One Hectic Week

The week started out mellow with Steven having Monday off. I'm glad we had a day to relax because Tuesday was hectic. I had a 9am appointment at Dankook University Hospital for the second part of my allergy screen. It was the intradermal test so a small amount of allergen is injected into the skin. The doctor used the sensitive part of my inner arm as his pin cushion. The first one didn't hurt and I felt silly for being so nervous about the test. The second stick hurt but I thought maybe he had stuck the needle in an extra sensitive area. The third one was so freaking painful! It was like acid was being injected into me. Within seconds of the third allergen being injected I was extremely nauseous and dizzy. The nurse escorted me to the bathroom. I almost made it but got too dizzy and sat on the floor. My hearing faded and I was just a horrible dizzy nauseous mess. The nurse helped me into a wheel chair and took me to something called the Injection Room which was just a room full of beds so that I could lay down.

After about 10 minutes I started feeling a little better. The doctor came in and checked my injection sites. The first was normal, the second was a slightly irritated but the third was raised, red, and painful. It was obvious that I was allergic to whatever the third injection was. I was told to make an appointment with my TMC on base to get the results of the screen. The doctor tried to explain the results but the language barrier made it difficult for him to explain and me to understand. On the drive home Steven and I made an agreement. If he got me Starbucks I would give him the car on Wednesday :) That night we had an FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting, it was low key but I got to hang out with Pagi.

Bananas!

Wednesday was somehow even more hectic than Tuesday. The first half of the day started out well. Pagi picked up Avery and I for bowling and I bowled a little better than last week. Afterwards we walked through the Ville to La Pasta for Lunch with the Ladies. On the walk I noticed my truck parked off in a dirt lot. I bet Pagi that Steven would be at Chicago's (a restaurant), I called him and sure enough that's where he was having lunch with a few guys he works with. We hung with them for a bit until it was time for our lunch.  La Pasta was good but Avery was ready for a nap.

Little thief took my roll

Pagi and I decided to leave. Turns out the base was shut down for an exercise so we were locked out. Pagi's Jeep was on base and the taxi drivers were on strike that day so we were screwed. There were about 20 other people camped out at the gate waiting to be let in. We waited in the heat for an hour before a friend spotted us and offered us a ride. Pagi and I hung out at my house until the gates re-opened and we could go get her Jeep. Steven and Avery had daddy daughter time while I went on base.

  

Friday, I somehow managed to make it to the end of the week. I took Steven to work that day so I could have the truck. I picked up Pagi and we went to AK Plaza (a mall/train station) to buy tickets for Prometheus. Afterwards we went to Osan and had Chilis then went to their BX and tried on a bunch of clothes and shoes. We both feel rushed by our husbands when it comes to browsing so it was refreshing to take our time. That night Steven and Widener went to the movies while I stayed home with Avery.

Feeding herself sweet potatoes

Avery decided to make this already hectic week even tougher by getting up and staying up at 3am several nights in a row. I'm not sure why she thinks 3am is play/talk/high pitched giggle squeal but hopefully it ends soon. She still wakes up every 1-2 hours at night so its pretty difficult to function lately. Steven managed to set up shelves and completely organize his Army/Airsoft room while I managed to accomplish basically nothing in that same amount of time. Needless to say I felt pretty crappy about myself. Hopefully when I start getting more sleep I'll start being more useful. Either way I need a vacation!

The week ended on a sour note unfortunately. Steven had CQ, we left the house at 6am so that he could get a 'good floor'. I would normally be upset about being up that early on a Sunday but we'd been up for quite a while thanks to Avery. I went back on a base a few hours later to do laundry and take Steven dinner, evil demon Avery emerged shortly after that. She that she would spend the next 7 hours screaming/fussing/crying instead of taking her usual naps and going to bed at a reasonable hour. By 11pm I was ready to rip my hair out but I finally managed to get her settled and asleep. I don't know what her problem was (maybe the yogurt she had upset her tummy??) I hope she behaves the rest of the night as I will be getting up bright and early to pick up Steven at 7am. I am one tired momma these days!

Avery Quinn - 24 weeks

Father's Day

This week was full of ups and downs. On Monday Steven took a fellow 15T and his family to the airport. That guy is always driving to the airport haha.

Wednesday was just awful :( Steven was kind enough to take Avery for me so that I could catch up on my sleep but my alarm went off 3 minutes later. During bowling Avery got woken up by some super loud kids so I ended bowling about 45 points lower than usual.

