Brown Family

small update and question

2009-08-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-20T04:12:00.001-07:00

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'

2009-05-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-01-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-09-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

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 : )

The results are in...

2008-08-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

I had my 20wk ultrasound on Monday the 11th and a regular OB appt on Tuesday. I know I said I'd blog pretty quickly afterward, but well, it was quite a long wk and so was this past wk.
First off, we are having a……… GIRL!!! I Still have a due date around the end of Dec.
My ultrasound here was pretty extensive. They do very in-depth u/s here since we are on an island. The tech brought me back and told me they’d get Matt when it was time for the gender verification, and it would be 45-50mins before that happened! I had no clue it was going to be this in-depth until then. It was neat to see everything in so much detail. The tech had to get me to roll on my sides a few times b/c the baby wasn’t in a good position for some of the pictures (spine, heart) they were trying to get. Ended up having to have another tech come in to get a good profile pic of the 4 chambers of the heart b/c the first tech’s arm was so tired! This lil girl just didn’t want to cooperate! They knew the heart looked fine and everything was like it should be, but they have to get good enough pics for the radiologist and OB to see. After we finished that and brought Matt back, the first lady was busting at the seams to tell us, but the second tech hadn’t even looked yet. Once she got a look they told us they saw ‘girl parts’!
After everything was finished, they were trying to go back through for some reason, and couldn’t find my name on the list. There had been some sort of glitch w/ the computer and my u/s got put under someone elses name and social. So when you see the pics that why there is no name at the top. They had to mark it out and I just cropped it out as well. We still don’t know what happened, b/c as soon as I can into the room, the tech verified all my info, so my name was pulled up at that point. It’s a new machine and system, so they figured it was a bug or something was just different w/ the program or something. Who knows. Luckily the person (another OB patient) who’s name my u/s was under hadn’t been in yet, so we didn’t have to worry about the pics getting mixed up, but if they couldn’t get the name’s switched they were going to have to do the whole scan over again. No big deal, but luckily we didn’t have to.
I got called that afternoon and was asked to come back in b/c the radiologist wasn’t happy w/ some of the u/s pics and wanted some better ones. I figured it was the heart and spine pics, but it ended up being the legs and such. So I went back in that afternoon and they got those done. I guess they still aren’t happy w/ them b/c at my OB appt the next day I found out I have to go back in again. So I go Sept 3rd for another u/s. Hopefully this time this lil girl will cooperate better. The measurements they did Mon morning put the baby weighing about 14.2oz, which is a lil smaller than the last OB I saw was thinking. The midwife I saw a couple of wks ago figured (based on the length and size then, no measurements) the baby would be a lb or so by this u/s. But I know u/s can be off, since a few days before Max was born they were saying he was only 7lbs 14 oz give or take. Lol we know THAT was wrong. The crown to rump measurement of this lil girl was a lil over 5.5inches. According to the midwife she’s pretty long, but since they can’t really measure the total, we don’t know how long for sure. Just know she seems to have long legs (uh-oh!) We figure she’ll probably be about the same size or bigger than her brother when she’s born. Everyone has already been calling her the Bionic Baby b/c of how hard she’s been kicking. I’ve already been able to see my belly jump when she kicks and moves about for 2-3wks now.
Everything looked good and Baby girl seems to be fine and healthy which is the most important info of all. The estimated due date based on those measurements is Dec 25, but I don’t think they will change my due date since it’s only 3 days difference. But she’ll come when she wants to, just like Max. Matt just says she WILL be born before Jan 1 (taxes). But being our kids, I’m sure she’s probably got a stubborn streak, so she’ll come when she’s ready, whether it be Dec or Jan.

Lol, as some can probably tell, I just cut and pasted all that from the email I sent out. It's so much to retype!! But i did want to add a few things. Max was sick that wk, then Matt was sick tha wkend, and somehow I managed to stay in the clear. I'm still in amazement. So that made for a long week, plus Matt's work week just seemed at odds and his days seemed to run late. He ended up getting his trip out to Iwakuni (mainland Japan) switched from the first wk in Sept, to this wk, so he'd be home for the u/s on the 3rd. So he's been in Iwakuni all wk this wk, hopefully flying home tomorrow. He left Tuesday morning and actually pretty much finished all he needed to do that first day, day and a half. He got volunteered for some kinda for evacuation training, and ended up riding on a bus for 4-5hrs down to Sasebo navy base, stayed over night at the temp lodging, and then they rode back on the bus, for an even longer time (b/c of some miscommunications and set backs) to Iwakuni. The main thing that happened on that trip was shopping lol. It was mostly spouses that were part of the training, but they needed some marines too, so he was volunteered. All the spouses spend yesterday afternoon shopping out in town (apparently there is alots of shopping near the base) and part of the miscommunication today was a side trip for more shopping, that was apparently supposedly authorized, but after an hr of driving towards the area, it was found out that it wasn't authorized, so once that got straightened out they started heading to Iwakuni. So Matt has enjoyed riding on a bus for the past two days. I think it's the longest he's been in a vehicle since we flew out here! Oh well, at least he got to see more of Japan. I think next time he has to go out there, Max and I will try to go along as well. We didn't know that we could the first time he went, and this time was very last minute.
Another update: Max has used the potty 6times now (wahoo!!), is starting to say ppl's names, esp kids at daycare, and has learned how much fun it is to remove the 80wipes that are in each container of wipes...he riped open 5 packages....he had the sticker parts that you open stuck all over his PJ's when I found him...along with every diaper out and all those wipes everywhere...it looked like it has snowed...in Okinawa...
Oh! Almost forgot! Brought him to the dr when he was sick and found out that he is 33.5inches tall and was 28lbs, 9oz. of course that was a wk ago, so i'm sure he's a few ounces different now.

Well, thats it for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post again soon.

Gotta Support my Habit

2008-08-07T03:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted an update, so I reckon theres a lot to cover. We had a Professional dinner for Matt's unit we attended on July 15th. We had a good time but it was long and the food was so-so. It was fun to get dressed up and meet people though. We finally made it up to the aquarium during the time that Okinawa was celebrating the Ocean Festival. That was a lot of fun, but a LOT of people and a lot of driving time. It's about an hr or so north of here (less if we could drive faster lol). It took us about 1.5 or so hrs to get up there and we managed to snag some of the last parking there at the park/aquarium. We were meeting some friends up there and they were about 30mins behind us or so, and had to park at a satellite lot and get shuttled in. The aquarium was great but there were so many people we really didn't get to see everything very well or at all. There were some thigns we just by passed because of the amt of people crowding around. Thats ok though, we bought annual passes for Matt and I (max is free!) as we know we'll be going up there several more times in the next yr. This aquarium is huge, 4 floors! They have several Whale Sharks in a tank that goes up all 4 stories. Those suckers are huge! FYI the pic up there is a whale shark. They have lots of hands on areas and tons to do and see. After we went through the aquarium we met up w/ our friends and hung out at the festival. I'm learning that apparently festivals here are different then home. I expected some rides and games and such, but there were just tons and tons of food vendors, a concert stage and fireworks. And they shoot some fireworks off during the day. A lil odd, but cool to see the smoke make designs. They had an hr long fireworks and laser light/fire show put to music that was pretty night. We left after the first intermission b/c Max was so tired and we wanted to try and beat the traffic. yea...that didn't work...we left at 830...we were still sitting on the rd in front of the parking garage at 930...

