Our iMac needs a name. Especially if I am going to be using it as my pregnancy photographer.

Baby girl belly week 23:


Mark has declared me past the point of "sucking it in" and pretending I am not pregnant. When I was pregnant with Amaris, I was positive up through month 8 or so that I could still "suck in my belly" and appear to be totally normal. One day as I was getting dressed, I mentioned that to him, and then showed him my awesome rad "sucking it in" skills. He laughed at me. I waited till he'd left the room and then cried out of sheer humiliation. We laugh about it now, together. But at the time, it was so not the right thing to do.

Today I attempted to suck it in just for fun. He shook his head and said (very respectfully) "No, honey, you still have a bump." I'll not try to do it again. I feel like it's true that you are much bigger much quicker with subsequent pregnancies. Below is the photo I have from Amaris' pregnancy at week 23.

I guess that technically, the bump is similar. More importantly to note, though, is that at this point in Amaris' pregnancy I had already long given up "normal" clothes. I distinctly remember a friend taking me maternity clothes shopping when I was around 10 weeks along with Amaris. Once she'd done that, I never looked back. And apparently my ass had become an oddly-shaped block. My bump this time feels more definite though, despite the fact that I can still put myself into my size 5 and 7 bottoms without much issue. And baby girl is totally swimming and kicking up a storm in there. We have a lot of fun prodding her and waiting for her responses. (She'll be born annoyed with us, I'm sure. I know I was a lot more cautious and considerate of "baby's personal space" with Ami's pregnancy.) Amaris was active by this stage, but she was still dainty about her movements and very seldom gave me discomfort. Baby girl decided last night beyond a doubt that it would NOT be acceptable for me to sleep on my back any more. And she made it known. Several times in the car, she has positioned herself in a way that makes me miserable, which I am assuming is her way of expressing her opinion on my posture. Clearly it needs improvement. The other night, the moment I laid down on the Godforsaken air mattress, Mark put his hand on my belly, and baby girl gave a "kick" that made me say "WHOA!" out loud. Literally. Mark laughed. I am totally impressed with her strength, but also relieved that she has it, particularly when I watch sweet little maniac Amaris running around the house and I know that baby girl is going to have to hold her own with her. Hopefully this is a good sign that she'll have no trouble with that at all. At this point, I told Mark, "You don't need boys!!!" Of course we'd love to have one, though. Little boy clothes are nothing short of precious and I can't wait to make my son look like a tiny old man.

In Japanese, "kumbawa" means "good evening" - so any time we come through the base gates in the evening hours, or go to a restaurant or shop, the appropriate greeting is "kumbawa." Amaris likes that word. A lot. She "kumbawas" like it's going out of style.

The problem is that she doesn't "get" what it means. So instead of using it as a greeting, she calls any and all Asian people "kumbawa" at all hours of the day and night. Yesterday she got away from me for a moment at a soda machine while an Okinawan man was buying a drink. She opened the little dispenser door for him (she is so helpful) and said, "Here you go, kumbawa!"

I don't think the man really noticed, but man was I embarrassed.

I have successfully corrupted Mark just the right amount. He laughs with me at the Mac/PC commercials. We discuss why Apple is better. (God, I love that man.)

The other day, against all better judgment, we finally bought the iMac we had been coveting for the past couple of years - the very computer that caused us to jointly decide to skip birthdays this year, so that we could gift it to eachother on Christmas. It is beautiful.

Even Amaris likes it. (Almost as much as she likes her slippers. And being a nudist.)





Happy Columbus Day! Mark has today and tomorrow off to celebrate Columbus Day. I'm not sure exactly how we are "supposed" to celebrate this holiday, but my goal is to go to "American Village" (which I am pretty sure is Japan's way of making up for us having Chinatown, Little Tokyo, etc back in the 'states.) and explore the pretend American culture. That seems appropriate, right? American Village has a huge slow moving ferris wheel and I am told that if you ride it at night you get a beautiful view of the island.

