The Steve - 21-30

The final part. This has been so hard. I feel that I must have missed a million things. Still, you'll get ten more when he is 40...

21. Steve is an honest man. I recently asked him if our wedding day was the best day of his life, he paused and said no. A dangerous move if ever there was one but he went on to explain that while it was one of the best days, there are others that match it; the Sunday his train from London was cancelled so he could stay one more night with me, the night we were in New York, eating in the East Village, it snowed and Steve managed to tear the crotch of his jeans trying to climb into a cab. See, honest and hilarious.

22. He loves men in socks programmes. The ones where they dig for random bones or bits of pots. Yep, the really really dull ones. He also love Poirot. And the Discovery Channel. I am now starting to doubt whether he is actually turning 60 not 30...

23. Family figures highly in his life. And not just his immediate family. Mine too. I have a big, lovely, complex and occasionally overpowering family. And he adores them all. Watching him with my family makes me so very very happy.

24. He hates fancy dress. I know right?

25. I have had the easiest pregnancy but obviously there have been things I can't do. Such as shoelaces. Steve has somehow managed to be supportive and protective without being condescending, patronising or making me feel completely rubbish and inadequate. This is quite remarkable - I look out for these things especially you know.

26. As you all know, he is wonderfully random and funny. I laugh every day. Sometimes with him, often at him.

27. I love hearing stories of Steve as a child. There is the one about him stamping on an ants nest at the age of two until he was covered head to toe in ants. The one where he threw a rock into the sea and forgot to let go. The one that details the time he asked for a 'Jervis Road tea' at a friend's house. Having children had always been important to me, but, over time, having Steve's child specifically became my hope for the future. I hear these stories and now I think of our son and what stories I will tell about him in the future.

28. Our holidays are the best. Wherever we go, we have the most fun, just the two of us together. Our honeymoon was one of the most special times of my life. Steve and I click together on these breaks away like no other time and I love having those memories and look forward to a million more.

29. For someone who was a bit taken aback when he found out he was going to be a daddy (remember that story?), Steve is now more excited than I am (I am stuck on the terrified bit for now). He talks about the baby, to the baby and he wants him here now. He is going to be an amazing Dad. The only thing I worry about is that he is not fond of sticky and snotty which, I am led to believe, is quite a big part of parenting.

30. In his own words, he is just Stevie P. My Stevie P. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Steve - 11-20

And we're back with the birthday count down. Just to update you, yes, he found the presents.

11. He is bizarrely obsessed with cocktail sticks. I find them everywhere. He picks them up and fiddles with them for hours. They are forever behind his ears and in his mouth.

12. He is so supportive and generally fantastic. His faith in you is absolute and continuous. If you are stressed and say you can't do it, he will blink at you and say you can.

13. This Sunday is his 30th birthday and, when I asked where he would like to be taken to lunch, he chose Pizza Hut. Yep. I have yet to break it to him that I believe the 'unlimited ice cream factory' for birthday children doesn't extend to 30 year olds.

14. His rants are legendary. And by god does he play up to them. Incredibly liberal (except when it suits him not to be), he will happily go on for tens of minutes to anyone who happens to be in earshot about anything that has particularly got his goat. Favourite topics include religion (these rants can extend to hours) and anything that the Daily Mail feels strongly about...

15. Steve and his brother and his father (both called John incidentally) are a tight knit team. Circumstances have meant that they a very strong unit, an all male unit I may add. And, while all the most welcoming and friendly men in the world, it is a hard group to break into. But it is most definitely worth it.

16. Steve is bizarrely talented in so many ways. He can repair your light fitting, he can take pictures of your family reunion, he can teach you how to play cricket, he can cook you a delicious bowl of macaroni cheese. He is amazing with children, delightful with animals and can put even the most nervous person at ease. He can hoover and iron far better than I can, he can sew buttons on shirts (something I am still incapable of), build fires and make up the best bedtime stories. He can't hang washing out though...

17. He claims he remembers very little of his childhood. But he is lying.

18. The man has broken the same ankle three times. The second time, the doctor asked when he had broken it the first time and queried why it hadn't healed properly, Steve couldn't answer him as he couldn't remember ever breaking it before. A few questions to his Dad and all became clear. It seems that a four year old Steve had been having a jumping down the stairs competition with his brother. Steve had hurt his ankle but an ice lolly seemed to solve any issues so a trip to the doctors was not deemed necessary. His Dad just carried him for a few days.

19. His eyes melt me everytime. And I won't even mention his bum except to say that I believe it has won awards.

20. His favourite word is moist. A word I detest. Proof, I suppose that opposites do attract.

The Steve - 1-10

As you may or may not know, this Sunday my lovely Steven James turns the grand old age of 30. To celebrate I have decided to tell thirty little known facts about him. I will be starting right now with the first ten.

1. He detests cooked pineapple and spends time meticulously picking it out of his takeaway sweet and sour. The phrase 'I can see you pineapple, stop mascarading as a piece of chicken' has been uttered more than once in our house.

2. Despite being a very liberal person, his two favourite heroes are Barney Stinson and Jeff Bingham. I know.

3. He is always popular with the ladies. Always charming, always funny, he is very crushable. And I love that about him. I love to watch him make everyone feel special. I love to see him flirt. I love that his romantic history is as checkered as mine. It makes for very interesting conversations...

4. Football is the thing. The Thing. He puts his heart and soul into it and it annoyingly upsets me when he gets crushed when England get knocked out of another tournament.

5. He rocks the stubble and sunglasses look.

6. Stupid is something he is not. But he thinks he is. And not in a tell-me-I'm-not way. He genuinely thinks that he isn't bright. Which is ironically the stupidist thing he thinks as he is one of the most intelligent and clever people I know.

7. He laughs like no-one else I know. And one of the things I love the most is making him laugh. The look he gives me when he laughs like that at something I've said makes me feel like no-one else on earth.

8. He refuses to drink juice with pulp. A proper, proper child.

9. He knows all the words to C'est La Vie by Bewitched and, if you get him just drunk enough, he will put on an awesome dance show to it.

10. He is generous to a fault. Nothing is too big. Nothing. He is unfailingly loyal and will always be your friend if he likes you. Which makes the fact that he is mine all the more wonderful.

Come back tomorrow for 11-20. In the meantime I must go, I need to drag my pregnant bum off the sofa and make sure Steve hasn't found any of the presents he is currently searching for....

So today...

I forgot my teaspoon and therefore had to eat my two petit filous fromage frais with my finger.

Twas messy.

That is all.

Tilly Tuppance

So this weekend we have a house guest.

Yep, the lovely Tilly has come to stay.

She has been here for two days now and has eaten approximately 11 spiders. Why I am not sure. I mean, they are hardly nutritious or delicious.

Steve, of course, is an absolute softy with her. He keeps trying to teach her tricks, allows her to sleep on his chest and text me throughout yesterday stressing about she was managing at home by herself. I wasn't worried. I mean, there were spiders galore.

Speaking of Steve, I will be doing a big piece next week (possibly two or three) on him and his quirks in celebration of his 30th birthday.

In the mean time, I wish you lots of love and churros. Because, well, they are yummy.