The Final Inspection

On November 11 people were forced to stop and think of what day it was. As so many do every other day of their lives. They stopped to think of their errands for the day, go to the grocery store, go to the doctor, pick up kids from day care... etc etc... Most people never thought twice about it being a holiday. Veterans day for that matter. Veterans are people who have served, and are currently serving. Over seas or not, each person who is or was an honorable member of the military is a veteran and with out a doubt in need of a THANK YOU.

This year I sat to think of that day. The first veterans day I actually took the minute to think about it. I was rudely awaken with a brand new meaning for that day. Some wives are sitting at home with this day being a reminder their husbands are in constant danger, some a day to remember their husband is home safe for the moment, but for some a day to remember that their husbands gave their life for their country and today is an honorable day for them. Not many stopped to think about world war 2, or 1, or vietnam, and their victims, their meanings. Even though you don't have a broad history of these wars, these men still should be honored.

On this day I say a man in his twenties or so laugh at a Vet because he was asking people to sign a banner to send to those over seas. Support our troops. In recent weeks protesters against the war have gone to military funnerals for those who honorable gave their lives over seas for US! I have also seen people call our military sinners because of the things they do at war. I have hear of our servicemen believeing these rumors and find themselves in humane and unable to deal with it. I found this poem and thought I would honor them, and let them know that I believe this to be true to its fullest extent no matter what religion.

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass,

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and

said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't,

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough,

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime

When the bills got just too steep,

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear,

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place

Among the people here,

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand,

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand."

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod,

As the soldier waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,

You've borne your burdens well,

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell."

So please... If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand infornt of them!

Come Home Safe, Daddy

My Family

Brandon is officially at mob in preparation to be sent over seas. While he is fighting in operation 'enduring freedom'' I am fighting in 'operation stand by my man'. And even though being an army wife isn't what I signed up for when Brandon and I first got together, I am proud to be a faithful Army Wife. I wasn't exactly prepared for what Brandon being away from home would bring into life. But we are learning to deal with it. Layla is learning that daddy is "fighting for freedom" even though she doesnt' exactly know what that means, and I am learning even more patience.

The past few weeks I have gotten to know and trust the guys in his unit. The first week Brandon was home on leave we were flown to Las Vegas with his unit for breifings, and the last few days of leave we spent at family days. I am getting use to being called 'Phillips' and becoming more accustomed with the 'last name' basis. Layla gets a little confused as to which tall person in camo is daddy, adopting a series of 'camo daddys'. It has also been great to get to know more of the army wives from Brandon's unit. The head of the FRG is already concocting ways of making time go by faster by having little parties once a month with all of these wives and their kids.

The night Brandon the head of the FRG had a band come play, with a candle light ceremony. She even had bikers come so that when they got on the buses they would have an escort to Hill Air Force Base. All of the bikers lined up and held flags while all of the soldiers put their stuff on the buses said their last goodbyes to their familys and then boarded the buses. Kids were screaming for their daddies to come back, while the wives would try to keep them from jumping out their arms to run to the buses. It was heart breaking to see. We had Layla and Harmonee say their goodbyes earlier in the day since he wasn't leaving until 1 a.m. Layla cried the whole way to grandma and grandma Phillips house. After I got her into her jammies she laid down on the couch with a blanket, asked for a cup of milk, and silently cried herself to sleep. I can't wait to give her the brief reunion at thanksgiving. 3 days is better then no days, and hopefully this next year will go by more smoothly and quickly for her.

Changes-changes and MORE changes

There has been so many crazy changes the past month! Things to get use too, altering life in a strange way, that puts the perfect cherry on top to the past 6 months with Harmonee in the hospital.

For starters, Brandon left to training in July. He went to California for the begining of his training for deployment. This training we were not allowed to talk to him very much but still more then I was told by his sergeant that I would be able to talk to him. It was a nice surprise! He is now currently in New Jersey and doing GREAT! Having fun, but missing his family.

Brandon being gone has sent me into a single parenting status. With Harmonee being home it has been quite the adventure. Harmonee is getting more and more mobel by the day, and Layla is pushing it as hard as she can! She can't wait to have her crawling, therefore, Layla shows her and shows her, helps put Harm's knees under her and again and again, reherses the crawling motions! She has started to tell me that Harmonee will be "Playing" soon. Or... in Layla's meaning, actually doing all of the mischeif she has tried to show Harmonee how to do! Oh Boy! Here we go!