Yesterday we went to a tug of war festival in Naha and that was pretty cool... Well, from what I could see. Apparently the rope is gigantic and such. But there were so many people that the rope was pretty much unviewable - unless you are Mark, who insisted on grabbing hold of the rope and "helping," later on he climbed on top of it and "rode" it, but I missed that because he was so swept up in the crowd. By the time the rope was the main event, we'd had lunch and Amaris was tired and bored and ready to leave. But up until then we had a fun time exploring the area - lots of shopping and such. We saw Habu Sake for the first time, which was totally creepy, and I literally had nightmares about Habu snakes last night.

No matter, Amaris had a good time hanging with her favorite couple of Cassidys - apparently that is a highly popular name, as two of our friends here in Okinawa have daughters named Cassidy. Amaris enjoys both of them. And she enjoys saying "Cassa-ee!" - so much that whenever one of them is brought up, all we hear about from her is "Cassa-ee!" over and over again until she falls asleep and/or forgets about the mention. So she had a fun time hanging out with them at the tug of war thing yesterday.

And Ronald. And just so you know, that Ronald is NOT in front of a McDonalds (Makoro Donoro's, if you're Okinawan). He was chained to a bench outside of a store that sold all sorts of ethnic novelty foods. Everybody can go ahead and expect MRE-style Taco Rice for Christmas from us this year. Taco rice is the shit. And it is extremely popular in Okinawa. For good reason! They have it packaged like astronaut (or US troop - whichever you are in the mood for) style food packages for sale there. Holy awesomeness.

Clearly from the photos above, I am still in pajamas. I need to remedy that.

But before I do that, please enjoy this photo of the fizzing crazy shrimp cocktail we had with our lunch yesterday at Sam's Anchor Inn.

About a week ago, we were perusing the exchange, trying to find necessary things for our new apartment (dishes, pots, pans, microwave, etc), and while walking down the video game aisle, I spotted two WiiFit Boxes just sitting there, lonely and quiet. Wide-eyed, I beelined to them. I scooped one of them up and clutched it. Yes, clutched it. Right to my round pregnant belly. And while I stood there trying to weigh my options and decide what to do about such a find, a man walked up next to me and scooped up the remaining box. I clutched my find even tighter.

I've NEVER seen a WiiFit in stock anywhere. Ever. I've looked. I've seen the Yoga mat, the accessories... But never the WiiFit itself, in all it's glory. Still clutching the box, I turned and walked away to find Mark and seek his approval.

He is a sucker for video games, and caved with very little pushing and prodding. Muwahahahaha. The WiiFit was mine. When the Japanese cashier rang it up, even she acknowledged the precious nature of this purchase, and laughed and said, "oh, is this for me?" in her broken Engrish. I laughed and said, "I know, right?"

The WiiFit came all the way home, and to my utter dismay I realized that we are without the Wii. I had totally forgotten. Our Wii is packed up in a crate somewhere waiting to be shipped to us here in our new digs in Okinawa. Cold, lonely, collecting dust. I waited several days till Mark got a hold of TMO, thinking that surely our household goods must be "here" already and waiting for us to request them. My back was delighted with that idea. Air mattresses are only comfortable for so long, and then it becomes NECESSARY to have your own bed back. We are approaching that time. My pregnant body has had enough from the Coleman.

When Mark finally reached them, TMO (to further my dismay) reported that they have not received our shipment yet, and don't know when we should expect it.

I almost cried.

The WiiFit is STILL in it's box. Every time I see it there in the corner I feel disappointed. Every time I lie down on the squeaky, creaky air mattress, I die a little.

Someone hold me.

...to have my own bed back already.

I refuse to be bitter about Okinawa being Okinawa. I am a visitor here, and this is a really cool opportunity for my family and me. I won't sneer at Okinawans speaking Japanese. This is THEIR home. They are fully entitled to speak their own language in their own country. I won't get road rage about the overcautious Okinawan drivers. I won't drive over their low speed limits (much) and I won't be a nuisance. I will eat as much authentic food as I can stomach, and damnit I'll savor it.

It's very likely that we will never again have an opportunity like this one, where we are able to live in another country and soak up the culture. I intend to do, see, appreciate and enjoy as much as I possibly can. And nobody is going to talk me out of it.

Each duty station is what you make it. I'm not going to be miserable for the next 3 years. And that's that.