Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Are we there yet?

 It's been 11 months, 5 days, 22 hours, and 52 mins since we gave "knucks" to daddy and said "see ya later" at the hanger.  But who's counting, right?  Anyhow...if you're wondering why our goodbye sounds so informal, it's because it was.  I never got out of the car, never unbuckled the boys carseat.  We didn't hug, we didn't kiss...there was no long embrace, no tears.  While some would say that sounds terrible, you should know this...We've done that before.  We did the tears, the hugs, the painful goodbye, and it was HORRIBLE!  It's like having someone you loved ripped from your arms.  We couldn't put our son through that.  He is still too young to fully grasp a deployment, though for weeks leading up to the deployment, we had many many discussions about daddy's job, where he was going and what he would be doing.  He seems to understand, but like I, has not shown much emotion regarding the deployment.  I attribute this to the fact that we don't often refer to it as a sad thing, but instead an honorable situation.  Our son tells his friends, "Daddy is my hero, he's fighting the bad guys".  He is very proud of him.  But as strong as we have all been these past 11 months, the last several weeks are certainly proving to the hardest & most trying.  While I'm doing anything and everything to keep my mind and body busy, the days are CRAWLING!  But even so, I'm seeing signs of a redeployment in our future.  Tough boxes are beginning to show up on our porch, my husband has recently moved out of his room to allow for his replacement soldiers to take over, the FRG's are having redeployment briefings, my "Welcome Home" signs are arriving in the mail this week, and I've been making "Welcome Home" daddy outfits for friends all month.  In case you were wondering why I had not added any new care packages to my posts lately, it's because we've passed the mail cutoff date.  To help my son (and certainly myself) get through these next few weeks, here's some of the things we've done to pass the time and prepare for daddy's return:


 I made my own camo purse...still don't have a name tape for it.


 Making Welcome Home signs at an FRG function. 


Made my own door wreath for daddy's welcome home decor.



I've also created a Popsicle countdown for our son.  He gets one Popsicle per day.  When they are gone, daddy will be home!!


This week, I'm breaking the rules and I am sending out one final care package...it's just a box full of cookies and nothing but cookies...7 dozen cookies to be exact!  My husband has no intentions of keeping them all for himself.  He just wants something to hand out to everyone before they head home.  Hopefully they make it, but if not, no harm...someone else will enjoy them I suppose.  I'm also beginning to nest this week.  I've redecorated my kitchen, started repainting some rooms, replaced bad light bulbs throughout house, organized closets, and there's so many more (unimportant) things to do.   Preparations are finally underway for the hubby's return and I couldn't be more excited!

5 comments:

  1. Just found your blog via "Everything Happens for a Reason"...this was a great post. I used to date a Marine, and so have been through the deployment/return/redeployment from the girlfriend perspective. I know how hard it can be from that point of view - I cannot imagine how hard it is from the wife and mother point of view. You are brave and wise to have "given knucks" and not made an emotional show of your husband's leaving in front of Jagger...I had never thought of it in that way, but you are completely right. Here's to getting you through til his return!!! xoxox

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  2. I just found your blog through Everything Happens for a Reason! I know you must be so excited about your husband coming home. Cant wait to read about the homecoming!!

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  3. I'm stopping by from Everything Happens for a Reason as well! You have a super cute blog and I love love your purse and care packages! I can't wait to read about your husband's homecoming, my hubby's in the marines...no deployments yet for us though. Good luck!

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  4. Stopping by from Everything Has A Reason and I must say your blog is so cute. I'm going to catch up on your posts and can't wait to read more of your blog.

    I also love the wreath you made. I've seen those kinds all around the blogs and I so want to make one.

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  5. Thanks for the love ladies! So grateful to see so many newbies to the blog! Gotta love the bestie for the shout-out!

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