Jimmy * Esther * Zeke * Lilly

Somehow, I happened to find the most amazing girl in the whole world, had an awesome courtship with her, and was lucky enough to marry her. Here are a few things that I really love about Esther:

Pretty. Esther is naturally pretty. She always looks very pretty, even when she first wakes up in the morning! I really like how she does her hair every day, even if she doesn’t have a lot of time. When she gets her hair done special, she looks stunning.

Patient. Esther is very patient with the kids and me. Our kids love attention and need a patient mom. Esther is wonderful at spending time with the kids and make them feel special. I’m not the fastest person at getting things done, and Esther is always patient with me and I never feel like she rushes me. I *really* appreciate that.

Personal. I love that Esther pays attention and really cares about people at the most personal level. I think all who have the privilege of being Esther’s friend have experienced her warmth, kindness, and attention to details of our lives that really matter. I’ve never met anyone else like her in this respect.

Pleasant. Esther is always pleasant. Even when she was in so much physical pain after Xander’s labor and delivery, she tried so hard to quietly bear the pain and not whine. Esther doesn’t like to complain, though I’m sure there is plenty that she could complain about :) Esther always likes to keep a positive attitude.

Practical. Esther is really good at thinking things through and being practical. I’m glad I have someone who can talk me through decisions that we are making. She doesn’t like to spend money extravagantly. She thinks things through really deeply, yet she can be spontaneous and fun in ways that keep life exciting.

I love being married to Esther. I believe she thinks I have to try to overlook things she sees as weaknesses, but really, she is so easy to appreciate. Her amazing qualities shine so brightly that it is hard to see anything else.

Xander is seeming less like a newborn, and more like a little baby. He’s growing a lot, he weighed 9″6 on Monday at 7 weeks old.

Xander in his big boy church clothes. The pants are big in the waist, and ride up like Steve Urkel, but he’s still cute :)

This is a 3 month size outfit!

He’s a good baby! We all surely love him!

Well, it’s that time of month again… that time when Jimmy is at a scout camp, and I start thinking about him, and how wonderful he is ;)

Tonight, as I looked around at my house that is medium messy, I thought of some things that I am not.

I am not very organized. This week we had to find some papers, and it took both of us searching every last spot, and lots of prayers to finally find them.

I am not a great cook. I’ve messed up rice crispy treats for crying out loud!

I am not creative. Tonight we had a really fun Families Supporting Adoption celebration, and I was in charge of doing a table of info about FSA. It wasn’t inpressive, it consisted of printed paper with bullets about each topic, it looked cheesy.

I am not Mrs. Clean. A sweet friend stopped by, and brought us some delicious cinnamon bread. I invited her in to meet Xander, but was embarrassed for her to see my bed wasn’t made, there were socks, and other piles of laundry scattered about my room, and more stacks of stuff not in their place.

I am not looking my best most of the time. I just don’t have it in me to spend a lot of time on doing my hair. I love to have my hair look cute, and be dressed nice, but it’s a rare occasion. 5-6 days of the week my hair is in a pony, and I’m in my comfy clothes.

I share these things that I am not, mostly to laugh at myself. Don’t worry, I’m not depressed about it, in actuality, I think I’m a little too easy on myself in most areas. Tonight I just feel so thankful that despite all of these things I am not, Jimmy loves me for what I am. He doesn’t focus on my weaknesses. He doesn’t complain about my imperfections, and never makes me feel inadequate. I am not great at so many things, but it’s ok because Jimmy accepts me the way I am. If he complained about anything I wasn’t, it would change everything. I think I would be down with myself, and in turn, feel like putting him down, and find things to complain about him. I hope I can be more like Jimmy in showing such love- to overlook the little, unimportant imperfections, and show more appreciation for all that he does wonderfully, because he does just that for me! I love my sweet husband!