But we did get to watch the entire fireworks show :) It took us 4 hrs to get home. 3 hrs of that was just getting back to the expressway. Which should have taken about 1/2 hr-45mins. Once you get on the expressway, it's freedom! I felt like we were going sooooo fast. We can drive 80km/hr...which is like 60mph. I felt like we were flying though. it's a big difference when the fastest your normally driving is about 37mph. So, yea, it was nearly 1am when we arrived home. But we had a great time and enjoyed hanging out with our friends. Ended up going into the ER the 22nd just to get some pains and funky sensations checked out, after being advised by two friends that are nurses. I figured the ER wouldn't be of much help, but they did at least get me a next day appt at OB to further assess things. Which i'm glad happened b/c I was able to meet a great midwife at OB that I'm going to try and get my next appts with so I can get to know her better and possibly have her as a requested person for delivery. She did an ultrasound on me that day and made sure everything was good to go, which made me feel a lot better. She also printed out several pictures just for me. She's a very personable and knowledgeable lady that I'm very impressed by. She looked to see if we could tell the gender, but baby was sleeping and relaxing the whole time and would only give us a profile view. She did remark about how long the baby was. She said it was a very long baby and that she wouldn't be surprised if at my 20wk u/s (this coming Mon Aug 11!!) the baby was already a lb or so. Which, if baby is, means this baby has a lil bit of a head start on Max. He was 1lb 2oz at 22wks gestation. Oh, that brings me to another thing. I had to go get yet another glucose test done as well and I passed it w/ flying colors. Hopefully they'll just all agree that I just have big babies. I know I'll still probably have to get it done again at the normal time (24wks) though. The midwife agreed w/ me about the big baby thing too.

My friend and I had a family day that we had to plan and get put back together (Long story i'm NOT getting into on here) on the 25th. That was a stressful and pain in the butt thing. not just b/c of planning, but b/c of other issues w/in all of it. But it happened, though only our families, another assistant's family and the CO's wife showed up. oh well.

Had another pedicure at a mommies day out too. Those are so great! Worth the money!

So as some heard, Max's crib got recalled a mo or so ago so I've been going through the process of getting that all figured out. Finally got that straight and got everything done with it, now we're just waiting for the co to get the paperwork, hardware and get a check cut and sent out to us. We went ahead and bought a new crib last week for the baby. We were going to wait til later, but found out the furniture store (only place to buy an american crib) wasn't going to carry the one we wanted after they sold all they had in stock. They had a good amt in stock, but it's there top selling crib so we decided to go ahead and get it. The company that makes it can't keep up w/ the demand for all the places it supplies, so AAFES (exchange and furniture store) is getting cut. I ordered a new stroller earlier in July, from a place called stollerdepot.com and was very impressed and pleasantly surprised by them. I ended up changing my order b/c the color I wanted became backordered. The co let me know immediately and I was able to easily change the color, get a $5 discount that was offered on that color and have it shipped out the day I changed the order. The Almost best part ---- they only charge $10 to ship to APO/FPO addresses right now b/c they have free shipping in the states. The BEST part ----they shipped it last wed, the 30th of July, and we received it Mon the 4th of Aug. How AWESOME is that! I have never received ANYTHING that quick! They are excellent customer service as well! So i highly recommend them! They have decent prices and great offers.

We had a get together are our great friend's the Yabut's house on saturday, and that was so much fun! We were busy cooking and gettin stuff ready most afternoon, but it was well worth it. We had TONS of food. I can't believe how much stuff they had made already and they we made after we got there. We had Yakisoba, Korean Ribs, Choc. Fondue, Corn on the Cob, Several dips, desserts, and other sides. I can't even rememeber everything we had! Matt and Max are STILL eating on leftovers that we brought home. What was supposed to be a simple cook out for our family and theres, ended up being more of a fancy, extremely plentiful meal w/ 15-20ppl.

So this wk, I have been a shop-a-holic. I've always known about japanupdate.com but never really did much perusing or anything. We found one of our cars on there when we first got here, but i haven't really looked much since then. Well, this wk, I've made up for it. I've been contacting ppl on there all wk about numerous things, everything from maternity clothes, swings, jumperoos, lamps, etc. I originally went there to see if anyone posted about having a jumperoo for sale. picked it up today : ) a Fisher price rainforest one in great condition. Purchased some maternity clothes yesterday, a shirt the day before, and I'm still going. Lol, Matt is threatening to ban me from the internet. but hey, how can you beat 6 shirts and a pair of pants for $10?? Especially being that these are MATERNITY, which most ppl know is expensive to by new. It's been difficult to find clothes here on the island, so i do alot of online shopping, but i get tired of paying shipping and waiting forever to my stuff (ok, not forever, but a wk or 2). The jumperoo i got today was used by one baby, for a coupla months. And I got a great deal on it. Esp since new they are between 70-80$ plus shipping. We have a jumper, but it's the one that hangs in the doorway, and our door frames here are a lot narrower and not as deep, so I don't think it'll work well.

So, like the title says, I gotta support my habit, so i've been posting ads up there for various clothing articles that I never wear or can't wear, ball/cocktail dresses, the jumper, and soon I'll have some toys posted. So hopefully I can get this stuff sold. haha, then Matt can't say much.

lol, actually, he told me earlier that recovering alcoholics don't put themselves in bars...so i shouldn't continue to peruse...but i gotta see what everyone's got and what they are selling for, so I know what to sell my stuff for...it's a vicious cycle, but a fun one :)

So the most exciting news to report, my 20 wk ultrasound is scheduled for Monday morning, so hopefully we'll know the baby's gender then. Just gotta eat some ice and drink some soda before I go in. Gotta make sure this baby is awake this time! No sleeping during the test!

Well, i'm sure I'll post on monday, so I'll let everyone know what we find out!

oh, lol, as you can see we got Max a potty this month. Just wanted him to get familar with it. Well, he decided he wanted to sit on it one day while I was blow drying my hair, and ever since, if asked to go potty, he RUNS to the bathroom all excited! He's gone on teh potty 3x all ready!! I can't believe it! We haven't done anything as far as training, just ask him if he wants to go potty several times a day and go goes and sits on it and picks out a book to look at! We look at books (he has a basket full next to the potty now) while he sits, and after 5-7mins he decides he's done. lol, but the 3x hes used the potty we praise him and give him treats (after hand washing of course lol) and he knows his potty gets dumped in the big potty and he loves to flush the toliet! So he's excited about it, and go super excited the other day when I bought him underwear lol, like he knew exactly what they were for. He opened the pack in the car and had them all in his lap and then was back there squealing and holding them up and going crazy! it was hilarious!! I wish I had a picture of him riding around w/ teh underwear in his lap and him holding it up to his head squealing!! Probably in a wk or so, i'll put them on him and see about getting him trained to know when he has to go. Wish us luck!

oh, haha, i keep forgetting stuff, the pic of Max w/ the green popsicle, was his first popsicle, and he loved it! they are made form fruit juice and slow melting, so great for kiddos! He didn't know it was going to be so cold though and stuck the thing in the mouth and then made the greatest face! it was great!

Wow... a magnitude 6.2...

