Home for the Holidays

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Just last year, my family was one of the thousands of military families separated during the holiday season. Since it was towards the very end of the deployment, Christmas was especially emotionally tolling. I know better than to get my hopes up when it comes to the Army, but since Christmas fell on the 364th day of deployment, I really, really, really thought there was a chance that Hubster would be home in time to celebrate. After all, word on the street is that they pay you loads of money if deployment lasts over 365 days. Not entirely true.
Celebrating Christmas without my husband around wasn't easy, but it was totally doable. I was lucky to have a great group of close friends whose husbands were also in Afghanistan. Although part of our Christmas Eve and Christmas day was spent sulking, we were determined to make it a fun experience for the kids. For Christmas Eve, I made my typical fancy dinner and invited some of our military family over. We drove around to look at Christmas lights, watched Christmas movies, and drank hot chocolate.
Since I knew that Hubster would be home soon, the girls were only allowed to open one gift on Christmas. They were young enough to not even notice the difference. I have to admit that I cried when I saw Santa fly over Georgia on the tracking app.

Finally, New Years Day came and my love was home! Luckily for the girls, Santa was on the same airplane as Hubster and dropped off all of the presents under the tree while we were picking up Daddy. We went to the welcome home ceremony with our matching Christmas dresses on so that we could start celebrating as soon as we got home. Once we made it home, it felt just like Christmas should. We opened gifts, ate lots of food, and lounged around in pajamas.

Thankfully, this year, we'll all be together as a family. Sadly, there are still many many military families still apart. For Giving Tuesday, Walmart has partnered with Operation Homefront and Fisher House to salute military families nationwide. Walmart’s “Holiday Salute to Military Families” hopes to ease the burden of separation with grants totaling $2 million towards toys, meals, and lodging assistance for military families in need. The donation will also go towards helping hundreds of active duty service members return home to be reunited with their loved ones for the holidays.
If you'd like to help support our heroes and their families, you can do so here: Join in our Holiday Salute to Military Families. You may also spread the word by sharing and tagging a service member that you're grateful for.
Have you had to spend the holidays separated from your spouse or loved ones? What did you do to make it a positive experience?

Military Deployment Care Packages on Etsy

I've mentioned it before, but in case you missed it, I started selling decorated care packages on Etsy!

I loved decorating packages for Husbter while he was deployed, and while I hate to brag, he always got some of the best ones. I thought it would be a fun idea to make fun decorated tabs that other military spouses could simply glue on to their own packages.

In the past, I've seen people who sell the complete package, but often times it's filled with useless stuff that I know my hubby wouldn't use or eat. These decorated themed packages allow the sender to put items in the package that they know their service member would use.

I started off a bit slowly, but hope to keep adding decorated tabs to the shop, and eventually possibly things that can used in the packages. I'll be sitting down to work on some more today, but for now, here is what I have and sent out in the past. I might be venturing into the zone of welcome home banners and signs today also.

Happy Halloween Care Package

Happy 4th of July Care Package

Happy Birthday Care Package

Nuts About You Care Package

You Make My Heart Hoppy Easter Care Package

Happy Birthday Care Package

You Are My Sunshine Care Package

Happy Halloween Care Package

Bananas For You Care Pacakge

You Shamrock My World St Patrick's Care Package

I also make custom designs, and like to think that the price of each of my care package decorations is less than what you would spend if you had to go out and buy all the paper and cut out letters yourself.

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Military Family Planning

Lately, the Hubs and I have been talking about having the third child. With all of the deployment babies popping up in our old unit, I've got some jealousy and baby fever. When it comes to our planning though, the military really has no effect on it. I honestly feel like if you wait for the perfect time with the military, you'll never have a kid. Field trainings and deployments have this habit of just appearing out of nowhere, and since we all know that nothing is concrete until it actually happens, you really just never know.

