small update and question

So yea, I'm soo bad at this. I never can seem to have/make the time to update on even a semi regular basis. Part of this is actually having the time and brain power to sit down and update, and the other part is, I don't really know more than 2 people that actually look at this. And those 2 get updated a lot easier and quicker on FB. So, here's my question: Who actually looks at this? If you do, please leave a comment saying so or send me a msg/comment on FB. If it's only these two ppl that I know of, I'm probably going to call it quits for a while and maybe just pick it up later or update when there is major stuff going on.

So on to the update:
Things are going pretty well for us right now. Anna and Max are doing well. Anna is on zyrtec everyday to help her out. Not for allergies though. She got sick again on the 13th of July w/ Broncialitis (basically the same as RSV) and 3 weeks later, she was still having the wet, nasty coughing/gagging stuff going on. So it was decided we'd try the zyrtec to help dry her up. The nastiness was mostly upper, and to the point where if she could just cough really well a couple of times, she'd be fine. Her low muscle tone is basically the cause of the problem. Her lungs aren't as strong, so she can't put as much force behind the coughs. Zyrtec has been helping a lot and she's been sleeping a lil better too finally!! She's starting to cough more again though in the last couple of days, so I'm going to be keeping an eye on her. Not sure if it's from switching the time of meds or if she's picking something up, or the med just isn't helping anymore. Anna had her appt w/ the Developemental Pediatrician on Tuesday and that went well. Based on the Dr. eval, Anna is developementally about 5mos, w/ a few 6mo skills. She's learning new stuff and working those muscles, so she's getting better each day. She can now sit (we sit her) by herself for about 5mins. Anna has physical therapy once a wk and has now started speech therapy every other week. She's had about 3 sessions of ST now. We are working on gestures (clapping, waving, etc) with her and wanting her to babble (she only says ahhhh every once in a while). She is working her way (hopefully already is!) back up to her 6mo weight of 15lbs, 3oz. At her last dr appt (about a wk ago) she was 15lbs, 1oz. She's 27inches long now! Still wears NB shorts.

Max is doing well. He loves the Wheels on the Bus song and sings it along w/ Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy-Bitsy Spider and ABC's. Wheels is def the clearest, he knows it the best. He's going to be starting a new class soon. He's going to start going to the CDC soon. We wanted to move him to the preschool at his daycare, but decided that CDC was better financially and logistically. There isn't a waiting list for his age, so now we just have to wait for an opening. Until then, he'll continue going to Cherry Blossum. We love his daycare, I hate to move him b/c of that, but he's getting to where he needs a more structured class, and we'd rather him be w/ kid shis age or older, not his age or younger. His class right now is 6wks-3yrs. If we moved him to the preschool class it'd be 2.5yrs-5. Going to CDC he'll be in the toddler class which is 2-3yrs old. He's doing very well with potty training too! We haven't put him in underwear all the time yet, but he spends most of the day in them. He does great at daycare too! Many days when I pick him up they'll let me know he still has on the same pullup as when I brought him b/c he's used the potty everytime he needed to go! He's getting to be such a big boy! He's being a little rougher though lately. I think all the demands, appts, and extra stuff we have going on w/ Anna is most of the cause of it, so we've just got to make sure and give him plenty of attention and praise. Which isn't alway as easy as it sounds unfortunately. Toddlerhood makes it more difficult sometimes. But we will do our best and make it through. Matt is staying busy with work. He's still enjoying having his own unit and working by himself. Unfortunately he still has to deal with people up at his old unit and put up with some of the stupid stuff they do (or don't do that Matt has to do), but hopefully that'll change soon. Matt was chosen out of the 3d MLG career planners to be submitted for Career Planner of the Year, so we are hoping he gets it. We'll find out in October. He says he's not 'pretty' enough though. If only they knew exactly the mess he deals with out here, he'd probably be the prettiest one there lol.
I am getting ready to start classes at the end of this month. I just got my eligibility and plan approved from MyCAA, so I have a $6000 grant for schooling for a 'portable' career. I want to get my bachelors in sociology, and that falls into the category. I'm actually going to be using it at first to get certified in Medical Transcription though. That way I can do some work, and work from home. I think it'll be nice, give me another outlet and another way to contribute. I find that I need a break with the kids sometimes, something else I can do and still contribute, so I decided that college and working a few hours at home each week would be a great way to do it. I'm very excited about it all. I haven't taken a class in 3 yrs, and though 3-4yrs ago I was probably thinking "thank goodness when this is done!" I'm soo ready to take it on again. I miss it actually. I've also started going to the gym with a friend, typically about 4 times a wk. Once the kids are in bed, I head out. Means later nights for me, but so far it's been ok. I feel better going and I know it's good for me.

Well, thats all I can think of for updates. Not much more going on. We keep watching weather, waiting for a typhoon, but they have all gone the wrong way or missed us. The one that just momicked Taiwan, was originally supposed to hit us. Sounds like it was a good thing it did. Though the storm wouldn't have been as strong.

