Daddy's Girls

For most women, when they get married, they don't know for sure what kind of father their spouse is going to make. It's a chance that they take, hoping that he's going to play an active part in the raising of their children (even if he is the full-time "breadwinner" of the household). They can only wish that he is attentive to the needs of the children and fills in both as an authority figure, but also as a gentle and nurturing caregiver.

I was one of those women. And I can say with utmost confidence that I am so lucky -- Steve is a wonderful father to our girls. In fact, I sometimes just sit back and watch in complete amazement just how patient he is with them, and how easily they respond to him.

Probably one of the biggest moments of Steve's life was the day that he became a father ...

He was equally excited over the birth of his second daughter. After all, by then, he had learned just how much Sam adored him, and he was ready to love another little girl just as much.

One of the best decisions that we ever made was to have me continue to teach a couple nights a week, after the girls were born. I am home all day with the girls while Steve works full-time, and then those two nights a week, he is charge for a couple of hours while I teach. Those couple of hours that he has all alone with the girls have made all of the difference in the world. They adore him and all of the activities that he does with them while I am gone.

One night, he set up a tent in our living room. The girls LOVED it!

He even set up chairs inside for the girls (and cats too, I guess):

********************

One day, I took this little cutie with me to go shopping:

Sam was insistent that she wanted to stay with her dad and help do some building down in the basement:

After a while, I guess they took a break ... and Steve showed Sam how to make "slime."

She had such a good time:

********************

We recently learned that Sophia LOVES to swing. She giggles and giggles!

********************
And she loves footballs (well, any kind of ball, really -- it was her first word):

Yes, a little too big for her, but Daddy was happy to oblige. As usual!

********************

And finally, we went down to the lake the other night. The weather has been so nice here, so Steve grabbed his fishing pole ... just to see if any fish were biting. He caught three of them and Sam was so excited about it.

So, the next thing that I knew, Steve informed me that he ran out and bought Sam her first fishing pole.

The girls have Steve wrapped right around their little fingers, and this Momma couldn't be any happier about that. He has never raised his voice in anger toward either of them, and he is just firm enough to let them know when he "means business."

Samantha still runs from one end of the house to the other when she hears him come home. And now Sophia scrambles as fast as she can to greet him, as well. Sophia squeals EVERY TIME she sees him -- EVERY TIME!

And Steve loves every minute of it!