Dad's Day

On this Father's Day I have so much to celebrate.

This is the first time Braden and I as a couple, now as a family, celebrate father's day. It is overwhelmingly joyful to think that we will celebrate fathers day in a new way from now on.

On this day in June Sutton and I celebrate Braden. My love, my life, my best friend. Her daddy, her playmate, and her protector. Boy does she love that man, and so do I. I could not get to sleep last night thinking about what this day really meant, how do I begin to thank Braden for all he has done in one day, where do I start? I can't. I know that he understands with the few words I put together how much I love him, I don't need to list the endless things he does and how much he means, he knows. 

So here's to you, babe, on this day we celebrate you for the loving husband and friend you are to me. For the daddy you are to Sutton. She said her FIRST word TODAY for the first time and you guessed it,  "dadda" (melt my heart). God gives us some special little surprises doesn't he? We love you, we could never be whole without you in our life. We celebrate you and all your hard work every day even though I often forget to tell you. Your kind heart, giving spirit, silent strength, intelligence and faith are only a few of your best traits.Your love for your girls overwhelms me. I love our little family of three and I love how you lead us.

On this day I also celebrate someone special to Sutton, Braden and I. My dad. 

To you dad, your compassion for those who are often forgotten exceeds my understanding. You are a role model beyond role models and someone I aspire to be like. You have done so much in your life and you only continue to do more. Your constant creativity and curiosity astounds me. You think outside of the box in everything that you do. You stand as a leader in the community, our family and the church. You speak with wisdom that has come from many years of experiences with God. On this day, you celebrate your first fathers day as a grandpa. Although skeptical at first of the thought of being old enough to be a grandpa, you have embraced it. You are a wonderful Papa to Sutton and I can't wait to see her grow and get to know you more, to see what you will teach her that we can't. Thank you for all the years you raised me, though it was often a challenge. 

On this day we also celebrate a life that was lived. My father-in-law, Sutton's grandpa who she will never know, and Braden's dad and hero, Grandpa Dan. Grandpa Dan, on this day we celebrate you, though we were a little bit sad when we woke up. We knew we had one less house to go to, one less card to give, and one less hug to receive. We know you are with Jesus but we sometimes wish you were here. Grandma Beth misses you so much and so do we. We know that you would have loved Sutton and we would have loved to see her being held in your big strong arms. Sutton would probably go on rides with you in the feed truck and go exploring with you around the farm. Although we know that there is season for everything under heaven and that it was your time to be with Jesus, we miss you. Happy Fathers Day to Grandpa Dan, for us who never met you, we wish we had, we know you were a great man. And Grandpa Dan, Sutton and I thank you for raising a husband and a daddy like Braden whom we love so much. 

We think of you every day

9 months with our little peanut

Oh sweet girl, how are we three months away from your first birthday? When did you become a little lady who all of a sudden has her own big personality?

It is such a joy to watch you grow. Your daddy and I's greatest joy, actually. We love you so very much, we love to see what you will do and the new things you will learn every single day. This is becoming such a fun stage of life. You are constantly aware of all of your surroundings and you take everything in and study everything, you can see your little brain constantly on the move. You always want to do and know what is next. What toy can you grab next, how fast can you take another bite of food, how many times can you go back and forth from mom to dad in a minute. You are a smarty pants, we see that already. Although everyone says this about their child, you really do catch on so quickly. You dance now where there is music, you wave if you feel like it, you clap when you think you did something awesome, you know what daddy means, you know to look straight to the nearest window when I say "big truck". You are loving table food, you would live on that solely if you could, you need to try every single food and drink we have.  You have also mastered drinking through a straw.

You love muffins

Mommas favorite time of the day with you is breakfast time, after you wake up and we get dressed and make our beds and tame that crazy hair of yours, then we sit together in the kitchen for a while and just relax and share breakfast, and of course watch the trucks out the window. You are completely obsessed with being outside, after a while in the morning you will literally whimper and cry to go outside. You love, love farm equipment and especially when your great uncles drive by in the noisy feed trucks, that is your absolute favorite thing to watch.

Seriously, how fun is it to have a girl? Matching toe nail polish!

You are getting so close to crawling, you have the idea you just cant coordinate your arms and legs at the same time yet. If you really need to get somewhere you will scoot yourself forward but a lot of the time you end up going backwards. You are getting pretty good and standing next to things also You love to take all of your toys out of your basket one at a time. You study each one, then set it down in a pile, you love to do this over, and over, and over. You are a bit clingy to me right now. You began a phase of thinking that if your momma is within sight and not holding you, that is a problem. I always thought it was cute and flattering when other kids were clingy to their parents but now that I am the parent I realize it gets tiring fast. When you sleep and when you sit, you like to cross your little feet, its so cute. You still fight taking naps quite often, you don't want to miss a single thing and if you think you're going to you wont sleep.

Watching trucks

So cute

Seriously, how cute are these little toes

I love how much you love life, sweet girl. I love to see a mix of Braden and I's personalities and looks in you, and a whole lot of personality of your very own. I love how much you love your momma and daddy. You are such a sweet girl, and our pride and joy. I have no idea how we filled all the time in our life before we had you. We love you baby girl.

Love,

Your momma

On a completely different note, if anyone out there loves Starbucks or any coffee shop like I do, you Need to try these Salted Carmel Cake Pops from Starbucks. I literally get one every time I am within distance of one now, SO so good.