I'll update again when I can, or at least post when I decide whether I'm going to drop this for a while or just post even more infrequently. Hope all is well with everyone!!

June update

Wow, I know you (Sheila!) are blown away! I'm back again! that's gotta be a record right? Well, June has had a lot going on, so I figured I'd try and give a lil update. June started off with a bang, a RSV - Pneumonia in both lungs kinda bang. Poor Anna got it bad and ended up in ICU on oxygen for 7 days. She was breathing on her own, but she wasn't able to get enough oxygen in on her own, so she needed a little help. I brought her in on the 1st after she'd been coughing a couple of days and ran a fever the day prior as well as the 1st. The NP that saw her said she was wheezing, so she wanted a chest x-ray. It actually worked out rather well, b/c she'd had one about a wk- wk and a half prior, so they had a good comparison. They found she had pneumonia in both lungs. The right was really bad and then just a little in the left. She wasn't having any difficulties breathing or anything so they just sent us home w/ some amoxicillian and an inhaler for her. I brought her back on the 3rd b/c she threw up and was also breathing really fast, plus her coughing was just as bad as before the albuterol and antibiotic. This time she saw her Dr (who we LOVE!) and he did the RSV test and she was positive. Both days when the corpsman did the O2 sat and vitals she would be be 88-89 and then come up to 94. The first day though the corpsman -- AFTER TELLING ME THE HIGHEST {and i saw it too} SHE WAS, WAS 94 -- WROTE DOWN 98!!!!!!!!! Which is a BIG difference! When the NP looked at the vitals and said something about her being a 98 so there wasn't any problem, I was a lil perturbed and told her why, so they redid it. This time a different person did it, and they got the 94 as well. When I took her back in, the highest she has was 94, but she was staying around 88-89 as well. So they watched it for a while and gave her a nebulizer treatment to see if that would help, and realized she was staying in the high , sometimes mid 80's most of the time. So they put set up the blow by oxygen and that helped a lot and got us set up w/ a room. We ended up there for 7 days, mostly b/c (after the first few days) she was still staying in the high 80's while laying down or sleeping. We had her on the nasal cannula and that seemed to work the best for her. She was getting neb treatments ever 3hrs, then every 2 then every 4. She'd get albuterol if she was wheezing, otherwise it'd just be saline to help loosen everything up. We (drs included) think it took longer for her to recover b/c of the low muscle tone she has throughout her body. Her lungs just needed a lot of help. She got chest PT (vigorous cupped-hand (or infant CPR mask lol) hitting on her back and chest) as well. The ICU staff there were great! They were so caring and encouraging and just made our stay there so much better. Anything we needed (they even gave me some scrubs to wear so i didn't have to bring a bunch of clothes) they provided and helped us find, or watched Anna while I went to the hospital shoppette to get it. We couldn't have asked for better corpsmen and nurses. They all had nicknames for her and just loved to play with her. They let us go walk a few times when she was off the oxygen during the day, so that was nice to stretch our (my) legs. Matt and Max brought breakfast and dinner for me as well as clothes, snacks, books, toys, etc. Matt stayed out of work the whole time we were there. He's unit was great about it, didn't even make him go on leave. Anna is doing a lot better now (we got out the evening of the 9th). She's had two followup appts since then to check her out since she'd been in the hosp for so long w/ it. They say she's at a higher risk for asthma since she was hospitalized while/because of wheezing and a low O2 and she'll be RSV + for a while. And Unfortunately she an pick RSV right back up. The body doesn't recognize it right away like some other viruses. They sent us home with a nebulizer and saline and albuterol to give her scheduled treatments as well as just as needed, but she hasn't needed it in a week, so we're turning it back in at her 6mo well check on Tues. At her last appt (monday the 15th) she was 14lbs, 13oz and 26inches long. She's made some good weight progress, though she'd dropped down while in the hospital. She gained it back and then some once home. She's been gaining a lot better since we started solids. I think Sweet Potatoes are her fav, but she seems to like butternut squash too. Doesn't seem to care for plums or avocados, but maybe she'll grow to like them. She finally was able to start PT this past week. Her first 2 sessions were cancelled since she was sick of course. That went very well and the therapist was happy to see the progress she'd made in that time. Both therapists that see her are great about getting Max involved as well, so he gets to help and be apart of all of it. He is doing very well, though he looks pretty rough. Lol, he's a boy, ALL boy, so he's covered in scrapes, bruises, scratches, etc. We had a birthday party today and he just looks like he was in a fight or something. With a cat... and maybe a rock. There was a big inflatable slip in slide type thing and he has scratches and such all over his back from the seams of it as well as from other kids. They wrestled all over that thing. He has a blast being able to play and rough house with those kids. There are two older boys that he just LOVES, and they were there, so he had a blast playing with them and their lil brother. Max and one of the older boys knocked heads though one time, so he has a nice bruise on his forehead from that. He looks like we tied and drug him down a rocky road or something. He's been fighting bed and nap times bad lately though and getting up at 530-545 numerous times, which is HORRIBLE! He just gets up, turns his light on and plays. for a while, then bangs on the door and hollers. Put him back in bed as soon as we know he's up, but he just gets right back up a few mins later. I don't know how to get him to sleep later!! It's driving me batty! I finally got Anna back on a decent schedule since we got home from the hospital, but it no longer matters since Max gets up at the crack of dawn.