R&R August 2011

My littlest bundle of joy was born exactly three weeks before her daddy left to Afghanistan. She made her appearance a bit later than her due date, so we were worried about Hubster missing the birth all together. He was one of the lucky ones who had to go in advance, which made us more nervous about him missing it. I'm also super grateful that the unit didn't go to JRTC or NTC, each month-long pre-deployment trainings, because that could have also caused him to miss the birth.

Back before Adri even began to exist, there was talk about the unit deploying at the end of 2011, but no one really had any idea when. I'm pretty sure it wasn't until August or September that they had a clearer timeline. Had we waited and tried to plan around deployment and the Army, Veronica might still be an only child.

I really can't complain about having a newborn, a toddler, and a deployed husband. It truly was not that bad. I was the FRG (Family Readiness Group) leader for two years leading up to the deployment, and I kept the position throughout the deployment. Moving back to my parents' house wasn't an option for me. Keeping the three of us alive wasn't easy, but military wives are tough, so I made it work.

All in all, I'm very happy with how it all worked out. No one is mentally scarred yet, and we're all well off and happy.

Linking up at: Eights on the Move

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Gone, But Not Forgotten

Today marks exactly one year that our unit lost two Soldiers in combat. It's been a whirlwind of a year since then. There have been numerous memorials, but yesterday was the first time that the unit and family members were able to come together and remember as a whole.

Fort Stewart has a remarkable way of showing tribute to it's Soldiers lost in combat. A living memorial known as Warriors Walk, surrounds the parade field where homecoming ceremonies are held. An Eastern Redbud tree has been planted along the walkway for each Fort Stewart Soldier killed in action during OIF and OEF.

Yesterday Soldiers and family members gathered at the trees to exchange memories and hugs. There were moments of silence and plenty of prayer. It almost felt like true closure, finally. I hugged one of the widows and a set of parents for probably the last time, since we'll be PCSing before any major events. I do hope to come back some day though, whether it be for an anniversary or the wreath laying ceremony at Christmas.

Welcome Home Banner - A Little Something Extra

While Hubs was deployed, I did my best to make sure that he was getting the prettiest themed care packages with the best stuff in them. It was just something small that I could do to show my love from a distance and make him feel special. According to him, there was some jealousy in the office regarding his packages.

When it was time for Hubs to come home I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to work on anymore little special projects for him. I did have one last little idea that was virtually free and unlike anything I had ever seen before on Pinterest or anything.

If you're a military spouse, surely you've heard of Buildasign.com's free Welcome Home banner offer. They provide you with a free 2x4 foot or 3x5 foot banner to help welcome home your service member. All you have to do is pay for shipping. I ordered the larger size and had the grommets put in for an extra $9.49. I would without a doubt recommend getting the grommets put in.

I made a trip home for Thanksgiving and decided to bring the welcome home banner with me. I dropped it off at Hubster's fraternity house with one of his little brothers who took care of having all the guys sign it at one of their meetings. I met with other friends and family to have them sign it as well.

When we pulled into the drive, Hubs kind of did a double take. He was completely surprised by the extras on the banner. It was nice to be able to go and read all of the messages. Kind of like a welcome home card, but better.

Challenges

These past few days have been interesting, to say the least. Having our family readjust to each other definitely has been and will be a challenge. I can't even count how many times I've wanted to stab a certain spouse of mine for stupid little things such as a two hour trip to the grocery store or taking the four of us twice as long as it normally took me to get us all out the door in the morning. I guess I was hoping that with another adult's help, all of our tasks would be accomplished much quicker. Ehh.. We'll get into a good routine eventually.

Yesterday we had a family reintegration brief as part of Hubs' reintegration training. They had bits and pieces of good information, but there wasn't much that I didn't already know. I was tweeting with another Army wife about how those briefs are always so pointless, but then I thought about it for a minute. The information that they give could actually be extremely beneficial to some families, however those are the same families that also resent the Army and refuse to come to anything like that anyway.

