Sweet Daddys

Today I celebrated the Dad's in my life. I grew up with a perfect daddy. He loved me unconditionally, he challenged me, he brought out the best in me, he could lift my spirits when no one else could, he was a wonderful dad from day one. I can't explain the relationship I have with my dad, it's very special but not something you can easily put into words. I have always been his little girl, and maybe that explains our relationship. My whole life I always tried my hardest to make him proud- and many times I failed miserably, but he still loved me and was proud of me for the circumstances I had come through. Still to this day, getting a short phone call from him can turn my day around. I can not imagine what a wonderful grandfather he is going to be to Miss Emersyn. She already has her Peeps around her little finger. I think so far in my life, giving him a granddaughter is on the top of my list of his most proudest moments- I can't wait to see his face when he meets her for the first time. 

He did have the BEST example, though, in his dad. My granddad set the bar for grandfathers, he was amazing. He passed away when I was in the second grade and I still miss him every single day. I see so much of him in my dad and I have always dreamed of the day when my dad would be a grandfather and bless a sweet child with his love, Emersyn is one blessed baby girl. I keep a picture of me and Granddad in my room, and have most of my life, I know Emersyn will want one of herself and her Peeps in her room always (even though her Peeps will be just a phone call away). When I was little, if I wanted anything in the world, all I had to do was ask Granddad and it was done. If I got in trouble at home, I would get sassy and ask if I needed to talk to Granddad about my parents behavior (getting on to me, how dare they?) I vividly remember telling Granddad once about Daddy getting on to me, and we both came to the conclusion Dad should receive a spanking and be put in time out :) I say this because, I had my Granddad for about 8 years, he had a lot of health problems that my dad has worked very hard to stay away from. Emersyn will hopefully have her Peeps around far into her adult life- Lance and I stand no chance! My child will never know discipline or the word "NO", I am afraid, but that's ok as long as she gets many, many memories with her precious Peeps :)

Also, today was Lance's first Father's Day. We celebrated Mother's Day in May, and Lance made it perfect, so I made it a mission to have a Lance weekend. I made his favorite meals and tried my best to serve him, I wanted the weekend to be all about him- because once baby girl gets here, these weekends will be history! I think it was a success :) I've cooked a lot and took the dogs out many times, but it was completely worth it.

I can't wait to see Lance's reaction the first time he sees Emy- just seeing her on the ultrasounds makes him emotional. We definitely have another daddy's girl in the making! 

I always wondered what kind of dad Lance would be. We have never really been around babies or young children, and whenever we kept nursery at church, Lance always seemed freaked out! When we found out we were expecting, Lance was thrilled- he has talked about babies since we first met. We both want a big family, but finding out we were really having a sweet baby made things seem so real. I knew we were having a girl from the beginning, instinct I guess :) Lance didn't know how we could really have a girl- there are only boys in his family. He called the baby "he" the first 16 weeks.  At Emy's ultrasound, he was so nervous. He held my hand and was jittery until the tech told us what the baby was. When she said "FEMALE", Lance lost it, his emotions took over and he just cried. That was all it took- Emy was his baby girl in that moment. He went immediately into "Daddy mode". His entire world became Emersyn. He talks to her every second that I am home, he reads to her, and tells her how much he loves her. I am sure, he will be the greatest dad for little Emy, and in 24 years she will be talking about her daddy just like I talk about mine. 

Emy and I love you so much, Lance (as do Maximus and BoJackson!) !!!!
We got an 18 week picture of Emy in my growing belly this morning, excuse the tired eyes, like I said in the last blog- I can't get over this exhaustion....