A few updates

Not much happening around here. I'm so bored with Guam, so ready to move. In my opinion Guam should be only a 2-3 year tour with family. Im so irritated there is nothing to do here for Kayla besides the beach. We can go to Underwater World or Tarza Water Park only so many times before its not that exciting anymore. The beach is great, but during rainy season (now) its not likely that you will without running into a small storm. And the beach in the tropical wind and rain makes for a big sandy mess with 2 small children. Im ready to move onto the next chapter of our military life. But, we still have 14 months until we get orders and 19 months until we move.

Anyways a few updates:

*Caden's 4 month well baby appt was yesterday. He is huge. He is 27" tall in the 75th%, he is 17 pounds also in the 75th%, and his head had to be remeasured 3 times because it's 45 cm in at the 90th% on charts. I had to remind the doctor that when Kayla was his age she had to remeasure her also...Kayla was at 95th% at Caden's age. Caden is perfectly healthy although has an attachment issue already and the doctor got to actually see what those moments are! She said its rare for a baby his age but it's ok and he will outgrow it. He is just pure Mama's boy.

*She also said Kayla's speech is that of a 3 and half year old on charts with over 500 words in her vocab, talking in FULL sentences, can hold conversations and 75% or more of her speech is understandable by strangers.

*Kayla will be TWO YEARS OLD in 5 weeks. *Sigh* Where did that time go?

*Im still running. I haven't done an accurate weight on myself in about 2 weeks, but last time I was at 145 which is 15 pounds lost. I need new clothes. All my shirts are too big, my jeans dont want to stay up even with a belt because now the belts are too big, and my sweatpants that are my all time favorites are just too big on me, but I wear them anyways. I think another week I will do an accurate weigh in...meaning first thing in the morning before I do anything but go pee.

*Im still running but in the program Im just stuck at week 5. Walk 2 minutes run 5 minutes repeat 4 times and I cant finish all 4 sessions every day. But my speed is going up. I can run at 4.1 and 4.2 now on the treadmill. I dont want to go any faster than that because this is the highest speed for weight loss. Any higher I go up to endurance and performance and I really dont want that right now.

*I am planning on a trip to Hawaii here shortly. To get off this island and go to another one that has an actual society on it. There are only 3 things on my to do list while we are there and this is, 1)beach 2)zoo and 3)Pearl Harbor. We can get a flight for free via space available and stay with some friends. So, this will be exciting. Kayla has been telling me for months she wants to get back on an airplane. And this will be an easy peasy trip...only ONE 8 hour flight and we are there. A piece of cake considering all our other trips average out to be 22-23 hours long with many stops.

So, thats the news around here. Not much....but some news.

I dont call him Porker for no reason!

Baby man is a hunk of chunk! I dont call him 'porker' for no reason!

Yesterday was his first well baby appt since he was 4 days old. Yesterday he was 7 weeks and 4 days old.

He measured in at a whopping 12 lbs and 23 inches tall. 95% on the charts for both height and weight! This kid has gained 4 pounds and 3 inches since birth, not even 8 weeks ago.

I know he is eating like a champ...but wow. During the day he is putting down 4 ounces..no later than every 2 hours. In the afternoon he will take one nap that is 3 hours without eating.

At night, he goes 3 hours sometimes but also, mostly 2 hours without eating...and he will eat the whole 4 ounce bottle..every last drop.

Last night Nick finished putting together a dresser in baby man's room so I was sorting through his clothes. I cannot believe what size he is wearing now. Kayla took a long time to start wearing size 3-6 months clothes.

Kayla didn't hit 12 pounds until she was almost 4 months old! Crazy how different babies with the same genetics can be.

I dont call Kayla my skinny mini for no reason either. Her 18 month well baby was on Friday even though she is 20 months old today. (The clinic here is hard to get into on time)
At 20 months old she weighs 20 pounds and is 4% on the growth charts and she is 32 inches tall. I forget what % she is on the charts.

Her intelligence is beyond believable. She talks like a 4 year old. No kidding.

Here are pictures of Porker and Skinny Mini! Caden relaxing in the sunshine and Kayla playing with some of her PEZ...which we started collecting for her. She just loves them...and she is going to love what the Easter Bunny brings to her!

