Hooray!! Sam finally got his promotion today. The National Guard has only been sitting on his promotion packet since February, but today it finally went through and Sam is finally a Captain. Sure, he hasn't gotten pinned yet so he still has all of the appearances and duties of a First Lt., but he's getting the pay of a Captain, and that is what truly matters.
On another note, I have realized that some people simply do not have any tact at all. Here are some things that real actual people have said to me concerning either my pregnancy or Sam's deployment to Kosovo:
Pregnancy:
Upon the announcement that I was pregnant:
Again!?
Woah, you really are cranking those babies out!
You guys must have started having kids right away (this was in response to someone hearing how old I am, assuming that Sam and I must have either been pregnant when we got married or got pregnant right away. Actually, we got married when we were 21 and I didn't have number 1 until we were 25 so...yeah).
The last comment wasn't so weird, but why do people seem shocked that Sam and I are pregnant again? Nathaniel will be 2.5 when this baby is born, which is plenty of space between kids. I was almost down to my pre-pregnancy weight (I don't think I will ever get back down, those last five pounds were really allusive). Plus, people seemed to make financial comments about us having another kid. Honestly, our financial situation really isn't a lot of people's business. We pay our bills every month, we have health insurance and we have money in savings. We also do not get any government help for those things (unless you count the Army as government help...) so...why do people feel the need to make comments?
The main comment I hear about Sam's deployment is: Well, Kosovo isn't as bad as Iraq or Afghanistan.
True. That statement is very true, but still it does not mean that we aren't going to miss Sam while he's gone or that he's going to have a super easy, safe job. He is still getting hazard duty pay and he will actually be in more danger than he was in Iraq (minus the IEDs) because he will be walking the streets dealing with the locals. I think that people seem to forget that Sam is still leaving his family for a year and with that is probably missing the birth of his second child, not to mention all of the cool milestones that are met during those first 10 months of life (Nathaniel was walking by 10 months).
Not that I'm aiming for a pity party here. I'm just saying that people need to be more sensitive. Or at least have a filter of some sort. That's all. Of course, I'm highly sensitive right now with the whole "hormonal" thing so take everything I type here with a grain of salt. :)
Our attempts at raising God-fearing children while joining the real world. It's been a crazy ride so far, but God is ALWAYS good.
5 comments:
My husband was in the service too, so THANK YOU to you and yours; I know you serve just as much. Congrats on the promotion, don't you love the Army's mantra - Hurry Up And Wait.
The best comeback I ever heard to someone (Rudely) asking when a mother was going to be done having babies was, "I don't know we're only half way through the Kama Sutra." That stunned the woman into silence real quick, LOL.
Blessings, Whitney
Congratulations on the promotion! That's so awesome! (Do we salute him now?:) And congrats again for the new baby on the way :). A brother or a sister for Nathaniel?
One day at a time... praying that God will provide the strength you need at each point in the process.
Stacie
2.5 years is the perfect gap between babes. That's what I'm thinking if we are blessed enough to have a third.
Congrats to the promotion, I imagine it means a lot to the entire family. I come for a military family, so I know your husband and 'you' are giving us so much.
Thanks for the blog visit~
The comment I heard more than once was "was it planned?". Really, does it take 3 years (the time we were married at pregnancy) for an "oops" to happen?
-Marcie
Huh. I look at you guys and I just see an above-average family. Go figure.
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