13 months and counting....

Ok so I wrote my more depressing blog on Monday, so how about a much happier one?! One about my beautiful 13 month old baby. =]

Well as I said Kason is 13 months as of last week. Amazing how fast time has gone by and its crazy to think that this time last year I had a little 8 pound baby and now I have a HUGE 25 pound baby. Now for a while

I have been concerned because Kason seems to be a little bit behind in his develpoment and I think what really caused that concern  was that I know so many other babies his age or younger and they seem to be developing quicker, most of them walking and Kason still cant stand by himself. But I have recently started to chill out about it. I cant force him to develop at the rate of the "average" baby. But I have been enjoying having my baby just a little bit longer than others. Although it would be nice for him to figure out walking since he is so heavy. lol We have been working harder lately at walking, we practiced before but I did hold him and carry him a lot so I think that is part of the problem. Recently tho he has been pulling himself up to stand, climbing, walking along furniture and it happened so quick. So I think its only a matter of time before he starts walking all on his own. He has also suddenly shown show much more of his personality. He is such a goof and always making me laugh. Just the other morning he woke up calling "mama" I went in his room and there he was standing in there kind of jumping to (uh-oh) and he froze when he saw me, spread his arms out like he wanted a hug, and when I went to get him he gave me a big hug and licked all over my face. It was gross because he also had a cold and his snot was on me to, but it was cute and sweet to. It made my heart melt because I really felt how much he loved me. He always makes me feel loved but it's been a very long time since I felt that loved. :]

You see that cute little but in the pictures above?! Well we are in the transition process of doing 90% cloth diapering. The other 10% will be spent in disposables at daycare. We have 10 super cute designs from Just Simply Baby. The person who makes these diapers is a fellow November '09 mommy from one of my mommy websites. Her diapers are very reasonable $10-$11 a diaper (when the average is $18-$20 per diaper) she has some great discounts and giveaways to. I wish I found these a year ago...they are one size fits all and they are Pull-Ups to. I mean seriously, doesnt get any better than that! So I plan to cloth until Kason is using the "big boy" potty. Best part about the cloth...when he wakes up he is almost completely dry...and this kid pee's a lot in his sleep.

Well I'm not to sure what else I have to say right now. Other than we are very excited for christmas. There is one present that Kason keeps trying to open but I keep stopping him. hehe We were very blessed to get a couple of gifts from another military family for the Angel Tree program. Those are his "Santa" ones. My only big gripe is that I wish I had a place to put the tree. But once the tax refund hits the bank account the living room is getting a completely new makeover. So maybe next year I can find a place for one.

Well Merry Christmas Everyone and I hope you all have a great time bringing in 2011.

The drama of the 2 Korea's

Well I'm going to be honest here. Living in S. Korea has been becoming more and more difficult everyday. I feel like im living on Pins and Needles. Scared to death at times and I'm really not overexaggerating. Had I know that living in a divided country would be so hard I never would have come here. Why do I say all this? Well if you have been paying attention to the news you should know that there has been a LOT of tension between the North and the South. Last month on November 23rd an Island in S. Korea was attacked. Killing 2 Korean marines and 2 Civillians. This put us on the HIGHEST alert since 1953 when the war ended. We had our battle rattle ready in case of war. This attack broke the armistice agreement. We have still been on high alert and conducting basic military drills in case some shit happens. Last week S. Korea announced that they will be conducting a Live Fire Military Exercise on the island that was attacked last month. Which is about 7 miles from N. Korea. The reason N. Korea has an issue with it is because they believe the waters surrounding this island belong to them which is not true. Well anyways N. Korea said they would retalite. There were several meetings with Russia, the US, China, and of course the 2 Koreas. Everyone tried to tell the South to refrain from conducting this exercise. Well the south didnt listen and this afternoon they started. It only lasted about an hour and a half. But everyone I know has been in fear all day. We have HUNDREDS of military families here and the thought of Nuclear Bombs flying into Seoul is just terrifying. Im scared to death because if something happens I have to just hand Kason to someone and entrust them to get him back to the states for me. BUT I have such a difficult time picturing myself doing that. I dont think I could stay here and be a soldier while wondering everyday where my most prized jewel is? Where is my heart? Did he make it to the states? Did something happen to the person I entrusted him with? It's scary. Lately I have been having Nightmares about never seeing him again and it scares me to death. I am so jumpy lately to...I feel like I need to be on the watch for bombs flying into my home every loud noise that I hear scares me...the first thing I think is I need to go get Kason from daycare, something is happen. But then I realize that it was just a heavy box being dropped, or thunder, or the obnoxious heater thats in our DFAC going on. Everyone says not to worry, but its so hard. This is a war waiting to happen. Thankfully tho N. Korea recently announced that they will not be retaliting, I still have a hard time believing it. But all I can do at this point is Pray. Pray for my safety but MOST importantly pray for Kason's. 

