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