The Boyer Family

AF Reserves

2011-09-26T15:27:00.002-05:00

A new endeavor for the family has been the recent change that I, (CJ) has joined the AF reserves and we now live at Patrick AFB, FL. I would say that we would be crazy to complain. Alek had surgery in July because the doctors had found new segments that were inoperative. So Now Alek has an ostomy that the physicians believe should be able to be reversed in January or February of 2012. He is showing alot of improvement from the months prior to the surgery, he has started gaining weight and eating like a monster. Steffany has been taking in the responsibility of playing mommy, daddy, bill coordinator and so on since I have been sent to Texas for training in my new job title. We are due to be back together as a family sometime in December. The house is running well and we are making our way through the tuff days as well as the easy ones. We will try and keep this updated more once again. Until next time.....

2010-09-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

Catching up a bit...

2010-09-16T21:24:00.003-05:00

It's been so long since I have wrote anything on here. We got so busy and I just forgot to write and since then I have had a few people ask me about the blog and our updates. Since I have last wrote, a few things have changed. First and foremost, we decided to get out of the Air Force. As much as I will miss it, we are ready to put roots down and stay put. We couldnt be happier about our decision. We are living in Florida and loving it. Jonathan spent the summer with us, as we had a very busy summer. Jonathan got to experience a "real road trip". He is use to the 2 hour to trip to the north part of the island. This summer he got to experience a trip from Kansas to Michigan, then back to Arizona. =) To say the least, he was very excited for the first 4 hours of the trip and then he was ready to get to our final destination! I told him that not too many 8 year olds can say that they have, literally, traveled the world in less than a month! Jonathan can! From his trip from Japan to California and seeing his uncle's, cousins, and grandma out there to meeting me in Kansas and then driving to Michigan to see my side of the family and then back to Arizona and then moving to Florida! He has been everywhere. Not once did he complain either! Espicially seeing that his 1 year old brother got car sick half way through Lousiania! We had a very fun summer though and like anytime when you have a blast, it went by way too fast!

Alek is doing good. When he turned 8 months old, we were all sure he was going to be walking by the time he was 12 months. He was pulling himself up to everything and "cruising" along the side of everything to get what he wanted. But when 12 months came and he still had not taken that initial step, it was no big deal. When he got to 13-14 months and still was not walking, I started get a little concerned. His vocabulary took off at 11-12 months and he could sit and put together a puzzle all day long. But he was still not walking, so when I asked his doctor about it he said that it was fine and not to be concerned until he was about 18 months. So in the back of my mind, of course, I was still a little concerned but didnt worry too much about it. The doctor was very surprised by his vocabulary, and explained that he is excelling everywhere and because he still had not reached 21 lbs ( he is at 20lbs) that it might have something to do with that. So I continue to work with him on everything. He is saying about 35-40 consistent words, tells you where your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and toes are, counts to three (although when he says the number 3, he leaps off whatever it is he is standing on trusting way too much that whoever is near by will catch him and belly laughs the entire time!). We have also learned, that his little ears will pick up anything he hears, even if the conversation is on the other side of the grocery store! (Yikes)

So the other night, we decide that because we do not get babysitter's all that often, it would be nice to have a nice dinner out, just the two of us. Let me clarify that we do not do dinner "out" with Alek anymore. Alek and restaurants do not mix well! It is a constant battle with temper tantrum....not fun. So anyway, Cj and I are out at a dinner, we had been gone maybe 45 minutes, and Cj's mom calls us to tell us that Alek stood up in the middle of the room and just took off walking/running and has not gone back to crawling. I couldnt believe it. After months of me trying to get him to walk, barley holding his hand and him walking everywhere but refusing to take those steps by himself, he does it the minute I leave! So needless to say, when we got home he was ohhh so excited to show off his new ability! When he walks, he holds up his right hand for balance but we cant but laugh because it is only his right hand he holds up and it kind of looks like he is riding some wild bull! =) I have noticed so many changes in him in the past week since this has started. I can't believe it! Because he is burning so much more energy, he is a bottomless pit now ( I am definetly not complaining because if anyone knows Alek they know he is the pickiest eater ever!!), and his vocabulary has picked up even more now. He is starting to put sentences together, very clearly I must say!

Sorry for the delay...

2010-09-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

I know that this is only a breif message, however for those of you who are following our blog, we will be updating it soon. There have been quite a few changes in the Boyer family household and we will be bringing them to you live in a few days. So if you are thinking about changing that channel... dont touch that dial we will be right back after a breif message from our sponsors. BTW, there are no sponsors so you have time to fill the popcorn and drinks :)

2010-02-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

8.5 months

2010-02-17T18:55:00.000-06:00

He was suppose to be laying down for a nap, but instead he was standing up belly laughing about something. Probably about the fact that I thought he was sleeping when he actually wasnt. :)

8 1/2 months

2010-02-03T16:18:00.000-06:00

Sorry I have not been able to write anything in a while. I just keep posting pictures and videos! Alek is 8 1/2 months old now and is a HANDFUL. haha! His favorite snack is cheerios and yogurt bites. He is pulling himself up to things but not quite walking yet ( thank god!)...I am not ready for that madness yet. I have to sweep and mop the floor at least 3-4 times a day but yet Alek some how manages to find 3 day old cheerios (that somehow go from his booster seat in the kitchen to the next room) and put them in his mouth. ( yuck!). So I am constantly chasing him around taking things from him that he shouldnt have! He isnt talking yet, although if you count " eeeeeeeeeeeee ttaaaaa tttttaaaa BA" talking than I guess he does. :) He likes to make noises....very loud noises. I thought I heard him say " dada" the other day after Cj left but when I tried to get him to say it again he just laughed and crawled away. Figures! His favorite thing to do is to lay next to his dad on the floor and watch Cj throw the football up in the air and catch it. He belly laughs over it and it is the cutest thing!! Ahhh the simple things right!?

