Music and Lunch with Grant

Normally I work on Wednesdays but this week I didn't, and so I jumped at the opportunity to visit Grant at school for music and lunch. It was a blast. I surprised him as he was walking to his classroom from the playground, and his excited reaction was priceless. I sat with him while they waited to wash hands, and soaked in how appreciative my boy was for my visit. He kept looking at me with big eyes, and his goofy smile saying "you're at my school, Mommy!" Once the music teacher arrived Grant led to to the circle and showed me where to sit. When she first arrived he ran to her, gave her a hug, and waved hello. Something about seeing him do that was so sweet to me. He seemed like such a big boy. Durning music he learned sign language for the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, played the drumbs, and those stick where one stick is smooth and the other stick is rough. At the end of music each child received a stamp from Mrs. Karyn. Every kid chose either their hand or leg for the stamp, but of course Grant was different and asked for the stamp in his foot. Haha. After music the kids listened to a book on tape, they started a second (Big Brown Bear), but the teacher stopped it because they were very restless waiting for lunch so we went in a bear hunt. That was a blast. Grant took my hand and off we went. The end where the bear is found was hysterical. Grant was so into it. My heart was happy seeing how much he loves school. For lunch they had spaghetti, and corn with milk. They're served family style, and I was a proud mommy seeing Grant's great table manners. The school had a separate plate of the same food for me which included a huge bowl of corn. It was probably two ears of corn worth. I didn't finish the corn and when Grant saw my plate he told me, "two more bites, Mommy." Haha, stinker.

We were nearing the end of lunch and I was nervous Grant was going to get upset when I had to say bye. Twice already he hugged my arm and said he wanted to go home with me. Then during lunch a boy asked me if I was staying for nap time and when I told him I wasn't again Grant told me he wanted to stay with me. I explained to him I had to leave for nap, but I would come back after nap time like I do every day, and that if he kept being good I'd have a surprise for him (a smoothie). He wasn't thrilled but said "ok, mommy." Finally we finished our lunch. Grant went to throw his plate and cup away and I followed. As I was turning around to find Grant I found him approaching me with my keys and sunglasses. My sweet boy got my belongings for me, gave me agog, I bent down for a kiss, I told him I loved him, he replied "I love you, more", then kissed my leg (a new thing he started I think from seeing me kiss Lydia's leg), and opened/shut the door for me.
It was a great couple of hrs.

Missing Daddy

Around the beginning of the year Grant's attachment to Joe grew very strong, and it's gets stronger each and every day. It's common when Joe is gone for Grant to what Joe in the middle the night or to ask for him randomly during the day. His teachers even tell me he tells them he misses his daddy. This morning I had to keep myself from laughing because of a comment he made wanting daddy back. Every morning he takes his pull-up off, puts it in the trash, and then puts his underwear and shorts on to get ready for school. This morning he took his pull-up off, put it in trash, and then insisted he didn't want to put his underwear on. I couldn't help him because I was nursing Lydia, so I told Grant you need to put your underware on or you're going to get in trouble. That's when he replied, "No, I don't want to put my underwear on. I want daddy to come home and pow-pow me." Little stinker. I don't know how he thinks of these things, but he sure did think he was being smart.

Soccer and Time

Today was Grant's first day at soccer and he loved it. After school we went by the house so I could feed Lydia and give Grant a snack. My big boy wanted to put his shoes on all on his own, but since we were in a rush I told him I was going to help him. That when he told me," Mommy, you put my socks on that foot and I put my socks in this foot. Ok, Mommy." On our way out the door he remembered my soccer ball and yelled "Mommy, I need to get your soccer ball. I'll find it." Then, he rant out to the garage, forgot to close the door, and when I told him to close the door before the cats got out he replied," Oh, no!" And ran to close it.

