Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year (Gung hay fat choy!) The only reason I know that the Chinese New Year starts today is because our friends, Matt & Jeana, are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. They have been educating themselves on Chinese culture, the food, holidays, etc. so that they can raise Emma with an awareness of her heritage. They also sent us a Chinese New Year's card. When we called them today to wish them a happy new year, they were having a party to celebrate. It makes us wish we were in California to celebrate with them, or have them back here.
This weekend my parents had Noah at their house. My parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece came over to Muskegon yesterday morning. The guys then went to try the luge at the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex. They all had fun although they were moving pretty slowly afterwards. By late afternoon, Tim had many bruises show up on his calves and he says he is pretty sore. However, he won't deny that he wanted to stay out there all day luge-ing (is that a word?) and he wants to go again sometime and bring his brother with him.
We have had a quiet weekend with Noah gone. We went out last night after 7:00 just because we could. I have to admit, however, that we were home by 8:15 and I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30. So even with Noah gone, we were still in bed by 10:00.
I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight. It was a chicken and mushroom type meal. I don't like mushrooms, but Tim does, so I wanted to make it for him. While eating, we were talking about how, although it has been nice to have quiet and the ability to go where we want spontaneously, we wouldn't trade Noah for it. It is funny how after experiencing life with Noah, we wouldn't go back to our pre-baby life if given the chance. We do appreciate the time we have away from him when we get an opportunity. It gives us a chance to reconnect with each other and hold an uninterrupted conversation in the middle of the day.
With Valentine's Day this past week and having the weekend to ourselves, I was thinking about all the silly ways that Tim shows me he loves me. I let him cut my hair this week. He has always suggests it when I say I need a trim, but I am usually pretty picky about who brings scissors to my hair. Finally, I decided that I couldn't stand the way my hair looked like it had 2 styles going on, but I didn't want to go into a hair salon because I'm trying to grow it out and I know they would cut it off like last time, so I let him do it. I have to admit, my hair curls easier now than it did before. He did a great job.
I was also thinking about how I get into bed before him at night. I love to put my feet on all the cold spots under the covers. I understand that I am weird by doing this, especially during a Michigan winter, but I love cold spots. When Tim crawls into bed and his leg touches my foot, I can hear him stifle a small scream. I ask him if my feet are cold and he usually lies, chattering through his teeth, "N-n-n-no. Th-th-t-they're f-f-f-fine. Mayb-b-b-be just a lit-t-t-tle c-c-c-cold." Rather than taking his legs to the far end of the bed to escape my ice feet, he responds by taking his warm feet and rubs them against mine. It has become a nightly ritual for us. He warms my feet for me. That's love.
As a result, I let him watch the occasional survival show. Tim is watching "Man Vs. Wild" right now. I could never be on a show like that. Right now he is scraping bark off a tree to produce a creamy milk that helps settle the stomach. Apparently he was vomiting half the night and he said he must have picked up a stomach bug somewhere. I think it's probably the raw animals and bugs he eats. Yuck. I have a hard time watching these, but I endure it because I know he likes them, and I can just close my eyes when I feel the nausea coming on.
How do you show love to your spouse? Sometimes our actions speak louder than our words.