Super Park

This week I got to play nurse, both of my babies were sick. On Monday Avery had a rough night. Her nose was stuffed and it was making it impossible for her to sleep. At 3 am she woke up and could barely breath (she sounded like Pugley), I suctioned her nose but that completely woke her up. I spent the next 3 hours rocking her as she tried to mouth breath (she looked like a fish out of water). When she finally fell asleep on my chest I pulled a blanket over us and let her sleep on me in the lazy boy. Exhausted, I closed my eyes but couldn't sleep through her deafening snores. My poor sick baby :( She woke up about 40 minutes later when Steven triggered the motion sensor light on his way to work.

Good Morning 

I managed to get her to sleep in her crib a bit later and passed out myself. Steven woke me up at 9 am to get ready, he had an appointment in Seoul that afternoon. The appointment took roughly 3 minutes (so glad we made the 2 hour drive for that) so we went to the PX and got lunch before heading back to Humphreys.

Learning about nature with Dad

Tuesday was the monthly Breast feeding Support Group. I was invited to the meeting even though I am no longer breastfeeding. I did it for 8 months so I have some useful advice plus its a good reason to get out of the house :) Pagi picked up Avery and I for the meeting. At the meeting I noticed a few babies much younger than Avery already crawling :( I know all babies do things at their own pace but I have to admit I was jealous since Avery can't crawl yet. She has a roll-scoot system that gets her all around the living room so she has no real interest in crawling. While all the other kids were walking or crawling around Avery just sat there playing with toys, perfectly content.

Attempting to crawl

By the end of the week Avery was still stuffed, sneezing and coughing. Steven woke up Friday morning feeling absolutely miserable. Fluids and bed rest would have done wonders for Steven but unfortunately he had CQ that day :( Avery and I made him a little bag of goodies to get him through his 24 hour shift: a big bottle of water, some books, Dayquil, and his small table fan. That evening I realized Avery was getting worse. She had been refusing bottles all day, only wanted to sleep, felt warm and had projectile vomited all over the place. Avery was covered from head to toe, I was covered from head to toe, her play mat, her rug, the chair and the kitchen floor were all drenched in baby vomit... I was worried she would dehydrate quickly so I took her on base to the after hours clinic. We were there for 3 hours. Avery did have a low grade fever but her ears and throat looked good. She was such a big girl, she didn't cry once at the doctors even though she was given a complete exam by 3 different people. The doctor said that a virus was going around the CDC and a lot of kids were coming in with Avery's symptoms. I guess its that time of year.

She crumpled so much of that exam table paper

Steven made it home by 7 am the next day which was unexpected since he always gets kept late. He came home feeling like death so he napped for a few hours. Avery was still feeling yucky but definitely got her appetite back. Avery learned how to fake cough this week. Every time Steven coughs she will cough twice a few seconds later.

Chilling out in her track suit

Chuseok is one of the most important holidays for the Korean people, its often referred to as Korean Thanksgiving because its a celebration of the harvest and thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth. During Chuseok people visit their ancestral homes so its a very busy time. This year Chuseok was September 29 to October 1. Nearly everything was closed on Sunday in observance of Chuseok. Avery and I went on base to give Steven a little quiet time but the place was a ghost town. Thankfully the commissary was open so we could get Steven cough medicine. On my way back to the car I noticed a very long line of people waiting for a taxi. I hadn't seen a taxi all morning, I doubt many of them came into work on this important holiday.
I spent a year in Korea without being able to drive, and so far another 6 months sharing a car with Steven. I remember how frustrated I would get when people would pass me without offering a ride even when I was super pregnant and walking everywhere. Since getting my Korean license I usually offer rides to people on base. I drove up to the line of people waiting and offered a ride to whoever needed it. A solider was more than happy to take me up on my offer. She had gone for toothpaste and ended up getting a cart full of groceries that were quickly heating up in the sun. I gave her a ride to the barracks and felt good for helping someone that day :)

That evening we were invited to a birthday party. Our friends' daughter turned 4 so we celebrated at the park with cake and ice cream. We played on the play ground with Avery and got to hang out with other parents and soon-to-be parents. Pagi is due on Wednesday! I gave her my yoga ball to hopefully help things along.

