Friends, or lack there of

Today wasn't that great. Cade and I went out with blind Kelly, Laura and Katie today. We meet at this kids and maternity clothes consignment shop. I told them I had gone before and they did not really have much of anything. It smells in there and is nasty. But we went anyways because they had to see if for themselves. I found a few things for Cade, but I am holding out in buying things I really need for when I go to VA and get to shop at Once Upon a Child. They agreed with me that it wasn't all that great. But made me feel as it was my fault we went because I always talk about trying to find one since I went to one all the time at home. 

So after that we went to lunch. And boy was that "great". Cade and I sat at the end of the table basically by ourselves and the others didn't talk to us. Laura and Kelly are pregnant and talked about that and when I would say something they just dismissed me. Then Laura and Katie would talk with Kelly and since I was placed at the other end of the table with no other option of where to sit, they didn't really say anything to us. Then Laura and Katie ordered cheese bread and offered Kelly some but not me. They just kept it at the end of their table. So then we ordered and our food took over 1 hr and 30 minutes! I was going to just get my food and leave because they were being so rude. But we never got our food! So by the time we got it I was starving and I was told I had to take Kelly home because Laura and Katie decided to go to Dothan and Kelly didn't want to go. Hell, I did. What about me? 

Those girls are so rude. I hate it. I hate that they are the only people I freaking know down here. I like Kelly, but since she and Laura now have this "bond" (they are a month apart in their pregnancies), they hang out together now and since Laura doesn't like me, they don't call me anymore to do anything. They talk about things we all used to do together right in front of me and don't invite me or ask me to go. I asked them today if I could go walking with them next Tuesday and Laura goes "really? Well I guess that will be fine, but..." and never said anything else. Whatever. Its hard because the friends you make are those who are married to people in John's class, so these are the people I will be with for two more years. I am trying to be nice and not invite myself places and keep my mouth shut to keep a neutral ground, but Laura doesn't so it just makes it harder. She is one of those people who always are rude when they talk. GRRRRR!

Once a Marine, Always a Marine

Just like John said when I was pregnant, he sings Cade the Marine Corps anthem every night while he gives him a bath. He also sings "God Bless America" as well. It so cute, but our poor son is going to grow up so confused. John also proclaimed yesterday that he is in fact, a goof. I did no provoking of the kind. He was just talking about this guy he knew and said that he plays the part of a lazy guy well and that he is a lazy guy, but how this other guy is really smart but people mistake him for being a big stupid jock. So John said people look at him and expect him to be a goof and how he doesn't disappoint because he really is one. Um, and I thought I married a serious man. JK

As an reminder (I don't think anyone really needs one) we are going up August 5th @4AM! to Birmingham. We found out today his Pediatric eye doctor is at 8AM that day, and since its a 3hr drive, yea well, its the butt crack of dawn for us. At least we have nothing else to day that day so we can all go back to bed. Then August 6th we have his Pediatric G.I. at 1:30PM and his Pediatric ENT at 2:45PM later that day. Then August 7th Cade and I have a 7:15AM flight to VA! 

Yea we are so excited (I'm excited for the both of us), but it is sure going to be a production to get us through the airport. I am checking the seat with the luggage this time since he is big enough to be in the stroller. I am also going to bring our new smaller stroller, but I am going to gate check that. This way I have it during our layovers. Just one each way for about 1 1/2. We will get into VA at around noon. We are flying into Norfolk. I don't know how long we are staying there and when we are driving to Richmond. We will be flying home on August 23rd (saturday), so I will be spending a little over two weeks there. It will be nice to visit with my family and have a babysitter! But I am going to miss John so much. It was a hard descion to make. I want to spend time with John because I know once his primary starts, we wont be seeing much of him. So I plan on going home to St. Louis during that time. But in VA we go to the beach and pool a lot and my Aunt teachers and my cousin is still in high school. So to be able to spend some good time with them, it is better to do it during the summer when they don't have many other obligations. I actually feel very guilty about leaving John. But he was supportive and really wanted me to go. He knows I don't get out much here and wanted me to be able to go see family.

Cade is doing new things every day. Today he started pulling himself up on everything, so watch out mom! And he is not happy anymore not being on the ground. He is very interested in the kitchen for some reason, but wont crawl down the hallway. At first we thought he wouldn't crawl down the hallway because of the hard floor on his knees, but he zooms right into the kitchen when he is free. So go figure. 

