Gracious for even the smallest things

I got a phone call this morning as I as getting the kids ready. It was my wife calling to say thank you. Apparently her alarm clock was not turned on last night and she would not have woken up on time for work. So my wife called to say thank you so much for getting me up even though I didn't mean to get her up. What is it that I did they got her up? Well, she called to tell me thank you so much for ripping that huge fart in the morning that burned her eyes and nose and it woke her up from a dead sleep just in time for her to get up before her alarm clock would've normally gone up.

That's why she is so awesome!

She calls it like she sees it...so do our kids

While my wife is enjoying the last bit of her maternity leave, she has been taking our kids out of daycare to spend some extra special time before going back to work. Earlier this week, I received a text message that read as follows:

Your second born just told me I have a big head...

In her response, she told him, "Takes one to know one".

Awesome!

She gets excited

My wife has 2 things today that got he very excited.

1. She was able to save $$$ while shopping at Old Navy. What added to her excitement is that she was able to get something for everyone and that makes her happier than shopping for herself.

2. In an effort to have us eat healthier, my wife has found some recipes for cauliflower and was very excited to make a roasted cauliflower dish tonight.

Both things simply illustrate how much she loves her family...Awesome

Rough morning

So far this morning, my wife has had it pretty rough...

1. Watching the original Clash of the Titans, she went through a Family Guy daisy chain of names from Harry Hamlin to Harrison Ford to Mark Hamill.

2. Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse where Daisy is Rapunzel and the gang have to go get the Rapunzel flower, she asked if that is where the name Rapunzel comes from.

3. Looking at the weather, she saw how it is supposed to be 39 degrees on Thursday. She asked me "What is freezing again"?

When I asked her about how she was feeling, she said that I can't have it both ways. She said that she could be smart or sexy but not both.

I strongly disagree because she does both very well all the time.

Fighting and understanding

My wife is thinking ahead a month about when she will return to work. Her division has just moved buildings and, unfortunately, in the new space, she does not have an office. (Nor do 95% of the people anymore).

When she returns to work, she will have to pump as she is solely nursing our daughter. She is making sure that she will have a quiet, private place to pump where she will not be disturbed. In her notification of this to her boss (and the rest of the chain if command), she is recognizing how other women could bring intimidated by this process of discussing personal information and requesting what is due to her under federal law. Many women might just take the path if least resistance and just use the couch in the ladies rest room.

My wife is not only empathetic of the challenges to other women in the workplace, but she is strong enough to fight for what is right.

To me, that adds up to awesome!

Have to blame someone

You remember how I was sick on my wife's birthday? Apparently , I was able to give her a present. I got a phone call at work and she tells me that she feels awful. Luckily, the boys feel good still.

I was in a meeting and on my way to another, so it was her night to pick up the kids at school. She asked if I could get them and I did.

I dropped the kids off and turned the car around to go to my other meeting and hope that I got there on time (which idid not).

On the way home, I made sure to pick up dinner for her so she would have easy access to food that might make her feel better.

As I walk in the door, I ask how she is feeling. She gave me a look and said, why did the kids have to get me sick?!

AWESOME

Her birthday

Today is my awesome wife's birthday and my third day in a row of being sick. She has not complained once about the plans that I have messed up, although she would be completely within her rights to be disappointed. Instead, she adapted the plans to bring things to the house to celebrate.

I am going to have to make this up to her in a big way.

All in all, she just get awesomer with each passing year.

Outrage

 As she is nursing our 2 month old, she has a lot of time where she is stuck in front of the TV. As a result, she has taken to watching the Today Show, in its entirety. In watching some of the news segments, my wife gets very passionate about certain news stories. Case in point...

There as a story of a family who had a moderate home in a particular suburb wake up one night to find the sanctity and security of their home violated. The cowardly burglars break into the home looking for a quick score. Electronics were bolted to the wall, no cash or jewelery were easily found, no easy takeaways for the burglars. On their way out, they go to the garage and still found nothing to take easily. What they did find was $2500 worth of Girl Scout cookies ready for distribution.

As a aside, we have 2 boys and now with our 2 month old daughter, my wife is imaging the time when our daughter will participate in Brownies and Girls Scouts and the days when Girl Scout cookies will overtake our house (because our daughter sold them, unlike now when we buy way too many boxes) and it brings a little twinkle to my wife's eye. But now, back to the news story...

Out of frustration, the burglars take paint and gasoline found in the garage and pour it all over the boxes of cookies.

My wife yells at the TV, "Why would anyone do that to COOKIES?!"

Awesome.

Shovel

With the newest version of snowmaggedon to hit the Chicago area, I came home expecting to put in an hour of hard labor on the driveway. When I pulled up to the house, the driveway was clear. Guess who has an awesome wife?

Me!

Valentina's Day

My wife let's me know she lives me all of the time. She is so caring and wonderful. She always takes the time to really think about the ways she can let me know how much she thinks of me and how we are raising very special children.

Her card to me on Valentine's Day was very thoughtful and heartfelt. Her gift I me was equally emotional. I carefully unwrapped the present.

