polygamy and the navy

I've recently become obsessed with Sister Wives. It's that crazy show on TLC about the family with 4 wives.

While I am a bad share-er and the whole concept is not for me, I realized there are a lot of creepy similarities between polygamist families and military families.

*They have a rotation for when they sleep with their husband. Now that there are 4 wives, I'm guessing it's an every 4th night thing.

Hubby has a duty rotation for when he sleeps on the boat. Every 3-4 night, he goes away.

*People think they're weird. Who volunteers to share their husband?

People think we're weird. Who volunteers to go without their husband for months at a time?

*They share the childrearing duties. While they each have their own kids, they pitch in to help.

Mil spouses all help each other out. We all pitch in on the days you need the extra hand.

They generally seem happy with the arrangement. While you can always get the soundbite or 30 second meltdown, they all seem genuinely content with their lives. My favorite quote was about how they chose that life.

I might have my moments where the Navy drives me up a wall. We chose this life though. And, we're content with our lives.

favorite photo friday

Hubby had his big exam in DC this last Wednesday. It's why he was sent home early from deployment. He rocked it (as expected). The little boys and I took the train down and had a mini vacation. We got in late Tuesday night - like 11:45 pm and had to be at the train station by 7 am on Thursday. It was fun though. A little family time is good for everyone.

It's so rare that we're able to get a picture of all 4 of us. I treasure each one of them - even if Monkey is less than impressed with the most famous house in America.

it's back

Hubby's boat came back today. Like it's already docked so don't get your panties in a bunch that I'm breaking OPSEC rules or anything. (Which doesn't make any sense to me anyways since the date they come back is never classified and the actual time is declassified 24 hours in advance. That's a whole other rant though.)

It's weird to see the wives on facebook with happy status updates and decorations on the houses.

Hubby has been back for 3 months. We've been so lucky and grateful to have him home. He came back early to attend a Navy school here.

I'm a big ball of emotions though. I'm glad that all those families can be back together. 6 months is a long time. I know; we did it last time. But, it stinks for our family. Hubby is back to duty nights and long hours with some cruel co-workers. I'm so done with this sea duty.

I know the proper Navy wifely duty is to keep my mouth shut and accept it as it comes. I'm sick of it though. I'm tired of people being mean and hurtful because they can. I'm tired of not knowing what's going on in our own lives.

Welcome home, silly old boat. I can't wait until we can say good bye to you for forever.

naked momma

What age is it weird for a parent to change in front of the opposite gender child?

Obviously, when you have an itty bitty baby finding time to change your clothes at all (or caring that you're wearing the same yoga pants for the last 3 days) is a miracle. I personally am super uncomfortable with the idea of changing in front of a 16 year old son.

The Bear is almost 3. For the last few months, I've been making sure he's not in the room when I change. Should he walk in (because he's 2 and doesn't have the greatest awareness of personal boundaries) I don't scream or make a big fuss.

What age makes you uncomfortable? Is it difference for a son/mother than a daughter/father?

not expected

So it's October, and I've decided to come out of my little hole. Now all 3 of you who read will be up to date on the happenings of our little family.

A few weeks ago, my father and step-mom came to visit us. My father had been to our house (almost 2 years ago), but my step-mom never had. They live in Ohio and really had no reason to venture to the Submarine Capital of the World. My step-sister had just moved to the Boston area though, and they had helped her and her family move. We were on the way home so they spent 2 days visiting the boys and seeing the area.

They were talking about how unhappy my step-sister was. She was not a fan of moving. She was not big on being in New England; she doesn't like snow at all. It probably didn't help that the week they moved in was insanely hot (like in the 90s) which never happens around here. I love her, but she was just taking the change hard. She's 29 and has never lived more than 15 minutes from her mom.

I mentioned that I was getting itchy to move. We've lived in this house for 2 1/2 years which is crazy long in military land. We'll find out for sure soon, but there's a really good chance that we'll be here for another 2 years. Almost 5 years in one place is insane. I love the adventure of going new places, making new friends and experiencing things.

My father commented that he thought it was a difference in expectations. I knew when I met, fell in love with, and married Hubby that our life would would lead us all over. I'm game. My step-sister finally just got married in February (They've been together for a long time. They bought a house together. They have a 7 year old daughter together. Just different choices on the marriage thing.) This move caught them both by surprise. He said that she didn't expect to have to move.

I was silent. I was shocked. Isn't that life?

I doubt that anyone ever has their life go exactly as planned. I doubt that when my parents got married they expected to get divorced, my mom end up in Chicago (she hated big cities), and my father in Ohio. We have all these expectations for how our marriages and lives will go, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. No matter how much you plan, there are things out of your control. It irks me that people use that as a crutch. Make the best of what you've been given.

