Channeling Martha Stewart

It's official, Carlos and I are parents.  Yes, I'm aware we have had our baby now for 6 months so this new found parent label really should not be quite a shock for me, but the realization of what this means for the next 18 years took effect the other day.  This is what happened…

After work on Wednesday, I practically skipped into Reece's school for my favorite part of the day…the picking up of my child.  Reece is always so excited to see me when I come through the door and the smile that greets me is just ear to ear.  LOVE IT.  Anyway, I was gathering Reece's belongings when Miss Rosie, one of Reece's teachers, handed me a slip of paper (see photo of said paper).  My eyes briefly scanned this sheet of paper and what stood out to me were the words "project" and "due date."  I continued to smile as Miss Rosie explained we would be given some art materials on Thursday and that we could be as creative as we wanted.  Well, if you know me, you know one thing and that is creativity is not in my blood.  That gene skipped over this girl.  I finished gathering up Reece's things and walked out the door as fast as I could.  As I was driving home the reality of what just happened began to sink in…Carlos and I were given a homework assignment.  Homework?  Didn't we already earn our degrees?  More reality…we will be doing homework for ANOTHER 18 years as we help Reece with school.  I guess I just didn't think a 6 month old would be getting homework assignments and we had at least a few years to relish in a non-homework lifestyle…WRONG!  Sure we've been doing basic parenting from the day Reece was born, but now the reality is sinking in that we better start showing up with our A-game because Reece will look to us for guidance on assignments and such.  We most certainly can't take this family tree project lightly.  It could make or break us in the long run with how we will deal with homework assignments in the future (I'm saying my prayers to the Math Gods now that Reece will be a mathematical genius and NOT need our help with math homework).

And in true Missy Kennedy style, you know that I floundered for a bit asking Carlos what should we do and how should we do it and blah, blah blah.  Yes, I was getting spun up over what is basically an art project for a 6 month old.  Like if we messed it up, Reece would fail to get into Harvard in 17 1/2  years…you never know.  They may just ask to see his first ever homework assignment during an interview… :)

I laid out all the "art mediums" that were given to us by Reece's teachers and started to think…

what exactly does one do with a fuzzy pink ball for a family tree?  All I knew was that I had to keep Reece away from that fuzzy pink ball or else he would try to eat it.  So with paper, pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls of various colors, string, and popsicle sticks, I  quickly decided what I might use and what I would have no use for (translate that to know idea what to use it for).  I sat down at the table with Carlos across from me, Reece in his bouncy next to me, and said "let's just get this over with."  Great attitude for my child's first homework assignment, right?!

Quickly, an idea began to take shape in my mind.  At this point I told Carlos he was excused to take Reece and do whatever he wanted because we both knew, this "family" project was turning into a "Mommy" project…not that there were any objections from my husband, mind you.  But seriously, how was my darling Reece supposed to help besides tasting all of my art mediums?  Off they went and I got down to business with a momentary pause as I realized my (yes, I just said "my") project needed a bit more flair and I had to head to the store to make this happen.  This is what I left in waiting for the flair….

Please don't judge me.  I do realize that Reece probably could've made a better tree if I would have just let him play with the scissors.  On the positive side, I was able to use 6 of the fuzzy white balls eliminating 6 of the potential choking hazards from entering my son's mouth.

Are you ready to see the flair?  Before I show you, I want you to know this wasn't done with any hidden anger or aggression.  I simply had to make a family tree…

So I cut off your heads :)

Don't worry, Carlos and I had our heads cut off too.  See, no anger…all's fair in tree making :)  Now, I must also explain that Reece has quite a large family, especially on the Kennedy side, so in order to just do a family tree and not a family forest, we chose to do immediate family only.  So if you are reading this and wondering why your head didn't make the cut (ha ha ha…I may not have the creative gene, but I sure did inherit the "John Sproull sense of humor gene."), please don't be offended.  Again, it's a project for the infant room and we really didn't want it to be all consuming.