I can't remember if i put it in the last update or not, but we got a Wii, so that's been a big thing for us this month. We have guitar hero and the Wii Fit as well as a few other games. I love the Wii fit and Matt and I are both working out on it and working towards are goals. Its fun to do and watch each other do. I've not been a big "gamer" but when we played while home stateside, I really enjoyed it and it was something Matt and I could do together, so we decided to get one. It's definitely been worth it. (the pic below is Max "playing" the Guitar Hero drums)

These past few wks have been so rainy and stormy. I thought we'd have to get a boat to get home a few times. Today was finally really nice! It was a great day to be out and about. I hope tomorrow is a nice day as well. We'll be celebrating Matt tomorrow since it's Father's Day and I'm still trying to figure out what we're going to be doing. I haven't even wrapped his gifts yet :( I'm so behind. I haven't mailed gifts stateside either... I guess they'll be more 4th of July gifts :)

We are also keeping our eyes on the weather since there is currently a tropical storm near us. So far we don't know if it'll hit or not, or if it'll increase in strength before it hits or gets near. It's supposed to effect us either way between Monday and Wednesday.

Well, thats about all I got for now. I'll *try* and post an update after Anna's appt and our possible storm. Hope all is well with everyone!!

(Max w/ the drink that came w/ his kids meal at Sam's Cafe)

We're still kickin'

Yea, it's been a long time. We have been super busy with all kinds of things since Anna was born. She's 5mo old now... which means i've haven't blogged in about 5mos lol...sorry about that :)
Heres a quick summary of our life since then:
Jan 1-15, mom and charles visit
Jan 17-Feb 5, matt's mom visits
matt goes back to work for note quite a month
matt goes to career course from mar 4 through apr 17
apr 27-may 18 we were on vacation back home to NC - which was busy w/ appts, visiting, and unfortunately a funeral for my Great Grandmother Kate. Our visit had a sad ending, but we very much enjoyed being home for a while.
Now....we've been recovering ever since we arrived late on the 18th.

In the midst of all that we've been working hard trying to get some answers on Anna's health. She's not sick, she just hasn't gained weight worth a flip (she's only gained 4lbs since birth, she was 13lbs, 7oz last wk), she has several characteristics that point to a genetic syndrome of some sort, her joints pop and crack when she's pick up or moved, which points to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or a similiar connective tissue syndrome/disorder (on top of the one were trying to figure out w/ the charcteristics), and she's hypotonic (low muscle tone - her head still lags back when she's picked up from laying down, you have a have a good grip on here when you pick her up under her arms, etc). She hasnt had any problems really, like being sick or anything, but depending on whats going on w/ her other stuff she could have problems down the rd. Anna has had a lot done since birth:
4-5chest x-rays
2 EKGs
1 echocardiogram
numerous bld pressures on all limbs
IV w/ antibiotics about 8hrs after birth (in case of infection causing her rapid breathing)
numerous bld draws (liver test, cbc's for infection, karotype, noonans test, FISH test - DiGeorge Syndrome, etc)
been photographed and had all tests and workups sent to a Ped Geneticist in Hawaii
Seen a Ped. Geneticist in Greenville,NC while we were home
Had a bld draw there are well for 2 more Noonan's tests and a CGH (chromosomal genome Hybridiztion)
2 shoulder/clavicle xrays
back/spine x ray
etc

she's been through a lot, although not as much as our friend's son Michael, he's Anna's age, and he's gone through a lot of similar testing, but more so, and is having heart surgery today.

We still do not know what Anna's diagnosis (or maybe that should be plural) is/are. It could be just one thing going on, or it could be more. The geneticist in NC is thinking its more apt to be a gene deletion/addition/duplication/mosiacism then Noonans. Anna seems to have a lot of the characteristics of Nooanans and Turner Syndrome, however, she doesn't quite have the "look". The bld draw for the latest 2 tests, was May 13, and they said it'll take about 2mo, so we're looking around mid july before we hear anything.
Anna does have some developmental delays, mostly motor skills, and a lot of that can be linked to the low muscle tone. She was referred to EDIS for early intervention services and starts physical therapy next wk. She will get that weekly to build up her muscle strength and her skills. We are very excited to be getting that started and have heard wonderful things about the therapist Anna will be work w/ (one lives a block away from us and her name is Ana!)

As you can tell, we've been very busy w/ dr appts and such. Max is doing well and talking up a storm. He's a busy lil monster. Matt is getting back into the swing of things at work (he really hasn' tbeen there since Feb), and I'm just trying to keep my head above water and breathe :) nah, i'm not that bad off lol, just busy busy busy. I still haven't even finished unpacking. And of course, doing stuff like this is why lol : ) I get on here to check my email and 3hrs later i'm still on the computer, only now i'm blogging/shopping/fill in the blank.

