Goodbye November

Tummy Time

the first few days

There's been quite a few moments over the past three days where I've been left wondering how we're going to survive without Gregory. So many times already have I wished he were here.

Like the middle of the night bottle feeding where I'm stumbling around exhausted and only realize half way thru the bottle that I completely mix matched the bottle and the nipple (which amazingly didn't leak) and that her "burp cloth" is really a pair of her jammies.

Or when the corpsman asked me to help hold her arms down so he could give her the vaccines without her swiping at the needles :(

(How could I not feel bad for helping hurt this precious little face?!)

Or perhaps when I tried unsuccesfully to take a picture of her poor little bandaided legs only to capture her projectile vomit forever on film.

And definitely when I moved the last of our things to storage and felt like I was closing the door on our lives together for the next six months. And yes I know we are still "together" but it's hard knowing you can't be "together"- meaning together in the same place or even on the same continent.

So despite the few times I've felt like curling up into a little ball and simply hibranating until he returns, overall Mayson and I have been doing okay. We made the six hour trip to North Carolina with no casualties (even the fish made it, lol), I officially turned thirty (yikes) and we've already got to skype several times with the hubby- Mayson staring and "talking" to her daddy on the screen (priceless!)

All in all we survived the first few days of deployment unscathed. Even if we are missing our favorite guy like crazy.

loving and leaving

I didn't realize how hard this would be. People love to say that a picture is worth a thousand words and while that may be true, don't let the fact that this one is worth a mere two hundred and seventy-two dull the emotion it captured...

I hope that as Mayson grows she'll always know how lucky she is to have such an amazing daddy. As a girl with a pretty amazing father herself I know how easy it is to take for granted what so many little girls aren't lucky enough to have.

Mayson Pearl,

May you never forget that you are truly blessed to have a dad who has loved you since you were a mere dot on an ultrasound screen. 

Who talked to you daily before you were even born.

Who was by your side for your first 24 hours of life when your mommy couldn't be.

A dad who fed you your first bottle.

Changed your first diaper.

And was the first person to really hold you in his arms.

For your first two months of life your daddy never hesitated to help take care of you.

He comforted you when you cried.

Laughed when you nearly pooped on him for the 20th time.

And made sure mommy never forgot that you smiled at him first!

You'll spend the next six months without him, but I guarantee that not a day will go by where he won't miss you. He went away because he had to, not because he wanted to. One day you will be older and perhaps you will see for yourself what I know to be true.

Your daddy shed quite a few tears for you today.

He had to force himself to give you back to mommy and watch us walk away.

And that's because your daddy loves you more than 272 words or a picture could ever express.