Happy Veteran's Day, everyone! I am so excited to introduce you to two of the Military wives that responded to our Instagram post last week! We are so grateful for their sacrifices as well as that of their spouses, and think that they have some great experiences and advice to share with you. Our first is a new mom, Jentre. Although her little family has not been part of the military for a long time, they are learning just what it really takes! Her husband is part of the Air Force and they currently reside in California with a sweet baby girl. We sure wish them luck on their future as they continue on this journey!
Jentre and her new little family!
"I want to share my short military story with you because I am so proud of my Husband and I want him to always know that!
In August of last year I found out that I was pregnant with our first child. My husband and I had been married only 3 months. We were shocked that I was pregnant but we couldn't have been happier! Once the excitement settled, we began to stress about raising a child as we were both still in college and working part-time jobs to get by. One night when we were laying in bed, I mentioned the military, not really knowing why or what I even meant by that; but, my husband took the idea and ran with it.
After months of research we signed with the Air Force in January. Later that month my husband got a phone call from his Sargent giving him the dates for his basic training... which happened to be exactly a month after my due date! Try telling your 7 month pregnant wife that you are leaving a month after your first baby is born and that you will be gone for 3 months with very, very limited contact! Lets just say I was a mess...having it be my first pregnancy I was sure that I was going to go over my due date; and every day I went over was one less day my husband would have with our sweet daughter. Luckily our sweet baby girl decided to come 10 days early! I could not have been happier for that, but I still knew that my husband would be leaving in a few short weeks and missing out on the beginning of our little baby's life. He would miss many of her "firsts" and I wouldn't even be able to call and tell him about them.
Needless to say, those 3 months were hard..and depressing...and everyday I had to remind myself that "I can do hard things" and that it would all be worth it. And let me tell you, it was! We are now living in beautiful California as a happy family, and my husband gets to follow his dream while I get to stay home with our sweet little girl and follow mine!
There will be many more trials throughout our time in the military, there is no way around that, but I know that what my husband is doing makes a difference, and the sacrifices that we make help out our whole country. It's the price we pay to have freedom, and I thank all those in the Military for it everyday!"
Jana’s sweet girls and husband!
Our next Military Mom is Jana! Her family has been part of the Army since their little family started, and she has some great advice for military parents. We are so grateful for her and her husband's service!
"My name is Janan, and my husband has been serving in the Army for over 5 years now. In these five years, we've had 3 daughters (ages 5, 3,
and 16 months), moved 6 times, and my husband is now currently serving his second deployment.
As I think about the past five years, it feels like so much longer, because we've been through so much. Thankfully my husband has been home
for all 3 of our daughters' births (he almost missed the second daughter by 1 day) but there have been many birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, first steps, first words, and countless milestones missed because of trainings and deployments. Despite it all, I'm grateful for this time we've been in the military. As a military spouse, you learn to keep things simple, expect the worst and hope for the best, learn to ask for help, and you really learn to rely on your faith. I've been blessed with very supportive family and friends, and most importantly a husband who makes his family a priority despite the miles apart from each other. Our marriage has strengthened because we realize that every moment counts when we are able to be together. Every time he leaves, I still bawl like a baby, it never gets easier. But you put your big girls pants on, and just make it work. Most of the time your house isn't clean and your kids watch too much TV, but to survive, it's what you have to do. As a military spouse, you're mom and dad, you're a therapist helping your emotional kids who miss their dad while you miss him too, you're the janitor and nurse as you clean up vomit in the middle of the night, you usually are working off little sleep, and you feel like a circus act most of the time. Despite the hard times, there have been amazing times as well. I'm so grateful for a husband who has been willing to serve our country and for the experiences we've had and the friends we have made."
We at The Baby Cubby want to give a big shout out to Jentre and Jana for being willing to share their stories with us and you! They are truly great mothers and wives and we are so grateful for their daily sacrifice! As Jana said, "Despite the hard times, there have been amazing times as well." We truly hope that each of you serving are getting more amazing times than hard times. You deserve it!
Love always,
The Baby Cubby