One week old already!

Well, today marks the end of first week since Michaela's birth and things are going well. We went to the doctors on Wednesday for her first visit and she was given a clean bill of health. She has been eating great and was almost back to her birth weight on Wednesday, so that would probably make her officially back to her birth weight today. We'll see what she weighs next week when she has her second visit. Mom is doing well, but still pretty sore from her surgery. She's been trying to take it easy and even made it through half a day by herself when I had to go to work. (Thanks Christina for bringing her lunch). We have been blessed with friends bringing us dinners over the next two weeks, and we really appreciate not having to make that decision every day. So far we have been trying to figure out the sleeping thing, and last night was a success as far as I'm concerned. Two three hour long stints in her pack n play and the last one on Daddy's chest. It was nice to finally get eight hours of sleep for the first time in a week.

Other then the normal daily stuff of learning her schedule, we've been good and have ventured out once to Walmart and probably heading to the base quickly today. I'll attach some more pictures and two videos. The second video is just her in the pack n play, but if you wait till 30 seconds in you will get a surprise. (Make sure your speakers are on). Stand by for more pictures, we'll get them up when we can.

Jason

Drunk on the Boobie Juice!

Hanging out in the Pack n Play.

Michaela's Baby Picture

My Baby Picture

Think she looks like Daddy?

Michaela's First Video

Well, we made it through the first 24 hours home and with the exception of a blow out poopie diaper we did pretty well. Fred has adapted well so far and we are trying to figure out our new routines. We'll post more in a few days when we get a little more time. Until then enjoy a few more pics and the video. (Flip video for the grandparents, I know you've been dying to see more of her!) Hope you enjoy. Jason

Green has arrived!!!!!!

Michaela Ann Dorval was born on Thursday July 16th at 1154 pm by C section. Becca and Michaela are doing well after over 24 hours of labor trying to go natural and finally having to opt for the C section due to our daughters refusal to line up for birth. She weighed in at 8 lbs 13.4 ounces and had a length of 21.5 inches. She is beautiful and very healthy. As you can see she came out with a full head of brown hair. Still trying to figure out which features she got from each of us. As Becca and Michaela are still at the hospital this will only be pics and when we get home tommorow we will post more. Enjoy,
Jason

Come out, come out wherever you are!!!

I'm officially done being pregnant today. What I mean is that I'm 40 weeks today and it's my due date.

Green did not get that memo.

I'm looking down at a ginormous belly and feeling all kinds of fun contractions. Too bad they're not regular or useful.... *sigh*

Anyway, since I'm 40 weeks and Mom is convinced it could happen anytime, she made me take a picture.

So, here ya go.....

Horizontal Mountain Watch 2009

That's all I've got for today. Hopefully the next Horizontal Mountain Watch picture will be the one we snap before we head to the hospital, and I can post it along with a picture of Green!

As seen in Kodiak this week(end)....

Hope everyone is ready for some pictures... I'm too tired and pregnant to be witty, so I'm going to rely on the camera and one-line descriptions to write this entry. Enjoy! (That first one is a tulip over at Christina's house. She ordered and planted bulbs from Holland, Michigan, and they're finally starting to come up. Gorgeous!)


This sign caught my eye while we were waiting for the fireworks to starts on Friday night. Does anyone else see anything wrong with it? Seriously, someone's got to notice what's wrong with it - leave a comment.


A fireworks shot... best one I got all night, though not for lack of trying. You have to love driving downtown at 11:30pm, standing in the chilly air waiting for the show to start, watching the 20 minute show, and being back on the road by 12:30 to head home. This year we were serenaded with patriotic songs by a choir on a boat in the harbor, too... nice touch!

Not to be outdone by the City of Kodiak, we had our own show in the cul-de-sac on Saturday. Jason was in charge. Brad(left) and Rob were the safety observers.

Speaking of safety.... check out that set up this year! A PVC tube for launching bottle rockets, firmly attached to a piece of plywood to provide a stable base and launching site for the other types of pyro. I don't have the picture handy, but, believe me, this is MUCH better than last year. Last year, Jason took the "bottle rocket" title to heart and launched them out of an actual (beer) bottle. Having a kid on the way made him a little more responsible this year. Oh, and those look like sunglasses, but those are actual safety glasses. Yep, safety first!

This, however, does not look safe. That's Rob and Brad looking at the directions from one of the packages of fireworks AFTER trying to light one of them which then didn't go off. In their defense - and, again, for safety - they were just making sure they handled the unexploded pyro right.

Moving onto Sunday, we took Fred to Ft. Abercrombie to get a swim in. It's be VERY warm, so he was more than happy to hang out in Lake Gertrude for a while! Plus, then we get to have a shorter walk (all I'm capable of), and he still gets tired.

From Abercrombie (and after a brief stop at home due to a bladder being stomped on by a baby), we headed up Pillar Mountain Road, which may or may not be closed right now. We're still not sure, but the cones were out of the way and we weren't alone up there....
Uh, anyway, this is the view of town from up there. See how green everything is? Gorgeous!!

