Hurry Up and Wait

I'm so tired of this waiting game!  We finally got Ben's official rating back on September 10th.  We went up to Tripler on the 11th to sign it saying we agreed with it and it was sent back up to have our orders processed.  We are STILL waiting for our orders.  Our case manager said it should only be a few days until we have our orders.  It's been almost two weeks!  I stopped and talked to the guy who is in charge of the transition and orders and stuff last Wednesday while Ben was at an appointment, and he said he has about 12 guys waiting for orders, and some of them have been waiting for 4 weeks.  That's not what I want to hear.  But then he also had another guy who got his orders with in a week.  So we are stuck here waiting.  Not really able to do anything until they come through.  But even then, once we do get them they will have to be adjusted because of how much leave Ben has saved up.  Once the orders come down, we have 90 days to be done with the Army, and that includes whatever leave we have left.  Ben has over 50 days right now (and we continue to accrue leave days while on leave) plus we get 30 days "permissive TDY" which is basically free leave that we use to find a house and get things figured out.  So we'll have close to 90 days of leave, which would only leave us a few days to clear out of here, have all our household goods and car shipped, etc.  and that's just not very possible. So hopefully it doesn't take this long to have them adjusted.  We are ready to be done and back home.  Even with all the stress and uncertainty that is ahead of us, just to be able to actively work on stuff (like looking at houses and for jobs) will be nice.  So we've given up on the idea of being home by the end of the month, since hey, that's this week.  We're still hoping to be home before Halloween though.  But hearing that it's taking 4+ weeks to get orders, is starting to make that hope waiver.  I know, I can't give up hope.  The end is in sight.  I just have to be patient a little longer.

1 Year Old!

Look who's 1!!!  My baby is now a year old!  I still can't believe it.  Where has the past year gone?!  

We had her one year well baby appointment this past week.  She is 31.25 inches (99th percentile) and 21 lbs 2 oz (37th percentile).  Overall she is looking great.  She had the routine immunizations and blood work done.  She didn't even flinch when the tech poked her finger for the blood work.  Such a big girl!  The shots were another story though.  That first needle poked her and she started screaming bloody murder.  Poor girl!   But we finished, Mommy gave her a cookie, and things were better within a few minutes.  I got a call from the doctor the next day and her iron levels are a bit low.  Still within normal ranges, just on the low end.  The doctor doesn't want to start any supplements or anything right now, so we will try to increase it with green veggies and such.  Then we'll have the levels checked again at her 15 month appointment.  So other than that, she looks great.

She still doesn't have any teeth.  I keep thinking we're getting close, but they still haven't popped through.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time though.  That doesn't stop her from eating anything and everything though.  She loves to eat!  Some of her favorites right now include: cheerios, kix, bananas, peas, chicken, cheese, and apple juice.  Granted she'll eat pretty much anything you put in front of her.  It's  nice that she isn't really picky right now.  Hopefully she stays that way.  We are slowly cutting down on the breastfeeding.  We still nurse at night, but it's getting shorter.  She usually won't nurse for more than a few minutes before bed, but will nurse a bit longer if she wakes up in the middle of the night.  She's getting better about sleeping through the night though.  We still have nights she'll wake up, but we are having more nights that she'll sleep all night and/or sleep longer in the morning.  Which is nice for this mommy.  :)

She is ALWAYS on the move.  She has a hard time sitting still.  It seems like she is always getting into something or making a mess with another.  Definitely keeps mommy on her toes.  She has learned to climb (as seen in the picture above).  Luckily she hasn't figured out how to climb up on the furniture yet, but she can climb stairs, climb up on the stroller, climb on the slides at the park.  She has also learned to open drawers and pull stuff out.  She loves to open the drawers on our entertainment center and filing cabinet and pull the stuff out.  The problem is I don't have anywhere to put that stuff!  We ended up turning the bookcase around so she can't pull the books off anymore.  Always thinking she has to be into stuff!

Yes, she is in the washing machine in that photo.  Daddy thought it would be funny, and she thought it was pretty funny too.  She loves to play in the laundry room.  Partly because the dog food and water is in there, but she also loves to go and throw things in the dryer if mom leaves it open.  Or she'll try to escape out the door to go outside.  She loves playing outside.  If you say "let's go bye bye" she'll wave and run to the door. Or if you ask if she wants to go for a walk or check the mail, she'll run to the door and wait for you.  She's a smart girl!  She doesn't really speak any words, but if you ask her where something is she will look for it, point at it and go get it.  And she won't say it, but she knows "yes" and "no" and will answer by shaking her head.  Most of her communicating is done by pointing and yelling though.

