The story of Arianna and Daddy
Arianna's daddy came into her life when she was 14 months old. She was just walking and barely talking; the first word she said to him was, "shoes." He came home on leave in May and that's when he really started to interact with her and she started to remember him.
May 2008
By June, she knew him as "Don"; she still couldn't say her J's very well. She recognized his face though and was always excited to see him. I was amazed at how good he was with her since he had never really been around kids before. She was starting to talk a little bit more and enjoyed talking to him on the phone when he wasn't home.
Playing the piano at Jon's Grammy and Paw Paw's house
A shirt we bought for her to wear when he came home. "Marine's Little Girl."
In November, Arianna and I went out to visit Jon in North Carolina. She had a ton of fun playing with him at my aunt and uncle's house. He put her on his shoulders for the first time and that's still one of her favorite places to be when we're walking around anywhere.
November 2008
Jon came home for Christmas, December 2008. Arianna was finally able to say his name and referred to him as "Jon." Jon and I got engaged and although Arianna didn't really understand what that meant, we started telling her about the family that we were going to be.
Playing in her tent December 2008
Jon was home again in April 2009. This was the first Easter that he got to spend with Arianna. We took him to the house of some good family friends where they always do a big egg hunt. Jon stepped right in to help Arianna find a basket full of eggs. We also spent a day at the zoo where Arianna showed him all of her favorite animals. The day we took Jon to the airport, we went out to eat and he and Arianna had fun trying to make each other eat a lemon.
Easter 2009
At the zoo
At the restaurant
The lemon
Jon and I got married on September 18th, 2009. Arianna still referred to him as "Jon", but was fond of telling people that he was going to be her daddy. She was our flower girl and even though she slept through most of the reception, she still remembers the ceremony and loves to talk about it.
At the wedding September 2009
After we got married, Arianna and I moved out to North Carolina to be with Jon. Shortly after we moved, she started referring to him as "daddy." That October, we took Arianna to Mike's Farm for all of the fall festivities and she asked her daddy to help her pick out a Halloween pumpkin.
Pumpkin patch October 2009
Unfortunately, Jon didn't get to spend Halloween with us. He got orders to attend the commissioning of the USS New York in NYC. He left early in the morning the day before Halloween. Arianna and I drove him to work, but she was fast asleep when we dropped him off. We did get to go up and see him (and NYC!) about a week later. She was thrilled to see her daddy and didn't want to let him out of her sight. One of the things that we got to do in NYC was visit Fox News Studios and meet the anchors of Fox & Friends. Arianna and Jon got to appear on the After the Show Show which can be seen in this post.
Kissing her goodbye October 2009
NYC, November 2009
Fox & Friends
Some time at the park November 2009
Christmas 2009 was an exciting time for us, our first Christmas as a family. Jon and Arianna attempted to make a gingerbread house together, but it never got finished because Arianna kept knocking it down and eating all of the decoration candy.
Christmas Day 2009
A day out December 2009
Jon re-enlisted in January 2010 and Arianna and I got to go to his re-enlistment ceremony. There was also another ceremony that day- for the SgtMaj's retirement so a really big deal was being made about that. As far as Arianna was concerned though, all of the marching and the music and the clapping was for her daddy.
Before the ceremony, January 2010
Bathtime before bed later that evening
One of her favorite places to fall asleep.
February 2010, Arianna turned three years old and saw her first snow! Daddy helped her build a snowman and they had a blast throwing the snow at each other. March 2010, we moved to Virginia, where we currently reside.
Helping daddy load the moving van, March 2010
At the park in VA, March 2010
Playing with a fan in the house
At a birthday party, April 2010
Another egg hunt, Easter 2010
Another birthday party, April 2010
Daddy's birthday party, May 2010
Walking around Alexandria, June 2010
Memorial Day 2010
Welcoming daddy home from a trip, June 2010
The past 26 months have been an amazing, fun, challenging, busy, loving, and memorable journey for us. I can't wait to see how much our family has grown and changed by next Father's Day! We'll have a new addition to the family, Jon will be a father of two, and Arianna will be a big sister. Many new adventures in store!
Watching a movie, June 19th, 2010.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!
*sniffle* you made me cry. <3
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