V has been relatively difficult to deal with lately as well. Her tantrums actually aren't too bad, but potty training has hit a brick wall. The ladies at her daycare say that she is fantastic when it comes to using the potty there, but at home we might as well not even have toilets. After sleeping with me for the entire year, she also refuses to sleep in her own bed at night. Leading up to his arrival, I continually reminded V that once dad was home, she was going to have to sleep in her own bed. She completely understood, however when it came down to actually having to happen, she refused. We've tried a gazillion ways to try to keep her in her bed. Last night I reversed the doorknob since she learned to unlock it and she kept breaking off the child safety lock. I probably sleep better with her kicking me in the chest that I did with her throwing herself into the door all night. 

Between staying up late for that horrid BCS Championship Bowl and toddler issues, we didn't get much rest last night, but I'm hoping to be at least slightly productive today. I've got to get our Christmas lights off of the exterior of the house. We're the only house that still has them up. That's not surprising though, considering just about everyone was a Grinch in this area and didn't even put up lights to begin with. Some cleaning up is also on the to-do list for today in order to get this place ready to rent when we PCS in a couple of months. I've also got to finalize preparations for Baby A's baptism. I just hate calling the churches, because the people that they have working/volunteering there are always so rude. I'm praying for better luck today!

Hope everyone has a great day today!

370 Days

We did it. Hubster made it back from Afghanistan on New Year's Day. We survived a year-long deployment as a family. The kids didn't kill me, I didn't kill the kids, and Hubs has all of his pieces.

At first, 2012 seemed like it was going to drag on forever. I tried to get into a good routine with the girls, and for the most part it worked. I was terrified at the thought of wrangling two kids on my own, but being a mommy for the second time was a million times easier. I'm not sure why the routine thing didn't click the first time around, but with Baby A it was so easy. Literally clockwork.

January and February were slow. There wasn't much going on other than a weekly trip to Target/Starbucks followed by an hour or more at the soft play area at the mall. We frequented the playground in our neighborhood when the weather was nice. I ran the monthly FRG meetings and spouse get togethers, but other than that mostly kept to myself.

And then February 23 happened. I remember it clearly, almost like it happened just a couple of days ago. I got a phone call at 6:30am from the Rear Commander. I was asleep from being out the night before, so I ignored it. A little while later he called again. I knew something was up but never could have imagined the magnitude of the situation. Less than two months after arriving in Afghanistan, our Company had two KIAs. As my heart sunk, I asked who they were. I knew these two guys. I had seen one wife just a few weeks prior at the FRG meeting. The other wife and I had been emailing back and forth a couple of nights before. From then on, the dynamic and attitude of all of the wives changed. It made the deployment real and it united us.

March to October-ish is a blur. I have no idea where those months went. They just happened. The girls and I made several trips home to Miami. V turned two. I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a date with my best friend (who insisted that I date Hubster in the first place). I turned a quarter-century old. Tons of holidays were celebrated on our own. I learned to sew and started working out. I made friends with strangers. The holiday season and preparing for my husband to come back made November and December fly by.

Honestly, the key to surviving a deployment is just to stay busy. For me, having kids made that easy. Whether you have kids or not, it's not impossible. Take advantage of your FRG and the free military resources that are available. Reach out to other spouses whose Soldiers are also deployed. Volunteering is a rewarding way to get out of the house and make a difference. Get a job or pick up a new hobby. Make that new hobby your job. Three of the wives from the unit got together and started a bow making business. Planning and putting together care packages was a major time-passer for me. MyCAA offers free money for military spouses to take classes.

All in all, a deployment is what you make of it. It doesn't matter if it's four months, nine months, or 15. Like with just about everything else in life, if you face it with a positive attitude, you're going to get positive results. Of course, plenty of crappy things happened, like my car breaking down or household things falling apart. But those issues helped me to grow and learn to overcome challenges.

Wordless Wednesday

My husband finally came home from Afghanistan yesterday. We celebrated Christmas upon returning home. Here are a couple of pictures from that and the past couple of days.

...Grrr... This didn't post yesterday, so here it is a day late.

