Mini Trip to Ut

A few weeks back we made a suprise trip to Ut for a baby blessing of our newest niece.  We didn't tell many people so it came as a suprise to most of the families that we were there.  It also happened to be the same weekend as my sister and grandpa had their birthdays so it was quite the fun filled weekend. 

 The trip to Ut as we were nearing Southern UT.

 Sunday Morning before the baby blessing.  Jay bought these two outfits in Hong Kong during his last deployment.

 Story time with Grandpa T.

 Story time with daddy

Our new little niece.  She was such a great baby all day long.

 Our 2 nieces the big sister and little sister.

 On Sunday after the baby blessing we went over to my folks for dinner.  It was for celebrating both Becca's and Grandpa's birthdays.  The kids just had to ask Becca to find the cat so they could torture (pet) her. 

Becca and Annabelle.  I think Becca's got a new friend.

The trip was great and really busy for us, but also something that Jay really wanted to do.  We're looking at possibly 2 more trips out to Ut later this year, if things work out the way we want them to.

We're okay!

Down in the Baja, Mexico area was a 6.9 earthquake about 45 min ago.  We actually felt it up here in San Diego quite strong.  Since then we've had 2 aftershocks already.  We're just fine and have had no damage.  This shaking felt like the small earthquake that I expierenced in the 3rd grade, which is a long time ago.  The kids didn't fully realize what was going on until we explained it to Kaden. 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/04/magnitude-earthquake-reported-baja-california/

Welcome Home USS NIMITZ!!!

Last Friday was truly one of the best days of the year so far.  The USS Nimitz came home from their  8 month deployment bringing our family back together again.  It was a very long day for us but well worth it to have Jay home again.  We started the morning off with meeting up with our dear friends and fellow Nimitz family the Hyde family.  Robyn and her husband Jared have become good friends to Jay and I and their kids are great.  Robyn and I are deployment buddies and look out for one another while the boys are deployed for any reason.

We drove to the base together and walked to the pier to pick out our perfect spot for the ship coming in.  Homecomings are insane when you are on a carrier and this year was no exception.  The theme for this homecoming was USO 1940 and the live band they had was playing swing and Jazz music all morning long.  The kids were having so much fun together while we waited to see that "floating city" begin to pull in.  Sorry in advance for all of the photo's (this isn't even half of them).

 The Hyde kids!  (left 2 right: Brady, Ariana, Kalynn, and Bryant) 

 Kaden and Kalynn were just having a blast listening to the music.  They were acting so cute that one of the ship's photographers snapped quite a few photos of them and even interviewed them as a possibilty to be in the Nimitz news.

 The top of the ship's radar towers!

 All of these sailors are doing what is called "manning the rails" which is something that they do each time they pull into a US port, even home port.

 Thanks to Robyn for getting this photo of the kids and I watching the ship pull in.

 Almost pulled in!

 At one point Brady was giving Kaden a pigyback ride.

 Jay is back here actually manning the rails.

 My deployment buddy and dearest friend, Robyn

 Jay was talking to me right there to the left of that large tower as this photo was taken by Robyn.

 One of the best parts of this homecoming was Annabelle's reaction.  The moment I saw Jay coming towards us I pointed him out to her and she took off running right to him.  She missed him like crazy and got the first hug from him too.

Our first kiss after 8 months apart!.

Our family is whole again.

I love homecomings.  They are honestly the best part of any deployment and this one was just truly special for us.  We feel closer as a couple than at any other previous homecoming and even this deployment with all of the challenges and stress that came with the extention (originally it was a 6 month deployment) the homecoming and readjustment have been truly wonderful.  I love having Jay home with us once again.  Welcome Back USS Nimitz!

Coming Home!

The end of this deployment is finally in sight!  Most of last year Jay was out to sea and then they deployed for 6 month which on 9-11 turned into an 8 month deployment.  But now he's coming home!!!!!!  We've spent the last few weeks preparing for this day and now in just a few short days we'll be together again.  The kids are just so excited and can't wait to see him.  Because of the OPSEC (Operational Security) rules we follow for safety I've had to keep really quiet about this (the Navy has a saying: "Lose lips, Sink Ships"), until tonight.  This article is the very reason I can even post this.  My husband, eternal companion and best friend is coming home Friday!!!!!!!   http://www.navycompass.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2055:uss-nimitz-public-affairs-&catid=46&Itemid=584

After 10 years.....

Because Jay is coming home soon I wanted to do something with my hair because its just boring.  Well Saturday I got that chance.  So I went from this:

To.....

This!  And for the first time in 10 years I have bangs!

