Well the first week has almost come to a close of our first deployment and I can honestly say that we are doing well. My goal during this next year is to keep all of our family up-to-date on our life here in the states and abroad. Hopefully once or twice a week I will be able post on this site so long as my two children are peaceful at the same time :) As we speak, they are both taking naps so I will hurry along.
Monday started bright and early with EVERYONE waking up at 4 a.m. to get a smidge of family time before THE drop off. I pictured my 'goodbye' with Stephen for our first deployment rather different. As I pulled up to the squadron there was hardly anyone in sight except for a few cars with some people standing outside and a white van to shuttle the few people to Cherry Point. Needless-to-say, Stephen had stuff to do in the 15 minutes before they boarded the van so he hopped out of the car, walked around to each of our rolled down windows and gave us a kiss goodbye. He walked away waving and I drove away with Porter asking if he was 'the man of the house' now. We have done many drop-offs like this for trainings that Stephen has had in the past that have lasted for 1-2 months at a time, so honestly the weight of the deployment hasn't hit the three of us yet.
Having a child who is unfazed by Daddy's disappearance has made each day as normal as possible. Porter is such a strong little guy. After asking if he was the 'man of the house' as Stephen has drilled into his brain before he left, gave Porter the thought that he had some kind of say so in things now. He then proceeds to ask, "does that mean I'm in charge?" Oh Porter...you are such a manipulator :) However, he amazes me by how mature he is with our ever-changing lifestyle. On the ride back from the squadron I told Porter as I have for the past few weeks now that he may see Mommy get upset or cry sometimes because I'm sad Daddy is gone. I told him that it's ok too if he gets sad because Daddy's gone and misses him. Little Porter...with his carefree attitude just tells me, "do I have to?" And I told him he didn't have to cry if he didn't feel like it. He then says, "Mom, I'm just waiting. I'm just waiting." To this four and a half year old, time doesn't matter to him....which I'm sure is the culmination of 'Daddy will be home after dinner' to 'Daddy's working late and won't see you until tomorrow' to 'Daddy's in California for a couple of months' and 'Daddy's missing Christmas and your birthday this year'. He knows his Daddy is gone, but he's become an expert on waiting. I learn so much from him and the stuff that comes out of his mouth sometimes. He simply..amazes me :)
This first week has gone by so fast! We've been bombarded with phone calls, text messages, playdates, dinners and doctor's appointments. There's not a day goes by that we aren't meeting friends at the playground or meeting people for lunch/dinner get togethers. That's one thing that I LOVE about the military is that all of the spouses rally around each other during these times of separation. All of my girlfriends have deployed spouses right now and two friends just got their 'homecoming' 2 days before Stephen left. We all understand what each other is going through and we make sure that we're carrying each other through these days, weeks and months together.
As for Stephen, I think I've pretty much said everything I know in the email prior to this first post. He has officially left North America as of yesterday and is in-transit to his final destination as we speak. Not sure when he will arrive there but my guess is that he will be there before Monday (weather permitting :) I will post any info that he passes to me on this blog and keep y'all informed on his general well-being and information that I am allowed to pass. All I do know is that the 'uppers' in his squadron have said that this deployment has already shaped up to be NOTHING like a normal deployment from the free beer to Spa hotel stay and amazing scenery. I'm anxious to find out any information about what's actually going on over there besides having amazing food and seeing beautiful places on his liberty.
Until the next post, I hope y'all take care and spend lots of time with each other :) I'm so thankful that we live so close to Charleston that we can come home to visit when we want and y'all can come visit during a weekend! The drive is equivalent to Clemson, so if you can drive to Clemson...you better be making a drive north to a free place to stay in Jacksonville! :) Keep Stephen's travels and safety in your prayers as I'm sure you're already doing and keep our general well-being and attitudes in your prayers too. We love each of y'all and look forward to coming down to Charleston sometime in the near future.
Love always....Amanda
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