M.I.A.

Sorry for disappearing for so long.  I've been M.I.A. in MIA!!!  (Wacka wacka wacka...bad joke. Sorry.)

Yes,  I have been busy preparing for and then going to Miami for a work event, which meant the little ones and their Dadda had a few glorious days without their usual despotic commander bossing them around.  

And a very special thanks goes out to my Uncle Wesley and Aunt Mary for bringing a truckload of Boston Market to our house.  Yummy leftovers were available to sustain the hubby and motherless children while I was gone!

I have never felt so loved than when I got back from the trip - the little man immediately snuggled into my embrace with big smiles and tried to tell me in his 7 month old gibberish just how much he missed me.  He wiggled and flashed his (two!) pearly whites with huge gummy grins and then got so worked up that he bounced in my lap until my arms wore out from trying to hang on to him.

Evie, on the other hand, was all smiles at first, until she had a complete meltdown - tears, sobbing, and requests for hand holding and lap sitting with Momma. This toddler-sized Chernobyl event resulted in a heart to heart conversation between us over Wendy's Frosty milkshakes. (Frosties have been scientifically proven to alleviate the foulest of moods.) 

Evie informed me that she was very sad and her tummy hurt a lot while I was gone. She said she didn't want Momma to go away again-  and although she had fun with Dadda and Dadda let her talk to me on the phone, it just didn't make her feel better.  And her friend Ethan bit her finger in class and she couldn't tell me about it because I wasn't there.  It was all so very traumatic.

All has been made right with the world.
Mom's presence can't be replaced by a Frosty,
but the chocolatey goodness sure does help.

And then she wanted to know if Big Jet scared me or stole my purse.(Background: She loves the show "Little Einsteins." In most episodes, Big Jet is the bad guy. The little Red Rocket is the good guy. Evie was very worried for my safety when she found out I was going on a BIG airplane.)

After soothing those fragile toddler nerves, reassuring her, and reminding her that she gets to go with me on the next trip we take on an airplane (yay!), she seemed satisfied that I was home for good. But, good grief, does that little girl know how to rip a momma's heart in half?!

I'll stop blathering about the melodrama that is the female psyche and instead give you a quick photo documentary of Abbott's adorable months here on this planet so far:

"I'm a handsome dude, aren't I?"

So verrrrry close to sitting up all by himself.

Practicing his flying sidekicks...
'cuz you know he's going to need them
to fend his big sister off once he's mobile!