Kevin is going to Iraq

Its NOT good news.

He is still going to Alaska, and will be deploying to Iraq instead of Afghanistan when he gets there. I would have been ok with Afghanistan (not happy but not AS worried, etc)... the death rate in Afghanistan isn't as bad as in Iraq. The latest numbers are somewhere around 1 in 50 US Military people in Iraq are killed. Just in the past week 27 marines were killed in Iraq.

Kevin's job would be delivering ammo & other items from point A to point B convoy style in and around Baghdad..... and that seems to be the most dangerous place & job right now. The convoys are being hit by car bombs, suicide bombers, and rebels...

I'm trying to just keep the faith that everything is going to be ok... that he's going to be protected, and everything will be fine... but the realistic part of me knows that anything can happen.

Our stupid unit doesnt even have a FRG (Family Readiness Group) that I can join to help me get through something like this.

I know I'll be ok... and Kevin & I are preparing as best we can for everything now - getting power of attorney paperwork, getting me settled with running everything around here, etc etc etc...

Here's the general plan:

~DH goes to airborne jump school in Georgia from Oct 10-Nov 4. He comes back to Oklahoma.

~He got the pregnancy deferment since I'm pregnant (yay) so he'll be able to be here when the baby is born at the end of November, and a few weeks after. He is scheduled to be in Alaska Jan 10, so he will have to leave (fly since they are shipping his car) the first week of Jan to get there in time and get settled.

~I am staying here in Oklahoma. I decided that with my mom & brother here, it would be best for us to be where Abbi knows and has family that she loves and trusts. She is also familiar with this house, this place, and I dont want her to have any more problems with development because of too much change going on. One thing at a time. PLUS we have all her doctors and therapists set up here. We are finally getting everything plugged in again and I would hate to start all over AGAIN... i just want to focus on getting her some help.

~Kevin will be deploying to Iraq sometime between March and August (they dont know exactly when) for 15 months to 2 years.

~Kevin is supposed to be with the unit in Alaska until August of 2008 - about 3 years total.

I guess we knew that all this was a possibility in the backs of our minds, and in some ways we've been prepared for the possibility. Now that its a reality, that's a whole new kind of preparation. Just taking things a day at a time for now....