Mi Cocina, Park, and Snow

This is a catch up post from a two weekends ago...It was the weekend we were supposed to fly to DC to see Kevin and the flights were too full to go.

On Friday night, Caroline and I had Girls Night Out on the porch at Mi Cocina. The porch was packed with Lake Highlands families - parents drinking Mambo Taxis and kids drinking milk. One of the things I'm going to miss most in Dallas is our dinners at Mi Cocina because you feel such a sense of community there...with great food. (I know its just a Mexican restaurant but the people are all so nice and all have young kids like Caroline.)

There is a fountain on the patio at Mi Cocina that the kids like to throw pennies in and make wishes. I only had 4 pennies but here are the wishes Caroline made...in order:
1. Her first wish was for Nana and Papa. I asked if it was for anything in particular and she said "No. I just wish for Nana and Papa."
2. "I wish to see my Daddy." (My eyes fill up with tears.)
3. "I wish to fly on an airplane." ( I know what's on her mind for sure now.)
4. "I wish to give my daddy a REALLY BIG hug!" (as she holds her arms open as wide as they will go.)

Sweet girl keeps telling people that she is going on an airplane to see daddy "tomorrow". I feel terrible. If only there was a way to explain to a three year old what flying stand-by means...I guess if there was, my parents would have explained it to me when I was young and didn't understand either.

Saturday morning, Farrah came over to play. It was cold and rainy so they watched part of a movie, did puzzles, colored a card for Kevin, etc. Then they found the whoppee cushion. Here's the conversation:
Farrah: What is this called?
Caroline: Its called a tooter, Farrah.

Ha! Then they fought over who got to "toot on the tooter" next. I should have videoed their conversation for their rehearsal dinners one day.

We went to the park with Farrah and her family on Friday. They left for Jordan for 5 weeks on Thursday so we've been trying to hang out with them as much as possible. I told my parents I'm starting to wonder why people I care so much about are leaving. First, Katie and Matt move to El Paso, then Kevin to Quantico, and now Allison and Saleh go to Jordan for 5 weeks. Come back everyone!

Here are some park pictures:





So it started snowing lightly on Saturday night. I was SO excited to see the flurries so I took this picture because I thought Kevin will never believe that its snowing in mid-March in Dallas...and because I figured it would be gone by the time Caroline and I woke up.

Then we looked out the window on Sunday morning and this was the scene. Amazing!
I tried to take a picture of the petunias I'd planted a week prior...but I couldn't find them in the snow.


The snow was such a great distraction for Caroline who was so sad about not seeing Kevin.


The snowball fight took a turn for the worst when Caroline learned to pack snowballs as big as Frosty's head.

Snow angel!

This kid ate snow as we walked up and down the street.
Due to Kevin's absence, we were able to have a Yankee snowman. Go Yankees! (Sorry Kev. :))

Looking at snow flakes with her magnifying glass.
Our street.
I tried to take a picture of the street sign - except that you can't see the sign for our street - just the cross street.

This has been such a fun winter with the snow storms. I'm guessing we won't see snow like this in San Antonio but I'm still excited about our new adventure.

San Antonio

I can't think of more exciting news...but we are moving to San Antonio!! Kevin and his class found out their locations tonight and we got what we wanted! We will move in the second week of July and we are so excited! We will post more soon!

Mother/ Daughter Pictures

I posted previously that Caroline and I had our favorite photographer, Kalli Barker, take mother/daughter pictures as a surprise for Kevin. But I can't keep a surprise so he's already seen them - oops. :)

Kalli sent me an email on Saturday with the entry she wrote for her blog about her photoshoot and wanted to make sure I was ok with her posting it since her blog is public and Kevin's training/job isn't something we are very open about. So apparently Kalli is both a great photographer and a great writer - how do some people get all the talent?!

This is what Kalli wrote and it made me cry and grounded me during a trying weekend where Caroline was excessively whiny, was upset that she didn't get to see her daddy, and had a fever. (After her blog entry is the rest of the pictures she took.)

“The love of a mother and a child”

I had photographed this great family around Christmas-time last year. And of course had a blast. A few months ago I was contacted again by the mother to schedule another photoshoot. Her husband was out of town doing some training, she had ordered some matching outfits for her and her daughter and wanted to get some pictures to surprise her husband. “How sweet,” I thought.

We had a great photoshoot. (And we had an even better dinner together the night before!) The daughter was so perfect and fun. We got some beautiful shots of mother and daughter together. And I was proud of what I was able to capture. When we were saying our goodbye’s, I found out her husband was actually out of town for 5 months doing training. (FIVE MONTHS?!) He is able to come home every month or so, but between those visits are long and hard (I’m sure), days. Just mom and child.

And then I looked back at the pictures. And the bond and emotion between these two was tangible. It was shouting out of the pictures at me. And my heart hurt for the hardship that they have to go through, being away from dad and husband for so long. But the bond that had grown between them because of their hardship was beautiful. It was inspiring.

