Before Bensen was born, whenever anyone asked Joe how he was feeling or if he was excited, he would tell them, "I'm absolutely terrified!" He has taken to being a dad like a fish to water. The first time he held Bensen, it seemed so natural and he didn't look at all like someone who was worried about breaking their baby. Over the last two months, I have watched Joe embrace being a daddy and it has been so fun to watch. Watching him interact with our baby boy is one of my favorite things to do and I'm constantly giggling over the one sided conversations that he has while Bensen stares at him intently with his big blue eyes. They look so much alike and Bensen sneezes, stretches and sleeps just like his dad. I am excited to see what personality traits Bensen inherits from Joe as well!
Before Bensen was born, whenever anyone asked Joe how he was feeling or if he was excited, he would tell them, “I’m absolutely terrified!” He has taken to being a dad like a fish to water. The first time he held Bensen, it seemed so natural and he didn’t look at all like someone who was worried about breaking their baby. Over the last two months, I have watched Joe embrace being a daddy and it has been so fun to watch. Watching him interact with our baby boy is one of my favorite things to do and I’m constantly giggling over the one sided conversations that he has while Bensen stares at him intently with his big blue eyes. They look so much alike and Bensen sneezes, stretches and sleeps just like his dad. I am excited to see what personality traits Bensen inherits from Joe as well!
I married an amazing man with some great qualities. Bensen is going to be a great man one day and I know that he’ll learn how to be great from his dad. Here are four big things that I hope rub off on Bensen as he interacts with Joe throughout his life.
Joe is really good at lazy days, but he’s even better at working hard. When he has a day off at his day job, you can usually find him doing work for his lawn care business and those days are always 10-12 hours straight of manual labor. Last year during our home renovation and yard overhaul, I was always tired of working long before Joe was. I hope that Joe can teach Bensen how to find the perfect balance of hard work and relaxation because it’s one thing that I think he has mastered.
When Joe gets an idea or takes on a project, he gets excited about every little detail and tackles things full force. He is constantly telling me his plans for how to make his lawn care business more efficient or how he’s going to improve something in our house and “make it awesome”. He will research things until he knows the best way to do them and he gets excited to put his plan into action. Joe is also extremely passionate about his interests in life. If he enjoys something, he can talk about it for hours. Some of the things you may hear him talk about on a regular basis are The Walking Dead, politics, saving for retirement and other financial things, his house projects, etc. I hope Joe can teach Bensen how to have an excitement for everything in life and to always approach tasks with a positive and enthusiastic attitude.
I always thought that I talked a lot, but then I met Joe and he gave me a run for my money. That man of mine can find something to relate to in the lives of everyone he meets and he can easily carry on a conversation with no awkward silences. I hope that Bensen inherits Joe’s talent for reading people and that he will learn how to be friendly and make everyone he comes in contact with feel important and valued.
When I’m with Joe, I’m always laughing and he knows how to change my mood when I’m grumpy or taking something too seriously. I love his quirky comments and the way that he always makes me laugh, even when I’m upset with him. I hope that Bensen has a healthy sense of humor and will add lots of fun and laughter to our home.
Joe teaches me new things about budgeting and finances on a daily basis. He loves to encourage people to start saving for retirement and he always reminds me that if we focus our money on saving and practical things now, we will have the funds to do big, fun things later on. Whenever Joe wants something, he budgets and saves up for it so that he can pay with cash. I hope that Bensen (and all of our kids) will learn how to be financially responsible from Joe and that he’ll think practically before making impulse money decisions like I sometimes do.
I’m excited to see the type of person Bensen becomes as he gets older! I can already picture him pushing his little toy mower along behind Joe while he’s mowing our yard. I’m enjoying the sweet baby and fun little person that he is now and I plan on enjoying every stage as he grows.