children

Time flies when you’re having fun…

So I wrote this last week and forgot to post it… since a little birdie told me I haven’t blogged in a long time I thought I would publish this draft. I should also say umm… ma’am you haven’t blogged either…

Last week The Girl and the Hubs both had birthdays and since it was a holiday weekend he was able to fly home to spend a little time with us. Of course the kids were ecstatic to see their dad and I was not short on smiles either!

The weekend seemed to be a nonstop flurry of activity, but in reality we didn’t do a whole lot. Saturday we took family pictures which is something we haven’t done since the boy was 2 months old and now he’s two and a half! I must say the pictures turned out quite well and I was so glad that the kids cooperated long enough for us to get some great shots.

Later that evening we went out for dinner at this little Hibachi restaurant not far from where we live. We thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing their food cooked in front of them and we were right. After dinner we had to rush home so a certain someone could watch the UGA game… I won’t even comment on the outcome.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day until late in the afternoon when we decided to take the kids to the park and to Baskin Robbins for ice cream!  After we got home it seemed  as if the evening began to progress at the speed of light because before I knew it, it was time for bed.

Monday morning was upon us before we knew what hit us and soon we were on the road to take the hubs back to the airport. This was the first time the kids have gone with me to drop him off so needless to say it wasn’t a pretty picture. The Boy cried in spurts and The Girl silently cried into her tissue. At one point while we were driving she turned to look out the back window and was reaching back towards the airport. She nearly broke my heart. I was acutely aware of her pain because at that age too I was a daddy’s girl. My daddy was larger than life and something like a super hero who I loved to be around and I definitely see that in her. Eventually she calmed down and was pretty much back to normal, you know talking me to death!

This week is the halfway mark in the hubs training class so we have 9 more weeks to go… I hope and pray they go fast!

Playtime is OVER!!!!!

My mother, being the saint that she is, kept my children ALL summer. The last day of school was June 3rd and Nana got the kids June 4th. Not only did she have my 2 rugrats she also kept my niece and nephew because my brother was preparing to deploy (7/5) and their mother was already in Iraq. Again she’s a saint…

I would be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy every minute of my freedom. My name has been Mommy so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to just be “B.” I didn’t do anything major during this childless summer, but that in itself was priceless. An uninterrupted nap is a rare gem, especially with a 5 and a 2 year old, so I treated myself to several. I plowed through my to-be-read list and caught up on some of my favorite television shows.

Like all good things my vacation came to an end yesterday. I am once again Mommy! Life was somewhat normal that is until bedtime. The Boy was crying for no apparent reason and The Girl supposedly now is afraid of the dark so she was also wailing like a wounded animal. They finally cried themselves to sleep….. well until 3:45 am when The Boy woke in a panic and came into my bedroom. Interestingly enough once he was in my bed he went RIGHT back to sleep. The Girl, who so kindly escorted her brother to my room at this ungodly hour then decides she doesn’t like sleeping alone and cries as she tells me about her new fear. All I could think about how close it was to 6.
I’m praying we can all get on a schedule and soon, because TG goes back to school next week. There will be no room to play around. Well folks looks like “me time” was a huge success, but its time to get back to work.

Here Today….. Y’all Know The Rest

Time flies when you’re having fun…. Truer words have never been spoken. The hubs came home on 3/16 and now he’s gone again, this time to Ft. Leonard Wood for more training. It seems as if time was dragging while he was gone, but once he got home the days zipped by at lightning speed.  Unfortunately, this separation will be much longer than the first, because he won’t be home until early August.  Luckily The Girl and The Boy are at my mom’s for the week so I don’t have to deal with the issues that come from missing daddy just yet.  I think The Girl will be easier to deal with because she is old enough to have some sort of understanding but The Boy is going to be a different story all together.  He turned two right before The Hubs came home so with that birthday seemed to come more awareness of his surroundings. For him it was an out of sight out of mind type of situation, but now that he’s seen his dad I don’t know how that is going to work when he gets home this weekend and daddy isn’t there.

Well there’s no time for moping and complaining! Summer’s around the corner I guess I need to start planning some fun activities for the kiddos to keep their minds off daddy not being home.  I probably should also start being a bit more hardcore with my workouts just in case we hit the beach AND so I’ll have enough energy to keep up with those two!

 

You’re In The Army Now…Sorta… My Life As An Army Wife (Part 2)

Thank God that year of deployment passed quickly and shortly after his return we were married. Our little family was complete. Getting married was the easy part. The hard part was getting acclimated to my new role as an Army Wife and mom. We were stationed at Ft. Stewart in Hinesville, GA home of the 3rd Infantry Division. We did not live on post so subsequently I didn’t know many other wives. That first year I was pretty much oblivious to the military life although I was a part of it.

We bought our first house, moved in, and I got to try my hand at decorating. It was an exciting time. Soon we were celebrating our one year anniversary and the very next day he went back to Iraq. Driving away from the post was heartbreaking. I remember calling my mom and sobbing “He just left.” She talked to me for a few minutes and calmed me down and I slowly drove home.
The girl child was 18 months old when he deployed for the 3rd time and every bit of a daddy’s girl. Initially I was able to answer her question of where’s daddy with daddy’s working, but soon even her young mind began to grasp that daddy had a very different job.

