Happy 1st Father's Day

Dear Matt,

Happy 1st Father's Day!! You have already blown me away with your natural-born fathering instincts. You are so wonderful with both babies and it makes my heart smile to see you talk and coo (yes, coo!) with our children. You never complain about diaper changes, feedings, cleaning bottles, or lack of sleep. You have been such a trooper in helping me out with late-night feedings and allowing me to nap when I need to.

I love seeing how you have grown as a person, husband, and father these past 2 weeks. I feel like I truly won the lottery to have such an amazingly supportive partner in this roller coaster ride called parenthood. Thank you for letting me lean on you for support the past 9 months. You never once told me to be quiet when I complained for the 1,000th time that my back hurt, or my belly itched, or that I had heartburn, or couldn't sleep. And now that the babies are here, you have been here 150% as I have recovered from the c-section.

Your father would be SO proud of you - and proud to see what a great father you have become. I know he is smiling down on you today. May you remember him with a fond heart today and have tears of laughter instead of sadness. I know all of the "firsts" (1st birthday without dad, 1st father's day, etc) are not easy. I hope you find comfort in life coming full circle, and where there can be death and sadness, inevitably new life and happiness always follows. I am so glad that Ryan seems to have some resemblance to your dad & I hope you find that comforting as well. His legacy lives on, as does the love he had for you.

And of course, today we remember my father -- this will be the fourth Father's Day without him. Yet I remember his last Father's Day with us like it was yesterday. Forever grateful for the memories. I was blessed to have him as a father and I pray that he is tickled looking down on us and see us stumbling through the parental maze. If we can be half of the parents that our dads were to us, our kids will be immensely blessed. May we always share memories of our dads with Ryan and Quinn so they will know how special their grandfathers were and how powerfully they loved.

Love you, honey. Hope you have a wonderful 1st Father's Day. Thank you for being the man that you are and helping our dreams of parenthood come true.

All my Love,