At the doctor's office in Phoenix

2010-01-27T22:20:00.000-06:00

Alek eating some mash potatoes

2010-01-27T21:58:00.000-06:00

Phoenix Doctor....

2010-01-26T11:30:00.000-06:00

Well if you didn't know, then, we found the right doctor for Alek yesterday in Phoenix. For once someone actually treated Alek with some respect and put some time into him and his case. Steffany and I are very excited to work with this doctor and hey it gives us a break from Tucson as well, lol... Even through another doctors visit Alek has found a way to smile and I thought that this was a picture that we needed to share. Sorry if the picture seems small Steffany took it with her cell phone.

2010-01-22T18:46:00.000-06:00

8 months!!

2010-01-22T18:43:00.000-06:00

Alek---8 months

2010-01-22T17:01:00.000-06:00

2010-01-05T13:42:00.000-06:00

2010-01-05T13:38:00.000-06:00

New years eve

Our home! :)

Ling, Don, me, and Cj

2010-01-05T13:33:00.000-06:00

Alek and his great grandma!

Alek loves Aunt Ling!!

Attempting to walk...still not quite ready yet! But he is definetly pulling himself up!

Playing with one of his presents.

It sings!!!

Alek decides to Stand up....

2009-12-25T21:45:00.000-06:00

2009-12-20T09:12:00.000-06:00

2009-12-18T11:38:00.001-06:00

So, we waited in line for about 45 minutes. It consisted of screaming children and parents bickering with eachother. Alek cried all the way through the line, I dont know what was wrong with him. I actually think he is so much like his dad, that when he gets around the mall around Christmas time, he automatically gets moody! Haha! So anyway, he was whinning the entire time we were in line and when we actually got up to santa we were worried he was going to scream when he saw him! But as soon as I sat him down on Santa's lap, he was allllll smiles!! :) So it worked out.

Alek visits Santa ( and actually likes him) !

2009-12-18T11:36:00.000-06:00

Opening Season...

2009-12-13T08:45:00.000-06:00

So this weekend was opening season and Cj could not have been more excited to get out there. Since living in Japan, he obviously was unable to go hunting. So anyway him and a friend went out hunting. ( I told him to take pictures while out...Im such a girl. haha!) The one picture was him shooting at a deer. No luck this trip. I am going out with him later today and I am stoked! Maybe I will be making some venison for dinner this week! :)

2009-12-08T20:44:00.000-06:00

Nothing new to report. No new is good news with us! Haha! I put up a video of Alek on the move and a couple pictures. :) Hope everyone is doing well.

2009-12-08T20:42:00.000-06:00

Alek crawling

2009-12-08T20:36:00.000-06:00

Hiking

2009-12-02T10:36:00.000-06:00

We went up to Mt. Lemmon over this past weekend and went hiking. It was so fun..and exhausting. Hauling a 20 lb baby around on the front of you does not feel good on the back! :) But it was fun! Alek loved it. We went up to the ski lift ( we didn't go on it)-they had rides up to the very top, even when there is no snow on the mountain they keep the lift going so you can ride up and get off and hike the trails up there. I wasn't too fond of taking Alek on a ski lift with me, so we just hiked around at the top, instead of the VERY top. :) It was a good time, and a refreshing change of the dry heat in Tucson. It was cold, and I loved it! I look forward to the snow, they said within the month there should be snow up there. So when that happens, we will be taking another trip to the top to do some snowboarding!

2009-12-02T10:29:00.000-06:00

2009-12-02T00:51:00.000-06:00

My favorite time of year!

2009-12-02T00:23:00.000-06:00

So it's my favorite time of year! Christmas is so fun. Nothing is better than getting together with family and talking about good memories and decorating everything together! :) Growing up, we always spent Christmas at my grandma's house..and she would decorate every room in her house and it was so beautiful! Christmas this year will be very different however, Jonathan wont be here. He will be with his dad in Japan, so it will be my first Christmas away from him. It will be intresting, to say the least. The day after thanksgiving, Cj and I were out hanging up our Christmas lights and putting up our REAL Christmas tree! Yay!! Last year we woke up at 4 am to get a real tree from the BX in Okinawa, because they sold out so fast. My husband was determined to get a real one last year... haha! We did. This year, there was no waking up at 4 am and waiting in line. We drove right to the tree farm and picked one out! I was a little concerned at first with a very mobile baby and a real Christmas tree...as anyone could guess..I was worried about pine needles that shed endlessly from the tree daily and a baby who puts every little thing in his mouth thinking it's food! So far, so good. I have ran the vacuum every day, however, also. I am very excited to have my family come down to Arizona for Christmas! It has been YEARS since I have spent Christmas with them. Although, I was hoping to see a little snow on Christmas morning ( because it's just NOT the same without it--I will be taking a trip up the mountain to see snow). As soon as I am happy with the way the house looks, I will be posting a finished picture of it! I am not done putting up lights outside ( Cj thinks we are). So, pictures to come! In the mean time..while putting up the tree and drinking hot chocolate ( so yummy!) Alek found the garlin and thought it was the best thing ever! Ahhh the simple things, right?! He got all wrapped up in it and every time he grabbed ahold of it, he would let out this loud belly laugh and roll over onto it. Haha! It was the funniest thing to watch. I was worried about him putting the garlin in his mouth ( I am such a mom, I know), but surprisingly, he was not fond of the texture of it all. So he never tried to eat it..thank god. So anyway, I had to get pictures, of course. And...how can he go through life without a naked baby butt picture!? It was so cute, I couldn't pass it up. Now to store these away until he is about 16 and show all those girls! ;)

Decorating....

