To the father of my children

Okay, so I know Valentines is way past (Hello, March!) and that some people will think this post is too mushy, but I just had to write out a big THANK YOU to my wonderful husband. This man has been so wonderful and helpful lately that he deserves some extra praise. He was always great when it was just me, him, and Eva, but now with the addition of Jensen he has really gone above and beyond.  

Confession: sometimes when he walks in the door it can be easy for me to come across as too easily irritated with him, when the reality is that I'm just tired and maybe a little stressed from taking care of two very dependent little people all day. The truth is that Ryan is an amazing husband and daddy. The other night I was thinking about when we were in the hospital and I would be up pumping milk every few hours all night long. Most of the time Ryan would make the long walk down to where Jensen was just to hand off the little bottle of fresh milk. He didn't have to do this. The nurses station was right outside of my room and they told us we could hand it over to them to take, especially in the middle of the night. But most times Ryan took it. I didn't realize until this past week why he did that - he wanted to see Jensen :) He wanted to just peek in and check on him. He wanted to pray over him. He made that extra effort to love on Jensen even though he couldn't even hold him or feed him yet.

Now that we are adjusting to our routine at home, Ryan gets up to do Jensen's first "middle of the night" feeding around 1 AM almost every night. When it was just Eva, I rarely ever asked Ryan to give her a bottle at night...like I could probably count on one hand the times and it was usually only when I was sick. It wasn't that Ryan didn't offer, I just figured it was easier. Eva never really took to a bottle and since it was only her I could sleep during the day while he had to work. Two  kids is a whole different game! I am lucky to get to rest for a short time during Eva's rest (if that actually happens) and I am way more exhausted. Then the other day it hit me that Ryan actually likes to help feed Jensen at night. Since he is at work during the day and helping with Eva a lot in the afternoon, giving Jensen at late night bottle is a special time for them. How sweet is that?

And let me give this wonderful husband some props for helping with Eva. We love Eva. That girl has some major energy. When I am exhausted and at my breaking point Ryan tries his best to keep her entertained and cared for. Thank goodness there are two of us, because our sweet girl definitely needs to attention and energy of two parents. I know there must be days where he works long hours at work and then comes home to pour more energy into having a dance party with Eva, and I really appreciate it. 

There are moments when we might feel like two trains passing in the night, as we shuffle back and forth between feeding the baby and tucking in the three year old (again...) after she had a scary dream. There are moments when we get to steal a few laughs sitting at the table late at night, sneaking brownies after the children are finally asleep. There are sleepy moments when we feel so tired that we aren't sure how to make it off the couch after a good marathon of Parenthood. And through all of these moments, I love him so very much. Thank you, Ryan, for all that you do.