Okinawa Adventure

This is the End

2010-12-28T22:43:00.003+09:00

Well faithful readers this will be my last blog entry on this blog. We've arrived safely back in the states and in time I'm sure everything will get unpacked and put in the right place. I must thank my dear friend Molly for inspiring me to start this blog. It helped me to tell my story to my friends back home during my time in Japan. It also inspired me to go out and explore the island around me. But now my adventures in Okinawa have ended and a new adventure back in the states has begun. In the effort to keep up my writing and to now share what's going on in my life with my friends back in Okinawa I'm starting a new blog. It will chronicle my life here in San Diego and the trials and tribulations of raising 3 girls. I hope it will be just as clever and interesting without the tropical backdrop.

The new blog is http://momof3seeksadventure.blogspot.com/

I hope I'll see all of you there.

The Journey Home

2010-11-23T11:43:00.004+09:00

It's been a long while since I've had the opportunity to write in this blog, but I feel like I've left it unfinished. We've been in the States for 3 weeks and this is the first moment I've had to update. The trip home was fairly uneventful. Our dear friend Kim drove us to the airport and we unloaded our two carts full of suitcases and gear. The twins rode in their car seat stroller and I carried on a diaper bag, breast pump bag and computer. Gabriella had a suitcase and another rolling bag. Greg had a backpack, computer bag and another bag. We looked like sherpas attempting to summit Everest. We flew through Osaka Kansai Airport, which was a much less busy airport than Narita. We managed to eat a little something before boarding our plane to San Francisco. All three girls were amazing on the flight. Julia and Genevieve never cried, not once. They slept most of the flight and only woke to eat and be burped. Gabriella watched a few movies, colored her pictures and read her books. Once in San Francisco we checked our bags through customs and then rechecked them for the trip home. Then we had to go through security. That took far more time than any other portion of our trip. They made us take the babies out of their carriers. I held both and walked them through the metal detector. They sent their carriers through the x-ray machine along with all of their blankets. The tested the breast pump for explosives. It was a little overdone, they didn't offer to hand search them or give us any alternative. Greg wasn't able to help because he was pushing through each of our 15 pieces of carry on luggage. Once we were through the security ordeal we celebrated getting through it all with a delicious lunch at the Anchor Brewery in the airport. Gabriella and I passed the time exploring a few science experiments set up at the end of our hallway of gates. We had a long layover in San Fran and we were all rather exhausted by the time we got on the final flight to San Diego.

We touched down in San Diego and unloaded ourselves off the airplane. As we walked down into the baggage area we were greeted by our families. My parents, Greg's parents and Grandparents were waiting for us. After a few fierce hugs and tearful hellos we grabbed our bags and headed out to the 3 different cars required to transport us home. Greg stayed in San Diego while Gabriella, Julia, Genevieve and myself went back up to my parents house. All and all we travelled almost 24 hours with no tantrums, screaming bouts and only one spoiled bottle of milk. I would rank this as our most complicated but successful trip ever. The best part of the trip was getting back home in California with family and friends.

Packing Out

2010-10-29T04:05:00.003+09:00

Our island time is quickly coming to a close. Our big household goods shipment has been packed up and moved out. All we have left is a lot of government furniture and a few personal items. It's so strange to not have a clock in the family room to note the time the twins are eating or the recliners to sit in. We've borrowed a tv so we have a little entertainment. The stress of packing came and went in only 3 days. Since we've taken so many trips in recent weeks the looming pack out date always seemed so far away. Then Monday the reality hit that in 2 days the movers would be here and everything needed to be ready. It was a herculean effort to get everything done, but we did it. If things were forgotten they will be mailed back or sold at the flee market. If things were sent accidentally, we'll see them in a few months. The movers arrived bright and early at 7:30 am. Gabriella was up and getting dressed when they got here. I was just telling Greg something when I heard the beeping of the moving truck. The Japanese movers managed to pack up everything we had left in just over 2 and a half hours. As always they took great care to wrap each item to ensure it will arrive at the destination in one piece. Neither Julia nor Genevieve were a fan of all the sounds and movement. They found the whole move distressing, whether it was the squeak of the tape being ripped or the movers rushing around it was hard on them. They were unsettled the rest of the day. Gabriella returned from school to an empty house, all and all she's adjusted fairly well. She's a big fan of all the open space and I saved a lot of art supplies for her to play with. We'll be in this shell of a house until Sunday when we move into the hotel. We have a lot of cleaning and sticker removal to do before we turn in the keys to our little castle. I hope the next owners enjoy it as much as we have.

2 Months Old

2010-10-27T14:32:00.002+09:00

Julia and Genevieve have been on this earth for 9 weeks already. They've each grown to over 11 pounds and they can proudly show a few stamps on their vaccination cards. Yesterday was the girls 2 month appointment and they are growing wonderfully. They are now within 9 ozs of each other, Genevieve is still longer, but Julia is catching up. Here are their stats Julia is 11 pounds 4 oz, and Genevieve 11 pounds 13 oz. The are now socially smiling, meaning when you smile at them they smile back. Julia is desperately trying to sit up and when she's put in her boppy pillow she can almost do it. She can also pull herself up when holding onto Greg's fingers without any head lag. Genevieve has been diagnosed with reflux and is starting medicine to help get it under control. She also loves to watch Gabriella and will smile and turn to look for her every time she enters the room. The girls are eating a lot during the day and beginning to sleep a little longer at night. They still stay downstairs with either Greg or I staying with them. We've both managed to learn to feed both simultaneously. They aren't very fond of sleeping together, although they will do it in a pinch. Gabriella is now able to pick up the little girls and carry them around. She's able to pick them up and set them down while supporting their necks. This is a huge accomplishment and we are very proud. It's come in very handy when one of them needs to be picked up and I'm holding the other one. Our next step is to teach her to change diapers. Everyone is adjusting nicely to our new additions.

One Last Trip

2010-10-26T05:55:00.004+09:00

We've had a whirlwind last few weeks trying to squeeze every last drop of adventure from this island. This past weekend we went to Okuma. We drove up after school on Friday through torrential rain. Friday night we ate a tasty dinner at the restaurant before watching a dramatic lightning storm rage while we lay in bed. Julia and Genevieve have actually started sleeping for pretty long stretches at night which everyone is thankful for. The next day dawned bright and sunny. We ate a quick breakfast in the room before heading out to the beach. Gabriella braved the cold water to swim in the Okinawa ocean one last time before we move. The little girls got their first beach trip under their belts. They had their swim shirts and diapers on as they napped under a beach umbrella. I must say in the picture above they look pretty identical. Greg grilled brats for lunch as well as a delicious london broil for dinner. We even managed to squeeze a game of miniature golf in before we turned in for the night. Sunday morning we woke up and leisurely got everything together for the trip back home. With the car loaded up we headed for one last trip to the Churaumi Aquarium. I think we've done everything we wanted to do on this island. Now it's time to change our mindset and start California dreamin'.

IE island

2010-10-26T05:40:00.003+09:00

Just off the coast of Nago is IE island. It's famous for being shaped like a hat and as the place Ernie Pyle died during WWII. We took a quick one night trip to the island a few weekends ago. The island is tiny, it made Okinawa seem huge. We took the ferry across to the island and paid extra to take our car. Our first stop was a cool park we happened to pass. Gabriella made a few new friends and we spent almost an hour letting her play while we fed the twins. Our next stop was the hat shaped mountain. Mount Gusuku is not big close up and Greg and Gabriella were able to scale it, via the stairs, very quickly. While they were climbing to the summit the girls and I perused the gift shop and found some delicious peanuts. IE is famous for it's brown sugared and miso flavored peanuts. After mountain climbing we headed to the Children's Hibiscus garden for a picnic lunch. The flowers were beautiful and before long it was time to check into the hotel. The YYY resort is a well maintained and cozy resort on the coast of IE. We rented a cottage for a night and loved the relaxed pace of this trip after the frazzling trip to mainland we'd taken a few days before. Gabriella loved the heated spa, the pool was a little chilly for her taste. We spent the afternoon and evening relaxing in the room or at the pool. For dinner we grilled our own food Yakiniku style at the hotel's restaurant. The little girls actually slept a fair amount that night and Greg and I were able to catch up on some sleep. The next morning we enjoyed the hotel's breakfast buffet before heading back out to the spa. We wheeled the sleeping twins right next to the spa and all three of us got in to relax. After checking out of the hotel we drove around the island, looking at the lighthouse and the lily fields. We took the ferry back to Okinawa and arrived home more relaxed than when we left.

Kyoto

2010-10-26T05:23:00.004+09:00

We took a day trip to Kyoto, Japan's former capital. We got up really early and headed out on the train to Osaka station where we met our guide who took us by train to Kyoto. Once in the city we met up with the rest of our tour. We got a few looks as we arrived with the babies in a sling and a bjorn and Gabriella in tow. However, everyone was absolutely perfectly behaved during the trip. We had three stops during the morning portion of the tour. Our first stop was the Kyoto palace, it was beautiful with many hand carved rooms. The floor was called the Nightingale floor because of the sound it made when you walked on it. According to legend the emperor had it made so he could hear his enemies coming. Other theories is that it's old and squeaky. The second stop was the golden pavilion. It was a lovely walk through some beautiful gardens, the pavilion was shiny gold and in the middle of a green water lagoon. The last stop was the royal residence, we weren't allowed to go inside, just walk around the outside of the building. It was still very impressive. Our stop for lunch was the Kyoto Handi-craft center. We had to hurry and eat before our afternoon tour to Nara left.

Nara is the ancient capital of Japan, it's home to many sacred deer. The one pictured above was very interested in the deer crackers we purchased, however most of the deer would happily snack on paper or anything else you happen to have hanging out of your pockets. I saw one eat pages out of a magazine that was hanging out of a ladies purse. The first stop in Nara was a Buddhist temple, the Buddha inside was giant and awe inspiring. There was a hole in a pillar which is the same size as Buddha's nostril, if you can fit through the hole you can be admitted into heaven. I have a little work to do to fit through the hole, but Gabriella could easily fit. The next stop was a shinto shrine, it was located in a wooded area and Gabriella and Greg took Julia with them while I sat on a quiet bench with Genevieve. We watched the deer wandering around the area, eating people's magazines. When Gabriella returned we took turns feeding the deer crackers before it was time to get on the bus. Our trip home on the train was fairly uneventful. The twins and Gabi had a few new friends on the train and we learned the Japanese word for cute.

Universal Studios Japan

2010-10-21T19:18:00.002+09:00

The theme park in Osaka is a Universal Studios. We took a day to explore it, because we can't pass up an opportunity to ride some rides. The park is pretty small but it had a lot of cool areas to explore. My favorites were the Peanuts land and the Wizard of Oz land. Gabriella was able to ride all but one roller coaster. The food choices were really impressive and we had lunch at Cinderella's cafe, which was delicious. Just like at Disneyland Japan the popcorn stands were very popular with lines that far outstretched the lines for some of the attractions. They had a new rock and roll roller coaster that unfortunately Gabriella was too short for, but Greg and I enjoyed riding it. You got to select the song you listened to while you rode. All in all it was a very fun day. Gabriella showed us her sense of adventure by happily trying all the rides she could, even Jurassic Park the ride. The babies and I left early and because of Universal's no reentry policy we were unable to return. We relaxed in our room and watched the action in the park from the hotel window. Gabriella and Greg returned a little after 6 and we watched the light parade from the window together. All in all it was a very nice theme park experience. The day at the theme park was probably the day we did the least amount of walking.

