25 week Dr. appt.

Well everything is normal! I finally got the results from the ultrasound done at 20 weeks, and no abnormalities were detected. Still a girl! All of the genetic screenings were negative as well! She a little smaller than average, but still within normal range. They are measuring her as about 4 days smaller than I am actually, but that is fine by me! Due dates are never accurate either...so. I will have my gestational diabetes test next week, and my next Dr. visit will be July 1st ish (29 weeks). I am a hefty 140 lbs now, and I can't imagine that my belly is going to get bigger, but it is! Now that we are settled I am getting about a mile a day walk for exercise and will start water aerobics end of June here at the base pool. I am excited to use my big momma bathing suit...will post pics, but not of my thighs! hahhahah!
We found out yesterday that our big shipment of household goods (furniture and everything basically)may not get here until July 1st. Tom is really frustrated, as our paperwork said latest it will be delivered to us is June 16th. We will see what happens. It does leave me with only about 2 months to get the nursery and house unpacked and set up, so that will be a tight finish! We also need carpets in all rooms, and found out last night after picking out all the rugs from Lowe's that their are weight and size restrictions when shipping to FPO, so we are going to furniture stores this weekend out in town to try and find stuff.
Good news is they were able to ship the toilet pipe that we need to fit the Cat Genie to the toilet! Tom, the cats and I totally miss that thing. Regular litter sucks!
We also had our first basic Japanese class, and Tom did very well...we learned a lot of stuff, but we have one week until next class to practice. I think it will totally be useful for Tom conversationally...they don't teach any reading or writing, so I am working on that with him at home. I signed up for the next set of classes, but they go while Tom is working, so I will bring him the lessons.
Well I am off to mail a letter to relatives Akemi and Hiroshi from the Japanese post office...I guess if you mail it from base it potentially will go to US and then back to Japan = total waste, so going to do my walk and find a post office. Then later when Tom gets home we are going to the Makeman to buy house slippers and noren curtains. The really good slippers were at the San A, so we might end up there as well. So all you that are coming be prepared - shoes will only go to entry way of house...you will each get your own house slippers! Arigato gozaimas! ありがとうございます

Memorial Day weekend

Todays post is not so much about Sofia, as I have not had any interesting Dr. visits since we got here, and the only things that are going on are lots of movement (you can see it through my skin, and it is really freaky), belly is growing a lot, and I am tired and eating all the time! Instead I will talk about our journeys around town, as Sofia is with us.
This was our first semi non-rainy weekend in Okinawa, and we had a fabulous time! It will be a while before we can post pictures, as the card to get the photos from the camera is on its way here....still no word on that. Hopefully within a few weeks!
Tom got Sat. through Tues off! Sun. we went grocery shopping at Foster (40 min away from our base - Courtney), and then decided to go to a rug auction. We have linoleum tile floors throughout the house, so we are in desperate need of rugs. My favorite rug was worth 14K and sold for 3K ish, so obviously we came home empty handed, but it was lots of fun! It was raining so bad on our way in that even with an umbrella my clothes did not dry ever. We ran into a friend of Tom's from college there - that is always how it is from one base to the next! We met up with them for dinner at a Thai restaurant, which was great! They are on their way out to Rhode Island...oh well.
Mon. was rainy still, so we decided to go check out a few local stores. I guess my Japanese is still ok (could be much better- working on it) because I was able to get a toilet part and get an estimate on a kimono made from scratch with matching obi only using Japanese! Whoo hoo! So back to the shopping - this is the summary:

Makeman - Home Depot/Super Target. Very fun, and ice cream and shaved ice in garden center.

2 bird store (has a Japanese name, but we call it this because it has 2 birds) - AWESOME! Tom and my new favorite grocery store. We like the fresh fish, chunks of maguro (tuna) that make you drool for sushi, reasonable/cheap prices for the seafood, variety of sake, bento boxes...yummm, oh and I really like the bakery/cake section! I am sure Tom does, too. He is just worried it will start a routine of cakes in the house every day!

San A - Mall or big big Circuit City and mall squished together - AWESOME too! This is where I found the kimono maker and the shoe heaven for small footed people! We ate at the food court - Tom got a bowl of rice with nori (dried seaweed) and sashimi maguro, and side of soup. I got wakame (type of wet seaweed) udon. Super tasty! Tom wants to go back to electronics, and me back to the shoes, but I am waiting until after Sofia is born, as hopefully my feet will shrink back to non puffy status!