Today I finally got out of the house for the first time this week. Cade and I went to the post office to mail some things. Which was also our third try. We tried last week and failed, it's a long story. 

same ole, same ole

Not much going on. John started his new detail. He and a another guy, Dude (yes, his last name is Dude!) are in charge of putting together a library. There are a lot of classes that people take on base and they don't receive college credit for them. There is a group of civilian's whose job is to turn those classes into accredited college credit courses. Next month some professors are coming to inspect what they are doing and view their resources to be able to accredited the classes and programs offered on base to other soldiers. So when these civilians received textbooks are resources, they would set them in the library. However, they never unpacked the books and organized them. So that is what John is suppose to do for six weeks. However, they finished unpacking all the boxes today. So tomorrow he will find out what else he needs to do. 

Cade is crawling around like crazy. I think we are going to invest in a kiddy playpen. We cant keep him contained long enough to do anything and he screams now when you put him in his exersaucer. I cant even go to the bathroom without him pulling the blue glass vase over on him self. 

Today I also got my new stroller. It is nice, big, but it is more than half the size and weight of our other one. Also, my mom sent Cade some bigger pjs (size 12 months) because his 6-9 do not fit well anymore. He is too long. John pulled them out and told me there was no way that he would fit into them because the pjs were too long. And he does! It is sad to see him like that, so big, yet he is still such a little baby. I just look back at the pictures of when we brought him home and he has got so big. 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Last night was good. I won third and John got second. He could have kept going but they play differently (house rules) and when it gets down to the first and second player they can either keep playing until "death" or make a deal. Since John likes to please everyone he made a deal. We both agree it was the wrong choice and he could have kept going an won. But we walked away at least with what we bought in for. Cade was good. He didn't want to go to bed in his pack and play so of course John just held him until he got even more unbearable. He finally went to sleep and then of course the game was over. Well at least the first game. Like I said, they have wired house rules. So we will have a poker night at our house and then we can do Siech house rules. But John and I aren't the only ones who didn't like those house rules. But it was still fun. I met two other wives, but John wanted to sit at the other end of the table, away from them. So even thought I literally met them, I couldn't talk to them. I was too far. So next time John is going to let us sit by the girls.

We didn't do much else today. We went to Dothan (what else?) and found a kids resale shop. But it doesn't compare to Once Upon a Child. I miss that store so much. Their summer clothes were half off, so I got one cute Winner the Pooh outfit, but they didn't have any other toys or anything. It was sort of up scale, so it wasn't what I was looking for. I am going to go back when they have their first day of fall clothes. Cade has none and since he is now growing right, I need to pick up a few staples. 

Tomorrow we are probably going to the commissary. We went to our favorite store today to get staples of baby stuff. So we still have to get actual food. 

John starts his new detail Monday. He will be working 0730-1630. He will be an office rat for the G7. And don't ask John what a G7 is because I just did and I interrupted his space monkey painting. So basically he will "copy, staple and collate papers", that is exactly what his worksheet says. 

Update on Cade's weight

Today at 8 Cade had a weight check with his peditirican in Enterprise. He now weighs 17 lbs 12 oz. He is doing really well. His doctor said though he will defintally have to have the eye probe done to open his clogged tear duct. She thought a few months back he wouldnt have to, but after seeing him today it hasnt cleared up and he will have to have it done around his first birthday. 

This posses a new problem for us. We are coming home for Christmas and John thinks he will have two weeks vacation built up. We hadn't talked about or decided how long we were going to stay in MO because we also wanted to go out to VA. But if he needs to out patient surgery he will also have to have the cyst removed from his ear if they deem that necessary. The issue I am seeing is, we wanted to use that time to visit family, but it is also important that John be with Cade and I during that time (when ever they schedule it). 

So now I am just wondering about how long we are going to be visiting at Christmas time, so we can save some of John's leave for when Cade has surgery. His doctor said it is out patient, but she also said they will do his ear at the same time since he will have to be put under for that as well. I guess it will all just depend on what the specialist's say when we see them in a few weeks. They are still working on his referral for the eye doctor, but he does have one scheduled for the ENT the same day as his GI.

Nothing much else is going on.  John's last day of BOLIC 3A is tomorrow. He failed to get the paperwork to have leave to go with us to Birmingham because he told me it was out of the way. This comment hurt my feelings and upset me immensely. He said he understood that he needed to be there for Cade and I and we needed his support, but he just kept forgetting. So now we aren't sure if he will be able to go with us, which I believe was probably he was hoping would happen.