Avery Quinn - 38 weeks

Busy Week

Korea got hit by its third typhoon this week. Twin Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven killed more than 60 people on the Korean peninsula but we were lucky enough to only experience a few instances of lost power. Typhoon Sanba (which hit this week) was classified as a Super Typhoon and was being described as large and violent. Steven was released from work early because of the storm, but by the time it hit us it was only a TCCOR (Typhoon Cyclone Condition of Readiness) ONE. It was rainy but we had our windows open the entire day. The storm made it very chilly so we spent the day cuddling under blankets :)

The typhoon was gone by Tuesday and the warm weather was back. We were able to get Avery into daycare for 3 hours which gave me enough time to clean the house and send my mom a package. I organized all of Avery's baby food and realized she has SO much food. She has 211 jars of baby food and 9 boxes of rice cereal!! At the rate Avery eats it should take roughly 2 1/2 months to finish. That amount of baby food costs almost $300 but we got it all for free!

So. Much. Food.

Ever since Spouse's Bowling ended I haven't been going to Lunch with the Ladies. Steven has been giving me the car more often so that Avery and I still get out of the house. On Wednesday instead of going to LWTL I picked up Pagi and we hung out at Starbucks for an hour then went to the mail room after that. Pagi got a package and said there was a slip in my box too (slips indicate packages). I excitedly redeemed my slip only to find out that it was a parking ticket that I had to sign for :( The ticket had several photos of our truck during the parking infringement. In the photos you can clearly see Steven get out of the driver's side and walk around to the passenger side to talk to a friend. I'm starting to feel like the Koreans are targeting us Americans when it comes to parking tickets (and almost all the American wives here agree). Koreans park on sidewalks, in handicapped spots and in the middle of a busy street (I kid you not, they will stop in the middle of the lane and park their car. I will get a picture for next week's blog). Its very frustrating.

Thursday was a great day. I was able to get Avery into daycare for a bit. The Super Gym has a small child care room that I've mentioned before but I never went because they won't change diapers or feed your baby. I guess a lot of other moms felt the same way because KOS (Kids on Site at the Super Gym) is being shut down for lack of use and the employees are being sent to the CDC which is opening up more spots for daycare. I dropped Avery off in the morning and, for the first time since she was born, went back to Aqua Fit. It felt amazing to get a good workout. Even after 9 months of not going to class I was still able to the more difficult exercises that the other women couldn't do. It was a huge confidence boost :D That evening Widener came over so that he and Steven could finalize some things for KCTC - the 3 day/2 night air soft game they are going to the first week of October.

Avery for sale

On Friday morning we were FINALLY able to get SOFA stamps for Avery and I. A SOFA stamp is a Status of Force Agreement between the host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country, its a required stamp in your passport when being stationed here. Ever since we got Avery's passport we've been trying to get her a SOFA stamp and renew mine but kept running into road blocks (as I mentioned a few months ago in my blog). This was our 5th or 6th attempt to get the stamp and finally got it!
That night was Parent Date Night - once a month the CDC will watch children from 530pm-1030pm so that parents can have a baby free evening. While Avery was breastfed it was hard for us to be apart for more than 2-3 hours so we never went on PDN before. Now that she takes bottles like a champ we were comfortable enough to finally go on our first PDN.

Steven and I had dinner at our favorite Korean BBQ place, it was so nice having a meal where no one threw spoons at me haha. We went to AK Plaza after that and bought movie tickets. To kill time we walked around the mall looking at cute baby stuff but if you even glance at something the Korean employees are all over you, its annoying. We got ice cream and headed into the theater. Steven noticed there were little pod things at the top row of the theater so we checked them out. They were love seats with a wall so you were separated from the people next to you, Steven exchanged our tickets for the "Sweet Box" ones. It was nice getting to cuddle during a movie and a new experience, I've never seen them in the states probably because people would do disgusting things while others were trying to watch the movie haha.

