No Longer in the Lead

Last night was the Company's first Family Readiness Group (FRG) meeting with the new leader. It felt so weird not having to show up a couple of hours early to get everything ready. I pulled into the parking lot about 10 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start and felt like I was running late. I have to admit, not having FRG as a responsibility has relieved a huge weight from my shoulders. After the meeting, the reality that I'm no longer the FRG leader finally sunk in.

Even with the drama and complications that the FRG sometimes brings, it's something that I have loved doing for the past three years. It feels good to help people and make a difference. There was always something new for me to learn as well. I started getting involved with the FRG almost as soon as I moved to Georgia as a new army wife. All of the classes and experiences gave me a jump start into army life. You also meet tons of wonderful people which can be difficult when moving to a new installation.

It's bittersweet to finally be taking a break for a little while.

Hubster finally got his orders today which means we are officially heading to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The movers should be here in less than a month, which is pretty exciting! After the movers come, we'll have about a month to visit family, vacation and then get ourselves to Missouri. It's the first move we'll be doing as a family with two little ones, so I hope I don't stress myself out too much. Planning and preparation will be key.

Source

In other news, we have people coming to check out the house this afternoon. It's a bit nerve wrecking and kinda just weird. Imagine, strangers, in my house, poking around and opening doors. My closet needs a little bit of work and now I've got to spend the afternoon cleaning up the kitchen since the dog decided to throw trash all over last night.

I'm not sure what's gotten into Caesar lately. I used to be able to leave him home alone with no problems. Now anytime I leave him unsupervised, he tears the house apart. Yesterday it was the TV remote while I was grocery shopping. Last night, a container of dip that I left in the sink. I can always tell when he's done something too, since he walks up to me in a scared depressed mood.

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!

Life Is Good

Up until lately, it seems like I've been super busy with life. And by life, I mean Pinterest projects and FRG. Tomorrow night will be my second to last FRG meeting as the leader for this Company. It has been a very long three years as FRG leader and I am so ready to be done with it. Don't get me wrong, I love the FRG, but with this deployment and all of the drama that came with it, I'm happy to be giving it a break.

Last night, a friend and I went to the Rear D commander's house to hang out and drink with him and his wife and discuss what has happened. We had a fun, kid-free night that was spent talking s#!t. It's sad that the actions one person was enough to make me re-think my time as an FRG volunteer. I'm thankful that both commanders fully have my back and didn't let me create a huge issue in my crazy mind.

Since that BS has been dealt with, I think I've been able to relax a little more and just let go of the FRG tension that I've been holding on to. I am beyond happy that this year is almost over, and I'm almost able to relax. For the past couple of days I've been communicating with the parents of Single Soldiers, who have just been phenomenal! No matter how many crazy wives I have to deal with, the awesome parents always make it worth while.

Today the girls and I went to watch the Matthew Freeman 5K Run For Peace at a park near our house. A bunch of our Army friends were running and we wanted to support. Last year, Hubs' company did it as a Company just before the deployment.; many of the Soldiers placed. One of the Soldiers that placed first in his age group was SGT Joshua Born. He was KIA earlier this year. There was a moment to honor him and the group of Soldiers was presented with a flag.

 

The Best FRG Meeting

Just a few hours ago I was sitting in my commander's kitchen on Facebook with a beer in my hand. My FRG co-leader was also there typing away. We cracked a couple jokes back and forth and vented about the spouses and family members that were driving us crazy. Yes folks, this was our FRG meeting.

It wasn't just us though. We actually had 30+ people join in on the meeting. All through Facebook. Parents who are across the country were able to log on and see what was going on in the life of their Soldier. The mom with a handful of kids was able to put them to bed and finally get to participate without worrying about daycare. Wives who had just had babies were able to stay home and comfort their newborns. Those who find it difficult to speak in public were able to post behind a name and profile pic.

This was our second time doing a Facebook meeting while the unit has been deployed. It's worked out great for us and makes the meeting available to those who other wise not get the information. The fact that it's on Facebook makes it easily accessible to anyone who'd like to participate. For that reason, we are careful not to break OPSEC. It's easy to find and since most people are on Facebook around that time anyway, it makes sure that they get the information.

