Rus the Dad

(Younger Rus and Keri, baby #1 due any day)

Rus always says he was trying for a teen pregnancy when he married me. He jests...I might have been a newly-wed nineteen-year-old, but twenty was only a few months away and babies take longer to cook than that. I still remember his reaction when I told him I was pregnant - I now realize he was in shock, but at the time his lukewarm enthusiasm was confusing. I didn't know that his first thoughts would be about how he would support our young family - a crushing responsibility when you're years away from starting a career. But...I knew how much he wanted to be a dad, and I knew what a great dad he would be.
And I was right.
Almost eight years ago Rus became a brand new daddy. Here he is, only a day into Dad-hood with baby Bekah. Just look at that swaddle.

Already the love of my life, it turned out that Rus-the-Dad was even more fun than I could imagine. He was the instant swaddle-pro, the baby shusher, the champion of late night poopy diapers. Rus-pre-daddy was a great napper, but Rus-the-Dad was a baby whisperer who loved (and still loves) nothing more than napping with a sleeping baby on his chest. He got this rocking chair/recliner for Father's day right before I had Bekah, and he's napped with babies in it ever since.

And Rus didn't just tiptoe into the great pool of father-hood - he dove...He was the baby backpack dad, the "let's take this little girl four wheeling/hiking - she'll love it" dad.

(Rus and Bekah with Clint and Marcy going to a Diamondbacks Game. Bekah was only a few weeks old - notice the chicken legs.)

(Rus on a hike with Bekah, sorry, rotate your head)

He was the first person to make Bekah laugh, a fact that still irks me a little bit. :)
And then came Jacob

And Beau

And now Marianne.

Some things I love about how Rus is a dad:
He loves to pay the kids quarters for foot massages.
He loves to wrestle with the boys. It's becoming more of a workout - Beau is rough.
He is selling his motorcycle so he can buy a vehicle like a baja bug to take his kids out in - how cool is that.
He calls Bekah "Pumpkin," Marianne "Buggy," and the boys "Buddy."
He gets a kick out of Marianne smiling at him. It makes him giddy.
He already has plans for a shotgun for Bekah's 16th birthday (or was it 13th? 12th?)
He also has plans for the kids' vehicle - a bug, because it can't go over 65mph, it's small so lots of kids can't ride in it, and it's easy to fix
He is always willing and worthy to give his kids priesthood blessings.
Happy Father's Day, Rus! Thank you for being a great dad and a great example.