He because a U. S. citizen on the same day his child was born. Roger Paez was surprised by his wife with their week-old baby after his boot camp training kept him hundreds of miles away in Illinois.
Ashleigh Rodriguez Paez, of Pensacola, Florida, gave birth to her daughter, Lyla Hadassah, on Feb. 1. Her husband, Roger Rodriguez Paez, who hails from Venezuela, officially became a U.S. citizen on the exact same day. He also graduated from boot camp this past Thursday.
Talk about major life milestones: Roger Rodriguez Paez became a father, a U.S. citizen and a Navy sailor all in a week's time.
Ashleigh said that both she and her husband were hoping for a baby girl. The couple did things the old-fashioned way — and waited to find out the gender of the baby until the big day."We didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl, but we both really wanted a girl," she said.
The first-time mom had a difficult delivery, but ultimately delivered a healthy baby girl. First checking in with medical professionals, Ashleigh Rodriguez Paez — who works as a labor and delivery nurse — decided to make the trek to see her husband after it was approved by her doctors. "They both were like, 'Yeah, that's fine. Just keep her covered. Don't let people come and touch her,'" she said.
On the day that Roger Rodriguez Paez graduated, the couple met at an airport in Chicago.
The touching video shows the couple embracing before the new dad held his daughter for the first time.
"When he saw us, he was running through the airport, and he gave me a hug," Ashleigh Rodriguez Paez said. "And then I gave him Lyla … It was magic in his eyes."
Photo: Ashley Paez