But now I am going to do my best to enjoy Christmas which is coming up quick. We have half days this week and no work Thur and Fri. I have so much time to spend with my baby. Im so thankful that I am going to be able to spend it with the greatest little boy ever. Well theres lots of updating I need to do about the little man. But thats another post. 

Please keep South Korea in your prayers because I really believe we need as many as we can get.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KASON

This was Kason enjoying his birthday cake earlier today.

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Reflections on Pregnancy



18 week ultra sound. It's a BOY!!!



Gosh Im having such a hard time beliving that it is October 23rd and in 22 days my baby boy will be 1. What in the world?! I remember this time last year how anxious I was about him making his big debut. I was counting down the days to his due date which was November 13th.



40 Weeks Preg

Going to dr appt's every other week and every time hearing the dr say before the end of the month he will be here no doubt in my mind. So I counted down the days to the end of the month waiting, waiting, and waiting and still nothing...no baby and my last apt in October which was October 28th if I remember correctly I was told I had not dialted yet. I was so dissapointed I was hoping for my prescious baby boy to be here early. But October quickly passed and November came the month I had so desperatly been waiting for since March 14th (the day I found out I was pregnant). 

With the end of October begining of November so many other miracles were born a girl I worked with had her baby on halloween, my sisters friend had her baby a few days before, my ex best friends sister had her's on the 3rd, and my friend who was due after me had hers on the 8th. When I heard that I was just aggravated...I remember yelling at my belly telling Kason "to come out I am soooo ready to hold you!" Well he didnt listen. My next apt was November 9th and I was only dialted to 2cm I was beyond annoyed at that point my mom and sister were going to be visiting in a week and I didnt want to be in the hospital during the 4 days they were with me. We had scheduled for an induction the next Wednesday just in case he didnt come out by then. But I refused to wait that long...the nurse at teh dr's office once mentioned to me getting my membranes scrapped. So I called on that Wednesday and begged to get an apt to get this done.

Our First moments together.

They gave me one on Friday...his due date. So Friday morning I went and had my membranes scrapped and OH MY GOSH that was the most painful thing I had ever experienced...next to the whole child birth thing. lol But it was completely worth it, after some walking around that day with my friend Josie and a nice warm candle lit bubble bath contractions started coming in at 5 minutes a part. I was so thrilled. Josie took me to the hospital where they hooked me and saw I had the contractions but I was not dialating anymore and after an hour of them watching me they were about to send a very sad soon to be mommy home....but as I started to sit up I felt something gross gushing in between my legs and alas it was my water...it BROKE!!!! I was NOT going home...I was officially in labor. Soon my baby would be with me. So 13 hours later at exactly 8:15am November 14th my baby boy was born. My heart, my soul, the one person that keeps me going every single day. I dont even know how to describe how I felt the moment he was first placed in my arms. I NEVER in a million years thought it was possible to love one single person so much. I didnt know I could fall in love so quickly either. But I did...in only a matter of seconds I was in love my baby boy Kason Alexander. It's an experience that can never trully be explained and I think it's fair to say that you can only really understand once you have gone through it.  Pregnancy is just so magical and wonderful and something I cant wait to experience again. Even though I miss the belly at times and the little kicks he would give me I love having him in my arms or terroizing my house so much more. He trully is the best thing to happen in my life and I wouldnt change a thing.

My Miracle baby Kason Alexander

21 More Days...

Until Auntski Chrissy gets here!!! Im so excited to see my big sister. Sadly her time here had to be cut short by almost a week because she made the Mobile Strike Force at work. Dont ask me what it is cause I dont really know, what I do know is that she has been trying to get on it for about a year. So I am happy for her. :) I have no idea what exactly we are going to do during her trip but I do have a few ideas...like the 63 building and Seoul Tower. I will finally have the opportunity to do some touristing around here. lol I just cant wait.

I am happy to report that Kason and I are both feeing tons better. I still have a slight cough but its better than what it was before and Kason is back to his regular cute monster ways. lol As seen in the picture to your left. He is my spaghetti face.


I am so excited that today is Friday...I finally have a weekend with the little man where neither of us are feeling miserable. But I do have a disaster of a house to clean...a house sure does get messy when you can hardley get off the couch. haha


Life is going alright. Well actually I recently lost my best friend of almost 8 years. But being a single mother myself I couldnt even stand to say her name any longer when I learned what she was going to be doing which I wont throw her business out there but it's pretty bad. Then the icing on the cake was she was talking about my parenting skills to other and how she doesnt like them and I am a horrible parent. I guess im still learning who my true friends are even tho Kason is now almost 1. No one can really understand the choices I make unless they are in my own 2 shoes...which is immposible. But I dont care what others think Kason knows I love him he is my entire world and I only do what is best for him. So if being the best mother I can means loseing your best friend...so be it. No one comes before Kason.

