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Waiting to go home and see my baby!

I had to attend a conference in Quantico, VA this past week.  I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the six hour drive, but I was especially not looking forward to being gone from Owen for a week.  Though I am in the military and am used to deployments, this past week marked the first time I was away from my baby boy.  I kind of looked at this conference as a trial run, to see how Owen and I did apart.

Even though we were separated, I called my wife once or twice a day, usually before he or I went to bed.  My wife would put me on speaker phone and I would talk to Owen to see how he would react.  My wife said that Owen would stare at the phone and flail his arms around in excitement.  She even sent me a few photos of Owen grabbing his feet, playing with his new stuffed animal, and sitting his in Bumbo chair.

I know there are probably some readers out there that have dealt with multiple deployments away from their children.  Unfortunately for me, I am going to join the legions of husbands/fathers that will have to go through deployments away from the family.  I recently decided to stay in the military; prior to this, we were going to get out and move back to California.  I’m not excited about spending 7-12 months away from my family, so I’d love to get some feedback on how some of the other dads have dealt with it.  I’ve seen the bears where you can record your voice so your son/daughter can hug the bear and it talks to them or I’ve known dads to go old school and record tapes for their son/daughter to watch.

How have you dealt with being separated from your children?

Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O.  I swear that song, amongst others, is always somewhere in the back of my head.  I constantly sing songs with Sayle, especially when I’m trying to distract him from getting into something.  We sing the ABC song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Baby Shark, but Sayle’s favorite in definitely Old MacDonald.  His eyes light up as he starts bopping his head to the E-I-E-I-Os, which only encourages me to sing fifty more versus of the song to get him to do it again.

The other night I was singing to him and he replied with I-OOOOO!!  I was stunned!  Sayle actually DOES listen when I talk…or sing rather!

What songs do you sing to your child?  What is your child’s favorite song?

There's a lot to be happy about!

I’ve kept a journal ever since I can remember. It’s always been like therapy to me and I like feeling light inside after I’ve unloaded everything onto paper. Every now and then I’ll run across an old journal and read through all the entries. Here’s a page I found where I had made a list of all the good things in my life and titled it “Counting my blessings.” I think I’m going to keep it out and refer to it whenever I’m feeling down. Here are some things I am thankful to have:

1. Good parents who love me and raised me in a loving home enabling me to do the same for my own family.

2. A beautiful daughter (Saioa wasn’t born yet) who is healthy. (Specifically I had in mind a friend that has a handicapped daughter and the daily challenges that they face.)

3. A wonderful place to live

4. Great friends

5. My health

6. I live in America, where I have rights, freedom and opportunity

7. I live a life that is free from drugs, crime and fear

8. Heating (our heater went out for two days last winter and believe me, this was something I was taking for granted)

9. I can stay home with my daughter and raise her

10. Good things to eat like pizza and chocolate (I know this one sounds funny but I was thinking about all the people in third world countries who can’t even get their hands on clean water and bread)

11. The satisfaction of knowing that my child is happy and safe and being raised in a good environment and surrounded by people who care for her and parents who love her more than anything in the world. A child who smiles and laughs every day and can be innocent and be a child and play, have treats, eat good food, read good books, be comforted when she’s afraid and loved when she’s hurt. A child who will be provided a bright and fair future. (Think of the children in Afghanistan, Africa, Iraq, etc., who don’t have a reason to smile and can’t live like children, whose childhoods have been taken away from them, who have witnessed their parents being murdered, violence is an everyday part of their lives, they are alone during the day, at night and all the time.)

12. This is my biggest blessing: I’m able to provide a good life for my children when too many other children are suffering.

And on a lighter note…

13. Lazy weekend afternoons watching movies with Kevin, napping with Sero and enjoying the comfort of our home.

14. Going for a walk whenever I want

15. Being born in my generation

16. Did I mention heat?

17. Good medical care

18. Education

Do you have days where you have to stop and count your blessings? What are they?

Isaak's Photoshoot

Do you ever wonder if the personality traits and interests your kids exhibit when they’re little will translate into what they become as an adult?  I do.  I think about it all the time.  I think Jakob will become a Marine for sure.  Kora I’m not completely sure yet, but I know she’ll be something that requires a TON of confidence.  Miah is going to be into motor sports, something outdoorsy for sure.  Gus is a little too small to tell just yet, but Isaak?  Oh yes, I know what Isaak will be.

Isaak has a SMALL obsession with taking pictures and by small I mean that he wants to do it 24/7 snap, snap, snap, picture after picture.  He loves to be behind the camera, he loves to be in front of it, he just LOVES the camera.  I have to be careful about where I put my camera because it never fails, he finds it and then runs off to some secret place to begin a secret photoshoot.

