Kimber's Navy Family

I started this blog before my twins were a year old, 7 years ago. We were a growing military family. We had PCS'd together 3 times by then. I felt like when I talked to other parents of multiples that there was a marked difference in our family mentality. They all had a long view-- neighborhoods they planned on living in for their children's entire childhoods, or sending their kids to schools that they themselves had gone to or all their previous children had gone to. As a military family, our focus is much more on the present. The time we have together today. Where we are living right now. My husband's schedule that week. We have to approach our plans with an open hand. Because I have found that I make plans and hold on to them with a tight fist and, like sand, they slip through my fingers. The military is always changing the game on us. Our orders were revoked before we moved to this duty station. Granted, they came through a week or so later, but at that point in time ...

I recently posted my top 10 ways to help a military spouse through deployment in my blog post " Supporting military spouses through deployment. " It can be really hard to know exactly what to do to help a friend or neighbor or whoever the military spouse in your life is when they are navigating the deployment of their spouse. But how can you, as the military spouse, help yourself through a deployment? Help comes in various ways and sometimes the help you need is abundant and everywhere you look and sometimes you can't catch a break and feel completely on your own. So what are things that you can do to make your life just a liiiiitle bit easier? 1. Deployment pre-planning To quote Monty Python, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition." Before deployment, before you are navigating the emergency situation on your own, make a list of every phone number you could possibly need. It sounds ludicrous, but when you start making this list and you struggle through th...

Recently on one of my submarine spouse groups, a spouse asked what kind of support is given to the military families while the service member is deployed. Several people answered, but here's the bottom line: no support is guaranteed. Your boat might not have an active FRG (Family Readiness Group). Or Wardroom (for officer spouses). Or you might be geo-bacheloring and nowhere near any of the military support. Or maybe you haven't connected at that particular duty station or you just moved there or you live across country from all of your friends and family or maybe you are going through a hard time: mentally or physically. But here is the great news! Support for military families can come from anywhere: your neighbors, the military community, your friends and family, your existing support networks and social circles, your church, your gym, your kids' schools, long distance, your FRG, your Wardroom, your military base and the programs offered there. Even better, ...

I've been having a lot of conversations lately, mostly with my best friend, about parenting. I think her and I are both at this point where we are moving from one phase of parenting to the next. For my best friend, she's been adjusting to life with three children. Her oldest is a year away from kindergarten. Her youngest is approaching her first birthday. For me, we've been adjusting to life with five children. This is my second year with three children in elementary school. Our oldest is in 3rd grade and it's his last year in the single digits. He turns 10 years old next year! (10 years old! I've been changing diapers for a DECADE.) Our twins are in 1st grade. My youngest recently turned one and our fourth is becoming a full-fledged preschooler. I had a hysterectomy earlier this year and so, for the first time after our youngest child turned one, we aren't considering when we should have our next baby. I had a conversation with her the other night and she was...

Hello, friends! I've taken a break from blogging this summer. It felt like the right move with 5 children out of school and home all day. We have lots of summer plans and so it has been go, go, go all day! I've loved that. I've also needed a break from my blog to figure out the direction I want it to go in. I thought a midsummer post would be a good plan to let you all know that I have been thinking about my blog and my blog readers this summer and that I am excited to resume blogging come August/September! So, for now... here's how the first half of our summer has been going! We've been traveling. We've seen my parents, which has been the best thing for my soul. Omigosh, I soak up my time with them. The last 2 years have really been a struggle for me. On top of all the random things life threw at us, we also had the Navy schedule and my depression to contend with. I finally broke out of the depression this past spring, but my mental health and self-esteem s...

I wanted to share a blog post about our recently answered prayer. At 22+ weeks pregnant, I went in for my 20 week ultrasound. (This was the earliest my OB could get me in for the ultrasound.) The appointment was on a Friday. The following Wednesday, we received a phone call that they found abnormalities on the ultrasound and gave me a whole bunch of complications it could be. They told me the pregnancy was high risk and I needed to get in with a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) right away. I met with my OB 2 days later, that Friday (23+ weeks), and they again went over the possible complications and had me go to the lab for blood tests. The earliest the MFM could see me was a week and a half later, when I would be 25 weeks. Our OB told us at the appointment that the pregnancy was going to be high risk. That more than likely I would be spending a lot of time at the OB and the MFM to be closely monitored for the rest of the pregnancy. We were so scared for the outcome of the preg...

I was reading some blog posts recently and they were discussing how we as parents should be more vocal about our miscarriages and open about whether or not we are trying to conceive. There were a lot of points in these posts that I agree with-- how isolating miscarriages can be, how heartbreaking a negative pregnancy test feels, the emptiness and longing as you pass your due date without a baby in your arms. But some of the other points made me think about my own experiences with miscarriages and my current pregnancy. I think I have finally sorted out my thoughts into a blog post... So, first of all, I'd like to clarify that we do not struggle with infertility; my fertility is normal. When I talk about trying to conceive, all of this is within a year of trying to conceive without fertility treatments. I am adding that only because I am not trying to misrepresent myself or to represent a journey that I have never taken. I have many friends that struggle/have struggled wi...