Best Christmas Present Ever!

As I sit here and listen to Dwayne giving the kids a bath I am reminded of what I am most thankful for this Christmas. The best present I can be given for christmas this year isn't under the tree. It is upstairs in the bathroom. It is having my husband home safe and sound!

As a military family we have spent many holidays apart. Between ranges, field time and deployments Dwayne hasn't always been home to celebrate with us. Because of this you really learn to treasure the time you do have together as a family. You learn the best things in the world can't be wrapped in a box and put under the tree.

So while yes this will be a hard Christmas for us for other reasons I will be thankful we are able to spend it with him. We never know if he will be home for the next one, so we make sure to enjoy the times we do have him here.

So thank you Santa and the US Army for allowing us to spend this special time of year together! And I will be thinking about those of my friends who have to spend it apart. I pray for strength and peace for you and you family and for your spouse to come home safe and sound so next year you can enjoy this day with them as a family.

Decorating the Tree

This weekend we finally got around to decorating the tree. Since our fake tree broke last year and we don't have the money to replace it this year we decided to wait and get a real one from Trees for Troops. It is a great program that gives free Christmas trees to military families! I stupidly sent my husband alone to get a tree, lol. He comes back with a tree over 7ft tall and about 4ft wide, lol. He did trim it up and make it a bit shorter but it is still VERY wide, lol. But it is beautiful! Luckily we have the room for it, lol. All but two strands of our lights broke in the move, thankfully a wonderful friend gave us some lights she no longer needs. Two strands would not have been enough for this tree, lol. We also didn't have near enough ornaments for this big tree so Dwayne's mom gave us hers to use too.

Now of course since we let the kids do most of the ornaments it isn't the perfect looking tree but it is beautiful in other ways. I wouldn't have it any other way. Christmas for me is about the kids, about the joy and innocence they have and if they want more than half the ornaments on the bottom of the tree since that is all they can reach it is okay by me, lol.

They had so much fun doing it. I am so happy they are finally at the age where they are understanding Christmas and able to enjoy everything about it. Even though this year the holidays are hard for me their excitment is contagious and takes some of the saddness away. I can't wait to see their faces Christmas morning!

Update on lil peanut #5

I am now a little over 18 weeks along and lil peanut seems to be doing great! All the bloodwork came back good and so far the sonograms look good!! Our next sonogram is on the 13th and that is the big one, the 20 week one. While yes I am looking forward to finding out if we are having a girl or boy I am also scared of what else they might see. After Isabella I know this sonogram isn't just about if I will be buying pink or blue things. When I was pregnant with Isabella I had a feeling something wasn't right, I don't have it with this pregnancy so I am not too worried about it, especially after the bloodwork looks okay. But of course there will be that little bit of worry that will stay until I am holding this baby in my arms and I see that everything is okay!

I did find out at my last regular OB appointment that the airforce does things a bit different with asthma patients. I will get regular ultrasounds measuring the baby, statistics show asthma patients have smaller babies. I wish someone would have told Jonathan, lol he was over 8lbs! Katie and Wesley were a little smaller but in the average baby weight at 7lbs and 6lbs and then Isabella if she would have been full term she would have been a big one like Jonathan, lol. So I am not really worried about how this baby grows, she/he is already measuring a little bigger on the ultrasounds. I also learned that if I haven't gone into labor by 39 weeks they will be inducing me. So my due date is no longer correct, lol. 39 weeks is April 24th so sometime in that last week of April they will induce if I haven't already had the baby. Now Wesley and Katie came at 38 weeks and Jonathan was at exactly 39 weeks so they might not have to induce me, lol. I am hoping they don't because it is much more painful, lol.

We also changed the name we picked if it is a girl, which I am 99% sure it is :) It will no longer be Shelby Marie but will now be Hannah Marie. I LOVE the name Shelby but it just wasn't feeling right, I guess she didn't like it, lol. We are still sticking with Dillion Russell for a boy.

I have started to feel the baby move :) I LOVE those little fluttering movements. I can't wait until Dwayne and the kids are also able to feel her/him moving and kicking away. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by! I will be holding our rainbow baby in my arms before I know it!

Fun Filled Weekend!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE a fun filled weekend with the family. This past weekend was a great one. Friday night we honored and remembered Isabella and all the other babies gone to soon with a candle lighting and balloon release. We had family over to join in on this celebration of their lives. It was a great night and the kids loved doing the stuff for Isabella and the other angels.




