She and Me...Missing He

It's the weekend many people are traveling "home" for the holidays. Bereket and I are so anxious to take our own trip up to MSP International tomorrow to bring home our special traveler. Jason has been away to India on a 16 day business trip.  That's half a month, but for a threesome that has never been apart for more than 24 hours since we became a family, the prospect of this journey felt more like 3 months.

The note Jason left for us on the kitchen counter the day he left.

On the first night of Jason being away, I sat Bereket on my lap and we looked up a picture of Mumbai on the internet.

Bereket studied the picture of the world's 4th largest city for a moment. Her attention was focused on the tall sparkly skyscraper. "Castle! Dee-Dah in a castle!" she exclaimed! In her eyes, Dee-Dah was in a fairytale land living with princesses in the most fantastic castle. Such a lucky man to get to do that for two weeks!

As for me, the past two weeks have not always been a fairytale. It's not easy for me to "be on vacation" at home and I've taken a lot of time off work (as Bereket's daycare doesn't open until 7 a.m. and I go to work at 4 a.m.) So I've gotten a taste of what life is like as a stay-at-home mom.  We've had some incredible play dates with friends who stay at home with their children.  Bereket especially enjoyed meeting up with Kokeb, her special roommate from Ethiopia and her oldest friend.

We had a blast with Kokeb's family at the La Crosse Children's Museum.

We also planned a special outing with Bereket's cousins, Isabelle and Daniel. I can't believe I took all three of them by myself to the Mall of America during the busy Christmas season!  But lunch at the American Girl Bistro was worth every minute of the journey!

I enjoyed some festive time with my mom, sister and Isabelle as we took the Christmas Inn tour in our hometown for the first time. So beautiful..especially after a fresh snow.

And each day there were small adventures that were so big in my little girl's eyes.  She had her 2nd haircut and she didn't cry a single tear!

Bereket did so great during her haircut, she got a special reward: a trip to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen." Afterward, we went out for Thai food for the first time together.

Bereket had her first Christmas concert at church.  My extremely shy girl got up in front of the crowd and smiled brightly the whole time.  I was so proud of her! I just wish Jason could have been there.

There are two things that helped get us all through the past two weeks.  First, my mom stayed with us 4 nights so I could go to work two days each week.  It was such a blessing having her here and it was so much fun to watch her relationship with Bereket blossom.

Secondly, Skype. It wasn't always easy connecting with each other with an 11.5 hour time difference..and Bereket didn't always feel like chatting..but how wonderful to see Jason's face (and even offer him a cup of tea and some ice cream from B's little play set).

Tomorrow at this time, we will be three again.  I have learned and grown such much during this time apart.  I appreciate Jason and all he does for us now more than ever.

I hope the next time we are separated this long again won't be until it's time for little B. to go off to college.

Welcome home, Jason. We missed you!