Osaka

2010-10-18T01:08:00.004+09:00

We checked into our hotel at Universal Studios late Saturday night. The whole place was decorated for Halloween and Gabriella even got to trick or treat while we checked in. Our room was really spacious with separate rooms for the toilet and shower. There was only one channel on the television that was in english, so we watched Monsters vs. Aliens at least 20 times during our stay. Gabriella is still quoting from the movie a week later. We settled in and ordered room service and then went to bed, or tried to anyway. The next day we toured Osaka on our own, checking out Osaka Castle and the Hard Rock cafe. Osaka castle was surprisingly not located high on a hill, but it was surrounded by a moat. We walked up the 8 flights of stairs to the top of it. I'm very proud of making it to the top while carrying Genevieve in the sling. Greg carried Julia in the baby bjorn and Gabriella carried herself. The little girls love being toted around and slept most of the day. The castle was located in a beautiful park which we walked through enjoying the sounds of someone singing Bruce Springsteen at a post sports day concert and an impromptu Stevie Wonder song played on the harmonica. The subway in Osaka is just as timely as the Tokyo trains which made it easy to navigate our way around the city. With our shot glasses and pins in hand we headed back to the hotel for an early evening. We needed to rest up for our big day at Universal Studios on Monday.

Mainland Vacation

2010-10-14T05:49:00.003+09:00

Our last big trip before moving back to California is in the books. We survived a very packed schedule with two newborns. We decided not to take a stroller since we were unsure if we could get it on and off the subways and trains easily. The flight was amazingly easy, both twins slept the entire time and Gabriella was the great traveler she always is. We arrived in Fukuoka with two hours before the Hard Rock Cafe closed. After a rather long walk, we made it to the cafe and bought our shot glasses and guitar pins. Checking into the hotel we immediately changed into our PJ's and fell into bed ready to go to sleep. The little girls however, had a different idea. They were up almost all night just like they are at home. The next day we ate a quick breakfast at the hotel before getting on the Shinkasen, bullet train, to Hiroshima. The tour of an outer island was beautiful, the Torii gate pictured above is the largest in Japan. At high tide it looks like it's floating in the water, however in reality it's on the beach. The bomb site was rather sobering and the museum against nuclear war was hard to go through. Clearly the use of nuclear weapons is terrible and the people of Hiroshima stand up and say never again. The theme of the museum was to show the suffering caused by nuclear weapons and use it as a call to the visitors to petition world leaders to get rid of all the nuclear weapons. The day was long and by the time we got to our hotel in Osaka we were all exhausted.

You don't know what you've got until it's gone...

2010-10-07T10:27:00.005+09:00

My parents left on Tuesday and I've already considered calling their hotel in Tokyo to beg them to come back. They were here for almost 8 weeks and have been holding at least one baby since their birth. I think their presence spoiled me, they were always around if I needed something big or small. They would bring me a glass of water, get Gabriella a snack, hold a baby, change a diaper and even just let me take a nap. My mom and dad probably changed about 500 diapers during their stay, fed the babies 500 bottles and held them more than either Greg or I did. Now that they've gone the babies miss them, when I pick up Julia, Genevieve looks to see who will pick her up. Now they are forced to share me or Greg because we are hardly ever both able to hold them at the same time. Nights are harder, now instead of 4 people sharing the night shift there are only two. This is clearly my reality and the past 7 weeks have been a vacation. While I may miss their help a lot I also miss the comfort their presence brought me. In my most post pregnancy hormonal moments they were there to hug me and tell me it was going to be ok. I miss that reassurance a lot more than I thought I would. I miss the hugs and the kind words of encouragement. I even miss the random items from the shoppette. I made a pot of coffee this morning and realize that no one else is here to share it with me. I know I can do all this on my own because God only gives you what you can handle, but I wish I could share it with my parents again. We have less than a month on island and in between now and then we have 3 trips planned and two shipments to organize. My days will be busy and I will have less time to think about my parents, but for right now I'm sending out my love and thanks to them for a job well done. And reminding them not to get too comfortable because we will be back in a month and I'm going to need some help.

Collecting Kit Kats

2010-10-04T08:11:00.002+09:00

Little children love to collect things, bugs, rocks and seashells. As adults our collections change to more permanent items, tchotchkes like spoons or pins or place mats. I however have been collecting kit kats. They are consumable but it took a lot of hard work to find them all so I'm hesitant to eat them. Why kit kats you ask? Because here instead of just being chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate there are flavors like mango, intense soybean, carrot and apple. How did these Kit Kat's get here and why are they so different. I think the answer is that the Kit Kat's here are made by Nestle whereas the ones in the states are made by Hershey. All the flavors I've tried have been pretty yummy. I haven't ventured to try my soy sauce flavor yet, but the wasabi one was good. The collection will continue to grow until I leave and then will either travel with me or be mailed home so I can share my treasures with my friends in the states. If I had to choose a favorite, it's the caramel and salt. But who knows what the next flavor will bring.

Daddy's Girls

2010-10-02T09:01:00.004+09:00

There is a very special bond between daddies and their daughters. Greg has really enjoyed spending time with his little girls. Julia and Genevieve have graced Greg with lots of coos and smiles. He loves feeding them and snuggling with them when he can wrestle one of them away from their doting Grandparents. Once again we've decided on shift work to make it through the night. Greg usually takes the first shift and I'm sure the girls are learning all about science and soccer as those seem to be the only things on TV Greg is inclined to watch. I come down every 2-3 hours to pump and they are always snuggled up with daddy. Since they are getting bigger real estate on his chest is getting tighter, but they are learning to share. The girls are still not aware of each other but they do recognize Gabriella and love to see her. Because their eyes are tracking and focusing better they are able to watch her dance and practice her karate. She is a constant source of entertainment for all of us. Julia has started to hold a toy rattle and loves to scoot around on her tummy during tummy time. Genevieve can pull herself over the boppy pillow when given the opportunity. Both girls are very active and are starting to stay awake between feedings to play a little while. Greg loves making funny faces at the girls and both girls can raise one eyebrow just like their daddy. Greg and Gabriella are spending a special day snorkeling at the Kerama islands. Their special time together has consisted of a lot of puzzles since it's been so hot this summer but now that the days are cooling off they can start going out together. Greg is having a wonderful time with all his girls.

Tiny Dancers

2010-09-27T17:28:00.003+09:00

This picture is just one example of why it's so cool to have little girls. All three look adorable in their tutus. This picture was taken on Saturday before Gabriella went to ballet. She's been asking to take the girls since they were born so we finally were able to get our act together and get out the door with all the kids. Saturday was her last ballet class because we are taking a break from classes for the month of October. Gabriella was thrilled to show off her new little sisters to her friends in class. The twins enjoyed the music and watching their sister practice. After class we stopped by Greg's office and weighed the little girls. Genevieve now weighs 10 pounds and Julia weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces. They have filled out a little and are getting adorable rolls of fat all over them. They are hard to pick up at the same time but we manage somehow. Later in the day we gave my parents some much needed peace and quiet by leaving the house with all the kids. After a quick lunch we decided to go to Tobaru park. Gabriella rode the rollerslide at least 15 times while the little girls napped in their strollers. The weather was perfect, warm with a cool breeze, San Diego weather. Here is a video of Gabi on the slide.

The Little Ladies

2010-09-27T01:19:00.005+09:00

I'm attempting to get this post in before the crying starts again. It's the middle of the night here and these babies are not good sleepers. Well that didn't work out. I wrote those two first sentences 6 hours ago. Consider that a perfect example of how our days are going, you start on a task, then tend to a baby which causes you to forget what you were working on before, but it's worth it. The little babies are growing like weeds and getting cuter everyday. The nights are full of bottles, crying, walking and changing diapers, but the days are filled with sleeping babies and playtime. Gabriella has even been woken up a few times by their nighttime squalling. The sound machine purchased to help the twins sleep has been moved into Gabi's room to ensure she gets a quality nights sleep. Gabriella has been an amazing big sister, she's helpful to the adults and entertaining and loving to the babies. Julia seems to especially love to watch her run around and always turns to find her voice in a room. Genevieve seems to smile only for her especially when she's playing with her little piggies. In the morning Julia drops Gabriella off at the bus stop and Genevieve picks her up in the afternoon. It's a tradition that Gabriella looks forward to each school day. Speaking of daily routines I need to get back to mine, the school bus will be here in 15 minutes and I still have to do Gabriella's hair.

One Month

2010-09-18T22:45:00.003+09:00

It's been a month since Julia and Genevieve were born. The house has been in survival mode since they came home from the hospital. Although we ventured out for a few outings we've mainly stayed home taking care of basic daily needs. Just to give you an idea of what those needs are, the girls eat about 60 oz of milk a day. I'd love to say I produce that much, but I don't...yet. They get a few ounces of formula a day so my goal of them being totally breast fed is well within reach. We also go through about 30 diapers a day and a pack of wipes every 3 days. The girls wear an average of 2 outfits a day although some days they've gone through 5. We do laundry for them every other day. I pump 11 times a day and they eat at least 9 times a day. We still try nursing for at least one feeding per day. According to our very unofficial scale Genevieve weighs 9.4 pounds and Julia weighs 8.5 pounds. They've already outgrown their newborn sized clothes and diapers. They've had their first baths and are not big fans. Gabriella has probably given them at least a million kisses each. All this in a month.

In a few weeks my parents go back to California and we will start the process of PCS-ing. I can't imagine what my life will be like then. I look at each day as a gift, I'm pleased to still have most of my sanity. These two little personalities are amazing we are learning their likes and dislikes each day. I like them best when they are quietly studying my face while I'm feeding them. Gabriella likes them best when they are trying to grab her while on the changing table. Greg likes it best when he holds them and they make funny faces. What are their favorite times? I don't know yet, probably when they are fed, wearing a clean diaper and in the arms of someone who loves them.

Tiptoeing through the Tulips: A Garden Adventure

2010-09-16T08:11:00.005+09:00

My parents base passes expired on Sunday so we took our last outing until they get approval for an extension on Saturday. Because the weather was so beautiful we headed to the Fukushen Garden in Naha. Because there were seven of us we rented a car so we could all arrive at the same time. The garden was a gift to Okinawa and is set up like a chinese garden. There are beautiful ponds teaming with Koi fish and a few large pagodas scattered throughout the grounds. Gabriella spent her time tossing fish food to the Koi and turtles. The day was hot and wielding the double stroller through the grounds was a little more challenging than expected, but we managed. We took a brief snack and diaper break on a shaded bench overlooking the gardens. On the way home Greg took Gabriella and my parents to the Futenma Cave shrine and I headed straight home with the twins. Our time out of the house was appreciated by everyone. We are hoping that my parents will get their pass extension soon so we can once again venture off base.