15 month well baby stats, and other news

Yes, Kayla is 16.5 months old but we just on Friday got into her 15 month well baby visit.

She is as healthy as a horse (whatever that saying is supposed to mean anyways). But, she has dropped down the 4th percentile on the charts for weight. The doctor has us starting her on a high calorie food diet and in a month she goes back in for another weight check.

Since her 12 month well baby she has lost 1 pound and gained 2.5 inches in height.

She is very tall and very thin....just like both of her birth parents. So I am in no way concerned.

Today is Sunday. Today I'm going to fax the request for home study letter from our attorney to Guam Social Services and hope that we can get our home study on time.

Im also still waiting on an email from the attorney answering a few questions we had, one being if they would accept payments from us. If they cant accept payments or give us a grant within the amount of time we need, then we cant go the adoption attorney route.

The problem with all this waiting is...
Time is even shorter than we thought.

A couple nights ago Birth Mom had some contractions. She went to the hospital, got some meds to stop contractions and is now on beds rest. The nurse told her to expect this baby sooner than due date. How soon? We have no idea.

Kayla still needs her passport. That takes 10 days and I plan to get that on Monday.

So what next? I don't know.

Kayla's well baby

So I didn't get to start my diet yesterday. The BX doesn't carry Slim Fast, and they were out of Hydroxycut. Today I'm going to check the commissary for Slim Fast, and buy ingredients for Chicken Citrus Salad. That is the salad I had at the Hard Rock Care the other day, and it was so delish. I'm going to try to recreate it. I will have it up on my recipe blog.

Kayla's 6 month well baby was yesterday. As all of her appointments go...the doctor said she is perfect.
We do have a big girl on our hands. The doctor asked if her birth parents had big heads and if they were tall..lol.
She weighed in at 17 pounds 10 ounces and measured at 27" long. She is in the 75th% for both of these on the growth chart and in 90th% for her head circumference on the chart.

Yesterday in the mail was Kayla's birth certificate!! We finally got it!!!!!!!!!

9 weeks old today!

The above pictures were taken yesterday. Click on them to see them big.

Kayla had her 8 weeks shots today. Yesterday was her well baby appointment. She weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs and 12 oz!!! She is in the 50th percentile for her height and weight, so she is right on target! Whoo Hoo! She is happy healthy and in the doctor's words, PERFECT! The doc could have told me something I didnt know at that appointment. hehe!

As far as night sleeping, she's back to her normal self. Now that its over and I think about it, I think it was a growth spurt. She was eating a whole more and pooping a ton.

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I too thought she was too young for the cry it out method. I just got up with her when she did and napped with her when she did and now I feel good again.

My mind is blank and I dont even know what to blog about at this moment..so until next time!!

Oh wait...one more thing. Im doing an experiment crock pot dinner tonight and it smells so wonderful in the house right now. Got the idea from a friend but I mixed up the recipie a bit.

Here goes...
In the crock pot: 1 can sprite or 7-up, 1 packet of dried onion soup mix, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, stewed beef chunks
Extras that I added: fresh garlic, fresh parsley, 1 chopped up potato, fresh ground black pepper. I think baby carrots would taste good in here too but Nick doesnt eat carrots.
Serve it over top of egg noodles.
Im also going to bake cresent rolls to dip in the sauce.

5 Aug 2008 Kaylas first well baby appt.

Click the pictures to see them larger.

KAYLA’S FIRST DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT


Yesterday Kayla Nicole was 6 days old. Yesterday was also her very first doctor's appointment and it could not have gone any better. Not only do Nick and I and her Grammy and Grandpa say she is absoluetly perfect, but the doctor says, "She's perfect!"

She has gained all her weight back and weighs 8 pounds 4 oz. She is 20.5" long. She is in the 50th percentile and is right on track.

We noticed today that she is starting to eat more. She now puts down a whole 2 oz bottle within just a few minutes and eats every 2-3 hours as long as we wake her up to eat. During the night she sleeps for 4-5 hours before we have to wake her up at about 2-3 a.m. And then she sleeps right through to about 6:30 or 7 am when we have to wake her up to eat.

She is now able to lift her head and move it right to left when she is laying on her tummy. She is very alert and loves to look at bright colors.

She is absoluetly perfect in every way. We are just sitting in the clouds and so proud!!