So, with that, i'm signing off. If you have any questions about Anna or wondering what else we've been up to, just ask :P I know some of you haven't heard anything or much about whats been going on here, and thats something Matthew and I decided to hold off on until we knew more and felt more comfortable with the information, since we were still trying to digest it all ourselves.

I'll try and update a lil better, but i always say that and it doesn't really happen. so just watch out every now and again and hopefully you'll see a new one. And Keep baby Michael in your prayers!!!

A Wild Ride

Well, as most of you know, we have our new addition to the family, Miss Anna Charleen. She was born December 23rd at 10:59pm. She was 9lbs, 7oz and 21.25inches long. The delivery went well, I was only in hard labor for about 2-2.5hrs and had no pain meds til about the last 30mins (not that it really did anything). So i'm pretty proud of myself for going as long as I did and for doing it w/o an epidural. Though, next time, i think i may opt for the epidural again lol. I felt like i was so concentrated on bearing the pain that i didnt get to pay as much attention to the birth, though i did feel more oriented/clear headed after the birth.

Well, as the title says, we've had a wild ride and it started basically after we got moved to the post partum section. I noticed Anna was breathing fast, wasn’t sure if I just didn’t remember that it was “normal” or not, so I called the nurse, and sure enough, instead of her respirations being about 30-40 like they should, they were in the 70s-80s. She they took her off to check her out and have the dr look at her. We ended up being in the hosp til the 27th. I was actually discharged on the 25th, but they don’t have a nursery so you have to stay there, I would have opted to stay anyway if they’d let me otherwise. They did a bunch of tests on her: chest x rays, EKG, bld tests, etc. They also put her on antibiotics incase there was an infection while waiting on the test results, they never found anything to be causing it. They said some NBs do it, but typically it’s c-section babies b/c they have lil fluid in the lungs that wasn’t expressed during birth like natural birth. Her respirations gradually slowed down, though they were still in the 50s and a few in the 60s when they sent us home. We had to go back the following morning for a weight check (she’d only lost 7% of her weight when we left, it was just the normal check up) and she’d gained 40grams so that was great to her and the dr said her respirations were doing good. Then we had her 2wk appt (10days later) and she’d lost 3oz, so we had a weight check 2 days later, and she gained 3 oz, and then a weight check 4 days later, she’d gained 1 oz, then 4 days later she lost 1oz. So she’s 8oz under her birth weight as of yesterday and we have an echocardiogram set for tues morning and another weight check on thurs. They are concerned that her heart is having to work harder for some reason and that is why she’s not gaining like she should, and losing weight some. They've done another EKG on her, as well as 2 more chest x-rays and check her bld pressure and o2 levels at every appt. Her respirations were higher again yesterday, but not too bad, just higher than they had been. We know she doesn’t have a metabolic disorder causing it b/c her newborn screening finally got back.
So, we've been quite busy trying to fatten this lil girl up and of course worrying about her. It's been a busy and stressful 3 (almsot 4) wks. Add that to the normal sleep deprivation and fun of a NB AND a toddler and you get can one very tired set of parents. For those who haven't gotten an email back from us, or a call from us, we apologize. I've been slowly trying to get those done. We've had family visiting as well (my mom and Charles were here the 1st-15th, and Matt's mom arrived tonight -they are on their way home from the airport as I type, and she'll be here til the 5th), so we've been even busier enjoying seeing and spending time w/ them.
Well, i'm too frazzled to write much else, but i did want to do an update so folks would know what was going on. I will try to update soon when we know more info on Anna. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Hope all is well and know that we miss you all!!! Take Care!!!

24 days til D-Day...or maybe 19 days....

