36 Years Ago

Thirty-six years ago this baby was born:

Looking at these pictures, I see where Addie gets her open-mouth and spread out sleeping from. The way her eyes are more almond-shaped, but not the same size. The darker blue. All her Daddy.

There were some awkward years:

But, ultimately, he grew up to clean up quite well 🙂

The oldest of three boys:

He was an adorable kid. The quiet one, who wasn’t quite sure what his interests were. But, as he grew into himself, he revealed a wonderful musician inside:

To this very moment, he is one of the most moving song writers I’ve heard. From the music to the lyrics, I think you should all know the Sweetthieves and Deleted Arrows– his most recent bands. Sadly, he only plays Daddy right now, which include hits like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,  Old MacDonald and made-up songs.

When we met, he was in a band, owner of a small business and proved to me that dating a musician wasn’t a bad idea. With his free spirit and ability to find humor in almost anything, Dave sits back and listens. His words are (usually) well thought out and planned, which is probably why he’s so quiet. That, and I never shut up- he probably just can’t get a word in! Back in 2008, I remember how he would look at me, roll with all my punches and gently kiss my shoulders when we were out together. Sometimes he would take lunch breaks with me, and he usually had a day off… so we would adventure to Newport or on a hike in the woods, often.

Now, Addie and I are lucky to call him ours. We don’t go out- ever. Literally. There isn’t much time alone, not that we want time without Addie, yet, and Dave isn’t able to purse his passion: music… but he never complains about his 5am wake-up call, or the amount of times I ask him to go back to the kitchen for water, tea, a cookie, to bring my milk down to the fridge, and the list goes on. He just does it.

I wish I could say these pictures would embarrass him, but I’m not sure he read all these posts. Poor guy. May he never know all the imagery horrors of him that are in between these pages.

I wish I could have gotten him an amazing gift. A brand new Subaru would have been nice. Or even his own tablet, or a few craft beers. Anything. But, that’s not in the cards this year. Instead, I woke up this morning with him and told him to get Addie out of her crib and snuggle-in with her while I took care of the dog and made breakfast. He doesn’t get many chances at morning snuggles, so I hoped this would be a good gift. Breakfast-in-bed was nothing fancy… eggs topped with salsa verde and cheese. Some strawberries. A bowl of (scarce) salsa: onions and avocado. Orange juice. Coffee.

There was a time Dave made me a hot breakfast every morning… in fact, he did for almost 2 years! Now he goes to work way too early to do that, but I always remember how good it made me feel and how much energy I had throughout the day. And so, I hope his breakfast provided him with the same good feelings.

Our celebration with family this weekend was awesome, too! Addie thought so!

Happy 36th birthday to an amazing (and good looking) husband, father, son, brother, brother-in-law, friend and musician a family could ask for <3

I love you, Dave. You and our simple life, because you are in it.