My Second Mother's Day

Well Kailie and I are doing our best adjusting to life without Jeff again. Kailie has been throwing some tantrums and crying for her daddy, which breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes (well after the feelings of frustration and impatience subside). Kailie and Jeff had so much fun together, and Kailie had never had someone else around 24/7 like mom before!

Talking about Daddy and his pictures every day seemed to do wonders the first 10 months and as a result Kailie seemed to transition to Jeff really fast during his R&R. So I'm hoping to continue that (including new Daddy/Kailie pictures we took) and we also have some recordings of Jeff reading stories taped on a bear Kailie got from her aunt Kasey for her birthday. I like to listen to those just as much if not more than Kailie! So I'm pretty confident Kailie will remember her daddy, but it's still hard when they're so little and don't have an understanding about why they've been abandoned. I think that's what Kailie is working through right now.

Well it is mother's day today so I feel the need to say a few words on the subject. As we expect in life, we find a new appreciation for our own mothers as we become mothers ourselves. My mother moved to a foreign country (Japan) with 3 small children where she didn't speak the language. Although her challenges were different than mine are or will be, I am sure there are similarities in the way I feel at times being a military family.

Fort Leonard Wood is in a rural part of the United States that is essentially a "foreign country" to a city girl like myself and I'm raising our first child without my husband around. Sometimes it is a lonely life. It is a good life, but I can now relate to some of the struggles my mother had while raising her family. My father travels a great deal and my mom had to "single mom" it on a regular basis. I know like my life, however, that life is good and full of great times as well~! It's funny that it's the best and the worst events in our lives that stick with us the strongest, and usually the bad times are better remembered than the good.

It has probably been as I've become an adult that I realized the strength my mother had to do what she did (and still does) and I am grateful for that example as my little family has started their journey of life together. She also taught us the importance of faith and God and also gave me the gift of my love for music and the arts. These are things I cannot repay her for, and the best way to show my gratitude and appreciation is to pass the same lessons on to my children.

Motherhood is truly life's greatest lesson in selflessness. We give all that we have for our children and in some small way have a better understanding of God's love for us. I am grateful for a Mother's Day (and "I got back to Baghdad safely") phone call from Jeff, for my mother and her sacrifices that have helped shaped me into who I am, and for all the other mothers who touch my life every day. Wouldn't it be nice if we took time every day to reflect or epxress our gratitude for our mother's each day instead of reserving one day a year? I'll add it to my lengthy to-do list :-)