School's in Session

2010-09-08T21:08:00.003+09:00

Tuesday marked a big day in Gabriella's life, it was her first day of kindergarten. We'd visited the school a week and a half prior to meet her teacher and tour her classroom. But Tuesday was the official first day. Greg and I both got up early and drove her to school so we could take the obligatory picture. She has been so excited to go to school and every small thing on the to do list has made entering school a little more real. It started early in the summer with the purchasing of school supplies. As we ticked things off the list she asked what she would be doing with the 10 glue sticks, or 2 boxes of crayons or the folders. We discussed in detail what the teachers expectations would be regarding behavior and what she could expect to learn. We talked about what she would like to take for lunch and snack time. We've talked up school since she started preschool and I think our enthusiasm paid off. Neither Gabriella or myself cried as she lined up and walked into her classroom. She barely looked back and I could barely tear my eyes away from her retreating form. She walked into the door and I saw 5 years of her life flash before me, first smile, first steps, first words, first day of preschool and now first day of kindergarten. As we drove away from the school I thought of how this will happen ever September for the next 12 years, it was a little mind boggling.

Wednesday was another first for Gabriella, it was her first day to ride the bus. She climbed aboard the big yellow bus with a wave goodbye and headed to school without looking back. The day seems longer without her home. Greg and I took Julia and Genevieve outside to meet big sister as she got off the school bus. Gabi was thrilled to see that her little sisters had come out to greet her. Her details of what she's been doing at school are sketchy at best, but so far she comes home excited to go back. Personally, I'm looking forward to her first day off because I miss her.

Stormy Weather

2010-09-03T09:12:00.002+09:00

We had our first typhoon pass over us a few days ago. It certainly did not live up to all the hype. The winds howled a little, but we've heard louder. The rain poured down, but we've definitely had more rain before. We battened down our hatches preparing for what was billed to be a category 3 storm only to be disappointed by the storm itself. Honestly I was relieved that the storm wasn't fiercer. Gabriella and I were able to sleep through the whole thing. Well Gabriella was, I still had to get up to feed babies during the night. The baby girls have only been around 2 weeks and they've already survived a typhoon. August was quite an exciting month for us.

The babies 2 week appointment went great. They are both gaining weight. Genevieve is now over 7 pounds and Julia is almost 6 and a half. They are finally filling out the 0-3 month sized clothes. In fact I think Genevieve may be starting to grow out of the newborn size. The girls also accompanied Gabriella to a birthday party over the weekend. The big sister was thrilled to show off our newest family members to all her friends. We are gearing up for Gabriella's first day of kindergarten on Tuesday. The backpack is packed, the lunch is picked and she is ready. In the picture she is showing her sisters how she can write her name. If August was an exciting month I can only imagine what September is going to bring.

Babies are a Handful

2010-08-29T08:01:00.002+09:00

These babies are sure keeping us on our toes. They are still confusing their days and nights. They sleep like little angels during the day, but at night they want to be held constantly. I am once again praising our decision to bring the recliners with us to Okinawa because they allow us to hold both babies on our laps while sitting in them. The ability to do that makes it possible to feed a baby and keep the other baby from crying. My mom and Greg have been staying up at night with the babies so I can get some sleep. I'm still getting up every few hours to pump but the rest is essential for my survival, I don't know what I would do without my parents here. The girls are still having latching issues which to be fair was to be expected. They were born at 38 weeks, so they haven't even reached "full term" yet. I'm hoping there will be a huge turn around in the next week. Maybe they will start sleeping a little more at night and start latching a little better.

Gabriella has blossomed into a fantastic big sister, she can feed a baby then change their position (while supporting their neck) to burp them. She has the magical ability to entertain the babies even when they are in the throws of screaming. She loves to help and wants to be there every step of the way to offer assistance. Last night Greg, Gabriella, myself and the twins were laying in our bed. Gabriella was working on writing her first and last name for school, Greg was working a crossword puzzle and I was just enjoying the loving glow of a quiet family moment. It was in that moment that a little bit of peace came over me, an assurance that everything would be alright. I will survive this moment and the next, no matter how crazy or overwhelming the moment is, it will pass and the waters will calm again. I'm more confident today that this is possible than I was yesterday. I hope my confidence continues to grow each day.

Bathing Beauties

2010-08-26T09:24:00.002+09:00

We gave the baby girls their first bath the other day. Gabriella was on hand to add her assistance and give suggestions. They have an adorable bath seat that makes it possible to bathe them in the bathtub. The girls both had a pretty pleasant experience with the exception of getting their hair washed. Neither liked the water being poured over their heads but they didn't cry, just cringe and try to move out of the spray of the washcloth. The baths were ridiculously quick in order to prevent the girls from getting cold. After toweling them off their hair was dried into a very spiky hairstyle. Next time I will get a picture of the hair. Please ignore the exhausted mother holding the babies in the above pictures, she hasn't had much sleep but on the upside she has taken a daily shower. There will be lots more baths in the coming weeks, we've already had a second one where Gabriella was the assistant, she is an excellent towel girl and baby distractor. I'm thinking of hiring her on as a permanent part of bath time.

Big Sister

2010-08-24T10:44:00.005+09:00

Changes are happening all around in this house, lack of sleeping, new babies, everyone trying to learn the ropes with two new babies. Gabriella has moved into her role as big sister with ease and grace. She lovingly tickles and entertains the new arrivals whenever they happen to be awake. She's helped to feed them, change their diapers by handing out the wipes and of course comforting them when they are upset. Genevieve and Julia recognize Gabriella's voice when she walks into a room and they have graced her with quite a few smiles in the past few days. Trying to give Gabriella all the attention she needs gets a little challenging but her friends and my parents have really stepped up in helping her feel needed and important. Gabriella will start kindergarten in a few weeks and we've been gearing up all summer for riding the bus to school and meeting lots of new friends. We are so proud of her adjustment to these new changes and how she always looks to find the good in each new situation.

We've come a long way babies

2010-08-22T06:21:00.006+09:00

For 30 weeks these little twins grew inside me. I found out they were twins at 8 weeks pregnant and they were born one day shy of 38 weeks. It's amazing to think back at the last 9 months, the vacations we took, the fun we've had and the preparations we made. These little ones have grown from the size of kidney beans to being almost 6 and 7 pounds. Now that they are out the adventure really begins. But lets take a look back and find out how we got this far.

It all begin with a blessing, that turned into two. The day of the ultrasound Greg was working the inpatient ward, he got pages in between the exam and the ultrasound. The midwife patiently waited for him to call back his last page before calling him back in the room for the internal ultrasound. As they were probing away I jokingly asked "there's only one in there, right?" well the response was a small flick of the wrist and the photo above appeared on screen. All I can say is it's a good thing I was laying down, because you could have knocked me over with a feather. We were not on fertility medication, twins don't really run in either of our families and it wasn't something I ever imagined was in the realm of possibilities. As I sat at the pharmacy waiting for my new set of prenatal vitamins I studied the ultrasound picture, trying to imagine what carrying and giving birth to twins would be like. Over the next few weeks, I picked a doctor, found out that having twins is considered "high risk" and I would get more ultrasounds and attend more appointments than someone carrying a singleton. I went to 21 doctors appointments which included ultrasounds at every visit with a few in depth measuring ultrasounds every 4 weeks or so and Non stress tests for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy. I have 10 ultrasounds pictures of these babies and now that I can see them in person, the grainy in utero pictures don't do them justice. Every appointment was met with a bit of apprehension, would they be growing ok, are the hearts still beating strongly and is there something happening that would cause them to come early. Lucky for us they were healthy throughout the whole pregnancy. We waited as long as we could to schedule the c-section in order to give the babies the best chance at staying out of the NICU. The day finally arrived and I headed to Labor and Delivery at 6:30 in the morning. I thought I'd be leaving Gabriella at home but she was up and excited so she went along with us. She and my dad waited in the waiting room while I got prepped for my section. Gabriella came in to tell me good luck and that she was excited to see the babies on the outside. I walked into the OR room and hoisted myself up on the table, my spinal block was put in place that the prepping began. I couldn't see anything or tell you how it felt because I was numb from the chest down and they had a curtain up. The doctor came in and then Greg did and they began to slice me open. Genevieve Catherine Montoya entered the world at 9:04 am and 40 seconds later Julia Grace Montoya followed. They are born in the same minute. They both cried and squealed which is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. I remember Gabriella's first cry at her c-section. The tears streamed down my face as Greg walked over to take pictures and see the beautiful new babies. There were two teams in the OR and they had the girls on either side of the room. Greg walked back and forth between the warming tables finding out the girls' Apgar scores, which were both 8 and 9, and counting their fingers and toes. The girls were taken off to the recovery room where they got to meet their grandmothers, grandfather and big sister. Greg went with them and I stayed where I was and got put back together. Everything went well and before I knew it I was wheeled into my room and was able to hold the babies for the very first time. I couldn't believe how different they were size wise. Genevieve was born at 6 lbs 13 oz while Julia was 5 lbs 15 oz. As of now we don't know if they are identical or not. While they look similar, the size difference makes it easy to tell them apart as do their personalities. The placenta was sent away to a lab for analysis and we will probably know something in a few weeks. If we really want something definitive we will have to send for a DNA kit. We spent the standard 3 days in the hospital and were released on Friday afternoon. Instead of hassling with the car and car seats we packed the girls into their double snap and go stroller and walked home with them. I won't say it's the easiest walk I've ever taken, but it was probably less painful than getting in and out of the car. All of us are doing well, the adjustment to life with two infants is hard but the smiles we get from the girls make the sleepless nights and ear piercing cries worth while. As I write this blog the girls are 5 days old and doing well. Julia is slightly jaundiced but nothing really to worry about. Genevieve is thriving although she doesn't like to sleep at night and is prone to long hours of screaming if not held. These are just a few of the millions of hurdles to come up in the coming months and years, but we will get over them. Thanks to all our friends for the wonderful support during this pregnancy, its success can be attributed to every prayer and good thought sent by those we love and who love us.

