Hey a few months late is better than not at all! August is full of Birthdays for us everyone but daddy....Aug 1, 16, & 19 are big days in our family. Brennen was born on Aug 1st, Bryce turned 4, and Mommy well lets just say worn out this birthday but with such a happy sleepy heart :)

 Bryce was very excited to have his first birthday party with his Evansville cousins.

 Our family of 4 :)

 The Cars Ice Cream cake was a big hit!

 My brother's!

Water balloon fights are the best!

Bryce 4, Avery 5, Addison 6, Kaleigh 8, Gavin 9



Brennen Rhodes

Since I almost have a 3 mth old I thought I should finally post this. I will just skip the part where I had 3 different OB's and Korea was terrified to see me due to the meds I was on to keep the pregnancy it was a crazy pregnancy to say the least....but I feel blessed to have made it back to family and to have another very sweet little boy. Well here I was @ 38 wks right before my routine stress test. I was having some issues with my amniotic fluid. I was scheduled to be induced 5 days from this day and I was told it was too low when I went in and I wasn't going home and we were having a baby tomorrow. Well being induced kind of sucked, I didn't sleep at all, just what you need before you have a new born right? I waited until late that night (6 am in Korea) to call Brian and let him know that he needed to be ready via skype. Then he wanted to talk to the nurse as if he didn't believe what I was telling him....whatever...The next morning went much smoother than the night before. My nurses were awesome I didn't have to push long, Brian was next to me on the computer and my Mom and Aunt were in the room with me.

 Brennen Rhodes (after his great grandparents) 8lbs 10oz

 The first time Bryce sees Brennen, he is only kind of excited

 Bryce has been a very good big brother! He loves to read him stories and sing songs to him.

 Gaga doesn't spoil him at all.

 Guess who surprised me and showed up. That explained why he needed to talk to the nurse to see if anything could be delayed or how long it might take tomorrow. He was catching a flight out and thought he would be here a few days before I was to be induced and he didn't want to be on the flight and miss all of it....God was with us in so many ways....He stayed home from work and just as they took Brennen to be washed up he needed to go to a meeting and was going to be out of touch due to a mini exercise....IE just in time to catch the bus to the airport and show up at the hospital 27 hrs after Brennen was born.

Our little one with all of his flowers....

 

Needless to say I was shocked to see Brian and all the nurses were in on the surprise and were hiding outside my door as he skyped with me as he walked down the hallway and into my room.Sorry this is so late but now I can at least start posting other things and will try and do better. We spent all of Sept in Colorado and before that my wireless stopped working so I am very behind. Hope to catch up soon and at least back post before we head back to Korea in a few weeks.

 

Opps a month passed

Well Bryce and I made it back from Korea and I didn't swell up like a watermelon so that is a plus :) Bryce was great again and I wasn't too uncomfortable....the stewardess gave me a full giant water bottle that helped too. The only down fall was bc of turbulence they didn't serve dinner until like 8:30 and Bryce was so excited to eat the good airplane food he would rather complain about how hungry he was instead of eat the other food I had brought. All in all it worked out great and the sweet Korean girl that sat next to Bryce helped him pick up things that he dropped bc Mommas belly made it kind of hard to get things from the ground.
We then spent a week and a half in Pitt with Brian's family. There was lots of swimming, eating, playing with cousins and adjusting to jet lag. I was even lucky enough to get my much needed hair cut and highlighted and an afternoon at the outlets with Grandma. Thanks to Aunt Kelly, Grandma, and Papa for entertaining and chasing after Bryce.
I can't complain enough about tricare (our insurance) no matter how early or on top of things I was they still screwed it all up. So after several hours on the phone, me in tears, I did figure it all out or tell them how to do their JOB...they were killing me. So I finally did get to meet my delivering OB and thankfully since I had all of one choice, I do like him. All is well, thinking of inducing me and I will know more next Tuesday when I go back. Please pray for us since Brian will not be here and really I am trying not to turn into an emotional basket case. Just gotta love the military, leadership positions, and major exercises.
Bryce is very excited about his brother, back in Feb he named him Squeaky Cranberry, yup and he still calls him that today. Bryce is still confussed and after visiting Papa and Gaga's house thinks we should be moving back to CAFB and tell those people that are renting our house to get out we are home.
Dr is thinking of inducing me Aug 6, but he doesn't think I will make it that long. I went in the other day and the baby is 6.5lbs and I am only 35 wks. The 100 plus temps I could do without, but otherwise we are good. Lucky for me Gaga , (Great too) Aunts, Uncles, and 4 extra cousins as playmates have kept Bryce busy. Although I will say that he has been showing his colors as of late and time out has been his friend....UGGGG lets just say I hope he works through this soon.

