Petites and Daddy and the Army

Last night Isaac really wanted to talk about Daddy. I'm not sure what exactly brought it on but he was non stop daddy this and daddy that. When I was putting him to bed he pointed to his dresser where there is a picture in a frame of him with GJ. I took it down and gave it to him and he was chit chatting about Daddy and then he gave him a kiss and layed down with the picture frame behind him. I grabbed my phone and got a picture of him laying there that I emailed to my mom and G and then of course posted on FB. I thought it was super cute. :) This is the picture:

My mom immediately messaged me back and said she thought it was heartbreaking. I talked to Grover today and he said he thought it was cute but it didn't make him sad. On FB so many people said that they thought it was so sad. Of course I'm sure my "he misses his daddy" caption didn't help, but hand to God, this doesn't make me sad at all. The boys are so cute when they talk about daddy now. This is a change from when Grover first left. They would be really sad if I'd bring him up or when he'd call on Skype. Isaac is to the point now where I hardly get a word in edge wise if he is talking to G when he Skypes. Lysander hasn't made quite as much progress in actually talking to GJ but to be fair, he won't talk to anyone on Skype so I don't think it's just because it's daddy. Back to my original point though, I love it that they can talk about him now and it's not a bad thing. They love their Daddy and they like to talk about him and to see pictures of him and now I think it's just a happy thing for them to know that he's okay and he is still around even though they aren't with him.

I don't ever want people to pity them because they have to be seperated from G. Even at two and three, my children are incredibly proud of their father, and so am I. I wouldn't chang what we are doing right now for the world. He is doing an amazing job over there(of course I don't know the specifics of it, but he says things are going great lol) and I know he is proud and happy to be serving his country. I know that we will come out tougher on the other side, all four of us.

That being said, we are looking forward to his return, whenever that may be. I will breathe a huge sigh of relief when he is back home with us, for so many reasons, not the least of which is his safety. I also know that if he gets fifteen days leave at some point I had better get a sitter the first night and not go home until I've had my fill of alone time, because once the petites see him, they aren't going to want to sleep for fear they'll miss a second of his time ;) So don't be sad for my kids, or for me, or for Grover. Just know that from a young age they will understand how honorable it is to serve your country, in whatever way you choose to do so. I was absolutely aware of this from a young age because my father served in Vietnam, and my Uncle Danny gave the ultimate sacrifice. I think subconciously my brother and I both have always felt a strong draw to serve our country. I encouraged G to do so, even though I knew the sacrifices I would have to make when he joined. My brother is in the Marines(he's a total badass). And if either one of my sons or both for that matter decide that they would like to join the armed forces I will be the first to support them doing so. Of course, I'd much rather them get in to west point and start their military career from there, but whatever way they'd like to go. ;)