Then on Saturday we went to one of the pumpkin patches around here called pumpkinville. Now we knew this one would be smaller than the others but it was the only one that didn't charge extra for the cornmaze and hayride. The kids had a blast though. I think at their age the smaller one was the better pick. They had so much fun taking the wagon out into the field and picking their pumpkins. They LOVED the cornmaze, would probably have done it a millions time if we let them. And the hayride was the most adventurous hayride I have ever been on. A lot of the ride went through some really muddy areas, had never gone hayride muddin' before, lol. The kids loved it, which is what was most important.




Then on Sunday the USO did a Military Appreciation day at the Zoo, we got in for free so we weren't turning that down, lol. One thing military families are good at is taking advantage of free things! Dwayne's mom Pat and his uncles girlfriends son Dougy joined us for the day. The kids had a blast seeing all the animals and the adults were going crazy with the crowds, lol. Seriously the line for food was about 30 minutes long! But all in all everyone had fun! I can't wait to take the kids back on a day when it isn't so crowded for them to enjoy the animals even more without having to be rushed so others could see.



And then Sunday evening we spent with Dwayne's family. Dwayne's cousin's fiance' cooked us a yummy dinner and we hung out talking and watching football games, even though some of us did get a little upset over the Cowboys game, lol. The kids played with Dougy until they were so tired the fell asleep on the ride home!

Was a great weekend for everyone. There is nothing better than enjoying a nice weekend with the family.

The truth about the Army

Over the years I have heard so much crap that isn't true about the Army that I get tired of saying the same things over and over, lol. So hopefully by posting it here it will stop me from having to say a few of these things to a few people, lol.

First off a soldier doesn't make loads of money. Infact their actual salary is usually less than what they would get in the civilian world for the same job. Now of course this depends on their rank and their job, but in most cases that is how it works out. Yes the higher ranking the better pay, so if you stay in long enough, get some college credits and move up the chain then yes you can live comfortably, but even then you aren't rich!

Second, the Army isn't welfare you DO NOT get more money for each child you have or for being married. A married soldier will get something called BAS, it is for basic substance allowance. A single soldier doesn't get this because they eat at the DFAC, aka mess hall. If a married soldier goes to the DFAC to eat he has to pay out of pocket for it since he gets the BAS. And no it isn't that much money, no where near enough to cover every meal the soldier eats for a month. The married soldier also gets something called BAH, basic housing allowance. A single soldier does not get this because he lives in the barracks, most of the time married soldiers are not allowed to live in the barracks. BAH goes by rank, I think E1-E6 get the same BAH, it might be to E5, it goes up from there with rank. So anyone in the E1-E6(or E5) rank that is married gets the same amount of money for BAH as someone in that rank range with 10 kids. The BAH also goes by the area you are stationed in, it is the average rent of the area, from what I have figured out I think they take the average rent of a 2 bedroom because most of the time your BAH isn't enough for anything more than that.

So now onto our housing. If you live on post your housing is NOT free! You get that BAH and then you give it to the contracting company that owns the housing for rent. No different than if you lived off post and paid rent. Only difference is off post you can pick where you want to live and how much you want to pay, on post you pay all of your BAH. So some people with no kids or only 1 kid can save money by living off post where as we would be paying more than our BAH to live off post. So yes for some people living on post is cheaper but it is not free!

That leads me to the free utilites myth. Well yes it used to be free. When the army ran housing it was free and even a few years after it was contracted out to different companies it was free. But a few years ago the military passed a law trying to stop people from over using electricty and such. Now each post can decide how they want it done. We have lived on one where the first year you are there they take your average then when that year is up if you start going over your average you pay, if you are under it you get a credit. At Riley and here at Eustis they took an average every month of like homes. So all homes on the end of a row would be together, all homes in the middle would be together, and it would be by neighborhood. Also if you go over the average you pay, if you go under you get a credit. So while yes it is different than living off post, it isn't always free. A house full of kids and a husband who don't know how to turn off lights or like to keep the house freezing make it hard to get that credit, lol. Even though it isn't free anymore I do still consider it one of the benefits of the military, I would rather pay $40 a month than $240 a month.

