Shots for everyone

The boys both needed shots in order for us to leave the base. One for each boy. Cody checked in to it before we took the boys and the guy said "I'm not showing any shot record for your wife. Has she not gotten shots here?" yeah my last shot was ummm 11 years ago. I didn't realize it was that long ago.

So we took Wes in today and Cody held him while I looked away. I didn't want him to pick up on my anxiety. I told Cody I was trying to talk myself in to letting the guy do my shots. Anyway, so Wes gets his and starts screaming. It hurt pretty badly actually. Poor little buddy. It had to be in his thigh too. I felt just awful listening to the "I'm hurt" scream. And the whole time we were walking to the place I felt like I was leading a pig to the slaughter.

I did get my shots today though. I tried not to hyperventilate as he prepped my arm. Only two shots total since they can combine stuff. I managed not to vomit, pass out or hyperventilate. I only cried one or two tears.

Zach's shots were horrid though. I had to hold him because Cody wouldn't be home when the clinic was still open. So I took Zach right after school and he was fine talking about it and sitting in the chair, but then when the guy said he was ready and I needed to get Zach's thigh... Zach started freaking from the moment I unzipped his pants (they change in to shorts so I unzipped the leg and just pulled that down rather then pulling down his pants). Then I had to hold him and he kept trying to cover his leg with his hands so the guy wouldn't do it. He kept saying "I'm scared mommy." and "I don't want a shot. It's gonna hurt. Help mommy." Just like daggers and I had to hold him anyway and talk gaily and tell him it was okay.

Then I had to put my arms through his and hold his arms back while the guy held down his leg and poked him.The scream was like he was dying. He was so upset and kept saying it hurt it hurt. He didn't even want a band aid because that meant touching it. Then I had to zip his pant leg back on and he was freaking out thinking he was going to get another one. And of course Wes was there the whole time and he was crying in the corner because Zach was screaming. I really didn't want to take Wes in case Zach reacted badly, but there was really no other choice. They did both get stickers though and then Zach knew where the candy drawer was and helped himself Oops. Didn't know about that one, but the guy laughed and said they could help themselves. So 2 stickers each and one sucker later we were on our way home and they both got ice cream.God why do needles need to be such a big deal. On an upside I'm caught up on my shots now

everclear

You know that feeling you get when you’re up in the air and your ears are about to pop? Mine are doing that along with a bit of ringing. My throat doesn’t hurt too much, but screaming made my still tender jaw ache. We weren’t going to go because the babysitter flaked on us, but Cody scouted it out ahead of time and said there were tons of other kids there so we loaded up the car and headed. Somewhere in the concert dude on stage said how cool it was to see all these kids here and said his daughter was there too. He laughed and said ya just gotta take your family where ever your work takes you. Right? Yup. Something military families know all too well

Everclear. Live. In concert. Playing here in Misawa. How freakin’ awesome is that? They were fantastic. Zach was incredibly cute. He break danced on the floor or at least tried to by sitting on the floor and spinning himself around with his hands. He jumped up and down like everyone else, rocked his head to the music, did the hand movements and then did devil ears on his head like the lead singer. He laughed pretty much the whole time and said how much fun it was.

Wes was a little scared and by a little I really mean a lot. All the people in the dark with the loud noise and moving lights really worried him a bit. He didn’t know what to make of it all and wouldn’t let me put him down. He eventually wanted down though so he could run and dance with Zach. He also wanted down so that he could pull on people’s shirts and grin at them when they noticed him. He thought that was cool, I kept saying sorry but no one seemed to mind.

They played for about 2 hours and it was just awesome. He said how much he appreciated everything the military does, how it saddens him that so many are dying in Iraq doing the jobs they signed up to do even if they don’t want to do them. He said you’re Americans. (insert scream here from crowd)
It was great and I’m so glad we went. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed it more without the boys, but I enjoyed it a lot with them. I thought it was awesome Everclear came out to play for the military and really appreciated it. Figures something really cool would happen just as I’m leaving Japan, but hey at least I didn’t miss it.