On to some more exciting news. Kasons Party stuff all made it here! Yay...im so excited. there are a few more items that I need to get and we are still waiting on the invites and the shirt and hat I ordered but other than that we have the essentials to make a party happen. But please keep those fingers crossed that his other stuff gets here soon. Oh and for any one interested the theme is Curious George I wanted them theme to be monkeys cause well he is my little monkey and I thought why not Curious George...honestly does anyone even do Curious George party's anymore?! It's all Winnie the Pooh, Princesses, Barbie, Spongebob, Toy Story all the common stuff so im glad to be doing something diffrent. Here is a picture of his awesome Curious George pinata of course he probably wont be doing any wacking but the other kids that will be attending will find it fun.

Well guys I think thats all my updates for now. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend cause I know we will. =]

Sick and Miserable

Ugh so for the last week Kason and I have just been absolutly miserable...well him not until recently. But last Tuesday I started to get this horrible soar throat, fever, and had a toliet seat implanted in my face since I couldnt keep ANYTHING down (including water). Went to the dr on wednesday and they said "oh its just a virus give it a few days to run its course" and they gave me an IV because I was so dehydrated. Well here we are Sunday night and I can eat but my throat feels so swollen that it hurts to...I have this awful cough that refuses to go away and I am having difficulty breathing. But I can almost gurantee if I go to the dr that they wont do anything which just sucks. Now on to Kason...well Friday he was feeling kind of warm, slight fever but went down with motrin. He also started to cough a lot nothing abnormal about it sounded like a regualr cough. Well today its a horse cough...sounds awful he is so congested that I am scared having him sleep and I check on him like every 2 hours like clock work...which results in me not getting good sleep. :/ This just sucks. So please I ask fellow blog followers send prayers our way for better health...it's so frusterating not having anyone close by to help.My house is a freaking mess and I have no energy to clean. Heck even just writing this is draining me. Oh and please say a prayer that we can both get dr apts in the morning since they are close to immposible here. Thanks so much.

Kiss my Diaper :)

Someone Slept really good last night!

Well I was tossing and turning all night Mr. Kason was sound asleep like this. Wish I could sleep like him sometimes.

I been a bad blogger

Well the last month or so I have seemed to fail at blogging. So much else has been going on that I just havent had the time. Kason has been struggeling with the ear infections yet again. Still trying to get tubes in his ears but here in Korea, that can be a huge pain. He also has a horrible skin rash all over him and IDK what that is from but he is going to be seeing a dermatoligist here in a week or so. I have done everything trying to get rid of it...including switching laundry detergent. Then to top it off he is teething BIG time, 7 teeth are fighting to make their way in his tiny little mouth I can see them poking thru. This includes his molars. My poor baby. But I guess its good that he gets it out of the way at once.

For a few months now I had been extremely worried about Kasons gross motar skills. It took him a while how to figure out sitting on his own and even know im still a nervous reck when he does cause he still falls back at times. It doesnt help my nerves either that we have concrete floors, which I dont understand who puts concrete floors in a apt in which children are more than likely going to live in. But anyways...he isnt standing up on his own, pulling up on his own or doing anything that most 11 month olds would be doing by now.  Mommy gut has told me something but everyone else has said he was just taking his time learning...which could very well be it, he could just be lazy but I still had him evaluated last week and was told that he was def behind in his gross motor skille learning and he is way below average. So he will be evaluated again within the next week or two by a physical therapist which could lead to him getting physical therapy once a week. Which im not upset about, it actually calms my mommy gut some.

Well there is not to much else going on in our lives. Kasons Auntski Chrissy will be here in a little less than a month with her friend Alex and I am super stoked to see her. I miss my sister. She will be here only 2 days before Kasons first birthday. :)

Well I gotta run, got a dr's apt to go to. But I promise I will get better at this blogging thing. I love to write and keep everyone informed of our life. :)

Happy Monday

This is how he greats me every morning now. I love it.

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Monday....

THIS IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU

Wednesdays Delightful Squals of happiness.....

What has made me delighfully happy today that I just want to squal about...

~As I left day care after dropping Kason off all I heard where crys and the words "momma" said in
 between each breath. That was hard and of course is not what has me squeling for joy but what does    
 is when I arrived at day care  during lunch...Kason was there waiting for me with the biggest smile in the world while saying "momma" over and over again...but this time it was happy mommas!

~Coming back to work to find out Kasons Halloween Costume has finally made it here and is even cuter than
  I thought.

~Last week after spending 200 plus bucks on new clothes for him they have also arrived. All of which are
  Super cute to. He has like 10 new outfits and some jeans that will fit him. :)

~Also in the mail was a card from Josie...I miss her so much and appreciated it so much. Oh and BTW Josie(since I now you will read this) you can send cards and stuff like you would a regualar letter. I asked
  Shipping to APO is the same as mailing in the states.