I kept myself busy by participating in activities with my Sorors and attending meetings in Statesboro once a month. Luckily my mom and in-laws were only two hours away so if things got too hectic they were only a short drive and we could go home as often as we liked. My mom and mother-in-law definitely helped get us through that 15 month separation.
Life went on while the Hubs was gone. I started a new job and graduate school. I tried my best to keep the girl child and myself busy. Unfortunately, while he was gone I lost my grandmother. We tried to request emergency leave for him through the Red Cross, but since she was my grandmother and not considered a close relation he was not allowed to come home to attend the funeral with me. My maternal grandmother passed away when I was 15 so losing my dad’s mother hit me hard. I wasn’t able to grieve long because I had a daughter to look after and a household to manage so like always life went on.

The hardest part of this deployment for me was people telling me how grateful they were for my husband’s service and how brave they thought I was! Me and brave in the same sentence. That was certainly not something I was used to be called. I didn’t feel brave either. More often than not I felt very afraid and helpless, but if I haven’t learned anything else from my husband I learned how to suck it up and move forward.

The hubs came home for 18 days of R&R and it was pure bliss. The girl and I were so happy to have those few weeks with him, but again it was torture seeing him go. The rest of his deployment passed quickly. We frequently called and chatted via the computer so it wasn’t as difficult this time around. Before I knew it he was coming home! At the end of May 2008 he returned.

Just when we thought that the Hubs coming home was the best thing happening to us we found out (36 days after his return) that we were expecting! Talk about a pleasant surprise! True to form though, things were anything but normal. While deployed he was promoted to E6 which meant he was now an NCO which brought forth more responsibilities and sometimes longer hours. If that wasn’t enough we were on orders to PCS in December so there was much to be done in a short amount of time!
Luckily we were only moving to Columbia, SC so it wasn’t terribly far but trying to coordinate a move while pregnant was definitely interesting to say the least!

Time to dig out my cape

Well folks it’s that time again…. the hubs has to go away for training so I’ll be home alone with the kids. The first part of the training is only for about 6 weeks and then he’ll be home with us for 2 weeks, buuuuuut then he’ll be leaving again April 1st heading to Fort Leonard Wood until August!!!! I know it could be worse… At least it’s not another 15 to 18 month deployment to Iraq.

 I’d grown used to his absences, but since moving to South Carolina he’s stayed put and we’ve become accustomed to him being around. This is going to be especially hard on Aidan because he’s always been around for him unlike when Kyleigh was his age he was deployed. Every day when we get home he barely gives me time to unlock the door before he’s running inside looking for his dad. I don’t know how I will be able handle seeing his little face fall when his daddy doesn’t answer.

I was referred to as Super Mom today by one of my friends, although I don’t quite feel like one I know its time for me to dust my cape off and get on the job. Our routine is going to change,  not drastically I hope, and we are going to have to work out a system that flows smoothly for the three of us. I expect it will be difficult at first, but we’ll figure it out. I suspect we’ll be doing tons of art projects and Kyleigh and I will be baking a lot to take their mind off daddy. We’re going to make it work OR I will being seeing a mental health specialist preferrably a psychiatrist for a prescription of the strongest mood stabilizers/anti-anxiety drugs he can give me!

My how time flies..

It truly amazes me to see my little girl growing up so fast!
It feels like just yesterday I was staring at the two lines in disbelief… but she is here and making her presence known in such a big way. Kyleigh has more personality than I ever did or will in this lifetime. She is everything I am and then some! Such a funny, bubbly, and inquisitive little person. My little sidekick is soon to be not so little anymore…

No Air

My husband has been deployed to Iraq for 1 year and 9 days. His return is so close and yet so far away. As it stands he is due to return of May and while I know April is upon us and before I know it May will be here its justs not happening fast enough!
Deployments are always hard, but I think the loneliness can be eased by the support of family and friends. There are times that I feel my circle is tight and strong while others I feel utterly and completely alone. I have great girlfriends; however as we are all making the great leap into our thirties we are all going through life altering situations which unfortunately doesn lend us much time to socialize. Within the last six months one friend has gotten married and four have given birth so needless to say time for gossip and idle chatter is reduced to a minimum.
Just a few weeks ago I surprised myself on Monday morning when I realized that I’d not left the house the entire weekend. This would be ok if it were only me, but being shut in I know also affects my daughter who just happens to be a HUGE ball of energy. Its kinda like she drank a red bull and followed it with a double shot of expresso so spending an entire weekend with her inside is like an adventure. The realization that I’d stayed in for 2 days allowed me to see just how isolated I’ve allowed myself to become since my hubby isn’t here. I wish I could say that I’ve had an epiphany and from now on my weekends will be filled with activity and fun, but knowing myself like I do I probably will continue as I have until my honey comes home.
This third deployment has given me even more time to reflect and I’ve come to realize just how much I miss having my husband here with me. Things at home run much smoother when he’s here and this time without him has been something akin to chaos. I am so thankful that this separation is almost over and I cannot wait to get some much needed quality time with my husband!

I want you to make a cake… Chatty Cathy is alive and well and she lives with me

My daughter Kyleigh is two years old and she loves to do one thing above all things….talk. Right now she should be asleep but she is talking to her Allstate bear that my dad gave her and she just told me that she wants me to make a cake. She is such a nutty little girl. She is in between wanting to still be my baby and a big girl. Most days she can’t decide which to be so she is both. I have to carry her into the daycare every morning and instead of asking me to pour her a cup of juice when we get home she whines and jumps up and down, but when she notices me getting close to the fridge she wants to run over and open the door for me or whenever we are going somewhere she insists on taking her seat belt off herself and she is usually sitting there not so patiently waiting on me to open the car door for her to get out and then I have to carry her inside LOL!