Oral surgery

Before they knocked me out Dr. Wanker came in and asked if I was sure I wanted my nail to come off. I said yes because it hurt when a single sheet of paper fell on it and I couldn't handle it. I didn’t want to go through all the pain associated with it and at the same time I knew it needed to be done. He asked if I wanted it to grow back and I said no. Whatever you have to do to make it stay away then do it please. I really hope I don’t have to deal with it growing back again. Then he took a look at my hugely inflamed and bleeding toe and said yup it needs to come off. I told him I soaked it like I was supposed to and everything and it bleeds just from walking around. TMI I know, I'm sorry.Then they did all the stuff I have to sign and I was so scared and flustered I spelled my name wrong several times and messed up my initials a few times as well.
One of the assistants tried to talk to me and keep my head towards her while the other one started the IV. The first assistant had to remind me to breathe quite a few times and I could barely do what the other assistant was asking me to do. I started feeling woozy and nauseous as well. The second assistant finally got the IV in after numbing my hand first with a shot. It went fairly well all things considered and I managed to not to pass out or throw up or look at the thing.
So then Dr. Rios (the dentist) came in and asked them to put more blankets on me. He thought I was shaking from cold, but I was just getting scared pretty badly. It’s like when you're PG and everyone tells you the most horrid birthing stories they know. Yeah-same thing with wisdom teeth. Everyone starts telling you how incredibly painful it is and how they woke up in the middle of it ect. Ect. Ect. So I was getting scared waiting with my IV already in. So the hard part for me was already over and I knew I wouldn’t feel any of the things they did to me, but I was still worried.Then Dr. Rios and Dr. Wanker started talking to each other about what was going to done to me and who was going first etc. Scared me pretty bad hearing all that. The assistant that did the needle saw my pulse go from around 100 to 144 and she saw me shaking really bad and asked them to step outside. They looked surprised until she pointed to me and then to the machine that showed my pulse. They left the room and the other assistant pat patted my hand and talked to me and reminded me to breathe OOps forgot about that part.I barely remember waking up and I'm not sure if I even really remember or not. I seem to remember trying to get in a blue wheelchair, but I'm not sure. I don't remember the drive home or telling Cody not to touch my shoes. I don't remember laying on the bed or moving to the futon. I do remember eating cinnamon applesauce and saying it was too spicy. Cody gave me vanilla yogurt and I passed out for a while after I took my medication. I woke up off and on all day and Cody has been wonderful as usual taking care of me. Wes fell asleep on the floor in his room and I was fine on the couch so Cody went to pick up some whole milk and pudding, gauze and a couple other things as well as picking up Zach from school. While he was gone Wes woke up calling for daddy and when daddy didn't show up and the house was quiet Wes started freaking and crying. So I had to get up to go get him. I was already awake so it was okay, but then he was hungry. Standing up to get him some crackers and chocolate milk made me feel like I was going to vomit and I shook a little. So I hurried back to bed and lay there until Cody got home.The boys have been pretty good and I've felt no pain because I pop my medication on a set schedule. I do know I am feeling so much better. There was a pressure I didn't even know was there and it is gone now. I think we solved part of my headache problem because I doubt I was getting good enough sleep due to the headaches and I think the wisdom teeth played a role in my headaches. If I don't get good enough sleep I get even worse headaches so you can see the cycle.I still can't eat much more the yogurt and ice cream and whole milk tomato soup, but I'm feeling pretty good usually. Taking it easy and all that. I couldn't find out from the doc what to do about my toe and last time they said don't soak it for 24 hours. When I did that (TMI TO FOLLOW HERE) my toe had healed in to the bandage and I can't even begin to explain just how bad it hurt So I soaked it this time at about 10 hours later and it had already started growing in to the bandage YUCK. Thank God I didn't wait.We even went shopping at the BX and I found a lot of things to help us on our trip as well as my gauze. The Commissary was out of vanilla yogurt when we went a couple days ago and amazingly they had just restocked when Cody went to get Zach earlier today. So he bought a ton of yogurt and there was only 6 left when he was done. It's really the only kind without stuff that could get caught in my teeth though.

I’ve taken all of my medication on time and am healing relatively well for me. Zach is doing well in school and we’ve had a bit of a tummy bug here. When Wes threw up I thought it was because Cody had given him too much junk food that day. A couple days later I threw up and thought it was from my medications. Then yesterday Zach told his teacher his belly hurt and he threw up in the elevator on the way to our house. So I’m thinking now we were all a little sick.