I know, I know, it's been quite a while since I've updated up here. Please don't hurt me! We've been busy and I don't always feel like I have something blog-worthy to post. That and I procrastinate. I find too many other things I need/want to do. Sometimes I just plain don't feel like updating. No offense to anyone, it's not b/c i don't want anyone to know whats going, i just don't feel like typing it all up and thinking and whatnot. I have a lot less energy these days and since my iron is low, that just adds to the fatigue. I am taking iron supplements, but i am forgetful, so sometimes i miss one or two or ten. So, i haven't updated since sometime in Sept I believe, so that means Halloween and some drs appts are tidbits of info to write about. My dr appts have been going well. The one I had Sept 17, my fundal height was measuring 9days ahead, and then my appt on the 12th, it was 11 days ahead. No reason for the midwife to check on anything b/c you can be +/- 2wks and be 'normal'. And you have to measure off at least twice for them to be concerned. With measuring ahead or behind, there may or may not be reason for concern. There are many reasons to measure ahead or behind. I'm no longing measuring ahead, at least as of my last appt, last wed the 26th. At that appt I was measuring at 34wks b/c the baby has dropped down and is engaged. Great to hear, but makes for one sore mama. I feel like a barbie doll that's had her legs popped off several times. I found some other very interesting and good news at this past appt. As of that appt I was a fingertip dilated (i'll take what i can get!) and 75% effaced, so things are moving in the right direction. Here is the interesting news: the midwife was able to get a good feel of the baby, and she said she was already 7lbs, give or take a few oz!!!!!!! And she is LONG! I know the ladies will probably get this better, hopefully they can explain it better to everyone else. Since the baby is engaged, basically, only her shoulders are above my pelvic opening. So her shoulders are waaayyy down a lil below what ppl consider their hips, and then her back curves with my side (she likes to hang out in my right side) and then her butt is at the TOP of my belly. So her back is super long. Who knows how long her legs are!! I'm thinking she may be longer than Max was at birth, but who knows. I've just been in awe ever since that appt. Max probably weighed about the same at this time, but no one had a clue, so it's weird to think and know that this one is so big already. I'm not too concerned over delivery, if she's growing at the normal rate of around 1/2 lb a wk, that puts her about 9 1/2 lbs at delivery. However, my midwife is concerned, and doesn't want me to go past the 23rd (i'm 39wks on the 21st). That's the earliest she is on duty on L&D when I'm 39wks and if the baby is here by then we may end w/ an induction. I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that though. As for right now we're walking a lot and i'm taking Evening primrose oil, doing squats, and whatever else i can think of/find to possibly help get her here before then. I have my next appt tomorrow, so i'll find out if any of it is helping at least. I still can't believe how long this girl is! Back to appts though: Baby girl's heart rate has been great at every appt and all seems to be going smoothly. In Sept the midwife did mention a possible induction at 39wks if the baby was looking like she was going to be big like her brother. I still feel like she's going to be early, but who knows. So back to the low iron stuff last time they were checked (about 2wks ago) they were pretty low. 8.8 i believe he said, normal is 12 (back in sept mine was 10.4, so i was borderline). So i have to take the iron pills and add high iron stuff to my diet. At my last appt my MW told me that if it doesn't go up they may have to give me pitocin after birth to help w/ bleeding. Just the small amt that you bleed is a lot when your anemic. So I'm downing the pills and eating my shrimp, trail mix, etc.

So on to Halloween. It...wasn't that great. Max was cute as can be in his UPS costume (What Can Brown do For YOU!). We had a Halloween kids festival on the 30th at the Surfside club on Camp Kinser (camp where Matt works) that we went to. Last minute I found out I was supposed to work at it, so most of the time we were there i was busy working a booth. Which sucked. I didn't get to have fun w/ Max and Matt and spend time with them. I did get some pictures thank goodness, but i really would have rather been hanging out with them, especially since Matt was on the range all that wk, so he was leaving at 230am and not getting home til 5 or later most nights. He'd gotten out earlier that day for some reason, but all it did was screw up his last day on the range. Which is way Halloween itself wasn't that great. Matt was supposed to be out of there around lunch time. It doesn't take that long to qual and get everything done. However, the reason they got out earlier on thurs was b/c the SNCO on the range decided instead of doing everything they were supposed to do on thurs, they'd only do part and do the rest on friday. So they didn't even get done shooting til 3:45pm, so they didn't even leave til sometime after 4 (they had to have the barracks checked out, make sure all the areas were cleaned, etc), and the range is 1-1.5 hrs away. Plus they left when traffic is starting to pick up. So, the finally leave, they have to go down to kinser to turn in weapons before he can even come home. Oh, I almost forgot a couple of things: 1) trick or treating was from 6-9pm, and 2)Matt had Gate Sobriety duty that night as well, which meant he had duty from 830pm-500am. So I took Max by myself to go trick or treating. Which is a lil more difficult than it sounds since Max loves to watch everything and take off if he sees something interesting. So the constant pulling, tugging, lifting and carrying takes a toll. We went to a tower (apt bldg) on Camp Foster first b/c we knew some people who lived there. Most ppl didn't have signs up to signify whether or not they were participating. So we probably only went to 5-7 doors that ppl were actually answering. Then we went across the rd to the multiplexes. Similar problem there. Those participating were supposed to have there outside light on. Well there was probably 10-12 that had lights on, but only about 5 were actually answering and giving out candy. And it was nerve racking b/c they are basically right there on the street, so I worried Max would get away from me. Matt called when we were at the multi's and so we cut our trip short so we coudl go home and at least seem him for a few mins before he had to go back down to Kinser for duty. Yea, we saw him for all of 10mins before he had to leave. So, long day, and things not going the way they were supposed to didn't exactly leave me with a feeling of a great Halloween. I know Max had fun walking around and seeing everyone, and thats more of what counts. I just wish Matt could have been there. I didn't even get any pictures of Max trick or treating : ( I did get some good ones at that festival though as well as some at Max's daycare. They had a lil party on that friday and wore their costumes, played games and had some cake. All of these pics are posted in the web albums so check them out.

