Fathers

Fathers day was a few days ago...and this year was extra special. Not only did I get to celebrate my own father and his influence on my life, but this was the first time I was able to call my husband a father as well. And while our sweet little babe hasn't fully entered this world, he has fully entered our lives, and Kirby has taken his role as a father very seriously. 

Nothing fills me with more love than seeing the love my husband possesses for his little guy. I can hear it in his voice, I can see it in his eyes, I can feel it in his touch when he rests his hand on my belly each night. He loves our little boy fully, and that makes me love him even more than I already did.

They share a special bond, my boys do. When the baby is putting pressure on me in uncomfortable places, or punching me where he knows it hurts, all Kirby has to do is place his hand in the center of my belly and start talking or singing. Then baby boy moves right under his hand and curls up under his warmth...then depending on the song he might start dancing. 

Since the first day we felt the baby move, Kirby has loved singing to the baby almost as much as the baby loves hearing his songs, and I love watching the bond grow. He has three songs he always goes back to...Home on the Range, She'll be Coming Around the Mountain, and You Are My Sunshine. The first two all started with him being silly, but that's the kind of dad he is going to be. The kind that can get you giggling when you least expect it. But almost every time he starts You Are My Sunshine, I have to hide the tears rolling down my cheeks. Those two precious boys are my sunshine, and I would be heart broken if anything took my sunshine away.

Fatherhood sure looks good on my Kirby.

Since Kirby met my dad he has said that he hopes to be like him when he is a dad, and there is no hiding why. My dad, raising 4 daughters, is one of the most patient and hard-working men alive. My dad would sew the straps on my ballet shoes when I was little, show my recital videos to the men at work, and sit down with an emotional and frustrated little me through all types of homework and grueling school projects. He would set up the tent in the back yard so that we could "camp" and warm my car up at 6:00 in the morning before seminary. He still irons my church clothes when we visit over the weekends and he spent days painting, unpacking and cleaning our house before we moved in. He might have 4 girls, know every One Direction song, and read books like The Selection (a glorified version of the bachelor but with a prince and princesses), but he is still one of the manliest men I know. He lives and breaths sports, football, basketball, golf, you name it...whether it be watching the pro teams, going to college games, watching the little specials on TV, or playing the games himself, he is all in. Oh and the outdoors...he is very outdoorsy. He can fix your car, completely remodel your house, and get those perfectly even and straight lines mowed into your grass. He was always one of the cool dads, you know, the dad that all the youth like to joke around with at church? Yeah, that was him...actually it still is. 

So yes, my Texas-sheet-cake loving, pop-song singing, marathon running, non-stop project doing, hiddenly artistic, couch napping,  dad... who once accidentally used salt instead of sugar in the pancakes, is the kind of dad that I am glad my husband has the chance to look up to. The kind of dad I am blessed to call my own, and the kind of dad I am proud to have as a grandpa to my little boy.

Happy Fathers Day Kirby, Happy Fathers Day Dad, and Happy Fathers Day to all other fathers out there!