After BOLIC 3A he has been assigned a detail. He wont know anything else until tomorrow. So I should be able to give you all an update this weekend. Tomorrow night we are going to a friends house for poker. They have an 11 year old daughter and while we are there I asked her to watch Cade. I am sort of test driving her to see how well she does with a baby. She has an younger brother she watches, but its not the same when its not related to you. But I am trying to find a baby sitter, which is harder than you would think. I prefer them to have some sort of class or experience. But unless you know someone who knows someone or know them personally it is hard to find someone you trust. So I was trying to say we wont be home tomorrow night so I wont be posting. Unless we both get out way early in the game. But last time John wasn't home until 2AM.

I'm a Big Boy Now

Well I got our new car seat today. Now please someone give me a cookie! The car seat I wanted and got is originally $300. I went to Babies R US firstly because John took the stroller again and I was going to Dothan and didn't have one. So I stopped in there to buy a light weight stroller. And when I walked in our car seat was there ON SALE, even better ON CLEARANCE! I got it (not in the color I wanted) for $219! No one likes the color I got, its Carmel brown, not that bad of a color, I just wanted black. However, I did not find the stroller I wanted. Well I did, but it was $70 and since I thought I was spending a lot more (the sale sticker still said $274), I didn't get the stroller at all. So I am just going to buy it online and have it shipped here. Maybe then I will avoid sales tax.

___

I went ahead and bought the stroller online. I hope it gets here before we leave for Birmingham, as it will come in handy. We also installed the car seat. It is MASSIVE! It sits taller than the front two seats. I had John install it behind the drivers seat so it is easier to get Cade in and out since now he is heavier and you have to lift him higher to get him in. It doesn't recline like his infant seat does, guess that is because its a convertible seat. His feet touch the back of the seat worse than in the infant one. But we really have no other option. I wanted one with the highest safety ratings because we will be doing most of our traveling in our cars. 

Today was also the first day I put Cade in a cart, AKA buggy. He did fine. He was so excited to be sitting in it. But of course I didn't have the car seat cover since it was in the basket of the stroller, both of which were in the back of the Mazda John had drove to work. Even living on this small of a base, I couldn't find it. 

It is sad seeing him in the car seat. I don't like it. At first I thought it was because I didn't like the car seat. Its huge and big and it wasn't the color I had wanted. But then I think I am realizing it is because it shows how big Cade is becoming. I guess I am just not ready to face that. 

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

I always plan ahead for things. I think all women do, we plan for six months from know, where as guys plan for six minutes from now (I think the whole "monkey like shiney" comment comes into play here). So I know that the Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm) says that your child must be 20lbs AND 1 year before they can be front facing. They also say that it best to keep the child rear facing for as long as possible. So a while back I started researching car seats. I wanted to get the best, well for starters I want our son to have the best, then I know it should last for the next kid and mostly because I know we will be traveling a lot more with living so far so I wanted one with high safety ratings. So I found the best car seat. Its a Britax Boulevard (http://www.britaxusa.com/products/product_detail.aspx?ID=1). I know there is a sale on them at albee Baby in September (http://www.albeebaby.com/britax.html), So I was going to wait on that. I also know Target sells them, but with AL sales tax at 9% I would rather buy it online. So I was thinking about how Cade is tall for his age, and thinking how right now he cant put his legs straight in the back seat because they are so long. So I decided to check the weight and height requirements for his infant seat and he is too tall! His seat goes up to 22lbs and 29 inches. No wonder the child hates his car seat, he doesn't fit into it. I noticed the shoulder straps were too low, but didn't really think anything of it. Right now I am on Ebay trying to find a new one cheaper, but it looks like we are going to get the Marathon instead. Luckily we can get them online at AFFESS.com (I cant remember the exact spelling) but anyways its like a online PX. We aren't charged sales tax or shipping, but the car seat is still about $250. But nothing but the best in safety for him. 

We were actually going to buy a new light weight stroller. Almost every day last week John took the car and neither one of us realized the stroller was in the back. So I had to carry Cade in his seat or on my hip. And let me tell you, I don't find sweat under my boobs all that great. So knowing we are going to be traveling, and taking the Mazda because it is better on gas, we wanted to get a lightweight and more compactable stroller to keep in the Mazda and keep our other in the jeep. We still like our full-size one best. So I was thinking about getting this stroller too, Mia Moda Facile (its online at www.babiesrus.com). 

But the car seat is back ordered and the stroller will take 3 weeks to get here. So I am still trying to decide if I want to wait that long. I probably will since the prices are so good.