A return to me and the beginning of 3

2010-08-18T03:58:00.003+09:00

Todays the big day. In a few hours I'll be heading to Labor and Delivery to get prepped for my c-section. In a few hours I'll no longer be carrying twins in my belly I'll have them in my arms. I think back on the past 38 weeks and wonder how I've made it this far. 2 weeks and 1 day from a full term pregnancy that if one looked at statistics should never had gone so smoothly. I credit the smoothness to lots of prayers to God, both on my own and from others on my behalf, a laid back approach to aches and pains which allowed me to overcome things without thinking too much into them and finally being too busy with my little girl to worry. In the beginning of this pregnancy I thought a lot about the future, what the babies would look like, how they would act, where they would sleep, etc. Towards the end I thought about each day as a kind of send off to our old life. Gabriella and I did a lot of special mommy/daughter activities because I knew it would be the last time we'd be able to do them so easily. I got wonderfully tan because I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the shade taking care of new babies. I ate a lot of tasty desserts and wonderfully spicy dishes because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to once the babies arrived. And here I sit at the precipice of a new life with no regrets about how I spent the last few months of the old one. I look forward to meeting these two new little Montoya's, I hope they are as beautiful and sweet as the little girl I already have, but if they aren't that's ok too. Lightning doesn't often strike twice. I never really wanted twins, by saying that I mean I never really imagined myself with twins with matching names when I was playing house. Now that they are almost here I will admit to having some anxiety about telling them apart and fostering a sense of individuality within each of them. I worry about being able to feed them at the same time, giving them and Gabriella enough attention. In a word I'm scared. Scared of the unknown and undetermined. But alone here in my kitchen when the unknowns swirl around me like a tornado I only need to look up because on the other side of the ceiling is a beautiful, well adjusted child who I've had 5 years to screw up and haven't yet. I'm hopeful I'll be just as lucky with these two.

A Special Occasion Dinner

2010-08-15T19:08:00.004+09:00

August 7th is a very special day for the Montoya family. Firstly it's my birthday and secondly it's my in laws wedding anniversary. Since we were all together here in Okinawa we decided to celebrate the special occasion by going out to dinner at Sam's by the Sea. It's a favorite of American's for special dinners, they have a lot of fancy drinks and a very extensive menu. We enjoyed delicious meals including crab legs, lobster and steak, shrimp and steak and flaming filet mignon served on a sword. The whole place is an experience. The waitresses wear sailor suits and the whole interior looks like the inside of a ship. They even have a few birds inside and out to add to the ambiance. Gabriella's meal even included a drink in a skull with a cherry in the eye socket. We didn't choose Sam's only because the restaurant is great for special meals we also selected it because it shares a name with my father in law Sam. He posed with a few of the sailor suit clad waitresses as well as his lovely bride of 39 years. We all wore our Sam's by the Sea bibs and the restaurant even gave me a tea cup and saucer to celebrate my birthday. It was a lovely meal and everyone enjoyed their meals and conversation flowed as easily as the beverages.

Little Music Box Dancer

2010-08-15T18:52:00.002+09:00

This summer Gabriella has really come into her own regarding her dancing. Her new class started in June and it's a combination of Jazz and Ballet. This summer she's learned the names of all her steps and the differences in the two dancing styles. The class is Saturday for an hour and although it's early Gabriella is still able to get her groove on. Over the course of the summer she's really improved her balance and ability to follow along when her teacher explains the dance moves. She does practice at home or in various store aisles while we are out and about. When ever music is on she happily practices. She's absolutely adorable when she's jazz walking around the house. I wonder if dance will become a lifelong pursuit, if not then I will continue to enjoy her dancing as long as I can.

10 Years of Magic

2010-08-12T12:26:00.002+09:00

July 22nd marked our 10th wedding anniversary. Greg and I celebrated it with a wonderful dinner and a night out on the town. We started the evening with tepanyaki at Four Seasons steak house. I had lobster and steak while Greg had delicious Kobe and shrimp. The meal was great and we had a fantastic cook. Next stop was Cafe Nirai, where I partook in a few delicious sodas. The first was mint and the second was violet soda. Next stop was I's, Greg's favorite bar on the island. I haven't seen I since last year on our anniversary. I had spicy ginger ale and we told I and his wife Kaori that we were expecting twins, futogo in Japanese. They were both pleased for us and surprised at the news. The last stop was dessert at the Hearth Cafe. I had a delicious chocolate cake and some iced coffee. Greg had cheesecake which was a little on the dry side, but still tasty. The meals and sodas were so tasty and the night out as two adults celebrating 10 years of being married was priceless. Here's to another 10 years together.

Saying Goodbye to Friends

2010-08-12T12:13:00.003+09:00

Military life has many ups and downs, there are lots of perks, like tax free grocery shopping, but also lots of hardships like saying good bye to friends. The military population on Okinawa is transient, people come and go all year long. This month we said goodbye to our sponsor family the Broom's. Rachel, Matt, Zach and Mallory were our first friends on the island and have definitely been our closest for the 2 years we've been here. It was bitter sweet to see them move on to their next duty station. I'm happy for them to return to the states, to have access to fancy grocery stores, organic food, to entertainment, fast internet and being close to family. But I still miss them terribly. Of course Gabriella misses her friends, we pass the Broom's old house and she always makes a remark about them being in Hawaii or moving to Virginia. She realizes they aren't coming back but has already made plans to visit them or have them visit us.

A Very Big Belly

2010-07-31T21:03:00.002+09:00

This Thursday I had my doctors appointment and everything is going well. The babies heartbeats are looking wonderful and they are in the same positions. Baby A breech and Baby B head down and ready to go. My stomach is measuring 49 cm, which means I'm the same size as someone who is 49 weeks pregnant. Although I must say I'm starting to slow down slightly I still feel good. The little ones are moving a lot and I have no problems doing my kick counts. Gabriella has started to feel them more especially when we cuddle in the morning. The babies recognize her voice when she talks to my belly and it's hard to say if they are moving towards her voice or away from it. She's been incredibly helpful this summer, helping me pick up things, make dinner and do laundry. In celebration of this new found helpfulness we've begun paying her allowance for extra services rendered. So far she's purchased a fan and a Toy Story 3 lego set. She'd like to save up for a talking Jesse doll. We are about 2.5 weeks away from the big c-section day. Hopefully I'll make it to August 18th, but my doctor and Greg don't think I will. They both believe that I will simply run out of room. Personally I think I'll make it.

What every road needs

2010-07-28T21:46:00.003+09:00

There are a lot of cool things here on Okinawa: vending machines, cartoon characters hawking everything from soda to cigarettes, and a personal favorite road side ice cream stands. These stands are located in most bus turnout lanes on sunny weekend days. They are sponsored by blue seal, an American ice cream brand now made here on Okinawa. Usually a teenage girl mans the stands from 10 am or so in the morning until about 6 pm in the evening. They are alone and usually talking on a cell phone as we drive past. They have a small cooler which keeps the ice cream at an optimum temperature and a small container of water to wash things. Gabriella and Greg stopped at one on a daddy/daughter adventure day. Greg got shiquasa lime sorbet and Gabriella got vanilla ice cream. Greg explained that they stuff the cone with ice cream then put two small scoops up on top. Greg and Gabriella chose to get out of the car and eat their treat, but a person could choose to stay in the car, get the cone and then drive off and enjoy. It's another way that Okinawa makes summer delicious and refreshing. Sure it's 95 degrees outside and the humidity is pushing 80, but in a few kilometers there will be another ice cream stand to get something to cool down with.

Gabriella the Babysitter

2010-07-28T21:40:00.002+09:00

A few weekends ago we headed to White Beach to watch a dragon boat race. Since it was a sunny day we took our swimsuits in expectation of a little pool time. Gabriella's friend Luke was coming along since his mom was the on call doctor at the hospital. We thought this would be a wonderful outing for everyone. The pool was wonderfully refreshing and although it was a little cool at times everyone had a good time jumping off the side and practicing their swimming. Gabriella deemed herself Luke's babysitter and did a fantastic job of keeping an eye on him, making him feel comforted and cared for. She shared her food with him, held his hand while crossing the street and even buckled and unbuckled his car seat at every stop. I hope she's just as nice to her little sisters. The day was capped off by all of us cheering Rachel to another Summer Dragon's victory.

Beer and Pizza a Perfect Saturday Combination

2010-07-21T20:15:00.007+09:00

Since it was the week of factory tours Greg decided that Saturday was the perfect day to visit the Orion Beer Factory in Nago. This beer is made here in Okinawa and is served at all fine drinking establishments. It's very refreshing and perfect for the delicate taste of sushi and quenching thirst on a 100 degree day. The factory tour was conducted in Japanese but they gave us a little brochure in English so we could follow along. As we walked through the factory I was amazed by how clean everything was. The brewery wasn't operating on Saturday so the line wasn't running, but they had a video to show how it looks when the beer bottles were being filled. The tour was fairly short and ended in a large tasting hall. Greg was given his free beer, while Gabriella and I opted for non alcoholic choices. Gabriella had some acerola juice while I had some delicious lemon tea. We also got a snack pack of mixed nuts. They had a nice gift shop where Gabriella got a cool little black pig and Greg got a nice bar towel. On the way back home we stopped off at Piccoli a small pizza place and had a quick pizza snack. It was deliciously made with completely fresh ingredients. The hours of the place are ridiculous, they are only open from noon to 3, last order at 2:30, then they reopen for dinner from 6-10, last order at 9. We barely made the 2:30 pm deadline for ordering. But the pizza was delicious and well worth the hurry.

Burn your own Steak

2010-07-21T20:06:00.002+09:00

Friday night is home to a special night at Torii Beach, it's cook your own steak night. The choices for cook your own steak night are t-bone or rib eye. They also have chicken or hot dogs to cook, but really we are there for steak. Gabriella actually got pizza which not surprisingly you do not cook yourself. We met our friends there and enjoyed a few minutes of nice weather before a summer storm rolled in. The rain seemed to go back and forth between soft showers and downpours. Gabriella even got to play in the rain in her dress. The food was delicious. Greg cooked the steaks to perfection and the sides offered were quite tasty too. The coleslaw, baked beans and rolls were all quite fresh. We were lucky to arrive when we did we missed the first downpour and as we left we got to the car just before it began to rain again. It's a nice program offered every Friday at Torii and we plan to go as much as we can before summer ends. Next time I will remember to bring Gabriella's bathing suit and towel just in case she wants to ride the water slide before dinner.

Cream and Coke Tour

2010-07-20T20:00:00.003+09:00

Summer offers a lot of cool tours around Okinawa through our travel office. While other people are heading to mainland Japan to climb Mt. Fuji we are doing things close to home. Gabriella and I took a day to visit two very important factories here on Okinawa. The Meiji milk factory which makes over 50 different kinds of ice cream. They also make a lot of different kinds of milk, coffee products and juice. But really the important part is the ice cream. The tour was really just a video, in Japanese, of how the milk is collected from local area cows and eventually turned into delicious ice cream. Our tour guide did her best to translate for us, so we were able to get the gist of what the process entails. We received a delicious milk ice popsicle which we ate at a park located close by. After about 20 minutes of playtime we were able to get on the bus and head to our next factory stop. The coca cola factory is located just a few minutes away from the Meiji milk factory. They have many different kinds of soda and canned coffee than they do in the US. I found out that there are only 150 "official" coke vending machines here on Okinawa, that's a fraction of the 400,000 vending machines located throughout the island. That's 3 vending machines for every single person on Okinawa. The factory line was filling water bottles and cans of Aquarius sports drink when we walked through. At the end of our factory walk through we were offered a tiny can of coke or juice to drink. The coke was deliciously refreshing. We were able to ask questions while enjoying our beverages, we found out that while the coffee products are made by coke they are not distributed in the US because of a lack of interest by Americans. Also the formula for coke is the same here in Japan and if the coke tastes different it's because of the natural differences in water and other locally sourced ingredients. I also learned coke has no artificial additives.

