Dealing with this Deployment

So...today was the day. I have been dreading this day for some time now, and it has come...and is almost gone. To say it was filled with emotions would be such an understatement. I have never felt more proud, sad, scared, anxious, hopeful...you name it and that emotion was there today. I couldn't believe Archer though. He was quite the source of entertainment for a lot of people this morning. He got quite a few laughs and was a joy. I think he new his momma needed that more than anything else. I know he doesn't really get what was going on but it seemed as if his one year old heart just new to be good, funny and loving. Kids are truly amazing. I wanted to write this blog entry about all of the things we are doing to help get us through this deployment. I say that most of them are for Archer's sake but if I am being honest I have to admit that they are more for me. Here are some of the things we have done:

-We went to Build - A - Bear and made Archer a bear that has Nick's voice recorded. Whenever Archer hugs the bear, it plays him a special message. He loves the bear...hugs it A LOT.

-We purchased a "daddy doll." It is really a pillow with a full body picture of Nick in his flight suite. I love it and Archer laughs and smiles at it when I put it in his crib with him. He also likes to drag it around the house...I see the daddy doll coming a lot of places with us.

-Nick bought a recordable story book from Hallmark. It is SO awesome. He can now read a book to Archer every night. It makes me a little teary-eyed to hear it, but I am pretty sure Archer is going to love it. Books are a huge part of his night time routine, so this will be a wonderful addition.

-This one is really for me. I bought a candy jar and filled it with enough Hersey's Kisses for Archer and I to have one each day until Nick gets home. Now, I don't know the exact number of days he will be gone, but I (hopefully) overestimated. It has a label on it that says, "kisses from Daddy" This will help me visually as well as give me a sweet little treat to end the day with. I am thinking that I will let Archer have his right before his bath. I know that chocolate is not the BEST thing for kiddos, but this is a special time and...if he doesn't want it I am sure I can handle eating his!

So, hopefully these things will help ease us throughout this deployment. There are so many cool things to help us keep in touch as well, so we look forward to using all the technology that we can!