Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ode to my husband


Ya'll, I am blessed.

I am married to a wonderful man.

I could go on and on about how great he is, but the mush factor on a scale of 1 to 10 would be 112 and for your sake I will avoid that.

But I do have to brag about this one thing...

So ever since the twins have transitioned to only waking up once during the night to eat (for the most part that is), I have been able to handle the feedings completely by myself. Especially since most of the time only one wakes up and I can dash in there before the other does, I can feed them independently and that makes it SO easy to handle by myself. I usually feed whomever woke up, change them, and then rock and settle until drowsy, lay them back down to go to sleep, and then wake the other and repeat. The whole process usually takes just under an hour and a half. Then I head back to bed.

Then, in the morning, when a baby cries out (usually Luke wakes up first), something wonderful happens...
My man pops out of bed, runs into the nursery, grabs that baby, and takes him out into the living room (so the baby monitor doesn't act as a bullhorn) and changes, cuddles, rocks, and just generally "fends off" the baby (or babies) for 5, 10, to 15 minutes.

Why does he do this?

So that I can lay in bed.

Yup.

You see I am NOT a morning person.

At. All.

I am soooo cranky when I first wake up and start my day. What's funny is I honestly didn't know how bad it really was until the babies came. That's because before, David and I rarely got up at the same time (we always started work at different times) and so I would always have the morning to myself. I would wake up (after hitting the snooze at least once), and stumble into the shower. I would spend approximately 20 minutes in there, just waking up. Then go downstairs and get my coffee and begin my day. If David was either asleep when I left, or had left before I got up, then sometimes I wouldn't utter a single word until I got to the office. All that time in the morning to myself...

I had no idea how important all that time was. I apparently absolutely require alone time in the morning before I can open my mouth.

Or at least before I should open my mouth.


After our routine began to set in with the babies, we noticed a pattern of them waking anywhere between 5:30 and 6:45am each day, and just decided we would both get up and our family would begin the day together. Well, the first few mornings of this, I was just so cranky. Snippy. Rude.

David took it in stride.

He handles mornings better than I do.

(He also can drink more than one cup of coffee as he is not nursing.)

(He also is getting a full nights sleep.)

(And he also just loves me very much.)

After a few mornings of him trying to exchange pleasantries and me biting his head off in return, he gently suggested that he get up with the kids first thing and that I stay in bed for a bit (and wait for Satan to give me back). I argued "but they are hungry in the morning", to which he pointed out that he was perfectly capable of entertaining them for a few minutes while I adjusted myself to the day.

It has made a world of difference.



After he jumps up to the nursery, I lay there in bed and stretch and yawn and pray. I ask God to give me the grace to accomplish what He would like me to accomplish that day. I ask Him to grant me patience, and love, and wisdom.

Then I get out of bed, head out to the couch, adjust my back pillows and giant twin nursing pillow, and my sweet husband hands me our children. Then he goes in to the kitchen and magically returns with my coffee with just the right amount of fat free french vanilla creamer in it, and something to munch on.

Seriously, how lucky am I?

He may not be a perfect man, but he is the perfect man for me.







8 comments:

Family of 5 said...

What a wonderful gift from God that He gave the perfect man to you! Sounds like he is taking wonderfulu care of you and treating you like a queen! And you are the perfect wife for him! Isn't God so good!

The Writer Chic said...

Can I have him, please? Just for ONE morning? =)

Jim, bless his heart...can't hear the monitor to save his life, no matter where we place it or how loud we crank it up....

Lauren said...

I think that husband of yours is a MAJOR keeper!!!! :)

Katie said...

What a sweet, loving husband you have. You are truly blessed.

Aunt Carol said...

What a lovely tribute to a loving husband.

Lori said...

I got goosebumps as I was reading this!! He is so sweet to try and make your life better!!! That speaks volumes to a woman!!

Linda Lee Brown Ayers said...

Kendra and David. You do not realize what a GIFT you are giving the twins AND yourself by having them spend a little chill-before- eating-time while you wake up. I know because I only had one baby at a time, I would just pick her up out of the crib and go straight to the rocker and start nursing. That can lead to a real "microwave" mentality. With two kids, there will be times when one or both will have to "wait" for things. This is great training for them. Enjoy! And thank, David!!!!! I love you, mom

Vanessa's Dad said...

Perfect spouse for you. It's wonderful to read about how ya'll saw a problem, and answered that question, which is so imporant:

How can I make this better?

U R blessed.

Love,
Grand Dad