Killing Time

Since I'm just here watching Married to the Army: Alaska, I figured it was the perfect time to update the blog. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch all three hours, because I have a ton to do. One of the first things I want need to do is climb up on a ladder and get our welcome home sign hung! It's finally time!! In just a few days my hubby bubby will be home.

Worry not OPSEC nazis.. The date/time/location are posted on a public Army website..

Thankfully my parents were here for a couple of days to help out with getting the house ready. Maybe all this time alone has caused my standards to go down, but my mom was shocked. Apparently the house was "turned upside down". I didn't think so, but what do you expect with two little ones.

At the end of the parental visit, we all got sick. It was awful. Yesterday I felt horrid so instead of helping set up the barracks, I sat with my head between my knees on the stairs. The girls were in daycare which relieved a ton of stress, but I got a call to pick up V early because her stomach was bothering her also.

I'm happy to say that we're all feeling much better today. I just need to find my motivation to get up and off of Facebook.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Busy Busy Bee

For the past couple of days I've been working nonstop. I've been looking at and filling in rosters for hours at a time. I was just going to do a Wordless Wednesday photo dump, but I figured a few minutes away from FRG stuff isn't going to hurt. It's easier to do my work once V is asleep any way, and shes currently glued to Yo Gabba Gabba.

A few of the key volunteers and myself have been making phone calls like crazy trying to verify phone numbers for the family members of the Soldiers from our unit. It turns out that some of the volunteers that were supposed to be making these calls during the year, didn't. I feel awful for the family members who were neglected. Most were so thankful to finally be getting a call though.

We're down to the final weeks of deployment! I was hoping that Hubster would be home by Christmas, but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. It should be by the end of the year though. I'm a little disappointed because him and a couple of other guys left a week before the main group, yet they're all coming back together. I'm beyond happy that this year is coming to an end though.

While I had some free time today, I did some shopping for the Single Soldier barracks. I also picked up some Christmas gifts for V. Up until a few seconds ago I was really concerned about not having all my gifts by the 25th, but I guess if dad isn't here it doesn't really matter. Hell, maybe I'll wait until the day after Christmas to buy my gifts. The girls aren't old enough to know that we won't be celebrating until he's home anyway.

Is hell something that old people say..? I feel like I've definitely heard my dad and grandpa say that..

And how much is an acceptable amount to spend on a one and two year old for Christmas? V has a $20 play mat and a $40 Wii game so far. The Wii game is really for me, but it has Dora on the front, so I guess I can share. I'm trying so hard to not buy anything that comes with a million pieces, or anything that is relatively large. Their toy closest is already exploding as it is.

Well, V is asleep so I'll end this with a photo dump.

Damn dog

 

 

Cake in a mug!

It's November!

It seriously feels as though this year has flown by! Just over ten months ago, Hubster kissed me goodbye on our front porch and headed off to Afghanistan. I'm excited to say that next month he'll be home for good! I'm expecting him to be home for Christmas which is part of of the reason I'm so excited for the holiday this year.

Although he's missed a year's worth of holidays, he was particularly sad about missing Halloween. It was Baby A's first time trick or treating and the first time that V could actually walk up to houses and say trick or treat on her own.

Last night we went trick or treating with a bunch of the other families from our Company. We all met before hand for some pizza and cupcakes. All of the kids were about the same age, so it worked out perfectly. We went trick or treating on post, which was a tiny bit crazy in my opinion. There were seriously hundreds of kids. It was a little wild. Especially with the older kids trampling over our little guys.

Towards the end, it got a bit chilly so I had the girls in jackets with their jeans underneath their dresses. Since she was just chilling in the stroller, Baby A had a blanket too. It made me wonder though, how do kids trick or treat up north??

All in all, we had a fun night! V got a whole bunch of stuff, most of which has been consumed today. There wasn't really anything worthy of being stolen though. I'd say the candy tax was pretty low this year. I guess since the economy sucks, people weren't willing to spend the big bucks on the good stuff.