we have a while).  He already believes that no man will ever be good enough for our baby girl.  He dreams of where our children will go to college and what they'll do and who they'll be someday. 

I find joy in knowing that Madelyn will have a great person to model her future boyfriends and husband after. I pray that she one day realizes just how special and rare of a  find a guy like her father is.  I find comfort knowing that our son, if we have one, will have such a wonderful role model.  He will learn from one of the best.  He will have someone to show him what it means to be a man.   He will learn how to treat his wife and kids with love and respect.  How to be sensitive but strong at the same time.  Our children will see and know what it means to put God and family before all other things. 

Birthday Ballons

Yesterday was Jeremy's 25th birthday! Happy birthday to the best husband I could ever ask for!!! Oh how I wanted it to be so special and unforgettable, but,things happen. So, instead of the huge birthday surprise-- having friends come in and go on a fishing trip (which thank goodness this didn't happen because it is unusually cold here), we had a small family "party" instead.

Since he was turning 25, I got the bright idea to get him 25 gifts-- things he needed or that I knew he liked. This was not an easy task. We got him several silly things like a pack of gum that he likes and some chips he likes. We also got him a nice shirt to wear to church and swim trunks and flip flops. I also typed up 25 things I love about him (get it--25 things?!) and put it into a pretty frame. A little serious mixed with some goofy. Just like Jeremy himself.

All the gifts were in a cute basket from Target and sitting on the table with his cake full of lit candles and balloons above. Decorations were lacking. This being due to little surprise he gave us...he came home early for his birthday! All I was able to do was blow up some balloons, and since Madelyn happens to LOVE balloons, I was unable to pry them away from her to hang them. So, we compromised. I got a few for the lights, and she got a lot for the ground :)

AHH I was so rushed to get things halfway completed. Because he was coming home early, I placed the chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge on top of stuff. When I went in to get something else out, they came tumbling down... saved, but not pretty anymore. The cake had to come straight out of the oven and get topped with icing which I knew would melt. Sure enough, the cake looked pretty pitiful with melted icing. It certainly was one of the saddest looking cakes I've ever made. Madelyn and I had yet to have baths and neither of us were dressed for the occasion. Wrapping presents was a challenge. We ran out of the birthday paper I had gotten and Madelyn was not feeling well, so I had to think a little. Since this is my husband, and I knew he wouldn't mind and that no one else would see, I just took some other wrapping paper and used the white side. Uh oh, another bump in the road. Ran out of tape! Glue stick to the rescue! haha!!! By the time I was finished, my wrapping job looked like Madelyn did it. AGAIN, I would NOT do this for anyone other than Jeremy. But hey, it's what's inside that counts right?! Anyway, Jeremy got home, blew out candles, and opened the 25 rather challenged gifts!

Afterwards, we took Madelyn to the park and kicked the football (Jeremy was a punter in high school and college). I got some great pics of Madelyn and we had a wonderful time just the three of us :) Finally, we went to eat Japanese-Jeremy's absolute FAVORITE meal. All in all, I think it turned out nice. I hope he enjoyed his day as much as Madelyn and I did. We absolutely LOVE it when he surprises us by coming home early...even when it "ruins" plans. Again, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and the best daddy in the world!!

The glue that holds us together

So, as I mentioned briefly in my previous post, I'm a bit cranky sometimes. What can I say. I prefer when things go my way. And in life, as most of you know, this may or may not happen. So, when things DON'T go my way, I have him ^.

Ha, he'd absolutely KILL me if he saw this and if you notice it's been changed, then he's seen it :)

Jeremy's my husband of three years. He's serious when he needs to be, and goofy when the time calls for it. Aside from my own dad, he has to be one of the best husband's around. He works all day, comes home to what may be a clean or an absolute trashed house (some days are just crazy), gives 100% to Madelyn and even cooks every once in a while. When it comes to cooking or washing the dishes (no dishwasher CRAZY), he just does it. I may have had to ask once or twice but he definitely chips in around the house if I need him to. Now let's be honest. Of course there are times when I could just scream at him for whatever it may be, but all in all, he really is an all around great guy.