happy birthday and april fools!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy JaMeS!!!
p.s. april fools

it's been a while since i've been this excited for a day to be over! (i actually started writing this last night on james' birthday but i was so tired that i'm finishing it a day late) it was james' 26th birthday and i apparently wasn't feeling enough stress in my life so i decided to throw him a surprise party. the party itself was great! good friends, good food, good times. but the day leading up to the party was absolutely nerve racking!

i had asked some people to come over just after 6pm so that they'd be here when james got home from school. he usually gets home on wednesdays at 6:20pm but as he was leaving this morning he nonchalantly mentioned that he may try to catch a ride home early with someone so he can spend more time with me tonight.

AHHHH!!!!

he had no idea that this revelation had put me into panic mode. i stayed calm on the outside but after he left the house i was on the phone with my friends begging them to tell their husbands not to bring him home early!!!

it was such a relieving and sad moment this afternoon when sad little james texted me saying that he couldn't find anyone to bring him home. i almost spilled the beans right then, but i stayed strong. and i'm glad i did because he was so shocked! it was a lot of fun.

here is cute james with a few of our friends - as you can tell, scott was a bit... overwhelmed.

and since i did the top 10 reasons we love scott for his 10 month birthday, i decided i'm going to go all out and do the top 26 reasons i love james on his 26th birthday (though there are millions more reasons why i love him):

26- he almost always changes scott's diapers when he's home from school (even when i insist that i can do it)

25- he gets really sad when he doesn't get to get scott out of his crib in the mornings on the weekends.

24- i've never known him to set a goal and not make it.

23- he's really really good looking.

22- he is the most patient person i know (and i'm not just saying that to be nice)

21- he's a true leader. I'm constantly amazed with the way he can see a problem, find a solution and find someone to solve it so that he can be home spending time with scott and me.

20- he's a great athlete

19- he's not obsessed with being an athlete

18- he was so willing to try learning to ski (both water and snow) and he picked it up so easily and gets more excited about going now than i do!

17- he's really smart. i'm convinced that he knows more words than Webster.

16- he's a man that can cook! he makes the most delicious hot fudge!

15- he gets so excited about planning our future.

14- and yet he thoroughly enjoys the moment.

13- he loves spending time with scott and i can tell he misses him when he is gone.

12- he's really funny and its so cute when he laughs at his own jokes.

11- he never leaves for school without coming back up to where i'm sleeping in bed and kissing me on the forehead and saying goodbye.

10- i've never heard him raise his voice in a angry way... not once.

9- this is a little embarrassing to say but - he has a really nice body.

8- he always likes to hold my hand.

7- he has the most beautiful blue eyes and he passed them onto our blue eyed little scotty.

6- i really feel like he is happy and content to just hang out with me and talk.

5- anytime i start singing in the car he decides to turn on the radio. and he always does such an excellent job of convincing me that the two weren't connected.

4- he loves doing laundry. kind of weird.

3- he loves his family (the family besides scott and me) and tries to stay connected with them as much as he can.

2- he feels sincere sorrow for other people when he thinks they feel lonely or hurt in someway.

1- i asked him in jest once if i was his "everything" (i think we were listening to a song that talked about it). he said, "natalie, you're my only thing" and he's never made me feel any different.

i love you james,

happy birthday!