A Father's Love

I can't believe I am in my 3rd trimester.  Have been for a couple weeks now, but still.  Crazy to think in a mere 2.5 months, our daughter Evangeline, will be out in the world for us to love on and take care of.    Even more impressive is the fact that God is trusting such precious cargo in our hands!  I am so thankful to have Derek by my side as we go through this parenthood journey together.

In all honesty, it has been him who has gotten me over the terrified hump and into the excitement of being a mommy.  From the start, he has had a smile on his face.  He smiled and hugged me when he saw my test's two pink lines, he shouted out on Facebook that he's "going to be a dad!",  and has reassured me weekly, if not daily, that we will be taken care of and things will fall into place once she arrives.

I know I love my husband.  I have for the last six years.  But in these last few months, I have grown an entirely different kind of love towards him.  One with more respect and awe as he receives parenthood with open arms.  Any time I have been unsure about this journey, he takes my hand and calms my mind.

Just last week we had our elective 3D ultrasound.  As soon as the technician began searching for Evie's face, Derek took my hand.  Just getting to see her and what she's looking like brings a smile to his face and a tear to my eye.

He is going to shoot me for sharing this, but it's too cute not to share.  We also purchased a heartbeat animal, where they record the baby's heartbeat and place the recording inside of a stuffed animal - in our case, an elephant.

After getting home and getting into bed, Derek quietly asked me, "do you have the elephant?"

"No, it's out in the living room."

Silence….

"Do you want me to go get it?"

"...Yes?"

So I got out of bed to grab the elephant.  When I came back into the room, I told him I secretly wanted to sleep with it too but didn't want to be the weird married girl sleeping with a stuffed animal!  He smiled, wrapped his arms around the elephant, squeezed it to hear her heartbeat, and proceeded to fall asleep.

Best daddy moment ever.

I truly cannot wait to see how he is with Evangeline.  Forget trying to fend off the moms, I'm probably going to have to pry her away from her daddy to get some baby time!  Aside from dry heaving while changing dirty diapers, I think he is going to make a phenomenal father.  I can't wait to witness it :)