Accused Soldier's Wife Blogged on Army Anguish

Before she was the wife of the soldier accused of gunning down 16 Afghan civilians, Karilyn Bales was just another Army wife, stoically raising two small children through her husband's four deployments and blogging about the joyousness of homecomings and the ache of long absences. Bales' blog appears to have largely been taken down in recent days, but the New York Times runs through some of the highlights:

• While pregnant with daughter Quincy: “I only want the days to go by fast when it comes to Bob coming back home.”

• On hiccups: “I get the hiccups all the time these days, I always think that Bob is thinking about me,” writes Bales. And one day, she feels unborn Quincy hiccuping in her belly. “I guess Bob was thinking about her too."
• On a phone call she got after Quincy's birth: “It was Bob calling from the airport in Kuwait!! It was so good to hear his voice. I told him how the birth went and he got to hear Quincy squeaking in the background.”
• On Bales getting passed over for promotion: The family was disappointed “after all of the work Bob has done and all the sacrifices he has made for his love of his country, family and friends.”
• On where she hoped to be sent after Washington state: Germany ("best adventure opportunity!); Italy (“2nd best adventure opp”); Hawaii (“nuff said”); Kentucky (“we would at least be near Bob’s family”); and Georgia (“to be a sniper teacher, not because it is a fun place to live”).
• On why she blogged: So that her kids could one day “enjoy reading about the decisions that Mom and Dad went through during their lives.”

Click for more from Karilyn Bales' blog. (More Robert Bales stories.)