2009-12-02T00:18:00.000-06:00

6 months

2009-11-25T19:31:00.000-06:00

Alek's version of crawling.

He LOVES watching his baby einstein videos. ( They are my new best friend!)

2009-11-25T19:27:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-25T19:20:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe it is that time of year again! This time, we get to celebrate the holidays in the States! In Okinawa, you have all branches of the military shopping at one store, the base exchange. You can imagine what that was like during the holiday season..it was pretty much a suicide mission! So anyway, we are glad to be back in the states for the holiday season. I am so thankful to have my family close to me (within a couple hours flight anyway). We are doing a low key thanksgiving this year, for once. We decided to just have it be us, since every other year it has been a huge gathering, which dont get me wrong is nice, but I am looking forward to not " stressing" over everything in the kitchen this year! We are not doing the "traditional" turkey, instead we are doing ham for Thanksgiving and duck for Christmas. Yummy! I am so extremely thankful to have such a great family and wonderful friends! I count my blessings every day, I have two handsome little guys that are full of energy and healthy. Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-11T12:52:00.000-06:00

Just a little update. Alek is doing good, he has figured out how to get around in his walker ( as you can see in the video). Sometimes he will just take off in that thing and run! It's hilarious, he is bull legged and he takes off running. :) He is doing good though, doing something new every day and amazing all of us! A little bummed out because the Michigan trip wont be happening this month. Some other things came up that I need to attend to. But I will keep everyone updated!

2009-11-11T12:26:00.000-06:00

2009-11-04T00:24:00.001-06:00

So a friend got Alek this little thing you can put food or whatever you want in, and he can chew on it. We put a pedialyte popsicle in it, and he loved it. He couldnt figure out why it was so cold and was getting so mad! haha! His teeth are hurting him right now, so I am willing to try anything to help make his teeth feel better ( and me get some extra sleep). :)

Pictures of J

2009-11-03T23:54:00.001-06:00

Swimming before going trick or treating?? He is definetly NOT in Michigan. :)

Silly...

Darth Vadar!!

2009-11-03T23:47:00.000-06:00

2009-11-03T23:28:00.000-06:00

2009-11-02T19:47:00.001-06:00

So Alek finally decided to sit up on his own today! A very excited mommy tooks lots of pictures, but here is one. :) Yay Alek!

Sitting up

2009-11-02T19:44:00.000-06:00

Jonathan is coming home!

2009-10-27T17:53:00.001-05:00

Jonathan will be here in November, and I could not be more excited!!! It has been way too long ( 5 months and 4 days to be exact). We are heading up to Michigan for Thanksgiving, we decided to drive because we have to bring back some furniture of mine I left at my parents house before moving to Japan. Sooo...it will be intresting making a trip clear across the U.S. with a 5 month old little boy who absolutly HATES riding in his car seat. Yay! But we are excited, I have not been back home since 2005. I am looking forward to it. And of course CJ cant wait to go hunting! So right after poor Jonathan gets off the hellacious 19 hour flight from Okinawa to here, he will have to turn around two days later and get in a car for 2-3 days driving. Poor Jonathan. We are hoping for snow on the ground for thanksgiving, I just miss it enough to play in it for a few days and then turn around and come back to my warm weather in Arizona! :)

In the pictures above, Jonathan in his costume as a "fighter pilot", at school, and on his dirt bike.

2009-10-27T17:45:00.000-05:00

After being in Japan for as long as we were, I was pretty excited about the fact we could actually go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch! After hearing about everyone in MI going to one, I decided to google it and see if there was one here in Tucson ( or anywhere in Arizona), and to my luck there was ONE in the entire state. About an hour and a half away. I told CJ about it, and decided we would go over the weekend. Come to find out, he has never been to an apple orchard! Crazzzy. I thought everyone has been to an apple orchard. Those Floridians dont know how to do fall time apparantly. :) That is a must in the month of October! So we went and it was so much fun. Alek is only 5 months old and obviously couldnt really do much, but he seemed to really enjoy it! He went on his first hayride experience. It was a lot of fun. We were able to pick all this fresh produce, and I think we pretty much got a little bit of everything and it wasnt over $20. It was a lot of fun. And of course, we got the fresh apple cidar ( Cj has never had that either). Sheltered!!! Im telling you. So anyway, it was a good time and we will definetly be going back next year!

At the end, Alek was most definetly ready to go. But on our way out we passed a sunflower field. And of course, I wanted one but the entire field was swormed with bees. It was crazy. And if you know me, you would know that I DO NOT under any circumstances, do bees or spiders. So CJ volunteered himself ( seriously) to go into the bee trap and pick me a flower! What a sweet guy. I couldnt take a picture because I had my hands full with baby and vegetables, but it was a great picture. Cj in the middle a sunflower field dodging mad bees to pick me a flower! Thanks hunny! :)

It's fall time!!

2009-10-27T17:35:00.000-05:00

My photography skills...still working on it.

2009-10-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

5 months?! Already?!!??!!!!