So another bit of excitement that happened that wk (what better time then when Matt is 1.5hrs away?) was that i had some cxts that monday, over 6 in an hr, so I went in to L &D as that is protocol. I wasn't too concerned with calling Matt at first b/c i didn't have any info to give him other than that I was going to get checked out. but I was told that word needed to be passed to him b/c if something was up, it was going to take him 1.5 hrs to get here from whenever he did get contacted. Plus everyone just thought he should know. I didn't want to worry him or get his range stuff messed up b/c it can be quite difficult to get on the range out here sometimes. Well, word went up the chain of command and a call was made to the range. Guess who never got the word though...i bet you'll never figure it out....Matt. No one at the range passed the word to him. So he had no clue. Not until he called at 530-6 to tell me he was on his way home. He asked if i was ok, and I said, hmm no one told you huh? Then he was like uh-oh..... So now we know if Matt is ever on the range again and there is any sort of problem, we're better off sending a pigeon to get the word to him. The range personnel decided it wasn't important enough or someone forgot or who knows. Either way, even though i wasn't concerned with him being called, the breakdown in communication didn't exactly leave me feeling very reassured. Funny thing is, he wasn't supposed to really have his cell phone out there, had it anyway just in case, but didn't have much of a signal. However, around 12 he had the feeling he should call. Unfortunately though he didn't get through b/c of the signal. I was leaving the hospital at that time but he would have let them know he needed to head home (He was already done shooting that day). All was fine by the way, just some random contractions.

So that's Halloween, on to Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving was great, though quite different than what we are used to. This is the first year that I've made the complete meal. We always had 3-4 different places to go to for Thanksgiving, when we were stateside, and I only had to make a dessert or a side dish. It was different not to have so much running around and traveling so much. I definitely miss going around and seeing all of our family. We do have a friend that is here from stateside and he spent Thanksgiving with us. Noe is a good friend of ours from Cherry Point, the 3 of us helped out at the Havelock Young Marines together. He has been here for several months w/ a det that was on the MEU. It's been great to hang out with him and it was really great to have him for Thanksgiving. He's in the same boat as us away from family, but he's also in a worse one. He's away from his wife who is due Feb 5th w/ their first child. So he's missed a lot the pregnancy and won't be getting home til pretty close to her due date if not after or (hopefully) a few wks before. Matt and Max picked him up Thanksgiving day and we ate our meal (yummy ham, homemade mac and cheese, corn on the cob, etc - yea not necessarily the traditional meal lol) and then went for a long walk that evening. That walk was killer. I didn't think i'd be able to move the next day. I could barely move that night! 1/2 mile to the park (a lot uphill), 1/2 mile in the park (all uphill), 1/2 mile home (part uphill), plus the 66 steps (6 sets of 11, believe me, i know) up to our apt. wow. We won't be doing that walk again, at least not anytime soon. Noe spent the night and then helped us put up our Christmas tree and decor on Friday. We all had a great time getting it put up, even though the boys joked and fussed/whined some (mostly Matthew) about it. He's always gotta mess about something. We went on another walk Friday evening and then Noe spent the night again. Saturday we got up and went to the holiday bazaar on base. That was pretty neat. Lots of vendors w/ Japanese goods and such. There were other booths and vendors set up as well. You could find so much stuff there. Ornaments, Bingata prints, Kimonos, furniture, Calligraphy, Sanshins (instrument), toys, etc. Afterwards we took Noe back to his barracks and then went to the exchange and then the commissary to get a few things. Had our nightly walk of course. Sunday we went to church and Max apparently thoroughly impressed the girl in the nursery because as soon as Matt dropped him off, he discovered the puzzles and he took them apart and did them like he'd seen them 100x and done them just as many. He loves puzzles and has mastered the wooden ones and is now doing the cardboard ones that have a frame/border around them. He really enjoys them. We only have one at home like that, but i finally found some more and he's getting those in his stocking at Christmas.

I almost forgot! The wkend before Thanksgiving, we decided to go to Neo Park, which is kind of a combo zoo/petting zoo/bird sanctuary. It's about an hr north from us. You probably won't find a place quite like this at home b/c of insurance. When you walk in, there are birds everywhere. There aren't cages or anything, just netting way way up and of course somewhere on the sides. They come right up to you, you can feed them and pet them. We walked through there, to the next habitat which had flamingos, then to a petting zoo area where Max got to sit on a huge tortoise. After that we got in these paddle boats that looked like swans and went around the lake/pond area. There were two islands that had lemurs on them and we also got to see more birds and some fish and turtles. The lemurs looked ready to jump in the boat when we went by. You can tell they are used to being fed. It was kinda deja vu because when i was pregnant w/ Max, we went to a zoo in FL and kayaked around a habitat and there were lemurs at that one too, and we were warned they may jump in the boat b/c they want to be fed. We always joked if i got bit, Max would be Lemur Boy and his middle name (that had to be an L) could me Lemur. We walked through the next habitat that had peacocks and such. We'd put Max in the stroller before getting there since we knew he was getting tired. When we got into that one, there were peacocks and some other birds following us, knowing we had food. Max had some crackers he was snacking on, and he decided to offer one to a peacock. Well, the peacock took it. And Max, exploded. He was thoroughly upset. Don't know if the peacock's quick reflexes scared him or if he was just showing the cracker to the thing and was mad that the peacock took it. Either way, it was hilarious (which sounds horrible). He was just so mad. If you go to the web album you can see pictures from there. There is a picture i took right before it happened, Max has 3 crackers sitting in his tray. Matt commented how greta it would hav ebeen to have an 'after' picture, but we were buys laughing and checking to make sure the peacock didn't get Max's finger when he took the cracker. We got to see lots of different birds as well as some monkeys, lemurs, porcupines and other animals and had a great time. I've heard the place has gone down hill some, but we still had a great time and have an annual pass, so I'm sure we'll check it out again.
Well, thats about all I can think of. We also had our USMC ball, during this time and you can see a few pics in the web album. It was the usual ball: Ceremony, Eating, goofing off and dancing. I have my next OB appt tomorrow (Fri) and then we are going on a tour down to Naha on Sat. So maybe I can add another post soon with some more info. I'll try to anyway :)

