Need some ideas PLS!

Hello Everyone!

I normally post on the IVF board, and stalk a few other boards but today I thought this would be the best place for advice!

DH and I are both active duty. I am Navy and he is USMC. He will be coming home sometime this next month for his 2 week R/R and while we dont know exactly when, we plan to have Christmas while he is home- regardless if its early or late :) We are currently going through an FET (frozen embryo transfer) and I am hoping to have a nice surprise for him for the holidays - it sucks that he is deployed but it works out best for me since I am leaving sea duty heading for shore duty! I am trying to think of something I can get him for Christmas that he can take back with him to Afghanistan. Before he left he got an ipad and then I bought him some Beats headphones (since he likes to listen to music and for his computer, Skyping, etc) but I cant think of anything that is decent that he would benefit from since he will be heading back for another 6-7 months. Any ideas??

I bought my husband a blanket once. It won't entertain him, but he did like it as he thought of me every time he wrapped it around himself. You might try some old school entertainment, like cards, dice, a poker set, or dominoes. I know how hard it can be to figure out what to get. DH is a submariner, and will be deployed over the holidays, so I had to find stuff that was small enough to fit into a shoe box, but he already has a PSP, laptop, and iPod to entertain himself, so I had to be pretty creative.

Is he into video games? If he is, maybe a Nintendo DS or other handheld game console. I'm not familiar with the iPad, so I'm not sure what gaming capabilities it has. How about a nice camera? I know when DH was deployed he just had a cheap camera, but he said he wished he had a nicer one.

I'd suprise him with a weekend getaway this time and leave him a note that when he comes home, you'll go on another one.. There probably isn't anything you can buy for him that he will appreciate as much as getting to spend some quality time with you. I love the blanket idea (or a pillowcase). Maybe sleep in it a few nights before he gets home and put it in his bag plastic wrapped so it smells like you when he opens it?

Hoping you both get your Christmas wish...

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Originally Posted by wlillie

I love the blanket idea (or a pillowcase). Maybe sleep in it a few nights before he gets home and put it in his bag plastic wrapped so it smells like you when he opens it?

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I did something similar for DH. I washed a pillowcase in the body wash I use several times until it really smelled strong, then put it in a bag and into a box that they open at roughly the halfway point of their missions. He loved it, told me it was nice to have a new smell on the boat, especially one that reminded him of me.

Cute ideas!! You ladies are so fabulous - I am super excited... I decided to combine the blanket and camera ideas (since DH has a fairly new camera) and put together a collage phot blanket. So I googled and easy enough - walmart came up with photo gifts. I just ordered it, it only took me almost 2 hours to collect all the photos I wanted and then get the order together. Its a USMC fleece blanket (50x60, I think) and it has a military theme around it (and you can choose any branch as well)... I added 22 photos of me and the kids and you have the option to make one a hero picture - which is just basically the biggest picture. I chose a family pic from Disney - the only one with him in it... I had the option also to add a "title" on the bottom - I wrote "You complete our family ~ Wrap yourself in love until you come home!" or something along those lines LOL I also bought a Steelers box calendar (to count the days until he comes home, while doing some football trivia of his fave team) and then my youngest daughter picked out matching Disney slippers for them LOL My oldest is still trying to figure out what she wants to wrap for him but its all just little stuff.... I also like the getaway idea but we sort of already have that in the works and he had alot of input so cant be too much of a surprise! :) Thanks gals!!

Very nice!!! I think those ideas and I am sure he will love them!! Hope you have a great r and r with him!!!!

What a GREAT idea!!!! I am going to have to check those out. Enjoy your RnR and best of luck with the FET!

When DH was in SOI he was going to miss his first actual Father's Day so I had our girls (one isn't biologically his) make him pillow cases with their hand prints traced and wrote something about even though we're apart we're together in dreams or something along those lines.

He loves them! Ha ha he did get questioned by others about "What the f happened to his pillow" and when he told them his kids made them for him they were embarrassed for saying anything lol.

I got him a photo in a frame with him and the girls that said "My dad my hero".

Your gifts are awesome ideas too! I love the blanket idea and what you wrote on it.

I'm really hoping you get your Christmas surprise as well!

Soooo... I went ahead and went online and looked for pillowcases too - figured, why not? What else can he really take with him back and I figured the pillowcase idea was cute and matched the blanket in some way ... I had a picture of my youngest alseep holding her "daddy bear" which is a build a bear dog dressed in cammies with my husband's voice recorded inside it and using your idea I put on top: "Even though we're apart" and on the bottom of the picture: "We're together in our dreams!" So Thats it. I think my oldest will end up picking something practical like a Axe bath gift set or something... Thanks for the ideas!!