~The weather is super nice 75 and breezy....makes the idea of a walk with Kason tonight sound great.

~Now I am just waiting for Kasons Super addorable Owl Hat to get here.  

What could make me happiness last longer this week....

~That it rains tmwr so I dont have to do a 6 mile ruck march.

~That the boxes of stuff my sister sent over a month ago get here soon.

~That this stupid cold I currently have goes away.

~That the weather we currently have right now stays the same.

~That Friday comes real real soon so I can have the weekend with my little man.

Oh man, I hope I keep feeling this great for the rest of the week! :) 

Question for my fellow bloggers....

So I am trying to make my blog cuter and I see so many other blogs with "bog buttons" and "blog signatures". Well being that I am fairly new to this whole blogging world...can someone please tell me how to make those??? I would love to have my own blogger button to share with others and a nice signature to end with as well.

Just because....

I have the cutest baby boy in the world!

With the most amazing eyes.

Mommy's Night Out

Chas and I

For the first time in quiet a while I was able to go out with some friends. Let me tell you...it was refreshing. It was the first time I went out and didnt think about how much I missed Kason and just wanted to go home. I actually enjoyed myself and it was the first time I really got drunk since I turned 21. I feel like I have been such a bad 21 year old. lol But being a mommy does change you and your prorities...but its always good to go out and have a night out every now and then...esspecially with all the stress I have been under with work. I was happy to come home to my baby boy though. Although I wasn't to fond of him when he woke up at 6 in the morning and I was still hungover. But thats life of being a young mommy. =]

Nick, me, Anthony, Andy, Mike, and Chassidy

But heres to having a nice night out with friends.

Little Korean Baby....

Thats what he is going to think he is by the time we leave here. Seriously.

Kason got to come to work with mommy since the Typhoon killed the power at Daycare.

Hanging out with CPL Oh.

Happy Baby Always Makes My Day

I have to say that there is NOTHING better in this world than waking up to a happy baby well more like a Happy Kason.

He woke up around 6 this morning...talking and laughing and playing with his teddy bear. When he does this sometimes I like to stand outside his bedroom and listen to him. I swear my heart doubles in size for this baby boy every single day. I always knew I wanted to be a mommy but never thought that it would be as amazing as it is. I cherish every single day that I have with him, I treat it like its our last day on earth together. I NEVER go a day without telling him I love him and giving him 1,000+ kisses. He is the most precious thing in my life.

Now I will say that there are a few things that I am worried about with him and hopefully soon will be able to get him a Dr's Apt to discuss my concerns. But I feel like he is not as "sturdy" (I guess would be the right word) as most 9.5 month old babies. He still seems to have difficulty sitting up by himself and when he does he tends to slouch really bad. I pray that there is nothing wrong but something in my heart is telling me it's something that needs to checked on. I do understand babies develop at certain rates but this is something I feel should be down pat for him by this point.

None the less though I know I have the best and most perfect baby in the world and if there is something wrong I know we can work through it together.

Well what do you know...is that talking I hear? Sounds like he just woke up from his nap. Well I'm off to rescue you him from the crib and place him in my arms again. :)

Typhoon Kompasu

Well Kason and I have made it through our very first Typhoon. Although Kason didnt even know it was happening. He stayed sleeping the whole time. I however got woken up by a tree banging on my window. It was made to seem bad than what it really was. At least from what I can tell. Hannam Village (my apt complex) got beat up some...trees fell part of a  class roof came flying off, fences around the renovated buildings collapased. Thankfully no major power lines got messed up. On Yongsan though they got beat up pretty bad. Electricity is out all over the place...power lines are down, trees everywhere. It looks horrible. We lost electricty at the apartment for a few hours but it wasnt to bad. They got it back on fairley quickly.

Because of the typhoon yesterday they said everyone will have today off so I had lots of time to with my little man and the best part I have tmwr off to. Because of all the power outages the CDC (daycare) is closed. I guess the Retreat Center got beat up pretty bad to so they are spending all day outside trying to fix it. I did attempt to find a babysitter and couldnt find anyone. So I guess Chaplain said he would rather me not come in then have Kason sit out in the sun all day. I do kind of feel bad, I feel like I should be helping out...but not much I can do about it without a sitter and I dont want Kason out in the sun all day either. Oh well...I guess I have another 4 day with my little man.

                                         Now the question is what to do this weekend???

Much Needed Updates on Kason

Well I havent done much updateing on Kason so here we go.

Well for starters a few weeks ago Kason started the Army Crawl. He's not crawling on his hands and knees quit yet and he has'nt figured up how to get on them either. He is however starting to work on pulling himself up...I just dont think he realizes how much upper bidy strength he really does have. He is one strong baby. But if I stand him up he is usually pretty good about staying that way for at least a couple seconds.

