Bye bye Active Duty, Hello Civilian life & Reserve unit

In late February we finally got the word that would forever change our lives. With all of the downsizing of the military we are one of the un-lucky (or lucky) ones to be told thank you for your active duty service but we no longer need you. As of June 30 2013, Adam will no longer be active duty in the Marine corps. We knew that this was a possibility and were proactive about the situation. We were activity job searching and looking into head hunters to help us look for jobs, months before we found out.

Let me be frank for a minute because some people don't know military terms or understand how the officer side works and I feel like I need to explain it. Adam chose to enlist AFTER getting his degree in 2007. He did 2 years of service and applied for the officer program (OCS- officer candidate school). He was accepted in 2009 where he commissioned and was sent all over for artillery school and advance courses. He had a stellar record and in late early 2011 he was selected to promote to Captain. The enlisted side and officer side is different in the aspect of promotions. Enlisted you have different courses and officer side you have to be selected on a bored. Which means people look at your record and choose you without knowing you directly. In my opinion this is a flawed way of doing things. I think your commanding officer should select those who he/she observes and then put on a list to be up for promotion. Instead it's all about how you look on paper. well when Adam turned in his package he hadn't deployed (he was in the process of getting ready to deploy). SO on paper it looks as though he has been in X years and hadn't been to a combat zone. Which for advancement looks better having that experience, BUT he hadn't had any opportunity with the USMC telling him to go to this school, and that school because his knowledge was to important to send him off. I believe with his stellar record, great PFT (physical fitness test, done every 6 months), he was overlooked because he hadn't deployed or held a higher CO/XO billet.

After much debating, Adam decided that he would like to stay in the military on the reserve side. It is just the matter of finding a reserve unit that has a spot open for captain in the USMC. He is also debating the national guard so he can continue to do what he loves, shooting artillery. After 6.5 years, we both knew it would be hard to give something like military life up. He can get his military shooting/drill fix once a month and return to a job that he may like better. Plus the Tricare insurance is a lot cheaper then getting insurance through his new job.

My feelings on the whole thing-
If you have been reading my blog you know Adam and I met in college and he enlisted right after he graduated. This is basically the only life we have known, so it is scary to think it will all be changing. I literally just got the swing of moving, making new friends, volunteering and deployments. It is our normal and to have to change it all of a sudden is both refreshing and upsetting.

What I will miss-
moving every X years,
seeing new places,
meeting new people from all over,
base living,
people relating to your situations,
seeing my husband in uniform EVERYDAY,
the balls/special events,
mandatory fun days,
Medical, dental and vision basically paid for,
The many sounds of freedom at all hours of the night


What I look forward to-
Separation bonus:)
Settling into our NEW house,
establishing our kids in school that they can grow up in,
having a SET schedule for my family,
not having to worry about him and the ever changing deployments/duty/field ops,
not having to say goodbye to close friends every X years,
promotion yearly (or when he can),
many, many more things

Post Deployment Surprise

We found out in early December......we are expecting our third & LAST little blessing....

How I found out...
It was a warm sunny day in December and I felt exhausted and had been experiening morning sickness. I knew that this was a sign that I better take a pregnacy test. I went to the store and bought a Clear blue test. The lines were not as clear as they usually are, so I bought another test and took it a few days later. Sure enough the lines popped right up.

Now to tell the husband...
Caleb has a shirt that says "little brother" so I put duck tape over little and wrote BIG. Now the shirt says "BIG brother". Adam usually comes home for lunch, so about the time i knew he would be coming home I put cinnamon "buns" in the oven. To top it off, I wrapped the tests up in a box and put the box under our freshly decorated Christmas tree. Adam came home, read Caleb's shirt and said "oh no, really?!".  Then I said "If you dont belive me open your gift, oh and by the way grab the buns out of the oven! "

Now to tell Alexis & Caleb...
We usually play on the floor with the kids everyday. Well Alexis went to jump on me and I said "Allie be careful" she asked "why mommy?" and we told her, mommy has another baby in her belly and her reaction with an annoyed sounding voice "oh great, another baby!". Caleb still doesnt know or understand but I beleive he will be jealous. I was holding a friend's little girl and Caleb came up to her, hit her, and cried till I picked him up!

Now to tell the family...
We waited to tell the family until we had an ultrasound done to confirm pregnacy. We usually see family on Christmas so we thought it would be a good idea to share the news then. Well we stayed home this year so we skyped with them and shared the news.

