Thankful for some sleep

Baby E slept from 10pm-7am this morning! Let me tell you that if Little L hadn't woken up half way through the night, I would have gotten a good amount of sleep. I really needed that sleep seeing as I had to deal with Tricare and DEERS stuff today. Some idiot at McDill put in the husbands deployment dates for only 5 days, so once those 5 days passed we were kicked out of Tricare, and of course does Tricare contact you? Nope. Does your pediatrician contact you? Nope, or at least not until you've racked up a huge medical bill. So, thanks for letting me know. It's not like I can drive down the road to fix it. I have to travel all the way to Tampa (which is an hour and a half one way) with little kids. Not so much fun. So, I took Little L to daycare and took Baby E with me. I was told by a friend that if you take an infant with you to their office, they will get you in faster. Oh my goodness it's true! The guy behind me asked how long the wait was and he was told over an hour, I only sat waiting for about 10 min. Not bad if I do say so myself. :) So, our Tricare dilemma is taken care of. :) I'm pretty proud of myself, I had all of the paperwork I needed. It's not fun going to those places without your sponsor.

Seeing as I had to drive all the way up there by myself I treated myself to Jimmy Johns for lunch. We had one of those where I went to college and I LOVE their subs. The closest one to our house is at least a half hour away, but it happens to be on the way home from Tampa. Score! I am one happy mama.

Now I just need to get Baby E asleep again and then I can take a short nap before I have to pick Little L up from daycare. Let's see if the stars align for me :)

R&R I LOVE/hate you

We were able to spend two whole weeks with the husband while he was home on R&R. Let me tell you, that was the most AMAZING two weeks of my life. Little L was sooo excited to see his daddy when we picked him up at the airport.

We were lucky enough to have our army friends Shannon and her husband Nick come to the airport with us to 1. keep me sane and from freaking out and 2. to take pictures. I was really glad they came. I don't know if I could have stood in the airport waiting for him by myself without going crazy.

We were busy during our two glorious weeks with him at home. We ate out, saw friends and family, got a new refrigerator, a new dishwasher, new cabinets for Little L's toys and I got a pair of diamond earrings. They are beautiful and I love everything that we got! You know you're old when you are excited about a new refrigerator and dishwasher, but I do like them a lot.  (We didn't see his parents until his last night home, but that's for another post)

It was great having the husband being able to finally meet Baby E. He was a huge help with her, getting up in the middle of the night to feed her, changed her diapers and just enjoyed being with her. He also helped a lot with Little L, he changed his diapers, took him places just the two of them and let him play with his tools. They were so cute together. He is such a great dad, I am one lucky woman.

I do love that we were able to spend two amazing weeks with the husband, but I hate that he had to leave us again. Shannon warned me that the second good-bye was worse, and boy she wasn't kidding. The airport allowed me and the kids to go through security to be with him as long as possible. That was nice, until it was time to say "see you later" again. It was heart wrenching to watch Little L tell Daddy he's not allowed to leave and then to watch Little L watch the husband's plane leave.

                                           The husband and Little L waiting at the airport

                                          One last picture before saying "see you later"

                                          Little L watching daddy's plane leave

I also hate R&R for the fact that I got use to having a second person to help me with the kids, as well as having my best friend home. Our house feels so much more like a home when he is with us. It feels full and happy. Coming home alone with the kids after dropping him off was horrible. The house felt lonely and empty. It was hard to be here. Thank goodness for my biffle who let the kids and I come crash at her house for dinner that night. I don't know what I would do without her.

I had this weird feeling the other day. It almost felt like the husband hadn't been home at all. If his clothes weren't still laying on the floor, it seems like he hasn't been here. Weird huh?

It took me about two weeks to get into a routine without him after he left the first time, and I am hoping that it won't take me that long to find our routine again. That was the longest two weeks of my life. How do you find your routine after having to say "See you later" the second time? Any suggestions would be welcomed.

So, at the moment I have a love/hate relationship with R&R. I just can't wait until I can start counting down the days until he gets to come home for good.

It's the little things

Baby E has been sleeping through the night for the past 4 nights and I am one happy mommy. Little L has been a great big brother. I am very blessed. Here are some pictures of my two babies :).

