One year of fatherhood for 'Gayby Boom' blog authors - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

As they sat on the queen size bed in the nursery they designed three years ago, Matt Burrus and Michael Pearce beamed at the little girl who moved in eight months ago.

"I think its largely what we expected," said Burrus.

Burrus is about to celebrate his first Father's Day as a dad to a baby girl named Estelle Lillian.

"Right now she's preferring Matt," said Pearce, Estelle's other dad. "I'm trying not to hold that against her because she doesn't know how awesome I am yet. I'm the one who buys her the baby Louis Vuitton purses."

FOX 26 News first introduced the couple behind the Houston Chronicle's Gayby Boom blog last year when they were waiting on Estelle's arrival, preparing her nursery, and stocking her closet full of designer shoes, dresses and yes, a baby Louis Vuitton handbag.   

Fast forward to present time, Estelle, along with her Louis Vuitton accessory, has already attended her first formal event.

As her dads prepared to celebrate their first Fathers Day together, the couple who married in Beverly Hills in 2008, shared their experiences as a same-sex couple embarking on first time parenthood.  

It hasn't been an easy road.

They experienced  the heartbreak of a failed adoption before they turned to a surrogate to realize their dream.

"I think we benefited somewhat from starting the blog before she was born ,"  Burrus said.  "We had this huge community of people telling us what to expect, and pretty much on point, it's been what they told us it would be."

"She's had her first tooth come in," said Pearce. "And she's learned to crawl which was a big deal for us."

Minus the designer threads, private jet rides, and upcoming plans celebrate her first birthday in Paris, Estelle really is just like any other diaper wearing baby.

But there is another obvious difference. Only one of her fathers, Michael, is a biological parent.        

Estelle is the center of a real life "Modern Day" family: a baby, same-sex parents, and a live-in nanny.  And she's a bit of a celebrity.  Her every move, whether it be rolling over for the first time or learning to crawl, is shared online, just like her fathers' road to parenthood.

There have been some not-so-nice observations along the way.

"The online comments have (settled down)," Burrus said.  "There are a few that still continue, but we largely ignore them. And there are a thousand good ones for every bad one."

There have also been a few awkward moments, especially when Estelle is out with her cousin-turned-nanny, Courtney Pearce.

"People will look at her and say, 'Oh, your daughter is beautiful' or 'She looks just like you'," Pearce said.

None of it is much of a bother.

"I think we have a really good dynamic in terms of them being the parent and me being the live-in nanny,"  Courtney said.  "They're amazing dads, and I couldn't imagine being a part of a different family."

It's a family that looks a lot like the one featured on a recent "Fathers Day" advertisement for retailer, JC Penney, one the couple jokes about, but also appreciates.

"I thought we were much cuter," Pearce said. "We could do a much better ad, right baby girl?"

"It's good for the rest of America to see we're not that scary,"  Burrus said.  " We're not different. We're legally married, at least in California and the other states that recognize it.  So we're old fashion that way. We got married first before we had the baby."

And they're ready for baby number two.

Estelle's parents have already asked her surrogate to carry another a child.  

"They are (ready),"  Courtney laughed.  "I'm a little bit nervous dealing with two.  But, I mean, bring it on."

"Everybody comes about their family however they come about it,"  Burrus said.  "But, I mean, we actively chose to have her, and had to go through great lengths to have her.  So the fact we have her now really has completed our family- at least for now."

On the web: http://blog.chron.com/gaybyboom/