2008-07-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

Well, as you may (or may not) guess (or hey, maybe you heard on the news, did you??) we had a earthquake here this afternoon. Thats the 2nd one (or at least the 2nd I felt and know of) we've experienced since arriving here. The first just felt like someone nudged the building. This one lasted longer and was very rumbly/vibrating. Very odd sensation. Wasn't really scary, though I did worry when it lasted longer than I expected. It's the worse I've ever experienced, but that doesn't say much. Eastern NC doesn't exactly have them regularly. Although there was one when I was in high school. Very minor, felt like a Mac truck drove by. This one mad the whole building shaking, the lights that hang above our counter/bar swaying and stuff vibrating enough that I hollered (not loudly or really alarmed) to move Max away from the glass cabinet full of glasses and such. It was actually rather funny, b/c when it first started, Max had literally just set foot on the ground, from getting off the couch, and b/c of the way it felt, my first thought was dang the boy is shaking the whole place lol, then i was like, oh, wow, maybe not! I just sat on the couch, lol, didn't even dawn on me to duck and cover or find a doorway.
So that was our excitement for the day. Last week was rather long. I can't remember what happened on Mon or Tues, but wedensday Max was throwing up and had a fever, so we made our weekly trip to Peds. Dr dismissed it all (his temp had dropped by then, it was 2hrs later), i was pretty perturbed about it. Wed was when most ppl around here got off for the 4th of July, and she was acting unconcerned and just wanted to get us in and out. Plus she made me feel like an idiot on some other stuff, and the King of All, she told me, Oh, by the way, i looked at Max's chest x-ray results and HE DIDN'T HAVE PNEUMONIA. ok, I was here the following wk after we had those done to get him checked out, yet you couldn't make a point to tell me this???? I spoke to another Ped and told him about it and he couldn't believe she retracted her diagnosis in the first place since she was the dr to examed him, heard his lungs and looked at the x-ray as soon as it was done. The radiologist just looked at it and thats it. He didn't see the patient or hear the patient or the symptoms. Yea, so we will not be seeing her again. She made me feel like an idiot b/c I asked her about the stomach virus i was told about by a Ped when Max had his diaper rash earlier in June, b/c that Ped told me that the virus that was going around, was making kids temporarily Lactose Intolerant, so we needed to switch him to Lactaid. We switched him to lactaid and he started getting better. We the dr (pringle, that made me mad) looked at me like i'd lost my mind and had no clue what i was talking about and said there was no such thing and that all stomach viruses are going to make kids sick to there stomach. ooookkk...
The reason I even asked her about it in the first place was b/c after his rash got better, and his BMs slowed down and got better (like 2wks later) i gave him 1 oz of reg milk, and the next day, we were back to poopmania again. So i was concerned he might still have problems w/ reg milk. She basically told me there was no way and if he was, there'd be other symptoms. like he'd have bloody poop, not just lots of loose poop. yeah....i spoke w/ the other dr (the one who originally told me about it) and he said that it is a possibility that he could be been in the process of becoming Lactose Intolerant and that bloody poop is a symptom of a Milk ALLERGY, not lactose intolerance. So Dr Pringle (to me) is the idiot. Not saying one dr is smarter than the other, but so far she's been striking out in my book, and his advice and diagnosis of whats been going on has been a lot more viable and normally on target. ahhhh..that vent made me feel lots better!
So, to continue on w/ our week. Even though Max wasn't feeling well (yet again, not that you could tell other than that he wouldn't eat), i needed some produce, so we still went to Jusco to check out there 99yen (basically $1) produce they have every wed. I was very impressed. We got a bunch (4 or 5) of bananas for 99yen, bag of grapefruits (like 6-7, i thought they were oranges..lol..can't read Japanese) for 99 yen and then some other snack stuff and baked goods for 99 yen. We didnt' know they had snacks, and fresh and packaged baked goods on sale too, so that was a nice surprise.
On thurs we went the Mona Kids Jungle again, Max seemed to be feeling better. Afterward though he started acting like he didn't feel good so we just hung out at home. Then thurs evening we needed to do a few things in town, so we ended up eating at Subway on base, and apparently, that was a bad idea. I was up all night and all morning w/ nausea and then throwing up, and then nauseous and horrible feeling all day friday. Thought i had what Max had on wed, until I found out Matt felt that same way, he just didn't throw up (lucky dog). So we figured it must have been food poisoning. Still not sure though b/c I'm hearing a lot of ppl have had something w/ the same symptoms lately. So could have been a virus. Jsut odd it hit us both at the same time. And of course since we felt horrible and worthless all day, Max felt great and was raring to go. So that was a LONG day. Needless to say we didn't really partake in any 4th of July festivities. We were going to go to a festival and then watch fireworks, but of course most of that didn't happen. However, we did figure out that we could watch the fireworks, launched at Kadena (about 10mins away) from our dining room. So Matt and I sat in there and watched in our Air Conditioned apt, not having to deal w/ othe rppl, mosquitos or traffic! So that part was great! And we had an encore on Sat night, b/c the festival was both days. Max of course was asleep for both. On Saturday we had to go to Kinser and get Matt and Max haircuts and get a few things. On Sunday Matt had duty, so Max and I brought him dinner in the evening. Yesterday matt had half the day off, Max went to daycare in the morning and then we had to do some grocery shopping. And then that brings us to today. Not much today. Did a lil shopping, had the earthquake and then went to a meeting for Young Marines.
So that's been our wk. Oh, and Ive decided I despise Walmart.com. They rip us off, so unless I have to purchase something there and I can site to store it and have someone pick it up and ship it to us, i'm giving up on em'. They've annoyed me way too much now. it's ridiculous what they charge military families living at APO/FPO addresses for shipping. They don't even actually ship it to us here... they ship the stuff to California and then the military takes it here adn it goes through the military postal system, so it's not like they are shipping to some far off place. Their minimum shipping charge seems to be almost $17. $17 to ship a couple of TODDLER shirts and shorts.... $17 to ship a potty that weighs 4.5lbs....$17 to ship ANYTHING, unless that is they can charge you more... like the stroller i was looking at..yea they want to charge me $60something for ship it. Babies R Us will only charge $30something. I found a better deal than both, so thats what I did, but it's ridiculous! Oh, and that potty, Target is only charging me $7 to ship it (same one, same price). Ridiculous. So me missing walmart is quickly dissapating.

so, this seems to be another one of those venting posts... sorry about that. Somehow it just seems to come out. I do want to say that we are doing well,other than a few bugs here and there and really enjoy being here. We miss everyone and can't wait to see everyone! Call us sometime or email us and let us know how you are doing!!

I'm not Ghetto, I'm creative!!!!

2008-06-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

So, let me start off by reminding everyone that I am pregnant. And for those who have been pregnant, you know that cravings, are well, quite hard to resist. And if you want something bad enough, you'll figure out a way to get it. In all honesty, this is not that creative of a moment, but I have to dispute my husband's claim that what I did was 'ghetto'.
So, this morning, i woke up w/ a craving for smores. no clue way, just had it. So when I went to the commissary this evening, I picked up all the good stuff so I could make some. Of course, some would question how I'm going to make smores. Am I going camping? am I going to build a bonfire on the balcony? obviously not that second one! And not the first either. Camping doesn't happen w/ me that much anymore. So, how am I going to make my masterpieces? I'm going to use my gas stove! It's an open flame, so it's perfect! If Matt had known that's what I was doing, he would have taken a picture, but he had no idea. He thinks that me making smores on the stove is hiliarious though. However, he didn't complain too much, since his mouth was full of smores!! Not much you can say when someone is nice enough to share their craving with you! He thinks this is one of those things for a scrapbook. Though he swears he will never forget it! So now I'm enjoying my smore, i only made 2 each, which I think is very good will for a preggo w/ a sweet tooth.
I've been putting off updating this, i just haven't felt like sitting down and messing with it. I know there is plenty to write about though. Like the fact that Max has pneumonia. Yep, he was diagnosed with it last wedensday. I had no clue or inkling that he would be diagnosed with that, i just thought his cold was back, He'd had one the later part of May. But apparently they think this is a complication of that cold. He was wheezing when the dr checked him out, so of course the barage of question about asthma and such insued. Dr thinks I may have had undiagnosed asthma when I was little, b/c I told her that I had asthmatic bronchitis once when I was two, and I typically got sick (bronchitis or upper resp. infection) around the same time every yr (in the fall, when the seasons change). Not so sure about this thought, and my mother doesn't agree, but i don't think it's really going to affect me or anyone else now. Anyway, the main reason I brought Max into Peds in the first place was b/c tues evening, out of the blue, he had a fever of 103.3. Of course I called the nurses line to see if he needed to go to the ER ( i couldnt seem to find the info about fevers and danger zones for his age). Dr said as long as he was hydrated and not lethargic, to bring him in to Peds in the morning. Well, they're definition of lethargic is a limp rag. Max wasn't a limp rag, but he was far from normal running around getting into everything Max. Matter of fact, he could barely keep his eyes open and just sat/laid w/ me on the couch for a long time. For those of you who don't know - Max is not much of a cuddler. He likes a hug and to be held for a moment if he's hurt, but that lasts about .03sec. So this was odd. But since he was a rag, we waited til the morning. Which was fine, he was fine all night and in the morning, but still had a high temp. The dr set him up for a breathing treatment b/c of the wheezing and then we were sent up for chest x-rays. He did so great w/ both things. You'd think it was an everyday occurence or at least something fun. he seemed to love the breathing treatment. X-ray he sat still and grinned/laughed the whole time. Thats the other issue w/ Max. He doesn't ACT sick, unless his temp gets really high. This whole time, you'd never guess he was sick. He runs, plays, gets into trouble, everything. One might think he had a slight cold b/c of his coughing and runny nose, but that'd be about it. So judging how he feels doesn't work so easily. The dr sent us home w/ antibiotics for 10days and an an inhaler thing to use. He had to have 4 puffs every 4 hrs for 24hrs, then 2 puffs every 4 hrs as needed. You'd think he'd really dislike this, esp since this one, has a mask that goes over this mouth and nose, but he seemed to love it and when he saw it, he'd immediatly calm down. Now, however, he's not so keen on it. Guess it's old news. Well, my biggest concern, other than the fact that Max had pneumonia and the dr didn't really act like it was worse than a cold (she said he could do whatever he wanted, just not to be around other kids while he had a fever), was that his temp kept going up and staying high and going up more, even after having doses of motrin AND tylenol (mot, 3 hrs later, tyle, 3 hrs later,mot). But his temp started going down and staying down around sat, it was in the 99's, but then sun and mon it was in the 100's (not above 101) again, so I was worried he was getting worse. Oh, and FYI, i have no idea of what wheezing sounds like. I've had it described to me, but i've yet to hear it in Max, so i was concerned i was missing stuff. When I brought him in to see the nurse mon, he was wheezing, so we did a breathing treatment and then she checked him 30mins later, and he'd stopped, and his O2 level had gone up. His lungs sounded better too. So he's doing a lot better i guess. like I said, it's hard for me to tell very well. His temp is still in the 100s, but I think it's from the tooth coming in. So that's been our biggest excitement.
Next up would be Max's new bed. great timing huh? When we ordered it, he wasn't sick, or at least we had no idea he was, more than a cold anyway. His bed was delivered on Fri. I LOVE the furniture store we bought it from. It's in town, not on base. The price of the bed and mattresses, was all we paid. They delivered it and assembled it and cleaned everythign up adn took the trash -- for no extra fees!!! and may I remind you, we live on the 4th floor w/ no elevator! These guys deserved fees! or at least a tip! But here you don't tip ppl. and it can/will offend ppl (some) if you offer it. I'm so used to the states where they charge you $50 to deliver something around the corner, and then they just barely put it inside your door, they won't even put it where you need it. and they are usually rude, rushed or act as though they deserve a tip. American businesses REALLY need to take some lessons from these businesses here. They do a great job b/c they should, and b/c they take pride in their work. The hospitality is just tremendous. Ppl go out of their way to help you. moving on though (i'll get off my soapbox!) Max's bed was setup fri, so his first time was that night. Luckily he was so tired, he didn't care where he slept. He really liked his bed though. we sat on it, played on it, etc. He wasn't too keen on naptime on sat though. He end up falling asleep behind his door. Naptimes still don't go as well as nighttime, but it's all getting better. He's getting up at the crack of dawn though. I really hope that goes away soon. i used to take a shower before he got up or before he was very much awake. now, when he's up, he's banging on his door to be set free. Before, he'd play in his crib. but I'm sure it'll all get worked out soon.
I guess the next thing is my car. We brought it in yesterday to get the oil changed, brakes checked, etc. Come to find out the shoes on the back had to be replaced. We knew the brakes had been replaced recently before we bought it, but they didn't specify, so we didn't know it was just the front ones. and they didn't clean them before they replaced the front ones, so that was a mess. So instead of having the few piddly things done yesterday, my car had to stay overnight and have abotu $400 worth of stuff done. Luckily we had access to another car the we could use. That way neither of us was w/o one.