2009-10-21T17:27:00.001-05:00

I am truly blessed to have such a great family. I was for SURE when I found out I was pregnant with Alek that he might just be a very difficult child! Jonathan was SO easy when he was a baby, so I was for sure that Alek was not going be so easy. I do have to say, he is a very easy going little guy ( or should I say big guy?!). The only time he ever really cries is when he is tired. You would think he is loosing a limb, the kid screams so loud you will think something is really wrong until you lay him down and let him fight it out and literally, about 10 minutes later is passed out and not even a rock concert in his bedroom would wake him up!! He is the most amazing person. I know it is sooo "cliche" to say that children change your life. But noone really understands that until they carry a child for 9 months (or the spouse) and then hold that child in your arms for the first time. I am so very blessed to have two beautiful, intelligent, busy little boys! Alek amazes me every day with something new he has learned. We always buy toys that are just a little above his learning abilities, and it does not take him long to figure out how to use it or play with it. We have these interchangeable rings on his car seat that you can hang anywhere and adjust them. He has figured out how to change the rings out. It is absolutly amazing how smart he is! I could go on and on about my babies! But anyway, he will be 5 months old tomorrow!! Growing like a week. We have changed his baby food to "stage 2" baby food, because that stage 1 stuff just was CLEARLY not enough for this little monster. He is loving this new baby food. I was a little worried at first that his belly might not be able to handle it, but if I can puree some banana's up for him, why couldnt I give him this stage 2 food? It is pretty much the same. So, come to find out, he loves it. There is so much more of a variety with the stage 2 as well. I gave him puree ham with vegetables the other night ( eww!!) and he did NOT like it. haha! He would push the spoon away and spit it back out. So that was a no go. But he loves chicken, vegatbles, sweet potatoes ( loves sweet potatoes!), any fruit, and pretty much everything else that is edible (except ham!). We are so very proud of how far he has come since his life changing experience of getting 80% of his colon taken out. You would never ever know he had anything like that done. Amazing. We are looking forward to letting the rest of the family meet him over the holidays.

2009-10-21T17:26:00.000-05:00

Alek and daddy playing "peek-a-boo" through the door

2009-10-20T17:06:00.000-05:00

2009-10-20T17:02:00.000-05:00

Alek-bo-balic at 5 months old

2009-10-20T17:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is such a mess. I tried a new layout ( I am new at this whole "blogging" thing) and it kind of messed everrrrything up. So I am currently trying to fix it up. Anytime tips? :)

Our little man...

2009-10-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

Beautiful view....

Attempting to calm Alek down-Cj looks so cute with the baby backpack on! haha!

Daddy and son reading time. :)

Alek's little chompers.

The first attempt at feeding himself

Wow....October 22nd Alek will be five months old. I can hardley believe it. Time goes so fast! I love every minute with him. Waking up to him, is the most amazing thing ever. I, of course, have a baby monitor in his room and one in mine. In the mornings, he doesnt wake up screaming or crying, he wakes up " talking". Usually to his fan or the picture on his wall, but it consists of " ba ba ba ba mmmmmmmbbbaaaa.....babababa ma ma ma" haha! I love it. Just random babble. But I will sit and listen to it and smile every morning when I hear it, then I will walk over to his room and peak my head over his crib. And he will look at me with a very surprised look like, " how did you hear me!?". This little handsome beast is eating 7oz. of formula and a jar of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought for a while I was "over-feeding" so I tried to downsize on meals a little, and that did NOT go over well with him. So I just continue to feed him as much as he wants, when he wants. As he was eating his squash, he was trying very hard to control the spoon I was holding (apparantly I was not putting it in his mouth fast enough) so after a couple times of fighting his hand of the spoon so squash did not go flying everywhere, I let him take control of it. He actually impressed me, and did pretty well with it. At the end he had squash in his nose, on his eye lids, and in his ears but, hey, he fed himself!

He has been rolling over for about a month now, so now Im trying to work with him on crawling. As I was unpacking MORE boxes yesterday, I put a blanket on the floor with some toys and let him go. He sort of just rolled around the room a couple times, going back and forth from wall to wall....then he figured out he could use his toes to scoot himself around! Funny. Most kids start off doing the "army crawl" or just straight up " crawling". Nope not ours, he decides to use his toes to push himself. I will post a video of it soon. Entertaining to say the least.

So, as most of you know, Cj and I are always out doing something on the weekends. We really never have a weekend " around the house". This past weekend, we went up in the mountains and went fishing. (Yes, with Alek). We found out REALLY quick that he is not a fisherman. Cj and I took turns rocking, bouncing, feeding, burping, changing poopy diapers, and singing to Alek. Because there are not many lakes in Tucson, Arizona....the one lake we were at, everyone else was at as well. So I couldnt let Alek cry himself to sleep like I do at home. And as most of you know, he has QUITE the attitude when he is sleepy, you would think the kid is loosing a limb. So anyway, after about 15 minutes of pure screaming, and a few dirty looks from other people fishing, he fell sound asleep, and I put the worm on my hook...threw my line in the water and I had a fish on!! I was so excited, probably a little too excted over a 2 lbs rainbow trout. haha!

As for me, I am still looking for a job. Im pretty sure I posted my resume on every hiring website out there! It is very frustrating. So if I dont hear something in the next week, I am enrolling myself full time for nursing school and devoting myself to that. As for Jonathan, well....that is a work in progress and I will have him in no time. Definetly for Christmas. He is so excited to see Alek. Last time he saw him was when Alek was a week old! Cj is liking the A-10 world ( he was stationed here before Okinawa). I can say that I see him a lot more here than I did in Okinawa!

Alek....almost 4 months

2009-09-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe he is almost 4 months. He has come so far and impressed us so much! He has his two bottom teeth in and is getting his two top ones. He seems to do alright with teething. It has been 7 years since I have had to deal with the whole baby teething thing! It seems like Iam new at it again! haha! But he doesnt really fuss a whole lot, just chews on his hands and drools everywhere. Poor baby! But he is doing really good. He is rolling everywhere. Its hard to change his diaper because he wants to move around! haha! he will roll over to his belly and kind of do a little army crawl type thing. Still hasnt figured out how to do it and go, but he is working on it! Right now, he just rolls to get where he needs to go! haha! He weighs about 16lbs ( he has made up for lost time!). He didnt get to eat for the first 26 days of his life, so he is definetly doing well now. He eats about 6 oz with rice in each bottle and one jar of baby food with each feeding. He has such a great personality. Alek is usually always in a good mood. Unless he is tired or hungrey. He is like his mommy and gets cranky when he is tired. :) He laughs about everything and it almost seems like he is trying to talk, he will look at the stickers on his wall and stare very hard at them and kind of make a " bbbbbb" sound. A little while before he starts talking.....but he is trying!