My toe is insanely ugly. Bleeding, full of yuck and dead skin and eww. Yeah, it’s gross. I seem to be healing well with my teeth and I can eat a bit more food now then I could earlier. Cody’s teeth are also healing okay although he got dry socket and had to get a special thing to clean it with now.
And last, but not least we found out today I should be well enough to fly. My regular doctor had his assistant call to tell me that today so Cody is out picking up tickets as I type this. I’m so excited because it means I can be there for my mom’s birthday and my dad and I can do our trip now. I was really upset about not being able to do that and although he tried to hide it I know dad was upset too. So YAY! Now we’re back on track and I should be in Havasu on the 30.

Zach's First Day of School

I've been meaning to post pictures of Zach's first day of school and I finally have the time now.

Before school started his kinder teacher and the TA came over to our house to meet Zachary and to talk to me about their policies and what not. One would talk to Zach while the other talked to me and then they switched. It was actually pretty cool and I think helped Zach get a little more comfortable on his first day. I'm sure that's why they do it.

So his first day of school rolled around and Cody came home to drop Zach off with me. My car was broken, but even if it hadn't been broken Cody really wanted to be there for the first day of real school. Zach was so excited with his little red pack pack and couldn't wait to go to his classroom. They had an open house a few days prior to school starting and Zach already knew where his room was and what to expect. All the kids had to line up outside the classrooms and parents aren't allowed to go inside. It makes sense to me, but I really wanted a couple pictures of him at his desk or something.

Anyway. They are allowed to show up starting at 8:25 and school starts at 8:35. So they've got ten min to get where they're supposed to be. I'm not sure I like that part, but we'll roll with it. I settled for pictures of Zach waiting at the table in front of his room and of him lining up to go inside. They were going to go marching inside and Wes really wanted to go with Zachary. I asked Zach if I could have a hug and I was standing in front of the little girl in front of him because Wes was directly in front of Zach. The little girl turned around and gave me a huge hug and I had to start laughing. Her mom came over and said she had to give mom one too since she hugged a perfect stranger. I got my hug from Zach and Wes got his hug then Wes and I went on our Merry way to the car with Cody.

The whole way home Wesley was asking where his Zach was, Find Zachee daddy, My Zachee, oh no no Zachee, find Zachee daddy. Poor Wes was just so torn up that we left Zachary behind. I had to bribe him with cookies to get him to stop crying and wandering around the house like he was lost.

I got a phone call from Zach's teacher at noon. It seems he put his lunch in the wrong locker and the boy that had that locker thought Zach's lunch was his lunch. The other little boy was actually supposed to be buying lunch that day and the teachers didn't know which one had a lunch and which was buying. Zach was upset and crying and so was the other poor little boy. They got it all straightened out though and Zach told me about the boy that stole his lunch when he came home.

The rest of the day was uneventful and Zach talked about it all on his way home. I don't understand half of what he's telling me, but he seems really excited about school, his teachers, and everything involved with the two. He wakes up pretty easily for me and helps me pack his lunch box every night. All in all it's been a great experience for both of us so far. Now if only I could get Wesley to stop panicking about Zach staying behind, all would be well.

Man I love Zach's school

His teacher and the teacher assistant are just wonderful. I don't know if they do this at every school for kinder, but his teacher and the TA came over about a week before school started. One of them sat and talked to Zachary while the other one sat and talked to me. They got to know him before he came to school and they let me know how things work, what their classroom policies are, how things are handled etc. It was actually pretty great and on the first day of school Zach wasn't scared at all.

Now the drop off and pick-up are wonderful too. When I drop him off in the morning I just pull up to the curb in front of his classroom and someone actually comes to get him and walk him to his line-up spot. How freakin' cool is that? They talk with him on the way up there and I get to go on my merry little way. It took like 4 min to drop him off this morning and that's including the drive over there. It also means I don't have to get Wesley out of his carseat.

Then when I go to pick him up I just wait in the line of cars and when I get towards the front someone comes to the passenger side of the car to ask what child is mine and they bring him to me. WOW. It's just so different then when I was in school or when Brianne was in school. It all goes so smoothly and I'm really impressed with the school here.

