Take that you Evil Deployment Mail Monster

I'm not really sure where to point the blame for my bad day Monday...so, evil deployment mail monster gets it. But guess what? After my day of sulking and whining and being in a bad mood, on Tuesday I decided to take the bad mood and turn it into something good.

So, I created the best care package I've ever sent. Well, I will send it tomorrow...but I planned it out and have been working on it all week! Austin told me he needed sheets, and that he's homesick. So, along with sheets I decided to create a package themed "A Taste of Home".

1. I bought sheets and I sewed one of William's blankets on it. William LOVES his swaddle blankets and we have 7 right now. As a product plug here, Alexis sent us an Aden+Anais Swaddle blanket when William was 2 months old. At the time we were struggling squeezing him into his little bitty baby blankets, and these swaddle blankets are the perfect size. Plus they are made of Muslin which is a really thin fabric, great for summer time. We were able to swaddle him without over heating him. He loved being swaddled as a baby, he found great comfort in it. Now he finds great comfort in the blankets. So, we bought a 4 pack to add to Alexis's gift, then when one of them ripped and another got stained we bought another 4 pack. Shortly after, Target started carrying them and we bought some as a gift for someone we know who is pregnant. LOVE THESE BLANKETS. But, I digress. The point here is that we associate these blankets with our cuddle bear and they smell like him. So I folded one in half and sewed it to the flat sheet in Austin's set, making a little pocket for laundry or stuff the sheet or just because...who knows what it will be used for. But my hope is that sleeping with William's blanket makes him feel a little closer to home.

2. Next, I slept in one of his PT shirts and sprayed my perfume on it. The next morning I stuffed it in a ziploc bag to retain my smell, so he can feel a little closer to me at night too. I did this once during his last deployment and he said he loved opening the bag, smelling me, and closing it up to save the scent. So, I hope he likes it again this time.

3. I counted how many days it is until he comes home for R&R, subtracted a few for shipping time, and came up with a round number of 120. Then I came up with 30 of my favorite memories, 30 things I love, 30 Bible verses, and 30 motivating quotes. I wrote them all on little slips of paper, folded them up and put them in a cute little can. I told him to read one every day (or when he gets the chance as some days he won't sleep in his own room) and as he sees the jar slowly becoming more empty, he can know he's that much closer to seeing us.

4. I found out you can bake cakes in mason jars, seal them while they're hot, let them cool and they last unrefrigerated for up to a year. HOW PERFECT. My lack of eggs last night postponed my baking, but tonight I will bake his cakes-in-jars, send them with a jar of grocery store frosting and some forks, and let him decide if he'll share or not. I bought the smaller mason jars so that it's more like a serving of cake rather than it being a big piece, so I'll send him about 6. I guess I'll have to eat what's left, cause the rest won't fit in his box!!!

Along with some pictures of William and some of his artwork from school, I hope that this package is really a taste of home for him, and I have loved making it. Definitely made me happier about the mail situation than focusing on the 3 packages that are MIA.

But theeeeennnn.....I found out he got a package today!!! It was the second one I sent, which as fate would have it is the least important one, but it gives me hope that the others will make it there too. SO...take that you evil deployment mail monster. You thought you had me, but I win again.