Finally in Arizona!

2009-09-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

His mom and step dad

Our house

Us on our long road trip and Alek sound asleep in the back :)

Cj, Ricky, and Alek

Cj's Grandma, Cj, Ricky, and Alek

It has been such a long time since we wrote in this! We finally got set up in Tucson ( we LOVE it) and got our house. We have nothing IN the house yet, but we have a house. All of our household goods are still in shipment to come here. They said it can take up to 4 months. So, as of now, we have an air mattress and a computer in the house and thats it! haha! After we got to Arizona, we decided to take some leave and go see the family. Since, I have YET to meet my in-laws we drove to Florida. It was a great time! Cj's family lives outside of Gainesville and in Panama City. So we drove out there ( about 28 hours with all of the stopping for bottle time for Alek) in our NEW truck! Nothing like putting it to the test the day we get it, right!? We litterally got the truck, and about 3 hours later were on the road! Since I have never really seen the desert, I was taking all these pictures of the mountains, cactus, and....dirt. After about....19 hours of nothing but desert, I was ready to never see it again! So anyway, after a long, long, lonnnng trip we finally arrived in Florida! I finally met Cj's parents ( which I feel like I knew before then already because we talked so much). Then we drove down to see his grandma ( who makes quite possibly the best lemon meringue pie I have ever had!!). I met Ricky finally! Who is a little image of Cj. I put Cj, Ricky, and Alek together and they all look identical! haha! Very cute. Ricky is 6 ( going on 26). I cant wait to get Ricky and Jonathan together. They will have so much fun.

We drove down to see my grandma in Venice, and my aunt happened to be there. So I got to visit with them. Which was awesome, because it has been a long time! (Living in Japan does that).

After about a week and a half, we said our good-bye and got on the road. We were suppose to go to michigan to see my family and get some of my furniture up there, but money got tight. We put more down on the truck than we had planned so it might our trip short. So, anyway, we got on the road back home. Alek did soo good on the trip! He barely made a sound, he would start to fuss when he would get hungrey and we would pull over to a rest stop or gas station to feed him and get right back on the road, and he would fall right back asleep! So we finally got back into Tucson, and got our base housing all set up. We were going to buy, but decided that we would stay on base and save more and find a good house that we really love since we will be here for a while before we buy. So thats what we did. We got offered a house immediatly. We got very lucky, they just got done building new houses on base and we got into a house right after they finished building it! It is amazing. Very nice. A lot nicer than the houses on Kadena in Japan, I must say. We have a three bedroom, three bathroom house....best of all...we have grass in the backyard! haha! At first the backyard was just dirt, and I told Cj that was so weird to me, growing up in Michigan there is obviously grass everywhere and everything is GREEN! Here...its all desert and dirt! So as you can imagine I was very happy about the fact we have grass in the backyard! Tucson is absolutly beautiful. I have never seen the mountains before, so before CJ went back to work we did a little exploring. He was stationed here before he went to Japan, so he knows the area pretty well. So he showed me around, and I fell in love instantly. We went to the top Mt. Lemon at night. It was beautiful. Our plan is to go camping up there when Jonathan and Ricky get here. :)

updates..

2009-08-03T00:51:00.000-05:00

So, as of now, I will be picking up CJ on Friday from the airport here in Hawaii and Saturday we fly to Arizona! Iam very excited. Not only to get there and see our new place of residency but to get out of this hotel in which we have lived in for the past three months. :) It will be nice having a place to call "home" again. Alek has either stayed in a hospital or a hotel for the entire three months of his life. But he is doing very good. Doing something new everyday. Iam going to get him one of those littler jumper thingies you put in the door way. He is so busy! He is starting to laugh out loud and its the cutest thing! I try to get him to do it over and over, I do it so much that he gets mad at me for tickiling him! So back to the story on Okinawa. Cj is there getting everything out of our names. He cleared housing, which is awesome. The japanese are very particular on their inspections when you move out. But we passed, thanks to Cj! As for me, as weird as it sounds. Iam still getting use to driving " American" style ( on the right side of the road and left side of the car). :)

Our life is so crazy, pretty much all the time. There is always something going on. We have been living out of a tiny little suit case here in Hawaii for three months, trying to plan a PCS to Tucson, Arizona in a matter of week when most people have an entire year to plan. But....it all seems to be working out. Alek is doing phenomenal, Cj will be here at the end of the week, and we will be in sunny Arizona by Sunday. We will find a place and a car and possibly plan a drive to Florida and Michigan to see the families! Since....I have YET to meet my fabulous in laws! Even though Cj and I are going on three years, married, and have a baby. haha! I guess thats what happens when you live in Japan! We will let you all know if do end up coming out to see everyone, the exact dates once we get in and get settled. Cj has to in-process into the base and squadron and there are some other things to be taken care of. We decided we will rent a place for 6-12 months and then we will buy a house since we will be there for a while. So, that is the story. Jonathan's birthday is on the 8th, and this will be the first time being away from him on his birthday. It's very hard. But he will be with me soon ( not soon enough). But he is doing very good! He is reading a level 6, and loving baseball...which seems to be his sport so far. I talk to him every day and he is looking forward to seeing Arizona. ( He is really wants to see a "real" cowboy). It will be interesting taking him away from the ocean and putting him the desert. haha! He looooooves the ocean.

