Happy Father's Day

I really do believe that being a parent brings out some of our best traits, and this has been the case for Matt ever since we found out we were pregnant.  Matt has always been caring and kind, but his kindness rose to an even higher level as he told James stories, read the scriptures and sang him songs while I was pregnant and once he was born.  Even when I was pregnant, if Matt didn't sing James to bed at night, James would kick my stomach as hard as he could until Matt finally "tucked him in."  Matt is very protective, but having James helped him to acknowledge his role as a provider and protector and renew his dedication to our family.  He's always known he had a significant role as a Priesthood holder and Patriarch, but he fully embraced those roles as soon as James was born.  He's always been patient, but his level of patients has been magnified as he watches James grow.

Matt and James have an exceptional relationship where they are Daddy and son, but also Best Buddies.  They listen to 70's rock music together and sway to the music.  They both hate Country music, much to my chagrin.  There are several nights where I check on both of them in the middle of the night and they are sleeping in the exact same position; hands behind their head, one knee bent up in the air.  They constantly read stories together and laugh together.  They tickle one another and build block towers and castles.  They sing together and sit on the balcony together to watch the leaves blow.  When James was born, he immediately started crying and screaming his dislike of the circumstances, but Matt walked close to him and said "James, it's Daddy" and just the sound of his voice caused James to go quiet and stare in Matt's direction.  From that moment, they were inseparably connected as Daddy and son.

 James and I wanted to show Daddy how much he meant to us, so "we" colored several Potato Head coloring pages with examples of things Daddy does for us that makes us happy. After we colored them, we taped them up all over the dining room so Daddy would see 30 things that made him the Best Dad Ever!

Daddy decided this summer that he wanted to focus on eating healthy, so James and I got him some "healthier" goodies to enjoy!  We got him his favorite dried pineapple, cranberry granola, Bosco pears and smoked almonds.  To make him feel extra special, we got him a copy of Bethesda Magazine so he could read the local restaurant reviews in the greater DC area.  Ironically, this hobby started in the doctor's office when we were pregnant with James because it was the only magazine that didn't include "girly gossip."  We also got Daddy a recipe magazine of several summer crock-pot recipes.  Daddy is learning to love the crock-pot lately, so this gives him a new set of recipes to jazz up.  It also might have been a bit of a selfish present for us! 

We spent the day cuddling and watching all of Daddy's favorite Superhero movies.  We started with Iron Man, moved on to The Avengers, watched the Batman Begins movies and then threw in a twist with Enchanted (which isn't really a superhero movie).  It was so much fun to cuddle and relax while we showed Daddy how important he is to us.  

Happy Father's Day