Daniel's Story:
When he first got there he was soon singled out as the only person without any medical background. After they all arrived he was the last to introduce himself to the group and lead doctor. When he told them he was going to major in English the doctor asked several times (through her translator) "Why are you here?" He was so embarrassed and immediately wanted to come home. He emailed me and told me how miserable he was and that he's shouldn't be there. After I told him that he paid money to volunteer he decided that it didn't matter what the doctor thought. He was there to serve people and not to worry about one person's opinion. He was constantly mistreated by their lead doctor but he stayed positive and made it a group joke with his peers. He was able to make some good friends because of it. He was able to call home and email constantly. While there in Costa Rica the group was able to go down a zip line that was (if I remember correctly) 2-3 miles down the rain forest. People reportedly saw sleeping bats, birds, monkeys, and even large wildcats.
The next week he told me that they were traveling to an indigenous village in the middle of the rain forest and then moving on to Panama. Phone conversations were very limited. The village was hard to get to, hard to live through, and hard to come back from. His group had to hike 2 hours in the heat and humidity to get there. While there they helped a lot of people who had parasites that, if not treated early, ensured death. Most everyone had it, including children. The symptoms left open sores all over their body. And even those who had the parasites taken care of would always have the scars to remind them. It was difficult for Danny to see little children living with something so terrible. It made him think of and appreciate Kailyn.
After they left the village they went to Panama. I think they only did a clinic once. Then they had another play day. Danny got to go see Dolphins (his favorite). He loves how intelligent and unified they are. Me? I'm a shark person. So, he brought me home the perfect souvenir: A necklace with a shark tooth! I know that they've been popular before but mine is the best because it's not a fashion statement. It has real sentimental value. He hates sharks but loves me enough to get me something I will always love. For Kailyn, he bought a key chain of a cute yarn doll that reminded him of her. What a sweetheart!
The next day they all traveled back to Costa Rica and the next morning they flew out for an all day trip back home. When I saw him come around the corner at the airport he smiled his perfect smile and I melted. He was home. And he looked AMAZING! He was wearing one of the local shirts he purchased. My man looked like he's been living in Costa Rica his whole life. So tan and healthy looking. Anyways, Kailyn spent the night at her grandparents to that we could clean him up and inspect his body for any open wounds. We wanted to make sure that he didn't pass anything to Kailyn. And that was it. We spent the night without worrying that Kailyn would disrupt our night together. It was a really good experience for him. It was a really good experience for me. And it has made our relationship that much better.
I'll be sure to post pictures of his trip and all the goodies he brought back.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The 6 C's
Costa Rica-
Daniel is leaving for Costa Rica on Saturday. He and his brother, Joe, will be gone for 2 weeks assisting medical doctors as part of an internship. His brother is a Pre Med Student and had been filling out applications fro different medical schools and is looking for something to put on his transcripts. Daniel will, at some point, need to do the same to get into a good law school so they both decided it was better to go together now than separately.
Joe's wife, Shae, lives just up the street from me so this will be a good opportunity for us to get together and do girl stuff. I'm really excited and know it will be a good experience for him and his brother.
Cleaning-
For the past 2 weeks I have had ants off and on in my house and have come to realize it's because I haven't (really) cleaned my house for a long time. The weirdest part about the ants is that they are mostly in the bathroom which I deep cleaned about a week before they showed up. I've been spraying them every time I see them and they've finally made their way to the kitchen. So, it's just time to do EVERYTHING. So after I get Danny packed and out the door I will be cleaning my entire house. I will probably take before and after pictures so keep an eye out for that in a week or so.
Cutting teeth-
Kailyn is currently cutting her 5th tooth. This one has been the worst. She really handled all four of her teeth very well. A little bit of discomfort and a lot of chewing, but #5 had been a real pain in the mouth for Kailyn and the butt for mommy. She had a fever for about 4 days a couple of weeks ago when she starting cutting and ever since then she's been more whiny, fussy, restless, and sometimes just plain annoying. I think she's learned that if she whines long enough she gets what she wants. Grrrrr! But things have mostly gone back to normal. She sleeps through the night, she takes her naps on time, she's active again...but one thing has changed dramatically and that is the next "C"...
Constipated-
Kailyn has been having some serious issues with her BM's. She's been eating Baby Food for a while now and we've been giving her solids for the last month or so (not a lot, just bits and pieces of what we're eating) and for some reason she just can't seem to go on her own. Every time I hear her grunt or see her face turn red from pushing I have to grab her, lay her down, open her diaper, bend her in half, and help coax it out. She does this heartbreaking, high pitched gasping sound every time. I gave her some Prunes/Baby Food and it didn't make a difference. I kept trying to figure out what had changed and came to the conclusion that it had to be the formula I had switched to when she turned 9 months. I've always used Enfamil and then at 9 months I moved to the next stage, same brand. And then when that run out I went to the store to buy her more and saw that Parent's Choice was 5 dollars cheaper than the one I bought before and gave it a shot. I went through about 1 1/2 25oz cans before there was a real change. So now that I'm almost out of her formula I'm going back to Enfamil. If anyone has any suggestions to help her through her transition please let me know. Thanks!
