Dad life looks good on Tyler Hubbard.
The Florida Georgia Line singer-songwriter jokes that he and wife Hayley Hubbard have “turned into old people” since welcoming five-month-old daughter Olivia last December.
“We go to bed as soon as she’s out,” Tyler tells ET. “When 7:00 rolls around … it’s the best alarm clock ever. She’s so happy in the mornings, so that’s some of our favorite times.”
The Hubbards are fortunate enough to have the help of a night nurse to get some sleep as they adjust to their new life as a family of four. (The couple welcomed their beloved pooch, Harley, into the family back in 2014.) When the Hubbards invited ET into their Nashville home earlier this month, Harley and Olivia appeared to already be well on their way to BFF status.
Olivia was born on Dec. 23, 2017, coming home from the hospital on Christmas Day.
“I just remember looking at her, being like, ‘Holy cow, here we go! We are really doing this, there is, like, another human in our house,'” Tyler recalls. “It was pretty surreal.”
Hayley gushes that there was something “so attractive” about watching her husband adapt to fatherhood. She says that the most instant change she noticed was an increase in patience.
“It was kind of an overnight thing where [he] just realized things were going to take longer than they normally take,” she says. “But also just to watch [him], the way [he] looks at her and cares for her — it’s just special.“
And Tyler can’t help but sing Hayley’s praises as she adapts to motherhood.
“It’s just so cool to see the love of a mother and how the child comes first,” he says. “At first it was an adjustment for me, you know what I mean? It’s like, ‘Wait, you’re fixing a bottle, you’re not making me breakfast? What’s going on here?’ But man, there’s something so special and powerful about that and the connection that you get to experience. It kind of draws me even closer to Hayley just watching her be a mom. There’s a cool, new layer of intimacy all around.”
As FGL gears up to release new music — after a chart-topping foray into the pop world with Bebe Rexha on “Meant to Be,” the guys are finishing up their fourth studio album with Big Machine Records — Tyler says that his wife and daughter have inspired a new musical side of him.
“We’re kind of taking our time with this one, but we’re creating some cool moments and some cool songs and some cool collaborations,” he teases. “I would definitely say Liv had a huge influence on the content of the songs. There’s a song called ‘Women’ on there, which she and Hayley both inspired.
“But we still got the party jams!” he’s quick to add. “It’s not all sensitive.”
You won’t hear bandmate Brian Kelley complaining about Tyler’s newfound perspective. “He’s definitely more sentimental,” Kelley jokes, “which I think is good. He’s gonna have a bunch of hits, you know what I’m saying?!”
As for whether he and wife Brittney Marie Kelley are next on Nashville’s baby train, Tyler isn’t so sure.
“Every time I ask BK about it, he says he’s just going to stick to his dogs for a while,” Tyler says with a laugh. “That’s his go-to answer. He has his fur babies. And I will say that they’re great parents. That’s a lot of responsibility, as well. They’ve got four dogs and a lot going on. … They both say they want to have kids, so they probably will — it might just be a while. I told him no pressure. You better hurry! But no pressure.”
As for expanding their own family, the Hubbards are already thinking about giving Olivia siblings and they may take a cue from pal Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren.
“I think we’re going to end up — if it’s God’s plan — hopefully with three kids,” Tyler says. “We’ve talked about possibly adopting one day, as well. I don’t know if that will be the second or third kid, but we’re going to let a year or two go by, enjoy figuring out how to be parents and then see where it goes.”
The Hubbards were right by Rhett’s side as he and Lauren fought tirelessly to bring their daughter home from Uganda last year.
“We were kind of there in the middle of their situation when they were adopting Willa Gray. It’s definitely an inspiring situation,” Tyler says. “The love that they have for that little girl and that she has for them, it’s just so cool to see the difference you can make in somebody’s life.”
“They fought against all odds,” Hayley adds.
For more from inside the couple’s beautiful home and baby Liv’s sweet nursery, watch this week’s episode of Certified Country. Next week, we’ll talk fashion and good vibes with the Hubbards’ FGL counterparts, the Kelleys.