Reece's project is finally complete and will be turned in on time (of course, because Mommy hasn't ever turned in a homework assignment a day late…EVER).  We obviously aren't getting graded for this, but I'd give Reece's tree an "A" if I were a teacher.  However, I would grade us a "B" on our immediate attitude toward the homework assignment.  That attitude quickly turned around though once we I got started.  I actually had a lot of fun doing this family tree and I plan on saving it (once I get it back from the school down the road) so Reece can see the hard work his mommy put into our first homework assignment.  His daddy put in the hard work entertaining Reece so mommy could get the project done, so he deserves a shout out too :)  Here is to many, many more years of projects and assignments, may they all be as easy as this one (translate that to no math).  Harvard, here comes our Reece!

Big Navy Day!

As some of you know, yesterday I was promoted to my new rank of Lieutenant Commander (LCDR).  I have pics posted on Facebook, so if you haven't seen them, check them out!  If you don't have FB, then I will also include a few of them on here as well.

This promotion is somewhat bitter sweet for me.  See, in the military, when you start off as a direct accession as I did, you get commissioned as an Ensign (O1), the lowest man on the Naval Officer totem pole.  After two years as a Butter Bar (yes, this is the unfortunate term used in reference to an Ensign because of our lonely little gold bar that denotes our rank), you then get promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade (O2).  This promotion is given after two years, without having to do much for it except your job and not doing anything wrong in the military.  From the rank of LTJG, you then get promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (03) again after two years serving as a "JG" without messing up.  This is where it starts to get interesting…

Once you get promoted to lieutenant, you know spend more than two years in this rank.  You also now must "prove" yourself worthy of being selected to your next rank of LCDR.  You are supposed to hit the ground running as a LT, racking up as much experience possible, volunteering for numerous command and department collaterals (basically one person doing three full-time jobs…and by "volunteering" the term we use in the military is actually "volunTOLD"), and doing whatever possible to make it "look great on your FITREP."  Side note;  a FITREP is our annual performance evaluation (to put it in civilian terms).  It's used to compare us/make us competitive with our fellow officers of the same rank.  This quote is one of my favorites and is used more often in the Officer community than I care to think about.  Basically it becomes known as the wooden stake in the heart.

Most often the scenarios play out like this:
Department Head (who over time has become groomed on how to delegate unwanted/excessive work load) comes to you and says "LT Kennedy, I have a tasker that I know I can trust you to take charge of.  You have shown me you are more than capable of multi-tasking and have exceptional organizational skills, and along with your sense of responsibility, make you more than qualified to complete this" (yes folks, this is really how it goes down…LOTS of smoke up the a** to make you want to puff out your chest and have a momentary lapse of reality as you just got 3 weeks of work handed to you with the understanding you will have said tasker completed within 3 days. You really do lose temporary sight of the bullsh** flag waving a mile away, attempting to flag you down and make you run, run, run!!!).  Now here it comes…are you ready?  Insert wooden stake through the heart because the conversation always ends with "and you know LT Kennedy, it will look great on your FITREP."  Ugh…slow, painful death.


Ok, so the time you spend as a LT can vary based upon the number of "openings" so to say to the next rank and when your name becomes "in zone."  If I tried to explain all of these military shenanigans to you guys, this post would be two days long, so pardon me if I skip a few explanations.  I became in zone after 4 years as a LT.  Fortunately, during those 4 years I had quite the job (and life!) experiences and various other assignments that really made me competitive amongst my peers.  Low and behold, ranking board convenes, results come out, and I was selected!  Sigh…now I must wait almost one year to actually be promoted to my new rank…again, this could take 2 days to explain why, but let's just say that for the most part it has to do with the government and money because with a promotion to a new rank there is a pay raise…and of course they have figured out how to regulate the promotions to spend fewer dollars in the long run.


So why bitter sweet?  Well, there is a sense of pride from within that knows I busted my bum (I'm done with the profanity for now) to get where I am.  My last job at my previous command was by no means easy and for a moment in time I was holding down a job that was billeted for an O5 (yep, as an O3 I was doing a job designated for someone who was one rank higher than my new current rank!).  I'm not patting myself on the back by any means, but knowing I had all my checks in the boxes and then some when I was looked at by the ranking board, I felt very rewarded by being selected to the next rank…the first time I actually had to EARN my next rank.  