A few more pictures to add from the last few wks



The Seoul Zoo! This was an adventure that is worth writing about. We went with a girl friend and her little boy Asa...this was the best we could get them to both look at us.... The adventure started on the way to the train station....1hr and 40min and two trains later we made it. There is a ski lift to take you to the top of the zoo and work your way back down. Guess what our jog strollers couldn't go..so we walked and walked to the top...bob stroller and all 40lb child, prego momma equals tired momma. We laughed as we saw a free bus to the top and tram....none of which we saw at the bottom or how to get on them..there wasn't anything in English that would help us anyway. Oh and there was lots of chicken on a stick, silkworms, and snails to eat on the way up the mtn if we were hungry.

Here we are at a bar (Geckos)for a work going away dinner. Bryce had lots of fun playing pool. I met Brian there he told me when I entered the stairwell I might think I am in an abandoned building...he informed me it wasn't and to walk to the 3rd floor. Glad I knew that bc we would have walked right back out....the stairs going down were a mess and looked scary.

This is the main shopping district right outside of base and as you can tell bryce is kind of done.

Bryce, Asa, Aaron and Brian at the jet...Bryce tried to take off running up the wing when this was over...it was awesome

Learning about the F16, as you can see Bryce isn't pushing any buttons

IN the engine of an F16...lawn dart an all was still fun to go out to the flight line



Lots of food cart options too...not a chance I will be eating any of that ever....We have seen lots of raw chicken on sticks sitting in the sun waiting to be cooked when the crowds come later in the day....come on raw chicken can sit out forever right and then they just cook off the whatever...YUCK
Sorry I can't get this picture back where it is suppose to be....

So it has been awhile....the time just flies by and I don't exactly move too quick these days or have much energy. I did experience a Korean Hospital to have little man checked out and all went well. I had an interpreter which helped at the beginning, but the Dr actually spoke Ok English. Little man weighs in around 3lbs right now and we could only see his profile and no matter how much the dr pushed he was comfy and had no intentions of moving for him. This hospital was in better shape than the one I went to in Japan....the first time I went to a Japanese hospital pregnant with Bryce I wanted to cry...didn't feel that way here. I left for a short time to get a blood test and when I returned Bryce had an entire bag of Starburst Jellybeans...he gets free food wherever we go.
Our apartment is working out great, but boy is it dirty around here....guess you can kind of tell that by the not so clear days. So I have had my workout on cleaning the floors in some manner daily...not so fun. I found another grocery store nearby that actually has raw prepared seafood that I could bring home and cook. You know instead of killing it myself after I choose what I want and cleaning it up....the other one also had half a cow it was chopping up when we went on our fresh seafood search....just didn't appear too sanitary just hanging there as the guy chopping it up comes out and asks if we need help. Ummm no thanks we are good...
Here are a few random things so just in bullets:
* I really miss a dryer for our sheets and towels....no soft fluffy towels for us
* All of the appliances play a song when their cycle is over (washing machine, dishwasher, fruit/veggie washer)
* I really like the fruit/veggie washer. I can just spray my cleaner on them and dump all of my apples, oranges, peaches, grapes in and 15 min late all is clean.
* Driving around her is not for the timid....crazy drivers, crazy traffic, and rules yeah they don't really follow them at all

We did finally do some traveling over the 4 day weekend so I will stop chatting and put some pictures on here :)

He enjoys playing in the laundry room!

Naked reading of Curious George!

Playing and the Splish and Splash at Camp Hump.

Daddy at the top talking Bryce into trying this slide! When we pulled up in the parking lot the first thing Bryce said was, "I am not going on those big slides, OKAY!"

Yeah well he changed his mind and loved it!