So we had more stores in mind, but were invited to a rooftop barbecue in our building, so we headed home. I was so tuckered out I took a 45 min nap before we made an appearance. We met 4 couples, and we are all pretty new to the island, so it is nice to make friends with people who aren't leaving soon. We think though most were Lieutenants and Captains, so not sure if Major is really supposed to be hanging out with them, but we will see what happens.
Not at the party - but there are 3 other women all due around the same time as me, so we are hoping to form a "mommy" group for support and friendship. Looking forward to it!
Tues. was finally sunny! We had to run to base hardware store (trying to get the Cat Genie hooked up, and having some issues). While we were there we checked out the Scuba store and the Furniture store (infested with mold - totally not buying anything from there). Wasn't much selection anyhow. Found out that we can't even order parts we need, so having Lowe's ship us plumbing parts and rugs. We will see how that goes! After about noon we decided to get on the road (stopping at the 2 bird store for bento lunch)to Bios on the Hill. Natural park place with boat and canoe rides, big orchid nursery (Bobbie you will just be in heaven), goats, pigs, chickens, water buffalo (to feed and to take a cart ride), and wooden jungle gyms and swings for kids to play. Beautiful scenery...Tom got lots of pics. I was expecting a little more from the boat ride, but no biggie. We got to feed the goats and water buffalo...that was fun! This will be a great place to take Sofia when she can walk and stuff. At the end we entered the orchid nursery, and OMG - BEAUTIFUL! They also had a basin of water that had the fish that will eat the dead skin off your feet! Did not try as I was in sneakers, but hilarious! We will go back to buy a few orchids once I get the patio set up, and maybe I will try the fish then! We were there until about 5 pm. We headed back...feet totally swollen and feeling like cement blocks stuck to my legs! Got a few bites from mosquitoes while there, but I was able to smack down 2 to their death after as they were sucking on me - those commi bas%&*(s!
Today I woke up itching, and Sofia is still moving and kicking me...she has laid off the bladder some thank goodness!
Next weekend pending sun we are going to Ikei island to take a scenic drive and relax on the beach!
Dr. appt Thurs, and we are also starting a Japanese class on Thurs night.
Until next post - we miss all of you!

Road Trip to Seattle

We left Modesto on Monday. It was a nice 65 degrees and a few rain showers, but nice as we headed for Medford, OR. When we were going through Mt Shasta National Park, we ran into a snow storm and almost complete whiteout conditions. Mom began to wonder if we had picked the right time to head to Seattle, and if we were going to make it through the mountains. But we did, and when we were about an hour from Medford, we then ran into a fog and almost no visibility. It was a fun ride. Nice to see snow and fog for the first time.

We only spent the night in Medford, and mom and I didn't get much sleep. We had a bright lamp outside our window and no curtains... So mom was up every couple hours. Then dad took a look the following morning... and found them, pulled them shut and blacked out the room. Unfortunately, mom and I were both up by then. We then jumped back on the road to Seattle.

Whiskers decided to act up, and was meowing for several hours. Mom just about tossed her out of the car (turned out to be a poop issue that mostly landed outside the box! Mom was thankful for Superdad Noel armed with napkins from the last drive thru!), but we finally made it in. Mom and dad went out for dinner at a cousins' later that night. We had a fun time, but ended up getting back to the hotel a bit later than planned. And now we're in our last couple hours in Seattle and the US. We'll have a long flight, and it will be the first for the cats. Should be a fun time... we'll see what happens.

Mom's house

It is Mother's Day, and we are in Modesto. We had another fabulous shower yesterday! Thanks to everyone! Nate was the winner of the belly size prediction game...no one thought he had a chance, but he sure did win! Nate and Carrie stayed the night, and it was really nice to see our friends before we left!! Bill and Camille came with their daughter Elizabeth...who was totally sweet! My best friend Stella and her husband Robert came as well, which was totally awesome! The big surprise was when my aunt JoAnn and Grandma Staley came...it was great!
Sofia has now been moving and punching for about 3 weeks, which leads me to believe she might be a handful! My belly is so big now that I can't read my weight on a scale, and who knows where my brain went?!
We are on our way to Seattle on Mon., so next post may not be until we get settled in Okinawa.
Once again - thanks to all who made our showers awesome, and all those who came - we will miss you all very much!

San Diego Trip

We had a wonderful time in San Diego. We went to Balboa Park Japanese Gardens and watched a tea ceremony. We also went to the Carlsbad Flower Fields - beautiful! We also had a chance to visit with our friends the Haros, and had a fabulous time!

First post

Thank you Bri for showing me this site. This will be our new area of information about Sofia while we are in Okinawa....I hope everyone enjoys!

We had our first baby shower in Arizona yesterday, and it was totally fabulous! Thanks to all who came...it was great to see everyone. We will miss all of you! The highlight was the diaper changing contest..it was hysterical! I also got to see my cousin Bri for a few hours before the shower, and it was great! We both have bellies, and lots of pregnancy stories. It is going to be so neat to have children the same age!

Sofia has been hungry for onion rings and fried chicken. She moves all the time, but mostly at night. She seemed to enjoy all the banter yesterday.

I will post pictures as soon as we get them.
Thanks again everyone for making the day so special!