I reckon thats about it for this time though. I'm ready for bed. Mornings come a lot earlier these days. I'll try to update earlier next time. Now to get all the smores crumbs off the desk....and my lap...

In a Glaxy Far Far Away...

2008-06-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

So, I wasn't expecting to be blogging again this soon. But, alas, our Saturday was quite eventful and humerous. Oh, and i guess first off, I should say, that Matt finally made it home Friday evening! Yay! He had to hop a cargo flight to get here, but all went well. Now he can add a C-5 to the list of aircraft he's rode on. Since he made it home Friday night, we were able to get to Young Marines on Saturday. We are starting to get into it a lil more, though it's difficult right now (they meet from 8am-2pm on sats, and the group is HuGe, and we dont' know anyone to babysit Max). We didn't go for long, I wasn't feeling very well (thank you morning sickness) and it had been raining all morning, so I knew all the kids would be inside, so keeping Max out of everyone's hair would be difficult. We decided not to go actually, but since we had to go get Matt's haircut, we decided to stop by and at least see what was going on and get word for coming events. The next event we have w/ them is Mess Night. It's this Friday evening and we are greatly looking forward to it. We are currently in search for a babysitter for Max, but we have a few ppl in mind. Hopefully all works out well so that we can attend. While we were at YM, one of the staff, who is also the FRO for Matt's unit, told us about a great restaraunt for us to try sometime. Well, it just so happened that Sat. evening was Parents Night Out. It's a great program that MCCS/CDC puts on the first sat of every month. It's 5.5hrs (5-1030pm) of free childcare at the CDC on each base so that parents can go out and have dinner and have an evening to hang out together. *This is another reason I wanted Matt home this weekend. It would have been a lonely evening having dinner by myself* So as we tried to decide what to do, this lil tidbit of info about the restaraunt - called Jack's Place - was duely noted. We decided to go bowling, we hadn't been since before Max was born and the only other thing we'd thought about doing was go to a movie, but nothing of interest was showing. So we went a bowled 2 games, I won one, Matt won the other. Afterwards, we decided it was time for dinner. So off we went to Kadena AFB to try out Jack's. It's a very nice place, w/ a lounge area, a Teppanyaki area (think Mushashis or Shogun where they cook in front of you), a dining room, and a outside area for eating, hanging out or dancing. We decided to go to the dining room. We were seated at a very nice table in a very nice room. Small, quaint, only 10-12 tables there. And there was a older Japanese gentleman playing on a keyboard. On our way in I saw a sign for a speical of Alaskan King Crab. Let me tell you, I have been wanting some crabmeat for so long! My parents fried up some a few days before we came out here, and I've wanted more since! So, I'm just so excited about the special. Until I see the price. It's $22.95. Whoa, I'm thinking, theres no way! Well, Matt convinced me to get it, said I deserved after this past week, plus he got per diem while in Iwakuni and didn't use that much while there. So We had extra money for a very nice evnening. Anyway, after seeing what I got for the money, it's actually a great price. My meal consisted of: soup, salad (large salad at that), rolls, 1lb crab legs, baked potatoe, veggies, compliementary glass of wine (Matt drank obviously), coffee of tea and dessert. So we thought i was very much worth the price. Anyway, on to our entertainment. Our FRO told us the karoke guy was great and funny, but i think he was in the Teppanyaki area. The gentleman we had, who we later learned also played Flute, sax and other things I'm sure, did a wonderful job playing his music. However, it was the songs that were a lil odd. Soon after we sat down, he played Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Then When You Wish Upon a Star. So we're sitting there thinking, wow, we'ren't expecting those. Then he plays more normal stuff, I Just called to Say I Love You, Dancing Queen. Well, a few mins after these two songs, the CO and 1st Sgt (and their wives) from the unit Matt was working w/ in Iwakuni come in. They rode on the cargo flight w/ Matt. So we start talking to them and go about our dinner. Until a new song comes up. Then we all look at each other, puzzled looks on our faces, and start laughing. The guy was playing Mary Had a Little Lamb. We couldn't believe it. We thought that was the best song he'd played yet. The played a few other things, but the final song we played, was the utmost best possible. The theme from Star Wars. I think we laughed all night about it. The CO started joking Matt about the entertainment here on Oki, but Matt reminded him we were at an Air Force base, not USMC. We just could not get over the entertainment. It was great.
After we left Jack's, we decided to see if the Ferris Wheel was running. It's a huge one, like one that is in CA somewhere. It's in American Village here (it's based of off a area in CA, I just can't remember where). It's on the 3rd floor, well, roof, of a building in the village. We can see it from our apt, and we live a good ways away. So, we get there and realize the 3rd floor (other than the ferris wheel) is a arcade type place. Matt and I have always been big on air hockey and always try to kick each others butt in it. I won all the time when I was preggo w/ Max - but of course it was an unfair game I'm told, it was 2 against 1. So we decided after the ride we'd play. The sign says its a 15min ride, and it is all of that. It seemed to go soooo slow. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it's a crock when you go to a carnival and ride one, and before you sit down it's at the bottom again, but jeez. I get a lil antsy being up there that high hanging from a few nuts and bolts. It was beautiful view, it was dark, but it was cool to see all the lights and you could see for quite a ways. Might have to get the nerve to go again during the day sometime. So after we got off, we played 2 games of air hockey, and we both won a game. But let me tell you, w/ this pregnancy I am off my mark. Bowling and air hockey has been my think, esp during my pregnancy w/ Max. This time though, I guess this baby isn't much for it. When we left there we went and picked Max up. Didn't want to have him there the whole time. 9pm was late enough. Well, we get there, and they are eating snack. That's the other thing, the provided snack AND supper for the kids! I'm not sure what they had for supper, but they had chocolate chip cookies for snack!!!!!! at 9pm!!!!! and that included Max, a pretoddler!!!!!!! I still can't get over that. He probably thought he was in heaven! He's never had a choc chip cookie in his life!
I'm not quite mad about it, just mostly surprised and somewhat annoyed at the thought of him eating cookies at 9 at night. I was very happy w/ the program though and I know Max enjoyed it. He was happy to see us though. Luckily, the cookies didn't do much for him. He was awake the whole way home, perky even, but after his bath, he went straight to bed. never heard a peep.
So that was our saturday. We thought it was quite funny and thoroughly enjoyed it. Max has his 15month check up this wk and then we have Mess night friday night, so I'm sure I'll have more to blog about soon! I hope all is well w/ everyone!!

