Birthdays

I realize that I am nearly a month late in posting this, but better late than never, right? So happy birthday, Brett! Poor Brett has spent his last two birthday's in foreign countries without much fanfare, but hopefully next year we will be in the U.S. where at the very least he can have a delicious birthday burrito. Here are just a few of the many things that I love about the birthday boy (and the photos don't necessarily correspond, I just wanted to add some photos of Brett):

1. Before we got married, I wasn't much of a "touchy-feely" person. Turns out I was just holding all of my touching in for one specific person, and he lets me squeeze and hug him as much as I want even though I think he probably gets sick of it sometimes.

2. We've spent a lot of time apart in our marriage, and I know it sounds strange, but I'm actually happy to know that it's difficult for him too. Sometimes I think he doesn't need me as much as I need him but then he sends me emails like this: "I just miss you so much and can't wait to get back home to you. Home is wherever my Lindsey is." (I hope he doesn't mind that I shared that...)

3. He can make me laugh even when I'm trying so hard to be mad at him. For example: I was having a bad day a while back and the house was a mess and I was mad at him for not automatically noticing how messy it was and cleaning it up (we women are crazy sometimes, I know). He could tell that I was upset, but he didn't know what to do. So I start angrily cleaning only to look over and see Brett frantically shuffling some papers and things around trying his hardest to look busy. He was too funny and cute to stay mad at.

4. Even though there are some things that I watch that he absolutely loathes (like Gilmore Girls and What I Like About You) he will let me watch them without complaint. He even sat down and had a Veronica Mars marathon with me one time.

5. He is always willing to help other people around him. This includes small things like holding doors open for people, giving people directions, or helping a woman with her luggage, to other bigger things like helping people move. Somehow every time we go home to AZ there is someone moving in his parent's Ward. He's always willing to go and help them.

6. Sometimes I make fun of him for it, but I actually love that he is a big nerd. I don't claim to understand some of the things he is studying in school, but I know that he has a passion for them and I know he will be great at applying his knowledge in the future. He's so smart! I hope our kids get his brains.

7. He always tells me I'm pretty. (I know it's vain, but what girl doesn't like to hear that?) Even though I sometimes spend entire days in my sweats with no makeup on and greasy hair, he still tells me I'm pretty.

8. I know that he would do anything for me.

9. He is incredibly self disciplined. The way that he continues to work on his language skills amazes me. Arabic is an especially tough language because to be fluent you have to know so many more words than you would in English. So he continues to work at it on his own every day.

10. I had a dream a few weeks ago that we had a little baby girl and she had Brett's green, squinty eyes. I love his eyes, especially when he smiles.



I will stop there, but there are so many other things that I love and adore about Brett.


And in other "birthday" news... I am due on December 12, which also happens to be Brett's graduation day. So that should be fun. At this point it looks like I will be having the baby in California because I don't really know how else to work the insurance stuff. At least now I know what I am getting Brett for a graduation present! :) Or I guess if the baby is late, he or she can be a Christmas present. Hopefully at our next appointment (on July 8th) we will be able to find out the sex of the baby, but we'll see. I'm still having the heartburn ickyness, but other than that, things seem to be OK. The baby also seems to be trying to make his or herself known by way of a bump. Maybe one day I'll take some pictures, or maybe I'll just wait to surprise you all when I get home. Then I'll really look like I have a little something going on.

Hope all is well in the U.S. We are both pretty excited to come home in about 40 days! (Yes, I'm counting the days) It's been a wonderful experience here, but I'm just about ready to come home. That's all for now!