Happy Birthday to JBB!

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS SAPPY AND CORNY. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. 

Happy birthday to JBB, Happy Birthday to JBB, Happy Birthday dear JBB (and Daddy!), Happy Birthday to you!!

Cookie and I can't put into words (especially Cookie - she can't talk yet...) how much we LOVE JBB/Daddy. (Is it too soon for me to start calling JBB "Daddy?" He likes to call me "Mother" when he wants to get my goat. I told him we've got at least 10 years ahead of us before we start doing that...)

Back story: two and a half years ago, I was pretty sure I'd die alone, maybe with cats (which I really don't like). I'd been on literally dozens of bad blind dates, dabbled in speed dating, and considered the nunnery, but I'm not Catholic and I didn't think the habit would look good with my chubby cheeks. Then ol' JBB kicked things up a notch, and suddenly things were looking brighter. He could have proposed to me on our first date and I would have said "yes!" When you know, you know, and I knew.

Fast forward 2.5 years, and we are married and expecting Cookie. I am truly, truly lucky and try to never forget it.

In honor of JBB's big day, Cookie and I have compiled a Top 10 list of things we love about JBB, aka Blythe, aka the Silver Fox, aka Jake, aka Daddy...

JBB hard at work on the window project.

10.) My new nursery windows! Now Cookie will be warm and cozy while she slumbers. In exchange for the windows, she promises to begin sleeping through the night and changing her own diaper by 6 weeks. She'll be washing her own onsies by 12 months.
9.) That JBB has taken over dinner making duties! Never have I been so happy to walk through the door and see a taco bar laid out, or a fresh pot of spaghetti. Post Cookie, I promise to make dinner 5 nights a week; okay, maybe 4...okay, I'm blatantly lying. I couldn't even finish typing it without laughing.
8.) Speaking of laughing - JBB's laugh! While I don't like the shows Happy Endings or Big Bang Theory, I love listening to him belly laugh from two rooms away while watching those shows. No demure chuckle for JBB - when he laughs, he laughs whole hog. Nothing makes me happier than when something I say or do elicits a guffaw from JBB. I imagine Cookie smiles inside when she hears her daddy laugh so happily.
7.) JBB's calmness and "we'll take care of it" attitude. While I whip myself up into a lather worrying about finding a daycare, a pediatrician, too high blood pressure, ultrasounds and a million other things, he never fails to calm me down, assure me that whatever it is, it will get done, and it will be fine. And, so far, it has always gotten done and it has always been fine.


Umm...hello..this is Patches, this is Patches...

6.) The alter egos, Spotty, Patches and Wizzo - I like to pretend they're for Cookie, but let's be honest, we both know that I'm their intended audience. Their voicemails and daily shenanigans can pull me out of a funk faster than anything.

5.) Cookie really loves Sunday mornings when JBB surprises us with freshly made cinnamon rolls in bed. She does a little dance after that sugary goodness hits her system. (She's wondering what Daddy's doing this Sunday morning?? :)
4.) JBB's handiness around the house - I had no idea, before we embarked on home ownership, how handy JBB is! Need to install a new ceiling fan? No problem! Rewire the sockets and change the plate covers? Piece of cake. Swap out the "fart fan" in the bathroom (his name for it, not mine)...well, still working on that one. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.
3.) Cookie loves her daddy's patience - she knows how badly he wants to feel her kick and dance around, but she's just not quite strong enough yet for JBB to feel it. He'll sit for 10 minutes with his hand on my belly, just hoping to feel one flutter. She says give her about another month, and she'll make it worth the wait.


That is a face that is up to no good...

2.) JBB's ornery side. While I might act exasperated and put out when he scares me so badly coming out of the bathroom at the movie theater that I throw my popcorn in the air, or when he wraps me up into a straight jacket in the comforter and sheets because "I looked cold," or when JBB turns my car seat heater on full blast in 100 degree July weather, I actually really love it. It keeps things fun and keeps me laughing. (Cookie requests that you don't start jumping out of dark corners and scaring her until she's potty-trained.)
1.) And the number one thing Cookie and I love about JBB is, well, JBB. Everything about him. Our little family-to-be, the care he's taking in readying the nursery for Cookie, the twinkle in his eye, the way he meets me in the driveway after work to help carry in the 5 bags I always seem to schlep around, how crazy into Colts games he gets, his "pep talk voicemails" during the month of May, how sweet he is when we visit my grandpa, and a million more things!

Happy birthday JBB!