So, that is what is going on with us. Next time I write in this, we will be in Arizona..hopefully in our new house! :)

Farewell oki

2009-07-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

So I put together a little video for my "farewell" to Okinawa. As much as I never thought I would say this, Iam kind of sad! I made some great friends and of course....met my soul mate in Okinawa. :) So its kind of sad leaving. It was definetly an experience, I can say that much. I had A LOT of pictures and the slide show keeps going after the song ends, haha! I couldnt find another song that "fit" the slide show. So, hopefully everyone enjoys it. It will be nice to look back on.

Back to out process...

2009-07-23T01:46:00.000-05:00

Today was the day that Cj flew back to Japan to outprocess the base and the house. Alek and I will stay here in Hawaii and CJ will fly here when he is done ( about two weeks) and pick us up and we will fly to Arizona together as a family. Alek is doing awesome. He is working on sitting up by himself....he is not quite there yet, but I give him another two weeks or so and he probably will be sitting up. He is absolutly amazing. He has been sleeping through night for about a month now and he always has the biggest smile on his face. I love it. I love waking up to him every morning and seeing his sweet face.

Poor Cj has to take on the WORLD and I literally mean the WORLD when he gets back to Okinawa. He has to get our entire house packed up, paint the house ( the house I HAD to paint 4 months ago), outprocess his squadron, then out process the base, try and figure out how in the world we are going to our dog stateside with us. Come to find out long nosed dogs cannot fly when the temp. is over 85. So we have to try and figure out how we will get her with us. Getting rid of her just is not an option. So poor Cj has his hands full. Unfortunatly there is not too much I can do from here. So Iam helplessly waiting for him.

On a more selfish note, I definetly do not like that fact that Alek and I are stuck here in Okinawa by ourselves. Everyone says " What better place to be stuck than Hawaii". Yes it is beautiful here but Iam very much ready to get to our new home! We have been living in a hotel and a hospital for almost three months.

We have been looking at houses, and we will more than likely rent for the first 6-12 months and after that we will be buying our first house together in Tucson! We are ecstatic to get there and get Alek settled it and start over! It will be nice. And.....Jonathan will be joining us. So as you can imagine, I could not be happier! I have 4lbs to go until Iam at my pre-baby weight. I have been "stuck" at 4lbs out for about two weeks now! Iam actually shooting for about 10 lbs total to loose. That will be ideal. :) But...Iam still 4lbs out from my prebaby weight. My old clothes fit me, and Iam pretty happy about that! It took me about 4 months with Jonathan. Iam sure it will be alot easier to work out after I get out of this hotel room! haha!

2009-07-18T19:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry the video is such bad quality. I had to take it with my cell phone because our camera charger is M.I.A.!!

2009-07-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

Alek now weighs 10 lbs and is almost 23 inches long! He is eating about 5-6 ounces every 5 hours or so! :)

Alek is 8 weeks/ orders to Arizona

2009-07-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

So, it has been a while since we have written in our blog. ( Sorry about that). Alek has pretty much made a full recovery. The doctors are absolutly blown away with how fast he recovered. For a while, he was having a very very bad diaper rash, so bad it was bleeding. So we were constantly worried about it. The doctor prescribed a very hard to find, diaper rash paste for his butt. It works great, only one problem. It is nearly impossible to get. We have to go through a tube in a half in a 24 hour period just to keep his butt somewhat comfortable for him. For 5 tubes of this stuff it us $200. We are in a run around with the insurance company about paying for it. But other than that, Alek is doing wonderful. He is smiling and laughing now. I love it! He is sleeping through the night, he has been doing that for about two weeks now. He goes to bed around 11 and wakes up around 6. Works for me! I love waking up to his smiling face. But he can change his mood REAL quick....if he gets hungrey or has even the slightest wet diaper...everyone knows within a one mile radius! haha! The boy has some lungs, that for sure. But he is amazing. We are so proud of him. He has been through so much and you would never know by looking at him. In fact, the doctor did her " two month assesment" on him at his appointment and he is ahead of his age group according to her. She says with everything he is doing ( lifting his head up as high as he does, holding his weight up with his legs, trying to crawl if you lay him on his belly) he is ahead and by the "books" at about 2 months and three weeks. So of course, we are happy!

Now, people say " wow..how do you guys do this, watching your baby go through all of this?" I have to say, it is really one of those things where you really have no choice but to just stay strong and you do whatever you can to make him comfortable. With everything he has went through, after the IV's and tubes, and most of all the surgery...you would think his 8 week immunizations would be NO big deal for me, right!? WRONG!!! I was sooo sure I would be alright to go in there with him and "hold him down" so they can give him his 4 shots. I held him down and that doctor stuck him with that needle in his little leg and he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and they filled up with these big ol' teers and I started crying! Then I held him for the rest of the day! Poor little guy. But he is doing good.

On another note, in case you havent heard....WE GOT ORDERS TO TUCSON, ARIZONA!!!! That was our first base of choice. So we could not be happier that we got that base! CJ was stationed there for three years before moving out to Japan. So he knows the area really well. Jobs seem to be decent out there from what I saw online, which is awesome! We will, more than likely, be there for good because Alek can only be one hour driving distance from a pediatric GI and CJ has only certain jets he can work. So anyway, we are very very happy to be moving to Arizona. It will be really nice living state side again. Japan was a great experience but Iam ready for the US again! :) We are still in Hawaii right now. Cj has to go back to Okinawa only to out process the base and get the house all packed out. Alek and I will stay in Hawaii ( because Alek obviously cannot go back there) and CJ will come down here and pick us up and we will fly to Arizona together. So, in about three weeks or so..we should be in Arizona!

