One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, Eric deployed. One year is a very long time to be alone with babies and for Eric to be without his family. Here's an idea of what he's missed...

8500 miles traveled...roughly! 3 trips to KY, 1 to Indianapolis, 1 to Illinois, 1 to Minnesota, 1 to Maryland, and 1 to Florida

4380 dirty diapers...WHOA!!!! I'm scared to do the math on that to see how much I've spent on diapers!

2920 feedings...that's a lot of food and formula!

960 bottles washed

310 miles walked in the stroller. This is probably a little low, but I didn't take the number of miles walked while shopping and doing other errands

300 bathtimes

240 square feet added to the house while he was gone...contractors...WHAT FUN!

27 doctor's appointments. I think this is a little low, but it's a rough estimate

12 trips to the park

4 - the number of days I would classify as "horrible" since he left. They consisted of either super sick kids, loss of patience, or just plain sad days

2 birthdays...one for each baby (he was home on R&R for my birthday and for his!)

2 wedding anniversaries - he MIGHT be home for our 6th anniversary on July 19th, but I'm not counting on it. If he is home...this will be 1 wedding anniversary

2 boo-boos that were more than just a bump or bruise

1 trip to the dentist for a chipped tooth

1 Thanksgiving- their first

1 Christmas-their first

1 Easter

1 year of the boys being daddy-less and me being husband-less

1 whole year of missing everything...from the good times to the bad

Fortunately, the boys are young enough that they won't remember him being gone. I will, but it hasn't been a totally negative experience. People have pity on me a lot, but I don't need the pity. All I need is support, which I've gotten from my family and all of my friends...no matter where they live!

Take a minute and think of Eric today. A big thanks to him for selflessly serving his country and what he believes in. A big thanks to our families and their support. A big thanks to diet mt dew for giving me the energy needed to survive. A big thanks to my friends (mainly my sisters) for listening to me complain when I needed to and not judging me for it! Finally, a big thanks to Cookout (a restaurant) for preparing delicious milk shakes for me when I have been really stressed out.

Let's hope for a safe return...and a QUICK one at that! We're in the home stretch and I can't wait for him to get back. I'm "so over" this deployment!...but I mean that in a positive way!