We're moving to Hawaii!

The Monday following my phone call to EFMP we had out paperwork back. We got our amended orders Tuesday and got our plane itinerary on Wednesday!

We already got a call from the movers who were scheduled for the 6th. They are coming on Monday to survey our stuff (see how many boxes they need etc.) and will come the 2nd and 3rd to pack, then the 6th to load and take it all. We are allowed 5 days in a hotel paid for by the Army when we leave here. So we are moving into the hotel on the 8th and turning the house over on the 10th, flying out on the 13th.

We have not shipped our van yet. Today I contacted our lein holder (Santander) and had to get a letter of authorization giving us permission to ship it. After emailing them our orders and amendments, they emailed me the paperwork which I printed off and now we can ship the van. Plus, they were able to lower out interest rate by half! Woohoo!

We had our pre-move walk-through today. We are at Bragg and you never know how picky housing will be when you leave. We have to replace a couple blinds, which is cheaper to do ourselves. we also have a couple dents in the wall from the kids they said we can mud and sand ourselves, not to worry about painting though. We have to pay for a patch in the carpet (technically 3) and it is going to cost us $85 for the carpet patch total. Now if we leave it a mess and not clean we'll have other charges, but I am not like that. Overall it went well. We have less than 3 weeks left in this house! less than a month until we are in Hawaii.

Oh! We called the Inn at Schofield, which is the approved Inn to stay in if you want to have the Army pay for your lodging. We have 3 kids, so we need two rooms. They are booked. So they told us we have to call back twice a week for the next two weeks and if they are still booked toward the end of the month, THEN they will email us a list of other TLA approved hotels.

So that's that. I have no idea if anyone reads this or if it is helpful to anyone, but I hope it is!

Finally.

We finally have everything we need. As of Friday we still did not have our EFMP screening paperwork back. My husband was planning to check out on PCS leave on Tuesday! So I called EFMP in Hawaii and after checking, they told me that our packet had been approved on the 6th. I called on the 13th. Why had we not heard anything?!? So she suggested I call Hawaii Family Travel, so I did, they told me that they were still waiting for approval from Tripler. (EFMP) So I told her I just got off the phone with them and they said they had approved it on the 6th. She said she would get ahold of them and see what was up. I figured if today (Monday the 16th) we still did not have anything, I would call again. But lo and behold, it was there! So now we are waiting for amended orders so we can schedule travel and get this show on the road!!

Phone numbers that are useful!!

Hawaii area code is 808
http://assist.army.mil/assist2/efmp/
EFMP in Hawaii at Tripler Medical is 808-433-4441 they are open from 8am-12pm and 1pm-4pm M-F. Remember, time zones! I am currently in Eastern time zone, so they are 6 hours behind me. Which means I can call them between 2pm and 10pm in North Carolina.

Hawaii Family Travel 808-655-1804
I am unsure of their office hours but assume it is similar to that of EFMP.

Please remember to be polite and respectful when you call. The women I spoke to were very nice and very helpful to me, but I also made sure I was very polite to them as I was asking for their help.

Hurry up and wait

We're sitting at less than a month until our scheduled PCS leave and we don't have anything done. We finally got our physicals so we could schedule our EFMP screening. Thankfully the kids do not have to be there, so they are leaving in 2 days to go visit grandparents as scheduled. Well, not exactly as they were supposed to leave 4 days ago, but that didn't happen because of all these appointments. But on wed. we will do out EFMP screening and I thought that was that.

Wrong.

After our screening they have to send our paperwork to someone here on Bragg who will then send it to EFMP in Hawaii to get approval for us to go there with my husband. This sort of upsets me because already waited 2 weeks for this same thing with our youngest who is enrolled in EFMP. His paperwork was sent to Hawaii and approved before my husband could even take this job. But now we have to wait for the whole process to happen again? And it could take 2 more weeks! We cannot be added to his orders until that comes back approved. He also still does not have his orders yet so we cannot contact transportation or anything yet. If by some miracle this goes as we want it to I will be shocked. Utterly shocked.

We're still hopeful he will sign out of his unit on the 17th and we'll be on the road to visit family on the 18th of July and flying to Hawaii august 13th. That isn't very long from now and I am worried it won't happen like that, but only time will tell. It is out of our hands.

In the mean time things I have done to prepare-
EFMP physicals for everyone. make sure to tell the staff at the clinic the physical is for EFMP screening so you can move overseas, they have to state in your file if they feel you need to be enrolled in EFMP or not.

Dental visits. While I don't think this is required, having a check-up right before you leave isn't a bad idea. It will save you needing to find a dentist right when you get settled in.

Records! While I was at our last dental visit today I filled out paperwork for them to copy our records. Always always always hand carry your records. Do not rely on them being mailed. Someone ALWAYS loses them. So get your records copied, have them call you when they are ready and then make copies for your own records.

