by Kristen Stamey

Created on: June 18, 2008

The day my daughter was born was the most wonderful day of my life. Of course you hear that sentence often but there isn't a person on Earth that can explain the feeling you have when you look in to your new-born child's eyes for the first time. The warm fuzziness; that feeling that says everything is right in the world. Not only does the warm feeling come but the overwhelming emotion of a need to protect and look out for that child is accompanied by the warmth. There isn't a love between two people that is as strong as the love of a parent to their child. I can tell you this because I saw my husband's eyes when our daughter was born and I'll never forget how surprised I was to discover that he was completely enthralled. In fact, I saw tears in his eyes when he first held her and looked at me and literally said, "I'm screwed." To him, this meant that he loved this new child so much that he knew that she would get away with things that she shouldn't, he'd spend more money then he should to see her smile, and that she was so special to him that she was bound to cause him heartache through out her life.

I'll never forget how he took care of her that first day when I was too medicated to move. He changed all of her diapers, fed her, showed her off to our family, and loved on her all day. In fact, he got so used to it that once I was able to hold her again he was resistant to letting her go. When a nurse came in stating that she needed to take the baby somewhere to get tested he would ask a million questions, "Why? When will she be back? Where is she going? I'm going with you!" He was so protective and concerned about her safety that he wouldn't spend a moment without her. His paranoia just put a big smile on my face because I could already see the day ahead of us when her first date would come to the house to pick her up. They'll be lucky if he isn't holding a shotgun in one hand and threatening their life if they don't have her back by 10.

Our daughter is two years old now and even though she can be quite challenging, I still see that sparkle in my husband's eyes when he sees her cut with scissors for the first time or tell him about how her day was and who she played with. I know he loves when she asks "Why?" or "Where you goin? What are you doin?" It's amazing to begin having conversations with this little child that was barely saying a word a year ago. My husband enjoys playing with leggos, singing and clapping to silly kid songs, and dancing after she has used the potty. I would have never imagined that the guy I met, the one that looked like he jumped off of the cover of GQ, that raced motorcycles, had more toys than God, and was a workaholic who wasn't sure about having kids, would ever enjoy having a child this much. This is the guy with a short temper who can't stand when someone acts less then extremely intelligent and is the most impatient person I've ever met; the guy who likes to be left alone and wants to do what he wants when he wants. Sure he still has these characteristics but he also has an extreme love for his baby girl and I have to say from observation, she has softened him up quite a bit!

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