Deployment Update

If anyone is wondering why Josh was scheduled to deploy in April and is somehow still home, allow me to clear things up. That deployment was cancelled. No one knew for sure what was going on or if it was actually cancelled. We were just told the deployment had disappeared. When April came and went, we were able to breath a huge sigh of relief. Then we were faced with a big decision. We could either lay low and hope to dodge the next deployment that was surely coming or we could take matters into our own hands. We chose to have some influence on our future. Josh found a deployment to Iraq that was only 6 months, in a safer area and in the cooler part of the year. All very important things. It was a gamble, but we didn't want to get hit with a deployment to Afghanistan with two weeks notice. Also, this deployment only had ten days of training, which was one of it's biggest selling points. We decided to go for it since he was told he would be deploying soon, either way. Then ten days of training turned into ten days plus a month. Then three weeks plus a month. Ugh! So even though he doesn't deploy until late October, we are at our last two weeks of normal life before the chaos ensues! The next two months will be deployment practice: getting the kids used to him being gone, while he makes a few cameos. I have found several things to try to make this easier on the boys and I'll share them with you as I try them out. The first, which may sound a little weird, is a Daddy Doll. Yes, you read that right. A lot of our friends from Rapid City had these and said they really helped. I ordered ours yesterday, so we'll see. If you're interested, their website is www.hugahero.com. It is just a small, person shaped pillow that has a picture of Daddy printed on it. It is just the right size to cuddle with and can be stuck under a little arm and carried around. And it is machine washable! I also ordered voice recorders for ours. Daddy can record a message and put it in the pocket on the back of the doll. Then they can hear his voice whenever they want.









To ease the "deployment with two little ones" stress for myself, I am packing up and heading to North Carolina to stay with my Mom. Since we'll be there October through April, she gets all the big holidays with them and I don't have to spend them alone. It's a win-win! I started this blog when Josh left the first time to document all the little things that he would miss and now, here we go again!