Just the other day, I was busy doing SOMEthing, and realized that Isaak was being WAY too quiet.  As with most homes that house a toddler, quiet equals bad.  I immediately ran outside, assuming that he had gotten out and run to the park as he does most of the time.  After a thorough search of the playground and still no Isaak I started to worry.  I ran back inside, calling his name with no answer in return.  I started going room to room looking under beds, in closets, in cabinets until finally I found him.  There he was, crouched into a little ball in a back closet with a blanket over his head and all I could see was the flash of the camera brightening up the blanket.  I peeled back the blanket slowly and found a smiley little Isaak, clutching my camera and looking as cute as ever.  I SHOULD have gotten on to him, but since he so sweetly said, “sotty mommy”, I couldn’t bear to be mad at him.  How can you tear a kid away from his dreams?!

What do you think YOUR child will be when they grow up?

I'm wearing the Dior sunglasses the ocean ate.

I have a secret to tell you. I have a slight obsession with designer things. Designer sunglasses and bags are particularly tasty to me. In my single life I thought nothing of spending $1,600 on one Gucci purse. Sickening; I know. Now that I’m a Mom my priorities have shifted and budgeting means no more Gucci purses for me. However my loving husband has allowed my obsession with designer sunglasses to continue.

This summer, before Garrett left we picked out an amazing pair of Dior sunglasses. I loved them. As you can guess by the title of the post I had to say goodbye to my Dior sunglasses and this is why…

Stacy, Nora and I were at the beach and playing along the waters edge. Nora thinks she can swim and will lie down on her stomach and kick her feet and move her arms. This is a lot of fun to see when she’s in a kiddy pool with two inches of water. It is not fun to see when waves are crashing on her. However Nora thinks getting tossed in the waves is a lot of fun.

My back was starting to get sore from having to scoop down and save Nora every ten seconds so after surveying the waves and deciding they were calm enough I asked Stacy if she wanted to walk out past the breaking point. She said, “Yes.” So Nora Stacy and I headed out.

We were out there for several minutes talking and Nora ‘swimming’ when all of the sudden a nine foot wave loomed before us. My jaw fell open, my heart skipped a beat and Stacy said, “Sh*t.” In that split second my mind literally fit in a minute lecture about how stupid I was to take my darling daughter out into the dangerous ocean. I was scared for Nora so as the wave was coming at us I held her high above my head and turned our backs to the wave (so the water would hit the back of our head and not our faces/mouths). I JUMPED and I treaded water for all I was worth. The wave smacked Nora’s back and went over my head and propelled us several feet forward in the water. I’m glad I’m a good swimmer (and that I practice swimming with Nora in the pool by doing laps with her in the lifeguard-saving-someone-without-a-preserver hold) because Nora was fine and had a big smile on her face.

It was then that I realized my Dior sunglasses were gone. They had been stripped from my face as the wave crashed over me.

Stacy grabbed Nora and headed in to see if they had washed up on the sand. I dove under water and felt around for my sunglasses. Hoping and praying I’d find the cool, hard rims of my sunglasses and NOT the slippery, sliminess of a fish or stingray.

Alas, I could find nothing and I had to go home empty handed. Goodbye Dior.

Has the ocean ever eaten anything of yours?

Lately Isaac has been all about refusing things he normally enjoys eating or drinking, and it’s getting a bit out of hand.

For example, fresh raspberries have always been a winner in his book, so I go out and buy some every week despite the fact that I normally have to fight the elderly lady next to me to get a good box at the grocery store, and they are one of the most expensive fruits my son could have chosen.  Just like Jessica’s picky eater, Isaac shuns things like bananas, no idea why.

These cheerios look yucky...should I eat them?

“My boss” decided to say no thank you to all solid foods recently, and I was saving the raspberries as my ace in the hole.  I knew they were a sure fire food he could not deny, so when Isaac spit them out I was shocked.  Were they sour or maybe too cold?  Nope, I sampled one and it tasted delicious as usual.

I tried to tempt Isaac into eating a raspberry again, same result, except this time he spit it down the front of him and shoved the juicy red mess down his diaper.  Nice!

Isaac is not friends with any of his usual foods right now, such as cheesy scrambled eggs, baked beans, cheerios, graham crackers, and peas, to name a few of his previous crowd pleasers.

It seems he is going on some sort of baby strike, although I’m not sure what this child is protesting.  I have read about nursing strikes, but Isaac is still very interested the breast milk, so no issues there.

Water is another thing that is on the not-a-chance list, which I don’t get because it doesn’t really taste like anything so what’s not to like? And when I do occasionally give him juice, I water it down so much anyway that I’m sure it tastes close to plain water anyway.

Nope, no cheerios for me, yuck!

Apparently Isaac does not share my line of reasoning because even if the little guy is sweaty and red-faced from the playground, he won’t drink water.  What he does it take the cup, shoot me a suspicious look, take a sip, and then let it dribble down his chin when he realizes it is water and not juice while glaring baby daggers at me.

Perhaps he is sick of the same old thing and needs a bit more variety?  That is my next plan of attack, wish me luck!  What does your baby love to eat?  I need some new ideas, please!