It seems pretty amazing to think that one year ago Jenn and I were finishing our adoption classes, preparing our profile book and just waiting to see what would happen next. Now we will have a 9 month old in one week. To say it has been a crazy year would be an understatement, but it has been a great one.
I have always felt lucky to have Jenn in my life as I would definitely have to say I married up. See when we got married, she was almost blind so I probably looked like a pretty good catch. Then she got eye surgery, her vision is now almost perfect and fortunately for me I think she just felt like well I have already invested this much time, so its too late to stop now. Luckily I have a charming personality and some pretty sweet dance moves to keep things interesting, but all in all I would say I did pretty well.
I’ve been so concentrated on being a parent these days that it can be easy to forget to thank and acknowledge your partner, the one who helped you get to this great place in your life. But the truth is that Jenn is the foundation of our family. She is still the person that I am excited to spend time with everyday and the one that I love to watch walk into a room (unless of course it is to ask me to hang up, fold or put away the laundry then the excitement level goes down a notch or two).
We are not the couple that you will over hear at a party saying I love you poochiekins or some other ridiculous pet name. In fact when I told Jenn that I was going to celebrate our love by posting on Facebook that she was the fire that danced in my soul and the reason that my eyes shine, or that she is my inner strength, my being and my core (and not like the P90x core that I have worked so hard to get rid of) she had a look of pure panic and simply said please don’t because people will think you are serious. No we are not romantic in that way. I think it is something a little more different. It is in the way that we desire to be around each other and be a part of one another’s life.
Last night I was once again reminded of this as I did my best to get some sleep. Nolin had been feeling a little sick and while he slept he just kept making this moaning sound. Finally Jenn got up, tried comforting him for a bit and then brought him to bed with us. We have been talking about how we need to stop that habit of allowing him to sleep in our bed, but at the same time I thought to myself, yep that is what I would have done. And that is why it works. If it is possible to truly meet your better half then I know that I have.
This Valentine’s Day for us wont be celebrated with a big fancy dinner, or another stray dog (at least let’s hope not, I don’t know how much room we have left in our bed before I get pushed onto the floor). Instead I am sure it will be a simple dinner, playing catch with Nolin and maybe singing him a song or two (now besides Bob Marley, I think he is a fan of Cee Lo Green the edited version obviously) and simply being thankful that my Valentine said yes.
Our Modern Family 