After bowling I was supposed to meet a woman (who had already blown me off the day before) to give her baby clothes. She went to Osan instead of Humphreys so I stood out in the heat waiting for her while Steven was inside the restaurant waiting for me. I had my first allergy appointment at Dankook University Hospital (a Korean hospital), its a bit of a drive so Steven stopped at a shoppette so that I could use the restroom before we left. The restroom was occupied so when the woman came out I apologized for trying to open the door while she was in there. She looked me up and down then apologized for keeping a pregnant woman from using the restroom...I thought I looked good for having a baby 5 months ago but apparently not. By the time we got to Dankook I was pretty grumpy, having to get my blood drawn did not help. The nurse took FOREVER to switch out the 5 vials. I also have to go back next week to get the intradermal test down (hooray more needles). On the way home Steven stopped at a Family Mart and got me ice cream, it completely turned my day around :D

Happy Thursday - My husband rocks

Steven had the day off on Friday. Avery and I went to Mommy & Me workout. Afterwards we picked up Alison and Alex (Widener), we went to an air soft shop, Osan and then to their house so the boys could tinker with Alex's new GoPro. Steven and I had been planning and adult dinner so as I put Avery to bed Steven went and got Pagi. She babysat for us while we went out on a date to a beef & leaf place (Korean BBQ). Avery slept through the night. It was an amazing evening!

My two favorite people

Hanging out with Pagi

Saturday morning I dropped Steven off at Alex's house and they left for their air soft tournie. Avery and I sent grocery shopping for a Father's Day meal.

Sunday started off a bit rough. Sterling scratched open a new bag of beef jerky and scattered the pieces all over the house. When I went to put Avery down for a nap Sterling then got into my food and scattered that all over the house. He topped it off by eating my flowers (I imagine his stomach hurt) and threw them up on the carpet... Avery and I went on base to do laundry, we got Sterling some toy mice to keep him occupied. Steven got home around in the late afternoon. I made him Father's day dinner. We had BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and sparkling cider (as we don't drink). Avery joined us at the dinner table in her bumbo and ate bananas for the first time :D

Avery Quinn - 23 weeks

Busy Week - Photo Frenzy

Monday was Steven's appointment, it was an awful day. I won't say what procedure was done for his privacy but he was put under general anethesia. I was told it would only be 40 minutes from start to finish before I could take him home but that was not the case at all. When Steven was wheeled into Recovery he was groggy but seemed to be doing well. Within 20 minutes he was in pain. The nurses had him walk around which made things worse, he became very nausea and after a few minutes was in agony. Two doctors and 3 nurses swarmed around him and in a flash he was being wheeled away to xray. I sat stunned waiting for someone to return and explain what the heck was going on. At this point Avery started freaking out because she was in a wet diaper. I had only brought enough diapers to last the "40 minutes max" timeframe and didn't have anymore in my backpack. The hotel we were staying at is only a minute drive from the hospital.

One of Steven's nurses finally returned. I was told he would be in xray for 20 minutes which was more than enough time to run and get more diapers from our hotel room. The nurse then casually told me I couldn't leave because Steven may need emergency surgery to fix a possible mistake the doctor made during his procedure and if so I would need to sign consent forms. So there I am with a screaming infant, completely alone, waiting to hear if my husband will be okay. I really wished I could have had someone, anyone, there with me for support. Thankfully Steven didn't need surgery and after he insisted on being discharged I was able to take him "home". The 3 of us were exhausted after being in the hospital for 4 hours and went straight back to the hotel room. I was given strict instructions to keep Steven in bed for the rest of the day which wasn't hard because he fell asleep almost instantly. Avery was still fussy, I didn't want to risk her waking Steven up so I took her to the food court. It was 4pm and I hadn't eaten anything that day but I wasn't about to complain about being hungry when poor Steven had been on a liquid diet for 2 days.

Photos from our hotel stay:

The Lyon Family

The next morning Steven was feeling better. We got up at 7 to check out of the hotel. Steven had agreed to pick up a fellow soldier from the airport at 930. We drove an hour to Incheon Airport. Steven was never given a flight number or itinerary so when the soldier didn't show up by 1pm he decided to take Avery and I home. It took us 2 hours to get back to Humphreys, we quickly checked the mail room and had 3 packages waiting for us :) Steven went back to the airport to wait for the soldier. Steven then found out that the soldier got in at 930 PM not AM..... so he drove all the way back to Humphreys. At 7pm he left again for the airport. He didn't get home until almost 1am. For those that lost count that is roughly 11 hours of just driving to and from the airport and a lot of gas wasted....

Steven was given the next day off of work for obvious reasons which worked out because I needed the truck that day. It was the first day of the spouse's bowling league. Each Wednesday we play 3 games. I got a 101, 108 and an 89 (I think). I wasn't very good to begin with but Avery wanted to be held the entire last game so it was difficult to bowl haha. A kid tickled her foot while she was sleeping so she was not a happy camper. Avery, Pagi and I rocked our matching team shirts (we were the only team actually wearing team shirts haha). After bowling we went to the water park for this week's Lunch with the Ladies. Avery and I played in the kiddie pool for a bit. We went to the mail room afterwards, Steven's reticules for his G36C came in, then quickly grabbed Starbucks. I took Pagi home but there was a giant hole where her drive way used to be so she had to walk through someone's garden to get to her apartment.

Watching mom bowl

XOXO our awesome bowling team

Thursday and Friday were very mellow. Avery and I took the truck one afternoon to do laundry and grocery shopping. Avery tried rice cereal for the first time. She seemed confused at first but enjoyed eating like a big kid. Avery has also been trying to sit up the past few days, its adorable. She can lift her head, shoulders and arms off the ground but can't get any further, she looks like a turtle stuck on its shell.