For our online Facebook meetings, I type out everything ahead of time so that once it comes time for the meeting, I can just copy and paste the info in. I post one comment on the unit's Facebook page and then comment with all of the info below that. We are able to take attendance, tally votes, and fill up sign-in sheets all with the click of the "like" button. No one has to leave home or even put on pants, and I get to enjoy a nice grown up drink.

United Through Reading - Staying Connected Through Deployment

When I got home yesterday evening there was a large USPS flat rate box waiting for me at the door. I thought it was a bit odd since my mom usually lets me know when she is sending a package. Could it have been one of Hubster's care packages that got returned? As I walked up the walkway, I noticed that it wasn't one of the boxes that I sent since I usually put a little decoration on the outside. It was a care package for me from my Hubs! When I get packages from Hubster the first thing I always do is see what the customs form says. This one said "children's books", which could only mean one thing... United Through Reading!!!

Crappy picture, I know.. I need to upload the stuff from my camera

United Through Reading is a program in partnership with the USO that allows service members to record themselves reading a book and then send that recording and the book back home. I love love love this program! Especially since Hubs was always the big reader in the house and would always read to the girls. V loves to watch "papa's movies" and I love being able to watch my hubba bubba anytime I want. Especially since it's been a very long time since we've been able to Skype.


I was first made aware of this program through another spouse in Hubster's unit who had used it while she was deployed to Iraq. Immediately I started looking into and trying to find out more info. This program is already available at several overseas locations as well as at sea homeports and land-based USO locations. It turns out that they didn't have it at the FOB that Hubs was going to. Well, let me tell you, they were going to have it by the time he got there..!

I got with Hubs' commander so that we could work towards making it happen. It was actually a pretty easy process. The boss man did most of the work and I found an FRG volunteer to take over as a liaison. The USO provides all of the materials (camera, DVDs, books, mailing package) and it's completely free! It took a little while for the unit to get everything set up over there because of space/locations and all that but it happened!

And here is a tip for those of you who may be using this program in the near future.. The disk records for half an hour. If your Soldier finishes reading before that, they can keep talking and send personal messages home.

On The Go

The past two days have been a little more than hectic. I've been taking a Rear Detachment training though ACS and running around picking up and dropping off children at various daycare locations. I almost feel like a chicken with no head.

Yesterday, we had Caesar neutered. He was such a pleasant little creature after the surgery. All he wanted to do was sleep on the carpet. V was able to lay with him without being trampled and gnawed on. This morning, totally different story though. I had to lock him up so that Baby A could enjoy some tummy time on her own while big sis slept.

 

Guess what happened during tummy time..! My munchkin is officially on the move!! For a while she's been rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and today she finally started making strides forward. It won't be much longer until she's actually up and on the move. I can't wait until her daddy is here to see her!

We have a babysitter coming over tonight. It'll be the first time that some one other than family watches the girls. This mommy is going to enjoy some much needed grown up time over dinner and drinks.

Currently I'm working on a cheat sheet with all of the info that the babysitter will need. I'll share everything on the list once it's finished up.

Coming Home

It's been a little while since I've had a chance to post. Mostly because I've been busy with a unit within Hubster's Battalion coming home as well as going to my parents' for a little while. Each time I visit home, I'm reminded that it was a great decision for the girls and I not to move back for Hubster's year-long deployment. While there are tons of reasons why moving back in with my parents could have been a good thing, I feel like the negatives drastically outweigh the positives. The biggest negative factor being the lack of support.

Sure, my parents would be here and willing to help if I really needed them to. But, they have their own lives to live and jobs to tend to. The majority of my friends either go to school or work full time and none of them have kids. So I end up staying home all day with not much to do. Plus, at the end of a long shift, no one wants to help watch two babies. And honestly, most friends/family members don't understand what it's like to have a deployed spouse.

The best part about staying near Hubster's base is the amount of support that spouses receive. The Army has all sorts of programs, classes and activities, most of which are free. In addition to those things are the various playgroups and get togethers that you can find on Facebook. Other wives from unit are often free to hangout since the majority are stay at home moms like myself.

Each month, the FRG has a coffee-type event for the spouses to meet up. That, plus the FRG meeting, guarantees that I'll have some adult time with other military families at least twice a month. Occasionally there is a Battalion event or just something that another Company may be doing that we get invited to.

After making it alone this time, there is no amount of saved BAH that could convince me to do otherwise.