THE GORGEOUS PHILLIPS GIRLS!!

Baby Sis is HOME

Layla has been such a great help since Harmonee has gotten home. She has learned how to turn on an off her feeding pump, IV pump and let me know when they need to be changed. She is also very caring for a little sis. Each morning Harmonee will wake her up by cooing or "squaking". Layla will just wake up and yell across to her, "Good Morning Marnee!" then after a minute, usually while I am still giving Harmonee her meds, she will yell, "Ready! Play with Marne now?" She is so sweet. And just as I had hoped, though I really shouldn't have. Layla is playing like a normal little girl now, even starting the terrible twos a little late now that she has the chance to actually have terrible twos.

I took Layla to liver clinic with Harm and I. She kept asking me "Marnee going to stay?" I would tell her I was hoping not, so she was stomp her foot, fold her arms and demand, "Marnee NOT staying. Marnee go home and play. Nurses not keeping Marnee. Not today."

We took Layla to Brandon's unit BBQ on saturday and let her play in the water and on the play ground. All the attention was on Layla. Mainly because she made sure it was. She needed that day, and I was happy we could give it to her. She deserved it.

Play Date with Taylor

Layla is starting to have a little separation anxiety from me being gone so much, Brandon being at work during the day and seeing her only at nights, being shuffled sitter to sitter etc. etc. In order to have her start liking people again instead of thinking she is leaving when she sees someone she knows and screaming, clinging to me or Brandon, I decided to have my cousin Tina bring her little Taylor over to play with Layla. As you can imagine, Layla clung to me the second Tina and Taylor came in the door. After about 15 minutes of bloody murder screams Layla finally started to settle down and realized, they had come to SEE her not TAKE her.

Somehow they both managed to sit down in Layla's baby doll playpen

Yes, they are very loving cousins... most of the time, when they aren't pulling each others hair, hitting, kicking, or stealing a toy from the other.
The cutest cousins around!
CHEESE!!

FUN PICTURE UPDATE

Its time for another update on Layla! Since a picture says a thousand words, instead of explaining details to you all I will show you her past few weeks...

I got Layla a Princess Tent!We had a sleep over in it... until Layla woke up and had no idea where she was, then it was time for our beds

We had a fun day in the sun...

Playing with bubbles...

And Layla being silly... this is what you get when you tell a 2 year old to "strike a pose"

Memorial Day

Played with Summer Grandma and Grandpa's puppy...

with cousin Andee in the pool

Splashing and...

Jumping in the bouncer!

Yes... we had a great weekend! I haven't been doing very well about blogging lately so today's update is all pictures. It will be so nice to have Harmonee home next week. So much has happened in just the past month! Harmonee has gone from liver failure to multiple organ failure, to transplant to recovery, and recovery to coming home in just 5 days! It will be so nice to have a normal family again... if only for 6 weeks and counting...

Memorial Day Madness

We had fun this weekend. We all got to spend time together, which did Layla a lot of good since she has been shuffled so much. The only thing that could have made it any better was having Harmonee home. Even though Layla and I were sick most of the weekend.

Each time I come home from the hospital Layla has learned something new! New words, new tricks, new games. She is learning so quick and growing so fast I can't wait until we can bring Harmonee home so we don't miss any of it! Layla can count to 10 and she is learning her manners. Her potty training is coming along fairly well with all of the interruptions and non consistent practice. Brandon teaches her so many different games while I am gone it is hard to keep up. I can't wait until she teaches those games to Harmonee!

We got news today that Brandon leaves to drill this week to prep for deployment, that he more then likely will be dragged to now. I feel so horrible for Brandon. He is heartbroken to know that he has missed out on Harmonee's first year with all of her hospital stays, but when he realizes that he will more then likely miss her second year as well is torture for him. He is such a good daddy. He has been there every step of the way through all of Harmonee's ups and downs, helped me, Layla and Harmonee stand. I would give anything to be a normal family, give Brandon a break from taking care of us and let me take care of him. But I guess we have already been through a parents worst nightmare, I am sure we can pull together and get through a deployment.