She had a tough time keeping the rice cereal in her mouth

Ready for combat

The wicked witch of the west

Saturday was another long day. Steven had his paintball tournament so he was there by 7am to set up. Avery and I showed up at 10 when the tournie was supposed to start but the first shot wasn't fired until noon. There were 9 teams and each team played 8 games. I had intended on staying for the entire tournie but the first round lasted an hour and a half! I wasn't going to keep Avery out in the heat for 7 more rounds, good thing too because they weren't done until 6pm. Steven's team (The Commandos) placed 4th. That night we went to Kendig's house (a woman Steven works with) for a BBQ. Several other soldiers Steven works with where there, it was a lot of fun. Avery has been boycotting naps lately so she was pretty tired at the party. I was able to get her to sleep and put her in Kendig's bed. She slept through the whole thing, loud music and all. It was so nice being able to have some baby free adult time with Steven and everyone else. Lately I've been feeling like Avery's caretaker instead of a person so this was much needed. Avery made me pay for it by getting up 6 times that night :/

Avery & I stick out in this crowd

Keeping my baby cool :)

Steven being awesome

Loving the bean bag at Kendig's

Sunday was extremely uneventful. It was just one of those days where you don't want to do anything but stay inside. I wasn't feeling well and stayed in bed until 11am. I did however come to find out how quiet the fire alarms in this apartment building are. While watching a movie Steven and I hear a faint alarm, I stuck my head out of the door and realized our neighbors were all leaving. Just as we were going to grab Avery (who was already in bed for the night) the alarm went off and people started going back into their homes. Needless to say, in the event of a fire we are probably going to end up extra crispy. It has been a very long week for the Lyon family.

Avery Quinn - 5 months

Friends

Sorry that is post is a few days late, Monday and Tuesday (the 4th&5th) were extremely eventful (but you won't find out why until next week's post :D).


Steven had Monday and Tuesday off for Memorial day. On Monday there was a big lightening storm which caused us to lose power for a bit. I stood in the window and watched the sky light up, it made me homesick. It reminded me of how my dad would always get excited when a storm would roll in, he would sit out on the porch and watch it. My mom and I would peek out the window for a moment before getting bored and watching The Closer or Ghost Hunters (one of those shows was usually on during a storm haha). 


We went to Pagi and Eric's house after the power came back on (I didn't want to risk our food in the fridge spoiling). Eric BBQ'd ribs on the roof of their apartment while Pagi made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Pagi had also prepared some fresh homemade salsa, it was delicious, I had to go into the other room so I wouldn't eat it all haha. We played Mario Kart on the Wii and Battle of the Sexes (girls won). It was a great night. 


The next day we went with Pagi and Eric to Lotte Mart. Afterwards we got lunch at Chilis and visited the Osan thrift store. We got a very expensive microwave for $12!

Avery trying some celery

She does not approve

On Wednesday Pagi and I went to the bowling alley to join the spouse's bowling league (luckily you don't have to be good to join). After the bowling meeting we met our husband's at Starbucks while they were on lunch. This week's Lunch with the Ladies was at either Happy Teriyaki or Yummy Teriyaki, I can never remember which place is which haha. It was pretty good. Avery grabbed a handful of rice so she had sticky teriyaki fingers. 


Steven had 24 hour CQ on Friday so I had the truck. I grabbed Pagi for some lunch at the PX where we ran into our friend Jess. The three of us ate together then Pagi and I bought some supplies to make our team shirts for bowling. I also made Avery a team onesie :)

Front

Back

Avery helping :)

Saturday morning started very early, Avery is not the type to sleep in unfortunately. We were up early enough to go pick up Steven when he got off of CQ at 7am. He took a short nap before the curtain guy came. The guy quickly installed our new curtains and we enjoyed the darkness, the house instantly felt cooler. That night we were invited over to Widener's house (who you may remember from a previous post about paintball). Steven and Widener are also involved in airsoft so they worked on their guns. Steven had bought a G36C a few days prior so they were getting it ready for an airsoft tournament in a few weeks. Widener and his wife took us to a Korean BBQ place that was delicious! Afterwards Pagi and Eric came over to Widener's house and we sat on his roof around their fire pit. 

Enjoying the fire

Our wonderful week unfortunately ended on a bad note. Sunday was a miserable day. Steven had another appointment at 121 (where Avery was born). He was on an all liquid diet that day to prepare for his appointment on Monday so the 2 hour drive was miserable. I felt awful eating in front of him when I knew how hungry he was. That night Steven had to take a horrible "lemony" (the bottle actually said the flavor was lemony) drink but it didn't agree with him and he ended up dry heaving for hours. It was bad. I stayed by his side rubbing his back and trying to soothe him but I felt absolutely useless. Thankfully the dry heaving subsided after a while. We watched a few episodes of Game of Thrones to distract him from the nausea. 


Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion.

Avery Quinn - 21 weeks