I have some exciting things to post, but that will have to wait for another day.

3rd Night

So far Baby E has slept through the night for the past three nights! I can't believe it and I hope it continues. Although I don't think my body knows what to do with all of this sleep. Between getting middle of the night phone calls from husband during training and deployment and being pregnant, I got so used to being woken up at least 3-4 times a night and being able to function. Now I am getting more sleep and feel more tired than ever. Thank goodness I still have 2 1/2 weeks before I go back to work.

Military Monday Blog Hop

Hello to new readers or followers from Military Monday, here is a little bit of information about me:

My name is Kathryn, I am married to a Officer in the Army Reserves, he is my best friend. Currently he is in the sand box, we are going through our 1st deployment.

I gave birth to our daughter in December, we also have a son who is 2 1/2 years old.

I am a middle school Social Studies teacher.

I love making new friends

So leave some comments so I can come follow you back

All night

Last night was amazing because Baby E slept through the night for the first time! I'm sure it was just a freak occurrence, but I'm hoping that this will soon become more regular. She fell asleep around 11 or 11:30 (I can't remember) and slept until 7am!!!! When I woke up and realized that she hadn't woken up, I started to freak out that I either didn't hear her or that something was wrong. I checked on her and everything was great, so I went back to bed until she woke up. Now she's been fed and has fallen back asleep :). I am one happy mama today.
Little L is doing good as well. His speech is improving every day and he is being such a great big brother. He doesn't act jealous at all. He's been a huge help to me too, getting me Baby E's blankets, bottles and what ever else I need him to get for me.
Well, I need to go get ready, my Biffle and her daughter are on their way over for a visit! I'm super excited! It sucks not seeing her every day at work, but I will be back there soon enough. Once I return we will be able to teach our 6th period classes together! That will be awesome!!!

One month and a day

Baby E is now one month and a day old. I can't believe a month has already passed. She is now sleeping at least 4 hours at a time at night and is starting to be more awake during the day. Although now I have about 9 packages of size one diapers that I need to exchange for size 2 diapers. That's right, our baby E is now a whopping 13 lbs!!!! Holy cow! She is also eating around 6oz of formula! Little L was a preemie and I believe he didn't go into size 2 diapers until he was close to 4 months old. So, we are having the opposite problem with Baby E is what we had with Little L.

I do feel quite blessed with my little family. I have two healthy kids with one of the most amazing men I have ever met. He is a great friend, husband and father.

On the in-law situation. I have not heard from them in over a week. I guess they aren't going to do anything to help the situation. Which of course is their loss. Not only are they losing their relationship with the one son who is worth something, but their daughter-in-law and their grandchildren. I thought if for nothing else, they would fix the situation because the husband is in the sand box or at least for the grandchildren. They have been waiting to have grandchildren they didn't have to raise (they are raising my husband's brother's kids) and now they have two, which they aren't seeing because they are being stupid. It's their loss, but also sad.

I just still can't believe how fast a month has gone by. Thank goodness, each month that goes by means we are another month closer to the Husband coming home for good. :) That is a day that I cannot wait for!!!!

Military Man/Spouse's Promise

 I cannot promise you every night of my life. I cannot promise to be beside you for every difficult moment, every trial, and every hardship. In truth, I can promise you that I will not be with you for most. I will leave you at inconvenient times. Any special date to us may be tainted with the anniversary of the death of one of my friends. I will ask you t...o take over whatever life we have built together for months and years at a time. And will then crash back into that life that you have used your sweat, your tears and your heartache to keep together, and try to take it back as I knew it before.

I will shut you out at times because it will be the best way for me to hold it together at that moment. I will lie to you. I will tell you I don't know things when I do. I will not always tell you where I am going, when I will be back, or who I am with. I may not call you for weeks and months and you will not be able to call me. You will ask questions that I won't answer. You will know answers to questions that you will hope you never need.

I will share things with my brothers that you will never understand. They will know things about me that you never will. They will be a support to me in some things that you cannot be. I will miss birthdays. I will miss anniversaries. I may need time to process things that seem natural to everyone else.

It will seem that someone - or something - will always take precedence over you.