On our drive back to base we got stuck at a super long red light and noticed a bunch of Korean teens fighting in the alley next to us. It was a bunch of couples and I can honestly say that I had no clue who was fighting who, it seemed to be a free for all. As we got close to base we realized we still had some time and took a romantic moon lit walk in a local park. It was a great way to end the date :)

Steven and I are OLD, so old. During the week we have a pretty strict schedule that lands us in bed at 9pm. Widener coming over on Thursday and PDN on Friday kept us up much later than usual haha. By the time Saturday morning rolled around I was exhausted. My two loves went on base for a bit so I could sleep in and came back with coffee for me :) That afternoon we had to go to Osan for an air soft meeting/lunch at a Mexican place in the ville. We had planned to do our grocery shopping afterwards since we were already at Osan, but the meeting took longer than expected. Avery was tired so we went home. After her nap the two of us went on base to get a few items for dinner.

Sunday is usually Steven's air soft day but he decided to stay home this weekend. He has an appointment in Seoul, a 24 hour CQ shift and the 3 day/2 night KCTC air soft game all within a 2 week period so I'm glad he didn't go this weekend. We spent the day just hanging out as a family. Steven made pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast before we went grocery shopping. When we got home we saw a Korean kid playing with an air soft pistol. Steven gave him one of his air soft patches, the kid had the biggest smile on his face :) The day ended wonderfully, Steven made corn on the cob, mashed potatoes from baby reds and bacon wrapped filet mignon.

In recent Avery related news:

She loves to clap! I'd been trying to teach her for some time now and she finally caught on. It is so cute when she is happy and claps :)
I taught Avery how to drink water from a regular cup. Ever since I started letting her drink from a cup she is always grabbing for my cup or sitting there with her mouth open like a baby bird. Steven bought her a sippy that she loves using so she can have her own water.
Avery is so affectionate lately. She often gives cuddles, hugs and kisses.
She also like brushing her teeth :)

Avery Quinn - 37 weeks

Big Girl

Avery is getting so big! At just over 8 months old she weighs 18.8 lbs and is 27.6 in long. Avery easily eats an entire jar of baby food and is a bottomless pit when it comes to bottles. She certainly keeps us on our toes these days, its exhausting! Thankfully Steven has been taking extra Avery shifts so that I can rest a bit.

On Thursday Steven watched Avery for a bit while I went out. I picked up Pagi and we went to Starbucks, the PX and the Commissary. I was only out for an hour but it was more than enough to recharge my batteries. That evening we had to attend a mandatory meeting at the gym. It was 1 hour of intense boringness but afterwards we went to the AMC with the Wideners for a late dinner. 

Steven had Friday off for Family Day. He watched Avery for a few hours so that I could sleep in before we went to breakfast. It was a nice cool day out so we took a walk to the park. Avery isn't a big fan of swings or slides haha. I think she'll have more fun once she can walk around by herself.

We needed gas this week but it was a very painful experience. Military bases are supposed to charge the national average for gas but that isn't the case for us (obviously having a bunch of Americans stuck overseas they can charge us what they like and we are forced to pay). We currently pay $0.13 ABOVE the national average, it may not sound like a lot but it sure adds up quickly! I really miss cheap gas stations like Maverick or Walmart. 

Mimi's Lil' Punkin

I think I've mentioned the flea market site on my blog a few months back, its basically a Facebook group that buys and sells things from other military families in the area (since everything must be ordered online). On Saturday I sold 3 items and made $55 :) After that we went to Osan and had lunch, walked around the BX and tried to get groceries but Avery was such a grump that we ended up leaving. We had to go to our commissary on Sunday to shop. 