The practice went great, and Grant was excited to play. He was not a fan of the shin guards and I don't blame him. They were bigger than his shins so he didn't wear them. Grant did great kicking the ball into the goal, dribbling, and running. Unfortunately, the practice didn't start until 5:30, it was 90 degrees out, and around 6:00 he was done. He was behaving good, but kept saying he was hot, tired, and wanted to sit. When I'd tell him to sit on his ball, and drink some water he would say," It's too hot here. I'm going to sit over there, it's not so hot over there." And off to the dugout he went to sit. We left early to get Lydia from a friend's house and he was spent. I was very proud of my little soccer player. It was a very long day for him.

Side note: On the way to get Lydia Grant asked me "Mommy, what time is it?" His question made me smile because he had never asked or talked about time before. After I told him "6:13" he replied," Oh, ok." Then, seconds later he told me "Mommy, it's 6:13." With a big grin on his face. I love my boy so much.
Later that night Grant was very sad because Joe is out of town. When I tried to console him by telling him I missed Daddy, too, but he was at work and would be back tomorrow, Grant replied with ready eyes "ok, but that doesn't make it better. I asked "it doesn't make what better, mijo?" Grant sniffles and said " I'm still sad." Sweet boy.

Coloring and words

Today for the first time I noticed Grant coloring with a lot of meaning. He was making a card for his Chloe and he was actually concentrating instead of coming crazy with the crayon. He made a border and was trying to color in the lines. I was very proud if him, and was extra touched that he wanted Chloe's card to be perfect.  Oh, and he told me exactly what he wanted the card to say.  For the first one he wanted it to read "Happy Birthday to Chloe".  I said aloud what I was writing and said "Happy Birthday, Chloe."  Grant corrected me "Mommy, TO Chloe."  Geeze louise!  On the second card he told me I could write "Happy Birthday, Chloe."  Thanks, Grant.

Concentration.  

Later in the evening we were watching Chuggington before putting Grant to bed when Grant jumped up frantically saying "oh no! Mommy! We have to put Chloe's cards in the mailbox! Oh no!" He was so serious it was difficult not to laugh. So, we labeled the envelope, put the card in, picked a stamp, and headed out to the mailbox. The whole time he sang "Happy birthday to Chloe."

On a Lydia note, she is now saying mama for me. She is saying Dada, but I'm not sure yet if she knows its Joe. She is a stinker and knows right from wrong for many things. One example is the cats water dish. When she crawls to it she now looks around to see if I'm going to tell her "no". When I do catch her and tell her "no" or say her name in that "stop" tone she sits up quickly and gives me a super cute and innocent smile. Stinker!!! Too cute! Oh, and one of Lydia's favorite things is the Beatles music clock mommy gave me. We listened to it for about 10 minutes after her bath tonight. The clock is definitely something everyone in the family loves.

Sweet Babies

I thought today was going to be a very tough day since Joe was out of town, but my sweet babies helped make it one of the most memorable (in a good way).  This morning I woke Lydia up to nurse her and of course her sweet smile and sweet coos made me smile.

My lovely Lydia was not ready to wake up this morning.

She wasn't even ready to wake after I changed her diaper.

Then, it was time to wake Grant.  I was a little nervous about this one because Grant loves his sleep, but when I woke him he opened his eyes with a huge smile and his sweet voice saying "Mommy!"  He was so wonderful helping me with Lydia, and he went potty, brushed his teeth, and got dressed without complaint.

He looks like such a big boy here.  

 While he got ready I situated Lydia on his bean bag since I knew it would mold to her body and support her nicely.  After I sat her on the bag Grant "tuck tuck(ed)" her with his favorite blankets.  Such a perfect helper.

Such a happy girl on her big brother's bean bag.

Grant put the blanket down for Lydia.

Hugs and kisses for sister.

Baby sister!  Look at that smile when he's with her.

Lydia loves Grant.  He always makes her smile. 