2009-06-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

2009-06-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

So, Alek is getting a lot better. We go to the doctor every other day for weight checks and just to make sure he is keeping his food down. He is slowly gaining weight. They have him on rice cereal already to help. Alek is eating about 4-5 oz every two hours right now. He is a littlea eating and pooping machine. Which is good! haha! He is doing really good though. Now we are just waiting on orders from the Air Force. We should be hearing anytime. Until then, Alek and I are going to be in Hawaii. They want us to be stationed here because Alek has an awesome team of doctors, and because he obviously had is surgery here and it is just most logical. But they dont have CJ's jets here for him to work on, so that creates a problem. So they are in the process of looking into where we will go. They can put us here in Hawaii but Cj would have to do something else. I dont know how well that will fly with the Air Force. So....we wait. I will let you guys know as soon as we hear something.

2009-06-24T01:50:00.000-05:00

Cj and Alek at North Shore in Hawaii

Alek smiling at Cj

Alek update...

2009-06-17T04:23:00.000-05:00

Alek is doing awesome! They are talking about releasing him tomorrow. The tube has been taken out of his throat and he is able to eat now. I couldnt be more happy. Thank you all so much for all of the thoughts and prayers for him! He is eating about 5 oz. right now and he is starting to really fill out. He is amazing and we are so proud of him! More updates to come. I will put some pictures up when he comes home! :) Thanks again!

Alek update

2009-06-13T04:32:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to update everyone and let you all know that Alek is recovering well from the surgery that he had yesterday. He was in surgery a little over 10 hours and had 80% of his colon taken out. The little guy is a trooper!! One hour after surgery he was trying to move his head around and was opening his eyes ( the Doctor said he wouldnt wake up for about 18 hours or so---so it surprised all of us when he did that!). He will not be able to eat anything at LEAST until Monday, so they have him on fluids, obviously, until then. He is doing a great job and Cj and I couldnt be more proud!! He is absolutly amazing. They had to do a pick line on him today....and of course...I was on edge the entire day because of it. Basically it is a longer and more invasive IV line. These lines are not the priary choice due to the high risk of vessel rupture. The line was inserted in the left arm, inside of the bicep and runs to the main arterial veins from the heart. These lines allo w for a more steady feed for the electrolites and bolis solution. The only downfall is that they do not allow for blood drawing so, there has to be a heel prick if the is anything being pulled for labs. I had never heard of this until today, so of course I was worried about it all day long. It was a steril procedure so we had to leave the room for it, and they called us when they were done. When we got back into NICU to see him, they had taken his oxygen tube out, which I was obviously ecstatic about! He was asleep, but comfortable. Which made me happy. :) We stayed for a while and then we decided to get some lunch because we realized we had not eaten in two days...and figured it might be a good idea to eat. So by the time we got something and came back he was awake. The first time since surgery he was really awake and alert. I asked him I could hold him and they said yes, so I sat for hours snuggiling with him! Which we both loved! The entire time I held him, he just layed there looking right back at me with his big brown eyes, completly content. It was quite possibly the best feeling ever. More good news, he had three bowel movements ( on his own) today. Everything is looking good and normal. The doctor did the entire procedure via laprascopic and only made 4 tiny incisions on his tummy. Very little scarring. We are extremely impressed with his team of Doctors and nurses ( which we like to call, Team Alek). Alek has definetly taught me a lot. He is only three weeks old and has been through more pain than I could imagine and he just keeps going and adapts to everything.

We will not be returning to Okinawa, at all. They are trying to get us stationed here in Hawaii so he can have his follow ups with the same doctors that did his surgery. For obvious reasons. We will know in a month or so. But we are definetly staying here in the states! If they cant get us here in Hawaii, it will either be Tucson or Las Vegas. But we will know for sure in a month or so. Thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers! We appreciate everything!

Surgery

2009-06-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

So today had been intense. Alek was admitted into surgery this morning at 10Am-Hawaii time. It is now 6:30pm and he is still in surgery and they are saying about two more hours. So far they have taken 3/4 of his colon out plus 2 inches. I realize now just how easy I have it. Alek has impressed me from day one with his strength. He does not give up...he is definetly a fighter. He has taught me so much since this has all come up. Cj and I stay in the hospital right next to him..and are pretty much getting only about 4 hours of sleep per 24 hours. For those who have yet to meet this beautiful young man, you have yet to meet one true miricle of Gods work. We will make sure that we keep everyone updated, so stay tuned for the latest updates in the Boyer family....lol

USS Arizona memorial

2009-06-08T08:35:00.001-05:00

Hanging out with Alek at 4am.......

2009-06-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

Team Alek!!

2009-06-08T08:08:00.000-05:00

So as everyone as heard, we are in Hawaii being seen at Tripler Medical Center. Alek got sent here on a medical evacuation. He is being seen by one of the best Pediatric surgeons and one of the best Pediatric Doctors. They took a biopsy the day we flew in, and we are waiting on the results from that. They are leaning towards Hirshsprungs disease or small left colon. Both of which will need follow up appoitments here in the states....therefore, they are looking at a re-location assignment for Cj to get stationed here in the states. Iam very impressed with these doctors, they really know their stuff! He got released from the hospital on Saturday because all of his vitals are good and he is pooping on his own ( yay!), and since we are just waiting on the results there was no real reason to keep him there. So he is with us at the hotel. So today, we had a chance to actually get out and see Honolulu a little bit with Alek. Since we both stayed up with Alek until 5am...we all slept pretty late. (He likes to hang out all night and not go to sleep). So after waking up, we went to Pearl Habor and went to the memorial.

If the results from the biopsy come back okay, Alek will be monitored by the doctors for a week or two and maybe sent back to Japan at that time. If they come back and there is something wrong, then obviously we will be staying. And more than likely Cj will have to fly back to Okinawa and out process while I stay here with Alek. If they come back with something wrong, we will come back to the states now and not wait. Alek amazes me...he has been through so much in the first two weeks of his life and he is still going strong. He has been poked with so many needles it doesnt even phase him anymore! The only time he cries is when someone comes at him with a tube to go up his butt for an enema! Poor guy.