John is in his last week at BOLIC 3A. He had four tests and has a 97% average for the class, he was done with tests today. The rest of the week they are just learning a system they will be using. Then next week he will go to his flight surgeon, so cross your fingers that his ear has healed. He is worried it hasn't healed right because he cant valsalva. So he is worried that he will have to have the corrective surgery to fix it. We are hoping that the bubble between now and AreoMed will be long so if he does have to have the surgery, he will have time to heal since he will still need to take his dunker class after the surgery. But we will just have to wait and see. 

Cade is getting so big. We go Thursday for his weight check and I will also have them measure him. I know he is already 30 inches. I am hoping he will stop growing at least until I get his new car seat. I feel so guilty now if we go anywhere knowing he shouldn't be riding in his infant seat because he is out grown it. 

Not much else going on. Since Cade is basically completely mobile now I am warn out. I really haven't had a break at all today. The only time I wasn't watching him is at dinner. Otherwise John has been in the office writing a paper. I am going to get to bed. 

Another First

No Wal-Mart of us today. Instead we went to breakfast and didn't eat. John was hung over and I am still feeling sick. We came home and we all took naps. After lunch we went to Dothan. I am trying to find a hobby to do to keep my hands busy. Its hard to find something though. I don't want to draw, and painting is too messy with Cade being mobile now. I don't want to knit because I don't want like 10,000 blankets. I am going to try cross-stitching, so we will see how that goes. Otherwise, we went to Target and came home. I took another nap and John studied and sorta watched Cade. Good thing Cade likes to be independent and not a very needy child. Some times I feel very guilty about this. Like we didn't hold him enough when he was younger. Now when you hold him all he wants is down.

Not much else went on today. Cade did sit up alone from the crawling position for the first time and is starting to crawl on his hands and knees more. He is growing up so fast. Some times when I think about it, it makes me cry.

This next week is the last week of John's classes. Then he will go to his flight surgeon in a few weeks to see if his ear has healed. We are hoping that his next class isn't so soon as he still has to do dunker once his ear is cleared. We also have Birmingham coming up. We are lucky enough to get a appointment with the Pediatric ENT the same day too. John still hasn't decided if he is going with us. He says he will take him a week to get his packet together for asking off, but he hasn't even got the paper work yet. Luckily Cade's appointment is after his class is over. I perdict he wont go for whatever reason. But it would be nice if he would, for everybody's sake.

No Pearls and High Heels here Ladies....

this is how I found our son this morning. I hope this doesn't predict his career path.

10:20 AM - This morning was rough. I don't mind taking care of Cade and the house alone during the week. It doesn't bother me and gives me something to do, otherwise I get bored, which I do anyways. But when it comes to the weekend. House winch is done. I understand John has to study and has work, which is why during the week I gladey do everything and when he says he has to study and goes into his room, I ignore him until he comes out. But on the weekend, that is my time. Not the Army's, not anybody elses, my time. So when the Army makes him go into work today, Saturday for three hours, for no better reason, than to highlight his name responsibilities. That just down right pisses me off. This is my time. My time to be with my family, John's time to be with his son, our time to be together. I am tired too. But for like a day and a half, it would be nice if the Army left us alone and John would help with things. I understand this is my life now, but I too need a break sometimes from Cade, John, Cleaning and the animals.

Later tonight - John was suppose to go to a poker game, and I was suppose to go with Cade to a friends house for a BBQ, but I didn't go. I ended up getting sick right as I was walking out the door. I made John go to poker. I know he was looking forward to it all week. We are both trying to make new friends and it is hard. I only had Cade for about an hour and half before he went to bed anyways. It was a tough choice to make. We both felt like John should stay home to take care of Cade, but he was going to go to bed soon and I knew John was really upset about not going. (the pouting and whining gave it away). It would have been nice if he would have stayed home so I could get some rest and be OK in the restroom alone. But instead I got to stay home with him, while John got to go out. I'm jealous as I wanted to go out and have fun too. Sometimes I just feel left out and like I am the only one who has to take responsibility for our son and I give up more things in life. Maybe its just the job of being a mom, but why not a parent? I know it has to be hard for John to though, not being able to when he should. I know he didn't want to go in to work today, I know he wanted to go to breakfast like we normally do. So I know it upsets him too.

9 AM - I have created the land of the towels on the floor and Cade mindlessly crawls off of it to puke on the clean carpet. He loves books, yes, they sure taste good to him. He prefers the "bathtime" books to the cardboard ones. I do too, as I can easily through those in the tub with him to wash, while the cardboard ones, not so much. Might have a disintegration problem there, not to mention half of them make noises, so the thought of electrocution had crossed my mind.



