Military Pay

The way the military works, the service member is on military orders even while he is state-side.  When he is deployed, those state-side orders stop, and he gets new orders for the deployment.  Every time this has happened, there has been a hiccup in our pay.  It drives me insane is just another one of those things that has to be dealt with.  We once went for six weeks without a paycheck.  Luckily we had enough in our savings that we were fine, but not everyone does.  I think they need a better system.

When he's home

When The ONE is home, he has to work.  A lot.  That is one thing I hear from civilians.  They seem to think that our military men don't have to work a regular job when they are home.  My husband only has to work four days a week, which is nice.  During those four days, however, I hardly see him at all.  He has to leave for work at 5am, then he gets home at 5:30 or 6pm, depending on traffic.  When he gets home, we eat dinner together as a family, then he helps me get the kids in bed.  As soon as those kids are in bed, though, he needs to get to bed in order to get 7 hours of sleep.  So my evenings during the week are often filled with chores or chic flicks (because let's be realistic here.  The ONE doesn't really like them all that much).  I have insomnia, which doesn't help anything, either.  I would gladly take sleeping pills, but I refuse to while my kids are still young.  I want to be able to hear them if they need help in the middle of the night.  For the next several years, I will be pretty sleep deprived.  The ONE doesn't understand insomnia.  He is the type whose philosophy is "head+pillow=sleep."  Oh how I wish. 

The Holidays

As you well know, my husband is in the military.  I will not be clarifying what branch of service he is in, though.  He has been in for over six years, now.  We have survived three deployments, two of them with the kids.  And there are a few more on the schedule.  Yikes.  As a military wife, one is expected to bear these deployments bravely.  Just because we are expected to be fine while we are along does not mean we always are. 

Thankfully, right now, he is home.  I am grateful that he will be home during the holidays. This time of year is when things get crazy around here.  It starts with Halloween, and it just keeps going.  This year, I am making #1 a costume.  This is her fourth Halloween.  Last year was the only year I didn't make her costume.  She wanted to be Tinkerbell (of course).  This year she wanted to be a princess.  I am sorry, but I have a hard time dressing my kid in a costume that every other little girl her age will be wearing.  No specific princess costumes here.  I went to the fabric store, found a pattern and bought some dark purple sparkly material that she picked out.  FIVE yards of it!!  Seriously.  She's not that big, but apparently this dress needs a ton of fabric.  We'll see how it goes.  #2 is getting a hand-me-down costume this year from his cousin.  I bought #1's costume.  Next year she will either get a hand me down, or I will make her a new one.  Back to my story.  I am crazy busy until January because of Halloween (and preparation).  Then comes Thanksgiving, which we will be staying nearby for.  The ONE's family lives nearby.  All of them except for one of his brothers, which says a lot.  He has seven brothers and sisters.  Four of them are married.  Well, one of them is in the middle of a divorce.  He's the one who does not live nearby.

November will be a little slower, since I won't have a lot of Holiday prep.  It will be filled with Christmas shopping, though.  I like to get started early.  I have already done a pretty good amount of shopping, and pretty much all of my planning.  December will be absolutely insane this year.  I have one sister who lives about 25 minutes away.  She is married with two kids.  I have another sister who lives in Texas (she's married and has four kids), and two brothers who live in California (one of them is married).  That is where my parents live as well.  This Christmas, they are all coming here.  So our four bedroom house will be taken over by my sister and her four kids, and my brother and his wife.  They are getting here a week before Christmas and most likely staying until just after New Year's.  I am very excited because it has been nine years since my family has all been together for Christmas. 

And so it begins

I love my kids. Anyone who knows me knows that. But let me tell you. The only one that was planned was #1. Apparently I am quite fertile. #2 and #3 were both accidents. More than accidents, they were birth control babies, meaning I was on birth control. Needless to say, at my six week check up after #3 was born, I had the doctor put an IUD in. Oh, my. It hurt! I did a lot of research before hand, and nothing that I found said it would feel like someone was tearing out my uterus, for the rest of the day. I had some serious cramps for the next day, too. If it will make me not get pregnant, though, it will have been SO worth it. My kids are pretty close together. It was not my idea to have them so close together, though. If it had been up to me, #1 would have been in preschool before I even thought of having another kid. Now that I have an IUD, hopefully I will be able to wait until #3 is in preschool to even think about having more – and yes, we will be having more. So be warned – if you are planning on getting an IUD, it hurts!