Father's Day 2011

I love Father's Day!  I am the luckiest girl in the world-I found my perfect match in high school.  We became the best of friends and have always had the most fun together.  We have been through much of our "growing up" experiences together.  We have made good decisions and bad decisions together.  But perhaps the most important thing we have done is the decision to start a family. 
We always knew we would have kids-it was never a question.  But the moment Connor was born changed our lives forever.  I watched Ryan change into a father instantly.  It is something I'll never fully to be able to explain into words, but a change I will never forget.  When he laid eyes on Connor, his world was turned upside down in the best way possible.  He has always been there to change diapers in the middle of the night, get cranberry juice while I was nursing, comfort me while I cried (happily) for no reason.  He has cheered Connor on through ever new step in his life.  He encouraged him to roll over and manned the video camera to capture it on tape.  He laughed as Connor did his "superman".  He stayed home for a couple weeks while I went back to work to bond with his son.  He has been there for his tumbles, his tears, and his triumphs every step of the way.  Now, he hurries home from work to wrestle with Connor and spend every second he can with him before it's time for bed.  He takes him outside to swing and blow bubbles, and shows tremendous patience when whining takes place and tantrums are thrown. 
The point is...he's not just a father, he's a Daddy.  He is Connor's favorite man in the world, the person Connor will look up to all of his life. 


So, we made sure Ryan knew just how much he was loved this weekend (or at least that was the goal!).  He works so hard at his job every day to support us, and often works just as hard around the house on the weekends.  This weekend, we found someone to come do the front, back and side yards.  It's a TON of work!  We had many bushes and plants that needed some help from the winter freeze, and it's hard for Ryan to keep up.  Ryan supervised, and was amazed at how quickly they worked and what a great job they did.  He would have been out there all weekend for two weeks in a row to do what they had done in 3 hours.  Whew!  He loved it!
The morning of Father's Day, I let Ryan sleep in and when he got up I made coffee and pancakes (a specialty of mine, not to brag!  I just love pancakes, what can I say!)-some with blueberries and some with bananas (and chocolate chips for me).  He opened his presents-two new books to read to Connor that teach him about basketball, a picture collage of the two of them, and a stepping stone with Connor's cute footprint in it for his nice, clean yard!  Then we got ready and went to the Diamondbacks game!  Ryan's sister and husband invited us along to a friends' suite for the game, which was perfect for Connor, their little one, Jack, and Ryan's oldest sisters' kiddos, Alyssa and Brendan to run around the room and play while still watching the game.  It was AWESOME!  A great day with family, kids, hot dogs, popcorn and baseball!  (even if the dbacks did lose!)
We came home and played some more before heading out to Ryan's favorite BBQ place, Bobby Q's.  PS-I'm so glad I made a reservation.  That place was packed!  We had some yummy bbq, and I even let Ryan pick dessert.

Ryan said he felt the love, so I think we did our job.  I sure hope he knows how much he is loved and appreciated by us every day.  I don't know what we would do without him!