Thomas Rhett Says He Was ‘Completely Unprepared’ for Two Daughters

Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins officially became parents to two daughters under the age of two with the birth of baby Ada James in August, and the country singer shared at a recent media event that he and his wife were “completely unprepared” for the change.

“When you step into immediately having a 16-month-old — I feel like I know how to deal with 2-year-olds pretty accurately now, but an infant is a whole different story, because when they cry, you don’t fully know why they’re crying,” Rhett said, via The Boot. “And I have not been a very good ‘make you stop crying’ dad. It’s been a huge adjustment, but we’re having a blast. We’re very blessed to have two beautiful girls.”

Rhett and Akins also adopted daughter Willa Gray from Uganda, bringing their eldest home in the spring. Because the toddler had plenty of alone time with her parents before her baby sister was born, Rhett explained that he makes an intentional effort to make sure Willa Gray knows nothing has changed when it comes to how much her parents love her.

“You just kind of have to be aware of it,” the singer explained. “If I’ve been holding Ada for an hour, it might be time to pass her off to Lauren and really go spend some intentional time with Willa Gray. It’s easy to give all your time to an infant, because they can’t physically do anything on their own; Willa can watch a movie or do whatever. I’ve had to make sure I spent that hardcore intentional time with Willa, whether it’s taking her to the park or to get ice cream or whatever it is, just to show her that it is completely equal and balanced.”

Rhett recently released his newest album, Life Changes, and while Willa Gray earned a few references on the LP, the singer shared that his next batch of songs will see more of his daughters’ influence.

“Doing [Life Changes], I felt like I dabbled in writing about how my kids have influenced my life, but now, it’s really set in,” he said. “There’s so many titles in my phone that I’ve just got from watching Willa Gray walk around or be in a car seat, or watching Ada, her sleep patterns. There’s just random things that have definitely caught my attention through my kids that I never thought of that way to write that song. I’m really excited to get in the room and try to hash out whatever is going on in my head.”

Photo Credit: Instagram / @laur_akins