Almost Halfway plus Cooper and Me and the Military Book Review

I stood in the hallway drinking my morning coffee, gazing into the kid’s room. As I quietly watched them play, I couldn’t help but to think of how incredibly blessed I am. Despite the evils and negativity of the world, conflict and troubles, I have all I need within these four walls of our home. My babies. They have been my glue through this deployment. And I’m sure without them keeping me grounded and my mind occupied, someone would have locked me up and thrown away the key because I would have broken, fallen apart, and gone completely nuts months ago.

I’ve given them extra care, extra snuggles, extra kisses, and extra attention (hence the reason why my blog has been quite lately), and yet it’s exactly what I’ve needed too. I’ve needed those extra snuggles and I’ve needed those extra kisses. They are my rock and I am theirs.  

I’m not sure when it happened, but as we speak, the healing process is in the works. I’ve been sad, felt helpless, cursed the government, grieved the absence of my husband, and now…it’s time to heal. As the days go by, the more inspired and optimistic I become. Perhaps it’s the changing of the seasons-- Spring shifting into Summer and knowing that when Summer rolls into Fall, this deployment will come to an end. We’re almost halfway through this deployment-- ALMOST HALFWAY! I’m not sure exactly how you celebrate an almost halfway point, but it needs celebrating, and so we did.

We ventured out to our usual spot --Barnes and Noble, two towns over-- to nestle ourselves between the pages of Mother Goose and American Girl. For nine years, it has been our spot; our place-- different states, different towns, but always ours.

Our book store outing routine is always the same-- hit up the café for a latte for mama, milk for kids. Browse the new releases, the clearance section, and magazine rack, then after my hands are full of goodies, we march to the kids area where we play trains and put on pretend plays on top of the green stained stage. For most people, this may not be exciting, but for us we get our fill of family togetherness with a healthy dose of literary enjoyment.

And speaking of literary enjoyment, we received a book in the mail from Propeller Publishing, called “Cooper and Me and the Military”. As Memorial Day approaches --along with our current deployment-- the timing couldn’t be more perfect.  

Cooper and Me and the Military is a simple worded book making it easy for little minds to read and understand. There is an additional open discussion along with a life lesson section at the back of the book to better help young children grasp the concept of having a deployed family member or loved one who is away serving overseas.

This book serves as an excellent tool to better relate and communicate to my small ones, and to let them know that there are other families experiencing the same long distance relationship with their daddies as we are. Cooper and Me has become part of our nightly reading and a beloved treasure to my children’s library.

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day! Grill out, drink a beer, and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Much Love,

Em

my name is Mom.

Just a quick weekend note:

We found ourselves nestled between pillows and blankets while Disney movies played in the background. William peacefully slept, while Krysta softly breathed in a slow slumbering rhythm in my bed. I didn’t intend for the past two weeks to pan out like it did; I had every intention of finishing the kid’s portrait, starting a new painting, and de-cluttering baby toys. But life threw us a curve ball and it hit us hard with fevers--no runny noses, no coughs, just fevers that went hand in hand with zero appetites, drained energy, chills, and aching bodies. It was painfully awful, the sickest we’ve ever been. And just when I thought it was over, the flu crud turned its ugly head, boomeranging back and whipped me out.

I wouldn’t wish this amount of exhaustion and pain even on my worst enemy, but I must say it’s nice to be needed. To be the one my kids run to, the one that they rely on and turn to when they need to be held. I’m their mom, and I love that.

We’re now healthy and happy and I love that too.

Today is Mother’s Day, and while some say it’s the hardest job in the world, I say, it’s not a job but a way of life, it’s the most heart filling, soul satisfying way of life-- of bringing a little life into this world, and guiding, loving, and nurturing that life to grow and sprout into something amazing.

I’m so honored to be Krysta and William’s mommy. It’s truly the most amazing experience any girl could dream of. Through their eyes I’ve grown and learned so much about myself, I see the person that I want to be. Because of them, I’m a better me.

Thank you Krysta and William for making me a mommy; and Ron for giving me the opportunity to be a mom and for traveling down this road of parenthood together.

I hope all of you Mama’s had a fantastic Mother’s Day,

Em

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Hello.

I’m Emily, married to Ron, and together we have two children, Krysta and William. We’ve been in the military for twelve years and married for ten. Currently we’re undergoing our seventh deployment, and have been stationed at three bases— Pope AFB, North Carolina; Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; now we’re at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.

You’ll find that my blog is full of my inspirations, musings, and the little everyday moments that make me happy. So sit and stay awhile.

You can also find me on twitter and facebook.

Welcome.

Em

PS If you're a military spouse, feel free to join in on the link up!

 

Hope.

It’s been five weeks since I’ve reflected on our small daily moments and memory banked the tiny details that have quickly faded with time. As the days overlapped into weeks, I’ve come to realize that I need this place; this sliver of space in the blogosphere-- a place where I lay down my words, my memories, my images to tell the story our life’s journey. I’ve missed casting light on our positive happenings and realizing that it’s the small things that makes this life so grand, like a cotton candy sunsets or golden baby curls.

Since Ron has been overseas, my emotions are wavering and my head is cloudy, making it difficult to muster up and pull my thought process fully to the surface. I’m treading on water-- unable to move forward, nor backwards, not sinking, but yet unable to rise. I thoughtlessly go through the daily motions-- get Krysta off to school, entertain William, clean, paint, lunch, nap, homework, dinner, dance class (depending in the day), dinner, bath, bed, repeat, repeat…repeat. I tell myself to focus, stay in control, keep a routine, slap on a smile, and all will be okay. But, while I smile and laugh and carry on, I’m screaming on the inside. It physically hurts to have an overabundance of raw emotion full of sadness, worry, and fear. I feel powerless and helpless, confined. I can’t speed up time or skip ahead through days, weeks, and months. I have no choice but to endure the mind-numbing lingering minutes that make up time until our family can again become whole.

Over the past two months that Ron has been deployed, there have been many incredible moments, times that I wish we could have experienced together as a family of four, and yet, there have been moments surrounded by triggers. Triggers that stop me in my tracks and hit me at my core-- a phrase, a song, a gesture, they all make time freeze to a breathless halt. Ron’s presence and memory is weaved and embedded in the fabrics of our everyday life, as it should. I can’t prevent the triggers or the emotions that follow, nor can I avoid them, so I will choose to embrace them. I will embrace the pain and frustration, along with the happy carefree moments, because in reality, embracing the good with the bad, and overcoming the difficult is the only way to truly be “okay”.

Today, I’m embracing moments like this one.

And this one.

There’s a saying that goes, “Do more of what you love.” Cheers to that! There’s something magical that begins to brew when we surround ourselves with pure heart-swelling happiness. For me, my love is my children, painting, and anything artsy, so it’s only natural that I paint my babies.

Below is a piece that I’m currently working on…

 I’m slowly but surely starting to feel like my old self again-- finding love and joy in the things I do and extending that same joy and passion to my children. We’re embracing the loneliness and the hollowness together and turning it into our strength, our fuel to carry through the fight.

I have hope that life’s wrinkles and bumps with soon smooth out and fade and our journey’s path will lead to sunnier skies.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde

Much Love,

Em