Military + Motherhood :: SANDRA

(Photos by Ali Brown photography)

Being a military wife has it's ups and downs. You get to move to different states, different countries, meet a lot of awesome people but sadly say good bye too. My husband and I have been married for six years. And just recently got over a 286 deployment. Which was not easy at all. Thankfully I had my 14 year old here to help, which sometimes makes me sad that she had to pause being a teenager and help fill her dads shoes. Daddy missed my sons first birthday, his first steps, first words, and so many other milestones. 

He left when Sophia (my middle child) was still in diapers and came back to her being fully potty trained and so independent. Sophia was the one that took it the hardest. She would always question where daddy was and ask if he no longer lived with us. Which always broke my heart, because I knew she felt as if he had abandoned her. It was really stressful for me as well. The day he left I was a wreck. I couldn't stop crying and just missing him. Knowing that I had a long tough almost 10 months by myself. I had good days but definitely had hard days. Days where the kids would be acting up, crying and I would be so exhausted that I would just hide in the closet and cry it out. 

I will say that this deployment made my husbands and I relationship stronger. We would talk almost everyday (thanks to technology) and express to each other how much we loved one another and how we couldn't wait to be with each other again. Overall you just have to be strong, but it's ok to cry. It'll make you feel better. One thing that really broke my heart was hearing my daughter ask her dad if we were a family again. We thought that our youngest was going to have a hard time adjusting to daddy being back, but thankfully he didn't. Having pictures of daddy all over the house and constantly talking about him helped a lot. Especially videos of daddy reading to the kids.

If you're going through a deployment now take it one day at a time and keep yourself busy! Think about how good it's going to feel to have your man back in your arms after it's over!! Surround yourself with positive people! And drink wine! Lots of wine! (when the kids are asleep of course.)

- Sandra