It was the movie Ted.

Awesome

A phone when you need one

Granted, my wife if completely sleep deprived from ensuring that our month old daughter is fed on her 2 hour cycle (4 over night). The feedings are a complex activity including switching sides, a bottle, diaper change, and pumping. It cannot be a fun activity, but my awesome wife is very committed to making sure our daughter has everything she needs.

My wife has some specific timings recommended to her by professionals and she wants to follow them very carefully. She sets a timer on her cell phone, but that tends to run out of power. When that happens, she will take our house phones that are wireless. We have three of them so it is easier to rotate the charging to make sure she can always have a clock available.

On the side, don't ask about wearing a watch...I have tried for years to get her to wear one. It is one of those things that she just doesn't like and won't do. It is what adds to her uniqueness and thus, more awesomeness.

A few nights ago, I am home and the house phone rings. I ask, where is the phone and no one seems to know. I miss the call and go on a search for the phones. I try using the homing beacon function to listen to the phone beep, but I cannot hear anything. I look under coaches, in cabinets, on counter tops...finally, I go into our bathroom, that is attached to our bedroom. There, on the counter, I find all three of our phones, all without a charge.

Awesome!

It is the important phone calls

My wife and I will communicate when we can about something important that happens to the kids when it happens and not waiting until later. Our daughter had, all of a sudden, developed a little digestive issue that is common to kids who nurse. For two and a half days, our little girl had not pooped. I know what you are thinking: Your wife called you for that?!

Of course not! Our daughter finally pooped on a Sunday.

My wife called me today (Monday) to let me know that she had pooped again this morning so strongly that she went through the diaper, onesie, sleeper sack, and cushion that covers the seat of the baby swing. The main point of the call was that this was such an event that my wife felt that only a hot shower would get her feeling clean again.

That must have been one awesome poop that my awesome wife cleaned up.

Strong enough to ask

We had a rough night with our month old daughter sleeping, again. We made sure she was fed, changed, burped, swaddled, loved, rocked, hugged, kissed and did it all again when she would still not quiet down. She just kept crying for 2 hours...or the torturous part, she would be quiet for about 12 minutes, enough for us to doze off, and then let loose the sounds of holy terror.

Because this was the night before a workday, my wife carried the load for most of this so I can make rational decisions at work. My wife is awesome because she rolled over in bed and ask if I could help. She does so much of this on her own because she is such a caring mother and wife. I got up and tried to repeat the steps that she took.

Finally, between both of our efforts, our daughter went to sleep.

Awesome.

Changing relationships

It is always difficult to stand up to your parents and tell them that they weren't necessarily right. My wife is awesome because she stood up for what she thought and it was the right thing to do. She shocker her parents.

Baby Weight

If a man had to do this, he would have given up a long time ago.

My wife is nursing our baby daughter and is constantly amazing me with her commitment to our children and our family. Our little girl had some minor issues putting weight on after being born. My wife is not only nursing her, but providing a bottle of breast milk to supplement, and then pumping after all of that. The entire process takes about an hour and ten minutes. Since, during the day, one is recommended to feed their child every two hours, when all is said and done, my wife might get about 30 minutes before the "feed me" cry begins.

This, of course, does not include the feedings during the night, where she must do this after being taken out of a deep, exhaustive sleep. During this time in the day, I would take a nap.

Not my wife...she has been making sure that house is clean, the boys have their school work done, laundry, etc. (I help out, but it is never good enough).

I know better to suggest formula or just switch to bottles. My awesome wife is going to do it her way and make sure that our little girls gets the best out of her, literally.

Apologies

Going out with a newborn is difficult. Especially, when nursing the newborn. There are feelings of exposure and some anxiety; not to mention the fact that my wife may not want everyone to see her nurse or know that she is doing so in the next room. (I think of it like the bathroom...we all do stuff in there, but you don't necessarily want everyone to know what you do in there.)

Anyhow, my wife made some great ventures out with the newborn and our family...mostly because I was pushing her to do so. She told me at one of the outings that she was not comfortable and wanted to go home.

My wife is awesome because she tried to go out, she is strong enough to tell me that she was not comfortable enough to stay, apologized for not speaking up in the first place, and most importantly, without saying anything, made me realize that I needed to apologize for how I reacted to certain events.

Everyday, she reminds me if how awesome she is.

I got this

Unfortunately, I have to take another trip to Springfield to meet with the state board if education for Race to the Top. I had the pleasure of telling my wife about this trip before we had the baby. So, she is now home with our newborn daughter and she will pick up our two boys from school ad have to repeat this process again tomorrow.


When I asked her if we wanted to see if someone could come down and help her out a little, her reply was "I got this".

More proof as to how awesome she is.

Best support anywhere

Three years ago today, my wife and I experienced a HUGE swing of emotion. The high end was that three years ago today, we heard my son's, Brendan's, heartbeat for the first time and we were going to let everyone know that we were expecting our 2nd child.

