Haze Gray and Underway....Daddy is out at sea

Today is the day that we had to say our goodbyes to Dan.  He deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln for an 8 month tour to do his part in defending this great nation.  I don't think it hit us until this morning how much of a struggle this is going to be for us all.  This will be Dan and I's first deployment to experience with a child.  Neither of us were prepared to hear his cries for his Daddy and the tears rolling down his sweet little cheeks.  We have done so much to try and prepare things for Alex so that he does not feel disconnected from his Daddy, but the emotions were something that neither of us could prepare for; including our own.