"Tis' the season to be jolly"...or at least "tis' the season to try." Caleb just left today for two and a half weeks and so begins the toughest part of his pre-deployment training. Although he won't deploy until sometime in May this year, he will spend the majority of his time training with his unit, only coming back home for a few days in-between them. There is no explanation that I can put into words to describe the sadness I felt today when he left. I know this will be a hard year (for all of us), but I also know that this will be a year of growth.
I have been preparing myself for the deployment (or at least trying to!), but when I sat down and saw the calendar days of when he will be gone for training, reality sank in and I dreaded him leaving this morning. His deployment feels like it starts today and that realization came as a sudden surprise to me as I was overcome with a wave of emotions. This will be our fourth deployment, but everything is for a season, and I pray that in this season of our lives, we will remain strong and choose JOY in spite of our circumstances and our time apart. Caleb often reminds me that we are so blessed to love each other so much that our complaint in life is not spending enough time together...and for that, I am thankful.
I pray that God will watch over and protect him.
I pray that I will lean on God every day and look to Him as my comforter.
I pray that God will strengthen our marriage.
I pray that the doubts I have will be set aside as I seek His wisdom on how to parent our precious little girl.
I pray that this year will be a year of faith and of growth in our walk with Him.
....and a quick update of our little girl...
Sophia is now 15 months old! She is independent, curious, playful, loves exploring, very strong-willed {wonder who she gets that from!}, sweet, and such a quick learner! She loves cuddling on mama and dada, loves cuddling all her stuffed animals as she squeezes them and kisses them, picks up new abilities so easily, and loves imitating people! Here are some words she knows how to say now:
- "Mama"
- "Dada"
- "Po Po" (grandma in Chinese)
- "Andma" (Grandma)
- "Andpa" (Grandpa)
- "Angel"
- "Mac-Mac" (Angel's boyfriend)
- "Ni-Ni" (Auntie Denise)
- "Apple"
- "Nana" (banana)
- "Peaches"
- "Yellow"
- "Purple"
- "Please" (she says this as she puts her right hand out)
- "No" (her favorite word)
- "uh-Boo!" (Peek-a-boo)
- "Nigh-Nigh" (Night Night)
- "Mi-Mi" (drink)
- "Gah" (Agua)
- " Mo" (More)
- "Hi" and "Bye"
- "Mmm-mah" (kiss good-bye)
- "Up-AH!" (Up)
- "Uh-Oh"
-" Oh NO"
- "Shhh"
- "'men!" (Amen!)
She makes these sounds when we ask her "what does the animal say?"
- "woof- woof"
- "maow" (for a kitty)
- "hoo-hoo" (owl)
- "mooooo"
- "cah-a doo" (cock-a-doodle doo)
- "baaa"
- "rawr" (lion or tiger)
- "ah-ah" (monkey)
She loves imitating facial expressions and sounds, and I just love seeing her grow so much each day. I am so blessed to be her mom.
Here are some of my favorites of her from this year:
Sweet smiles!
Eskimo kisses with grandma
Squeaky clean
"HI! I'm Sophie!"
One of her favorite things to do is play with dada's shoes
Minnie Mouse overload?
Playing Airplane with dada
All ready for boot camp...haha, not!
Smiling for Chinese New Year!
Looking so grown up...
Having fun painting! (Pinterest idea...food coloring + yogurt!)
When I say, "Sophie, can you give me beautiful eyes?", this is the face that she gives.
Close up
How I love these two together
Smiles with her favorite dog
CHEESE!
Ready for her tennis match
Hi Mom!
Pretty in pink for Valentine's Day
HI! SO in love with her...
My precious love bug!
I will definitely try to write more, but we will see! I love being able to look back and read older posts and see how much life has changed. Hopefully, I will make it a point to update more often.
XOXO
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).
