Life With the Ladniers: Dear David

Dear David,

As I sit here and try to summarize what you mean to me I can't help but smile as tears prick my eyes. Over all of these years I have had person after person say to me, "You'll see. When you get married everything will change." or "You'll see, when you have kids everything will change." and you continue to prove each of them wrong everyday. Over the course of our relationship you have shown me a love so fierce and it brings me to life. You make me feel more beautiful with every passing year and you'll never know how much that means to me. Here I am, 30 years old, mother to one and pregnant with another and I have never felt more beautiful and cared for in all my life.

There are so many valuable things that I have learned from you as we have grown into adults together. From big things like never turning my back on you (or anyone else) during a fight and the importance of really talking things out to small things like how to easily figure a tip and how to spiral a football. Our lives are intertwined in so many ways that I'm not always sure where one of us ends and the other begins. You have seen me at my best and at my worst and you have even seen the stubborn streak in me that many would not believe is even there. You are the person that I feel most myself around and home for me will always be where ever you are.

I can feel how you are always looking out for me and how you can contribute to my happiness. I've even heard you tell people, "Happy wife, happy life," haha. If you even get the hint that someone or something is bothering me you always rush to find a way to help me fix whatever it is. There is never a doubt in my mind that I come first in your world. You make extra efforts to add a romantic flare to the smallest of occasions and that says a lot about what you do for big ones. Writing and recording a song for me and surprising me with it on our wedding day by far takes the cake! I know I will hold onto that part of our fairytale for the rest of my life.

We have been on so many journeys together. High school, college, tough times with friends, pets, moving in together, marriage, jobs, budgets (and my inability to stick to them), moving, parenthood and now building a home and a new way of life together. We really have been through so much! Of all of these things, I have to say parenthood has been the most amazing. When I see you with Ayden, the son you have always dreamed of having, I see a whole different kind of spark in you. You love acting like a kid with him and exploring the world through his eyes. At the same time you are so tender, nurturing and caring. I can see the effort you put in to being the dad that you want to be for him and he really is one lucky little boy. The best part is that you bring out a very similar kind of spark in him. He thinks the world of you! I am also SO excited for you to have another son to experience all of these same things with.

What an amazing example you are setting for our boys. Their future wives will be just as lucky as me thanks to you. All of the bells and whistles aside, at your core you are the best partner in life that I could have ever asked for. You are supportive and sweet and most importantly you LISTEN to me. You have evolved so much over the years and I know that you've made great efforts to go against nature a little to be the man, husband and father that you are today. I am so proud of you.

As hard as it is for me to even express the role that you play in my life what I can say is, thank you. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for being my biggest fan. Thank you for sending me old emails from back in the day that remind us how new love felt. Thank you for loving me so fiercely and with so much passion. Thank you for going to work everyday so that I can live my dream and stay home with our kids. Thank you for building us a home with your own bare hands and thank you for being such an amazing father. I am so happy in my life with you and I am so proud to celebrate 8 years of marriage with the love of my life. You sure do know how to make a lady feel special and I want you to know that you mean so very much to us. Thank you for being you.

Love Always,
Your Sarah