Wow...another update so soon, who'da thunk it?

So, yea I know, everyone is probably in awe that I'm updating again. Heck, matter of fact, I bet no one will even check for another wk or so unless they are really bored, b/c it's not expected to be updated so soon. What can I say, either I'm getting better at this or I have too much time on my hands. I really don't think it's the latter of the two, but i'm not so sure it's the first either. Matt, Max and I went and checked out the Kinser Festival last Sat. That was basically a waste of time. It's cool to see the different vehicles and such, but they typically have the same ones at each festival and other than those, the only other thing thats there are food vendors, games (that was high priced and kinda dumb), a few rides (also high priced) and a few booths of different units trying tosell t-shirts and such, and usually a stage with music. Typically the music isn't anything we are interested in plus it's not like Max is just going to sit there and enjoy the music :) But it did at least give us somewhere to walk around and get a lil exercise in. Max got a inflatable sword a marine and his wife gave him, so that made his day. We put him in a few of the vehicles and let him check those out.

On Sunday we got together with our friend Noe from Havelock Young Marines that was out here getting ready to deploy with the MEU. We hung out and took him to a couple of shops out in town. This is the time he's been out here, so we've been taking him around to different places. He's wife is pregnant too and is also having a girl, so I made sure to show him lots of cute girl stuff he could get for the baby. He left this week on the MEU so we won't see him again for a couple of months. We took him to the Crocodile for dinner, which was delicious! I love that place! It's a seafood place and bar and you can eat outside or inside. They have patio type tables outside and it's a really nice, relaxed atmosphere. They also have a crocodile, named Coco they you can check out while there. I think she's 6 yrs old. They have turtles and some other creatures inside in tanks too. This is the second time we've been there and both times I've gotten the snow crab legs..mmm... they are so yummy! Here's a pic of my food, well, the crab legs anyway, i didn't think to get my sides items (veggies, potatoe, bread) in the pic. They are all about presentation here.

The little bowl up top by my glass is for dipping your fingers in afterward. I guess is helps get the smell off. That's just the 2 shoulders that I get, you can also get 4 shoulders. Matt and Noe both the same thing - Red Snapper w/ the sides and then they both order an order of Crocodile Bites. mmmmm....doesn't that sound yummy, crocodile tail! It actually looked pretty good, and Max had some too!

After supper we took a ride on the big ferris wheel and then took Noe back to Kadena. That day (sun) Max also started running a fever. We took him in on Mon to get checked out and they said he had a virus. Tues/wed time frame he started getting red bumps/blisters on his hands and feet and a few elsewhere. I already had an appt set for Thur for him to talk to his dr about testing him for allergies, so when we brought him in on Thurs we had the dr check him out. He found Max had some blisters/ulcers in his mouth too and he was diagnosed w/ having Hand, Foot, and Mouth. It's no big deal for those who aren't familiar with it. It's just one of those childhood illnesses that has to run it's course. He has a few red places on the soles of his feet now too, but they don't seem to bother him (they aren't blisters thank goodness). When we discussed the allergy testing with Max's dr we found out that out here testing under 24mo old tends to be inconclusive b/c they don't have an allergist at the hospital and have to send everything out. So for now we are going to try giving him claritin once a day for a month and see if that helps any. Hopefully it will and he won't be sick all the time like he has been. It seems like since June he's been constantly sick without much breaktime in between different illnesses (typically cold type things). We have a follow up appt in Oct to see how things are going. We also found out that when we took him in on Monday, he was 34inches tall!!!!! He didn't fight or push w/ his feet or anything since he didn't feel good, so I know it was accurate. On Thursday when we took him in, it was the same thing, he didn't fight, and he was over 34 inches, about 34 1/4 inches tall!! Talk about going through a growth spurt! We were just talking about how it wouldn't be long before he'd be 3 ft, but godo grief! He'll be there by Thanksgiving if he keeps going! Heck, probably by Halloween! He was also measuring at 30lbs, 3 oz on Thurs. Today we went out for brunch at another favorite place, the Rose Garden, for a Young Marine Staff meeting. I love that place. They have the best breakfast. It reminds us alot of Denny's. Except its actually an Italian restaraunt, but all the people who work there are Japanese, and the breakfast is like from home, lol. Well, I think thats about it for now. Everything is still going well pregnancy wise. I think this lil girl is into kickboxing. Or Gymnastics, I think she thinks my bladder is a trampoline. Hope all is well for everyone and please keep in touch with us!!!

