Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins Shares Daughter Willa’s First Days Home

It truly is a whole new world for Willa Akins after moving halfway across the world from Uganda to her adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee, with proud parents Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins.

Adapting to the new normal of home, Willa is slowly but surely learning the ways of her parents by experiencing all of the different traditions that Americans waft through every day. While she may be 7,000 miles away from where she was born, Lauren planned ahead to reassure she wasn’t leaving out any part of Willa’s home to find comfort within her new life.

“I got to know that culture, and the kids sort of became my family 7,000 miles away,” Lauren said to People of her time spent in Uganda during the adoption process and trips with 147 Million Orphans. “Now that we’ve got our little girl and her roots and blood are there, there’s a new meaning to it.”

Rhett and his family, though, are starting to notice the subtle changes that even Willa doesn’t miss out on from even the simplest motion of sitting in a car seat for their expressive toddler.

“As bad as it is, they don’t do the whole car-seat thing in Uganda,” Rhett explained. “So when they first buckled Willa in to take her home, ‘She’s like, ‘Why are these straps over my shoulders? Why am I being locked into this weird contraption?’”

Although Willa arrived before her little sister, who is due later this year, she also had to get used to two other creatures running around the house causing chaos, which she had never seen until moving to the States.

“Willa has never seen dogs before and we have two big ones,” said the singer. “They are so sweet, but it’s been hilarious watching her try to pet them.”

While the couple admits to the typical new-parent exhaustion that comes with the territory of raising a child, they wouldn’t have it any other way as they give their love to Willa and prepare for their upcoming bundle of joy.