I also made a binder (I am sure many people in the Military have these) And in it is all our everything. I have colored folders inside for each kid containing their immunizations and school records as well as my youngest son's IEP and other EFMP paperwork stuff. I have a separate folder for official documents like birth certificates, marriage certificate and social security cards.

It never fails. we get to a new school to enroll the kids and we're the parents without birth certificates. So then we have to order new ones and wait because they won't enroll your kid without one!!

Also, check your new school's immunization policy. My kids need a TB test within 12 months. We did not have time here to get them done, so we will do it right when we get to Hawaii. They cannot enroll without this.

Well that's all for today. Hurry up and wait.

Find yourself help!

One of the best things you can do for yourself before making a military PCS move to Hawaii is to find people to ask questions to!

The two places I have found most helpful so far have been-
http://hawaiimilitarywives.com/ You have to sign up to participate on their forums, but it's free.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/181781051831952/ Again, you have to join through Facebook and it takes a day or two to get approved, but invaluable information and tons of people to ask questions of. This one is for Army wives at Schofield Barracks. If you're moving to a different area, search FB for a group for your base/post.

We have a date!

So it looks like we're looking at leaving Fort Bragg mid July to begin vacation to visit family before flying to Hawaii the second week of August.

I contacted a lot of companies about shipping the second car, for a lot of quotes, some for $1875 and other for over $3000! In the end we've decided to store it with family while we are in Hawaii. It will alleviate a lot of extra stress.

( 2 Days pass)

Yesterday things sort of went to hell. By asking questions online in a group I am in called Schofield Barracks Army Wives FB page, I learned a lot of things we did not know yet. I learned that before we can get Command Sponsorship, the kids and I all need physicals, then EFMP screenings. Now, we're trying to leave here in 6 weeks and we didn't know this because we only JUST got notification of orders on Monday. So I scheduled the physicals, but they cut into my kids vacation with their grandparents, so we have to figure that out. To get an appointment for EFMP screening, he needs to bring a paper called a 5888 for them to review before they will make an appointment. This has to be done in person, not over the phone. He won't get the 5888 until he has his Levy Brief, which isn't until the end of the month! So we can't book our plane tickets or schedule our HHG pick-up or anything until after that, and if it doesn't happen until the end of the month, that gives us barely 2 weeks to get it all done before we -want- t leave here on PCS leave to visit family. We're probably going to have to cut our PCS leave short. He is trying to see if he can get his Levy Brief moved up so we can move everything else up. Physicals have to be done before the EFMP screening.  You do not need to schedule one if you have had a physical in the past 12 months. Women need a pap within the past 3 years. Now, this may vary from Post to Post, we live on Fort Bragg. If you have questions, call your local EFMP office and ask what they need to have done before your EFMP screening.

No, we don't have to report 60 days early, but we want to because of school. School in Hawaii starts July 31st. School here starts August 24th. If we get there closer to the beginning of August the kids will only miss out on a couple weeks of school, but the later we push it, the more they will miss. Hawaii starts earlier and gets out earlier then here. So my kids will start late and get out early. I don't want them to miss too much.

That's all I have for now. This next 2 months is going to be quite a roller coaster.

Still waiting.

We're still waiting for official orders so we can get things rolling. We heard he should have them on Monday or Tuesday. it's funny how we were all anxious waiting for the yes/no form EFMP so we could get things started. Now that we have that, we are still waiting!

We're still figuring out what to do with the second car. Need to go through every room in the house to cut down the clutter and have a yard sale. Need to find homes for the dogs also.

Lots to do, just wait wait wait!

Hurdles.

There is a lot to consider for this move. Any move really, but when you're moving across an ocean, there is a lot to consider. One of my main concerns is sleeping arrangements for my youngest. He'll be 3 in July and he sleeps in a crib still with a tent attached. We have to do this because he started climbing out of his crib at 18 months old. Way too young to be told no and actually listen. Then shortly after he turned 2 he was diagnosed with Mild Autism. He is almost 3 and still cannot be told no and him actually listen. He is a very active little boy, and while he does sleep well, he doesn't fall asleep right away. He usually plays for a while, jumping in his bed, singing ABC's or other songs he knows. Kicking the sides of the crib and so on. During our move we could potentially be in lodging (read hotel room) for weeks, maybe even months. He would surely climb out of a pack n play. I looked up many options for travel cribs and they are mostly on the small side or are not fully enclosed. Some people may think I am cruel for wanting to fully enclose my child while he is sleeping. But I think it would be more cruel to allow him the freedom to electrocute himself or roam free in the hotel while the rest of the family sleeps blissfully. Not to mention the lack of sleep I would get worrying that he was going to wake and harm himself.

