Husband Material

Last night...

Part 1: 

Little Dude went down like an ANGEL (which has been the case pretty regularly lately). 

But then...I went to bed and moments later, Little Dude woke up a little, noticed his Mama and started to scream.  I picked him up, gave him some kisses and a squeeze and put him back down--to no avail.  So, I went upstairs in hopes that he would calm himself back down without the distraction of the Mommy lady in the room. No dice. Mike (while checking into a second mission--after saying he was going to bed after he finished the first mission--50 years 50 years 50 years*), asked what happened, I flopped onto the couch, pullled a blanket over my sick little head (oh yeah, I'm getting some sort of cold/allergies/sickies), and said, "He woke up." 

Mike replied, "Want me to go give him a bottle?" 

I muffled back from my blanket-cave, "Yes please."

After the crying stoped, I went back down, peed, and snuck into the room. BD had a Pandora Lullabies station blaring and the boy was suckling sweetly on his bottle... I crawled up to BD and whispered in his ear, "Best. Boyfriend. Ever."  

Part 2:

At some point in the night, LD's bottle went over the side of the bed... Mike was a dear and tried to keep boy from his sick mama.... I was awake anyways so when he woke up again, I offered to take him. Mike used that opportunity to go upstairs and grab another bottle. By the time he got back down, the crying had stopped and boy was falling asleep without the aid of the boob... he crawled (blind mole rat style) on top of BD and fell back asleep. I took the bottle from Mike's hand and put it up on the shelf to be used for later... 

It was in that moment...watching my son fall back asleep on my guy's chest and my guy holding him likehe was his...not minding the lack of sleep and actually offering to take over so that I could rest.... I decided. I'm not letting this one go. 

This Morning... 

I woke up (quite literally--I must have jumped or something because he immediately started apologizing) to a goodbye kiss and a soft, sweet, "I love you" from my Big Dude and a Little Dude sleeping sweetly at my side.  Yup. Definitely not letting this one go. 


*see "Video Games" post

Spoiled Rotten

We've been staying with the Hulls since Mom's surgery earlier this week. So, Little Dude and I are getting spoiled with BD time.  I must say, starting my day out with the Big Dude is amazing treatment for my anxiety...

(I must also say that G-ma Sharon has done an incredible job of spoiling me with help. From picking up boy...to hours of babysitting...to preparing my dinner plate, to IRONING MY SKIRT last night, to scolding me for not drinking enough water--in BD's words, "You got Mom'ed")..

Elijah comes into bed for the last hour or so of sleep for some special snuggle time... Big Dude gets up before us and then comes in after his morning ablutions for his own snuggles. Today, Little Dude and I woke up to a double tickle fest and lots of kisses. <3

While boy and I were eating our cereals, BD came over to say goodbye. I love morning send-offs!! Mommy got a kiss and an "I love you," then Little Dude ("and I love you"), then Mommy again ("and I love you!").

Little Dude gets very sad when the "B" word (bye-bye) is used, but with some distraction, BD was able to sneak away... 10 min later, the Little Dude realized he was gone, called out for him (the "D" word may have been used...meep) and reached towards the living room.

"Oh buddy, he went to work," cue the tears...Sweet boy.

I've noticed recently, that LD gets the biggest smile on his face when Mommy gets kisses and hugs and lovin' from BD.  It makes my heart leap.

Fly By!

My cell phone rings... It's BD.

Me: "Hello!"
Him: "Hi! What are you up to?"
"Nothing"
"Nothing? Aren't you at work?"
"Oh.. yeah."
"Ha! 'Oh yeah... that's right I'm working'" (mocking me...) ;)
"What's up?"
"Nothing. Look out your window."
"Huh?"
"Just do it. Look out your window right now."
"Okay..."
"Are you looking?"
"Yup."
"Do you see anything?"
"Nope."
"How about now?"
He drives by and waves from his car..."Hi!"
"Hi!"

#myromanticmanladiesandgentlemen

Text Message Monday

It was a jam-packed weekend of just living life together! Boy walking, wedding, Big E, church, and rehearsal for my upcoming play with Lights Up! Wowowowsers. My creative juices are pretty much dried up this morning... therefore, I have dubbed today, "Text Message Monday" (see? not very creative...). (Aka. my inbox is full because I don't like to delete my man's sweet messages so I'mma put some of the recents here).

Him:  You are my something lovely.

Him: You have my heart.

Him: Night my angel. I am waiting for laundry to be done but as soon as I sat I started falling asleep. So I wanted to say to my beautiful girl, love you baby and have sweet dreams.

Him: Night my beautiful girl.

Me: Thanks for all your help, babe. It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. 

Him: Anything I can do to help whenever I can do it baby.

Me: It makes me feel so supported and loved. 

Him: Because you are.

...Warning...High Mush Content

"How did I get so lucky?"

"That doesn't sound right" (quoting him from the past)

"How's that?"

"I'm the lucky one."

"Uh uh. You're way too good for me."

"Ha! You're the most incredible man I've ever met... well... after my Daddy.." 