What a week!

2008-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've updated so here goes!
This past wk has been pretty long. Matt left for Iwakuni on Monday, and was supposed to be back today, but there were no flights coming here today. So now we're just trying to figure out when exactly he'll be home. And of course no body can tell him anything about flights until 8pm the night prior. So not much time to figure anything else out. not that there is any other way really for him to get home, unless he wants to swim very very far. I told him if he doesn't make it by the wkend, he better start swimming. So, this wk, other than dealing w/ morning sickness, i've had very little sleep (i don't sleep well when he's gone, least not til he's gone for several days and I get used to it) and a toddler w/ a very bad diaper rash. We spend last evening from 6pm-9pm at the ER trying to get his bottom looked at and get meds for it. When we were finally seen the dr didn't even really look at it, so i wasn't thrilled and brought him to the Peds today to be looked at. Glad I did b/c apparently it's getting an infection, yeast they think. So the diaper cream the dr last night prescribed (which the pharmacy was out of) wouldn't have done much good. So now I have 2 creams to put on this is lil diaper time terror. But hopefully in a few days it'll be much better. Nothing else has worked different pullups, different cream, running around naked,etc), so i'm crossing my fingers.
We also have this AWESOME political race going right now in Okinawa, and b/c of this every day at all times of day, lil cars, buses and vans w/ speakers, drive around, numerous times around our apt, w/ the volume turned up as loud as possible, and talk about the candidates and such. Least I assume they are, since I don't understand much more than Konnichwa and Arigato (Good afternoon and Thank You). They always seem to know when Max's (and mine some days) nap times are, b/c they make a point to come around during that time. I was told that it should be ending soon. Man I so hope so. These ppl are sooooo annoying. Other than invading my space w/ their speakers, they drive extremely slow, and if you get stuck behind them, you better add another hr in your schedule, b/c you won't be getting anywhere any time soon.
Wow, this update is turning more into a vent huh? Like I said, it's been a long week.
So let me see, other non-venting things that have happened since the last post...
The dr at my first appt changed my due date (dec 28 from dec 19) b/c the baby was measuring 9 days smaller. Though, I think the baby is just small for it's age, b/c theres no way that i know of, that the baby could be that much younger...at least it doesn't make since to me.
So I have my next appt in a lil over a wk, and I get to see my dr from Cherry Point that I loved, so I'm very happy and excited. I'm going to talk to her about it and see if she'll do another ultrasound and see if we can't get this figured out. The dr at my first appt also wanted me to do the gestional diabetes test early on, since Max was such a hoss. She wanted to make sure diabetes didn't set in after the test or after he was born. So i had that test done last wk (yummy extra sugary drink and a blood draw, yay!)and I gotta call to find out my results. I would assume if it was bad they'd call me by now, but who knows. The really fun part is that I still have to do the test at the normal time too. So come Aug time frame I get to go again! YAY!
Max has started saying mama and dada mroe now, and though it's not always towards us, he seems to be linking those words to us more so. He's grown so much. When we measured him last he was 31.5 inches tall and 26.5lbs. I need to measure him again though, b/c the PJs I put on him yesterday were all the sudden too short. We're going to be getting his big boy bed sometime this month. It's been raining here a lot this wk. Today it's finally sunny, though earlier, the bottom dropped out anyway. It is the rainy season here though, so I guess we better get used to it. It's gotten a lot warmer and a ton more humid. The other day on base, at 11-12 it was already a black flag (means no out door activity b/c it's too hot). We're still waiting on our vonage phone to get here, and when we do we'll get the number out to everyone. Well, thats all I have for now, the only other things I can think of are venting things, lol. I'll try to update more!

We finally have internet!!!

2008-05-15T03:58:00.001-07:00

Finally, today the phone/internet people came and installed our internet today!! Yay!! But everything wasn't just peachy, b/c after they left, i couldn't get online. So i had to call the company we went through and spend about 45mins on the phone w/them trying to figure it all out. This whole process would be much easier if the things you had to do online were in English...
However, it's all in Kanji and though I've taken some Japanese, Kanji is a different animal. Kanji is the symbols they use to write in. I just learned some words (written out just like this) and how to put a few sentences together. Either way, it's finally working. Of course, since it's working, now our phone (through the internet) is not. We can't figure out what the matter is, and it's after office hours. It worked earlier in the evening, before we messed with stuff trying to set up the wireless router. We've tried puttings things back the way they were, but alas, that didn't work. So no phone calls stateside, or here for that matter, tonight.
So on to an update
Well, as many of you have heard, I'm pregnant w/ our second child. The baby is due around Dec 19ish. I have my first dr's appt next friday and we'll have an ultrasound then as well, so we're pretty excited. I'm too early to find out gender, that probably won't happen til around Aug or so, b/c thats when the next regularly scheduled ultrasound will be (around 20-22wks preggo). So with this pregnancy comes fatigue and nausea, though it seems to be worse this time. I'm not sure if thats b/c i don't have to good meds that I had last time (they gave me the good stuff right from the get go), and this time i only have vitamin b6 and phenergan (for the time being), or if it's worse b/c i'm also chasing around a lil munchkin or if it's just plain out worse.
Matthew is doing well, taking on a lot of stuff around the house when I get really nauseous. He's been great about cooking and doing dishes and such. He's busy with work, he has quite a large unit out here. Much larger than his previous. Theres another career planner w/ him though, so thats nice. It's just a matter of figuring out whose doing what.
Max is doing great too. He's getting so big! Gets into everything these days. He's learned to climb on the coffee table, couch, some chairs and the ottoman that goes w/ my glider (which of course glides too), so we're constantly after him to get off something or to be careful. He's also gotten very infatuated with pushing buttons. Primarily on the TV, reciever and CD player. He gets in trouble several times a day messing with those. But he's sooo stubborn!!! Which, yes, I know he got honestly, from his dad and myself. Poor guy didn't have a chance w/ that trait! He has 11 or 12 teeth now. I'm losing count. I know he has at least 3 molars now and 8 teeth in the front, but another could have popped up in back recently.
I'm currently uploading pics to the web, so I'll be emailing out the link when I'm finished so everyone can see what we've been up to and see our apt, cars, etc.
We've started helping out with a Young Marine unit out here now, intermittenly that is. We joined the Foster YM's, but haven't been to too many meetings yet. Last wk they went ice skating (yea, here in Okinawa!) and we figured since im preggo I probably shouldn't (though i wanted to!) so we just stayed home. We go the meetings that we can (when I'm not feeling awful and something else isn't going on). It's nothing like Havelock though. Just isn't the same. They meet on sat from 8am-2pm, so it's a lot longer meeting, and hard to do w/ Max. The unit is a lot bigger than what we're used to, but the kids and the staff all seem to be great and hard working. The CO is a Sgt, so thats a lil odd, but hey, thats the staff they have. They are working hard to get the unit to where it needs to be.
So last wk was a big wk for us. With Matt's mom's birthday, my birthday and then Mothers Day. Matt and Max got me a spa pedicure (which was awesome!!!) from the lil spa on base. I've never had a pedicure of anykind, so the whole experience was new. I felt so pampered afterward! lol, some won't believe this, but i have flowers painted on my toes. yeah, me, w/ pinky/burgundy nail polish and lil white flowers. i can't believe it myself. I even took a few pics to prove it. I'll try and get them posted next time I'm up here. I also got a big chocolate heart w/ candies inside it for Mothers day (yeah, just what I need). We went to church Sunday at the contemporary service on Futemna again. We tried a Church of Christ service the sunday prior, went to the building and room in the Chapel pamphlet, at the said time, but there was no one there. not even a preacher. So we left and went to Shuri Castle (historical landmark/tourist attraction) and toured it and then went to Babies R Us and Toys R Us in Naha (both are SOOOOO EXPENSIVE!!!). Anyway, we like the contemporary service and Max seems to enjoy the nursery. Everyone there is very nice and friendly. Both times we've been though, the reg preacher hasn't done a sermon. THe first time we went it was another member (and it was on Evoluion...lol it was kinda odd, but a good sermon. They guy is a science teacher and basically told us way evolution doesn't hold up, etc) and this past sunday the preachers wife did the sermon. And all the mommies got roses : ) So I got to feel all special again. Except, when we have coffee and cookies afterward, we forgot my rose in the fellowship hall : (
Well, i think I've written quite a bit, Matt has even asked me if i'm writing a novel, so i think it's time to put an end to this. I'm going to try and get some more pics uploaded, as well as get some up here tomorrow. I hope all is well w/ everyone and that this satisfies Some people (Sheila!! Do ya miss me yet?) in their longing for an update. : ) : )