This weekend I got my first Korean massage while Steven and Avery hung out at Widener's. The massage was definitely an experience. After a relaxing massage the lady started cracking various parts of my body and twisting me like a pretzel. When it was done I felt amazing. I walked to Widener's house, we hung out on the roof around the fire pit while he BBQ'd. It was a great week :) 

Avery Quinn - 36 weeks

Labor Day

I love 4 day weekends :) On Monday the 3 of us went to Splish & Splash (our on-base "water park") Its basically 2 slides and a pool but it does the job. The place was a ghost town so Avery got to float around the pool in her infant floaty. When it was time to leave I grabbed a diaper out of her swim bag. I guess it had been awhile since we last went swimming because there were only itty bitty diapers in the bag. I managed to just barely get the tiny diaper on her, thankfully she didn't soil the diaper on the drive home. Avery was exhausted after swimming and napped while the repair man fixed our washer/dryer. For the first time in a year and a half I was able to do a complete load of laundry at home :D

The next morning Steven made a delicious breakfast and did all the dishes <3 That afternoon Steven went with his friends to find a uniform for air soft. I decided to do more laundry but the dryer broke again!! Apparently the part that was broken is no longer manufactured so the repair man only jimmy-rigged the dryer. Instead of a new washer/dryer our realtor said he'd try and get a drying rack for our clothes....

Ready to go to work with daddy

A Korean lady took our laundry basket for her chili peppers

Now that the weather is cooling off I've been very anxious to get back into the gym. The CDC (child development center) is booked solid for the next 2 weeks :( they can't even take Avery for an hour so I can work out! The gym has a little childcare room but I don't trust it. They charge the same amount as the CDC but won't feed your child or even change diapers!! Avery and I have been taking laps around the neighborhood as well as other at-home exercises but I long to be in the gym where I can get a good sweat.

Steven and I have been in a betting mood lately. We've been using Words with Friends as our main game of choice. On Saturday we mixed things up and went bowling, loser had to do the dishes. I lost but it was still fun. The Wideners joined us for a game and we bumped into the Jurgens family who didn't play but hung out with us for a bit.

Sunday was the usual. Steven left to play air soft with our friends while Avery and I stayed home. The day was painfully long and boring but Avery and I made the best of it :) This week our baby turned 8 months old!

Avery Quinn - 8 months

Tropical Storm

Monday morning started off a little hectic. I had a doctor's appointment but Steven was in class and daycare was full so I had to take Avery with me. She tried to touch everything and squirmed relentlessly making the appointment less than pleasant. That evening Steven went on a man-date with a friend to see a movie. Avery and I stayed home snuggled up in bed and watched our own movie.

Steven had the next day off for the big anticipated Typhoon Bolaven. It ended up being pretty mellow and turned into a tropical storm. It was rainy, windy and we kept losing power but nothing like I expected. We didn't get much of a break from the rain because tropical storm Tembin hit 2 days later.

Friday was a tough one for Avery. The extra saliva from teething can affect a baby's sensitive GI tract. Avery had been drooling like a madman since she cut her first 2 teeth, all that drool has turned her into a poop factory. Pooping roughly 10 times a day finally caught up to her and she developed a pretty bad diaper rash. Avery spent most of Friday either in a cool bath or naked. She pooped and peed on me several times :/

Duck Face

Saturday was our usual errand running day. We got the oil changed, went grocery shopping and to the PX. I decided to do laundry in our Korean washer/dryer combo instead of lugging all our clothes on base. Well it washed our clothes just fine but wouldn't dry them so our living room end up looking like Little House of the Prairie with clothes hung up all over the place air drying. Our realtor said he would come over in the afternoon to take a look at it but didn't show up until after 7pm :/

Dang Korean washer

Steven went and did his usual air softing on Sunday. Avery and I got up a little before 7am to see him off. He had the truck since he was taking 3 other guys and their gear so Avery and I were landlocked. We watched movies, napped and caught up on all the shows that Steven doesn't like to watch. Avery decided today would be a good day to use her new teeth to destroy everything she put in her mouth, she even drew blood while nursing! She wanted nothing to do with me today and would only take bottles. Thankfully Steven came home a little after 6pm with dinner :)

Razor sharp teeth

Avery Quinn - 34 weeks