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 : )