Iraq Again...

So I thought I should update everyone. Brian is going to be heading back to Iraq. booooo! hissssss!!!!! He will get to come back to Edmond for about 4 months and will be assigned to the ROTC department at UCO until he heads back up the Yellow Brick Road to Ft Riley, KS. UCO has been very wonderful in allowing Brian to come back for the 4 month time slot. It will be so nice to have him here in Edmond with us. He will have to go for a 60 day train up for the MITT assignment that he will be doing in Iraq. Basically if I understand it correctly he will be in command of a 12 man team that will live with and train the Iraqi Military and Police. This will all take place after he graduates his course at Ft Leavenworth. He is going to graduate Command Staff and General College in December. It's been a very busy year for him up there. Not only has he been doing that school, but has been earning his Masters at the same time. It sounds like all he has been doing is reading and then more reading! That is when he isn't making the 5 1/2 hour drive home on the weekends to see the girls and me. He has been a champ at making that drive. I think the girls could call him at any point of the drive and ask him how much longer (which they do) and he could nail the time within 5 minutes...and to think that I used to complain about the 90 mile that we made constantly between Ft Sill and Edmond when we were stationed down there!

It's kind of crazy to think that Kara was 1 1/2, Brooke 4, and Lauren 9 when he left to go to Ft Leavenworth. The girls will be 4, 7, and 12 when we all live together again. I guess that is the reality of the military for ya though. But I do have to say that it has been a very rewarding experience and that we have truly enjoyed it. We have made some of the most amazing friends...they are more like family. This deployment will be so different than our other 2. I was living in Germany for Bosnia and was working without children...Lauren was the result of R&R! The first Iraq deployment had us living on Ft Sill. Lauren was 4 and Brooke was just a few months old when Brian left. It was a crazy experience for me with leading the Family Readiness Group. Our street was basically an entire street of single moms. I think there were maybe 2, possibly 3 men living on our street once the war kicked off. It was a crazy time period, but the friendships that were formed are still extremely strong even though we are all spread out at various duty assignments around the world now. This deployment will be different because the girls and I will not be surrounded by others that are going through the same thing. My neighbors and I traded off babysitting with one another almost daily and thought nothing about it. The kids were all in the same boat and that was very reassuring for them. Thankfully we have family close that is always ready to help out. That makes such an amazing difference. I don't know what I'd do without the babysitting help of my parents. After having my knee surgery and having physical therapy 3 times a week I couldn't have done it without them. This time will definitely be so much different, but I am trying to keep a very positive attitude up around the girls so that they can have less stress worry. We actually have had it easy compared to many of our friends. We know some that are on their 3rd or 4th tour over there....without a complaint. I am so proud of Brian and his call to serve. It truly takes a special person.