Autisim Update

Since its been a while since I've talked about how Kaden's doing with his autisim I figured it would be a good time to do one.  The last few weeks have been tough on us and not because of Kaden, but due to his therapy being cancled.  If there is one thing I'm learning through this process its that the military needs to get their behinds in gear and start finding ways to get inside help for kids with special needs so that we don't go to the civilan sector for it.  The reason I say this is because of what we've had to deal with lately with Kaden's therapy.

ABA therapy is expensive.  As I was just told in the civilan sector it costs almost $13,000 a month for this therapy that Kaden is going through.  We are tremendously blessed that we have Tri-care which is covering the costs and that we don't have to figure out ways to cover them.  Military insurance is one of the few that do cover these types of costs in the insurance.  Most civilains insurance companies don't.  However that also means that we get a lot of crap along the way when trying to get these services too.  Unlike when you're a civilain and go to get a referal for medical services of any kind (I do know what I'm talking about here, we were at one time a civilian family) its super easy.  They check your insurance and see which drs you can see for that referal.  Military insurance is VERY different.  Your dr has to put the request into tri-care and then they pick if you can see that said specialist or if they will deny what you need. 

With Kaden, we had to fight to even see an autisim specialist to get his diagnosis then we had to fight to get the services he now has.  However some of the services were cut off just as fast by tri-care as they approved of them.  With ABA we've not had a problem with them accepting the costs or any of the things that go along with it.  We have had issues of the civilian agency kicking us out due to "budget cuts".  Now if you don't know CA can't budget to save their lives.  So last month during an contract renewal (his contract was only for 6 months) the agency that we've been going through for his services told me that after a 3 month renewal Kaden would no longer be recieving services with them due to budget cuts oh and that we're military and they have been ordered by the state to cut off services to military families first.

Yeah that was a lot of fun to hear come from the very place that we were told to go to for the therapy by the Navy, because the Navy doesn't have the ability to do this therapy at all.  We are now going through a phase out program for Kaden's therapy as a result of CA's budget issues and that we're military.  To make things all that more fun I came to learn more of why Kaden was being kicked out by the supervisor over his ABA therapy and that ticked me off even more.  Its not just the money or that we're military that we're getting kicked out but because Kaden is now 5 years old and they don't do services for kids over the age of 4.  With autisim there is only a short window of opportunity to help them out before the help will no longer work. 

Kaden has 3 years before that window of opportunity closes on him.  Now, he's come a long way in the last year with the ABA, school program he's in (which is actually been a world of good for him), and simply because Jay and I refuse to give up on him or his potential but he does have more work a head of him.  In just the time Jay's been deployed (which thankfully is coming to an end) he has grown in ways that I never could have imagined.  His vocabulary and speech have dramatically improved (we still have some work to go in this area), his behaviors are getting better, his compliancy issues are slowly going away and he's all around acting and behaving more like your typical 5 year old boy than the autism side that we've seen for so long.  Mind you, that side does show up when he's frustrated of focused on something like a movie or video game, but most of the time unless you know he has autisim you can't tell.

In just the last 6 months Kaden went from very little potty training to he's now fully potty trained, which was a goal I had from the start of this deployment for him.  He'll be fully potty trained, and already is, by the time Jay gets home.  And that brings me to Jay and Kaden.  Each port Jay has hit he's tried to get on the webcam to see me and the kids some.  Most of the ports Kaden wouldn't say much beyond a "hi Daddy" and then go off and play.  The last two ports have been an entirely different story.  I've had to fight for time with Jay via webcam because Kaden just had to tell Jay everything that was going on with him.  Had to tell him all about school and his new toys and just talk to him.  This is a huge change for all of us and its been an amazing process to watch.  Jay will be blown away by the changes he's seen in Kaden via webcam and I know that once he's home those changes will be even more evident.

So due to his therapy getting cut off here in 3 months the fight to get him the help he needs begins once again.  We're lucky that his autisim dr is a great dr and works for the navy so we'll have his help in getting things fixed and the help Kaden needs back.  Over all we feel truly blessed to be living here in San Diego where they have some of the best resources in the nation (VA is the only other place that offers the best quality of care for kids with autisim, military wise) and know that its where we're supposed to be for the time being.

Olive Garden with the girls

Yup went out to lunch with my fellow Navy wives again to Olive Garden.  It was a really enjoyable time and it felt great to get out of the house.  I really enjoy these get togethers since I don't get out of the house much with Kaden's current schedule of ABA and school.  The kids had fun and for the most part they behaved.  Kaden just had a hard time sitting still while we waited on the food. 

 Annabelle was happy just to sit with me at any time.

 Jen and Amity

 Whitney and Brandi

 Kaden beeing a goof

Nicole and Jen

 Sarah and Katy

These get togethers are so much fun and they wipe the kids out completely.  After we were done with lunch the kids and I went over to the book store and got a few new books.  It was a really nice Saturday outting.