Happy Birthday Ross!

(A little disclaimer, this first one was in Venice when I was 6 months pregnant.)

So today celebrates an extremely important day to me... the birth of this sweet man, husband and father.

Yes today is Ross' 29th birthday!!! TWENTY NINE! Crazy huh? That's almost 30! Remember when 30 sounded so old? Back when we imitated 50 by using that shaky old man voice saying "Heyyyy sonnyyyy...". How quickly our perspective seems to change. Now my young, cute husband who still wears his hat backwards, skateboards to get the mail, and prefers a boxed white cake mix with store bought confetti frosting to any Martha recipe I could try... is turning one year shy of 30. Do we ever really grow up?

This is a man that I knew when I married him would do whatever he could to make a stranger's life easier, let alone his WIFE. He is a giver. He always lets me eat most of his fries from In & Out even though I refuse to get my own. He doesn't even try to convince me anymore. He always plugs my cell phone in at night so that I'll actually have service the next day. I lay in bed waiting for him while he wanders the house trying to find where I hid it...because I never know. He ALWAYS leaves me the last treat, he won't even take the last bite- if I tell him to, he splits it in half. In almost 4 years of years of marriage I have never gotten excited to eat something yummy and found it to be all gone... I got very used to that growing up with 5 siblings and I guess he knows how hard that was for me :) (sounds like a confession that I have serious issues with food I know.... I sort of do.)

He always tells me I'm beautiful even though most days he sees me in jammies before he leaves, and back in jammies by the time he gets back home. He tells me I'm a good mom and that he thinks my reading voice to Sophia is soothing. He treats Sophia just like the smartest, coolest, most important little girl she is... so that she will become it.

He rubs my back as often as I ask, and when he does, he doesn't pretend to rub it like I've seen so many other husbands do, he looks at it like a work out and goes all out! :) He carries everything at church for me and most places that we go (again, tries to look at it like a work out). He uses funny phrases I've never heard of and teaches me what they mean. He always does the garbage, the yard, the Christmas lights, and all the other man jobs that I love to be exempt from. He praises me for the jobs that I do and tells me I'm a wonderful cook, decorator, and organizer... he makes me feel like an artist and tells me that he wants me to take classes some day. I love that.

He plays with Sophia just like I'd always imagined a super dad would with our little ones; he's so full of joy and energy and makes her laugh and laugh. He sings to her at night and I could listen outside the door for hours... but it only lasts a couple of minutes before she swats at his face. (We've discovered she doesn't actually like to be sung to at night.)

He reads up on what's going on in the world and lets me use him as my Cliff's Notes. ( I lived on those things in school... another confession, oops). But even if I don't know something that I totally should about politics, or the scriptures, he never makes me feel dumb, but always answers my questions. He is such a righteous priesthood holder and makes me feel like Sophia and I will always be safe with him. He is an optimist and finds the good in everyone. He is truly one of those people that doesn't speak ill of anyone. (Sometimes it can even be frustrating when I need a gossiping avenue... (confession? ...seriously I can't help but do it) ... he focuses on the good in me and reminds me to do the same :).

He is a constant example, a reminder of how blessed I am, proof of the existence of a man who's GOOD to his core, something that the world doesn't even believe exists anymore. He is my best friend and my sweet heart and I am SOOO grateful that he was born 29 years ago today.

Happy Birthday Ross! I love you.