Why are we always complaining about the "bad dads?" What about praising good ones? What about the ones who never took the easy way out. I'm here to praise the good dads, the ones who put their children first. Who grew the hell up and took on the responsibility to care for another human being that they helped make. So please let me say thank you to all the good dads out there, but my daughter's dad especially. Thank you for acting like a man and staying by our side through thick and thin.

You beat the odds. We beat the odds. Three years later you're still here. Loving me just as hard as you did day one. Loving our daughter just as much as you did the day I told you, you were going to be a daddy. You didn't leave us, not once. We were young and we had so much planned ahead of us and this wasn't one of them (this soon anyway.) But it happened, and it happened fast. Things changed every day, and every day became a new challenge. But you're still here and for that I have so much to thank you for.

Thank you for your patience. Pregnancy causes women to be on all kinds of crazy hormonal levels! We are growing a human, it's only natural to become a little bit exhausted and worn down. But only a mature man ready to take on the journey of being a dad will appreciate the changes a woman goes through and will only love her more through it all. Our bodies are changing and our hormones are raging. Thank you for being a man and loving me through the mood swings, the constant complaining, the growing stretch marks and the restless nights when I couldn't fall asleep.

Thank you for loving her even when she was still on the inside. All the fast food, the snicker bars, the ICEES, the countless water bottles I went through at night (sorry for spilling on you by the way), the fan always needed to be on, I had to pee every 15 minutes and I'm sure my morning sickness smelt great while I was hunched over the toilet every day. It was never ending, but you didn't end. You stayed right by my side through every step of the way.

And then, there she was. 8 lbs 9 oz of pure fast food (just kidding) but her rolls were luscious. I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted you to hold her first, and you did. As soon as you brought her over to me (I had a cesarean) I couldn't help but think of all the wonderful things she was going to do and be as she grew older. Little did we know our whole world was going to change. And oh boy did it.

Fast forward to the sleepless nights, the constant baby puke, the poopy diapers (it's your turn tonight by the way). The early mornings and the late night feedings. The tantrums, the time outs, the wonderful "terrible twos." You could have left, you could have walked right out the door. But you didn't. When things got tough, you loved us even harder. You did just as much as I did as a mom. You held my hand through every moment of every day, and you still do.

Now you hold our daughter's hand, too. Though every stage of life. You are her first love. Her first fishing buddy. Her first best friend. Thank you for loving me, and showing her how a woman should be treated. Thank you for your random acts of kindness and reminding me we weren't alone. Your heart is so pure and kind, but most of all gentle. It's sincere.

She's going to look up to you one day and realize how lucky she is when all her friends' fathers aren't in the picture. Let's face it this generation consists of the women falling in love with these guys, getting pregnant and thinking a baby will fix everything when it more than 85 percent of the time does the opposite... Then the guy leaves them in the dust.

And hey, I'm not going to lie this parenting shit is hard and there are plenty of times you probably wanted to give up on me and you didn't. You probably would have rather been duck hunting on some lake bright and early instead of waking up to give a bottle at 3am in the morning. You never once complained. You never once made me feel like we weren't worth your time or energy.

So, thank you for not taking the easy way out like most men do. Thank you for staying by my side when things got tough. Thank you for showing me a father can stay, and that a man can love just as hard as a woman can. Thank you for putting us first and above your needs. Thank you for showing the world that there is still good men and fathers out there.

You hold us together. You have and always will have the key to our hearts. You are an amazing human being. Thank you for walking through this crazy life with us. Because of you there are two girls in the world who will never go a day unhappy as long as they have you.

We love you through and through. Yesterday, today and tomorrow too.