1:30 PM - Still trying to figuare out how to upload. I was told to create a YouTube account and upload from there. But so far that isnt working because technology has ceased to exisit or has stopped working for the time being. And the loving sound of my child sleeping has been taken over by the cats running amuck in our storage unit and the dog snoring and FARTTING behind me as I write this. Silence is golden, well at least it doesn't stink.

9:45 PM - We had a good night. We walked over to a friends house and had dinner there, played some cards and came home. Its hard though. They have a wonderful 3 year old. I cant say enough about how well behaved he is and how smart he is, he is a great kid. The husband is really cool also, we like him a lot. The wife is nice too, very quiet and the hard thing is she really doesn't speak English. She keeps to herself. While we were there she sat on the couch and read a magazine while we played cards. Its hard to find the perfect couple - one with good kids, or kids your kids age, one that the husband likes both the husband and wife and one where the wife likes both the husband and wife also. I have tried to make friends with her, but it is like pulling teeth. But she is so kind. It bothers me when we go over because I just want to pull her into our conversations, but its hard to know what she understands and you don't want to make her feel uncomfortable also.

But Cade went to bed an hour later than normal, but with no bath. I hope he sleeps late tomorrow morning because John has to go to this breakfast thing for this new head hauncho guy. We don't know how long it will take. Not much else going on, we have to go get groceries tomorrow also. We did good this week. Haven't been to our favorite place or bought anything all week. However, John did order us pizza one night and we went out another. So I cant say we were totally great. But normally we go three times a week to buy food. So progress is being made.

"THOR"

I have still been trying to upload videos with no success. Sometimes I really cant stand technology. I get so irritated when I get something new and it doesn't work the way it is suppose to. But I did add on two pictures. The top is "Thor", John's new pet that he actually feeds. And then how I discovered Cade this morning. I guess he decided his pjs were to constricting for his long legs.

This week has gone by extremely fast for us. With John being gone during the day I am left to my own devices and thoughts. So the thought this week was about budgets. I knew we were starting to spend more than normal and decide that since it is cheaper to buy plane tickets than to drive, we needed to start saving for airfare. It will be hard, as we like to go to our favorite store every day, but we haven't been since Sunday. I have held us off all week. We are allowed to go anytime after tonight, so I have a feeling we are headed there tomorrow night.

I am going to contact blogger to see if we can fix the upload for our videos, it is upsetting me because there are actually a few of you who enjoy them and I like to share them!

I am so smart. s-m-a-t, I mean smart!

Ahh the stupidy of being an adult.

So when we moved here John manly set up the washer and dryer. I told him I though the hoses were switched, but to my stupidy I was told I was wrong. So for three months I have been setting our washer on warm. That way the stains dont set and the colors dont run. So like two weeks ago, I open up the wash after its been started and my glasses steam up. Not thinking that the wash was on warm and there should be no steam. Then being frustrated with most of Cade's clothes ruined from stains, socks coming out red and my white bras are now blue, I start setting it strickly to cold wash. I go to put a load in, start the water and it was so hot I burned myself! So now it dawns on me. I was right (imagine that!), and the man had no clue what he was doing (he did give a valient effort. Gold star for him). So the hoses are wrong, I have been washing everything in hot water, now I burned myself and we discover the water temp needs to be turned down. Now I am doing a load on hot wash, which is really the cold wash. Just thought our stupidty would brighten someone's day! Oh and John says he hooked it up that way because he assumed the hose running from the back of the fridge for ice was the cold line. guess not. So do they do that so the cold water doesnt freeze in the hose?

Not much else went on today. Cade and I went on a walk with our neighbor. Her husband is a Kiawa piolt. Tonight is his last night of nights, and he will graduate in a few months. Sad, I finally met some one I get along with and they are moving. Just all part of the life.

I have also been in contact with the president of the AL chapter of Blue Star Mothers. I am helping them now. They just got a charter in Jan. and are now trying to form the first chapter. I hope it will be easier to get members than in St. Louis because I didnt realize how many military instilations there were in AL. The only problem with her is, she just got her FIRST computer and is about 70. She talks non stop (no comments from the peanut gallery) which makes it hard to have a productive conversation. So I have to call and email her things and it is just exsaserbating to do so. But it makes me happy doing it. Just wish I could paid. I was even thinking about doing one of those stuffing envelops jobs, just to feel like I am acutally doing something. I know watching Cade and keeping the house up is doing something, but it doesnt make me feel fullfilled. Dont take that the wrong way, Cade is my world, but I just need something else to do.

Music Man

Not to much important going on. Thought I would take this down time to share a few recient photos and some videos.