They also had Putt Putt, with WAY to many water hazards...if you can see that his shorts are wet..that is bc he forgot he was not longer in his swim suit and he walked right into the pond to retrieve the first golf ball that made its way into the pond.

Using the water to our advantage...

We can't forget about Daddy's bday...his last year in his 30's :) The cake was a blueberry yogurt cake and it was very tasty.

A visit to Everland and these cute characters.

Bryce didn't enjoy any of the rides....

The Korean girls don't like Bryce either or ever overwhelm him :)

He enjoys map reading and figuring out where we should be going.

Malipo Beach...the water was freezing...but the beach still lots of fun

I think I am 29 wks in this picture.

 

Just in case you thought I was kidding when I told you that you pick your seafood out for yourself....

The beach....there had a really bad oil spill in 2007...we did remember but could only read the year and tell by the pictures :)

Moved In

Well we did finally get our Korea shipment and have set up our new apartment. Bryce is thrilled to have his bed back, but was a little concerned that his bedroom was soo far down the hall from ours. Trust us we can still hear him. He doesn't get out of his bed he always calls for us when he is ready to get up. Which I have to admit is kind of nice. We are still learning how to work all the appliances. I have figured out how to let people into our building, our front door using the video intercom and to call friends using the intercom that live in one of the 15 buildings that make up the Posco apartment complex. We do have a dishwasher, but man is that thing small. We used our washing machine last weekend for the first time and man at 1and a half hours per load, laundry might be a daily task. Yes that is just to wash, then you have to hang everything up in the drying room, its awesome. We will see how the cloth diapers go when we come back in the fall. Oh and the highlight of the apartment for Bryce is the fancy toilet :) He prefers to use our potty when he has to go number 2 so he can press the water and dryer function for his bum. The biggest mistake we made was not having the video running the first time he did that.
Driving around here is at your own risk! Horns are honking everywhere, pedistrians have the right of way which is normal but don't assume they will look up before crossing the street to see if anyone is coming no matter how fast you may be driving. Red lights seem to be optional and most people honk at you and drive around you. You may turn left on green but only when you have an arrow...assuming that they remembered to put a green arrow on every light which they didn't. Oh and some lights flash yellow from all sides so you proceed with A LOT of caution.
The BOB is getting a lot of use. We are about a mile from the gate and another mile into base to get to everything. The side walks are less than smooth so we roll just fine. I walk into base a fair amount for play groups, library, and soccer practice. Although I steal the car for the trip back. The weather has been really nice so Brian doesn't mind running too and from work, which takes about just as long to drive due to traffic.
We are adjusting to apartment living. Bryce still misses his buddies and doesn't understand why the Korean children don't speak his English as he calls it. Mommy they won't talk to me and when they do I don't know what they are saying. The other Korean Mom's shared a frozen drink with him when all the kids had treats the other week. We learned later that there is a lady that comes around with a cart in the late afternoon selling frozen treats and we had just missed her when we came down to play.

Moving and unpacking 2 crates is much easier than an entire house. Everything shot up this thing and Bryce was pleased to have his bike be one of the first things :)

There are two hiking trails close to our apartment. This one Bryce can walk the entire way and there is A LOT of outdoor workout equipment along the way.

Soccer time on base...lasted a whole 10 min before he was hungry and wanted to play on the slides that are right next door.

Awesome bakery right by our apartment. We will be here a lot. I did learn that when we came back it was a better idea to have Bryce in the stroller and grabby hands at bay....lets just say we left with a lot more than I intended to bc of his nose smelling or little fingers touching....

Subway is his favorite lunch right now and he decided he needed to wear this flyer for these subs while eating

The other hiking trail, more work but fun and where Brian went for a run. We did take the stroller up this thing part way and lets just say that if Bryce's feet can't do this one we won't be going without Daddy.

Cute little girl excited to say Hi to Bryce and very dressed up. Lets just say we felt underdressed. They treat this trail like you are in Colorado and are going to go through drastic Temp changes and weather....FULL up tech gear from head to toe for about 90% of the people we passed

At the bottom there is an air hose to get the dust off...lots OH Fun

Mother's day dinner...Bryce very interested in what is going on. The meat was cooking over hot coals.

He demanded that he use chopsticks too

He was did get some rice into his mouth :)

My sweet boy!