Now onto another benefit of the Army. Free healthcare, but remember that saying you always hear "You get what you pay for". So since we don't pay for it, it isn't always the best. Go talk to anyone who has tricare and they will be able to tell you some horror stories. Now their is an option called standard where you can pay and see civilian doctors, an option I was about to take advantage of if we stayed at Fort Riley. You actually get to pick your doctors!!!! It is amazing how something so little as that can make such a difference. Some posts you can still pick your doctors, but when we were leaving Fort Riley they were changing things up and you could only see who they assigned you to, if you didn't like them for whatever reason, to bad you are stuck with them! That would be why I was going to go over to standard. Another thing is you have to get refferals for EVERYTHING! And more than 50% of the time they get denied. When Wesley was first diagnosed with Autism they would not cover his speech therapy, they said it was a lost cause, yes their actual words!!!! Luckily there are laws now for autistic kids to prevent that from happening. When I was pregnant with Isabella I had the NTD's blood work come back high, this was at 16 weeks. Thanks to the refferal process I didn't get in to see a specialist until I was 22 weeks. Speaking of that pregnancy, that 16 week blood work was also my 1st appointment with an OB because of how long it can take to see a doctor. I will say once you got into that OB clinic for your inital appointment it was easier to get appointments after, but seriously make someone wait until they are 16 weeks and into their 2nd trimester before seeing a doctor? I have waited 2 weeks to see a family care doctor for asthma issues, and in those 2 weeks I was out of my asthma meds, including my fast acting inhaler. And no they wouldn't call in the pharmacy and refill it for me without seeing me, as they suggested if I needed one I should go to the ER and wait 8 hours just for an inhaler. Anyways let me shut up because I could go on and on about the bad with the healthcare system, lol. I will say it is more the insurance than the actual doctors. I have met some wonderful doctors at all the posts we have been at, along with some bad ones but there are bad apples everywhere. My biggest complaint would be at most posts you never see the same doctor more than once, which sucks when you have conditions like asthma or other conditions that need to be monitored.

Another one that drives me crazy is everyone thinking all their uniforms and supplies get issued. Um..NO. Yes when they first join they get issued a few uniforms but after that you have to buy them. Yes they get a clothing allowence. My husbands is about $530 a year. Wow you say, um again no, let's add up how much the basics at the cheapest prices are.
Class A's aka dress uniform runs you:
Jacket is $71.21
Pants are 16.23
Long Sleeve shirt $15.61
Short Sleeve shirt $13.50
Tie $5.50
Patches, badges, medals etc. ATLEAST $100.00
Bowtie $2.15
Socks $3.75
Belt $3.25
Belt Buckle $6.50
Shoes $39.50
Equals = $277.20 And this is much less than it would have cost a couple years ago because they have dropped the prices of the Class A items because they are moving over to the dress blues, which will NOT be issued and yes cost a lot more than this. Back in 2006 my husband needed a new Class A uniform, $500 didnt' even cover the pants, jacket and shirt, and the new class blues are running more than that! Also keep in mind the cost of getting everything pressed and sewn and altered.

Now on to PT items.They are required to have at least 3 short sleeve, 3 shorts, 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 pair of pants and 1 jacket and one pair of running shoes. Now if you live somewhere that gets cold you know you are going to need more than 1 of each of those but since that is what is required that is what we will price, along with the accessories needed.
PT short sleeve shirt : $6.65x3=$19.95
PT shorts: $10.95X3=$32.85
PT Pants: $29.20
PT Jacket: $58.11
PT reflector belt: $9.60
Pack of 3 socks:$6.15
Fleece Cap: $4.80
Pair of decent running shoes $100.00 last about 6 months so $200.00
Total is: $360.66

Now on to the ACU's. They are required to have 4 pairs at all times, and a pair lasts about 6 months so I will be doing a price of 8 pairs.
Fleece Jacket (1): $63.49
ACU Coat $38.50x8= $308.00
ACU Pants:$37.55x8=$300.40
3pk t-shirt: 15.95x3=47.85
Beret $13.75x2=$27.50
Boonie Hat $12.95
Patrol Cap $6.50
Brown Briefs 3pk $5.70x3=$17.10
Green Boot Socks 3pk: $6.60x3= $19.80
Velcro Flag(1) $1.20
Belt $3.45
Velcro Rank(1) $2.00
Velcro Service tag (1) $2.50
Name tape (1) $2.50
Unit Patch $4.00
Long sleeve shirt $14.95 x4= $59.80
Desert boots : $74.00x2= $148.00
Combat Boots: 103.85x2=207.70
Total: $1234.74 and that is with the cheapest boots and only one set of velcro items and no unit crest for beret, and no combat patch which you have to wear if you have been in combat. Also doesn't include a few other things, it is just the basics. Also doesn't include items necessary for their MOS, like Dwayne being a medic he needs and aid bag and other items just for medics.