2008-04-17T03:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
Don't have much time to update, but I did want to least let everyone know we're alive and kickin'
we still don't have internet set up at the apt yet, the waiting list is long. Hopefully next wk we'll get the call to set up the appt time for installation. That's when it's SUPPOSED to happen anyway. We're doing well, trying to get stuff put away and get settled in. We've been here a month so far, so only 35 more to go! We're enjoying it though. It's so much more laid back here then in the states. Found out shipping, at least from walmart doesn't take long at all. they shipped the rug I ordered for Max's room last wk and we got it yesterday. I'm very impressed. Looks like I'll be checking out other stuff on their website more often now when we need something. We got my car on monday and it's soooo nice to have my own vehicle now. I have the freedom to go more places and get out more. Plus i don't have to worry about taking Matt to work if I have something going on. I have Japanese language classes next wk that I signed up for, 4 days out of the wk. That would have sucked to have to get up at 530am everyday to take matt to work. Oh for those who don't know, my car looks like a squashed van. it's a Toyota Ipsum. A 96' i believe. Sits up to 7 or 8 ppl. and the rear seat folds flat, which is wear it stays. We just didn't have much room in the Cube (which is now Matt's vehicle), so this works so much better. Once the stroller was in teh cube, the wasn't much rm for groceries and such. It's much more roomy. Both vehicles get great gas mileage. about 35-40mpg I think. Can't remember exactly. It's hard to remember stuff like that b/c you have to figure it out first which means converting everything from kilometers or liters or whatever measurement you're trying to do, to what we're used to. plus, the car goes in Kilometers, measures in liters, but on base, the gas station is gallons, just like the states. out in town gas is sold by the liter i believe (we never get it there, it's more expensive). Well, like i said gotta keep this short. I'll update again soon. Hopefully we'll have internet then and I can post pics. Hope all is well back home. We miss everyone!!

more pictures

2008-03-21T18:55:00.001-07:00

most people pay their bills at various gas stations like Lawsons. Everything from rent, cellphones, electric to gas, water, etc

a few of the cars here..we're actually looking for something like the middle one

these funky looking trees are everywhere. They look kinda like pines from a distance, but they don't have needles...

pictures from Oki

2008-03-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, finally got the internet to work on Matt's computer here at the temporary lodging. I'll write some later, now i'm just going to start to add some pics from our flights here up til today (friday 21st)
Max's first taste of Milk

Our funky looking kitchen faucet

Matt in his pickle suit the morning he had to check in. Max kept going after his shiny shoes...

Funky tree outside of the lodging and a pretty flower

the way Max sat when the lil table was down. He also ate this way w/ his feet on the table...

can you tell we're pretty tired here?

Live from Okinawa.....

2008-03-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well, We made it. We finally arrived yesterday around 430pm Pac time. We didn't get to our temp lodging til about 630-645 though. Took forever to get all of our luggage. All of ours flights went well. Only the last leg of the journey (Seattle to Oki) was delayed. we were 1/2hr delayed in Seattle for Maintenace ( i really wish they'd just say delayed and be done w/ it...don't tell me it's because you have to FIX something...) and then we had a crew change on mainland Japan, at Yakota Air Force Base. We sat there for about an hr and a half and then got on the plane (which was soooo unorganized) and then sat for another 30-45mins b/c the mechanic had to do something (again.. i wish they wouldn't tell us that...). The air forcec personnel there were soo disorganized!! Max did phenomenal on all the flights. He slept for most of the time from Seattle to Oki. He was a lil fussier on it since he was so tired, but he was great. Didn't have to get up and walk him around or anything. he sat content in his car seat. I walked around w/ him towards the end of the longest flight mostly to stretch my legs and Do something else. We slept pretty good last night. Everyone told us we'd probably wake up after an hr or so and be wide awake, but i slept from about 945pm-410am and only woke then b/c max woke up a lil. then we slept til about 6-630, were awoken by a very loud lil bird in our window (we had the window open to the screen... they don't seem to have the AC on for some reason...) and then finally got up about 730. We had a lot of excitement before going to bed last night though. After we got settled in and max went down to bed, Matthew walked over to the 7 day store and I fell asleep waiting for him. About 5-10mins after I fell asleep, a fire alarm went off in the building. It's not just a fire alarm either, they make an announcement saying that it's going off, evacaute, etc. then it came back on a min or two later saying where the fire supposedly is (it's on our floor, go figure) and to get out NOW. I grabbed Max the first time, walked out our door, saw some kids around the fire alarm and figured it was them. the alarm had stopped briefly, so i started to put max back down then it went off again (saying to get out now) and grabbed him, grabbed my ID and went outside (barefoot and in pj's..what fun...) I'm still half asleep with all this. i'm awake by the time we get down the stairs and then worry about Matt. I have no clue if he'd be back yet or if he'd go up looking for us. I walk around the building looking, and fianlly find him. He'd gottenback just in time to here the alarm and had gone up to find us. scared the mess out of me. The fire was apparently a false alarm. we could smell something burning,but it smelled like someone burnt something in the microwave or something. The fire trucks pulled up and one went in back, then we knew the front one left.. so we all went back in like 10 mins after we were evacuated. What a first night huh! This morning has just been breakfast and a bath for Max so far. I gotta go get ready now. The people who picked us up last night are taking us to the commissary so we can get some essentials. I have no clue whats up after that. Hope all is well w/ everyone else. take care and hopefully next time i post, i can post a few pics.

Last post from Home

2008-03-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can tell, this is going to be the last post I do from home. If i get a chance to in Charlotte or Seattle, I'll post again, but if not, I'll post from Okinawa as soon as I get a chance. We've been quite busy the last few weeks. Been trying to get around the see everyone. We've also had Max's birthday party (Mar 1) His birthday is today. I can't believe he's already 1 yr old! His birthday party was great! It was awesome to be able to have so many of our friends and family members there. We had dinner w/ are good friends the Selfs which we thoroughly enjoyed. We went to the aquarium one day and Max had a blast. He particularly liked the touch tank w/ the stingrays. Our's friends had their baby boy on the 4th, Jarrett. He's such a cute. We're so glad we were able to meet him and spend some time w/ them before we left. We've made are whirlwind tour of family and friends from Vanceboro to Blounts Creek to Havelock and New Bern. We're going to miss everyone so much and can't wait to see them all again. We're hoping to get back this way around this time next year, but we'll just have to play it by ear for now. Hope everyone is well and Take care to all. I'll try and post again later.