That was the sweet.  The bitter?  An 04 in the Navy gets you noticed a little differently.  By this I mean what is expected of you is 3x that of before (if you can imagine).  As a LT, I was already sacrificing a lot of personal time and a lot of sanity, but my husband was equally as busy figuring out the ortho world so it was easy to throw our support to each other, high-five each other on our way out the door, and see each other when we see each other.  Now that we have Little Man in our lives, the idea of losing any precious time with him that is being taken away all so that I can make things "look great on my FITREP" doesn't really jive with me.  I certainly don't mind doing my job, but I'm not gunning for selection to the next rank or higher.  It may sound like a poor attitude, but some people are die-hard military and will do whatever it takes to keep making rank.  I, on the other hand, want the balance of doing what I do, but not at a loss of valuable family time.  Too many people in the military are working from 06:00-19:00 or later (that's 7pm for you non-military time folks), and sadly, these are people with families.  And these same people go to work on the weekends and holidays to get "caught up."  To me that is just sad.  


So, while I will relish in knowing that I am now a LCDR and I didn't get here by sitting on my tush, I will now have to see how things play out and try to find the balance.  It will probably be a good 5-7 years before I would even be in zone for the next rank, Commander, so I have some time to figure all of this out.  


The best part of being promoted to LCDR?  Being able to have my husband be my Promoting Officer.  I didn't have to hold an official promotion ceremony since all officers have to do is sign the paperwork saying we accept our new rank, but this time I chose to do the ceremony…with the only reason being the opportunity to have LCDR Kennedy promote the new LCDR Kennedy :)

"I, Melissa Kennedy…"  taking the oath again

Being promoted in my work space

The changing of the shoulder boards from one rank to the next…this is tradition with a promotion ceremony

Ha ha…I had to shake Carlos' hand…too funny, but it is customary!

Look who was watching his Daddy promote his Mommy…in his blue cami (NWU) onesie of course!

Now there are 2 LCDR Kennedys!

Rain Rain Go Away

If I have ever wondered what living in the Pacific Northwest would be like, I question it no more.  Guam has been having one heck of a rainy season and it really needs to start wrapping up.  Do you like how we have lived on Guam for less than a year (well, one year for Carlos) and yet here I am making claims about how bad this rainy season is?!  I may not be able to compare to years past, BUT I have been told by folks who live here it seems to be worse this year.  Lucky us.

When the rainy season first started, I actually didn't mind the change.  It was nice having a little relief from the unbelievably bright and sunny (and have I ever mentioned hot?) days here.  Granted, it is still hot/humid here even with the rain, but there is some overcast which can be nice.  Well, we are done with nice now and would like to be able to go from one place to the next and not wonder if we will be caught in a sudden onset of very heavy rain because of how quickly things change.

People didn't give this wise man enough credit, but I find myself thinking of Forrest Gump every time the rain starts falling in Guam and saying to myself "yep, he nailed it."  His description of the rain when he was fighting in Vietnam is exactly how it happens here in Guam...

 "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath."


Lets just say an umbrella here is just something we hold onto in the hopes that the one time we do use it, we may actually stay dry.  I'll let you know when that one time occurs for me.  Don't go holding your breath waiting for it though.


I know what you are thinking…are you really blogging about rain?  Still?  Yes, I am.  Because I really can't explain well enough just how this rain impacts our lives.  For example, the other day I needed to run to the store.  So the trip started off innocent enough...clear skies and even some of that elusive sunshine had come out to play in Piti (the village where we reside).  I loaded up the baby and on my way to the Navy base I went.  5 minutes into the trip it was like someone picked up the ocean and started pouring it on top of us.  So we sat in the car...In the parking lot of the store we were supposed to go into…and we sat…and we sat…and then we left.  I just couldn't bring myself to get us out of the car and get soaked.  If it was just me, no problem.  But the baby?  No way.  


