Weeks are flying by...

Its been over a month since I last posted and since Jared deployed. We miss him terribly. Ive talked to him twice in the last 2 weeks. We have been keeping very busy though. Spending several nights over at a friends house just so we didn't have to be alone; always on the go it seems.

I had a possible melanoma removed from my upper right arm recently; Ive got 12 stitches and it looks totally gross.

Caleb will be getting ABA therapy very soon! Im really excited for him and for the help this therapist will offer me in terms of how to help Caleb but also the help for Cody to understand why his brother is different as well.

I need to get on the ball and crochet some stuff for an order due in Sept. I still have to make a pair of booties, 2 tutu dresses, and a baby beanie hat with a long tail to match a blanket I made...

Single mom...

Even though Im married; I am officially acting as a single mom. My husband is deploying today and we've already said our good-byes and left him to his unit. I cried a bit on the drive home but this is his 4th deployment and the 'woe is me' thing isn't for me. Yes it sucks badly, yes it'll be hard without him here, but we can deal. I do miss him already, just knowing he won't be coming home later today...

Caleb won't be going to school today since we were up till midnight and got up at 5am. He doesn't get out of school for summer until the 24th! Either way I will be planning as much as possible for us as often as possible to keep us busy for the next 6 months until Jared can come home for R&R.

I just love the zoo!

Today we had Caleb skip school and took a family trip to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and had a BLAST! We were there until nearly 4pm and we got there before 11am. I took tons of pics for my photography wall - on a side note I can't wait until I can afford a new digital camera like the Nikon D3000 - Im going to try and add some pics in my blogs as I figure this site out.

Dana had a bit of a rough day just feverish and tired in the Chicco back carrier on daddy's back. The kids were excellent and it was just an overall great day.

Tomorrow I get to go to a dermatology appointment for some 'weird moles' as my dr put it. Apparently going in to possibly have 1 or 2 moles removed turned into a full blown body search of all the freckles and moles on my body; and that's quite a few!

My mind is racing!

So hubby doesn't like the idea of me having a seperate blog. He thinks that sharing personal information is an invasion of privacy even if Im only sharing feelings; its not like Im putting our bank account on here for the world to see (if anyone even reads this crap).

Im getting a new breakfast nook dining set today, used, for $75! I listed my table for sale last night hoping to be rid of that thing even though we will take a huge hit financially. I also listed my platinum wedding set in hopes to sell it and get something that I can wear all the time. For now I stick to my $30 gold band, which actually was my original wedding band lol

Ive had this chesty cough for over a week now which is starting to scare me. Im thinking that since I have no other symptoms that this could be something serious... Like maybe pnuemonia or a chest infection.

On a better note, I am getting excited for all the fun stuff I will be taking the kids to do this summer. Caleb doesn't get out of school until June 24th which is totally late in my opinion but whatever. That reminds me that I still have to make a ton of calls about his therapies and speech therapy especially since the place that we were referred to doesn't treat 6 yr old! WTF?!? I called his Dr personally and never received a call back! Today Im going on a calling spree!

Molly keeps crapping in the house at night, mainly in the boys closet or doorway. I know its because I leave her food out and she eats late but I constantly forget and I would rather her have eaten than be starving... She's like our 4th child! Im definately going to have to pay more attention to that. Gotta 'groom' her today too now that Im thinking about it lol

So much to try and remember, so many appointments to make/get to, so much worry! BLAH!

Getting anxious!

So this post may have a bit of a sad feeling along with it, as my husband is deploying in less than 2 weeks! I don't know how to feel. The last time he left was over 4 years ago and I cried for days after he was gone. He was only gone for 3 months that time! I just can't fathom the implications of this deployment. Its hard to explain the feeling of knowing that he will be gone for at least 6-7 months before we see him again... Many ask me 'how do you do it?' and the truth is that I don't know - I just float through everyday trying to stay busy and hide my true sorrow, only allowing myself to cry when Im alone at night. I have to be strong for my babies. Im not looking forward to how they react to daddy not coming home for so long.

In all this, I don't feel bad for ME so much as I feel bad for HIM. I know what he's going to do, Ive been there and done it. I feel bad for all the hard times he will encounter, the weight of his gear, the extreme heat, the lack of good food he will have, the fact that he will have to listen to his children over a phone and maybe get to see them on a webcam and get to listen to me complain about their actions and how aggravated I may be with any 1 of them... So many things he will have to endure that make me even more sad about the situation.

Thankfully I have a couple of great friends that are so awesome! I am lucky to have them in my life and they are the ones who will help the kids and I get through this time without Jared here. They help to keep me busy and I can trust them with my kids when I have an appointment or something which is so completely great!

Every song on the radio reminds me that he will be leaving and may return to us in a box, everyday makes me more anxious about the upcoming day which hasn't even been confirmed yet... No amount of extra money can make this deployment 'worth it', not now, not ever! I am just not looking forward to waking up every morning and reminding myself that he isn't coming home after PT or for lunch. Its going to be a loooooong year!

A day in the life...

So yesterday Cody had a dentist appt (his very 1st). I ask him before we head over to my girlfriends if he brushed his teeth and he tells me yes. So as we're leaving post he laughs in the back seat and says 'ha ha I didn't brush my teeth mom'. I say 'so you lied?' he says 'yeah' as he is laughing... All I can say is he's lucky we had a 30 min drive to my friends to calm down especially after he asked me 'what are you gonna do about it?'. Kids, right? Ugh!

A place to start...

So... For my very first blog Im choosing to whine a bit. My husband, Jared, is deploying very soon for a year. He entered the unit he is deploying with after all the soldiers had gone on what is known as block leave, where they get 2 weeks of free leave from the Army to spend time with their families before leaving. I asked Jared to inquire about getting his own block leave when he entered this unit which he did not do because he ASSumed that he wouldn't get it. So last night I talk to his platoon LT and explained that having Jared home for even a week would be helpful in acquiring all the therapies that our son would need with his recently diagnosed autistic disorder. This morning, first thing, Jared's LT talks to him and informs him that taking leave would not be a problem!

I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROARRRR!!!

The kids are all great. Caleb was just diagnosed with autistic disorder and ADHD; funny story about that actually is we have been taking him to Dr after Dr, specialist after specialist to have him evaluated for autism because we suspected he had it since he was about 2 years old... Needless to say we finally get the diagnosis and my husband is deploying! Either way, Caleb will now get more therapies and extra help to get him on track. Right now he's at about a 3 yr 3 mo. developmental age and he just turned 6. He makes regular progress and we're proud of him nonetheless.

Cody wanted to attend pre-k this year but apparently the school on post that Caleb attends only takes less fortunate kids and we make too much money for him to go there. He's sad because he wants to go to school like his brother but Ive explained to him that he will be allowed to attend kindy after he is 5 and he understands. He is so smart that I know he won't have any problems when he finally does go to school. Im teaching him how to spell his name now and we will continually work on pre-k type tasks so he will remain ahead of the game.

Dana is just about 17 months old and a total sweetie. Don't get me wrong, she can totally be a brat too! She already communicates with us, tells us when she wants to eat and what it is she wants. She's my baby girl, and anyone with a little girl knows exactly what Im talking about!

Im just weeks away from graduating with my masters of science in business management... No more school after 4 years of working toward this degree! Im thinking about taking a photography class just because it interests me a lot but I don't know how possible it will be to take a class with Jared deployed and funds going straight to bills. I can't wait to pay down some bills while he's gone.

I think that's about it for my very first blog. Ive got new stuff everyday so check back often :)