And so it begins...

That dreaded deployment cycle has started again. I've been sticking my head in the sand about it as much as humanly possible, but suprisingly enough that hasn't slowed it down. Curses! Anywho, I wasn't aware of how, even though I've stuck my head in the sand about it, my emotions were already on the rollercoaster until Grey's Anatomy premiered the other night. Yes, Grey's Anatomy sent me into deployment mode.

For those of you who don't watch Grey's, it was all about saying goodbye to a close friend/co-worker who'd been hit by a bus and the different stages of grief (I thought there were more then just 5, but oh well). So all of my not on a deployment cycle friends said "oh it's awful...i cried and cried through the whole episode". Consequently, I waited to watch episode until Army Guy was at work, Thing 1 was at school and Thing 2 was off and about doing her own thing because I hate being all boo-hooy in front of them. So there I was, curled up in chair, with kleenex, pressing play on DVR, completely prepped for the sobs. 34 minutes into the episode though--no tears. Just anger. Big hairy anger. "What the (insert really ugly word here) are these people so freakin boo-hooey about?!?!?! THEY GET TO SAY GOODBYE!!! THEY GET TO HAVE THEIR LAST WORDS WITH HIM!!!! THEY GET TO HOLD HIS HAND!!!!--if anything bad happens, I won't get that luxury!! They don't know how freakin lucky they are!!!!" It was at this point that I realized I'm in deployment mode, whether I want to be or not. I did eventually sniffle while watching Grey's but it was at the end of the episode when they showed how everyone else was handling their grief stages.

So, I've made my "things to do before he leaves" list. I'm labeling Thing 1's maps, buying Thing 2 her own map, and looking for a Daddy Doll (not the creepy stuffed picture pillow thing tho) for Sam-I-Am. I'm accepting that I'm potentially 6 months out and I'm putting my big girl panties on and dealing with it.

Stupid Grey's Anatomy. :D

and Then There Were 3....

So we've officially entered the "mutiny is possible" phase of parenthood. :) Sam-I-Am, to keep up w/Dr. Seuss References, (Samantha Marie) joined the group on 7 July 09. In the two months that she's been a part of the crew I've learned a ton.

First of all, going from 2 to 3 kids is significantly easier then going from 1 to 2 kids. When Thing 2 joined the crew, I was terrified of losing control--dishes, laundry, etc. So I tried, unsuccessfully more often then not, to do all things all the time. More often then not, I was INSANELY frustrated w/this baby who wouldn't let me get anything done. Argh! :) So, during my whole pregnancy with Sam-I-Am, I spent a lot of time being internally FREAKED OUT on how I was going to manage 3 of them. I was all panicked until Sam-I-Am made me calm down during delivery...we had a bit of a complicated delivery--I reacted poorly to normal dose from epidural, her heart didn't like pitocin and she enjoyed playing with the cord. :) Good times! So while 2 docs, 5 nurses and anthesiologist (sp???) were discussing emergency c-section, I realized that at some point during my pregnancy, I forgot to Let Go and Let God. So, as I've got docs arguing about c-section, a hubs who is trying to act like he's not nervous about what's going on, and nurses monitoring my way low BP and Sam-I-Am's way low heart rate, I took a deep breath and laughed about how I thought I could control anything, let alone everything, and when docs stopped arguing and started explaining I was able to say "Okay, just let me know what you need me to do". Sam-I-Am eventually stopped playing with cord, liked the pitocin and made her debut at 4:32pm. And I've been a lot more relaxed ever since. :)

Second of all, I've learned the new one makes you appreciate the old ones more. Thing 1 took to Sam-I-Am just like he took to Thing 2. He's got another sibiling--no big to him. He talks about how she has his smile and his ears and anything else cute that she does is just like when he was a baby. He likes to help feed her, even if it does involve lecturing me about how he can only feed her, not burp her, because that's my job. Thing 2 is enamored with Sam-I-Am. Thing 2 had a few issues the 3rd to 4th week after Sam-I-Am came home, but it wasn't bad--just wow cranky with EVERYTHING. It might have been a growth spurt. It might have been final adjustments to her world changing. It might have been the fact that Army Guy went back to work, Miss Cassandra went home and it was just Mommy, Thing 1, Thing 2, and Sam-I-Am. Thing 2 has become increasingly more independent and older in the last few weeks too. She enjoys playing in her room w/her toys (that might have something to do w/them all being put in time out for a week…), she’s started cleaning up her toys w/o me screaming at her (tho only when Army Guy is gone interestingly enough), and she’s just generally a bit more relaxed. She’s so old though. This morning I asked her what she wanted for breakfast to which she replied “A bagel, with nothing on it, cooked for 8 seconds on a paper towel please”. Ta-dah. And I was a little sad because there was no trying to decipher what she really wanted, but relieved that it wasn’t as much of a guessing game anymore. 

Finally, I’ve learned that there’s absolutely NO way to control sibling arguments. Thing 2 will look at Thing 1 the wrong way and he comes unglued. Sam-I-Am gets cranky with Thing 2 cuz she gets too close to Sam-I-Am’s face and it irritates her. Though, the really awesome part is that Sam-I-Am ALWAYS takes her pluggie when Thing 2 tries to give it to her. I think it’s because she just knows that Thing 2 will not give up and just end up shoving it down her throat. So Sam-I-Am at 2 months has already learned to pick and choose her battles with Thing 2. So anyways, I’ve stopped trying to make them all get along and now I get involved only if there’s hitting, ugly words or blood involved. It’s taken a load off my stress level. Next task to work on: tattle telling.

I’ll probably continue sharing Lessons Learned later, but I’ve rambled on for long enough.

OH! Almost forgot, Army Guy’s doing well in command. So far no significant issues….no bat phone ringing at 3am. The guys need some work, but it’s doable. FRG is going…I’ve got a bunch of stuff done and I’m getting positive reviews so yay for that! Unit found out yesterday they are officially NOT going to Iraq. But they’re still deploying so yah, I’ll let you guess where they’re going. We’re potentially 6 months out and instead of being all prepped like I was for last deployment, I’ve prepped as much as I want and have decided to “head in the sand” the rest of it.  I’ve got my stuff together on the FRG front and on the Mommy front, so I can afford to head in the sand some of the rest of it. Good times….good times…