We love you, Nutz/Daddy!

Today was the day for which CC and I had to say goodbye to Nutz/daddy. Goodbyes are never easy but they are especially hard when you try to explain to a 2 1/2 year old why her daddy won't be coming home tonight. :-(

I'm very thankful that we had an additional two weeks to spend with Nutz. I don't think I was mentally ready for him to leave in February. Okay, so I wasn't ready for him to leave today either. But, it did give us more time to spend together as a family.

On Friday, we had some friends over for taco night. Typical Nutz/Crackerz, our last night together and we invite our closest friends to spend it with us. For me, it's much easier dealing with a stressful situation when surrounded by people who love and care about you. And, we have the BEST friends EVER.

Our Saturday morning started out like any other, Nutz cooked breakfast (farmer's special: the leftovers from taco night made into a delicious scrambled egg concoction) for us. I'm sure there were still lots of things that Nutz needed to get done before his early afternoon flight but he made time to spend it with CC and me. I'm sure that CC knew something wasn't normal. Mommy and daddy don't typically cry as much as we have over the last several days and she is very observant: "mommy are you sad?" "mommy, why are you crying?" "mommy, are you sick?"

We left the house around 1:30 to run an errand before going to the airport. CC was so tired from the party the night before that she fell asleep on the way to the airport so she wasn't even awake when we dropped off Nutz. So, when she woke up she wanted her daddy. I'm glad he'd been talking to her about his "trip" so she somewhat understood that he was on the airplane going on a "trip." Nutz recorded a message for her and she's been carrying it around for the last several days. She played it in the car yesterday and started crying and saying, "I want my daddy." Yep, I broke down and almost had to pull the car off the road.

Nutz also wrote Regan a special letter and I read it to her when we got back to the house. It was tough to read without balling my eyes out. I did cry and then CC began crying as well. It was a good 10 minutes before she calmed down. Nutz also recorded himself reading some of their favorite books. So, I was able to talk her into going upstairs to watch daddy reading books. She loved it!

We spent the afternoon/evening with our friends, Bonnie and Bella. It made the evening a little better spending it with friends. On the way home though, CC informed me that she wanted her daddy and that he'd be waiting for her at home. Again, I tried to explain to her that daddy was on his "trip." When we pulled into the driveway she saw his car and said, "daddy's here." UGH! Needless to say, she was VERY disappointed when I reminded her that daddy took an airplane to go on his trip. She cried for another 15 minutes.

We finally settled down for the evening by cuddling in my bed. At one point, CC said to me, "Mommy, I want to be close to you so I can pinch your neck." This is something that she does to her daddy when she's tired. We snuggled for awhile before she finally fell asleep.

CC is a tough little girl but because her daddy is such a special person, she'll get through. She has her daddy doll, daddy/CC pillowcase, daddy's video of book readings, daddy's voice recording, and lots and lots of pictures! And, she's looking forward to the letters her daddy is going to mail to her.

CC and Nutz have a special relationship. If you've ever been around them for any period of time, you know exactly what I mean. I can only hope that I am a good enough substitute for her daddy while he's away. He's a special man and I'm very blessed to have him as my husband and the father of my children!

We love you Nutz/Daddy!

PS If you want to keep up with Nutz, check out his blog.