Happy Father's Day!

I love my dad.  A couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that he would love to see pictures of my growing belly.  I figured that Father's Day was as good as time as any to share some pictures with him.  And since I shared them with him...I might as well share them with you all as well:

Side note:  this was taken about two weeks ago (before my husband left), so I've grown a bit since.  Everyone keeps saying that I'm small for being due in Septembmer, but my doctor assured me that I'm measuring exactly where I need to be.

Back to Father's Day stuff--I really do love my dad.  Since he's a pastor, he had the flexibility of setting his own schedule--which means that he was able to volunteer in my class a lot when I was really little, coach my softball and soccer teams, and was always there for us when we needed him.  He often had to work in the evenings, but always made it home in time to read to us before bed--and continued to do so until my youngest brother graduated from high school.  My love of sports comes from him, and I fondly remember listening to Pac-10 football games on the radio en route to Saturday afternoon soccer games (long before Cal ever had a decent program).  He also helped me to appreciate camping out the outdoors (though much of that is credited to my mom as well).  And yes, my frugal ways come from him as well.  I truly love him, and am honored to be his daughter.

They say that you typically end up marrying someone who is similar to your father.  In some ways, yes--my husband is so much like my dad.  He is honest, sincere, works hard, values family, and loves baseball.  But in other ways, my husband is very different.  Though he genuinely loves me, he sometimes lacks the sensitivity that is so characteristic of my dad.  Last year on Father's Day, shortly after our third loss, my husband confessed that he doesn't consider himselt to to a "father".  This broke my heart--because I felt that if he wasn't a father...then I couldn't be a mother.  And I did consider myself to be a mother--from the day I found out I was pregnant.  Today in church, the worship leader asked all the fathers to raise their hands.  This time, to my delight, my husband raised his hand in recognition of his role.  Based on our conversation from last year, I didn't go overboard this year in planning anything special for him for Father's Day...but I have agreed to cook lasagna for dinner for him tonight in celebration.

So to all of the dads out there on Father's Day--both those who have raised us and those who will help raise our children--Happy Father's Day.  And to my dad and the soon-to-be dad of our Baby Girl--I love you both.

Today my blessing is having my husband home after being gone for two weeks for his Army Reserve obligations.  We were a little bit concerned that he might not make his connecting flight last night, but it all worked out.  Sadly, he refuses to kiss me and opted to sleep on the couch since I'm still coughing like crazy...but it was nice to cuddle with him last night and this morning, and to just know that he's here.  He leaves again on Tuesday for a short trip for work, so I just want to cherish the short time that I have with him.