Alek is home!!!

2009-05-28T09:07:00.001-05:00

After a VERY long week in NICU, Alek got released today! Yay!! He is doing very good and seems very relaxed in his new home. :) His dad bought him a new bouncer today with a bright blue light, and I think it just became our new best friend as well as his!! haha! Anyway, thanks for the all the prayer! Iam so glad he is home with us and healthy!

2009-05-24T02:49:00.000-05:00

Alek is being held in NICU because isnt keeping anything down. He has us worried. They are doing some tests on him to make sure there is nothing serious going on. Please keep him in your prayers! We will try and keep this updated as much as we can, but we are staying in the hospital with him right now and want to be by Alek.

Alek

2009-05-24T02:31:00.000-05:00

Alek at 5 hours old....

more pictures....

2009-05-24T02:14:00.000-05:00

Baby Alek James Boyer

2009-05-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

To All,

Steffany and I would like to introduce the newest member of the family. Alek James was born at 2153 hours local and weighted in at 7 lbs and 15.3 ounces, 21 inches and a 13.5 inch head. Mommy and baby are doing well, and for those who are interested mommy was in labor for 24 hours and delivered baby Alek in start to finish pushing..... 5 minutes. Way to go mommy. More to come as we get updates.

Baby Alek....

2009-05-18T08:41:00.000-05:00

So the Doctor said that if he doesnt come on his own by Thursday, they are inducing me Thursday night at 7pm. Iam full-term so everything should be fine. We are excited...and...a little nervous. They are estimating him to be about 9+ lbs. Yippie for me. :) So either way, baby Alek will be here no later than Friday the 22nd. We will keep everyone updated!

Last soccer game

2009-05-14T17:20:00.000-05:00

Out and about...

2009-05-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

So most of these pictures are from different times, but I figured I would post some pictures of around the island and some of the fun things we have done! There is always something to do here and I absolutly love the island ( when CJ isnt stuck at work for 14+ hours..and is actually able to get a weekend off to go enjoy the island). :)

A weekend off

2009-05-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

So summer has begun and Okinawa days are starting to get hot, so since we had the first weekend off in awhile we decided to get out the grill and spend some time as a family. Jonathan and CJ grilled up some steaks and Steffany took care off the sides. Now for the relaxing portion of the sub-tropical island that controls our life. Happy mothers day to Steffany and we are all anxious for the arrival of our newest member of the family, Alek.

Baby Alek James.....

2009-05-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

So we decided to add to our little family. CJ has Ricky, who is 5....I have Jonathan, who is 6, and now we have baby Alek ( due May 22nd). So we officially have " Yours, mine, and ours..." ALL BOYS! Iam out numbered! We planned this so I would not be 9 months pregnant during the HOT summer months of Okinawa. So, Iam now 38 weeks and and we are all anxiously waiting for this little guy to make his appearance! As you can see from the pictures...Iam clearly growing like a watermelon! :)

F-15 Incentive Flight

2009-05-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well all of the fun from the in-laws is over now back to the hustle and bustle of the military job, or is it? While in Nellis I received my first F-15 Incentive flight and man was that a memory that I will never forget.

Las Vegas 2008

2009-05-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

Well for the first time in our lives we were able to realize why we act the way we do. We flew in for the Red Flag exercise and it was a Kellar family reunion. For the first time I was able to meet my mother and father-in-law and we had an awesome time. I don't think that I have ever been so drunk in my life.... Steffany was cruising the sober highway and because she was she has the best memories of how crazy out of control the family and I got. I have to say with this family you have to be on your toes and done with the last beer you had in your hand. However I have met some of the best in-laws that anyone can ever ask for and I am sincerely proud to be part of this family. I love you guys.....

AF Ball 2008

2009-05-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

So after being in the Air Force for 6 years I finally went to one of those damn balls. Steffany was absolutly stunning and the dress was almost the one thing we were missing walking out the door. Ok those with the bad minds let me clarify... IT WAS SHIPPED FROM THE STATES!!! Anyhow the dinner was amazing and she was able to make it a few dances before our latest news slowed her down a bit. Steffany and I had just found out that there was a little addition to the family tree on the way.

Happy Birthday Jonathan! (08/08/2008)

2009-05-10T08:23:00.000-05:00

So this day 6 years ago, Jonathan was brought into this world!! He is growing up so fast. He is now in kindegarten, about to be in 1st grade. We all got together and celebrated his 6th birthday at beautiful Torri Beach here in Okinawa. After a fun baseball game, all of his closest friends came to eat hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, eat birthday cake, and play in the sun with him! It was so much fun.

The Legal Okinawa Wedding Date.....

2009-05-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

So, wow talk about a mess of confusion. After we got back from Guam and decided to get everything moving our marriage date was not valid in Okinawa? Whatever, we took care of that in Japanese style. Aug 5, 2008...

Guam 2008

2009-05-10T07:36:00.000-05:00

So we got a bit bored and we decided to make a run from this little hole in the middle of nowhere, so that is where Guam came into our lives. We flew from here in okinawa down to Guam for a week of relaxation and time to us. We enjoyed the company of each other and the beautiful rays of the tropical island. (At least one that doesn't suck the life from your very soul.) This is where we found time to kayak, snorkel and shop in some american stores!!!!! Hell we even spent a WHOLE day doing nothing but watching movies at the Guam Mall Theater. Boy Steffany sure needs help picking good movies...... After our long trying days of learning to be a married couple, we even found the time to get to a few of the bars and have our first drinks as a couple.... yikes!!!!