There is one things we discovered about Cade, he really likes music. There is a toy on his exersauer that has a few buttons. If you press it once a dog will bark, again and it was say "dog", again and it will say dog in spanish, again and it will bark and one last time and it will play some classical music. The other day John discovered that Cade knew if he banged the buttons long enough he would get the music to play. So now he bangs on the buttons until the music plays and then just sits. After the music ends he does it again. I have a video of it, but I have been trying for two days now to get it uploaded and it wont. Hopefully the other videos will work.

Over the river and through the woods....

This weekend was eventful in the lives of the Siech's. We went to two, count them, TWO new Wal-Marts, John almost blew Meg up in the dryer and Cade is getting much closer to crawling. So needless to say we were crazy busy this weekend.

We decided to go to Dothan after our ceremonaional breakfast at the local Waffle House. I wanted to take a weekend trip to Birmingham to show John what is up there. When I drove up there is past month I was surpirsed at the landscape I saw. I pictured most of Alabama to be flat, brown grasses, not many trees (if so they have moss in them like Gone with the Wind) and sparely populated. But where we visited up there was nothing like that. There were "moutains" and trees everywhere. It was so beautiful. The Childrens hospital south sat on a bluff that was nestled back in the trees and overlooked a small highway and more trees. Not to mention it has bread company, an apple store, coach store and a million other things to do there. But it is too far for John to venture right now. His new commander is trying to change that rule so maybe later. I had thought about Montgomery, but when I drive through there it reminds me of Chicago and that was the dirtest city I have ever seen. I lock my doors and just look straight ahead. It is not a pleasant town to drive through. But talking about this leads me to another thought.

When I "signed up" to be a military wife, I wanted to get one thing out of the experiance and that was to travel to other places we would not normally have had the opportunity to go to. So I want to try to visit the three biggest cities in each state, if time and location allow. Maybe even some smaller Mayberry ones too along the way. And of course we must visit the Wal-Mart's in each. Maybe I should start taking my pictures at each to create some sort of "Travel" log of where we have been.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

We found out that all of Cade's test results came out fine. Of course if they didn't I would have called or wrote sooner. So we are continuing his plan of care as prescribed by his Pediatric GI in Birmingham. To top that off, Thursday we went in for a weight check and he now weighs 17 lbs! He is a growing boy.

John's first week of class was good. He said the people talked too much but their topics were good. So far they barely got an hour for lunch, so we are down to seeing daddy only at night now. They say the first week is the longest, so hopefully next week it wont be so bad.

Cade is starting to get so mobile. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks. He is now starting to backwards crawl as well. Wont be to much longer and he will be all over the place. His newest "trick" is to gag on everything he eats. No matter if it is his favorite food, he gags and makes the funniest faces. Same as in the macaroni video. So it takes me quite awhile now to get him to eat his food. Daddy sometimes cant even feed him his bottle because all Cade does is smile and laugh at him. I do this also, the laughing at him part. He is such a goof.

Tonight was nice. We stayed at home and I was watching Cade and daddy on the floor. They kept mimicking each other. Its like looking in a mirror, they are so much alike.

I have to go, I let John try and feed Cade his bottle, but I hear them both laughing in there. I tell you, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself!

I had the time of my life... and i owe it all

to loving Cader. So as I posted earlier I have a few home movies from Cader and daddy. Plus a few pictures daddy took of them tonight.

Below is a video we shot on the forth. It is a "game" daddy and Cader play.

Otherwise nothing much new. We didn't get the results today from the tests. I was busy doing housework to call. They said we would get the results mid-week. So regardless I am calling tomorrow as they probably wont call me. Seems to always work out that way. As soon as I know something we will let everyone know. So please be patient. We will call you.

Talked to Becky tonight, they had an earthquake there yesterday! She ended up having to take Jackson into the bathroom for cover. Everyone is alright, but it is so odd to think about things like that happening. We went to the commissary last week and had to pick up a hurricane preparedness check list. Just odd to think we have to think of those things now.

Well I am off to spend some quality time with John playing WII. Cader is fast asleep in bed and the animals are spaced out throughout the house doing what they do best; really nothing at all.

Macaroni anyone?

The last two days we have been busy doing basically nothing. We have been out going places and trying to find things to do around here. Yesterday of course we went to Wal-Mart, and then mistakenly I tried to go to the commissary, but I forgot it is closed on Mondays. So we went to the PX instead.



