52 reasons I’m happy I married my husband

Father’s Day always gets me thinking about the important men in my life. I have been blessed with an amazing dad and should probably be writing about him (sorry Dad!), but today I’ve decided to highlight the father of my children: My amazing husband.

Here, in no particular order (except maybe the first one since that was my number one criteria when choosing a mate), are

52 Reasons I’m Happy I Married My Husband

1. He shares my faith.
2. He makes me laugh.
3. He’s an amazing provider.
4. Sometimes he acts like a kid and is all mischievous and fun.
5. But he can be serious and adult-like when the situation calls for it.
6. Mess with our kids and you mess with him.
7. You don’t want to mess with him.
8. I can’t stand tank tops on guys. He doesn’t wear them.
9. And he doesn’t wear jean shorts… I don’t like those either.
10. Ditto to v-neck shirts.
11. He puts up with my weird clothing pet peeves.
12. He doesn’t take longer than me to get ready in the morning (and I don’t take very long).
13. I could never marry a guy who spent more time on his hair than I do.
14. He loves to cuddle our kiddos.
15. He can cook.
16. He is immensely patient with our kids, especially when my patience has run out.
17. He is my perfect compliment in many areas. For example, he’s business-minded and I am not; he handles conflict well while I avoid it at all costs.
18. He beatboxes for the kids (don’t tell him I told you).
19. He changes his facial hair up from time to time: clean shaven, goatee, full beard.
20. Whatever the facial hair situation, he keeps it well-trimmed.
21. He’s never done just a mustache.
22. When I mention something that’s bothering me, he actively works to change it.
23. Every day, he tells Annelise that she’s beautiful.
24. She’s already got him wrapped around her tiny little finger.
25. I can leave him with the kids, even over night, and I don’t worry about them for a second.
26. He has a low tolerance for drama.
27. Ditto for whining.
28. He constantly tells the kids he’s proud of them.
29. He’d love to buy a few new ‘toys’, but always puts his family’s wants and needs above his own.
30. He’s the encouraging catalyst behind me pursuing my dream of writing.
31. He teases me.
32. He is abundantly generous.
33. He handles puke a million times better than I do.
34. He is kind.
35. Babies and old ladies love him. I’m pretty sure those two groups are the best judges of character there are.
36. He’s a good judge of character too.
37. One of his best friends is my dad. I think that’s pretty rare and completely awesome.
38. He wants to cuddle with me, even after rolling into a puddle of my drool. Yes, that really happened. Aren’t you glad you’re not my husband?
39. He tells me to buy new clothes for myself!
40. He’s a total softie when it comes to our kids, but when he has to speak to them, they know he means business.
41. He’s forgiving.
42. He’s willing to ask for forgiveness.
43. He has a cute butt.
44. Once he sent me a picture of himself in what we dubbed ‘the body condom’ (a plastic, hooded union suit) that he put on while gutting a moose just because he knew I would think it was hilarious. I would post the picture, but then I’d probably have to write a post entitled “52 Reasons I’m Sad My Husband Moved Out”.
45. He tells the best bedtime stories.
46. He has lots of medical knowledge, which is helpful when you have three kids.
47. He’s right 99% of the time, which is actually kind of infuriating, but reassuring at the same time, if that makes any sense.
48. He plays with the kids.
49. He was a bachelor for a while before we met, so he knows how to take care of himself.
50. He never complains about dinner, even when we’re eating noodles and sauce for the 18th time in a month.
51. He’s manly without being obnoxious.
52. He loves me, even on the days when I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

Happy Father’s Day, Eric. You are my perfect match and a better dad to our kids than I could ever have imagined.