16 days to go

2008-02-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't say I've been getting much better at blogging so far. I promise I'll try and do better once we get to Oki and settled in. I can't believe we only have a lil over 2wks before we leave. Time has flown by and creeped by at the same time. There are days we wish we were already leaving b/c being in limbo for so long is very frustrating and all these goodbyes are hard to do. We spent most of this past wkend in Blounts Creek. We went to my dad's house after we left Young Marines saturday afternoon and visited w/ him and my step mom. We also got to go see my great grandmother as well as my grandmother and grandfather. We had a good time. It was nice to be able to go down there w/o having to feel hurried to get somewhere else. We stayed the night there and got up to go to church at my other grandmothers church w/ her and my mom. We really enjoy going to church there, it's just so far away for us to drive. Although i do know some who drive about the same distance for there church. I guess it's not that great of an excuse. We are planning on starting to go to church once we get to Oki. I know it won't be the same as my grandmother's lil church, but I hope it's as welcoming. After church we had lunch at my grandmothers and visited for a while. Today, I actually have no plans. Its amazing. Lately it seems there is something almost everyday that we have to go do. It's nice to be able to just sit here at home and get laundry and such done at my leisure. I know it's a lot better on Max too since he's able to get his naps in. Speaking of, that lil stinker is learning how to climb out of his bed!! He was almost all the way out of the pack and play at my dads on saturday and on friday he was trying to climb out of his crib here. I've started putting sleepers w/ feet back on them so he can't get any traction on the wood. We've also started putting pillows around his crib. I just know he's still going to figure it out and fall. And because I'm talking about him, he's decided to get up from his nap. So off I go. I'll have to update more later.

2008-01-29T06:53:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy getting ready for our big move. We have a shipment going out next wk and then another one on Mar 3. We found out that we leave on Mar 12 from New Bern. Matthew and I have been packing and organizing (or at least trying to) so everything gets shipped when it needs to. We're supposed to have our housing within 30 days of our arrival, so not too long of a wait. We were expecting up to 3 months like it said on the housing website. Max is getting into everything as usual. He cruises around room to room in search of the next great thing to explore. His big thing these days is dropping his toys and pacifier into a penny jar that is nearly as big as him! He finds it so entertaining! As I type this, it's full of blocks and other toys. He has 7 teeth now, 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. He had a lil bit of a cold last wk, which was passed and me and mom of course. He's been a real trooper. I ended up going to the urgent care on base last wed for pain in the abdomen and after several hrs (2.5hrs just to drawl bld for tests (i was dehydrated) -- once in my foot!!! ouch!)I was transported via ambulance to Craven Regional where I had a laproscopic appendectomy about 930 that evening. They discharged me about 630 Thursday evening and we finally got home about 830pm. So now i have 3 (more) incisions/scars to match from my first laproscopy. But at least they could do it that way instead of the old fashioned 5 inch incision up and down my stomach. I'll take the 3 sm ones any day. Charles took me to the urgent care on wed and of course Max was with us, but when Matt got there and my mom got off work she and charles took my car and Max home and they took care of him that night and all day thurs. He had to go on formula while I was in the hospital but he took it just fine and now we're back on track. Nice to know he'll take formula though if need be. Anyway, I wasn't allowed to pick Max up for a wk, which was quite hard. I still have some soreness and pain but I'm definitely feeling a lot better than I was. Max had his first haircut on the 24th. He did great too! He was mostly getting very serious and curious looks on his face trying to figure out what was going on, what that sound was, feeling was, etc. He didn't have a lot to cut and it really could have waited longer, but his hair was hanging over his ears so bad and was starting to look a lil scruffy we decided to go ahead and get it done. We took him to the barbershop here on Harkers Island and Mr Paul did a great job, we could tell his done it a time or two. Max even got a certificate for "Graduation to Manhood" for "bravely and cheerfully submitting to the clippers and shears during his first haircut" signed and dated by the barber. So that and some of the trimmings will go into his scrapbook. We took my mom to Cow Cafe on saturday to show her where Max's party would be. Actually, Matt hadn't been there either, so they were both in the dark. They both really like it though. I think it'll work great there. Afterward, Matt, Max, & I headed to Vanceboro to see Matt's parents and sister. We spend the afternoon and early evening there hanging out. We had a great time, Max got some new toys and stuff that he really liked. On Sunday Max, My mom, & I went shopping in Jacksonville. I needed to go to the two party supplies store down there to find a few things for his upcoming birthday party. Unfortunately the store in Morehead City doesn't have the stuff in yet and New Bern doesn't carry it. So I've had to order part of the stuff and get the rest in Swansboro and Jackonsonville. We did some other shopping as well and had a great time.

Touchdown!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-12-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, It's been over a month since I've updated. Time has gotten away from me. We have been so busy lately, I feel as if I've barely had a chance to keep up w/ anything or anyone. We had the moving company come to our house Nov 26 to pack up most everything to put into permenant storage for while we are in Okinawa. That wasn't as much of a nightmare as we'd initially thought it would be. I hope all our moves (at least the packing and movers) go as well and as easy. After we had everything packed up for perm storage, we had to finish taking everything else to our temp storage unit or to my mom's where we are staying til we leave for Oki. Then it was time to do the most dreaded - cleaning everything in the house, including getting the carpets cleaned. I think our house was cleaner when we left it then when we got it. Which is sad, considering it was brand new construction, just for us. Whoever the cleaning company was they hired, did a bad job. But oh well, I feel good knowing that the couple and there 2.5 yr old daughter are moving into a house that is nice and clean for their fresh start here. I know I would want the same. We started staying here in Harkers Island, NC w/ my parents the evening after we closed on the house. Things are going very well here. A lot of people questioned how odd or difficult it would be to live w/ your parents again. It's great. It's a whole different dynamic now. My parents do their thing, we do ours. We do things together to some, but there really arent any set requirements, other that to clean up after yourself. We have the whole upstairs to ourselves, w/ our own rooms and bathroom. It's very nice and I'm so glad we get all this time to spend w/ them before we leave. I know in a way it will make it that much more difficult, but I will cherish these last few months here. I wish we could do the same w/ Matt's parents and my dad and Jo, as well as the rest of the family.

Wow....it's been well over a month since i've had a chance to update this. I promise i'll try and do better when we get to Oki. A lot has happened since i started this post. Christmas, which was great. Max got tons and tons of stuff. Had to actually take a few things back, some b/c he already had them or I knew he'd out grown them before we left. Which I hate to do b/c i don't want to hurt anyones feelings, but theres no use in having it just sit around and collect dust. We exchanged them for items he needed or items that we knew he'd play w/ for a while. Max got an Urlacher (Chicago Bears) Jersey from us, as well as some books and smaller toys. He also got an Inchworm that you can scoot on or bounce on to move. He got some clothes, some neat toys like a tool box w/ shapes you hammer in the corresponding holes, and soo much more. I can't even remember everything he received. It was a fun yet sad time, knowing that we'd be leaving in a matter of a few months. Max now has 7 teeth. He got his two top front teeth the wk following christmas. He claps, blows raspberries (it's a game between us actually, we do it back and forth), throws his arms up and yells (which translates to 'touchdown!!!), and waves. He's learned so much lately. He's also learned to drop cherrios and other food off the high chair or walker for the dogs....which isn't so great when we're out to eat...and theres no dogs...

Anyway, we had a great new years. we spend new years eve shopping in Greenville w/ our friend's the Jenkins and Andersons and then spent the night at the Jenkins.

Matt got his promotion to SSgt on the 1st and was pinned on the first day back from their holiday, which was Jan 3. Max and I were both able to be there and I was able to pin him! It's the first one i've been able to go to. We have a lot going on now. We are trying to get everything straight for the movers/packers to take all of our Household Goods for the slow boat shipment. We have to make sure everything is seperated and doesn't get sent at the wrong time. That shipment goes at the end of this month and our express shipment goes at the beginning of March. We found out our flight schedule, we leave the day after Max's birthday. Because of when we're leaving and when the shipments are scheduled, we'll be having Max's birthday party about 10days early. I'm currently working on getting it all put together. I hope it turns out well.