Once we were in the car and out to take Lydia to her Academy they were angels in the Jeep.  Lydia and Grant were talking to one another, Grant had fun telling me to go faster, and calling the stop lights and green lights.  Once we got to the Academy and Grant saw it he was sad to leave Lydia, but was happy to hear we'd be back to get her soon.  Driving to Grant's daycare he insisted on calling Daddy so we did and he got to tell him "hi", "I love you", and "bye".  He was very excited about the phone call.  I'm pretty sure Joe was, too. After work I picked up Grant first and he was chasing his little friend, Bella, saying "huggie, huggie".  As soon as he saw me he pointed to Bella, pouted, and said "Bella no huggie huggie."  It made me so sad, but eventually he got his hug and he was out the door ready to get Lydia.  On the way to get her I told him we were having tacos for dinner and he kept saying "No tacos, Lydia."  Once he finally realized we were still getting Lydia he'd say "Oh, eat tacos."  Then, he'd continue to remind me about Lydia.  I love how much Grant loves his sister.  Once we got Lydia she fell asleep in the car.  When we got home I kept her in her car seat and put her in the living room where she slept through dinner.  After dinner I move her out of the living room and she slept until after Grant went to bed.  Thank you my daughter!  As for Grant, as soon as we got home he told me he had to go poo poo so we ran to the potty where he went "lots of poo poos."  His excitement for going potty makes me happy.  After dinner Grant asked to watch Finn (aka Cars) so he got comfy and watched his movie.

Watching cars with his blanket (my old blanket) and Finn in hand.

Finally his winding down time approached and we turned on Mickey while he had his milk.  I'm not sure what it is, but ever since Joe got home he hasn't been much of a snuggler with me, but today he was a big snuggler again.  I'll take it!  While we snuggled I began to scratch his back just below his neckline.  When I stopped I realized I created a monster when he grabbed my hand, put it back on his back, and said "no here" for me to continue scratching.  My goodness.  Too funny.

Before bed Grant went #2 again.  I'm so proud of his progression with going potty.  I just wish his daycare would stop using pull-ups on him because if he has them on he will potty in them.  That's a whole other story.

The best part of the night for me was after I put Grant down.  I heard him in the monitor and he seemed very upset.  When I entered his room he insisted his food hurt.  He stood up, asked me to pick him up (so I did), then pointed to the door.  I followed his directions and saw he wanted a bandaid for his foot. I usually don't give him a bandaid for something that's not bleeding, but he was upset and already sad Joe was gone so I went with it.  Once we got back to his bed he noticed it didn't help so I kissed it more, hugged him and began to sing our old nigh time songs.  He patted his pillow and asked me to "lay here" so I did.  I've really missed having this special time with Grant ever since Lydia was born and my heart was beaming.  I laid with him while playing with his hair and singing our songs.  It was wonderful.  When I stopped he took my hand, put it on his head, and said "more hair."  It made me chuckle and I continued for a little longer.  

After I left Grant's room Lydia woke about 10 minutes later.  To continue with my lovely day with my babies she greeted me with big smiles, coos, and soft touches.  After nursing her I held her close so I could feel her soft skin and her little breaths on me.  I always have a difficult time letting go of her to put her in her crib, but once I did as usual she went to bed easily.

I love my babies so much.  Here's to them!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was a strange one with Joe gone, but unlike my 1st Mother's Day last year at least I didn't have to work .  Mother's day began for me 2 days ago when Joe's Mother's Day present to me arrived in the mail.  He hinted that something was arriving, and instructed me not to open it until I was on FaceTime with him.  After the package arrived Friday evening I impatiently waited for him to call that night.  I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to see the most amazing mother's day present.

In another part of the book is this same picture from a different angle.  When Grant saw it the first thing he said was "Mama, big ball".  Of all things he noticed the big blue workout ball in the background.  Haha.  That boy is a ball maniac. 

I'm still not sure why Joe wanted to see me when I opened the book because as soon as I saw it the water works began, and didn't ease up.  With each page the emotions grew stronger and stronger.  The words Joe added to the pictures throughout the book were so touching.  It was exactly what I needed.  Being "Mommy" right now with no family around while pregnant has been the furthest thing from easy and I've definitely gone though moments when I hoped, wondered, and doubted I was doing the right thing that day.  This book was perfect and Joe's words reassured me I was doing the right thing and that I am a good Mommy.  Such a thoughtful gift that I will cherish forever.  Today I went though the book with Grant.  A few times though out the day while walking by he'd point to it on the shelf, say "Peas", and have me read it with him.  I think he loves it almost as much as I do.

