More than a day's work: And they're off (missing Daddy)

B.J. and Mom left early this morning (shortly after 8am). They were running a little later than they wanted, but they made it out the door with only a few tears from Elianna. I held it together, though I wanted to cry right along with her. While we know that this is what God has called us to do, it doesn't make the missing that much easier. We spent the day praying for Daddy and Grammy as well as cleaning, playing, and tracking their plane online. We also looked at pictures of the Beijing airport so the girls could see where Daddy's plane was going. Simeon had a typical day for him. I don't think he really knows what is going on and Myla took two great naps which greatly helped with "Operation Clean Up".

Uncle Jeremy came over this afternoon which was a nice change of pace. He came to finish the door project from Saturday and then he hung around and I talked him into having dinner with us. He then offered to watch the kiddos after I put them to bed so that Myla and I could visit Babies R Us and return the pump rental. SCORE!!! It definitely helped having another person around today.

The girls did an AWESOME job with cleanup this afternoon. Both of the girls helped me clean out the kitchen drawer and they really got into organizing it. Janaya picked up the playroom without constant reminding and Elianna cleared the table like she was asked but then went above and beyond by washing the table, loading the dishes, washing the ones that couldn't go in the dishwasher, and scrubbing the counters. I was so blessed by her honoring the family that way and I made sure to let her know :)

Overall, it was a pretty good day today on the home front, except for the homesickness - or daddymissingsickness. Elianna is having a pretty hard time and there were several times today where her eyes welled up and she talked about missing Daddy. I am right there with her. Unfortunately, other than praying and talking and sleeping with Daddy's pillow and blanket, there isn't much more I can do to help the ache. When you have a daddy who is involved and loves you as much as B.J. loves his kiddos you can't help but miss him and his absence leaves a big hole in our family. I am hoping that getting to skype tomorrow will help some.

Below are a few pictures to give you an idea of what an awesome Daddy B.J is and just a glimpse of how much the kiddos are missing him. I am blessed to be married to a man who is as involved as he can possibly be and who loves his kids and me so wonderfully. He is greatly missed right now!