Daddy's Back

Well folks, he's back. And, in turn, so am I. :)

To all you dear faithful readers who are still hitting up my lonely, lonely blog - deepest apologies for the recent absence!! As you all (being avid readers) must know, my husband was far, far away on a business trip for a little over a month, and while I thought I'd miss him heaps, I hadn't realized just how much of a toll it would take on me. I don't mean to be melodramatic - it wasn't the work. I figured that having a husband who works as much as mine does, the workload wouldn't be that different than my usual days. Well, I was right about that. But the emotional toll was so surprisingly draining! I generally consider myself a relatively secure and self-confident person, but this whole trip brought on such a form of insecurity inside of me (even while being in my parent's home, surrounded by my siblings etc.)... it really threw me off. Towards the end of week 3 I started feeling a bit more like myself and a lot more independent, and now that I know I got to a better place, I can imagine the next time not being as daunting. Or as shocking. But, for now, I'm so happy to have my man back!!

And as you can see; Freida is thrilled!

While I dealt with my own form of separation anxiety, Freida was experiencing a variety of her own. She went through a brief (but awful!) stage of not letting me leave her alone. It was the first time in her little life that she slept in my bed without being sick. She would scream (and I mean scream!) if I left her alone in her crib or even alone in the room without settling her to sleep first. That was difficult as well. Hard to see your little one dealing with such young anxiety. But it was a learning experience for the both of us, and with some time, (thankfully!) things passed.

Also, some world events (some more horrifying than others) helped contribute to my anxiety as well. Unfortunately there was way too many awfully shocking and terrifying things to read about and hear about these past few weeks... too much evil on earth to feel stable and secure. I learned to use a lot of distraction; books (in middle of The Book Thief - pick up a copy, it's an insanely gorgeous and uniquely inspired novel!) and Netflix (I'm on a Mad Men marathon :) ) have really kept me sane. Especially when it came to falling asleep at night. My bed felt much too empty... So grateful to have a great love in my life!

The Mr. came to join us in the Village of Skokie for a little over a week, and is now in LA (meetings!) waiting for our Thursday evening arrival, at which point we will be graced with his presence for another 3 weeks before he jets back out to the United Arab Emirates. The week here was so tantalizingly enjoyable. I find it amazing how as humans we continuously learn lessons of appreciating the small things...!

And of course, to Freida's delight, he didn't fail to remind her that there is no one quite like her crazy-fun Daddy!

So glad to have you back love!! Looking forward to another 3 memorable summer weeks with you!!

P.S. With my return home will come my return to plenty of inspired-posting (including some last-call summer activities, gadgets, and best of back-to-school gear). Promise. :)

Thanks for holding out with me!! Can't wait to get back into sharing good ol' goodies!!!!