Most of the time she isn't very shy.  She will wave at anyone and everyone.  And she gets really excited when they wave back!  She does have her shy moments though.  She'll pretend to be busy with something like the buckle on her stroller and not look at you then.  It's pretty funny.  She loves playing with other kids.  A lot of times the other kids will run away, which we find funny, but we have met a few that will let her play with them.  It's so cute when they do.  Kaylin has the funniest laugh when she gets all excited.  You can't help but laugh when you hear her laugh.  

She is still a pretty big momma's girl too.  About the only time I can get anything done is when she is sleeping.  She loves to watch me in the kitchen.  If I'm standing at the counter, she will come up, push her way between me and the cupboard,  put her hands on the cupboard and her bottom on me, and push me back until I pick her up.  Then she gets mad if I put her down because I need two hands for something.  Such a stinker!  She loves looking at pictures.  Especially ones of her, and the animal ones that Grandpa takes and posts on facebook.  She loves her animals, especially birds.  She loves them even more when she can chase them. :)

So that's what Kaylin has been up to.  Always curious and learning.  She is still a joy to have around.  And even when I'm tired of chasing her around and getting frustrated, she seems to know that a nice hug will make it better.  It's hard to stay mad at her when she's so cute.  For example, she was in the bath last night and Smokey was in the bathroom checking stuff out and apparently she thought he needed a bath.  So she took a cup of water and threw it at him, cup and all!  I wanted to be mad because she had just got the dog and floor all wet, but all I could do was laugh.  Silly girl!  

And in case you are wondering (because I've seriously already had 3 or 4 people ask me) when Kaylin is going to be a big sister... sorry this isn't an announcement.  But we are starting to try again.  I can't guarantee that it will happen any time soon, seeing how it took us almost 5 years to get the number one.  Hopefully number two won't take that long.  But we are ready to try for a little brother or sister, so stay tuned and hopefully we'll have some exciting news in the near future.  :)

Unofficial Ratings

We are making progress with Ben's med board.  We talked to his PEBLO (case manager) on Friday and we have his unofficial ratings back.  It is a bit sooner than we were thinking.  Apparently the VA is moving a bit faster lately.  As of right now, we will be getting 90% disability rating from the VA, and 40% disability from the Army.  The VA percentage shouldn't change any, but the Army one can.  It should go up if anything.  And that's what we are waiting on now.  The VA has sent it back to the Army, and we are waiting for their final approving signatures.  We aren't sure how long that will take.  I guess the Army side is getting a bit backed up right now because the VA is getting the cases turned around so fast.  It shouldn't take too long.  I'm thinking we'll have the final ratings and approval stuff by Kaylin's birthday, if not sooner.  Once we get those, we're supposed to get our orders within a few days.  Then we'll have roughly two weeks to clear out, and we'll be home for good!  Ben thinks we'll be home in about a month or so. I think it will be a bit longer.  Not much, but probably closer to mid-October.  We'll see though.  The only down side to being home that soon, other than the stress of moving on short notice, is we'll miss the BSU vs Hawaii game here in November.  :)
So just a quick overview of what the ratings mean.  The Army and VA both go over all his medical conditions and determine just how "disabled" he is.  For the Army, it will be considered a medical retirement.      Anything above 30% is a medical retirement. With that we have a few more options.  Besides the monthly paychecks (I'm not sure how much it is for the Army at 40% right off the top), we get to keep our medical coverage.  Ben's medical care will be covered regardless, because of the VA.  But now Kaylin and I are both eligible to keep our medical insurance.  Granted we'll have to pay for it now, but the family plan is only like $525 a year, and we will be covered for pretty much everything.  So that's not a bad deal.  That was one thing I worried about.  I knew Ben would be covered, but the thought of Kaylin and I not having medical  insurance kind of scared me.  So that is one less thing I have to worry about.  There are more benefits from being medically retired, but those are the biggest things I can think of right now.  The rating from the VA is kind of a big deal.  At 90%, that is just under $2000 a month that we get, tax free.  Plus all the other veteran benefits we get.  Like the VA home loan, the veteran preference when it comes to applying for jobs.  Ok the rating doesn't have to be that high to take advantage of those other benefits, but they are a nice plus.  :)
So that's where we are.  Our time here is coming to a close.  We don't have an exact date, but it should be within the next month or two.  It's crazy to think it's almost over.  I'm ready for it to be over, and to be back home.  But at the same time it's feeling kind of unreal.  I'm sure we'll manage somehow though.  :)

11 Months

I can't believe my baby is going to be one in just a couple weeks.  This past year has gone by in a flash! It's amazing to look back and see how much she has grown.  She didn't stay small for long!

