Getting ready for Daddy

There are so many other pictures I'd like to post, but I think I am going to concentrate on getting ready for my husband to come home for now. Amelia is getting really excited. Because we traveled so much over the holidays, she now "gets" the idea of visitors and is talking about daddy more and more. She is walking around the house pointing to things she sees that are his... "Daddy's coat? Daddy's shoes?" and I confirm that they are his things. This seems to comfort her somehow; that because his stuff is here, he is definitely coming back home

It's bittersweet. Even as I am getting her used to the idea that Daddy is coming for a visit, I am already preparing her for him to leave again. I have to remind her that Daddy is only coming to see us for a short while (2 weeks), and then he will be gone again for a very, very, very long time (6 months). This will be the hardest leave-taking for us that we've experienced so far. At 2 1/2, she really is aware of the people in her life and their relationship to her. It has to be handled delicately so that she accepts it as a normal part of life and not something to be deeply sad about.