I will uproot you and ask you to re-establish our family anywhere in the world, in any season, at any time - over and over again. Sand and mud will be tracked through your halls from the boots I am too tired to take off.

I will leave you when you beg me not to. I will stand at attention while you cry beside me. I will not turn my head and I will walk away. I will knowingly break your heart. And I will do it again - and again. I cannot promise you all of me. I cannot promise you much of anything.

But if you will have me, I can promise that as I march away from you, it is not without sharing your heartache. I promise you that every time I break your heart I will be breaking mine. Every time that I cannot answer you I will be protecting you. Whenever you want to call and you have no number to dial, I will be wanting to do the same. I will protect everything that we have created together with every fiber of my being while you do the same back at home. I will honor you in everything - every moment that we are apart and every moment that I am with you. I will fight harder and push further knowing that I do so for you. And I will carry you with me in everything, until my sandy boots once again sit just inside our door.

A Military Spouse's promise …

I cannot promise that I will not become frustrated when you leave me and the world seems to fall apart around me.

I cannot promise that I will not curse those who sent you when the dryer breaks, and the transmission needs to be replaced, and the dog eats the couch all in the same week - most likely the week after you deploy.

I cannot promise that the sand and mud that cakes my floor will not cause me to give you harsh looks and rude thoughts. I cannot promise that my heart will not be torn in twelve different ways when you march away from me.

I cannot promise that I will not let my anger show when you refuse to answer questions.

I cannot promise to understand why you share things with your comrades that you will not share with me.

I cannot promise that there won’t be times when my heartache makes its presence known before my pride can mask it.

I cannot promise that I will not show my worry and my concern when it is best for you not to see it.

I cannot promise to understand why you do so many of the things you do.

But I can promise that for as many tears of sadness and frustration and anger that are shed there will be double that of tears of pride. I can promise you that for every time you are away from me, I will learn to cherish the times that you are with me. In everything I will honor you and honor your sacrifice. I can promise to teach our children to do the same. I will use every moment that you are not with them to show them the amazing man that you are through my actions and my pride. I can promise that there will never be a night where you are not the subject of my final prayer and the keeper of my dreams. I promise to try to be understanding that there are many things I will never understand. I promise to keep you with me in everything and to do my best to keep grace in this life. I will be strong for you as you are strong for me and I will carry you with me in every moment until your sandy boots again sit just inside our door.

In-Laws

I know some people don't get along well with their in-laws. I've been very lucky that I have gotten along well with my in-laws, that is until now. I wish they would just get their heads out of their butts and fix the situation with the husband.
The situation: my husband has made it very clear from the day that Little L was born that he did not want Little L to have a baby doll or anything girlie. We talked about this and came to the joint decision about this. Well, as it was getting closer to me giving birth to Baby E, my MIL decided it would be a good idea to get Little L a baby doll. She did not discuss this with the husband or myself before doing it, she just went out to the store and bought one. You would think before doing something like this you would ask the parents first. Well, needless to say the husband was not happy about this. When he brought it up to my MIL she just blew it off and said she was trying to help Little L adjust to the new baby. Now of course there are many other ways to help a toddler adjust to a new baby without using a baby doll. My husband was very upset about the whole situation, because his mother is known for doing something without asking the people it affects and the husband is very tired of dealing with it. Not to mention this is the LAST thing he should have to deal with on top of everything else he has to deal with over there. It might have been different if she would have pulled this while he was home to deal with it, but doing it while he has no control is not ok.
So, he decided not to call her as much as he had been. When he finally decided to call and talk to her she sent him an IM on skype saying "I'm off the bus now, what do you need?" Well, that just started a whole new fight. My MIL then tried to turn the responsibility of the fight onto the husband by saying all he cares about are his feelings and that I, his wife, will just do what ever he says. Basically saying I am a robot and have no brain of my own. That of course just further pissed the husband off, as well as me. We have a marriage where we talk about our decisions and how we want to raise our kids. At the end of the argument the husband said he was done dealing with her crap and she then turned off her skype. She has basically not been on skype since and hasn't tried to contact him at all. I think that part is the worst. I don't understand how she can not fix the situation! He's so upset about all of this that he doesn't want to see them over R&R and doesn't want me to use them so much for babysitting.
This has also caused things to be awkward between me and them. I know his parents want to ask questions about him and how he is doing, but they don't and he has asked that I not give them any information. I am still taking the kids over to see them, because they still are their grandparents, but it is not with the same frequency that I was before. I am just so annoyed with my in-laws for being so stupid and letting this situation get to this point. Ugh! Sorry for the long drawn out post :) I needed to get that off my chest.

