Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Julie

Tour of Duty Preparing Our Hearts for Deployment by Sara Horn

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Tour Of DutyI am excited to share with you a book review of Tour of Duty Preparing Our Hearts for Deployment by Sara Horn.  Since becoming an Army wife in 2005, I am always on the lookout for a good book about our life & how to get through it.  I was excited to see Sara Horn had come out with a new devotional book on deployment.

Deployments are such a part of our military lives but getting through one can be very difficult sometimes.

I have been through 2 deployments and I felt like this book touched on so many of the thoughts & feelings I have experienced during the separations.  Included in each chapter are verses, questions and even “Tips for Military Wives.”  I think this book would be an awesome Bible study and would love to do it with a group of ladies someday.

I also will be rereading this again when we start our next deployment.  There were some parts that I read where I knew it would be very helpful to go back and read during the middle of a deployment.  The chapter called “Facing the Giants” especially as it deals with those what ifs or worries we all seem to go through when our husband is deployed.

Another thing I really liked about this book is her comparisons to biblical characters and what they have gone through in their lives.  It makes you realize that although our struggles might have looked different, they dealt with a lot of the same emotions we might deal with right now.

One more small thing, I really really liked the cover of this book.  Something about the pink on the green 🙂

The book has a Facebook page and you can buy the book from Lifeway 🙂

I received a free copy of this book from Sara Horn for this review!

Twas the day after Christmas…

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Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house…

Well not quite a poet so I will stop there 😉  I hope you all had a great Christmas 🙂

PhotobucketOurs was pretty low key.  The boys slept in until 8 am!  I couldn’t believe it.  We did gifts and then they played the rest of the day.  Dinosaurs, Mickey Mouse and Toy Story were the favorites of the day 🙂

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I didn’t take too many pictures which is not like me but I think I could be getting sick and just wasn’t feeling it.  I ended up taking a 2 hour nap with the baby in the afternoon.

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I made some London Broil, mashed potatoes & green beans.  It wasn’t too hard to make and was yummy!  We normally always make turkey on Christmas and it was nice to not have to be cooking all day this year.

Starbucks Socks…FUN!

Did you have a good day yesterday?

And remember the Yoga Mat Giveaway ends tomorrow night 🙂

Cafepress Yoga Mat Review and Giveaway

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Did you know Cafepress has Yoga Mats now?  I didn’t until I was contacted by Cafepress about doing a review & giveaway for one.  I am really planning to get back to working out after the new year.  One way I want to do that is by using my Wii fit and trying out some of their yoga and strength exercises.  I thought a mat would be perfect for that!

They have so many designs to choose from and you can even upload your own if you want to.

I went with an Army Wife design in green!  The material is very sturdy and as my 4 year old said, it is very long.

It was easy to order and arrived very quickly!

Giveaway!!!

How would you like to win your own yoga mat?  Cafepress has offered to giveaway a yoga mat to one of my readers.  You will get to pick whatever design you wish.  The giveaway starts right now and will end at 11:59pm Central time on Monday December 27th, 2010.

To enter:

* Mandatory entry~Answer this question…what will you do differently in 2011 to improve your health?

Extra Entries~

* Like Cafepress on Facebook facebook.com/cafepress (1  entry)

* Follow Cafepress on Twitter twitter.com/cafepress (1 entry)

* Follow Me on Twitter http://twitter.com/ArmywifeJulie (1 entry)

* Follow Me with Google Friend Connect (1 entry)

* Blog about the Giveaway (3 entries) Make sure to leave me your blog post link in a comment.

* Tweet about the giveaway “Win a Cafepress Yoga Mat at Julie the Army Wife @cafepress @armywifejulie” (1 entry per day)

Good luck!  Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry & also make sure you include your email somewhere in your comments so I can contact you if you are the winner 🙂

* I was offered a Yoga Mat from Cafepress to review & one reader will receive a yoga mat as well.

Bass Pro Shops Santa

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A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to the Bass Pro Shops in Nashville to see Santa.  They also had crafts for the kids to do as well as a train and remote control cars.  We waited a very long time to see Santa and ended up being the last family before he took his lunch break.  But in the end it was a lot of fun and I know my 2 older boys really enjoyed themselves.

Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops
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Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops

Have you been able to get out to see

Santa yet?

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The Birth Story

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My Birth Story

On Tues, Nov 16th I had a rough day.  I had met Ben for lunch and we walked around the PX a bit.  Oliver North was doing a book signing so I got some pictures of that.  Then I planned to do some shopping after Ben went back to work.  I just wasn’t feeling it.  I felt icky & tired.  I finally made it home just a bit before DW’s bus came home.  I just wanted to lay down.  Later that night after everyone else was asleep I sat in the rocker and tried to watch some of my tv shows.  I started feeling some pains.  Keep in mind that for the past 2 weeks or so I was having some very random contractions that had no pattern to them.  But these seemed to have some sort of rhythm.  It was 12:30 and I wasn’t sure what to do.  I decided that I would try to sleep.  If I could, I could.  If the pain kept me up, well something was happening.

I was able to sleep a little but woke up at about 2:45ish with pain.  This pain was worse and I wasn’t sure I could sleep again.  After about 15 mins of trying I couldn’t.  Ben had been up off and on all night and was having trouble sleeping himself.  So between 3:00-3:30 we watched and debated on what to do.  Finally decided to call my friend to come over to be with the sleeping boys and head to the hospital.

We got there right about 4 am.  They had us wait about 10 minutes in the waiting room and then took me back.  They asked me a ton of questions and I was contracting through all of it.  They had me on the monitors and as I laid there I had to figure out my final decision about the epidural.  It was hard for me.  My other 2 I had totally natural.  I was super committed to that choice then and was able to do it.  I just wasn’t feeling it this time.  In the end, I made the decision to get one.  They checked me and I was at 4.  I had decided if I was less than that I would want to wait on the epidural but it felt like things were moving along.

They had to test my blood and put in an IV, which I just seemed to be okay with.  I went to the delivery room and everything got set up.  As we moved my contractions just kept coming on.  They were getting really painful and really uncomfortable.  I just kept trying to breathe through them while holding on tightly to Ben.  I was so thankful he was there with me.  Just feeling him around me was so nice.

Well by the time we got into the delivery room I want to say it was after 5?  I can’t totally remember.  I contracted a bit and was feeling like I was getting to a pretty painful place.  The lady came in with the epidural and putting it in went better than I thought.  Ben was right there with me the whole time too.  After it went in she told me it would take a few contractions to work.

This is when it got fun.  I had 2 contractions that felt really bad.  Like the end of labor, about to have the baby bad.  Then I felt tons and tons of pressure.  They checked me and the nurse say, “There is no more cervix” and I guess I said, “What?  Where did it go?”  Ben was cracking up.  But I knew I was complete and I knew that pressure was my body saying it was time to push.

The midwife was right there and told me to push once and so I did.  Then told me to do it again and he was out.  I was amazed at how fast it was!  He was born right at 6:11am.  His cord was wrapped around his neck so Ben didn’t get to cut it but that was ok.  I was just glad everything was going so well.

It was so weird as I felt like the last few weeks were dragging on and on.  I was feeling random contractions, so icky and then bam when active labor started, it started and he was born right away.

I really felt at peace with this birth.  I felt like I made the right decisions and that everything worked out ok.  Of course, I am dealing with the Bell’s Palsy which is not ideal but everything else seems to turn out well.  I was pleased with the hospital and how nice everyone was to us.  The only thing was how hard it is to be there, getting used to breastfeeding, finally having the baby sleep and then they come in to check your stats again.

I feel like this pregnancy was the hardest one, yet maybe the “easiest” labor.  It wasn’t easy of course but out of the 3 I felt it was.  I also feel totally content with this as my last baby.  Our family feels complete and it is a great feeling 🙂

And I am loving having THREE boys.  It’s great and it will be even more fun as Joshua gets older I imagine.  It’s like God knew this was the perfect family for me to have 🙂

And I thank God everyday that Ben was here and he is still home with us.  We are still in waiting mode to see when he has to go but I look at every extra day as a great thing.