When our tours were complete we headed to a local restaurant for lunch. Yakiniku is where a buffet of raw meat and vegetables are offered and you the diner cook the food at a little grill on the table. This was our lunch stop. The place had a nice variety of meats, some a little more exotic, for example liver, kidneys and a duck sate stick. The summer noodles were delicious as was the soba. The best part of the meal was making my own green sno-cone for dessert. The whole day was a great opportunity to explore the island a little more.

Little Chef

2010-07-19T19:53:00.002+09:00

My parents are flitting their way around France as I type this. Gabriella was thrilled about their trip because that is the place where Ratatouille takes place. She instructed my parents to try to visit the restaurant featured in the Disney cartoon and say hello to Remy. My mom was actually very interested in visiting this pretend restaurant and saying hello to the character until I told her Remy was a rat. She did send Gabriella a wonderful Ratatouille Golden Book. Since our discussion of french restaurants, both real and make believe, Gabriella has been very interested in cooking. In fact she's become our little sous chef. She assisted Greg in making the delicious shish kabobs pictured above even going so far as to dice the vegetables with her very own safety knife. She loves helping me season dinner especially the stirring and tasting. She's become a great help at grocery shopping trying to select the best piece of produce. I hope to foster in her the same love of cooking that my family fostered in me. There is something I find wonderfully satisfying about putting a delicious meal on the table. Those meals are becoming a little less frequent since I'm exhausted by the time dinner rolls around, but I still make a few attempts a week. Perhaps my sous chef will have to step up and start to take over the majority of cooking.

Our Daughter the Dolphin

2010-07-19T19:13:00.003+09:00

Gabriella has been really enjoying all her swim classes this summer and she's progressed through to the top preschool level. She can swim using a freestyle stroke, they call it the front crawl and the backstroke. It's a world of improvement from the girl that not too long ago refused to put her face in the water. Swim class this summer seems to have a lot more requirements than the levels did last year, however she's doing wonderfully. She has one more session before the babies come and hopefully she will learn even more in those last few weeks. The video below is of her working on her diving. She's diving into the 10 foot part of the pool.

Another Weekend of Fun in the Sun

2010-07-11T18:56:00.003+09:00

I must say that we are all getting nice and tan this summer. Despite our best efforts to keep ourselves completely slathered in sunscreen we do seem to be getting more and more color. This week Gabriella and I went to the Renaissance resort on Friday for our play date. We had a great time playing in the water and hanging out with our friends. Her swimming continues to improve by leaps and bounds. The weather was beautiful, just enough cloud cover to keep us cool.

Saturday we drove up to Manza to enjoy the beautiful beach and pool. Greg, Gabriella and I rented a few beach chairs and an umbrella to keep us cool and comfy at the beach. The water was wonderfully cool and refreshing. Greg and Gabriella did a little snorkeling and they were able to see a lot of beautiful fish and even an eel that tried to take a chunk out of Greg. As the tide came in and the water in the swimming area became deeper Gabriella and I had a good time swimming in between the floating platforms. We took a walk around the grounds looking at the guest only pool and the hotels huge lobby. The hotel is beautiful and would be a nice play to stay for a weekend. We spent a few minutes out of the water when Greg had the opportunity to bury Gabriella in the sand. She loved every minute of it. On the way home we had another lesson in Okinawan eating. The first restaurant we tried didn't open until 6, then the second one we got a little lost getting to, which is just how it works out here. We discussed that we look forward to going back to the states where every business has an address and the streets actually have names.

Manza Dragon Race

2010-07-08T10:42:00.005+09:00

Sunday was another Hari race, aka dragon boat race up at the Manza resort. We went out to support our good friend Rachel and expected to watch her boat team's continued dominance of the summer dragon boat season. It was a beautiful day with a hot sun and a cool breeze. We arrived at the Manza resort just in time to see Rachel's team load into the boat. The race started and the women's team started off very strong, they were the first to start the turn. Then they suddenly stopped rowing and the next thing we realized they were all in the water, because their boat had sunk. The waves were really rough and a few had crashed over the sides of the boat swamping it. The sinking was certainly the most surprising end to a dragon boat race we've ever seen. Rachel and her team got a ride back to the shore on a few banana boats and even though they were soaking wet they still had a great time. It was quite an international race, including a team from Singapore and a British team. After the race we walked across the street to our favorite little sub shop. The food was once again delicious, this time all Gabriella got to eat was the homemade sorbet and fruit. It was a beautiful day filled with delicious food and a little bit of excitement.

Water Park and Pasta

2010-07-08T06:42:00.003+09:00

Saturday was the first day of Greg's 3 day weekend. We spent it by going to Comprehensive Water park. The water was cool and refreshing, just what we needed as the mercury begins to rise here on Okinawa. The park itself has a concrete slide area for children, a lazy river, 2 tube slides and a inner tube slide. Unlike last summer, this summer Gabriella is able to stand up in the lazy river and walk. She didn't do much walking, instead she worked on her freestyle stroke. Greg and I were both very impressed, I didn't know she could do that stroke and neither did he. When we asked her about her new skill, she replied that she'd been taught it at swim class, but was just now practicing. Her form is wonderful and the coordination of her feet and arms is spot on. Although tall enough to comfortably navigate the lazy river she is still a little too short for the water slides. Perhaps she'll be tall enough by the end of the summer for the tube slides, but she still has a bit of growing to do for the inner tubes. My plan is to go to the water park at least one more time before the babies arrive. It was so relaxing to float in the cool water and as a bonus it was easy to get in and out of both of the pools.

After our fun filled day in the sun we were all starving, and italian food sounded perfect. Marino's is a place I'd read about on Okinawa Hai, a website of all things Okinawan. I've actually attempted to go to this place 4 times in the past and for some reason or another have either not found it or once I got there something came up or they weren't open. But finally on Saturday I made it! The food was just as amazing as I'd imagined it. The picture above is the girl making my pasta in a huge rind of cheese. Everyone enjoyed the dinner, the pasta was great, the all you can drink beverage bar is completely unheard of here on Okinawa and the dessert bar is reason enough to return. I can't wait to go back again, there are almost 20 different kinds of pasta on the menu so I'll have to start soon if I want to try them all before we move.

Sweet Treats

2010-07-03T09:02:00.005+09:00

There are somethings in Japan that are just head and shoulders above it's American counterparts. For example I've never met more polite and happy employees than at the Japanese McDonald's, they wear heels and their uniforms are always pressed perfectly. Yesterday after a delicious trip to our favorite sushi go round we stopped by Baskin Robbins for dessert. We've been to many different ice cream shops around the island but Baskin Robbins has very special treats geared just for children. Their children sundaes usually feature a small cookie and some sprinkles, however yesterday's sundae really out did itself. The sundae was a bunny. The body was the scoop of ice cream, the ears cookies, the face edible candies painted to look like eyes and a nose. Gabriella gobbled up her sundae, she of course ate the ears first as is the proper way to eat anything that has ears. Greg and I enjoyed our cones which were slightly less impressive than the sundae but still delicious. Summer is full of opportunities for delicious treats and we are looking forward to finding more.

Lovin' Summer

2010-06-28T19:02:00.003+09:00

It's officially hot here on Okinawa, the weather report has started to list the low as 81 and the high as 89. The humidity is picking up which makes me feel like I'm in a steam room all the time. We've been doing our best to beat the heat with indoor activities and many trips to the beach and pool. Gabriella has started swim classes, so she is in the pool every morning at 8 am. Today was Greg's day off, since he worked on Sunday, so we headed out for a bit of adventure. Our first stop was a glass blowing factory in Yomitan, it was already almost 90 degrees and the workers were in the shop working over fiery heaters making beautiful handblown glass items. Afterwards we drove along the coast winding our way to our lunch stop. Manza Sub shop is a little hut with the most delicious sandwiches on the island. We all enjoyed our lunch and as a special treat the owner brought out a special dessert, fruit and sorbet, for Gabriella. Back on the road we headed to Zampa beach, we'd visited a few weeks ago but the beach wasn't open for swimming then. Today it was open with all the traditional accessories found on most Okinawan beach. There was a snack bar, lifeguards, and lots of beach rentals. We watched a group of school kids ride banana boats and some families paddle out in oversized water tricycles. We swam in the cool water and while I snoozed in a chair, Greg and Gabriella built a sandcastle. We made it home with a brief stop at the Makeman store for a new pair of sand shoes for Gabriella and a handy claw to help me pick up things around the house. I'm sure I'll post a few pictures of me using it in future posts.

Southern Island Adventure

2010-06-21T18:58:00.003+09:00

Saturday was a sunny day and after Gabriella's ballet class we headed south to explore. Our first stop was Cape Kyan, a beautiful overlook on the southern tip of the island. We drove down a few tiny roads to get to the Cape and for a while I didn't think we were actually going to get there, but Greg once again proved his amazing navigational skills were up to the challenge. We arrived and walked through some castle ruins enjoying the beautiful view from the top of the cliffs. Gabriella and I talked about how wonderful it would be to have lived in this beautiful location and we discussed what the castle looked like before it was just another pile of rocks. The next overlook had some interesting signage it was called a "quasi national park" which got us thinking about what kind a quasi park they were talking about since all we saw was a pretty view. The overlook was beautiful and once we got our fill of the scenery we began our leisurely drive back home. We stopped at a few convenience stores on my search for unusually flavored kit kats, unfortunately we didn't find any new ones. The drive back was relaxing and the day as a whole was wonderful in its simplicity.

Snorkel Adventure

2010-06-16T20:54:00.002+09:00

Sunday dawned cloudy with looming grey clouds, the complete opposite of the day before which was bright and sunny. We had bought a day of snorkeling in the Kerama Islands and it wasn't looking good weather wise. As we pulled up to the meeting point we recognized Gabriella's school friend Carlie and her family. They were going on the same adventure we were. As we waited for the bus the kids played on the playground. Once the bus arrived we loaded ourselves and headed to the port. Getting on the boat was pretty easy however the trip across the ocean to the islands was slightly more of an issue. The seas were choppy and the boat was rocking up and down on the waves, not an ideal situation for a pregnant woman prone to seasickness. I did manage to hold on until we actually arrived at the first stop, where I tossed my breakfast over the side of the boat. The first stop was full of beautiful coral which unfortunately we all got a little too close to earning ourselves a few scrapes and scratches. Gabriella loved using the mask and snorkel, she was able to talk around the mouthpiece and was often heard exclaiming excitedly at the sight of various fish. We saw parrot fish, clown fish and even some blue tangs. Once we were back on the boat it was lunch time, we opened our lunchbox and extracted our delicious sandwiches and I made a tasty salad for myself. Greg hopped in the water at the second stop but Gabriella and I stayed on the boat enjoying a leisurely lunch and a bit of a rest. Once everyone was back on the boat the captain told a few of the marines on our trip they could jump off the roof of the boat into the water. Once Gabriella saw that was an option she immediately wanted to try it. She and Greg jumped twice and it was only Greg's ear pain that prevented them from doing it again and again. At the third snorkeling stop Gabriella and I played in the water just next to the boat. She practiced her jumping off the back of the boat while I treaded water in the cool ocean water. All three of us napped on the way back to Naha, which probably prevented any of us from getting seasick. It was a great adventure and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the neighborhood.