Cade has started to get up on both his hands and knees and rock back and fourth which is the first step to crawling. So time is getting near to where we will have to baby proof the house and find some better way to contain him on the floor. He has also started to get his grown up taste buds. We fed him Macaroni and cheese for the first time two nights ago, and well the video tells it all.

Off for our morning walk. I hope everyone is doing well. I will hopefully post another blog today as I have a few more videos to share.

Happy Birthday America

Yes, I know it was yesterday but I didnt get around to saying it. I hope everyones was great and filled with lots of food and fireworks. We went over to a friends house for a bbq and to watch the fireworks, however we saw no fireworks. It was very upsetting to everyone. We were told we would be able to see them from our houses and the house we went to was even on a hill, but when they went off we only saw the light blasts in the sky through the trees. It rains everyday now, so we have a feeling maybe they got wet and didnt got as high because of it. But regardless it was still fun and we had a good time.

We didnt do much today. We went and got Cade's new medicine finally. Then went to Dothan for the afternoon and dinner. So we have this discussion everytime we go, is it pronounced Dothan or Dathon. We have come to the conclusion that it is both depending on where you are from. Even the locals dont seem to know how to say it. Sort of like Spode and Rinke roads.

Not much else to say about the past two days. We have taken them slow and east as John starts up his next school July 8th, it is three weeks long. When we get other dates we will share them.

Grow Cader Grow

Luckily today was uneventful. We were going to go to the lake with friends, but then the weather started getting bad, so we played a few games instead while Cade took a nap. I forgot to tell everyone that he is now 28 inches long! Size 9-12 starts at 28 inches. So today we went to our favorite store and bought cheap bottles, new formula, and 12 month onesis. He is almost grown out of his 6-9 pjs and onesis. This kid is growing in the wrong direction (I hope that he gets really tall though!).

We didn't get the results from the blood tests back and probably wont until next week sometimes, as tomorrow is a holiday and a Friday. So we wait.

Nothing much else went on. After dinner we went on our walk, came home and gave Cade a bath as usual. Tomorrow we aren't doing much of anything either. We will probably find some reason to go to Wal-Mart. Then at 4pm we are going to the Freedom Fest on base to the arts and crafts section, then we are going to a friends house for a bbq, drinks and fireworks. One thing that is nice here, is that since all the housing is in one area, they shoot the fireworks off so mostly everyone can see them from home. So we will watch them from our friends backyard.

Otherwise we are doing fine. I added a video I found below. They are from when Cade was born. I just cant believe how much he has grown. I remember looking at some of his clothes and thinking he would never be able to wear them because they were so big and he was so small.

Birmingham

Sorry I was not about to post last night, I appreciate everyone understanding and cooperation for letting Cade and I recooperate after the journey. The first few parts are about our eventful trip up and back and the last will be about his doctors appointment. If you do read about the trip up and back you wont be disappointed.

So let me start out with what happened Tuesday on our way up. The trip started out fine, we left around 1:15pm. We made it to Montgomery with no major issues. However, once we got to Montgomery that was a different issue. If you haven't been to Montgomery then let me tell you they are doing MAJOR road construction. So I am suppose to take 231 to 65 North. But they have now closed the exit to 65 North since last I had been there. Let me also say that Montgomery is not a very pleasant city, however, I have only been to the areas surrounding the highway. After realizing I can no longer take the direct route to 65 north, I start looking for detour signs. 5 miles down the highway I finally find one. That leads me on a 20 minute detour to 65 north. Luckily at this point Cade is awake but happy. So then we sit in traffic on 65 north. They have taken four lanes down to two divided lanes and for some reason the lane I picked was at a standstill, while the other lane was cruising on by. And because of the concrete barriers, I wasn't in a position to jump the lane. So we sit, and sit and sit and then it starts to smell. At this point in the day the temp outside is 92 degrees. So I am sitting there thinking how Cade must have really did a number in that diaper. So I begin plotting where and when I can finally pull over at a gas station to change him. But as we travel the smell gets worse and worse. Finally I see the cars way ahead of me go really fast, while the few in front still stopped. After another 10 minutes I reach the point they were at. And I sit there for a minute looking at the 1 ton of raw unprocessed meat that is piled across the two lanes of traffic wondering how I am suppose to get our little car across it. The smell was overwhelming and I started to gag, so I gunned it. Past that was the truck that was carrying it. It was no normal semi, it was one of those long dump trucks with no lids. After I got home yesterday we all went to dinner and John kept commenting on how the car still smelled. So I am pretty sure there are still parts to what every animal that was stuck to the underneath of our car.

