Thoughts from a pug and peanut butter
Today, Anna had an appointment with her pediatric allergy specialist. She was a fantastic patient through the whole appointment, and we got much-anticipated confirmation that she seems to have outgrown her peanut allergy. Wahoo! (I bought a jar of peanut butter on the way home.) While she is still supposed to avoid peanuts until they do in-office food testing to make triple sure she's in the clear at age 3, Brian and I can at least eat nuts in her presence, so we're celebrating in this house.
When we walked into Wal-Mart to pick up some odds and ends for our recent basement remodel (and the above-mentioned peanut butter), Anna spotted some sort of advertisement poster with a giant picture of a pug on it. She immediately informed me "That goggy is fighting over there." (She seems to say this about anything that looks disgruntled.) She continued, "He's so gouchy (grouchy). He needs his daddy make him feel better."
Her perspective made me smile, and it made me think about how great her daddy really is. Last night, for example, Brian and I were working in the basement to shuffle furniture around a little and otherwise make the space usable again before baby Kate arrives next week. As I loaded books onto a shelf in the guest bedroom, I found a scrapbook I had made for Brian during the summer of 2002 to celebrate our second dating anniversary. In the book were fun little notes and a slew of black and white pictures of me...10 years younger and 50 pounds lighter than I am right now. It, frankly, made me want to vomit.
I walked out of the guest room and informed Brian that I'd stumbled onto the album and that seeing the pictures made me feel even more depressed to be waddling around with stretch marks marring my enormous belly. He looked at me with a spark of a laugh in his eyes and I was struck by the love I saw there--even though I am enormous, even though I was wearing a too-tight shirt and ill-fitting sweat pants, even though I hardly resemble my 18-year-old self. He then flippantly reminded me that there are all sorts of work-out options for me to dive into post-baby and that they can laser-zap all my stretch marks. I rolled my eyes and laughed. The comment was typical Brian, but then--I realized--so was the look of sincere adoration he shot me just the moment before.
Even in the midst of "yuck," be it concerning physical appearance, life stress, arguments, or other less-than-ideal conditions, Brian has never made me doubt his love. He is steadfast, loyal, considerate, and genuinely invested in his family--even in his most obnoxious moments. Anna, Kate, and I are blessed to have him as the man of our house.
I suppose that, if the Wal-Mart pug had a dad like Brian, Anna would probably be right. Having his daddy come might make him happier and less "gouchy." Her daddy certainly seems to make things a whole lot better around here.
When we walked into Wal-Mart to pick up some odds and ends for our recent basement remodel (and the above-mentioned peanut butter), Anna spotted some sort of advertisement poster with a giant picture of a pug on it. She immediately informed me "That goggy is fighting over there." (She seems to say this about anything that looks disgruntled.) She continued, "He's so gouchy (grouchy). He needs his daddy make him feel better."
Her perspective made me smile, and it made me think about how great her daddy really is. Last night, for example, Brian and I were working in the basement to shuffle furniture around a little and otherwise make the space usable again before baby Kate arrives next week. As I loaded books onto a shelf in the guest bedroom, I found a scrapbook I had made for Brian during the summer of 2002 to celebrate our second dating anniversary. In the book were fun little notes and a slew of black and white pictures of me...10 years younger and 50 pounds lighter than I am right now. It, frankly, made me want to vomit.
I walked out of the guest room and informed Brian that I'd stumbled onto the album and that seeing the pictures made me feel even more depressed to be waddling around with stretch marks marring my enormous belly. He looked at me with a spark of a laugh in his eyes and I was struck by the love I saw there--even though I am enormous, even though I was wearing a too-tight shirt and ill-fitting sweat pants, even though I hardly resemble my 18-year-old self. He then flippantly reminded me that there are all sorts of work-out options for me to dive into post-baby and that they can laser-zap all my stretch marks. I rolled my eyes and laughed. The comment was typical Brian, but then--I realized--so was the look of sincere adoration he shot me just the moment before.
Even in the midst of "yuck," be it concerning physical appearance, life stress, arguments, or other less-than-ideal conditions, Brian has never made me doubt his love. He is steadfast, loyal, considerate, and genuinely invested in his family--even in his most obnoxious moments. Anna, Kate, and I are blessed to have him as the man of our house.
I suppose that, if the Wal-Mart pug had a dad like Brian, Anna would probably be right. Having his daddy come might make him happier and less "gouchy." Her daddy certainly seems to make things a whole lot better around here.
1. HOORAY for peanuts!
ReplyDelete2. I didn't know you when you were 18, but I know that you're even more beautiful now than then. You've added wisdom and lots of laughs and love to your physical beauty in the years since then.
3. Our husbands are so much alike because I can envision that exact scenario for us.
4. Baby weight does go away no matter how impossible it seems right now. For the record, I, too, find myself lamenting over the skinnier pictures of my younger self, but then I ask myself if I really want to be 18 again and I realize that my life and perspective are far too great now to go back to that immature person I was. Oh, and I just avoid having many current pictures of myself so I don't fall into a depression. Hmm...seems like I still have some work to do in this area.
5. You are beautiful! Don't forget it! :-)
I agree with all of those above statements from Kelly! (With the exception of number three, since I do not apply to that category). And I'm here to help get rid of baby weight! And no one wants to be their 18 year old self again. No one.
ReplyDeleteYou're beautiful! :)