Simply Blessed

Happy Father's Day!!

wow, what a difference a year makes! June of 2008 was a whirlwind in the Stone household, to say the least. the twins were just under a year old and still taking bottles. Johnny had just made E-5 and having another baby was probably the last thing on my mind (but it WAS on my mind. hehe). here is a picture of my love having some quality time with the little ones last year!!

unfortunately, Johnny isn't able to be with us this year as he is away in the Military at the moment. (no worries, he'll be home to visit in 4 short days!) i thought some of you would be interested to see just what he has been up to over the last few months.

doesn't look like he is working all that hard to me! haha. just kidding! he'll probably kill me for showing the whole world a picture meant for my eyes only.

i first fell in love with Johnny in the Summer of 2004. we were friends at first, followed quickly by best friends, i blinked one day and we were dating! i learned so much about Johnny that Summer and most of it, i will never forget. 1) he is a slob! 2) he has a rare but wonderful sense of humor 3) he is quite the gentleman around the ones he loves 4) he makes it clear how he feels and 5) he has a HUGE heart and is amazing with kids. at the time my niece was 18 months and another niece was on the way. Johnny was the very first person to feed Emma when she was born. he was also the only person that could get Breanna to sleep in less than 5 minutes by letting her play with his hair as she lay there in his arms in the dark. he read countless books to the two little girls as they sat on his lap. he took them "bug hunting" every chance he got. i think i knew all along that he would someday make a WONDERFUL father to our own children.

when we became pregnant with twins four short months after our wedding, i don't think a negative thought went through my mind. i knew that as hard as things would get, i would have the love of my life by my side and helping me every step of the way. when the twins were born @ 30 weeks, i was not surprised when Johnny refused to go to work in order to stay by my side and be a constant rock in my life! when he held those 2lb little babies for the first time, he didn't even falter. he was actually the first person to change their little diapers and feed them. Johnny was a miracle when it came to all of the midnight feedings that we would endure of over that first year as parents. going to bed around 11pm and knowing that he would have to get up for the day around 4:45...he was still up at a moments notice if the need be. he eventually started to take over on the weekends (sigh) and i even got to sleep in. Yes!...i was sleeping in as my husband was downstairs attempting to keep our twin infants quiet.

when i first approached Johnny about the idea of trying for a third child, though he was hesitant, he was more than open to the idea. when we finally got the positive test we were praying for, i wasn't the only one that couldn't get that permanent smile off of my face. when we found out that we were expecting our third beautiful daughter, he made it clear that he was ready for the challenge and couldn't wait to hold her in his arms.

during these times when he is away, not a phone call goes by that he doesn't ask or even talk to the twins. he calls daily to tell them goodnight and hear their latest "new" words. yesterday, Allison even had a conversation with him. she said "daddy talking" and then told him that she was going "night-night". she then gave him kisses, talked a little gibberish and gave him three kisses into the phone "muah, muah, muah". if i didn't know better, i would say that he was almost moved to tears. he also remembers to always ask about me and our little one that is keeping me up at all hours of the night. he wants to know how often she is kicking and how she is laying.

i am truly blessed to have Johnny in my life and not a moment goes by that i am not reminded of that. being away from him makes me appreciate him that much more. if anything, i hope he understands how much i love him and how grateful i am for his partnership in parenting.

Thank you so much, Johnny!

Happy Father's Day 2009

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."