Sparks in the love fire.

I'm so thankful for my husband.

So thankful, in fact, that just in case you're needing a few extra reminders on what to love about your husband today, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites at the moment.  Just, ya know, to spark the fire and all.

We should love on our husbands extra anyway, since it's Friday.  Which is reason enough for me.

1.  I love that when my back hurts and I'm exhausted, my husband lovingly steps up to do the dinner dishes for me so that I can take a bath.  Without grumbling, without 'you-owe-me-one', without annoyance, he simply steps up and says "I'll take care of these..." 

Music to my ears.

I rarely ask him to.  I know he's worked a hard day, too.  I know he probably wishes he could curl up in sizzling hot water that's been drizzled with a lavender scented bubble bath, but instead, he lets me partake of this simple pleasure.  And avoid dishes for a night.  And for that, I am thankful.

Especially because sometimes dishes are gross.  Let's be honest here.  Who likes fishing chunks of potato out of the drain hole?

Bleh.

2.  After said sizzling, lavender-infused bubble bath, he reads me Calvin & Hobbs comics while I play with G-love's ringlets (I like to twirl them on my finger).  Calvin and Stuart share a very similar style of humor, which is undoubtedly why he enjoys them so much.

Have you ever read any Calvin & Hobbs?  I never had, until Stuart.

Here's a few good ones:

You're welcome for increasing your brain mass by that much more.

But he has a large book of these strips and he enjoys reading through them.

And I enjoy listening to him chuckle and watching him smile while he does it.

3.  After said comic-strip-reading, my dear darling of a husband willingly agrees to rub my back and legs with a delicious vanilla lotion to help ease some of the discomfort I am feeling.

Discomfort came from too much time spent on my knees and in awkward positions painting the baby's new dresser (which, by the way, is coming along fantastically).  

The only problem with painting is that, well, it hurts my back.  But not until the next day.  Which means I just keep doing it and doing it and doing it and feeling great and then WHAM.  Problems in pregnancy paradise.

But it's amazing what man hands can do for a sore back.

Sorry.  I'll just stop there.

4.  When we were preparing to have Georgia, I was still working full time.  I had to schedule and prepare for my one-month maternity leave.  After that, even though Georgia came to work with me, it wasn't easy.  By the time she reached six months, Stuart and I were bouncing around each other's schedules swapping baby-watching duty.  I had to pump at work and he had to try and get homework done while caring for her (not to mention both our schedules changed every three months).  It was a difficult time for us.

While preparing to have two children certainly isn't easy, I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with the privilege of staying home with them.

And I am so thankful that not only does my husband works tirelessly as a teacher so that I can be a mother to our babes, but he sees extreme value in me doing so.  

Not having to stress about maternity leave, or schedules, or work is such a blessing.  Though it's not an easy blessing.  As all of us who survive off one small income know, it certainly isn't a life frosted in bling and convenience.  But it is a beautiful life.

Thank you, my love, for providing for us in this way.

5.  Lastly, I am thankful that even though I have to get up and use the bathroom approximately twice per night (waking him up often in the process) and even though I am currently sleeping with five pillows to try and get comfortable (which take up approximately 87% of our bed space), Stu never complains.  He reminds me he is grateful for the sacrifice my body is currently making to create this little child. 

He looks at my belly button and says "Now that's a belly button!"

Which I'll choose to take as a weird compliment...

Even though my stomach is giant and everything is, well, fuller than it normally is, Stuart still makes me feel very beautiful.  I am so thankful he is the type of husband who loves me just as much pregnant as any other way.

Even if it makes my belly button funny.

The end.