Friends and Showers

2010-06-14T21:18:00.002+09:00

It's shower season here on Okinawa, not just weather wise but baby wise too. Over the past two weekends my wonderful friends have showered me with attention and gifts. The first shower was hosted by my friends Rachel and Angie, for me and another pediatrician who is due at the beginning of August. It was held at N's garden, a wonderful tea restaurant with a beautiful garden. Although the weather was a little misty it didn't stop us from taking a few candid snap shots while strolling through the garden. The food was delicious, it included a tasty salad and a mountain of desserts but the best by far were the chocolate croissants. In a word they were heavenly. Rachel and Angie really out did themselves with the decorations. They had a decorating onsies game and both Mandy and I came home with lots of cute personalized onsies for our new babies. Rachel also made two fantastic diaper cakes, mine looked like two peas in a pod while Mandy's was a tricycle she also made sock bouquets. It was a wonderful afternoon spent with friends in celebration of 3 little babies to be.

My second shower was hosted by my friend Anita and attended by my book club. It was a luau theme and everyone showed up in their hawaiian best. The room was amazingly decorated and included some really snazzy signage. I saved my "Montoya babies" sign to put on the girls hospital bassinet. The food was amazing, a tropical pot luck, I had seconds of everything. The gifts were once again beautiful and generous. I was really touched by the time and effort put in by my friend Tonya who not only made two crocheted blankets but also two diaper cakes. I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with my friends and fellow preggo Sabrina. We had a great time playing shower games, including a race to see who could change a diaper fastest. I'm sorry to report that Sabrina beat me by quite a bit. Clearly it's something I'll have to work on before the babies arrive. I left the party with a flower in my hair and a heart full of gratitude to my wonderful friends for their amazing gifts and choice to spend their Saturday celebrating my little twins.

I have to say that I didn't really expect to have a shower, these are my second and third children and although I didn't bring any baby stuff with me here it just never crossed my mind. To have not one but two showers thrown for me is a testament to how generous my friends are and how loved I am in this home so far away from home. I want to say again thank you to all my dear friends both near and far who've made this pregnancy so special.

Summer Loving

2010-06-11T09:19:00.003+09:00

Well it's officially summer for Gabriella, school is over and the activities are already beginning to pile up. On Saturday she started her new dance class. Although it's with the same teacher as last time she is now learning both ballet and jazz. The class has been stretched from 45 minutes to an hour and the moves are definitely more defined and the directions are given with a little more authority. Gabriella loved trying out the new moves, especially the jazz walk and leaps. It was interesting for me to watch her learning a new set of steps and wrestling with the differences between the jazz style and ballet. I think she will enjoy learning both this summer.

After ballet we hurried to one of her classmates birthday parties, held in the same location as hers, at Torii Beach. Gabriella enjoyed seeing her friends after the first week of summer vacation. The party featured a bouncy house, bbq and lego cake. Gabriella's favorite part was finding hermit crabs in the sand. The day turned out just perfect for a beach party despite being rainy when we left the house, however the party weather machine could only hold out for so long so once the clouds began to roll in we made our exit.

Class of 2010

2010-06-04T19:47:00.004+09:00

We recently reached an important milestone in Gabriella's life, she graduated from preschool. The ceremony was brief but very special. Her class sang songs in both English and Japanese, she also received a huge binder of work she's done throughout the year and there was a brief reception afterwards. Greg was able to take time off of work for the ceremony and we both stood proudly watching Gabriella sing with her classmates. She's really learned a lot this year and her progression is clearly shown in the binder of work. Next year will be kindergarten and the start of 6 years of elementary school. As a token of our congratulations Gabriella received a new DVD and a special preschool graduation card. It just shows there really are cards for every occasion. The video is of Gabriella singing one of her Japanese songs. Please note that she chose her outfit and hairdo, personally I think she looks adorable.

Mini Break at the Beach

2010-06-04T19:41:00.005+09:00

This week Gabriella and I left Greg at home while we headed north to Okuma for a mom and kids trip. Our good friend Erika coordinated 7 families for 3 days and 2 nights of fun in the sun. The memorial day weekend was completely rainy and miserable, however Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny. Gabriella and I had to run a few quick errands before we headed on our mini break. Our drive up to Okuma was fairly quick, we listened to the radio and talked about what we would be doing during our vacation. Gabriella was very excited to see her friends but the idea of vacation without daddy was a little disconcerting for her. Once we arrived we met our friends in front of our spacious condo. The Dunes condo has 7 rooms and comfortably slept all of our families. We got in and unpacked our stuff before hurrying to the beach to catch a few rays and play in the water before dinner. The beach was beautiful and the water, although chilly at first, was quite refreshing. That night for dinner we grilled steak and potatoes for the adults and the kiddos feasted on hotdogs. We had a late night of movie watching and game playing but eventually we were all tucked into our beds.

The next day we stopped off at the playground for a little while before heading back to the beach. All the kids and adults swam in the water enjoying the beautiful sunshine and calm seas. No one partook in any water sports on this trip although Gabriella had mentioned wanting to kayak, but we never really found time to do it between all the playing. The order of the afternoon were naps and once everyone woke up we headed to the restaurant for dinner. After dinner we made smores for dessert and the kids and adults crashed a little earlier than expected.

Our final day at Okuma was spent in a flurry of activity as we raced to get packed up before the 11 am check out time. We managed it with ease and were sitting in the picnic area grilling steak for lunch before time had expired. After lunch we headed back to the beach, then mini golf and a post vacation snack before heading back home. It was a great mini break with friends, all the kids got along well and the adults enjoyed being second banana when it came to playing. I can't wait to do it again.

Beach Weather

2010-05-28T13:01:00.003+09:00

This past weekend the weather was rather wonderful, so we decided to head to our favorite pool spot the Renaissance Hotel. This place has everything, indoor pools, outdoor pools, a beach, water slides, free arm floats for the kids, a delicious snack bar and locker rooms with free shampoo, conditioner and body wash. In short it has everything one needs to have a wonderful day in the water. We got there and lathered up in our sunscreen and hopped in the pool. It's been a while since Gabriella has been swimming and she hasn't lost any of her skills. She was diving underwater within the first few minutes of getting in the pool. The weather was fantastic, not too hot or cool. The sun was out for a bit before a nice cloud cover descended to keep us slightly shaded. Gabriella worked hard on her swimming skills and getting acclimated to the water in general. We took a brief break for lunch, I had taco rice, Greg had takoyaki and Gabriella had soba. It was clear from the silence at lunch that we were all very hungry. Our friends joined us after lunch and we spent the whole day in and out of the water. After showering and changing we headed back towards home. We stopped briefly for dinner at Sushi Zen, the food was delicious as always. It was a wonderful family day.

Babies Update

2010-05-28T11:47:00.003+09:00

I've been to a lot of prenatal appointments in the last few months, however I realized that I haven't updated about them on this blog. This is a picture of the twins at 25 weeks. They are both doing well and weigh almost 2 pounds each. They are still growing at the same rate, which is great news for us. The doctors both agree they are looking good developmentally, there are no signs of any physical deformities or any other cause for concern. They are very active, especially in the evening and after any meal. I've gone swimming and they don't really seem to like or dislike the water, although personally I don't feel them as much when I'm in the water. Being in the water is great, I feel weightless and it's nice to take the stress off my legs and back. I'm looking forward to lots of trips to the pool this summer. Greg and Gabriella have both witnessed the babies kicking my stomach and while Greg is impressed Gabriella is not. She is excited about helping me when they are born, so far she plans to rock them and change their diapers. We will see if those statements hold true.

Macau

2010-05-24T07:25:00.003+09:00

On Tuesday we once again went on a tour, this time it was to the island of Macau. This island, like Hong Kong, was just recently handed over to China. Before it was leased by Portugal. Many of the buildings there take their influence in architecture from the Portuguese. Many of the buildings we passed during the walking portion of our tour looked like they could be in Europe. Macau is not famous for it's architecture, rather it's certainly not most famous for that, it's famous for gambling. Macau is home to many many casinos, it's turning into its own little Las Vegas. In fact our tour guide said that it passed Vegas in the amount spent at it's casinos.

Our tour started with a ferry ride across the foggy ocean to Macau island. When we arrived we met Cisco our tour guide and quickly set off. The first stop was a giant statue next to the bay, it's a beautiful woman facing the city of Macau. Our next stop was a temple, the oldest in Macau, while we were there we bought some delicious egg tarts. They were fresh and delicious and as our guide said the best outside of Portugal. Our next stop was the Macau tower, we rode a very tall elevator up to the observation level. As we stepped out on the tower, we were treated to the sight of someone jumping over the side. The tower offers a freefall type attraction that allows you to jump off the building or walk around it on a sky walk. There was quite a line of people waiting their turn. As each jumper jumped there was a huge burst of applause. Our next stop was lunch, we had a delicious buffet lunch of both Portuguese and Chinese specialties. After lunch we went on a walking tour to see a church facade which has withstood many typhoons, high winds and weather. As we continued the walk we passed places where movies were filmed, including a famous scene from Indiana Jones. We wrapped up our tour at a casino owned by Jackie Chan. I spent 100 Hong Kong dollars trying my luck at the machines. I was completely unsuccessful, but had fun playing. Gabriella and Greg found a park to play at and before we knew it we were headed back to the ferry.

Once back in Kowloon we found a delicious pub where we chose to eat dinner. Greg of course got beer, I got ginger beer and Gabriella had a soda. The food was delicious and we all felt satiated on the walk back to the hotel. Once we got back we packed our bags in expectation of leaving early the next day. Our flight home was uneventful and as we headed back to Okinawa we smiled happily at our successful last big vacation before the twins arrive.

Happiest Place on Earth

2010-05-21T21:51:00.005+09:00

Monday morning was our Disneyland day and of course it dawned rainy and cool. We were met at the hotel by the shuttle bus that took us to the park. Hong Kong Disneyland is significantly smaller than any of the other Disney parks we've been to. Although it was rainy it was still the happiest place on earth. We got there almost an hour after the park opened and our first stop was the Emporium to buy an autograph book for Gabriella. After we got the book we set off to go on a few rides and find the characters. Our first stop was Tomorrowland, this land contains Space Mountain, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear and the Astro Orbiter. Greg and Gabriella were able to ride the Autopia and Space Mountain together. The rest of the rides all three of us rode as a family. Our next stop was fantasyland, where we rode small world, winnie the pooh, tea cups and dumbo. We even watched the golden mickey show. In the center of Fantasyland there was a wonderful garden where all the characters line up for autographs and pictures. The last land to visit was adventure land, which is home to the Jungle Cruise, the Lion King show and a few cool water play areas. We managed to do almost every single attraction and show with the exception of the train. We stayed until the park closed at 7:30 and were able to watch a wonderful firework show. The whole day was great even though the weather was pretty miserable, Gabriella got a lot of great signatures and pictures with the characters, I got to peruse all the cool shops and food places for snacks, and Greg once again proved that amazing planning and strategy can help you to see almost every single thing at Disneyland in one day.