On a good note. The husband finally got the orders for his promotion!!!!! He is finally a 1LT and finally got pinned!!!! I am so proud of him!!!!

Welcome Home Sign Ideas

With R&R coming up, I was thinking of making a sign to have at the airport when the kids and I go to pick the husband up. I am having trouble coming up with something good to write on the sign instead of just Welcome Home. Does anyone have any ideas?
In other news Little L has been back at daycare for the past week and is in a much better mood every night. Baby E is sleeping for longer periods of time and awake for longer periods of time. Thankfully she is awake more during the day than at night. :) I haven't been able to take a nap during the day yet, but once I get caught up on all of the little projects I need to get done, then I will start napping. Thankfully pregnancy and having the husband deployed has taught me how to be productive on very little and mostly interrupted sleep.
The girls night last night was a lot of fun. I was able to see my biffle (BFF) from work, another co-worker, a really good friend who is a fellow army wife and a few other girls. It was good food and good laughs. It was much needed.

3 weeks

I can't believe that my little girl is 3 weeks old today. She is finally staying awake longer during the day and sleeping pretty good at night. Last night she slept 5 whole hours before waking up. I was shocked. She is such a good baby, I am really lucky.
I am really excited to go out with the girls tonight. I haven't been out of the house without the kids in 3 whole weeks. It will be nice to have some adult conversations tonight. So, I am really looking forward to it.

It's getting closer

I'm happy to report that baby E is feeling much better! She is still a little stuffy, but at least she is finally getting over her cold. It was rough here for a few days, but thank goodness for my mom and dad. I don't know what I would do without them. My mom has been at my house every night since baby E's birth and my dad came down for a visit to help out as well. I'm not sure I would be so sane at the moment without them. Of course hearing from my husband helps with the sanity as well. We are finally counting down to R&R and I cannot wait. I think I am making myself sick with anxiety and excitement over him finally getting to come home. It seems like it will never get here.
Little L has gone back to daycare and it has helped everyone out. He is happier being back in his routine and playing with kids his own age, and I am able to spend time with baby E and get some sleep. I don't know how stay at home moms do it. I don't think I would be a very good stay at home mom, I give those moms a lot of credit.
I'm really excited for a girl's night out on Friday. I haven't been out without the kids since baby E was born, so I am really looking forward to a night out without them. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my kids, but I think a night out would do me some good.
So, it has been freezing here the last two days, which makes it hard for me to find the motivation needed to get some things done. I want to start going for walks with baby E so that I can start losing this weight. I have a deadline of August to be back where I was when I met my husband. That means I need to lose about 30 pounds. I need to get working. I just hope I can do it. I know my husband is skeptical because I said I wanted to lose weight before we had our big wedding for family and friends and I didn't lose any, but now that I am done having kids, and I WANT to lose the weight I will be more successful. I just need to make sure I don't start the emotional eating, which will be hard with the husband deployed. Wish me luck!
Well, I need to get some sleep before baby E wakes up. I hope everyone is having a great day!

2012

Well, we have said good-bye to 2011 and hello to 2012. 2011 was a crazy year for our family. From our wedding for friends and family, to finding out the husband would be deployed, to him actually leaving, the birth of baby E, and the husband getting his promotion from 2LT to 1LT, it has been quite the year.
I believe that 2012 will be an amazing year. The husband's R&R is coming up, as well as the end of his deployment. Each day that goes by means we are one more day closer to him being home with us again. I know I cannot wait for the day he is home with us again for good.
I spent New Year's Eve with Little L, Baby E, my mom, grandma and aunt. It was nice, but I sure wish the husband had been home. However, it was amazing because he called me when it turned midnight over there and again when it turned midnight over here. I think it's amazing that he thinks to call at both times. It sure makes the day better to hear his voice. :)
I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve and a great and prosperous 2012!