We finally make it to Birmingham, where the instructions I was giving from the hospital told us to turn south instead of north. So after realizing the exits were #7, getting smaller and I needed 17, I then had to drive 11 more miles to find an exit I could turn around on. Finally I find the hospital. John told me I was silly for always booking hotel rooms ahead of time and should just wait until I see what is down there to find one. However, there were no hotels down there! So I end up in a parking lot trying to figure out what to do. I drove around (with Cade screaming) for about 30 minutes trying to find something and decided that before I got lost, I should go back to a more populated parking lot. So I sat there, on the phone with John, and learned he doesn't really know much about computers. He started arguing with me that there wasn't such thing as a history button. I was trying to get him to go to a website for the hospital that i visited last week. It had listed all the hotels in the area, but since John said I needed to "play it on the fly", I didn't print off the sheet or make a reservation. Finally, I hung up on him and "stalked" this lady who had her son with her. She was so nice. I asked her where some hotels where and she asked why and I explained. She said that her son has MS and that she goes there all the time. She invited me back to her house for dinner and to use the Internet to find a hotel. I told her it was ok, but she gave me a deposit slip out of her checkbook with all her information on it. She called her husband and he told her to get me to 280, which I did and found a few hotels to stay at. Nothing like a eventful trip up to keep me awake.

On the way home, it wasn't much different. I got lost, again trying to get from 65 south to 231. They are stupid people in Montgomery. They list 231 on an exit, then you exit, then 15 miles down they tell you it is only for 231 north. So I have to turn around at the Montgomery docks and find my way back to the highway. Then on 231 about 30 miles outside of Montgomery I saw it. Have you ever seen someone die? The moment their life is gone? I have seen it. Yesterday I was a few minutes late for that one moment in life, but I have seen it before. There were a few semis on the opposite side, a few bodies in the center divide and a few cars, one completely unrecognizable in the center lane. No emergency vehicles anywhere and I didn't pass any on the way home, so they must have come from behind me. There was still dirt, smoke and debris in the air when I passed. I will never forget it. When I drove by there was this women kneeling beside someone on the ground. She was just screaming. You could hear it through the glass.

______

For being the south and AL having the third worst health care, the facility was outstanding. The service was better than at children's in St. Louis and I think the doctor was too. Our appt was at 12:30 and we got in right on time. The nurse practitioner talked to us for awhile about everything and then the doctor came in. I was so happy to see it was a woman and glad she spoke fairly good english. We talked for awhile. She ruled out PS because if he had that he would be getting worse. He weighed 16.7 pounds. She says the he defiantly has severe reflux. Next she asked if he had blood in his stool. I said no, for the obvious reason we haven't. Then she told me how when there is a allergy present the colon becomes inflamed and microscopic particles of blood will be passed into the stool. Luckily Cade had just had a diaper change so she took a sample from that. She showed me how the test worked and sure enough, there was blood in his stool. I told her how both John and I were allergic to milk when we were young and she asked if he had been tested. I told her we tried soy formula. She said that 75% of people who are allergic to milk are also allergic to soy. Which makes sense since he was the sickest when we tried soy. So she order a lot of blood tests including testing for certain food allergies. We wont get the results for a few days so please be patient and we will call you or I will email everyone with the results. It is much easier to email so we don't have to explain ourselves four times over (it also makes me stressed out when I have to do that). So please understand we are not calling because we don't want to talk or explain what is wrong. I didn't even really tell John until I got home yesterday because I was upset about the accident and stressed from going up there all alone. Its not easy holding your son down for 10 minutes kicking and screaming while they draw blood. But it was John's choice not to go.

His doctor prescribed a new medication for his reflux, giving me twice the dosage since he is a severe case. He has stopped the formula he was one and once again is on liquid gold. This time it is similac alimentum. It is a hypoallergenic formula. We also have to add one tablespoon of cereal per ounce of formula. So basically we are feeding him breakfast at every meal. We are going today to our favorite store to buy the old fashioned bottles. They are cheaper and since the expensive ones we have cost $5 to replace one nipple, I would rather not cut holes in them. John already cut a hole to big in one, so I figured it would be cheaper to replace the other ones. Cade also has to get a weight check every week now. Hopefully this will all work. We go August 6 for a follow up. If it doesn't work then he will have to have an endoscopy done. But last night we gave him a bottle with everything changed and all he did was dribble a bit. So I have faith this will work. I just want to say "i told you so" to all those people who told me nothing was wrong with him and don't tell me my child is fine when as his mother I knew something was wrong, including John. I love my boys, but sometimes only a mother knows what is best.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions just let me know.