9 Months

I can't believe my baby is already 9 months old!  Well she will be on Tuesday, but close enough.  Where has time gone?!  She is getting so big.  She is about 18 lbs and 28".  I say "about" because we measured her here at home and she doesn't like making anything easy.  So here's some pictures and things she's up to lately.

She is getting really good at standing by herself.  And even gets brave enough to take a few steps on her own.  We were playing this afternoon and she took 5 steps by herself.  She walks really well if she's holding onto something or someone.  And she crawls super fast.  The little stinker can book it across the room if there's something she wants. It's hard to keep her out of stuff, particularly the dog's food and water...

She likes to "help" me in the kitchen.  She loves to pull all the silverware out of the dishwasher and throw them on the floor.  She also likes getting in the cupboards.  We fixed that by putting latches on all the doors though.

She loves food.  She will chow down on her fruit puffs, cheese puffs, and graham crackers.  She also loves her apple juice.  She thinks she has to eat whatever Mom and Dad are eating.  And most of the time we'll share a few small bites.  She's been a bit of a picky eater lately.  When it comes to her baby food, she's only eating her cereal and fruit.  She hasn't been eating much of her meats and veggies.  Not sure if there's just not enough flavor in them for her after trying mom and dad's food, or if it's her teeth bothering her, or what.  9 months seems kinda young to be that picky already though...

 She isn't very shy when it comes to other people.  She will give a smile to just about anyone, and will let anyone hold her, even if just for a second.  When we go to Ben's various appointments, she's friendly with everyone.  And we are always hearing how big she is getting.  But then most of the doctors and various people we see have watched her grow up.

Still no teeth yet.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time though.  And she has quite the temper.  If she isn't happy or doesn't get what she wants, she'll let you know.  It can be trying at times.  She is a big Mommy's girl.  That can be frustrating too.  Ben will try to take her so I can get something done, and she'll just yell and scream until I go get her.  Not every time, but a lot of times.  Or if I leave her in one room to go to another, she'll be ok until she realizes I'm not there.  Then the screaming starts.  It makes me want to scream sometimes.

She's not always grumpy though.  She is a pretty happy girl most of the time.  She can be a stinker but we still love her.  Especially when she smiles.  How could you not love that smile?!  Oh I forgot to mention that she loves having her picture taken, if you couldn't tell.  I had my camera out the other day and she started yelling at me when I put it away until I got it back out.  It was pretty cute.
She is a joy to have around, and we are so thankful for her each and every day.  She keeps me on my toes, but I love it.  It's so fun watching her learn and grow.  I just can't believe how fast it's happening.  :)

Visitors!

My sister, Amber, and cousin, Amanda, came to visit us for a week.  And we had so much fun!  We did all kinds of things.  We went to the beach a few times, the Dole Plantation, the Swap Meet, the PCC, Sea Life Park, the Ala Moana Shopping Center, got shaved ice, and the farmer's market to name a few.  Ok so that's most of the places we went.  That's quite a bit for the week they were here.

The Friday they were here we went to the Polynesian Culture Center.  We were able to get an awesome discount on tickets from the ticket/travel office on post.  For about half the price we were able to get admission tickets, the ambassador luau, and the show.  All for under $60!  If you've ever been there, you would know that that package is over $100.  So we were pretty happy with that deal.  

Kaylin loved having the extra attention! Here she is with Amber and Amanda waiting for the canoe pageant to start.  She loved watching the dancers.  Especially during the night show.  She was pretty captivated through most of it.  She would clap and squeal when they were dancing.  It's pretty cute.  So that was a fun day. 

On Saturday we went to the swap meet at the stadium then headed down to Sea Life Park on the South East shore.  I have to say I was a bit disappointed in it.  It was really small and not very exciting.  At least not to me.  Amber and Amanda did the dolphin encounter, so they had a bit more fun.  They got to pet, dance, kiss and be kissed by a dolphin.  

Ben, Kaylin, and I just watched from the side.  Isn't she the cutest thing ever?!  We got her the dress and the lei at the swap meet.  And she looks pretty dang cute, if you ask me.  You can't tell in this picture, but Ben's in a wheelchair.  I was going to say he's not hurt, but he's always hurting so that doesn't work.  We figured it would be easier on him if he didn't have to do all that walking, since that seems to aggravate the pain.  So being the good wife that I am, I pushed him around the PCC and Sea Life Park in a wheelchair.  I definitely got my work out in those days. But it's all good.  It was nice that he was able to join us and wasn't dying by the time we got home.

So those are the biggest highlights of their trip.  It was nice having the company and the extra help.  Amanda even helped Ben get the garden planted, which is looking pretty good, but that will be a separate post. But if anyone else wants to come visit, our guest room is ready! Come quick while we're here so you don't have to pay for a hotel.  We love the company! :)

Med Board Update

I know it's been a while since I last updated the blog.  I'm not sure where the month of May went.  It flew by super fast.  Probably because we were so busy.  Ben had tons of appointments.  And it felt like we were always on the go.  Which isn't neccessarily a bad thing, but it can be exhausting.
But anyway, an update on where we are in the whole med board process.  We finished all the doctor appointments for the VA.  He had to have a complete head to toe physical done, xrays done, eye and ear exams/tests done, and a psych eval.  All of those were done in a week.  And most of them were downtown Honolulu.  Have I ever told you how much I hate driving down there?! That's another story for another time though.  So now that the appointments are all done, we are just waiting on the results/write up from the VA.  We should have that anytime now.  We were told it typically takes about two weeks from the last appointment, and it's been about three now, so we should have it any day now.  Hopefully next week.  Once we get that though, our Army doctor can finish his write up.  When he finishes that, we get a copy that we can take to legal to have them review to make sure we aren't being screwed over.  Once we are happy with it, everything is sent off to Seattle where it is reviewed by the Army and VA.  And that's when the real waiting begins.  The average wait time to get our rating back is about 8 months right now.  Of course that can be shorter or longer.  It really depends on who you talk to.  We've had people say we'll be done by October/November, and others say it will be February/March.  I'm hoping it's on the shorter end.  But with how complex Ben's case is, it may take a bit longer.  The VA doctor who did Ben's physical said his case is one of the worst he's seen, and he's been doing it a while.  Just goes to show how much the Army has beat him up.  They never would have let him join with all the problems he has now.  Anyway, sorry, I got of track again.  So we are just waiting now.  I'm hoping we'll be home by Christmas.  But I'm not making any promises.  We really won't have a good timeline until we get our rating back.  And even then, that's as long as we agree with the findings.  We can always send it back if we don't agree with what they say.  As long as we get at least a 30% disability rating though, we'll be happy.  Because that means it will be a medical retirement and we'll be getting a monthly paycheck the rest of his life.  The higher the rating the better, since that's more money, but we'll take the 30% if that's what they give us.  I'm sure it will be more though, just because of all the problems he has.
So that's where we are.  Just waiting.  It's always hurry up and wait.  Hopefully we'll have more news soon though.