Double Digits

FYI that's at 25wks...



We've made it to the double digits! 99 days to go til my due date! Hard to believe it's already so close. Then in other ways, seems like i should be farther. Not much is going on with us right now. I had an OB appt on the 12th (all is well), Max had his 18mo check up and shots after my appt. He weighed 29lbs, 13oz and was around 33.5inches tall. That all went fine, kinda. His appt went fine, he had a bit of a cold and a slight fever, but was given the ok to get his two shots. He had to get Hep A and DTAP. He got his shots around 430 and then we had some more running around to do. When he had his bath around 7ish it looked kinda like a bug bite but we figured it was ok. Sat. Matt changed most of his diapers and gave him his bath, so I didn't even see it or think about looking at it, as he'd had both shots before and never had any problems. Sunday morning rolls around and when I changed his diaper we noticed it had turned into a 2-2.5in by 1.5inch patch that was swollen/puffy and pretty angry red. It also seemed to be pretty tender. So off to the ER we went. We weren't sure if it was a majro deal or not since he's never had a reaction. Also, we didn't know which shot was put into which leg as the guy never told us. When we were finally seen, the dr seemed to lean more towards it being a reaction to the Hep A for some reason, but she wasn't sure if it was even a reaction (even though it was at the shot location) and thought he might have gotten cellulitis from/after/during the shot. She drew a line around the perimeter and gave him some tylenol and sent us home w/ antibiotics incase it was cellulitis. They set up an appt for him the next day w/ his Pediatrician he'd seen on friday. That was a fun 4 hrs at the ER (it was during his nap time...yay!) I did some research when we got home and it seemed like it was most likely the DTAP that he was having a reaction to, but we still had no clue. At his appt on Monday, the dr and I agreed that it was not cellulitis and we both thought i was the DTAP. She looked up in the records in the computer system b/c they are supposed to annotate it, but no one did. So we still had no clue. But she tell us it was just a local reaction, nothing major, didn't mean it'd happen worse next time or prevent him from getting any more doses if need be. Luckily he's not due for another DTAP til he's 4 and he's done w/ the Hep A ones. She told us it wouldn't matter too much whether we knew which it was or not, but she was going to talk to immunizations and see what she could figure out. That evening she called (which was unexpected) and said that actually it was the Hep A vaccine that he'd gotten in that leg. Still didn't change anything, just had to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't get worse or anything. It was already looking a lot better at his appt that day though. So, that was our excitement for the wkend. Now i just have to figure out whats on his wrist... i noticed a bump on tuesday that was red around it, it doesn't look like a bug bite, just a bump kinda like a blister, but it isn't soft like a blister. I think i'll be taking him in this wk to find out what the deal is. A friend who is an LPN looked at it for me and said that they probably wouldn't do anything for it, unless it got bigger or redder. Now it seems to be itching him though. Ah, theres always something going on, keeping me on my toes. Matt had a fun and long wk. Higher ups were here from HQ all wk having briefs and trying to get packages done for reenlistments and such. They were delayed getting here by 2 days so everything was a cluster. He didn't get home Tues til 8pm, wed til 5-530 adn then thur and fri weren't too bad, but still long days with a lot of time spent running around and trying to get stuff done. They left yesterday (thank goodness). We were hoping to be able to go out to dinner w/ a marine that was Matt's senior in charge back when we first got to Cherry Point. He's a great guy and was also at station and got Matt transferred to VMR-1 at Cherry Point. He's a monitor now up at HQ and so Matt is able to keep in touch with him fairly often. His family is still in the Cherry Point area now while he's a Quantico and he's going to be coming back to NC after he finishes up there. One of those guys you want to try and work for again. Unfortunately b/c everything was so backed up we didn't get to have dinner, but Max and I went to say hello yesterday. It was very good to see him.
So, now that i'm at 99 days, i feel like i am soooooo behind the power curve and am ill prepared for this lil girl. I'm not sure what the deal is, just hormones I guess. I feel like i just have to get some things done, now. Like finding something for her to wear home. Having clothes that fit her lol. We only have like 1 NB outfit and a couple of onesies, everythign else is 0-3 and bigger. Max wore NB for 3-4wks or so when he was born, so i'm sure she will too. We have most of the major stuff. I think a swing and bouncer are the only other things gear wise that i'd like to get. It's just a pain to get stuff here b/c of the lack of selection. So we have to order a lot of stuff. lol or at least, I have to order a lot of stuff. I don't like what they have here or theres something in particular that I want. But it's not necessarily the looks of stuff. Like I want a travel swing this time instead of a full size (takes up too much room). Well, they don't have any travel ones here.
My moods seem to be swinging a lot more lately too. Reckon it's just getting to that time. Well, i can't think of anything else to update on. I'm told these are typically long novels anyway, so I'll go ahead and end it here : )