The total for everything is: $1872.60 and again this is including the cheapest of everything and the basics, not all the extras you are required to have at any given notice. So yeah while that $530 is nice it doesn't come near to what we spend, especially when you have a husband like mine who misplaces a lot of things :)

Now there is one thing I have heard from people when they hear my husband is a medic that gets on my nerves. When he was deployed I would hear how lucky I was that he was a medic so I didn't have to worry about him getting hurt or killed. UM A BIG BIG BIG NO! During my husbands deployments he was NEVER in a clinic or hospital. He is a LINE medic, meaning he is out on the line with the other soldiers. For him to earn his combat medic badge he had to actually see combat. Not sit in some nice clinic,TMC hospital or whatever you want to call it on some FOB. Most of the time he was going on missions daily. He has deployed with a CAV unit and an Infantry unit. He would be raiding the houses right along side them, so doing their job along with his. So please if you ever come across a medics wife please don't assume stupid stuff like this and never say anything like that to her, you just might get slapped :)

The last thing is don't believe everything you see on the news. Despite the news saying we are leaving Iraq I know a whole brigade of soldiers at Fort Riley are leaving for Iraq in the next couple months, for a one year deployment. And even though they don't show it on the news the Iraqis are thankful for our help, they are thankful to be rid of Saddam, my husband was thanked on a daily basis during his deployments. The news doesn't show any of the good we are doing over there, building schools, setting up sewer sytems, giving them running water and electricity and lots of other things.

That about wraps up the things people assume about the Army that get on my nerves, lol. I didn't realize this would be so long but once I started typing I just couldn't stop, guess it is kinda like if you get me talking :)

Racism

I am a member of quite a few army and military wives groups online. Today on one of the facebook ones a question was asked about how people felt about someone starting a black army wives group. I have to say I am ashamed of the comments fellow military wives left! I am saddened by how much racism there still is in this country. Not just with whites to blacks, but between every race. Sadly it wasn't until I was an adult that I really realized what racism was. I guess I was lucky to grow up and go to school where I did. We had a mix of all races at all my schools and we all got along with each other, we were all friends with each other. Each race wasn't in their own "clique". Growing up that way taught me to look at a person for who they are, for what kind of heart they had. Not by what color skin they have or what religion they are.

Both me and my husband teach our kids that God made everyone different, everyone special in their own way and he loves us all the same and that is what we should do too. We teach our kids that yes their skin may be different, but that we are all the same on the inside and the heart of a person is all that really matters. As they get older and understand that people have different beliefs and faiths I will say the same thing about that. It doesn't matter if we believe two different things, what matters is what kind of person they are. The same is said for looks, being pretty or being ugly, being fat or being skinny. None of that matters. We should all love each other for the person we are on the inside.

Now both Dwayne and I did grow up around some racism. My family is known to make the racists jokes or comments here and there and his family is too. I look at it as they grew up in a different time than us. Now I do not agree with them saying those things in front of us when we were kids, because we were impressionable. But I am proud that both of us were able to look past their small mindedness and judgemental ways. Both of us were able to have a mind of our own and choose the right way to live, the right way to see people. I guess you could say we are color blind.
Now we want to raise our kids differently than we were raised. Our kids will never hear anything racial come out of our mouths. If they should hear us say something bad about someone it won't be because of the color of their skin or their faith and beliefs. And if we ever hear anyone in either of families say anything racist around our kids, well let's just say that will probably be the last time they are around our kids. We will not tolerate it. Up until now we have let it slide, but things are changing, times are changing. I just hope other people feel like we do and teach their kids the same thing, so that way day people can live in a world where everyone is colorblind and where people aren't judged for their religion and beliefs. For this to happen though everyone of all races is going to have to let go of the past and look towards the future, the future that our kids can make happen if we just teach them the right way to see and treat people!

I think back to the groups of friends I had at Fort Stewart and Fort Riley. They were all a mix of races, cultures and beliefs. At Fort Riley we had white, black and Latino hanging out all at the same time, all getting along not looking at the skin but at the person. We had Christians, Catholics, Atheist and even Wicca all in that group, again all getting along, all respecting each others beliefs, all loving one another no matter how different we were. I really do pray and hope that one day everywhere can be like the little groups of friends I have had. Even though our country has come so far it makes me so sad to see just how little we have come too.

