Nine Months

Nine months ago our lives changed in the most amazing way. Nine months ago we became parents. Nine months ago we became a family. Nine months ago our baby was born. I can hardly believe its been nine months. It seems like just yesterday Steven and I had planned to start a family, in the blink of an eye we were eagerly awaiting the birth of our daughter. Its all gone by too quickly.

Steven had Monday and Tuesday off for Columbus day. On Monday we went to Emart (sort of a less awesome version of Walmart) to run some air soft errands. After that we made our way to Osan. We wandered around the BX killing time and enjoying each other's company. We then went into the ville. I strapped Avery onto my chest, we got ice cream and checked out a few stores. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Ready for the masquerade 

Helping mommy vacuum

The Wideners had invited us over for a BBQ so on the way home I dropped Steven off at their house. I took Avery home for a nap while the boys went shopping for food. Steven, Avery and Alex hung out on the roof of their apartment grilling while Allison and I stayed in the house chatting. I'm so thankful for my friends in Korea. Avery had fun playing with their dogs. She sat on the floor for a while "petting" one of them which mostly consisted of slapping them in the face and pulling their ears haha. Thankfully they are good dogs and happily put up with the abuse. After dinner I took Avery home, bathed her and put her to bed. Steven stayed at Widener's for a bit so they could watch Expendables 2, he loved it.

Avery was eaten by a shark

Wednesday was stressful. My best friend, Kristen, had been in pre-term labor for a few days at just shy of 28 weeks. I woke up to a message saying that despite the hospital's efforts to stop Kristen's labor she ended up delivering her little boy 3 months premature.  They named him Cassius, his due date was a week before Avery's first birthday in January, he weighed 2.5lbs. I anxiously checked my email several times that day and finally learned that both mom and baby were doing well despite everything. He is breathing on his own, ate a bit of food and he even got to leave his incubator to snuggle up with momma. Its going to be a bumpy road for Kristen over the next few months and I want nothing more than to be by her side. Wednesday I was very angry that I was stuck in Korea instead of supporting Kristen through this difficult time.

Ever since Pagi had her baby we haven't had a baby sitter. I've been screening a replacement and finally found one that met all of my (maybe a bit insane) requirements. Her name is Lacey, she came over on Thursday for a "test run". Avery seemed to instantly like Lacey and didn't make a peep when Steven and I left the house. We were only gone an hour or so to get lunch but it gave them time to get acquainted.

Avery pillow

Steven had the day off on Friday. We took Avery to day care so we could spend the day as a couple. We went to Osan for lunch and to browse their BX. Before going to pick up Avery we stopped at Jon's house. The 3 of us shot air soft rifles on his roof. I am playing my first air soft game on Sunday and wanted to get some practice in. Jon's wife gave me an old beat up pair of ACUs to wear for the game. They are a bit short but will do nicely :) Avery was exhausted from playing with the other kids and took a nap shortly after we got home. Steven stayed with her while I went grocery shopping. On the drive home I saw them taking a walk together.

The funnest toy in the house

This weekend was great. Avery and I went to the Speegle's house for lunch. Steven woke up with a cough so he stayed home. We didn't want to risk him getting baby Bentlee sick. Lunch was great; ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, chips and fresh salsa! I finally got to meet Bentlee :) The 5 of us hung out for a bit before we went home for Avery's nap. When she woke up we went to Oktoberfest on base. It was pretty lame but nice to hang out as a family and we bumped into a few friends. Steven ordered ribs from one of the stands but it took them nearly 40 minutes to actually get the food. It took them so long that Steven had to eat while walking to the car because it was Avery's bedtime. We ended up getting her to bed 30 minutes which we didn't think was too bad...we were wrong. She stayed up another 2 hours refusing to sleep which caused Steven and I to get to bed late too. Lesson learned.

She'll NEVER wear a shirt like that :)

On Sunday we had to get up SO early for air soft. Avery decided to get up early too and puke all over me and my side of the bed for the second time this week. She is so anxious to play these days that she chugs her bottle and is on the move before it has a chance to settle. The sitter showed up at 7am and we were on our way. Steven and I stopped at Starbucks then picked up Widener before making the 1.5 hr drive.

Air soft

We played at an abandoned factory. The place was full of trash, broken glass, flooded basements, elevator shafts and pits :) More danger - more fun. Most of the players were Korean so I could only understand about 5 people there haha. Steven let me use his G36C, Widener lent me a pair of gloves and another team mate had an extra mask for me. We played for 2.5 hrs, I had a blast! I got one confirmed kill, Steven and Widener each got 3.

Avery was happy as a clam playing with the sitter when we got home. The sitter said she had never watched such an easy, happy baby. Avery spent a few hours cuddling us before the night got interesting. Steven fed Avery dinner and when I grabbed her for bath time I realized she had blown through her diaper. I put her on the changing pad only to find out the severity of the diaper situation. No amount of wipes was going to clean her. We stripped her and tried a bath but that somehow made things worse. Avery was covered in poop, I was covered in poop and Steven was trying not to vomit. I ended up in the shower fully clothed cleaning off Avery and myself. After we were clean Avery puked on my shoulder. It was one of those nights haha.

Avery Quinn - 40 weeks