We have started going to a play group with some of the other moms and kids from church.  The first one we went to was at the bishop's farm.  The have a pig, goat, bunnies, ducks, and chickens.  We got to feed the animals, which Kaylin thought was so fun.  But I think she had more fun chasing the ducks around than actually feeding them.  Chasing the goat was pretty fun too.  Not to mention the big yard that they have to run around in.  We had a pretty good time.  This week the plan is to head down to the zoo, which should be fun.
 

She loves to help daddy play on the computer and xbox.  Ok, I don't think it is really "helping" but she likes to watch.  She is a very curious girl.  Anytime I'm in the kitchen making food, she wants to be held so she can see what I'm doing.  She'll run over, do her little yell, tap my leg a couple times, and put her arms up for me to pick her up.  Needless to say I'm getting pretty good at doing a lot of stuff one handed.

To go along with that curiosity, mommy's tablet is not actually mommy's.  Kaylin thinks it's hers.  If I pull it out to do something, she will drop what ever she is doing and run over yelling to grab it.  And if I don't give it to her right away, she'll start to throw a bit of a tantrum.  While it's kind of cute, it can be a bit frustrating too.  Makes it hard to do anything.

She still likes to get into everything.  She's getting tall enough that she can reach up and grab stuff off her dresser and the computer desk.  The little stinker!  She likes to get in the dog's kennel too.  Whether they are in there or not, she likes to sit in there.  Apparently their pillows are pretty comfy.  She has the cutest laugh.  For whatever reason, it is hilarious when Smokey eats. She runs after him and laughs and laughs while he eats.  She is such a character.  As crazy as she can drive me, I don't know what I would do with out her.  :)

Mommy Update

It's not often I write about what I'm up to.  But I figure it's about time.  I haven't been up to a whole lot.  At least it doesn't feel like it.  But when I step back and look at all I do, I am pretty busy.  I keep the house in order, drive Ben to all his appointments and various places he needs to go, chase my baby around trying to keep her out of stuff, and do whatever else needs to be done.  All in all, I do stay pretty busy.
I am about 2/3 of the way done with my photography course.  I just need to take the photos and send them in for Unit 4, and then will only have two more units to finish.  My goal is to get it done before we are done with the Army, so I guess I should stop procrastinating and get it done.  I did just get a new lens for my camera in the mail yesterday so that is a bit of motivation to take some pictures. Because who doesn't love to play with new toys?! :)
It looks like I will be going back to school once we move back home.  Right now I'm leaning towards Nursing I think.  I know it's not the easiest program to get into, but I'm kind of feeling that's the direction I need to go.  I've been looking into different programs, and there are a few I can apply to back in Boise.  We'll see what happens though.  I'm not totally thrilled about working outside the home.  It makes me feel kinda sad knowing that I'll have to leave the kids with a babysitter or someone, when I had always planned on being a stay at home mom.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  And I know things will work out they way they should.
I've been working on losing weight the past few months.  And so far I've lost 15 lbs! I've been losing 1 -2 lbs a week, most weeks.  I've been counting calories, watching portion size and walking more.   It feels like such a slow process, but I know it's the best way to do it.  I just have to stick with it and eventually I'll get to where I want to be.
So that's the biggest news with me.  Not nearly as much going on with me as there is with Ben and Kaylin.  That's life though.  Everything I do usually revolves around them, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  :)

Daddy Update

In my last update about Ben, I mentioned we were waiting for the final paperwork to be sent to Seattle.  Well it was sent just a few days later, and that's when the real waiting game began.  The first thing we were waiting to hear back on was whether he was fit or unfit for duty.  We just found out Friday that he is unfit! I know, it seems kind of silly to be so happy that he is not able to continue with duty, but when you've been through everything we've been through it's kind of easy to understand.  Anyway, it received all the signatures it needed and was sent to the next phase around July 14th.  Now we are waiting for our rating, which is how much they are going to give us for the rest of his life.  We get this from both the Army and the VA.  And as long as it is at least 30%, it will be considered a medical retirement.  Which is what we want.  Of course we would like a higher rating, but as long as we get that retirement so he continues to receive his medical benefits we'll be ok with that.  We should have our rating 60 - 80 days from July 14th.  So we are looking at mid September to early October.  Then we should be receiving our orders to go home shortly after that.  We'll have 30 days to clear and we'll be home.  So it's very possible that we'll be home for Thanksgiving, if not Halloween.  Not saying we will be home that soon, but it is a possibility.  I would love to be home by then, but we'll see.
So that's where we are with the Med Board.  In other news, Ben is completely off all narcotics again.  His pain still typically sits between a 4 and 7, but actually being on the narcotics was causing more issues and pain than it was doing good.  His pain doctor had put him on methadone, which is the strongest narcotic out there and what they use for heroin addicts.  But the side effects were making him sick, throwing up several times a day for over a week which was making the pain worse.  We tried telling his pain doctor that and instead of taking him off of it, he doubled the dose.  So we went and saw his regular doctor and we got off it.    And he's doing better now.  We saw his pain doctor again a few days ago, and he was surprised to hear that he was off and doing better with out the narcotics than he was doing with it.  Now there's not much else he can do.  We've pretty much tried everything.  We are going to try some alternative treatments now.  Acupuncture and medical massage, to be exact.  We'll see if either of those give him some relief.  Hopefully it does.
We are still working on what we are going to do once we get out of the Army.  I think we've decided he wants to be an ultrasound tech.  We are working on getting the necessary papers for him to start the Vocational Rehab program.  The VA will actually pay for any schooling or training that needs to be done, so we are working on that process right now too.
That's pretty much what he's up to.  Not super exciting, well ok almost being done with the army is pretty exciting.  He continues to hang in there though. :)