Now to tell the world...
We decided to wait to announce it to the world until I was in my second trimester. I tought it would be a cute idea to get pictures done and send it as a New Years card.

Ready or NOT here comes baby #3!!

End of Deployment!

This is MANY months late, but here it is...
As the months rolled on, Adam informed me he had the choice to stay on ship and visit more stops on the way home OR come home early. Well my homesick husband picked to come home early. I knew that this could possibly be our first, last and only deployment so I wanted to make it special for all of us. I called his mom and dad and told them to come help welcome Adam home, I also DID not tell the kids daddy was coming home. I told Alexis we were going to go take pictures of daddy's men and of us to send to him, and she never thought anything of it because we take pictures all the time!

Days leading up to seeing my husband...
I cleaned the house top to bottom, cleaned out and washed both cars, I worked out like crazy so i would look good, I got my hair done, went shopping for a new outfit. Bought the husband's favorite beer and food. I had heard from Adam, that flights got delayed in one of the countries and day and time kept changing.

Day of homecoming...
I was told it would be wee hours of the night, Friday night/Saturday morning. So we went about our day as if nothing was happening. When it was bedtime I told Alexis, I have a very special surprise when you wake up tomorrow. She was so excited she couldn't sleep. I was so excited i could hardly sleep. Caleb was the only one who sleep the whole night. When I finally shut my eyes my alarm went off, I checked my email and went right back to bed because time got changed AGAIN. Finally got up and around mid morning and then waited! I finally asked my photographer if she could just come over and take pictures of us and the sign we made. Alexis started asking "when do I get my special surprise?" I kept telling her soon. We loaded up and headed to the place where the Marines and Sailors would be getting off the bus. Caleb fell asleep so we decided to stay in car as long as possible. Finally, Adam called and said he would be there in 10 minutes!

My heart was pumping, my hands were sweaty, I was holding my sign that says "It's been 208 days...now get over here and KISS us!". I started to shed a tear as the buses pull up. I started yelling, I can here his mom and dad cheering as well. Then I found his face. I shouted: "Alexis who is that man?" she RUNS up to her daddy who embraces her in his arms and we are all overjoyed! Adam walks up all calm and casual and lays a wet one on me. And I know after many months of sleepless nights, all the stress is over and my heart is complete!

Over half way:)

I know it has been months since my last update, but I can finally say we have more days behind us then ahead!!

May- Allie had her first big dance recital with costumes. She was front and center and stole the show. They had a daddy/daughter dance at the end and since daddy is deployed her Papa came and danced with her. Caleb has 3 bottom teeth and he started going to drop off daycare.

June- we gained another Angel in heaven, Adam's Grandmother passed away. School ended and we said goodbye to a few friends who PCS'ed (permanent change of station). We started playing with our friends down the street whose daddy is also on the MEU.

July-We drove to Michigan. On the way there we made many stops at different places. We stayed the night with a few friends and made many memories with my brother Conrad and his family. I became a godmother to my niece Victoria. Caleb started low crawling.

August- We drove back home, with ants in are car and baby Caleb had a serious eye infection & pink eye. what a fun ride!?! Allie started dance class for her 2nd year. Allie started kindergarten. Caleb is working on 2 top teeth. I started selling Scentsy, which I LOVE!

September- is just beginning but we have already filled it with many activities. Allie's birthday- we had a big celebration with friends and family at a horse farm, where all the kids had a blast with pony rides and games. Allie started gymnastics for the 2nd year in a row. I started volunteering at a couple places. Caleb can stand holding onto something and is very attached to his mommy and binky.

I am officially in Homecoming mode! Trying to get all the things done that I wanted to do do before Adam gets home. I just ordered Adam's Welcome home sign, I started working out 2 times day, and Kids and I are working on Spanish everyday! I have a potluck at my house once a month to try out new recipes.

Staying busy...a blessing and a curse

As you may have noticed, I have not written a blog entry in a little over a month. We are finally adjusting to our life with out Adam/daddy...which means we are staying extremely busy. Staying busy helps me keep my mind off the pain of not having my husband, but it also helps keep the kids from thinking about where daddy is.

May is the last month for Ballet/tap and for gymnastics, in the 2nd week in June Alexis gets out of school. Along with appointments, playdates, organizing MEU outings, its been exhausting. Some days we have 3-4 things (activities) going on that day! Some days I wish we weren't so busy. However the day we don't have activities I find myself organizing/planning more for the next week.

Over the summer my big plans consist of cleaning out the house, getting rid of things we absolutely do not need and taking a drive back to my hometown with my 2 crazy kids!