Military In-dependents

Each one may look different and each is wonderfully unique, But this we have in common:



Lots of moving...

Moving...

Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house; Moving curtains that won't fit; Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.


Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move...
.....all with ONE Power of Attorney.


She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS; Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.


Military Wives are somewhat hasty...

They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.


Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...


Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign :
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.




A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.


Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has a HEART and a love for her husband,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband, She will remain his military wife.
...And would have it no other way.

-Author Unknown

Bedhead Boy

Upon entering my little love's bedroom this morning, I found the cutest surprise! I picked him up, and like every morning i began to smooth out his hair (it sticks straight up every morning). Well this morning, right over top of those sleepy little eyes, was a real, actual case of bedhead! The kind that doesn't disappear without water.

Not a very good picture. But you can see it on top of his head.

Cold = Unhappy Kate

I hate the cold weather we've been having so much that my detest for it was worthy of the title today. I'm finding myself missing Washington more than ever, soley because it's 45 degrees there today. It's sunny there today too! Mother nature is taunting me. You know what the temperature here in Ohio is today? 28. Yep, 28 degrees. But oh wait, let's not forget that the "feels like" temperature is 15 degrees. The worst part is that it looks warm outside. (Another example of mother nature's despise for me).

I'm shocked to report that at 4 and a half months old, our little Jack is wearing 6 month clothing. He's actually almost to tall for it. We might have a basketball player on our hands here folks! But, he does have those "catcher" genes in him somewhere so I'm sure he'll just be a tall baseball player. Or hey, maybe even both.

After talking to Jeff while I was feeding Jack lunch today, we are both at a loss as to how to get our son to swallow some cereal (or anything for that matter) from a spoon. I know it takes time, and I know he doesn't have to start just yet. But we've been at it for a week now, and he wants no part of it. I've also tried applesauce, and that's obviously not hitting the spot either. I guess he will get it eventually. He's just so darn stubborn. I think he takes after his daddy! Or better yet, he takes after Jackie James #1!  :)

I start back to school on Monday. I can already tell that this quarter is going to be harder than the first. In a way, I'm sort of happy about that. I feel like my fall quarter classes didn't really challenge me much. I haven't looked at my Nutrition class page yet, but I did look at my Sociology page and our final paper topic will be analyzing an event that happened the year we were born. So get those brains a-thinking for me!

In other and finals Davis family news, I got an email from the FRG today. They have met with LTC about redeployment and and post-deployment leave. Right now we are still looking at a 12 month deployment. We will know more when the replacements for Jeff's unit arrive in theater. The word is that about 3 weeks after they get there, our guys will be able to redeploy! When they come home they will have a couple days off work completely, and then they will do half days in order to get paperwork, shots, counseling, etc. done. After those two weeks are over, block leave will start! Our block leave will be 3 weeks long.

All this talk about reployment makes me so happy! It means that it's happening pretty soon! Alright, my mom is yelling at me because I'm going to be late for my chiropractor appointment so I better go before I get my butt whooped. That's all for now.

Where's the slacker? Right here, here I am!

Woah. What has it been? 22 days since I wrote? Yikes, sorry guys. Things have been pretty normal around here lately. We're keeping up with the same routine, here on the homefront and around the world on the FOB too. I'm just going to break this up into sections today. 

Jack:

He is now just over 4 months old! Crazy, isn't it? I still can't get my mind around it sometimes. He had his well check-up with Dr. Jane-Wit yesterday and recieved his immunizations as well. He weighed in at 13 pounds 15 ounces and he is 26 inches long. His weight is in the 25th percentile for his weight, and the 75th for his length. The doctor gave the okay to start spoon-feeding cereals. She followed by saying we should stick with each one we try for at least a week to see if there's any reaction (such as a food allergy or something along those lines). Jack can now roll over from stomach to his back. And he is holding his head up like he's been doing it for years. His legs are getting stronger and readying for the crawling he'll be starting soon and his favorite thing is probably still his swing. However, he's really got into watching movies with Mama lately. He loved the Transformers movie. (Congratulations Daddy, he is a Optimus Prime fan for sure). He's very ticklish and loves to listen to Mama read him books. Thank you to everyone that gifted him a book for Christmas. It means so much to Jeff and I will have the resources to teach our son to love reading and books as much as we do. The biggest (and cutest) development Jack has achieved recently is... laughing!

Jeff:

Everyone will be happy to know that Jeff has been able to pass out blankets to everyone in his platoon! And not only that but he's been able to supply first platoon with blankets too. Now, almost everyone in the battery is supplied with a blanket. Jeff says that they have nothing but good things to say about them. From the soldiers serving there and from their families here too, we would like to extend our deepest thank you to the family and friends that helped make this possible. And a big thank you to my mama, Beth. She organized this and has been working hard to make sure the blankets get sent and the soldiers are taken care of. On a different note, Jeff has recently had the opportunity to change up his schedule a little bit. He was on a convoy detail for a while. Although convoys aren't really any more fun than gun line shifts, I think he was happy to just get a break from the same old, same old.

Kate:

Ah, where to start. We'll start with the the bad. I've had to start seeing a chiropracctor for some back pain I've been having since I gave birth to Jack. At my first appointment, Dr, Brandon Hanes with Hanes Chiropractic out of Chillicothe, Ohio, did a couple of scans and an xray to see what the problem was. He told me that I have a curved spine, pinched nerves in my lumbar spine, and also osteo-arthritis. We are hoping with many treatments and home exercises that it can be repaired and my pain will go away. Because of the severity, he scheduled me to come in every other day since my first appointment last Saturday. Tomorrow is a week from that appointment and it will be my fourth visit. I am getting re-scanned tomorrow to see if the treatments have helped at all. Prayers please!

On, a lighter note, I'm gearing up to start my second session of class at Coastline College. My first day is February 2nd. I recently got my books in the mail and I'm taking Nutrition and Sociology. I'm pretty excited about the Nutrition class. Hopefully I will learn a thing or two about eating right, or maybe even three! That would definitely help me on my weight-loss journey.

Nothing else is really going on with the Davis family. We are a little over halfway done with deployment and couldn't be happier about that. We love our new addition to the family, Luna. She is fitting in just right and she and Jack are best buddies. We are still waiting on orders to see where we will be stationed when Jeff redeploys home. There is about a 65% chance that we will be staying at Fort Lewis in Washington but you never know! We will find out soon enough I suppose.

Bye for now and Love to all!