Family Movie Night A Walk in My Shoes

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I was recently contacted by Walmart/P&G about their new movie A Walk in My Shoes to air December 3rd, 2010 at 8/7c on NBC.  It will air during Family Movie night which I thought was a great idea. That will allow families to come together and watch something great. Something they know will be good for everyone to watch. Sometimes it can be hard to find a movie that is good for everyone in the family.

“A Walk in My Shoes” makes viewers stop and think, “What would I learn if I stepped into someone else’s life?” Stressed-out high school teacher Trish Fahey (Nancy Travis, “Three Men and a Baby,” “Becker”) can’t understand her students’ lack of effort in the classroom and why their parents don’t seem to care. This is especially true of Justin Kremer (Cameron Deane Stewart), a popular, skateboard-loving, basketball star who is underperforming in her class. Trish has him suspended from the basketball team and quickly chalks up the situation as a case of bad parenting.

This perspective dramatically changes when Trish meets Molly (Yara Martinez), a mysterious stranger intent on helping her see things differently. After a car accident, Trish wakes to find herself living the life of Cindy Kremer (Jana Lee Hamblin), the woman she has rashly judged and criticized. Molly helps Trish discover that there is more to the story and learns a powerful lesson that affects everyone she interacts with, including her husband, daughter and the Marine next door. No one is left unchanged.”

I am a big fan of movies with a special message behind them.  This one looks like it will be a great one with a great message.  There is a tie in with the military which is great to see and I can’t wait to see this movie when it airs.

 

 

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I Got Bell’s Palsy After I Gave Birth

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I Got Bell's Palsy After I Gave Birth

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up and my mouth was all weird. My ear also hurt. I wasn’t sure what was going on but when I woke up Friday morning feeling even worse I figured it was time to go into the doctor to see what was going on.  Well we went in and I have Bell’s Palsy which can happen in your 3rd trimester or after you give birth.  They told me it will take about 6-8 weeks to clear up.  Fun.

Basically, half of my face is drooping.  My right eye doesn’t blink or even close all the way. So I have eye drops for during the day and eye cream for the night.  I also have to tape the eye shut when I sleep.  My mouth just doesn’t work right.  I have trouble eating and feel like I am giving my mouth a workout when I do.  I can’t say certain words the right way. And when I try to smile it is scary.  I feel like I am smiling but I look like I am pissed off or something.  It’s all very odd.

They told me 6-8 weeks but hoping it can go away faster than that.  But at least I know what is wrong with me now and don’t have to keep wondering.

I will just have to explain to Joshua one day why I look a little mad in all the newborn pictures of him and me together.

My husband is going back to work this next week which I am a little nervous about.  His mom will be here a few more days and then my mom is coming out for about 12 days.

I am hoping that we can get through this time without too much trouble. Bell’s Palsy sounds so scary and you really don’t know how it will affect you long term.

Novica Review

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I was notified by the Novica company to do a review and giveaway on my blog 🙂

They are one of the leading fair trade artisan websites.  They work with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market.

After going to their website I happily said I would love to do it.  On Novica.com you can find fair trade corporate gifts, green gifts, unique gifts and much more.

I was on the site for quite a while trying to decide what I wanted to review.  There were so many interesting choices.

I really liked these nativity scenes by a man in Southern Peru.

But then I saw this rug and thought it would be great for the floor in the baby’s room/office.  I do not like the carpet we have in there so thought it would be cool to have a nice rug on the ground on top of it.  The rug works pretty well for our room.  It is 5.2 ft. L x 3.3 ft. W, 90% Wool and 10% Cotton. It was also made in India.  I love seeing the color on the floor when I walk in the room. Wool and Cotton Rug, “Paths of Light”

Would you like to pick something out from their site? They are offering one of my readers a $50 gift code to their store.  This giveaway starts right now and will end on Nov 30th, Tuesday night at 11:59pm.

To enter, tell me about a craft or artistic hobby you enjoy! Also make sure you have your email somewhere in your reply too 🙂  Good Luck!

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