"Jennica, your crazy's showing"

One of my babysitters said that to me on the dance floor at our town fair this summer.  I may have made a possesive comment after I saw a ringless mom with cute kids "flirting" with my man at the dunk tank he was running.  Cue the jealousy beast!  She definitely put me in my place with that one.

I am a woman and yes, we are crazy.  I may let my crazy show just a little more than the next woman... but a chivalrous man has the strength of character and mind to walk with his woman through her crazy.  My bearded man does not "tolerate" my crazy but he does hold my hand through it until I come out on the other side.  He calls me out on it and helps me get through it as is apporpriate.

I had a particularly crazy night a few days ago...I'll spare you the details this time... but BD handled it amazingly.  He told me honestly how it made him feel but he didn't run.  He talked me down.  Then later he came over and held me.  The way a chivalrous man handles crazy is captured in the way mine said goodbye to me that night...

While continuing to hold me post hug, he kissed my face from my nose to my right ear and whispered, "I love you." Then he went back to my nose and kissed to my left ear and whispered, "Even though you're crazy." 

 

The 5 Minute Rule

It was the last week of January--just a few days before Big Dude asked me to be his girlfriend. He was working as a paraprofessional in the PE department at our high school. I was home with a very sad, teething boy.  Suddenly, a little red car pulls into the driveway... BD had come for a quick little visit during some downtime at the school!  What a lovely gift in the middle of a rough day for this Mommy! It was that afternoon that he made the 5 minute rule, "If I can't see you for at least 5 minutes a day, something's wrong."  I didn't know it yet, but this man is a man of his word... Sure enough, since that afternoon, we see each other for at least 5 minutes every day (unless one of us is out of state). 

I love that. I love that I can depend on that. 

Last night, I almost broke the 5 minute rule!  We both had work and then post work activities. He was going to be home first so we arranged that I would stop by on my way home from rehearsal.... 9pm rolled around and I got a text... "We're you stopping over?" I texted back, "Still at rehearsal." 

I called when we got out... and woke him up. Oops!  We chatted briefly about our days and I told him he should go back to sleep... he said, "You still stopping by?" :-)  He still wanted to see me. The baby was with me and soooo sleepy so I said, "Sure, for 5 minutes." 

I pulled in. He met me at my car. I got out and he came towards me for a hug but at the same time, I said, "Boy's awake." He opened the door, asked, "am I taking him out?" realized the better of it and just gave him a quick smooch. Then...it was my turn. His eyes were filled with delight. He gave me the sweetest squeeze, a few kisses, and asked about my schedule "tomorrow."  

The 5 minute rule... Genius. 

(From that same week! Go Bellringers!)

Short & Sweet

"Do you need me?"

"I do."

Video Games

Present:  Big Dude, Little Dude & Me

Scene:  Dinner @ Buffalo Wild Wings (College Football, yo)

Big Dude just got finished talking about how much Destiny he was going to be playing as soon as we got back (after playing 6.5 hours that morning)...

BD:  What's wrong?

Me:  Wha...nuh...I....umm...nothing!

BD:  Yeah, really convincing.

Me:  I... (sigh)... I don't like video games.

BD:  (looks at me straight in the eye)  I have 50+ years with you, let me play video games.

Me:  ...(heart flutters)...(a smile seeps out)....(::dang you and your stinking romantic reasoning skills::)

Because all of FB doesn't want to know all the intimate details of my life

...not sure WHY. I mean...they are pretty awesome.

Welcome!

I'm a single working mom... currently dating an amazing man.

He has a beard. He loves soccer, coaching, personal training and my son. He is a man of few words. Loyal. And extremely sarcastic. At the very beginning of our relationship, he said, "Always give me the benefit of the doubt." It's taken some effort...more than a few tense conversations...a fight or two and a couple of really good talks but my "words of affirmation" self is finally starting to learn how to be with a sarcastic man. He knows it's not easy for me. He tries, too. He's even said, "If I didn't love you, you wouldn't put up with this, would you?" ... Probably not. :-)

This sarcastic man, however, is one of the most incredible men I've ever known. If I had to come up with just two adjectives to describe him, I'd say he's wise and he's selfless. I am so lucky to be the first woman he's ever said, "I love you," too. Me... insecure, egocentric, crazy, messy, scatter-brained and flighty. He loves me... "With all of it."

"My beard," as I have called him more than once on FB, is a man of action. That is how he shows his love and devotion--through acts of service. This man, who will say one thing (sarcasm) but then behave in an astoundingly loving way... captures me. My heart wants to hold onto each memory, each special thing he does like a keepsake... or a treasure.. Heart treasures, as I like to call them. These acts of love have been the subject of pretty daily status updates on my FB wall...but I have recently realized... not everyone cares. Some people care. But not everyone. So here.

Here is my new catch-basin.


{Just learned that "My Beard" has a street meaning that doesn't apply to this situation... Therefore, I will no longer be calling him "My Beard"--It's actually pretty humorous to think about.}