A Florida Airman stationed overseas had a once in a lifetime moment at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
Shannon Hutto met his 6-month-old baby, Addelyn, for the first time.
Addelyn’s family said she looks just like her dad, who was on a 7-month deployment in Kuwait with the U.S. Air Force military police.
"I am just overwhelmed with excitement, I mean I'm over here like, it's getting a lot hotter in here," said wife and mother Melanie Hutto.
Melanie waited at the airport with the couple's other two daughters, ages 10 and 5, and grandma Pamella Hutto.
"I am super excited because he's never met her,” said Pamella. “I FaceTimed him the first time I met her and I said ‘look, I'm getting all your sugar!’"
Even sweeter was the moment Shannon arrived home to finally hold his daughter. His eyes filled with tears and he kissed Addelyn’s cheek.
“I can't even speak right now,” said Shannon. "Extreme happiness, tears of joy."
Shannon said the last month of deployment had been the toughest.
“It seemed extremely long, so it slowed down a lot just wanting to come home every day and be with them," he said.
Until now, Shannon's only glimpses of his daughter have been over FaceTime. In fact, that's how he watched her birth. Still, as he held his daughter, it seemed as if the two had already met.
"I'm sure she's well aware of who he is,” said Melanie. “He sent me a video of him saying the nighttime prayer, and I would play that for them at night, and they would talk on FaceTime, he would talk to her and so he got familiar with his voice."
Shannon's now looking forward to spending time getting to know his new little girl. He will be on leave for two weeks before returning to duty for Air Force security at MacDill.