He is starting to eat more and more table food by the day. He loves it and totally prefers it over the baby foods. His favorites so far are Mac and Cheese and he sure did tear up those spaghetti'os today. :) I have realized over the past few weeks that he has'nt really been all that interested in his formula. So I have started to give him a bottle with half formula and half whole milk and he LOVES it.

He is starting to talk more and more by the day. Like today all he wanted to do was talk. When I was making his spaghetti'os I kept on saying "Uh'oh spaghetti'os" and then the rest of the night he said "uh'oh". It was to funny. He does the same thing when he watches Elmo's World...you will hear him say "la la la" a lot and its pretty entertaing.

It's so hard to believe that he is 9 and 1/2 months old...he is growing up so quick. But I am so proud of him...everyday it seems as if he is doing something new. Almost everyday my heart grows double in size for him. I am surprised it just has'nt exploded yet.  

Horrifying Saturday

Yesterday (saturday) morning I got a phone call from my friend April, she needed me to watch her 3 kids because she had to go to the hospital (she is 9 months preg). Well when Kason and I got there I hadnt changed him or anything yet because I wanted to be there ASAP for April and I figured I could change him at her house which is right next door. Well I layed him on the floor for 2 seconds to get a diaper out of the diaper bag and then all of a sudden I hear Kason crying and gasping for air. He was choking on a Quarter. I freaked well more like froze. Everything I learned about situations like this went out the window...I was terrified and I called April (who was still home) and she got the coin out for me. She sent me upstairs in her apt builing to get her friend Tyra who was able to help calm down Kasons breathing because I was so freaked.

I felt like a horrible mother because I had forgotten everything I had learned to handle a situation like this. I kept thinking to myself what if I had been alone, would Kason still be here? Seeing my baby boys face turn purple is NOT something I ever want to see again and I spent all of last night thanking GOD for him still being here with me. Yesterday he was pretty crabby all day after but today you cant even tell that yesterday I was close to loosing him.

To say the least I triple check teh floor to make sure it is clear of anything chokeable.

Heres to having another day with my precious baby boy!

You never Know what Tomorow Holds

Just a few years ago if you were to ask me what the most important thing I will be doing when I am 21 is. Well never in a million years would have told you that I am writing my Will. Thats write I went and talked to an attorney briefly today and talked about it. I been saying over and over again "Im going to get this done" and I been saying it since Kason was born...and I have finally made the first step. Well technically the 2nd because I already filled out the "worksheet" they gave me once before. Its true though you never know what tmwr will hold and esspecially being in a divided country that is still technically at war. I have to ensure the safety of Kason and make sure that he goes into Loving Hands and I also have to make sure that he gets everything he deserves. As I was talking to the attorney I realized even more how important having one really is.

Well heres to get my Will taken care of but praying that I have many many more years to come and am able to watch Kason grow and become the best man out there.

Mommyhood, Soldierhood, and Studenthood.

Phew life right now is not easy and 2 years ago never in a million years would I expect my life to be like this. Dont get me wrong I currently love it and I know at the end of the day its completely worth it. I started going back to school 2 weeks ago. Taking classes with the University of Phoenix. I dont like the school but I have already taken several classes with them and they dont transfer so I am staying with them until I can get my associates. After that I hope to Switch to Liberty University or Heck maybe even U of I. Just not sure yet. I am a little bit less than half way through getting my associates Yippee! My plan is to have my bachlors before I leave Korea but no later than when I the Army which right now is Feb 2014. I want to be able to use my GI Bill for my masters. Or I might just have that transffered over to Kason. But we will conquer that bridge when we come to it. But how in the world am I handling Mommyhood, Soldierhood, and school??? I dont even know! Days are starting to become blurs. I dont now where they go anymore. I wake and get ready, get Kason ready, Take him to Daycare, go to work where sometimes I can get homework done, pick up Kason, go home, feed him, bathe him, cook dinner, play with him, put him to bed, if I have any homework to do I do that, go to bed, and then wake up the next morning to do it all over again. Its nonstop moving around! But regardless I of the craziness of LOVE my life...Kason makes my life worth living. As much as I hate school and I am annoyed with it I know that in the end its whats best for both of us. I want to be able to provide Kason a great life once I get out of the Army and school is the only way to go. Kason only deserves the best and I plan to give it to him.

The Official 9 month Picture!

Owl Face

I am sure that Kason's Auntski will be super excited when she sees this background. I found this really neat blog on here that makes blog backgrounds. I have been wanting to make this blog look super cute so when I found this I decided to browse and see what they had to offer and of course as soon as I see the Owls I automatically think of Chrissy...and I know had she seen this she would demand I make this my background.