Crawling-
Kailyn is still just crawling. She's pro at it, that's for sure, but I would love to see some walking. Danny and I worked with her on it last night but she was a little too wound up to focus. We bought her a walker to help her but it's a little short so in order to walk she has to lean forward which doesn't really teach her how to keep her balance, which is her biggest issue. She has the motion down, just not the balance. She would be running if she could just figure out how to keep herself up. But I'm going to work on her the next 2 weeks and see if I can get her walking before daddy comes home...and work on saying dad. She's got mom down.
Conception-
Ok, so not really. I just wanted to see what my sisters would say if they saw "CONCEPTION" on here. But, since we're on the subject, Daniel and I are currently uninsured and most insurances have an 18 month probationary period before you have maternity coverage. So the plan is to sell the store in about 2 months (hopefully less), get insured with the profits from the store, and then get pregnant 18 months after that. However, IF we do get pregnant before then I guess we will have to apply for Medicaid...again. We are really trying to avoid getting pregnant for that reason. So, there you have it. Not planning on getting pregnant in the near future.
Daniel is leaving for Costa Rica on Saturday. He and his brother, Joe, will be gone for 2 weeks assisting medical doctors as part of an internship. His brother is a Pre Med Student and had been filling out applications fro different medical schools and is looking for something to put on his transcripts. Daniel will, at some point, need to do the same to get into a good law school so they both decided it was better to go together now than separately.
Joe's wife, Shae, lives just up the street from me so this will be a good opportunity for us to get together and do girl stuff. I'm really excited and know it will be a good experience for him and his brother.
Cleaning-
For the past 2 weeks I have had ants off and on in my house and have come to realize it's because I haven't (really) cleaned my house for a long time. The weirdest part about the ants is that they are mostly in the bathroom which I deep cleaned about a week before they showed up. I've been spraying them every time I see them and they've finally made their way to the kitchen. So, it's just time to do EVERYTHING. So after I get Danny packed and out the door I will be cleaning my entire house. I will probably take before and after pictures so keep an eye out for that in a week or so.
Cutting teeth-
Kailyn is currently cutting her 5th tooth. This one has been the worst. She really handled all four of her teeth very well. A little bit of discomfort and a lot of chewing, but #5 had been a real pain in the mouth for Kailyn and the butt for mommy. She had a fever for about 4 days a couple of weeks ago when she starting cutting and ever since then she's been more whiny, fussy, restless, and sometimes just plain annoying. I think she's learned that if she whines long enough she gets what she wants. Grrrrr! But things have mostly gone back to normal. She sleeps through the night, she takes her naps on time, she's active again...but one thing has changed dramatically and that is the next "C"...
Constipated-
Kailyn has been having some serious issues with her BM's. She's been eating Baby Food for a while now and we've been giving her solids for the last month or so (not a lot, just bits and pieces of what we're eating) and for some reason she just can't seem to go on her own. Every time I hear her grunt or see her face turn red from pushing I have to grab her, lay her down, open her diaper, bend her in half, and help coax it out. She does this heartbreaking, high pitched gasping sound every time. I gave her some Prunes/Baby Food and it didn't make a difference. I kept trying to figure out what had changed and came to the conclusion that it had to be the formula I had switched to when she turned 9 months. I've always used Enfamil and then at 9 months I moved to the next stage, same brand. And then when that run out I went to the store to buy her more and saw that Parent's Choice was 5 dollars cheaper than the one I bought before and gave it a shot. I went through about 1 1/2 25oz cans before there was a real change. So now that I'm almost out of her formula I'm going back to Enfamil. If anyone has any suggestions to help her through her transition please let me know. Thanks!
Crawling-
Kailyn is still just crawling. She's pro at it, that's for sure, but I would love to see some walking. Danny and I worked with her on it last night but she was a little too wound up to focus. We bought her a walker to help her but it's a little short so in order to walk she has to lean forward which doesn't really teach her how to keep her balance, which is her biggest issue. She has the motion down, just not the balance. She would be running if she could just figure out how to keep herself up. But I'm going to work on her the next 2 weeks and see if I can get her walking before daddy comes home...and work on saying dad. She's got mom down.
Conception-
Ok, so not really. I just wanted to see what my sisters would say if they saw "CONCEPTION" on here. But, since we're on the subject, Daniel and I are currently uninsured and most insurances have an 18 month probationary period before you have maternity coverage. So the plan is to sell the store in about 2 months (hopefully less), get insured with the profits from the store, and then get pregnant 18 months after that. However, IF we do get pregnant before then I guess we will have to apply for Medicaid...again. We are really trying to avoid getting pregnant for that reason. So, there you have it. Not planning on getting pregnant in the near future.
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