Dear Holly: Your Warmie Scarlette’s Birthday Party

9 years, 6 months.

Dear Holly,

You and your cousin Darla had been making plans all last week, leading up to the sleepover you had at her house; which took place Friday night as Mommy and I went to Nasvhille to see Bryan Adams in concert… for a 2nd time.

One of the main events for the sleepover was that you hosted a “birthday party” for your newest Warmie, a parot named Scarlette.

It was so sweet how you crafted a gift bag for Scarlette and carefully made a customed birthday card for her, in which you referred to yourself as “Mom”.

I love it!

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: A Dad’s Letter to His Son on His 14th Birthday

14 years old!

Dear Jack,

Here recently, you have been making a point to reminisce with Mommy and me regarding your childhood memories; specifically the ones that now fall into the personal nostalgia category in your brain.

It got me thinking: What exactly were we doing a decade ago, since that is the point in time you have been referring to?

Whatever you were doing 10 years ago, I was doing too. My life is undeniably in tandem with yours.

So I decided to go back through my old letters to you from a decade ago; to the Fall of 2014.

I had just finished my 3 year stint as the officially daddy blogger of Parents magazine, but we were still being sent new vehicles for our family to review on my website. So I took a lot of pictures of our family wherever we went.

And by “our family”, I simply mean you, Mommy and me. Your sister was not even a thought yet. At that point, Mommy and I still assumed you would be an only child.

We were having our “new” house built and in the process of moving out of our townhome.

You were really into Legos, trains and superheroes.

It makes me feel good that as you look back on these memories, you remember your childhood as a fun, warm, and safe place to return to.

Because… I’m sort of responsible for that. I want you to feel solid in knowing that you have been raised, and will continue being raised, in a loving, encouraging, and empowering household where it is our intent to make life meaningful and create beautiful experiences.

Happy 14th birthday!

Love,

Daddy

On My Wife’s 43rd Birthday, Looking Back on When We Were in Our 20s

As we still continue to “pare down” our belongings from the move to Alabama, I came across a stack of the customized calendars I would make for my wife and I each month to keep at our desks at work, back during the first decade of the 2000’s.

It’s funny to think that there were a couple of years before we were married, before I started blogging, running my YouTube channel, and regularly writing new songs, that I would instead use my creativity to craft monthly calendars featuring pictures of what we had done together the month before.

Today my wife joins me in turning 43 years old. (I’m 113 days older than her.)

It has been interesting to look back through these now “old” photos of us when we were in our 20s! I was 27 and she was about to turn 27 when we got married in 2008.

These calendars stopped before we ever reached our 30s; in the 2010s. Two reasons: One is because we became parents at age 29. The other is that I began focusing on my role as Parents magazine’s daddy blogger.

So much has happened in our lives since I stopped making these calendars. We lived through our entire 30s- and as of today, we are a third of our way through our 40s.

Through all the stress that came with putting our Tennessee home on the market this year, finding a new home in Alabama, and making the move across state lines, it’s really rewarding to be able to stop for a minute and look through these old pictures of us.

It’s like I’m able to see our lives together from a 3rd party’s perspective looking in:

“Wow, we’ve shared an amazing life together so far. This is really nice. We both made a really good choice when we chose each other back in 2007.”

Happy Birthday Jill!

 

Dear Holly: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter on Her 7th Birthday

7 years old today!

Dear Holly,

Thinking back to seven years ago on the day you were born and how I imagined you would be as a little girl, I would say my predictions were spot on.

You are so joyful, so adventurous, and so sweet.

After all, your middle name is Joy, and you have definitely lived up to that name!

I am actively reminding myself now that my youngest child is 7 years old, this is basically the last call for certain things a kid will do in my house.

Like last week when you turned a shipping box in to a car, using your imagination.

I cherish every moment I have with you. I celebrate your childhood. I don’t take having a beautiful young daughter for granted.

Hapy 7th Birthday!

I love you so much!

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter on Her 6th Birthday

6 years old today!

Dear Holly,

You are so excited about today!

You are finally 6 years old.

We had such a fun birthday party for you at your gymnastics center yesterday.

You love your gymnastics- that is such a big part of who you are right now.

I am so happy to see you at this age. You and I are totally buddies!

Not only do we love to play chess, checkers, and Rummy together…

But you’re also the only person in our house who not only is willing to watch Star Wars movies with me- and actually enjoys it!

Happy Birthday, Holly!

I love you!

 

Love,

Daddy