Great things

My husband. He's a great thing. There has not been a single moment where I've second guessed our marriage, our commitment, his love for me, or our life together. He may not be perfect, but his is perfect for me. (He even hangs his towel up after the shower!) Sometimes I fear I take him for granted, and take us for granted, but other times I realize that comfort feeling is why we work so well. Friday, when I got home from work, he had the nursery painted with white (3-4 coats) and had the bottom in pink almost complete. He HATES painting, HATES it. Yet, he did this on his own without me asking. I had originally planned to help him with it, HELP since I know I shouldn't be around a ton of fumes, but at the same time I actually enjoy painting. Back to my point, as I walk in Friday and see how much he's accomplished, I get overwhelmed with that feeling of "I'm the luckiest, most loved wife on Earth and I truly married the best man in the world". Now, the other part of that story is that Friday was a very bad, horribly stressful day. I cried all the way home from work and was actually sobbing as I walked into the house, partially due to some drama with the nursery floors, partially due to the whole daycare issue, but mainly due to work. As soon as my husband saw me, he put his arms around me and hugged me, and then we proceeded to talk some about the daycare issue and the flooring issues. Between this and all the work he had done, my mood did a complete 180 (thankfully) and I was able to change my clothes and help him finish up in the nursery. He seems to be so good at picking the right times to do these things that just make me melt and I can't thank him enough for just being him.

Once the bottom pink was done, we grabbed something to eat and began on the top pattern - I wanted a pink and white harlequin pattern to go all the way around. Three hours later, lots of taping, cutting, measuring, and quite a bit of frustration, and about 2/3's of the first wall was complete. My husband was slightly annoyed at the whole process (and I think even annoyed with me some since, after all, this was MY idea), but I still looked at him with nothing but love and appreciation. And I knew he loved me enough to do this, regardless of how crazy, time consuming, and frustrating the whole process was. How can I not be the luckiest person on Earth? We did finish the wall Saturday and decided not to do the rest of them since we thought it would be too busy. We also started putting up the chair rail and set up an appointment to have the floors done (tomorrow) for those of you wondering, but my point here is just how lucky I am to have found such a wonderful man. I've heard from several new mom's who tell me I'll love him even more after I give birth, and I just don't know how that is even possible. Anyhow, he is by far my great thing number 1. He is the reason I get up in the morning. I feel my best when I do things for him. I enjoy every moment we spend together and miss him when we're not. I love watching him with our kitties and I'm sure it will be even better to watch him with our daughter, as I know he'll be a great father. I guess I'll have to soak up as much time with just us as I can in the next few months, since I doubt we'll get a whole lot once baby J's is born!

On to great thing #2. Today, or a Monday, he not been TOO bad. No school zones on my way to work. I've felt better than I do on most work mornings. And then there is the lady in the cafeteria - she made my WHOLE day, possibly even more. I have purchased several maternity dresses since they are much more comfortable than pants. I am also warmer than usual so I can wear them to work and not be too hot or cold. I have also grabbed lunch from our cafeteria a lot lately since work has been so crazy I can't go out. I was standing there today, waiting for my order, when the lady calls to me and tells me I have such cute dresses (she's seen several apparently). She then proceeds to tell me I make a very pretty pregnant lady. (((grin))) Wow, I'm not sure anyone has said anything since I've found out that has made me feel that great. Sure my husband tells me all the time and I am thankful, but there is just something about a stranger making such a comment that feels different and great. So yay, what a wonderful way to chase away any signs of the "Mundays".

Great thing #3 - I'm 24 weeks along. 24 weeks is that one milestone pregnant women get really excited about since its the point where the baby is considered viable. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it still feels good and helps relieve some of the worry. Its nice to know that IF something happen and I had to have this baby now, they would do everything they could to save her and its possible she would grow up to be a normal person.

And, some other great things I want to share, some of which I already touched on. The nursery walls and flooring. The walls are done, except for the chair rail - which we are planning to finish tonight. It looks great, it actually looks better than I thought it was going to, which really excites me - and once we get our Internet fixed on our home computer, I'll be able to upload some pictures! Six and a half hours of taping (no exaggeration) and the harlequin pattern came out WONDERFUL. My husband said he was even surprised at just how good it looks. Next come the floors. We had originally got a quote from Lowe's about putting in some laminate or engineered wood floors - but yeah, they quoted way more than we wanted to spend. Back to square one - we'd try the laminate ourselves. We went and priced out what we wanted, checked both Lowe's and Home Depot, then got a recommendation for one more flooring place. After talking with them, we learned they could install the flooring and all the extra's for about $100-200 more than it would cost us to do it ourselves. Bonus! I'm willing to spend that to avoid the headache of doing it ourselves - plus I like the flooring we picked out BETTER than any of the options we had at Lowe's or Home Depot. AND - they are doing it tomorrow. I was expecting it to be 2 or more weeks! This means that not only will the painting be complete before we go out of town, but the flooring will be done and we may even have the crib assembled. Woohoo! It feels so good to have things come together so quickly. Now its on to finding a dresser, a book shelf, and all the rest of the final touches. Its great not to feel like you're in a time crunch. :-)

While I rambled and rambled about the good things in my life, I hope you are able to step back and see all the wonderful things going on in your own. Take the time to be thankful for what you have and make sure those close to you are told how much they mean to you. Life is short and there is so much truth in the whole "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans", try not to miss out on the little things. Since today is tomorrow's memory, make the most of those memories. I know we all look forward to the weekend, our next vacation, that big movie coming out, visiting family and friends, or other such planned events, but don't completely overlook today. Take a moment to kiss your spouse, to hug your kids, to tell your parents how much you love them, to play with your pets, to enjoy the fresh air - basically take some time to realize how much you'd miss out on if there wasn't a today. I'm working on embracing the small things, it really does make life more enjoyable. (Notice I said "working" - I still complain more than I like and wish for time to pass all too quickly! One step at a time ... one step at a time.)