Been a While

2007-10-29T18:00:00.001-07:00

We have been so busy lately and I have been sooo slack with this. A lot has happened since my last post. First off, the almost best news - - - - - - Matt was selected for Staff Sergeant!!! We are sooo happy and excited!!!! It sounds like he'll pin on in January, and I can't wait!! It'll be so nice to have the extra money with the big move and everything coming up. Max had his pictures taken earlier this month. That went great!!! I'm so glad my good friend Sheila was with me. I seriously doubt we would have as many awesome pictures if not for her help. It was so hard to choose!! I had to pick 7 poses from 134!!! Usually they only take 30-40pics, but Max is such a ham and just did such a great job, so snapping so many pictures seemed more like fun than a job to the photographers. It was so funny watching two grown guys laying on the floor or jumping around making all kinds of noise! They were the best! Sheila and I also got to do some shopping and have a great lunch at Olive Garden that day (we need more of those by the way...) We've also had a few sicks days as well. Luckily not too many or too bad. My sister-in-law, grandmother, & dad's birthday were just recently as well. As well as my late grandaddy's. I always think a lot of him around this time of year, between his birthday and so many other family holidays. We had the NC Regiment Young Marine ball this past month as well. That was a blast! Our kids closed out the dance floor! They danced the WHOLE time!! You can tell we PT them alot!! Such Stamina!! Our kids are such a great bunch and we are going to miss them so much! Matt, Max, & I as well as our friends Lee & Sheila and their family (and about 40 other ppl) did a 5k for Breast Cancer on Saturday morning. We were a lil soggy afterwards, but not so much from the rain. The rain pretty much stopped in time for it, had a few sprinkles here and there. However, our friend Katy and I got into a splashing contest. So we splashed each other (and Sheila) at every puddle we could find! At the end when Sheila joined in, we were at a miniture Lake of water and I pulled her into it (and of course she reciprocated lol). Unfortunately a picture was taken of our silliness, so we are awaiting the newspaper on Thursday to see if it is in there. Not sure how pretty of a picture thats going to be! lol But it was great fun. Not too often we get to just break down and be silly. We got somewhat of a better idea of where we will be at in Okinawa when we go. And speaking of going to Okinawa, we've had our house up for sale for not quite a month and a half and have received 2 offers (this is the best news)!! The first we found out about saturday evening (and we accepted) and then today I got a call from out agent saying that she got another yesterday evening (but it was lower than the other)! I am just ecstatic! Didn't take long at all!! We signed the paperwork sunday morning and now it's just a matter of time and the buyers getting all there stuff done. Hopefully all goes without any problems. Oh! and I almost forgot! Max has his first hayride last week! My mom, Max , & I took my grandmother to Mike's Farm in Richlands/Beaulaville and out to eat for her birthday. The weather wasn't the greatest, but the rain let up enough for the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Max and I both got pumpkins and then we rode back, had a snack at the bakery, Max's great grandma bought him a shirt and we headed out. It was lot of fun and I know my grandmother really enjoyed it. Well, better sign off here. With accepting the offer on sunday, we agreed to closing on the house in of Nov, which means we have like a month to pack up and figure out what goes where and when, etc. So much to do!!

Legs of Jello

2007-10-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

That would be the best way to describe how I feel after my Mom's With Wheels class. This was day 2 of the class and I know I'll sleep well tonight (I just hope Max does!). I really enjoy it so far, but man oh man, it's very difficult at times! It's a post-pregnancy class to help us mommies get back into a shape (other than round apparently). I wish I'd seen the advertisment for the class earlier on, so I could have started to get back in shape a lil earlier. My friend and I did start walking together every (well most)mornings about a month ago. And Matthew and I would go on walks at the park every now and again (he'd usually not want to go w/ me after work since he'd already done his PT and would be tired). So I have done some stuff, but not nearly enough it seems. I had to get my measurements done today. Figured that would be a nice smack in the face first thing in the morning. I'm not sitting too badly though. According to them. I do have some owrk to do though. Just hope I can keep this up after the class ends. We're supposed to wear a pedometer all the time and try to achieve 10,000 steps a day (equals about 3 miles). Yesterday was rather laid back for Max and I, but i did do a lil shopping. I had about 6,000 for the day. Yea, today, I had 6,000 by about 1pm. Over 5,000 by the time I'd left the class (1115am).
I'd really like to start riding my bike everyday, but we have to get a bike trailer first, unless I strap Max to the handlebars : ) I don't think he'd that too much though.
It would have been so nice to start all this stuff earlier. Than, looking for Ball gowns for the Young Marine ball and our USMC ball, wouldn't be so discouraging and difficult. I spent yesterday afternoon looking in New Bern, and I think this afternoon will be spend in Jacksonville trying to hunt something down to wear. Speaking of, I should get a move on it, I'm burning daylight just typing away on here.
Oh! And a big ole' Welcome Home to our friend who returned yesterday and Happy Birthday to his wife and a great friend of mine!

New to this, Bear with Me

2007-10-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, this is something new for me. I have a few friends who blog regularly and thought it would be a great way to update family and friends now and while our family is stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 3yrs. I'll *try* to keep this up and as regular as possible, but life is quite busy for us, and it's things like these that will fall through th cracks.

To start off, for those who don't know, we currently have our house up for sale (so those near-by put the word out to any incoming personnel or anyone else who'll listen). Which is just loads of fun. Mind you, I don't let my house become a pigsty, but having to keep it up to the level of cleanliness and lack of clutter - when you have a 6month old who crawls, stands and plays with EVERYTHING, is very difficult and annoying. I sooo hope this house sells quick. It's been shown 3-4 times already and another real estate agent came alone to check it out, and it's only been on the market for 2weeks now. So far, it's been shown when we were out of town or gone for the wkend, so I haven't had to deal with someone wanting to see it in like 20mins or something (thank goodness!). We just returned from vacation in the OBX last sunday, and had a wkend long Regimental encampment with the Young Marines this past wkend, plus everything we had going on during the wk last week. So needless to say, we haven't really had much chance to do alot around here.
This past weekend was spent at the encampment at Camp Bonner Boy Scout camp, in Blounts Creek, NC. Most people have absolutely no clue where this is. I, on the other hand, have spent many a summer there as well as tons of holidays, sundays, etc. Most of my family lives in this little town. Not really sure if town is the right word though. Theres a gas station...the camp...a creek...ummm thats about it. It's out in the boondocks. Needless to say, my husband and I had to lead everyone to and from the camp. I actually didn't stay at the camp overnight, nor did I get to be there much of the time. I really enjoyed the time I was there though. My son & I stayed at my dad's house each night a most of the day saturday. Luckily, my dad and stepmom were able to watch Max for me so I could get out to the camp part of the day saturday and sunday morning. Our Young Marines had a blast. They were able to do a lot of stuff - archery, shooting (bb guns on a range), canoeing, swimming, crafts, & some nature stuff. A few of the older kids also go to climb a 35ft tower and repel down the other side and do a low ropes course. On Sunday we had the Colorguard & Drill competetion between the 6 units. Our unit earned 2nd place in both Colorguard and Drill!!! We are so proud of them! My husband & I are really going to miss the kids and staff of our unit. We may help out with a unit in Okinawa, but I doubt they'll be as great and that the staff and kids will have such a great relationship with each other.

As far as family news, as most people have probably heard by now, Max is around 21lbs and is 28inches long. He's a big guy. Our lil linebacker. Lately he's just learning to do so much! Just during our wk of vacation he started crawling better, pulling himself up to stand and sit himself up. Plus his first tooth broke through! Everyday he gets better and better at everything. He's so fast too! I can't believe he'll be 7months in a wk! Oh, and now Max has two new lil cousins! MacKenzie and Lawson (born 3 days apart to my cousin and to my aunt)! We're so excited that they are here and doing so well. We can't wait to meet Lawson. Matthew and I are busy with the house, getting stuff done for Okinawa (passports, etc) and so much else that we end up doing. We had a great visit last wk from Matthew's Grandma, Aunt, and Cousin who live in Iowa. It was the first time they met Max (hope they weren't expecting a lil baby!). We really enjoyed seeing them. We are all doing well though. So far *knock on wood* we haven't caught the bug going around thats making everyone sick. Well, now I have a ton to do today, as usual it seems, so I better scoot!