So I have done a lot of internet searching for the right product to use. A lot of searching. I'm a glass half empty sort of person, which helps in this instance because I can look at a product and see every way my son could get out of it or why it would not work for us. A lot of the products I saw were, as mentioned, small, or not completely enclosed. There were also issues with tipping, but the main issues were with size and enclosure. I really need something that is enclosed and also large enough for him to be comfortable in. I was ready to give up, I felt like there was nothing that would fit our needs. But that thought was exasperating. surely there are other families with Autistic kids who don't stay in their beds and also travel! I made one last attempt for the day searching on Google, but this time I did an image search for Autistic bed and I came across this http://thesafetysleeper.com/index.html

This bed is portable, fully enclosed, made for people with special needs and it is full sized. That means I could put an air mattress in it during travel and a regular mattress in it when we get a house and continue to use it every day. The downside is the price. While much cheaper than the structured special needs beds I saw earlier today (At $5800 and $11,000+) this bed at just over $1500 is quite inexpensive. However as a family of 5 with a special needs child who also has expensive special dietary needs, we can't afford it.

I am not giving up. I emailed the company asking about financial aid, emailed our early intervention worker about grants or other aid options for Military families and I will keep looking. I saw in the testimonials about a woman who got hers through the Air Force Aid Society, but we are Army, so I doubt they would help us. I don't know if we can use AER for this since it is not a matter of being behind on a bill or needing to visit family for an emergency. But I will see what I can find out. I really feel this is the solution for us and I will do what I can to make it happen. I will update when I have more info about the process in case it can help another family.

Heck yea!

I just finished my intro post and was thinking to myself 'Gee, I wonder when we'll hear back..' then my phone rang, it was my husband letting me know that EFMP said YES!!!

Hawaii here we come!!!

In the beginning.

About two weeks ago I was sitting home with my kids hanging out, as usual, when my husband returned home form work. He passed through the room and said, "I need to talk to you about something. It's nothing bad, just give me a second." He put his work things away and then dropped a bomb on me, we could move to Hawaii.

We're currently living in North Carolina on an Army base, before this we lived in Maryland on an Army base. Until that day, almost two weeks ago, my husband was planning to get out of the Army in December, for good. However, that has all changed. How often do you get the chance to move to Hawaii?

We talked it over for a couple days before telling his Branch Manager we want to take it. It's mid-May right now and the report date is sometime in October. We knew we had a lot to do before the move and wanted to get to it right away. 

As of today, May 21,st 2012, we're still waiting. We don't have an official answer yet. Can we go? Our youngest son, who will be 3 in July, is Autistic. He is diagnosed as having Mild Autism and has some speech delays as well as some communication delays. Because of this he is enrolled in EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program). We can't move to Hawaii unless we are approved by EFMP.

Initially I did a ton of research online about moving to Hawaii and EFMP and Autism and really found very little. Honestly, I found nothing useful. I turned to message board scouring for information about what criteria we'd need to meet to get a yes or a no. Still, I found nothing. A new online friend living in Hawaii told me that the Hawaii EFMP does not take Category 5 EFMP. I had no idea what category my son is! I looked through his EFMP paperwork and did not find anything. I emailed his Early Education worker and she called EFMP to ask. They didn't know! (What?!?) But said we could be denied if there isn't a provider with an open patient slot for him. This really stressed me out. My son sees a Developmental Pediatrician 1-2 times a year for follow-up. that's it. And I am hearing that we could be denied the ability to move because right now, in may 2012, there isn't a provider that could see him even though he doesn't need to be seen until October 2012. We waited a few days and checked with the branch manager. She seemed to expect to hear something the following week. We waited and waited, my husband checked his email every morning for word, but nothing. Finally late last week I was worried something was going on. What if our paperwork was sitting on someone's desk? What if it was missing something? I'm not well versed in the system, I had no idea what to do.

So I called EFMP here where we live. I explained the general situation and asked if there was anything I could to do help the process along. I was initially given a bit of a brush off, a standard reply. 'We process the paperwork. We don't make the decision. it's out of our hands. You'll have to call the Command HR and ask them' etc. I asked the gentlemen how long it usually takes and he told me after they release the paperwork it's out of their hands, but it could be months. -MONTHS- I was in shock. I turned on my 'please work with me' voice and asked him that even though we'd be reporting in less than 3 months, they could sit on it for months and we'd never know if we could go or not because we cannot get orders until we get a yes or not. He said pretty much. I think he could sense my anxiety through the phone, so he started to look up our info. he took my number and said he would call me back. I figured I would hear from him the following week. he called me back 15 minutes later and told me they had completed out paperwork and sent it on. I asked where it goes next and he told me to the Command and also to EFMP where we were trying to go, so Hawaii. He suggested I call HR or Hawaii to see what was going on. So I did.

I looked up the phone number to EFMP in Hawaii, which didn't have an area code on their website (really? C'mon people..) So I had to look that up. The friendly lady at the EFMP office in Hawaii told me our paperwork had gotten there 2 days prior and was being reviewed. Once approved it would be returned to Command and we would be notified of the decision. I asked her how likely it was we'd be told no as my son only sees the dev. ped. once a year. She sort of scoffed and said if he only goes once a year she sees no reason we would be told no. 

That was Thursday of last week. It's now Monday and we're impatiently waiting for our yes/no answer. Once we get that yes answer, the real fun starts!