And it begins... Ben is on his way to Afghanistan and so it's just Hunter and I for the next few months. It is so weird this time around because it's for a MUCH shorter time than we have ever had to prepare for, so it's almost hard to really think of it as a deployment. Not that three or four months isn't important, but it really is much better than a year or more! We did everything that we could to help prepare Hunter for this time, but I'm not sure that there really is any good way to prepare a child for their parent being gone for so long. His favorite thing that we did was go to Build-A-Bear so that he could make an animal to sleep with while daddy is away. He was allowed to pick any animal and any clothing he wanted, so naturally he choose a bunny rabbit that is dressed in a combat uniform (complete with a Kevlar helmet, dog tags and black boots!) The BEST part is that we were able to put a little sound box in the paw that has a recording of Ben telling Hunter that he loves him. I'm pretty sure that the button will be worn out by next week!
Hunter has been taking it pretty hard so far, but we were able to talk to Ben both yesterday and today and that seemed to help. The first night we were alone Hunter got up FIVE times crying that he missed his daddy :( I did everything I could think of! We prayed, we wrote letters to daddy (twice!), we hung a picture of daddy in his room... Tonight he seems to be doing much better which is a huge relief since I need the time at night to work on my class.
I feel like I'm doing pretty well so far, but maybe I'm a little more sensitive than usual because while reading responses to my class discussion board one of the responses almost made me cry! Oh, the joys of deployment!!! To top it off, I went downstairs to make sure that the house was locked up for the night and discovered that our pet goldfish, Nemo, appears to be dead. Just what I needed... an already sad little boy with a dead fish. I suspect that we will be taking a trip to the pet store tomorrow morning!
If you think of it, please pray for safe travels for Ben. So far he hasn't had a great experience (I can give more details once he is safe and sound in Afghanistan) I'm hoping for his sake that he can get there quickly and get settled into a routine.
No news on the adoption front. I'm trying not to get frustrated with the system, but it really is difficult sometimes!
Thanks so much for all the AMAZING responses to all of the craziness we have put everyone through so far. We appreciate every little encouragement more than you will ever know! It blesses us so much to know that we have so much support in this process.
Love you all!!!
E & H (and Ben too)
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