Not your typical Father's Day...

Poor Jason. For a lot of reasons, my husband deserves a big ol pat on the back. Or a large shot of whiskey and a three day cruise. Maybe all three. It's been a rough few weeks at the Whittaker house as we prepared to move and, for those that know me, it will come as no surprise that the stress of the situation did not bring out the best in me. I am easily overwhelmed (something I hope Hadley does not inherit!) and have a hard time making decisions when I am feeling stressed. And my poor husband takes the brunt of my anxiety when the horns come out. After several years together, he manages to take it all in stride, usually with a reassuring word or two (though sometimes even he reaches a breaking point and I see him drinking straight from the whiskey bottle). With a lot of help from my sister and brother-in-law, we were able to move over the weekend. Things are still a bit of a mess, but we are making slow and steady progress. We were able to buy some new furniture to get us started in the new house and that was a fun, if pricey, break from packing and organizing.

Our First House in KC 

When we planned the move for this past weekend, it did not occur to either of us that it was Father's Day weekend. Jason's first Father's Day was spent moving, unpacking and cleaning...every guy's dream, right? For only the second or third time in our relationship, I was able to get him a gift that he didn't correctly guess what it was before opening it. I ordered the Amazon Tap for him and he was genuinely surprised and pleased. Success! Thank goodness - after making him work non-stop all weekend, it was important that I got the gift part right.

Growing up, I always said I wanted to marry a man that was like my dad. In a lot of ways, this did not happen. My tall, outspoken, agnostic Yankee husband does not immediately bring to mind thoughts of my short, reserved Southern Catholic father. Look a little deeper though, and you can see what drew me to Jason. Like my dad, he has a great sense of humor and is honest and sincere (sometimes to a fault). Most importantly to me, he puts his family first. He works hard every day to take care of me and Hadley and I can't imagine tackling life without him by my side. I know I don't tell him often enough how much he is appreciated so that is something I need to work on. In the past five months I have loved watching him tackle fatherhood with the same easy going personality and sense of humor that is his trademark. Hadley does not yet know how lucky she is, but she will soon!