Happy birthday, babe

Today is Tom’s birthday.

Tom would probably appreciate it if, instead of using David’s naptime to write this post, I cleaned my house and prepped dinner.

Instead of a clean house and dinner simmering on the stove, Tom will come home to Cheerios all over the living room floor and his wife frantically cooking with a toddler hanging off her leg and crying. But, baby! Did you see the blog I wrote for you!? Happy BIRTHDAY!!!

This also marks a full year of blogging on each of my family members’ birthdays. I started with a post for Caleb’s first birthday, then after Tom’s birthday I decided to start for real. The birthday posts have been a lot of fun; I thought of them as a way to “introduce” my family. But it’s also been fun for me to take some time and think about them and what makes them special and unique in my life, and point out some reasons I’m thankful for them.

I am so, so thankful for my husband. I was thankful for his friendship before we started dating, I was thankful for him when he was my boyfriend, and that feeling became so much more real and huge when he became my husband.

Having a baby is great for a marriage because it grows your need for partnership and reliance on one another. I’m more deeply aware of my weakness and my neediness. And in the moments when I’m feeling torn down and tired and frustrated, Tom reminds me that when I am weak, God is strong. And that when I’m tired and grumpy, God never is.

Tom is an amazing dad.

In fact, he’s amazing at everything he does. I’m not exaggerating, anyone who knows Tom knows that he doesn’t do anything without excelling. But he doesn’t even realize he’s awesome, he just thinks that’s how everyone operates. He never even realized people do things half-way until he married me.

I met Tom eight years before we started dating, and in that time I got to see and observe all these amazing qualities. Before our first date I knew that Tom was frugal, generous, hospitable, a leader, knowledgable about the Bible, sensitive and caring, and a man of deep integrity and values.

Also, I knew that he’s really good at fixing computers.

Now that we’re married, I see all those qualities in a more real and deep way.

I tell Tom all the time that I have the best husband. I think he thinks I’m just saying something sweet, but I really, truly, literally mean it. At night when we go to bed Tom falls asleep immediately, and it always takes me a while. I generally use that time to pray, think about my day, and I think about my husband who probably has his knee on my side of the bed. The conclusion I always come to is, “Wow. He really is the best husband.”

He is. He’s the best.

Happy birthday, TomTom. I’m so glad to celebrate you today.

3 Comments

  1. Meredith White November 13, 2012

    Aww this is so sweet. As always, there was a line that made me lol. This time it was "didn’t even realize people did things half-way until he married me." Story of Danny and me. hahahah

    Reply
  2. tomamanda November 13, 2012

    haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one 🙂

    Reply
  3. jackie November 19, 2012

    This is great! I wish I were half as good at writing as you are… seriously, I’m just, like, "he’s great!" and that’s all I can say. Anyway, super stoked that you have each other and I was there for some of it 🙂

    Reply

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