I started out the morning by looking at my Mommy and Me photo book, and the Mother's Day presents Grant made for me at Daycare.  They're so sweet and I love that Grant really did have a hand in all of them. I tried not to look at the presents when I picked him up from daycare so I my first real look would be on Mothers Day.  I knew I'd give in so I left the book in the garage and out of sight.  

Not only did Grant color the pot, but he also planted the seed for my pretty flower.

My heart melted as I read the words and saw his artwork on the cover of my book.

Right about now the tears were streaming down my cheeks.

My little artist.  I'm calling this page "Love".  That's what the "L" at the top of the page is for.  

More love!

 Grant's daycare provider had a story for the next page.  For the last page all of the kids sat in a semicircle and she asked them what they wanted to do for their mommy on Mother's Day.  Going down the line the kids took turns sharing their plans.  Some wanted to make breakfast for their mother, help clean, tell her "I love you", and to help in the garden.  When Karyn got to Grant he simply said "Yeah" after the last child went.  She said it was a cute "yeah" like he was saying "yeah, I'm going to do all of that."  It made makes me laugh because I can hear him saying it.  Oh how I love my little stinker.

After breakfast and FaceTime with Daddy we packed up Grant's fun bag and left for church.  He is such a good boy.  His favorite part is definitely the singing.  Although today he did have a great time sharing his peace and shaking hands with the people around us.

After church I decided I was not doing dishes on Mother's Day so the two of us drove around looking for a restaurant to celebrate the day with a Mother's Day brunch.  Unfortunately, we found nothing open, but that's alright because it gave me an excuse to stop at Quiznos.  A meal that made me miss Joe even more than I already did.  Today was Grant's first Quiznos experience and he loved it.  In the restaurant he was very psyched that I let him pick out the chips.

Checking out his Turkey with cheddar, tomato, and olive slider.

Cheese!!!!!

Believe it or not this is a very happy "cheese".  hahaha.

Grant absolutely loved his sandwich and finished every bite.

Cheese!

I love my boy very much!!!  More "CHEESE".

So silly!

He is so sweet to Tigris.

Kisses for Tigris.

 (Soon I'm going to add a video so stay tuned!)

 I had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!  Thank you!!!!

Goodbye Daddy...Goodbye Love!!!

On Monday, 23 April, we woke up bright and early to say goodbye to Daddy as he departed for his 6 month deployment.  The confusing part of this goodbye was that we weren't quite sure if it was actually goodbye or not.  Joe was a jet spare meaning that he would take off and if within a set distance all jets were good to go with no problems forcing them back to Moody he would turn around and come back home.  Then, we would say goodbye again on Tuesday.  If a jet did have some sort of problem making it unable to continue to the next location the broken jet would return to Moody AFB, and Joe would continue to the next base.  Since in Joe's mind he was going to come back home I then became fairly positive he was going to end up not coming back on Monday.  Joe was up late Sunday night packing and I was hoping he was right about coming home because we spent absolutely no time together on Sunday.  Not the way I wanted to spend our last night (for the next 6 months) together.  Monday morning Joe left way too early in the morning, and then Grant and I met up with him later.  I would have preferred taking him to the squadron as a family, but as it was I was already waking Grant about 2 hrs before he normally woke and I didn't want to add another 1-1.5 hrs to that.  

It was the sweetest thing when we walked into the squadron.  As soon as Grant saw Joe he ran to him saying "DaDa" and wanted "up, up."  I continuously  said Grant didn't understand what was going on, but I do think he knew his Daddy was going away.  Maybe he didn't understand completely what was going on or how long he would be away, but he knew daddy was going "buh buh" bye-bye.  

Grant and Joe soon after we entered the squadron.  I love them!!!!

