Avery's First Halloween

This has been a very busy week! It started out with us going to the TMC (troop medical clinic) for a routine appointment. Steven had called that morning to verify his appointment date, time & location but when we got to the TMC we were informed that the doctor was in Seoul. The appointment was rescheduled for the next day & we went home.

Later that day Avery & I painted her pumpkin :) She wasn't that interested in painting but I had fun. While the paint was drying we took a family walk down to the mart. My knee had been bothering me all day but the walk made it so much worse. I iced it, took ibuprofen & went to bed.

The next day we got up early to make the drive to Yongsan for Steven's appointment, traffic was awful! Steven's appointment took 40 minutes & ended just in time for lunch. Yongsan has a great little Mexican restaurant YUM. My knee was still killing me so I broke down & bought a brace for the drive home. I must have fallen asleep on the drive because I woke up in a rest stop parking lot. Steven was worried he would fall asleep at the wheel & pulled off the highway for a nap. Steven & Avery woke up shortly after I did - after a quick stretch we continued our journey home.

Story Time

By Friday I was in enough pain to finally see the doctor about my knee. My doctor did not like the look or feel of my knee at all. She ordered an x-ray & gave me crutches. I was given strict instructions to stay off it, ice it & religiously take ibuprofen for the swelling. In a week if my knee isn't better she's ordering an MRI :(

I met Pagi & Bentlee at Starbucks to hang out so Steven could have the house for an hour or so. Since my knee started hurting he's been pulling extra Avery shifts & deserved a break from it. After our coffee break I went back to the TMC for my x-ray. While changing Avery I realized there was a wasp flying around the tiny bathroom. I hobbled away as quickly as I could with a bum knee & a baby in tow. I thought I got away from the wasp but when I got to Radiology I realized that the monster was crawling on my leg. I made a complete fool of myself, squealing & hopping around. I felt like a dork but thankfully the Radiology tech didn't see me freak out. The tech x-rayed both knees since the other one "didn't sound good" either, a nurse held Avery while I got my x-rays done. I'm hoping the doctor gets back to me quickly.

That evening was Spooky Hallow - Humphrey's version of Halloween. I was so excited for my baby's first Halloween!! Nana sent Avery an adorable lady bug costume so I wanted to be a lady bug too. The costume selection at the PX was slim pickings. I bought a lady bug costume for a toddler & made some adjustments so it would fit me. I pinned the wings onto a black shirt & turned the dress into a skirt. It wasn't what I had pictured but it got the job done :) We met Pagi, Eric & Bentlee at Spooky Hallow. Steven & Eric took the babies trick-or-treating & we took family pictures at the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun!

Baby monkey & Baby lady bug

Avery & Bentlee

Lady Bugs

Pumpkin Patch

I was looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday but Steven got called into work a little before 8am. One soldier was an idiot so they all had to do a random drug test. Steven brought donuts & coffee home :) That evening we went out to dinner. Avery sat in a high chair like a big girl & ate all of her dinner. I had the chicken enchilada soup - I really want to try and make it now. After dinner we went to the BX. I used my crutches from the car to the front door. My underarms were extremely sore & bruised, the crutches rub against my chest surgery scars. Walking on my knee was less painful than using the crutches so I ditched them at the door.

Sunday was our most eventful day of the week. It started out great with Avery sleeping through the night. I got up with her so Steven could sleep in but he woke up 10 minutes later. We wanted to get out of the house & decided to go on base. When we tried to leave the house I realized our door was stuck. I was able to open to door wide enough to see that my bike was wedged between the wall & the door so we couldn't really get out. I squeezed through the crack & moved the bike. I thought it was weird that my bike was moved & at that point we realized that Steven's expensive bike was missing. We normally keep his bike chained to the railing of the stairs but it was gone. I'm assuming the thieves left my bike because it had a flat tire. We checked all 13 floors of our building to see if the thieves were dumb enough to take the bike to their floor. There were several very nice bikes just sitting outside of people's apartments, they weren't chained, yet they were spared. It made me wonder if we were targeted because we're American.

On the ride to the 1st floor the elevator stopped for one of the very few American's in our building. We told him what happened, he suggested we go to the security office. Security was able to help him review a video a few weeks prior. We went to security but the language barrier made it impossible to explain our situation. Steven got our realtor on the phone to translate & security agreed to review the tapes for us. The thieves,  3 Korean males, were caught on the elevator security camera around 6am with Steven's bike. Security & our realtor filed a police report for us with the Korean Police. We were told these crime groups go around stealing things but security didn't recognize this particular group of men. If they can't catch these guys or recover the bike then we are out $350 :/ When we got the bike I wrote down the serial number but that doesn't do any good if they can't track these guys down.

Avery Quinn - 42 weeks