When Kason was younger he used to make the most addorable face. He would squeeze his lips together and stick them out. When his Auntski saw him do it she thought of an Owl. So we started calling it his "Owl Face". Unfortuantly he doesnt make that face anymore which does sadden her but that doesnt stop her from buying this kid Everything Owl. I think she is than one who is obbesssed with Owls even though she likes to say its him. :)

Weekends

Sorry about how messy my page looks...im trying to find the perfect layout and its taking sometime. lol It's not easy being that I am so picky about what I like.

But anyways it has been a few weeks since I wrote. Not a lot has happened since I am still to nervous about venturing off in a foreign country just Kason and I but we have done a few things. Like this past weekend we met up with April and her husband and kiddos and ventured down to Osan...mostly just cause they have a Chili's on base and we have all been dying for a good american resturant. lol So to say the least that was delicious. Kason seemed to love having some good american mashed potatoes too...that seems to be one of his favorite foods.

Yesterday we went back to the palace that I talked about before and had our pictures taken again. I know I know this kid has so many pictures that we could make "Kason wallpaper" right now and to think he isnt even 9 months yet. haha But the photoshoot was so much fun the palace was of course beautiful and the weather was great to. The picture up top was just one of the many that we had taken...she put a few up on her facebook fan page. But I am so excited for October to get here cause then we will be doing his one pictures out in the Royal Tombs most likely which is suppose to be another beautiful area.

Well thats all my exciting news for now. Maybe this weekend Kason and I will go out and do something. Not sure what quite yet...maybe some shopping in one of the many markets that surround us here.

Heres to hoping Kason (Rupert) and I can find something exciting to do this weekend.

I suppose I can maybe include Officer How How to.

Our everything Blog

As I said before I am going to try and get better with this blogging thing. lol I want to keep you all updated on my day to day doings. I figure I will prolly use this blog to keep you all updated on Kasons milestones as well rather then doing a seperate blog. Being that Korea is not just a vacation nor a study abroad program it makes the most sense this way. Kason and I have made Korea our home for the next 3 years so this blog will talk about more than just our ventures in Korea.

Well if you payed attention to my facebook at all today you should have seen that I posted Kason hit a Major milestone. He pulled himself up all by himself. And needless to say I am an extremely proud mommy. I was starting to think Kason would hit most of his milestones much later than most babies...hell he still doesnt sit up by himself completely yet, but he is getting better at it. Well last week he did start day care and although thats not where I really want him for the simplicity of it all I will prolly just be keeping him there. I enjoy going to see him and play with him during my lunch and he hasnt had to much interaction with babies his age so I think it will end up being good for him socially. Everyone loves him and I love the smile he gives me at the end of the day when I pick him up. I love it when the daycare ladys tell me what an absolute joy he was and that he is the best baby there. I am really proud to say "that is my son". He brings more and more joy to my life and I cant imagine life without him. He is the best thing in my life.

This past week has been a refreshing week. I feel as if I am a new person. Since moving here a month ago I have been able to relax. Since I found out I was pregnant I have had nothing but stress. Starting with arguments with the parents, then coming down on orders for Korea days before Kason was born, me trying to figure out to stay in or get out, deciding to stay in and doing all the paperwork to make sure Kason comes with me, then came the actual PCS move, then all the traveling, and throughout that still arguing with my parents and basically being stalked by them. I never had a free moment to think...I never had some me time, not even me time with Kason. Something ALWAYS seemed to come up. Now that all the moving is done and Kason is here with me that is a huge burden off my chest. But the biggest one is that my parents have NO way of contacting me. I have finally had the opportunity to sit back and think about everything that has happened during the last year and a half. I have come to peace that although they are alive I do not realy have parents. And I am ok with letting go. They caused me more stress than hapiness. Everyday when I look in Kasons face I just cant understand how a parent can treat their child in the way I was treated. In a way I feel it was worse than if I had been physically abused. I was emotionally and mentally abused. I have grown so much since my high school days and I did that all on my own. But they tried their best to push me back to where I was and it failed because I am a better person than that. I now have my own family to take care of and although its just Kason and I we are a family and we love each other more than anyone could understand. My hearst doubles in size for him every single day. He is my number 1 priority.

This next week should be a good one. I mean work is not that bad...and I dont dread waking up every morning to go as I did at Fort Jackson. The  people I work with are pretty cool, dont get me wrong there are still many things that some people do that annoy me but I have no desire to kill them. lol I am able to just either ignore it or let it roll off my shoulder. Next Saturday Kason and I will be going to the palace to get our pictures taken. I am super excited to see how those turn out. The girl who is doing them takes wonderful pictures. Although she is no Jenn Demeter (if only I could tag her in a blog. lol). Then I am not sure what the rest of the weekend will hold. Maybe spending time with John!