Hong Kong Island

2010-05-19T09:16:00.004+09:00

After a very good night sleep in our comfortable room we headed out early for a quick trip to Starbucks for breakfast before getting on our tour bus for an island tour. Hong Kong is made up of many different islands. For example we landed on Lantau Island but are staying on Kowloon island. The bus travelled through the complicated tunnel system towards Hong Kong island. The tour was half day and we saw a lot of landmarks. We started at a beautiful temple, then headed up to Victoria Peak. To travel to the peak we rode a vintage cable car up the side of a mountain. As we head up we traveled at a 45 degree angle, luckily we had a few seats to sit in or it could have gotten a little crazy. Once at the top we admired the beautiful view of the harbor. We managed to grab a few souvenirs from the Hard Rock store before getting back on the bus. Our next stop was the floating city of junks and sanpans. We boarded our own junk and were able to float through their city. Greg had been on this same boat ride 12 years before and he said that there were significantly less boats in this small protected harbor. When we asked the tour guide why she said it was because the yacht club has moved in and demanded the boats be moved away from the docks so they can use them. Another reason most are gone is a serious typhoon that hit the harbor wiping out a lot of boats. The people that were displaced were moved into government housing. After our boat ride we headed to Stanley Market. I'd been given a special job by my father in law Sam when he heard we were traveling to Hong Kong. He sent me on a mission to find Greg Norman shirts at a small stall inside the sprawling market. He gave me what I thought were vague directions that turned out to be spot on. We found Sam the golf shirt seller with ease, his dog was sleeping on the floor just as my father in law had described. The shop owner even remembered Sam even though it had been years since he'd seen him. We got the shirts as well as a picture of Greg with Sam the stall owner. It made us both happy to have successfully completed our mission. We boarded the bus and headed back to our final destination a jewelry shop. Since it was mother's day my parents had sent me to Hong Kong with money to buy a ring. Gabriella helped me select a beautiful jade ring. While I was ring shopping Greg selected a beautiful necklace for me as a 10th anniversary present. The necklace contains a diamond dragon which spins in a gold circle, it symbolizes my chinese birth symbol and the spinning means that good luck will always come to me. I walked out of the jewelry shop with two new beautiful pieces of jewelry.

After the tour we arrived back at the hotel to change clothes and headed out to my special Mother's Day surprise. We walked to the hotel next door, The Peninsula is a very high end hotel which has a special High Tea. We waited in line for a table and soon sat down to a scrumptious tea service. While Greg and I enjoyed tea Gabriella sipped daintily on a vanilla milkshake. The food was delicious, my favorite were the salmon tea sandwiches, Greg's were the scones and Gabriella's were the cookies. It was really absolutely glamorous, a fantastic way to celebrate mother's day. After tea we changed again and took the ferry across the water back to Hong Kong island. The trip over made me a little sick and the heat and humidity made walking around uncomfortable. We only made it a few blocks before I needed to find a place to sit down. We finally found a spot in the convention center, Greg and Gabriella took a look at the view while I relaxed for a few minutes with a large cold bottle of water. After returning to Kowloon we watched the evening laser show from the waterfront, it was very impressive. By the time we called it a night we were all tired.

Hong Kong Express

2010-05-17T08:20:00.003+09:00

We managed to take a short vacation before I become too uncomfortable to travel. Our choice of destination was Hong Kong. It was a short plane ride from Okinawa, only 3 hours. The flight was international so we got some delicious food on the plane. I think it was the best food we've received on a flight. We arrived in Hong Kong in the early evening and easily found our shuttle to the hotel. We stayed in the same hotel Greg and his family stayed in 12 years ago, the Y.M.C.A. Yep that's right, it's fun to stay at the YMCA. The hotel has the smell of pool as you enter the building but that's the only way the hotel is different from any other. We checked into the room just in time to see the laser light show across the water. We were able to view the show from our room and listen to the accompanying music on the radio, the tall buildings flashed with lights and lasers. After the light show we went out in search of dinner. We'd read in one of the travel magazines that a hotel near us had a New York style deli. We found the deli and quickly sat down to dinner. It was the best Ruben Sandwich I've ever had. Granted it's the first one I've had since moving to Japan, it was made with real corned beef and pastrami, and it came with sweet potato fries. The best part of the meal was the Doc Browns Cel-Ray soda that I had with my meal. I use to have that kind of soda when I was little, it tasted even better than I remembered. After dinner we headed back to the hotel because Gabriella was falling asleep at the table. Once Gabriella and I were all tucked into bed Greg headed out to find a pub. He was eventually successful but by the time he got back to the room he was soaking wet. Our first few hours in Hong Kong had come to a close and we rested up for our next big adventure.

Cinco de Drinko

2010-05-08T13:28:00.003+09:00

This year we were able to introduce our Okinawa friends to our notorious cinco de mayo party. Our evite list swelled to over 50 as we readied ourselves for our biggest party yet. The food was purchased, the beer was chilled and the tequila was waiting to be shot. Our friends arrived bearing trays of delicious desserts and were greeted by a table full of salsa, guacamole, chips and all the makings for amazing quesadillas. The only hinderance was that we only brought one quesadilla maker, but we countered that by offering all the makings for delicious burritos and tacos. We blew out two blenders while attempting to make frozen margaritas. I blame the "rock ice" which clearly is made out of rocks. But everyone sallied on and had their margaritas on the rocks. The delicious food and fantastic party lasted well into the night. The pinata for the kids was a huge success, but like the ice was clearly party rock. It took an adult to finally break it open. We all gorged ourselves on mexican food and tasty pastries until the night wound it's way to a close. A few friends stayed late into the night and did all the dishes while I put my feet up on the couch and rested. It was a fantastic party but kind of bitter sweet. I would say it will be our last big party here on Okinawa, as I get more pregnant my ability to hostess and cook will diminish. All the friends we shared our party with this year will either still be on Okinawa or in other duty stations far from where we host the party next year, but they made this year an amazing success.

Dragon Boat Races

2010-05-08T13:15:00.003+09:00

Every year on Children's day Okinawa hosts a series of Dragon Boat Races. This year a few of my friends were on teams. Each team consists of 32 members all paddling their hearts out in an attempt to be the fastest of three boats. The photo on this page is of my friend Rachel and the Women's Navy team. This team raced against the single Marine's team and the Army women's team. They won by a huge margin showing once again the Navy team's superiority. These teams have practiced for weeks ahead of time, some getting up at 5 in the morning to stand in the frigid waters and practice their paddling. We went 2 different days to the dragon boat festival and watched a variety of teams race for their shot at glory. My personal favorite was the Orion Beer team who got ready for the race by downing shots of sake. Another memorable team was the Starbucks team who all wore their green aprons. The surrounding carnival had a huge stage which featured a variety of performers, rides and games for the kids and lots of places to buy food and beverages. Gabriella and Greg shared a huge bowl of soba while I sampled some dumplings from the Orion tent. Gabriella played a few games and won an inflatable animal of an unknown variety. The teams would walk through the crowds after their races were won celebrating their victories or brushing off their defeats. It was a wonderful experience and we are please we were able to cheer our friends to victory.

Another tooth lost

2010-05-04T23:06:00.004+09:00

Well obviously I haven't posted in a while but I'm just going to pretend it's a week ago. We went out on a northern island adventure to quite a few spots. First we headed to 21st century park in Nago. It's a spacious park with beach facilities, miles of walking paths and various sports fields. It was some sort of kids sport day so there were kids in a variety of uniforms walking and playing throughout the park. While we were there Gabriella bit into her sandwich and loosened her bottom tooth. This tooth is located right next to the other one she lost a month or so ago. It's been loose for a while but I wasn't expecting it to come off in a sandwich. It didn't actually come off in the sandwich but it was loosened enough to require a little daddy assistance to remove it before she accidentally swallowed it.

After the tooth extraction we headed up to the Pineapple Park for some ice cream. Greg and Gabriella both got pineapple soft serve while I went the more traditional root and got a sugarcane flavored cone. The cold ice cream soothed Gabriella's mouth and put her in a much better state of mind.

The next stop was Expo Park which is the home to a variety of museums and the aquarium. This time we went to the nautical museum. It featured a wide variety of boats from the pacific nations, including Samoa, New Guinea, Polynesia and others. It was quite fascinating to see how these past civilizations lived so closely with the sea. We were fortunate enough to be in time for the planetarium show. Although it was narrated in Japanese we were able to get the gist of the presentation and all of us enjoyed reclining in the very comfortable seats. After the museum we walked through the aquarium. We've gone quite a few times since we've moved here, we purchased annual passes. I have to say that each time we go there is something different. This time I broke down and purchased Gabriella a plastic folder to hold all the free information cards they give out throughout the aquarium. I have yet to put the cards in the folder but the intent is there.

On the drive home we stopped at the Manza sub shop for dinner. It had the most delicious sandwiches we've had on the island. The bread was fresh and soft. The fillings were all freshly prepared and the french fries were amazing. Gabriella had coconut soup and loved all the vegetables in it. With full bellies we headed home tired and content from a fun day out. When we arrived home Gabriella slipped her tooth into her special pillow and low and behold the tooth fairy gave her 200 yen for her second tooth.

Gabriella Dancerella

2010-04-26T11:56:00.005+09:00

This weekend was the culmination of 16 weeks of ballet practice, the recital. It's been quite a journey for both Gabriella and us. It started many weeks ago in a gym where she was reintroduced to ballet. She took a class last year but wasn't able to perform in the recital. This years class was different. It was at 8 am on Saturday mornings, which made us get up an hour earlier than we did for school the rest of the week. This class used the correct ballet terms for each of the steps which was a nice change of pace. The first few weeks were taken up by just learning the basic steps and positions. Then the routine was introduced and the last 10 minutes of each class were devoted to memorizing the moves. We've gone through costume fittings, routine changes and many many practices. Gabriella has loved every moment of it. When she slipped on her costume and sat still for me to do her hair and make up everything was suddenly worth it. She absolutely loved being on stage. The video won't load on this site so I'm afraid I can't give you the live shot. However, Gabriella did a fantastic and was rewarded by a large bouquet of purple flowers from her daddy. She rested happily in the afterglow of her performance for the rest of the day.

Camper Camping

2010-04-19T10:14:00.003+09:00

This weekend we stole away from Chatan in favor of the seashore. We rented a camper at the White Beach Campground. It's located on the Pacific side of the island and it's the only Navy Base on Okinawa. It's beach has very rough sand, full of coral and shells which was perfect for Gabriella who filled up a bucket with beautiful purple and pink shells. The first evening we barbecued turkey burgers and for dessert Greg bbq'd some soft batch cookies. The camper is nice, it had a small bathroom and lots of storage space. We didn't use the stove but there was one in there. We slept fairly well on Friday night, Gabriella had a nightmare so she spent the early hours of the morning in bed with us.