The other interesting thing about the rainy season is that it seems to bring out all the crazy sick patients.  Our numbers for the OR have been exceptionally high these past couple of months and I wish I could say it has been with the average joe kind of patients.  It's like the skies opened up, and the clouds started dropping crazy unique patients our way along with the rain.  Kind of like a full moon effect, except full moons last but a few days and this has been going on for a couple of months.  Sigh.  Wouldn't be so bad if these crazy sick patients showed up during routine business hours, but they seem to love late evenings and the middle of the night.


Alas, we will attempt to stay dry, continue to use our umbrellas purely as fashion accessories, and sit in cars as long as it takes for the rain to pass...or until Reece lets us know he has had enough and we go home.

On The Move

Reece went from push-ups to the video below within a few days.  The time span between the 2 videos is 5 days.  He is out of control!

Silver Lining

Ahhhhh yes, life as the only orthopedic surgeon at US Naval Hospital Guam is soon coming to an end for Carlos.  It has been a unique experience, and at times rough, but overall, it's safe to say that being on call 24/7 since the end of May just plain STINKS!  Since he was the only ortho doc around, that also meant at times we were on call together.  For the most part we got lucky and it wasn't an issue, but in the past 1.5 weeks, it did become an issue for us...twice.  Fortunately, the first time was a surgery case we already knew would take place, so I was able to arrange for Reece to have a sitter.  The second time came out of nowhere so I was moderately panic stricken.  Reece was with me as I was on my way to join friends for dinner. Carlos was going to catch up with us after a "quick" consult in the ED.  Well that quick consult turned into a OR case.  He called me before I arrived at my destination, so I did a little U-turn and back to the hospital I went...with the baby.  The entire time I kept thinking "what on earth do I do with Reece?  I need to be in the room, but at the same time, can't leave him hanging out by himself!"  My first thought was to take him down to the MBU (Mother/Baby Unit) and just park him at the nurses station.  I know the nurses and corpsmen down there and knew they would watch him and play with him...besides, Reece had been there before...I'm sure he'd remember the place from March 7th :)

Fortunately, one of my surgical techs had not left for home yet and she offered to stay and take care of him for us.  So while Mommy and Daddy worked together in the OR, Reece was well taken care of 25ft down the hall in our break room.  This is the one thing I for sure love about Guam...small community of folks in the hospital so you get to know one another and genuinely care to help each other out.

So back to Carlos.  Well, since his new ortho colleague arrived last week and is now in the process of checking in and getting himself and family settled, Carlos and I are breathing a sigh of relief that hopefully we will never have to put Reece through that again (not that Reece even had a clue, but man, did we feel so guilty!).  Now the other guy can be on call when I'm on call and Reece will always have either his Mommy or Daddy to take care of him.  Oh yes, the joys of dual military/dual working parents/dual parents who both have jobs that require call...etc.  Trust me, I know what you are thinking and I've already started the re-evaluation of all things career.  Problem is, I like the Navy...most of the time...and by the time I leave Guam, I'll have 11 years in.  9 more years is a long time, but it's only 9 more years and then I get my pension...and did I mention I'll only be 42?  Carlos keeps saying he doesn't know if he will stay in, but I have to tell you, he will stay in.  I say this because he is like me and that we just don't know how to get out.  Sure we know how to file the proper paperwork, but this has become so ingrained in us, that we really just don't know how to walk away from it.

Man, I keep getting off on a tangent :)  BACK to Carlos again...I think finally getting a break from jam-packed clinics and getting the help with the call schedule will be good for his morale.  Even though he won't admit it, the poor guy is exhausted.  Is it as bad as residency?  Heck no, but to live every day wondering if you should do this or that out of concern your pager will go off is no way to live!  Yay for freedom from that annoying pager and to the boat he goes!  Speaking of the boat, according to Carlos it is just perfect.  He took it out yesterday and just motored around in the harbor so he was close by if he did get paged.  I think it is pretty safe to say that his first weekend of no duty, I might not see him as he will be out on the deep blue sea all day!  Good for him though, he deserves it!

