10 days in Texas
Madeline & I were very fortunate to get to spend a few days with J between the end of his training at Fort Hood & his actual deployment overseas. It worked out really well – Madeline & I flew into DFW and stayed a couple of nights with my parents then drove down to Fort Hood to get J. We stayed the night nearby and then went to see J’s parents the next day. They were thrilled to see Madeline, of course; she’s changed so much since they saw her last. From there we drove back up to my parent’s house. They were super great – they babysat Madeline Thursday evening so J & I could have a date night dinner! And the last night we were there they cooked up a really nice dinner – wonderful steaks, restuffed potatoes & wine after the baby went to bed. It was actually so much nicer than going out.
Speaking of the baby…Madeline did just fine on the flights, but not so well with the changes to her schedule. or the new place. or all the time in the car. or the hotel room. or sleeping anywhere other than HER crib. Yeah, she may not be cut out to be a world traveler. After a few days she seemed to settle, but was up every single night for a least a little bit. It was tough. At one point J sat in the back seat of the car while I drove & I swear he sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for 20 minutes straight to keep Madeline from screaming bloody murder. He totally wins Dad of the Year!
But it was all worth it to spend time together as a family. Even those few days! [updated to add: we only got to see J from Wed evening thru Sat afternoon, so it wasn't much time really.] I wasn’t sure Madeline would recognize her daddy since she hadn’t seen him in over a month, but she lit up with a huge smile as soon as she saw him. It was amazing! He & I both expect this longer stretch will mean she doesn’t know him, but I’ll keep showing her his picture & we’ll talk to him on the computer, I hope it will help a little bit.
I miss J so much already – It’s going to be a very long 6 months. I know he misses us too and hope things won’t be too hard for him over there. Please keep all our soldiers in your thoughts!
(oh, and it only took a few hours for Sophie to forgive me for leaving her. I swear, the PetHotel at Petsmart is posher than some motels I’ve stayed in.)