So I know I have brough him up a few times so I guess I should tell you all a little bit about him. Yes he is my Boyfriend he is very sweet and treats me like his princess. I have never been with someone who treats me as well as he does. He is amazing with Kason...and Kason just loves having him around. I love seeing Kason with him because he isnt around to many guys who actually play with him or pay attention to him (well at work they do. lol). But when I see then together I feel like my world is one step closer to being complete. By no means am I saying that John is the one...I dont know yet and only time will tell. But I do hold some very strong feelings towards someone who I havent even known 2 months. It gives me some hope that my prince charming does really exsist. My heart really does feel all warm and fuzzy when we are together...and I am sure my sister is reading this thinking I am being cheezy as hell, but its true. I am so so happy that I made the choice to stay and come to Korea...I think aside from the birth of Kason this is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me.

Heres to hoping I found my prince charming.

Love and miss you all  

Lexi

The Long Awaited First Posting about Korea from Korea!

OMG Where do I even begin. I think I have started to try and write another post for this blog at least 4 or 5 times and I just never really have time. Well since today I am sitting on CQ with nothing to do and all is quite at the retreat center what better time to write a post than now. I must warn you all right now though this one is probably going to be quite lengthy being that we have been here over a month already and I haven't written anything. So here it goes...I will try my best though to make it easy on those eyes.

THE PLANE RIDE: Well I suppose I should just start from the begining huh?! The plane ride here was not nearly as bad as I was expecting to be. It was very very very long though and if you add about 11 more very's onto that thats how many hours it took us to get here. The night before I got very little sleep I was full of so many diffrent emotions it was insane. I ended up being up for just about 48 hours straight, I took a little nap here and there on the plane but it was just way to uncomfortable to sleep. Kason did AMAZING and I do mean AMAZING on the plane. He slept the whole time pretty much and like usually the only time he really cried was when he was hungry or just wanted to get off his but. Him having his own seat was extremely helpful I couldnt even imagine myself holding him for 14 hours straight. Dont get me wrong I love holding him but 14 hours is to long. lol  Well anyways once we got off the plane and made our way through customs and immigration and we got our bags and everything my sponsor came to get us. It was pretty interesting trying to fit all of our crap in his little car but we managed. Now I was under the assumption that once we got to base we would be able to go to the hotel room...boy was I wrong. I had a briefing and some paperwork that I had to do first...so if it wasn't bad enough that I had no sleep got to South Korea at 430pm on the 9th didnt get to base till about 6ish  I had to wait to go to the hotel. I did'nt get there till about 730 which is'nt to bad but I had some serious jet lag going on and just wanted to go to bed. (PICTURE: Taken towards the end of our plane ride as you can see I was tired!)

THE FIRST WEEK: The first week was spent inprocessing to Korea...it was 4 EXTREMELY LONG days of Briefings. Well actually 3 of them were briefings and I suppose they were'nt to bad. We got out at a decent time everyday. No later than 5 but usually 4. One of the days was a briefing on Korean culture which wasnt to bad, we got to learn some Korean and the do's and donts of Korea. Did you know that if you play "I got your nose" that is the equivelent of giving the finger here. I thought that was pretty interesting, guess I have to be careful cause I play that ALL the time with Kason. :) Anyways after the class we went and walked to the Korean War Mueseum which was pretty interesting Kason was at day care so he did not come but we will be making another trip. This year Korea is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War so the Mueseum is free all year long the actualy anniversary was June 26th though. Im sure as many of you know North and South Korea are still at war technically. But I dont think any one has to worry about Kason and I to much North Korea doesnt have the man power nor the equipment to last more than 2 weeks in war and China has already stated that they are staying out of this mess. Seoul is a huge City FULL of all diffrent kinds of embassys so if they blew up South Korea they would also be doing the same to many other countrys. It would be trouble for them. Alright anyways back to the first week. At the end of all of our briefings everyone got there pinpoint assignment and many people that I inproccessed with were going to a lot of the other parts of Korea so not everyone stayed here. Mine of course though read that I was going to the Religious Retreat Center also known as the RRC. (PICTURE: a statue that sits outside of the Korean War Museum).

RRC: RRC....this is the place that for the next 3 years I will be calling the work place. Its a beautiful place, secluded on the top of a hill and about 5-10 minutes away from post. The staff here consists of Chaplain of Course, 5 US Soldiers including myself, 6 KATUSA's (Korean Augmentation to the United States Army), one civillian lady Ms. Lopez who works in the offices with us and  many many more Korean Civillians who work as cook, waiters, housekeepers, and all sorts of diffrent things. My job will basically be to help out with the retreats. Seems easy enough. I am excited to say that my first retreat will be in August. (PICTURE: This is the Gazebo that we have sitting out front.)

