first dad's day at n.bristol ave

today is father's day!!!  this is the very first time we've celebrated this wonderful holiday in our house.  i have to say, i think the Mr. had a pretty swell first father's day.  E is obviously the best gift ever... but we went one step further {more to come}.  here's how we started off our father's day WEEKEND (it is the first one, so we are going all out):

The Decorations

found the cute tie banner at ShinDig Parties To-Go

these tie tags are also from ShinDig Parties To-Go

ryan laughed when he walked in, but that means he likes it, right? RiGhT? i think he was actually wondering how i spend my days at home... now he knows.  to get him to find the beers in the fridge, i asked him to grab me the veggie tray to snack on.  then i waited... i heard him laugh (again, he likes it, right?) and i laughed too.  maybe it's cheesy, but i wanted to make his first father's day memorable.  mission: accomplished!  

i did carry his child for {almost} nine months and endured a major surgery to get her here, not to mention have to watch everything i ate while she was "cooking" ...but hey, who's keeping tabs.  no, i really am just kidding.  i wanted a baby as bad as him.  i actually really liked being pregnant. i'd omit some things {drinking water until my eyeballs were floating, cutting back on my beloved coffee and dr. peppers, nixing sushi, carpal tunnel in both hands, and difficulty sleeping the last three months} that happen to women during pregnancy, but overall, i rate my experience an A.  the sacrifices we women make... oh, this post is about Father's Day, right, oops.  

now on to the 'Gift'.  the Mr. has been really wanting to get a new tattoo.  yes, tattoo.  he's really looking to get his ears pierced too, and have the holes stretched with those big ring things.  uh... just kidding.  well, just kidding about the piercings.  he has talked about the tattoo since E was a few weeks old.  she is the only girl that he would tattoo her name on his body... makes this wifey feel special.  well, not really her name, so much as her initials.  oh and his other 'l.o.v.e.', the mountains.  here's the before:

he already had one tattoo. Alpha and Omega with a cross on top.

i think he thought if he got a tattoo with Christian significance, his mom wouldn't be SO mad if/when she found out.  i should go ahead and tell you the story of the first tattoo.  go ahead and grab some ice tea and a snack, this is a good story. 

it all started at 5th and West, that's the house the Mr. shared with four other dudes in college.  on the front porch at 5th and West, 'the dudes' all schemed a way to get tattoos.  you see, at the time, it was illegal to run a tattoo parlor in the great state of OK.  Soooo, 'the dudes' jumped in the car one Spring evening and started driving to... KS.  yes, just driving to KS with no particular tattoo shop in mind.  reaching a small town right over the border, 'the dudes' cruise down Main St.  spotting two tattoo shops, they were getting very anxious.  unfortunately, both were closed.  feeling somewhat defeated, they slid back into the car for the hour and 15 minute drive back to campus.  along the way they stop at a gas station in Ponca City, for snacks.  as they are waiting at the register, they are talking about their misfortune, and how disheartened they all were that they were going back to school with no body art.  low and behold, the man behind the register was not just a Quik-E-Mart employee, but their knight in shining armor.   he claims to be the nephew of a tattoo artist.  he offers to call his uncle and set up a time he will drive to Stillwater and give 'the dudes' in-home tattoos.  illegal by the way.  {sounds safe, right?  it did to 4 college guys}.  

skipping back to the car with wild abandon, 'the dudes' finish the drive home.  they tell all their friends that a real live tattoo artist is going to come to 5th and West to give them tattoos.  the envy of the fraternity, other guys wanted to get some ink too.  a couple days later, Hawkeye made it to Stillwater.  yes, you read that right, the tattooing uncle's name was Hawkeye!  {yep, the college guys still think it sounds safe}.  one 'dude' gets his name in russian on his back, another gets the secret fraternity creed, and my hunny bunny gets Alpha and Omega together with a cross.  {there were others getting inked, but their tatttoos won't make the story}.  i like saying inked.  i digress.  my hunny bunny also decides not to share his new mark with his parents.  not only did he manage to keep it a secret from them for nearly 7 years, but when they finally found out, it was his 5 year old niece that spilled the beans.  he was outed by a 5 year old.  ryan actually tried to convince her it was a sticker for about an hour, but her momma didn't raise no fool and she wasn't falling for it.  she even got a my little pony sticker, put it on her back and went around the house saying she had a tattoo just like uncle ryan.  it was cute.  i was giggling internally at the fact that his long kept secret was no more.  he had to come clean. 

** i promise the above mentioned story is 100% true!!! no joke, it really happened, and no names were changed to protect the innocent. ** 

now on to the 2nd tattoo.  you already know it's our daughter's initials, but i documented as much of the event as possible.  i was solely thinking about sharing this on here.  as it's a little inappropriate to take a baby to a tattoo shop, oh and there was a sign on the door that said NO CHILDREN;  i waited in the car with E. here's what we saw from the car:

proof we didn't take our child in a tattoo shop

although, i'd do different things to generate curb appeal, this is a far cry from the living room of a rental property with Hawkeye.  i think it's safe.  as i am a planner, i called in advance to schedule a time.  6:30pm with Roger... alright, let's do this.  well, Roger had other plans.  he double booked himself, so Ryan had the luck of getting tattooed by... oh yea, he didn't catch his name.  anonymity seems to be my husbands preference.  i would have found out his name, how long he'd been tattooing, and even where he was from, but not Ryan.  get in, get a tat, and get out.  simple man.  okay, so here's how it looks two days later: 

his skin is still a little angry with him, so the red/orange color will go away

the rest of the weekend was laid-back.  we played with the babe, listened to some Telluride Bluegrass Festival on the computer, enjoyed a drink on the back deck, and ate some sushi.  it was a great first father's day!  with the bar set high, i have given him big expectations for next year.  hope i can come through.  

lastly, i HAVE to share my parents' gift with you all too.  it's pretty great.  a leather bracelet and silver case:

how cool!  i want one too.

has E's name, DOB, and says " i love you Daddy"

the 'rents did great!  good thing i supported the tattoo, because any other gift would have been out done by this bracelet.  

up next, our anniversary!  3 years ya'll (said with Paula Dean accent)!  i will share some photos from our time together and of course, pics from the wedding.  hope everyone had a great time celebrating father's day with the father's in their lives.  it's amazing for me to see how awesome the Mr. is as a dad.  i can't think of a better man to share my life with.  he's a great person, husband, and dad!!!  i {l.o.v.e} you, ryan.  thanks for allowing me to share your first father's day with friends, family, and perfect strangers.  

Tara