The low came from when I went to call my father. We were walking away from the doctors office I called and got his voicemail. While strange, because he usually took my calls regardless of what he was doing, not out of the realm of possibility as he may have been in a meeting. As we called other friends and family to let them know and enjoyed a nice day walking in the city, my sister called and my world was shattered. My father had passed away.

My wife immediately got me somewhere to sit down, got me some water, and started making some very difficult phone calls. All the while, she was showing me how much she loved me and my father. During one of my worst times, she was at one of her most awesome.

What do you call that again?

Let me start with she is very sleep deprived and nursing takes every ounce of energy right out of her.

We were watching the Food Network and one of the diners on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives was demonstrating their fresh made doughnuts. My wife said, "Honey! Look at those awesome looking bidets."

I am not sure that I would want to have the dipping sauce with that...

See why she makes me laugh?!

Just to be a joke explainer, here is what she meant.

Awesome.

The comforter and blanket

There is a battle that rages in our bedroom.

While neither of us believes in making the bed unless company is coming over, I do make sure that the sheets, blankets, etc. are set so I can get into bed and be comfortable. Some nights, I may even go so far to turn down the sheets so my wife can get into bed easily.

The awesomeness comes from the fact that regardless of how the sheets and blankets are placed, my wife will never grab an edge of them to tuck under her chin, but will seize the middle of them and rip them off of me. She then gets upset when I pull them back.

Then we laugh. AWESOME.

Mustache

As a part of her awesome hilariousness, she put on a toy mustache and pretended that nothing was different.

What is up with the microwave thing??

https://www.facebook.com/DailyFunnyStatus

So I saw this on a friend's Facebook page and just started to laugh. While I am not a woman, my wife is and she fits these to a T. We can add these also:

• She sways in the shower, just enjoying a quiet moment to herself
• She can't tell a joke, but always makes me laugh

What is up with the microwave thing though?!

These are all reasons why she is awesome.

Sleepless at home

Nursing a newborn is hard. Now, I say that as the dad, not having anything to do with the actual event. My wife has given up the idea of continuous sleep in order to make sure that our new daughter (as she did with our two sons) receives all of the nutrition and bonding that is needed for a healthy baby. As she does this, she is able to keep our other kids names straight, know where I am going and supposed to be, and many other things that just seem to elude me. This is why my wife is awesome!

It flares the nostrils

Driving in the car today, my wife got surprisingly silent. As I attempted to inhale oxygen in my nose, some methane and thiols were mixed. The mellifluous odor forced me to open the windows. As she sat there silently laughing, she protested my opening of the windows and proclaimed "We have a baby in the car". I looked back at her and said "Exactly!"

An elephant never forgets

I am always amazed that for someone who cannot remember where her car keys or cell phone are, she always remember who gave which presents when the kids ask. She also points out when someone is using a gift that we have given. I just don't think guys have this capacity. Just another reason as to why she is awesome.

Sacrifice

She gave birth to our third child. She has sacrificed her sleep, her body (according to her. I know she still looks amazing), her sanity, her memory...all for our family. She is just awesome.

Big surprises come out of small packages

Today is the first full day that our newborn daughter is home with us. She is three days old and while my wife was feeding we, our daughter farted. This was not a cute toot or passing of gas...our 3 day old forced us to clear the room.

Why is my wife awesome? Because once we were clear of the blast zone an could breathe again, she said "That's MY girl"!

Hot Dog!

She is so regimented and by the book with her pregnancy eating, following all of the rules given by her doctor. Her first meal home will be Portillo's and a caffeinated diet coke!

Disproving old wives tales

My wife is awesome because she has, without a doubt, disproven the old wives tale that a slow fetal heartbeat (below 140) indicates that you will have a boy. She says Pppbbbbbttthhhhh :P to the old wives! We had a girl.

The AMA and numerous scientific studies that have disproven thAt old wives take are now validated by my wife's work.

Daughter

My wife now has a daughter to pass on her awesomeness!

Amazed

Because she will give birth to our third child within the next few hours.

History shows

With both of our boys, we have had a false alarm trip to the hospital, only to return in less than 12 hours. We are here right now for #3 and had contractions all day. Of course, now that she is all hooked up in triage, contractions have stopped. My wife is convinced we are going home.

Selfless

She will never directly come out an ask for something for herself. She only will want something if it will not inconvenience someone else. Case in point: she is VERY pregnant and wants White Castle with jalepeños to get things moving. She only wanted it if I was willing to go. She is awesome. How could I say no?!

Sleep

My wife is awesome because she can deal with all of the Braxton-Hicks contractions and real ones throughout the night and be functional the next morning with the kids. I am a wreck with disruptions to my sleep.

Coming to a realization

I have come to a realization. It was not hard to arrive at this realization, but sometimes it you need take the next step and make it concrete. I have know this since I have met her, but the realization is that my wife is awesome. I will be posting about the various reasons for this. Some posts will be fully understandable from the commentary and others will only be understood with inside information. Regardless, I need to ensure that I recognize the awesomeness of my wife.