Kaylin Update- 10 Months

  I can't believe how much my baby has grown in just the past month!  She's getting so big and independent!  We had her "9 Month" check up last week. (Yes I know, she's 10 months, but our doctor was gone for a couple months and where she's not having any problems we weren't too concerned about it.)  She is up to 19 lbs 5 oz, and 30.3 inches long.  She's put on 11 lbs and grown 10 inches in the past 10 months!  Holy cow! 

 According to the charts, she is pretty tall for her age, but she is considered underweight.  How she's underweight, I don't know.  She loves her food!

She doesn't eat much baby food anymore.  She's perfectly happy eating what ever mom and dad are eating. We're ok with that, and her doctor is ok with that, so we're not too worried.  It's pretty funny when we go to Costco.  If we get a sample of something and don't give her a bite first, she'll let us know she wants some too.  She is very vocal about it.  Some of her favorite foods right now are noodles (especially ramen noodles), biscuits/bread, ice cream, licorice (as seen in the picture above), and apple juice.  We don't nurse much any more either.  We'll nurse at bedtime, if she gets up in the middle of the night and occasionally at nap time, but that's about it.    We're not really trying to ween, just kinda letting it happen naturally.  And still no teeth yet.  I want to say we're getting close, but I've been thinking that for a while.  Our doctor said if she doesn't have any by 12 months to take her into a pediatric dentist and have them do xrays to make sure she has the buds there, but until then it's not too concerning.  So we'll keep waiting.

She loves to play in the water.  We got one of the little cheap pools from walmart and she loves it! She can splish and splash all she wants!  She loves taking baths too, until you wash her hair.  She does not like when you rinse the shampoo out of her hair.  But other than that, it's ok.  We take Daddy to the pool to do PT three times a week and you can tell she wants to go jump in with him.  We still haven't gone to the community pool with her.  Need to do that one of these days.  I can't wait until we can play in Grandma and Grandpa's pool next summer! 

One of her favorite games is Peek-A-Boo.  She'll sit there and play with herself.  Putting her blankie over her head, pulling it off, putting it back on.  She'll catch us watching her and just get a huge ol' grin.  She's so funny.  She'll sit and read to herself too.  I picked up some Sesame Street books at a yard sale a couple weekends ago, and she will just sit there on the floor or in her playpen and talk to herself as she flips through the pages.  She's getting better about sitting still when I read to her too.  She will sit on my lap and look at the pictures while I read, without trying to grab them (most of the time anyway).  I just ordered a bunch of books from ebay.  Some Disney princess books and a lot of Dr. Seuss books.  I would be ok if she has the same love for reading that her daddy has.  

She is a sneaky little thing!  About two weeks ago she decided she doesn't need to crawl any more.  It is now walking and running all over the house.  Makes it a bit harder to keep her out of stuff.  Her favorite places to play are: Mom and Dad's room (the nightstands are just the right height to pull everything off of), the bathroom (because that's where the bathtub is, the toilet seat is easy to open, the toilet paper is just the right height to unroll, and daddy hasn't put latches on the cupboards yet), the laundry room (that's where mommy moved the puppies' food and water to, and it echos in there), the kitchen (umm hello, that's where the food is!), and of course outside in the yard and at the park (what little kid doesn't like to play outside?!). She still likes to play with the shoes, although she doesn't eat them as much as she used to.  I caught her the other day throwing my flip flops in the dryer.  Silly girl!

She is still a happy girl with the cutest smile! I can't help but smile when she looks at me with those big blue eyes and gives me the sweetest smile.  What a blessing she is to us!  I love this little girl!