What He's Been Doing

I thought I would update what little I know about Jed and what he's been up to.  He and the other soldiers were flown to one of the bases in Mississippi to train up for several weeks before flying directly to Iraq.  Jed doesn't go into great detail when we talk about the daily activities there, perhaps he is not allowed to.  The first week in Mississippi was all about gas masking, getting immunization shots, setting up lodging, attending classes, and lots of late night meetings.  This week, training kicked into gear full force and sometimes goes late into the night.  Last night they got in at 11 PM from night shooting and had to be up at 4 AM this morning.

Gas-masking day.

(Photo "borrowed" from Poulsens)

Anthrax, H1N1, Small Pox shots, among others, were all done at the same time.  Jed and the other soldiers all got sick for a few days (normal reactions to these kinds of shots.)  This pic below shows the pussy Small Pox reaction.  Jed says it itches terrible and he's now got lumps underneath his arm.  He's still feverish and aches all over, "including his teeth," he says.

At the shooting range waiting for the rest of the guys to finish up. 

Christiansen.

I can't remember the story behind this one below, but I think he cut his head when shaving it and someone gave him a bandaid - a Dora the Explorer bandaid no less.  He put it on just for kicks (Jed likes to do things just to see people's reactions.)  Gosh, he makes me laugh.  If this were middle school he would totally be teased.  But with his rank there is no way anyone is going to say anything about it!

As for us, how are we holding up?  I would have to say ok.  Behind all of the smiles on the blog, there are nights of tears from my children, or leaving to school with wet eyes.  There are quiet nights when the kids are in bed and I'll break down in tears.  This deployment already feels so much different than the other times he is gone for training - I guess it's because I know Jed won't be coming home in a few days or weeks.   

Rigdon comes into my bed in the mornings and looks around for Jed and says "Where daddy go?"  How do you explain to a two-year old that he won't be seeing his daddy for a very, very long time? 

Ronin keeps most of his emotions inside when it comes to his feelings for his dad.  He is more quiet about his sadness so I try to encourage him to express it more.  Yesterday morning we were at the breakfast table and he said, "I don't want to hear anything about dad."  So I know he has his struggles.  He told me he cries at school a little bit, especially when they were singing a patriotic song.  :(  Oh, if I could just take all of their sadness and pain away!

Jed is constantly on our minds and in our thoughts. 

When I go into my bedroom at night, this is what I see: Aubrey snuggled up in one of her daddy's army shirts, with daddy's army blanket, daddy doll wrapped up in her arms, and the flat daddy right by the bed so she can fall asleep next to him.  Such a daddy's girl!

However, the hustle and bustle of daily life goes on, thank goodness.  It helps things seem a little normal.  Jed is able to call and email right now from his cell phone, which really helps.  When he gets to Iraq the phone calling will stop but hopefully we will get to start video calling, so I am excited for that.

I am confident this whole experience will make us that much stronger.  It is a great opportunity to grow closer as a family and to strengthen our faith in Heavenly Father as we rely upon Him during this time in our lives.   That is, if I don't kill my kids first (figure of speech people!  Don't take me literally here, ok?)