A boy or a girl???

During all of my other pregnancies I knew what I was going to have before the ultrasound confirmed it. And this time I am feeling girl. Now we aren't going to go out and buy girl things yet, lol, just incase I am wrong. I have mixed emotions on it being a girl, but really I do not care at all about the sex, I just would like a healthy baby. I won't go into details on all of that cause I have on Isabella's blog and I am sure I will again on her blog, lol. I have been told on these 3D and 4D ultrasounds they can tell the sex really early so hoping to find out on the 18th when we go to the specialist. I can't wait to start buying baby things that are pink or blue and not neutral colors, lol. I have never had much patience so waiting to find out the sex of the baby has always been hard for me, lol.

Over the past few weeks we have been working on names. I like to have names picked out before we know the sex so right away we can call the baby by it's name. So finally this weekend we narrowed it down to the boy and girl names we like. For a boy it will be Dillon Russell and for a girl it will be Shelby Marie. Now I just can't wait to know which one we will be using :)

Busch Gardens

This past weekend we decided to take advantage of the free day for military at Busch Gardens. When I was growing up that place was like my 2nd home, lol. My parents would get us passes and drop us off with our friends for a day there, usually a few times a week. I have missed Busch Gardens so much in the past 7+ years we have been away. I couldn't believe how much it had changed. They got rid of a few rides that were my favorites. I have so many memories of riding the Big Bad Wolf with my friends and family. I still remember my brother and I riding it and playing finger wrestling while riding it. It wasn't the scariest roller coaster when you got older so we found ways to make it more fun, lol. I remember when my sister was finally tall enough to ride it, lol. She had to wear boots with a heel, I can't remember how old she was but I know it was years older than we were when we could first ride it. She is a bit on the short side :) So it was a bit saddening to see they had taken it down instead of fixing it.

Now Katie and Jonathan had never been to an amusement park. The closest they had come was the traveling carnivals that came to Fort Riley. They were in complete awe, lol. They had so much fun riding all the rides. Jonathan's favorite was the train of course. He reminds me so much of Wesley when it comes to that. They both had/have an obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine, lol. And to make the train ride even better we actually got to ride on Thomas, aka the blue train, lol. When it comes to colors everything is associated with Thomas. Katie loved the kids roller coaster in the new sesame street kids section. That used to be where the petting zoo was. They also had a kids drop tower that she really enjoyed. Jonathan did get on the roller coaster but I don't think he was quite ready for it, lol. After that he wouldn't even think about getting on the drop tower.

Since we went during the Howl-O-Scream once nightfall hit it became all about halloween. They had people dressed up walking around, sometimes jumping out behind bushes and scaring people. I couldn't go in the first haunted house because it was filled with that fog stuff which is bad for my asthma so Dwayne took the kids. We went with his cousin Russell and his fiance' Brandy. So they all went while I sat out. I enjoyed sitting and watching the characters jump out and scare people, lol. Well I was sure that Katie and Jonathan would be so scared after that Haunted House that we would have to leave, I mean they are only 5 & 3. Well first thing out of Katie's mouth when they got out was she wanted to do it again, lol. Jonathan also enjoyed it. So we went and stood in an almost 2 hour line for 2 haunted houses and an outside haunted thing. One line for all 3. They were so good in that line, I was shocked, lol. Well they also enjoyed those. Katie would actually laugh when they tried to scare her and Jonathan screamed maybe two times, way less than the adults around us, lol. So I guess my kids are going to be into the scary halloween kind of things.

We had been telling them all day that on the way out they could get something. We didn't have the money to be buying them things all day long. Well Jonathan decided on the big sucker and Katie got cotton candy. Since it was after 10pm when we finally got in the van they were both passed out before they could enjoy all of their sweets, lol.

Even though I could only ride 2 rides, and one of them being a kiddie ride, lol, I enjoyed the day so much. It was so much fun to watch the joy on their faces, to hear their laughing. I don't think any ride could have been anymore fun than that.

Here are some pictures from that wonderful day!












We learned though you cannot do everything for howl-o-scream in one day! We got there when they opened and stayed until closing and still was only able to do about half the things. I look forward to next year when we have passes and can go all the time!

Welcome

Welcome to our family blog :) Even though it will probably just be me posting things, lol. I felt the need to make this blog because there are lots of things about my family I want to write about and share with our family and friends. I didn't feel right doing that on Isabella's blog so now there is a Smith Family Blog :)