So I believe most of you have seen the recent pic of Reece I sent out.  The baby push-up pic.  I have to tell you, I keep going back to that picture on a daily basis, sometimes even multiple times a day.  First, I can't get over how strong he is.  He doesn't just go up on his hands and feet for a second, he will hold the position as he tries to figure out how to make himself move (you can see his frustration...he knows what he wants to do (crawl), but he doesn't know how to make it all go together).  He'll bend his leg in and keep it there, but can't figure out that the hands need to move as well.  Second, I can't get over how much he has grown and all that he has accomplished in his soon to be 5 months of life.  He has one bottom tooth already growing in and the second bottom tooth has broken ground and started to poke through his gums.  Really?  Make him stop growing please!  Every day is an adventure with him, but he is the best part of every day.  You can't help but smile when he flashes his smile at you and his giggle is enough to make you start laughing too.  I'll try to capture the giggle on video so you can all smile/laugh along as well.

On that note, I am off to bed.  As I sat here typing this, Carlos got paged from the ED and is on his way in to work to reduce a fracture...at 9pm.  The fun never ends :)

The joys of teething

Serious conversation with Reece

all around happy baby

Room for Improvement!

If there is one thing the Navy has taught me, it is that we are always ALWAYS looking at PI (Process Improvement) with the way we do things.  I'm going to work on my own PI project at home titled "Keeping up with Blogging."
PI objectives:
*work on ways to improve my time management so that I allow myself more time to update the blog
*improve upon my lazy night-time factor (where instead of taking a moment to type, I lay around and watch stupid TV (oh how I do enjoy the Bravo channel) or stream on Netflix
*Actually post the videos/pictures that I take with the intention of putting them on the blog
*Employ my husband to type the blog while I dictate...we all know I enjoy verbal communication so much better :)

Hmmmm...I'm sure there could be more objectives/goals, but that will do for now.   I don't want to aim too high :)

A few things going on for us Kennedys:
Carlos FINALLY got the part he was waiting on for his boat so he can now set sail out onto the big blue ocean.  I'm sure I won't see him at all this coming weekend!  Reece and I are going to wait until after we know everything is a-ok before we don our life vests (yep, they make infant life vests and Reece is ready to put his on!).  Hopefully we'll be out there soon and when we do, I'll take pics...and post them!

Reece had his 4 month well-baby appointment last Wednesday.  I can't believe it has been 4 months already.  Sigh.  He weighed in at 12lbs 15oz and 24 1/2 in.  He was also given permission from his pediatrician to start on solids (and by solids we are just talking about baby cereal for now).  He babbled and smiled during his entire appointment and just charmed his doctor to death.  I swear we are in trouble when he is older.  He also made sure to do his traditional watering of the exam table.  I think it is his way of protesting being stripped down to his birthday suit for an accurate weight.  As soon as his naked self is put down on the table the weight comes up and he celebrates by peeing all over the table.  We do a repeat performance every appointment.  As for the solid starting, he does ok with the whole cereal on a spoon thing.  He knows where the spoon is supposed to go, but I really wish he wouldn't try to "help" so much as he usually ends up covered in his cereal trying to put the spoon in his mouth.

Today I discovered a couple uninvited house guests living in our garage.  Two little kittens have taken up residence behind our generator.  I'm assuming because it is our rainy season (and oh is it ever), their mama found them a nice warm, dry place to bunker down.  Mama Cat is still with them and I don't have the heart to drive her out into the rain and back into the boonie animal lifestyle that exists for so many animals of Guam.  Her babies need her.  So, for now, it looks like we will have garage guests until they up and leave on their own.  Not sure if that will actually happen since I'm such a sucker for cute baby faces (human and animal) and started feeding/watering the cat/kittens.  Someone should just build me an ark and let me put all the animals who need a home on it.  It breaks my heart how many animals need someone to love them.

On that note, I leave you with a video of Reece playing in his exer-saucer/bouncy thingy.  Till next time!

Beach Baby

Reece had a great time at Gab Gab Beach...his first time at the beach and in the Philipine Sea!

Ma, how am I supposed to work on my tan?

working on my Sports Illustrated swimsuit pose

Reece's smirk

Getting ready for to put his foot into the ocean for the first time

Just one giant bath tub...he loved it!