Our no good very bad day

So I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth taken out today at 1:30. I show up this morning at 8:30 to tell the dr. what medication I am on and they had me wait 40 min. (telling me every 10 min that the doctor would be right there). I lost it sitting there thinking about all the needles, stitches and pain they were going to do on me. Wasn't must else to do sitting there waiting. So 40 min. rolls around and I'd already been to the bathroom once because I knew I was going to lose it and I told them that they could just give me my chart and I'd fill out the damn medication myself. As if by magic they find a form I can fill out to tell the doctor what medication I'm on and just leave him a note lovelySo then I go down to take my pregnancy test. I can't get my teeth pulled unless they know for sure I'm not pregnant. The lady that made my appointment said that it was for sure a pee test. Yeah last time they told me that it ended up being a blood draw. So I've been worrying about that for 40 min. before I even get down there and then I wait another 10 min when I get down there. I finally get this nice looking lady to come help me and I must have looked horrible because she asked if I was okay. I could barely manage to give her my id card before I said no. I tried really hard not to start crying, but it didn't work. She said that when I come for the blood draw... and that's all I heard because I was trying to hold back the vomit. She pat patted my hand and said it isn't today, today is a pee test. BUT if I DO have to have blood drawn to ask for her because she usually does the children and she'd be very very gentle with me and get me through it. I wrote her name down just in case I do need one while we're here.Anyway, took the cup and barely managed to pee because I haven't had anything to eat or drink all day long. I wasn't allowed because of my teeth. Put the cup in the little window and went on my merry little way. Managed to get home and I just sobbed uncontrolably in Cody's arms when I got here. I'm sure I scared him since he knew I was doing a pregnancy test today. Poor man probably thought I was pregnant. No, just a wuss that can't handle needles.So we spent this morning trying to keep me busy so I wouldn't think about food or needles. Got someone to watch Wes for half an hour before taking him to the daycare and got someone to pick up Zach from school. Went to the dental clinc and waited to be seen. And waited and waited. Oh I'm not the system? I have no appointment today even though I have this lovely pink slip that says I do? Yeah. They made the appointment and never wrote it down in the book So I starved all day for nothing. The doctor came out and said if he'd known sooner today that my appointment was today he'd have told the person that was in there already to reschedule, but they already had him hooked up to an IV and everything. I said that maybe someone should have come out to check the page when I was there this morning for 40 min. He kept saying "Well the thing is..." Ya know, the thing is you messed up. You scheduled me, you even remember me because of my needle phobia, you talked to my damn doctor and said he could pull out my toe nail while I was under and you don't have my appointment down today? How the hell does something like that happen.He said the soonest he could get me in was Oct 7. Great, because I leave Sept 30 so I'll be here He said Oh well we aren't supposed to operate 6 months before you leave. I said then why did you pull my husband's teeth a week and a half ago. He then said I could have it done in the states, but it would be around three thousand dollars. We have that type of money after all. He also said that since they aren't hurting... I interrupted and said they are and they have been for a couple weeks now, but since I thought they were being pulled I didn't call because the only thing that would fix it is him pulling them.So now I'm supposed to get them pulled on Friday morning, but I'm not supposed to leave until Oct 28. Which means no road trip with my dad, no seeing my mom for her birthday, no getting the house before our stuff gets there, no... well pretty much any planning Cody and I have done is out the window now. I was crying and shaking and just plain pissed off in his office. I didn’t take my medication so I had a horrid headache. Not eating or drinking didn’t help matters, plus the crying earlier and then the worry. We did a lot of running around and paperwork to get to this appointment today and I am beyond mad that it didn't happen. Then to be told he wouldn't have been able to do it anyway really pissed me off because he KNEW the day I was leaving before I even made the appointment. So if the whole 6 months thing was true he 1) should not have pulled cody's teeth and 2) should not have made the appointment to have mine pulled.Oh and the kicker? It apparently isn't safe to fly (but they couldn't tell me why), but it's okay for Cody to do pt. Cody said it feels like he is getting kicked in the face every time he is running and could he get a waiver? The doctor said you're only supposed to be down for 4 - 8 days so he didn't think he could do one. Okay so if you're only supposed to be down for 4 - 8 days then why can't I fly again?I think I'm going to go have a bottle of wine or two now and discuss our options with Cody and see how we're going to change our plans now. I'm so disappointed I can't do the road trip with my dad because I was really REALLY looking forward to it. I'm also upset that I'll miss my mom's bday yet again and I promised to take her out for dinner.