Grant is telling Joe all about his "vroom vroom".

He even used Joe as a track.

Finally we got a big "Cheese" out of him.

Goofy boy early in the morning.

So silly.

Something about this photo that makes my heart melt.

Grant chatting it up with Daddy.

Seeing Daddy in his helmet was very exciting.

Fits him nicely! 

Getting ready with Daddy.

Digging through Daddy's wallet while Daddy puts his G-suit on.

:0)

Cheese!!!  So proud he got the wallet.

Jackpot!

I miss these two together.

xoxoxoxo.

Handsome guys!  Oh, boy.  Grant found the patches.

Family photo.

Love them!

Last goodbye to Daddy before he left for the jet.

Grant with his friend Brooklyn waiting for Joe to taxi by.

Grant cheesing with the jets as they began to taxi.

He was very excited to see the jets.

 I tried explaining to Grant that Daddy was in one of the jets and that when he went by we had to wave bye and blow kisses.  Again, not sure if he understood although he said "ok" after the explanation.

Joe it the last jet.  Look closely and you can see him in the center of  the screen.

 I guess Grant did understand because when Joe's jet got close enough I told Grant "There's Daddy.  Say bye bye." and he did.  Immediately Grant began to wave bye and to blow kisses.  It was cool because as Joe taxied by we were able to talk to him on his radio.

Grant waving bye to his Daddy.

Grant with Joe's jet in the background.

"all gone"

 After we left the squadron I took Grant to daycare and began running errands avoiding home.  I became more and more sad as I realized I never actually said a real goodbye to Joe.  The whole time I was there I took pictures of Joe and Grant and helped Joe to say bye to Grant, but never even hugged him bye.  My sadness was quickly growing.  I hoped and prayed Joe would come back for one more night so I could hug him one more time and give my attention to him before he left.  Once noon rolled around I was pretty positive I was not going to see Joe again that afternoon.  If he was going to come back home it would have happened already.  Sadness and loneliness really began to set in.  Just after my first tears rolled down my cheeks I thought I heard an A-10 fly overhead as I was unloading groceries in my very empty house.  Immediately hope rushed though my heart, I dropped what I was holding and ran to the backyard to spot what I KNEW was the sound of a hawg overhead.  I looked and looked.  I even put my hand over my eyes to spot my love in his jet.  Nothing.  But I knew it had to be him because my heart told me it was him.  Then I wondered if I was just fooling myself because it was a good 30 minutes past when he expected to have me pick him up from the squadron.  I sadly returned inside and began cutting up the watermelon I had just purchased.  Seconds later my phone rang, and "Husband" flashed over the screen with Joe's super handsome picture.  I answered it quickly to hear the sound of a jet and then "will you pick me up in 15 minutes?"   Relief, excitement, and joy ran through my body as I said aloud "Thank you God."  Too bad that wasn't able to count as his deployment.  hahaha.  Later that afternoon the two of us picked up Grant from daycare and it was crazy to think that Grant didn't know he almost didn't get to see his Daddy that night.

The next day Joe was scheduled to leave late in the morning, so Grant went to daycare so it wouldn't mess with his schedule. Plus, it was easier on us and we were able to say our appropriate goodbyes.

Grant getting his shoes out for Daddy.

Daddy dressing Grant.  I can't say enough how much I love these two together!

Kisses for Daddy.

And hugs for Daddy, too.

Grant pretending to snore and he pretend sleeps.

Grant is showing Daddy his airplane and teaching him the sounds of a plane "whhhiiiShhhhhhhh"

Leaving for daycare.

Joe took Grant to daycare.  He wanted some guy time to talk about guy stuff before leaving.

Lovey picture before leaving the house.

One last stop at daycare to say one more goodbye.

Lots going on in this one....

That smile says how much he loves his son.

After that last photo the camera died :0(  Poor planning on my part.  Fortunately, I was able to say goodbye the way a goodbye should be.  The day was as great as one can be when you're saying bye to the love of your life.  We sure do miss him and can't wait to have our Daddy/Love home again.