These two shots are why the road may or may not be closed - our new energy source in Kodiak! Given the fact that we regularly get winds in the 30-40 mph range in the winter time, it only makes sense to use wind power here. These were just installed a few weeks ago, and are already making power! YAY for clean energy!!!

I had to include the "after" picture of Fred. This was after swimming and after wandering around up on Pillar for a while. A tired dog means happy people!

Told ya it was hot! Well, hot for Kodiak anyway! I think we saw temps over 70 today and we're supposed to see similar weather for the next couple days. It's like actual summer! A word of warning for anyone coming up later this summer, though... it can't possibly stay like this, so I would expect rain....


And, finally.....

Horizontal Mountain Watch 2009

That's me at 38 weeks, 5 days, a mere 9 days before my due date. I think Green looks done in there, right?? I also think maybe I should pack my hospital bag - maybe that's what she's waiting for. Besides that, everything else (including ME and JASON) is ready for her arrival. Hopefully anytime now!

So that's a peak into our Kodiak holiday weekend. We're back to the regular grind now with me trying to wrap up loose ends at work and Jason trying to finish up his latest grad school paper before Green gets here!

Moving up the ranks!

Waaaaay back sometime last September, a promotion board met to decide whether or not Jason and I (and a lot of other people) were good enough to be selected for Lieutenant Commander. We found out the results of that board way back then, and were very excited to know that we hadn't messed up and would be promoted at some point in time.

Because there's actually legislation in place that determines how many of each kind/rank of officer each service is allowed to have, we had to wait around for other LCDRs to be promoted to CDR, or get out, to clear the way for us. As of the promotion message a few months ago, it looked like we'd be waiting until August or maybe even September to finally put those new shoulder boards on. Then, amazingly, last month's message predicted that 01July would be the day. We still had our doubts, but, FINALLY, the day before we were hoping to promote, the message came out and we got the word that we would officially become Lieutenant Commanders on July 1st... only 6+ looong years after becoming Lieutenants (which is normal... you stay an LT forEVER).

This is a big promotion because, although we're still considered "Junior Officers," there's a different view of a Lieutenant Commander than a Lieutenant. How could there not be when you shorten "Lieutenant Commander" down to "Commander" when you address one!? (That just sounds WEIRD.) Making LCDR also means tenure in the CG. Not that either one of us is worried about not continuing to be promotable, but once you make LCDR, you're guaranteed a 20-year career and the pension that goes along with that. It's nice to know you have that stability. They're stuck with us as long as we want to stick it out til 20!!

I don't know how Jason was feeling about things when he woke up yesterday morning, but I got butterflies in my stomach realizing what a big step up this was, even though I'd been used to the idea of having been selected for nearly a year. To mark the occasion, the Air Station had a promotion ceremony, which I had asked to be included in since my bosses are all over in Juneau. I would have gone to the Air Station anyway, to take part in Jason's promotion from the spouse side of my life, but it was nice to be able to stand next to him and share in this together.

Without further ado... the pictures:

As the new XO at the Air Sta read the Commission certificate (where it says we serve at the pleasure of the President... I love that!), Admiral Brooks, the District Commander and former Commandant of Cadets from our Academy days, leaned over to me and asked which of us was senior to the other. My very quick answer was, "Me," so he said we'd take care of my new shoulder boards first. So here are Admiral Brooks and Jason pinning my shiny new shoulder boards on me! Note Jason still sporting those LT ones!

Then it was Jason's turn. His CO and I did the honors, complete with jokes about seniority. Captain Berghorn didn't hear my conversation with the Admiral so he asked again about which of us was senior. Jason told him that was me, and the Captain made a comment about it being that way in his house, too. Without thinking, I piped up "But in our house, it's really official!" which got a good laugh around the room. Sorry about that Jason!!!

The thing is, I really AM senior to him. At one point in time there were about 5 people between us in the Register of Officers. It has since dwindled to only one person between us, but that still leaves me senior. Sadly for him, even when I get out (which will likely be before him), I'll maintain that seniority on the home front. He'll never win!

Finally, this is a shot for the scrapbook I'm theoretically going to put together of my pregnancy. I haven't worn a uniform in a few weeks now because my belly got a little too big to make it possible to breathe while wearing it. But, for the occasion yesterday, I busted it out, which was good because I wanted to have at least one picture of me in my fabulous maternity tent! It was a bit more tent-like the last time I had it on.... yesterday I think I heard the buttons screaming when I put it on.... so attractive!

That's going to have to suffice as the "Horizontal Mountain Watch" for now as well. We haven't had the chance to take a picture because I keep thinking about it way too late in the day. We'll try to get one done sooner than later so I can share the almost 39-week glory! I can't believe I'm this close to the end, and I just hope that Green cooperates and doesn't decide she likes it so much inside that she waits around too long! It's getting harder to haul all this belly around!!

So that's the big news from here this week! Hopefully, sooner than later, I'll have BIGGER news!!!