I Love My Daddy !

Today marks Eric's first father's day ! Happy father's day to my sweet husband !

Eric and I have never really been big on celebrating holidays other than Christmas. Most other holidays consist of spending the day together and maybe enjoying a nice meal out somewhere together. We're both really okay with that extent of holiday recognition.

So, on Eric's first father's day, we didn't make any extraordinary, elaborate plans. Elaina woke up at her usual 7 a.m. start of the day and after a warm bottle and some play time, we all took a little cuddly catnap in our bed together. We finally got motivated to be vertical and Eric was on his way out the door to begin more work on the yard. On this beautiful 85 degree day, Eric spent his time slaving over installing a new garden trellis for our backyard. It's white vinyl to match our fencing and when he's all finished, we are hoping to have transformed our yard into a haven with some style and visual appeal. With all of his hard work, we're well on our way.

Now more about Elaina's dad .....
Since Elaina's birth, I have watched my husband transform. He melts over her sweet smiles and embraces each and every one of Elaina's warm hugs. Eric's vocabulary has changed significantly ! One minute he can be discussing hunting and fishing and the minute Elaina enters the picture, it's "BabyDoll" this and "Honey" that. ( I still get to be his "Honey" once in a while - but I don't mind sharing. ) He is enjoying seeing his little girl dressed in pink and ruffles and fru-froo and bows. I have also discovered that there isn't one thing on the face of this earth that he wouldn't do for his daughter. He has waited long enough to have a baby to love this much and she has him wrapped around her little finger. I love it !

With all of the praising of my fine man, I would be fabricating his character to say that he doesn't get into trouble sometimes. Let me run the list of daddy-needs-to-work-on-this :
Often, Elaina will sit in her highchair and begin to blow raspberries with a mouth full of baby food - what do you think Eric does ? He blows some back to her, encouraging her to blow more as they laugh together. He tried to teach her where the trash can was so that she could throw away her own dirty diaper. Hmmm... might she begin to throw all kinds of stuff in there ? Toys, phones, remotes....? And just to round out the list, he would let her crawl on the driveway and in the grass in her cute outfits - leaving the grass stains and asphalt for me to worry about cleaning.

Obviously, you can see that the praise list shines over his not-so-good list. And his not-so-good list isn't all that bad. He really is the best dad ever without a doubt ! He gets up every morning to feed Elaina and checks on her each night before going to bed. He sings silly songs and reads her books while he makes up his own words. Elaina and are blessed to have this wonderful man in our lives and we'll treasure every memory we make along the way !

And to our Dad's and Great- Grandpa Wade -- Happy Father's Day !!