Bringing in my own experience: My daughter had just been born. And my husband had to go away on a camping trip for a business class. Mackay was so young she still didn’t fully know the difference between night and day. So, to say the least, nights were LONG. And I was new to the whole “mother” thing. I couldn’t do it without the help and support of my husband. But I had no choice. I dropped my husband off at the school with all of his camping gear, my newborn baby in the backseat. When Nate got out of the car, I turned my head so he couldn’t see the tears that were beginning to fall. And as soon as I started to drive away I couldn’t hold them in. I bawled all the way home. I had no idea how I was going to get through multiple days and nights by myself without support. But I did it. It was hard, but I did it. And the weirdest thing happened. Because I knew I had to go it alone, I was slower to anger and frustration. It was easier to get up at night, because I had no other choice. And at the end of the camping trip, Mackay and I had bonded in a way that I did not expect. We became closer in those few days than we had for the previous few weeks that we had had her in our lives. What a blessing that was for me. What I thought was a trial ended up being a great, long remembered, experience for me.

Now back to this sweet mother. Who is left alone for five months. (Not just a few days.) And the relationship I saw between her and her daughter was SO different than what I had seen just a few months earlier around Christmas-time. They are going through such a struggle--together. I can’t imagine explaining to my child why dad is gone for so long. Why he isn’t coming home from work. I can’t imagine what those sweet days are like when they actually get to be together again. And then my heart aches as I think of all too knowing mom and innocent child, taking dad back to the airport again. Bracing for another month. I can’t image those evenings. When the days have been long, and all you need is a break. Some time. My husband walks in the door at 6:05pm, and sometimes I am waiting, two children--one on each hip--ready to hand off so I can run out the door. But through trial comes blessings. And when I saw these two interacting, they looked like best friends. You could see the way that they have had to lean on each other for love and support, in ways they never have before. And what a beautiful thing that was for me to experience. I am so glad that I was able to photograph them during this time in their lives.

And my FAVORITE picture from their session that I haven’t shared yet. For some reason I was pulled to this image. I had to grab my husband to look at the computer and asked him if I was crazy. I didn’t post it on their sneak peak post because I was questioning why I was so drawn in to this specific image. It was not posed or staged, it was more of just an afterthought. Why did I like this picture so much? And I think the feeling that I felt around them, the feeling that I felt between them, is why. In the quiet silence of their now “normal” lives, was, for me, courage, determination, respect, and love. Oh, what a wonderful and powerful thing love is. Especially between a mother and her child. And a child and her mother.


Here are the rest of the pictures (Thanks Kalli!):

I like this picture because I always love it when Caroline spontaneously holds my hand and it reminds me that, no matter how independent she is, she still needs me.
I love this one because I love to give Caroline sweet kisses on her cheek.
Our happy girl!

The week in pictures

Caroline and I were supposed to fly to DC today to see Kevin but the flights are all too full so we aren't going. I spent all night dreading telling Caroline because she had been so excited to see him and even made something for him while she was at Nana and Papa's house. But she is recovering ok and I am taking her to Pump It Up today to make it up to her and maybe to a movie tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from her first Spring Break...

Caroline in Papa's truck going to get Lone Star Donuts for breakfast. She was excited to get to wear her pjs for the outing.

Even though the pool is still too cold to get in, Caroline tried anyway.


Telling secrets with Nana.

So yesterday I got my haircut (yes, again - for the second time in 3 weeks) so I took Caroline with me. She asked if she could go sit at the dryers with two women and I said yes. So she sat with them for about 30 minutes and chatted them up like they'd been best friends forever. They were drinking wine and conducting business on their Blackberries but that didn't stop Caroline. Caroline told them she had silver shoes because her favorite color is silver. She told them that Nana and Papa took her to get Chick Fil A but then they ate the nuggets at the park. She told them that her daddy was away at training but she was going to fly on an airplane to see him this weekend. She said she was three years old and goes to school but her school was closed for Spring Break. She told them that her mommy has black hair and is getting another haircut. And this was just the parts I heard when the blow dryer was off or my hair cutter wasn't talking to me. There is no telling what she told these women. But as we left she waved goodbye to her new friends. It was hilarious. (I know this is a terrible picture that I took using my Blackberry but the event was too funny not to take a picture of.)

Nana, Papa, and Caroline at the airport. Caroline had her Dora suitcase and was coming home to Dallas and Nana and Papa were going to Yankee spring training in Florida.

Caroline taking care of herself as we left the airport. Giving her a suitcase was genius because I don't have to carry it! And notice her new purse. She scored a Vera Bradley purse on Spring Break - it was on sale but we are still laughing and shaking our heads.

Last night we went to Allison and Saleh's house. They are pretty much taking care of us since Kevin's gone. Literally - we eat dinner with them most nights. They built a sandbox for the kids in the backyard so Caroline was playing in that.
Then the girls played dress up together and wanted their picture taken.