You might move. You might have to leave your mom. You might have to take an awful job. You might end up with no job. You might end up with no kids. You might end up with them a little closer together than you had thought.

Even the best movies have a twist in them. It's what makes life interesting.

favorite photo friday

Since I haven't done this in a while, this is actually my favorites of them for the last month or so.

Favorite of The Bear: This picture just melts my heart. He's going to be a heart breaker.


Favorite of The Monkey: We were outside playing in the yard. He was so fascinated with the empty bucket.

tired

Feeling worn down. By a bunch of things. A bunch of small things. And, a few major things.

Tired. Not the sleepy tired. The exhausted don't want to move or think tired.

Hoping it all gets better soon.
Or as better as it can get.

teeth

Monkey is teething. It's rough. Like crazy, insane, makes me want to hide in the closet rough.

His first tooth finally came through Saturday. The second one is almost all the way through.

He's in a lot of pain. The mellow child could currently be in a commercial for colic. He's been up since 2 am screaming in pain. The only times he's hushed where while I was nursing him.

I've done the Orajel. I've done the cold washcloth. I've done the pressure on his gums. I've done the magical melting tablets.

The only thing left recommended by google is whiskey. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. The Bear was a bad teether; this is nothing new. He did get comfort from the other things though. Nothing seems to be helping. The constant crying breaks my heart (and hurts my head).

I really try to limit the chemicals and yucky things that get into the boys bodies. Which is worse? Whiskey-ed qtips on the gums or being in that much pain for that long? If anyone can find actual evidence that the alcohol is bad, please pass it along.
When my grandma suggested it for The Bear I thought she was insane. Now, I just might be insane.

silhouettes

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

I'm loving all the silhouette art work around. I'm a fan of personalized things - for the boys, myself and the family in general. I found this and I'm wanting to make it bigger for something. It's not our real silhouettes so I'm sure if it's lame.

Does anyone have any suggestions or links for something I can do with our silhouettes?

sahm

We've been having lots of fun family times lately. It's so weird to have Hubby home and not have the boat home. It's actually slightly amazing and giving us a taste of what shore duty will be like.

Since Hubby is actually awake in the evenings and able to have a coherent conversation, we've been doing a lot of planning and dreaming and just generally trying to figure out where our lives are going.

I love being a SAHM. Insanely hard and much harder than expected for sure. I like that I know my children though. I know how they think and can typically predict their behavior. They grow up so quickly and I don't want to miss it. My opinion is that I would gladly give up some luxuries now to be able to be such a part of their daily memories.

How long can you be a SAHM before it's just weird? I would like to point out that being a mom is only part of my job. I'm also a cook, maid, laundress, personal shopper, dog walker . . . once the boys are bigger I know I'll be adding chauffeur to that list. I had a friend in high school who was an only child and her mom still stayed at home. Then, she went to college. Her mom still stayed at home.

I am in no way putting down SAHMs of bigger kids. I also want to feel useful in life. So what's the cutoff? Where does it cross the line? I'm sure if you have family with disabilities this could also change the age.

favorite photo friday

Favorite of The Bear: He's currently obsessed with "hoops". Probably because it's something he can do with Daddy. We're not calling the NBA yet though. His current skills involve running around with the ball and then throwing it in the air. He does look pretty cute doing it though. Dream big, little Bear.

Favorite of The Monkey: He loves his Daddy. And, Daddy loves him.

yes, Virginia

I do still exist.

Life has been crazy busy. And, honestly it is still crazy busy.

A special someone was sent home from deployment to attend a school at the base here. Who knew that he could be gone for a little over 3 months (2 of which we had no communication at all), and I could say it wasn't really that long.

Which has meant lots of splashing

A trip to Sesame Place

And just generally readjusting to being a family of 4 again.

I'll be back relatively soon though. Hubby starts having to work full days and hopefully the boys will start napping at the same time again.

favorite photo friday

Favorite of The Bear: He found his Mickey Mouse ears from when we went to Disney World last August. Bear felt the need to wear them all day. And, he wanted at least 3,874 pictures of him taken in said ears.

Favorite of The Monkey: He's just so freaking happy. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such a good baby.

Favorite of them: I know this is cheating the system, but I am so very glad to get a good picture of both of them.

genius

Newton discovered gravity when he was 24 years old.

The Monkey has it down before he's 7 months old.

My child is a genius.

tweeting

I have recently rediscovered Twitter. I can now say I'm a fan. Half the battle was finding a good app to use it for my non-iPhone phone.

It's like facebook status updates on steroids. Or something of that nature.

Now that I check it more than once a month, it would be nice to have people to follow that have updates. I've been hunting through some of the people's followers to find new friends.

I do find it amusing that Obama (I know not the actual Obama, but Obama's "people") is following the Kremlin. I'm glad they keep in touch :-)

I'm @NavyFamily06. Who are you?