KATUSA- Korean Augmentation to the United States Army: Over the next 3 years you will all prolly hear me talk about KATUSA's alot so let me explain to you what they are. In Kore it is the Law the all Men between the ages of 18-30 serve at least 2 years minium to their government. The only exception to this law is if they are United States Citizens. So there are many Koreans in the States who may have immigrated to the US but if they are not official citizens yet they must come back to Korea to do their time. They have 3 options in doing this though (there might be more but I know of 3 for sure) they can either 1) Be a police officer 2) Join the ROK (Republic of Korea) Military or 3) Become a KATUSA. From what I understand from talking to my KATUSA's the 3rd option is what most prefer. The ROK Army is extremely stricked and if they work with the US although they still follow some orders from the ROK Army they are mostly under US guidance and adhear to US regualtions and what not. Basically they wear our uniform (except they have the Korean flag) and they work with us. From what I understand the KATUSA program is very hard to get. They have to pass several tests and they must be pretty fluent in their English. (PICTURE: Kason LOVES our KATUSA's this is him and PFC Kang).

WEEKENDS IN SOUTH KOREA: Well I think I covered pretty much everything except for this. Being that we have not been here for to long and I of course work during the week we havent done a whole lot yet. We do have some friends here April and Damien and there 3 soon to be 4 children. Kason and I have gone out with them several times already and we enjoy it. Although its getting harder on April to do to much since she is 32 weeks pregnant. But we still enjoy there company. When we fist got here they took us to Itaewon which is like a huge shopping street that they have right outside of post. Its pretty nice and everything there is for the most part farely cheap. But the one thing that we did do which was the most fun was venture off in the subways of Seoul to go to the CoEx mall aquarium. Kason tends to love the aquarium but he wasnt to immpressed this time even though I think it was the best we have been to. I think he was just sleepy that day. So we will try again. But it was big and they had a ton of diffrent fish there that I had never seen or heard of before. I may hate fish myself but I did have fun there. And watching Aprils kids just made me even more excited to see Kason at the age they are and having a blast. We also got to spend the 4th of July together and watch the firework...but those really werent that great. But regardless it was still exciting being that it was Kasons first fireworks and 4th of July. :) The best thing that we have done so far in Korea though was go to Gyeongbokgung Palace. Kason and I went there with John who is my boyfriend...but I wont really talk about him to much in this blog. Anyways the Palace is BEAUTIFUL and its big. I think it was almost to much for Kason to take in even. lol We had ane extremely enjoyable day there took lots of pictures even. This is actually the palace that in a few weeks Kason and I both will be getting proffesional ones done at. I wanted our first ones in Korea to be Korean themed of course so what better place than a Korean Palace. I am sure that there will be many more adventures that Kason and I go on here though.

This is just all we have done so far. There is lots to do and so much to be seen. Part of me wonderhow the heck will we be able to accomplish all that we wan to do in only a matter of 3 years. But I guess we will just have to wait and see. Korea is a beautiful country and I am so glad that I decided to make the choice to come here. I have yet to regret this one bit. There is so much more that I could write but I am sure you have all read enough from me so far. I promise though I will try and get better at writing this. I want to keep you all updated. (PICTURES: Top Right- The begining of Itaewon. Top Left-Kason (sleeping of course) but some finish at teh aquarium, Bottom Right- A gazebo thats at the palace...beautiful I must say and as you may notice the one Kason is sleeping by at the aquarium looks just like this picture.)

                          Heres to making it through month one of our 36 month Journey in Korea.

 Miss and love you all back in the US of A.

Love

Lexi and Kason!

It's getting closer and closer.

Alright Everyone this is going to be the first of many many more posts about Kasons and I Korean Life/Adventures. We have not yet moved to Korea but we will be in about a month. We are going to be spending some time in Chicago to visit family and friends from May18th-June 7th. After that we will be flying back to Columbia to make our 9AM flight to Detroit on June 8th. After Detroit its off to Korea we will go. We should be arriving in Incheon International airport in South Korea around 330PM on June 9th. Korea is about 15 hours ahead of Chicago...so when I arrive it will be super early and Kason and I will be suffering some major Jet Lag.

So far everything that we needed to do to prepare for our trip is going smooth. We have Kasons passports, plane tickets, and all of our household goods should be almost there if not already. The only thing left to do is ship the car. And then of course for us to get there. For the first time in months though I am feel calm. Not stressed. I spent so much time trying to get out of going to Korea I didn't have a chance to sit back and think about it. This could very well be the BEST thing to ever happen to us. I fully believe that God has sent us to Korea and I am excited to see why that is. Maybe this adventure will change my views on the Army. Fort Jackson has done nothing but make me hate my job and hate the Army. Well I'm going to end it here. I plan for my sakes to do some research about "The land of the Morning Calm" So I will be sure to put what I have learned up here as well so you can learn about Korea with me. I wish that so many people could come join us but I guess this is the best way I can share it with you all.

Welcome to the Land of the Morning Calm