Saturday morning we were all up early in order to get Gabriella and Greg out the door by 7 am. Greg volunteered to take Gabriella to ballet class so I could sleep in. I did just that while they travelled back to Camp Lester for her 45 minute class. When they returned they came back and slipped into their bathing suits before heading out to the beach. I read most of the day occasionally changing locations so I could watch Greg and Gabriella play on the beach. They crossed the land bridge to a small island where they looked at all the tide pools and collected shells. The weather was absolutely perfect, we couldn't have asked for a better day. That evening we walked over to Naps for dinner. We had a fantastic dinner, everyone devoured their food. Gabriella even got strawberry ice cream for dessert.

Sunday morning Gabriella and Greg headed out to the beach for one last trip to play. While they were out I got the stuff together and cleaned up the cabin. It was a great weekend trip, we had a fun time and were blessed with some wonderful weather. I hope to go again before the twins are born.

Kicks and Cravings

2010-04-13T21:29:00.002+09:00

Well I think I've definitely popped. When I look down my body my stomach is sticking out farthest and I've lost sight of my shoes. Lucky for me the weather is warming up so flip flops are really the order of the day. These last few days these babies have been kicking up a storm. They are especially active after meals when I have a quiet moment to sit down and relax. It's funny to think that I'm already half way through this pregnancy. My discomfort level hasn't really increased although the random bouts of heartburn are so terrible that even ice cream doesn't help. I'm still able to walk and go to Zumba. I'm hoping I can stay this comfortable until after our trip to Hong Kong. After that I can just lay in the recliner like a giant lump, well not really. This week I have been in recovery mode from last weeks craziness. I'm looking forward to sleeping in while Gabriella is on spring break, so far it hasn't happened, but I still have 3 days left so it's still within the realm of possibility. I have been having a lot of cravings, my tomato cravings have been replaced by kiwi and strawberry cravings. Lucky for me it's strawberry season at the commissary and although I've never really liked kiwi fruit in the past recently I can't get enough of them. Tonight I ate a container of strawberries and 2 kiwi fruit as dessert. I suppose it could be much worse and I could be craving Olive Garden or Sonic which would be a pretty long flight for Greg to get anything from either of those places for me. I'm still trying to eat healthfully and for the most part I'm doing a good job. But I'm hungry all the time, even in the middle of the night when I get up to go to the bathroom, it's all I can do to stop myself from going downstairs and making myself something to eat. Of course in the middle of the night I'm usually tired and focused on not tripping over the rug. If we were back in San Diego and I didn't have 45 degree angle stairs to walk down I would definitely be midnight snacking. Our next doctors appointment is April 26th and it will be another big ultrasound. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to find out if these are little boys, girls or one of each. Gabriella and Greg would like one of each. I think they are boys, Greg thinks they are girls. But we really just want two healthy babies.

A Beachy Birthday Party

2010-04-12T21:20:00.003+09:00

Saturday was the culmination of a very busy week for us, Gabriella's big birthday party. We had the party at Torii Beach, we rented a pavilion and a bouncy. The weather was absolutely gorgeous which was a complete turn around from the day before which was rainy. The sun was shining and there was just enough of a breeze to keep everything cool. Gabriella picked pizza as her food request and instead of a cake we had cupcakes which the kids were able to decorate themselves. A lot of friends from school came to her special day, along with our neighbors and her library friends. The weather was so nice that after the party was over she went swimming in the ocean with a few of her friends who'd brought their swimsuits. She really impressed me by diving right in to dunking her head and working on her swimming strokes. I think she's going to be in good shape for the summer swim classes. We stayed at the beach visiting with our friends until almost sunset. When we finally arrived home Gabriella was able to open her gifts. She received a few barbies, some really cool new toys and a lot of arts and crafts. We are so grateful for all of her friends for sharing Gabi's special day with us and for their incredible generosity in their gift givings.

5, yes just the 5.

2010-04-07T17:51:00.003+09:00

Yesterday was a big milestone in our lives, our little Gabriella has turned 5. Before she went to bed on Monday night we talked about being in the hospital with her in my tummy 5 years ago. She asked a few questions about when she was born and then happily fell asleep. As I walked up the stairs to bed a little later I couldn't help but remember everyone gathering in my hospital room, eating Subway in front of me when I wasn't allowed to eat, waiting for Gabi to arrive. She was finally pulled out of my tummy at 1:18 am on April 6th 2005 and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I remember the tears slipping down my cheeks as I heard her cry for the first time, I remember Greg kissing me on the forehead and moving Gabriella's swaddled body down to I could kiss her little cheek. As I watched Gabriella sleep for a few moments before I woke her up the next morning those first moments seemed like a long time ago. In these scant 5 years she's grown from a cute baby with chubby cheeks and no hair into a lovely little girl with no fat and a full head of easily styled hair. She's learned to walk, to draw, to dance, to do gymnastics, to hula, to be kind, generous and has learned to play nicely with others. Greg and I are so proud of her, of the girl she's become and we look forward to helping her to become the best person she can be.

Her birthday started early so she could say goodbye to Greg before he headed off to work. Next we called Grandma Oggie and Papa John to open presents on ichat. Gabriella received two beautiful dresses and quite a few art books. She wore her newest dress to school. As we walked into school everyone commented on her beautiful dress and she happily announced it was her birthday. She's so proud of turning 5. At the end of the school day I arrived at school to hand out cupcakes, they were chocolate with lavender frosting and sprinkles. After school we rushed home to call Tati Sam and Nana. They actually called us just as we were walking in the door. Gabriella was able to talk to everyone and open her presents at the same time. From Nana and Tati Sam she received lots of art supplies, 2 new sundresses, a pizza set, a puzzle and some books. She also received a Belle dress from her cousin Jenifer which she has barely taken off since opening the box.

We went to our standing lunch date with our library friends at the food court. After lunch and playing we headed to the library for storytime. When we finally returned home and realized we had to make a quick trip to the egg store, but once we got home Gabriella slipped into her Belle dress and started to play with her toys. We listened to the messages from her tios and tia wishing her a happy birthday. I took the time to do some dishes and start dinner. We had our dear friends the Broom's over to celebrate Gabriella's birthday with us. Gabriella's birthday dinner was chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, green beans and broccoli all at her request. For the adults I made Chicken Kiev as I had a hankering for some cheese. For dessert we had a slightly misshaped cake with pink frosting. I forgot to spray the nonstick cake pans and the cake failed to come out. The good thing was Gabriella didn't even notice and the cake was still moist and delicious. Finally after our guests left Gabriella opened her gifts from me and Greg. She received a lot of beautiful gifts from our very generous friends and family members and we all feel very blessed.

Easter

2010-04-05T14:44:00.004+09:00

Another holiday has come and gone here in Okinawa. Easter dawned rainy and slightly cool, but that did little to dampen our excitement. I was up at 6:30 am to get the cupcakes baked and the 7 hour lamb in the oven. Once everything was prepped the lamb was placed in the oven and forgotten about for the next 7 hours. Gabriella was up at 7 am anxious to find out what the Easter bunny had brought her. She immediately found the Alice and Wonderland plush doll and gave it a tender hug before she realized that the living and dining rooms were covered in plastic eggs. Immediately abandoning her easter baskets she went to work trying to find all the eggs. She found all of them without any help, each time one of the eggs was discovered she squealed with glee. After a quick chat with my parents we headed off to church, which was packed. We barely managed to get a seat, but thankfully people squished over enough for us to slip into the pew. It was a wonderful service and the priest hopes to see all the attendees back next Sunday. Once we got home Gabriella went through her Easter basket with a fine tooth comb, playing and examining every single gift.

Later in the afternoon our friends arrived and we shared a delicious meal. The 7 hour lamb was tender and juicy as expected. I prepared a lot of side dishes, green beans, orzo salad, scalloped potatoes, and saffron rice. For dessert the kids decorated cookies and ate quite a few cupcakes. The movie of the day was Alice in Wonderland which was enjoyed by the girls. The boys weren't as interested and entertained themselves with the toys from Gabriella's cave. The dinner was a fantastic success, it was great to see our friends and share this special holiday together. A bonus of all the food was today I enjoyed the leftovers.

A Bunny, A Barrel, but no Monkey

2010-04-04T20:28:00.003+09:00

Easter weekend is upon us and on Saturday the hospital hosted an Easter egg hunt on the lawn. It was more of a carnival than a hunt. The eggs were laid in a cordoned off section of the grounds and different age groups went out to hunt for their allotted eggs. There was also a bouncy house, bouncy obstacle course, face painting, balloon animals, egg dying and the Easter bunny stopped by to make an appearance. Gabriella and her friends had a great time trying everything, her favorite was the bouncy obstacle course and dying easter eggs. Greg got a chance to say hello to a few colleagues and watch his daughter have fun.

After a trip to the park and a short nap at home we decided to go out to dinner. Tonneau restaurant is shaped like a giant barrel and for a restaurant that seems to have a gimmick the food was surprisingly delicious. The inside of the restaurant has an eclectic mix of decor which ranges from wooden airplanes to vodka bottles with fake fire burning in them. We sat down in the mostly empty dining room and quickly began to peruse the extensive menu. Deciding on what we wanted we picked up the phone at the table and called our waiter over. Yes it's a real phone that calls the bar where the waiter picks up and comes over. It proved to be quite handy when we asked for water later in the meal, Greg ordered it in perfect Japanese. We chose a wide variety of food including crab pizza, spaghetti carbonara, sushi, yakitori and fried oysters. The yakitori was absolutely amazing, if we go back I will definitely order it again. Greg loved the fried oysters and Gabriella devoured the spaghetti. The crab pizza and sushi was just so so. It was a delicious meal and the setting was quite dramatic. Before we headed home I popped into the ladies room and wouldn't you know it there was another aquarium in the bathroom stall. This one had no fish in it, which was a little sad but it was still an impressive aquarium. All and all the meal was fantastic and it capped off a great day with the family.

Play 60 A Day

2010-04-01T21:09:00.004+09:00

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids get out and play for 60 minutes a day. As the daughter of a doctor Gabriella tries very hard to keep up with all recommendations made by the AAP. This playing for 60 minutes a day is very easy for her to achieve. Her love of running, playing and generally moving keeps her in fine physical condition. In the past few weeks as my energy levels have waned hers have grown exponentially. The weather has been good so she's been playing outside more. It's amazing to see her outrun kids years older than her or pull herself up on the bars of the jungle gym with ease. Her stamina seems to have no limit. I hope she continues this healthy trait throughout her life. It's too bad we missed soccer season this year, I think it would be perfect for Gabriella, especially if she could play a forward position where she could run while people chase her, a favorite game of hers. Instead she's been working on her grace and poise during ballet, her physical strength and balance in gymnastics and her hip swaying in hula. Over the summer she will continue with gymnastics and hula plus add in swimming lessons. It should be a fun summer.

Salty and Sweet

2010-03-29T20:56:00.003+09:00

I've made a lot of things in my life, more meals than I can count, a beautiful daughter, more than a few mistakes but on Sunday I added another skill to my already immense list of accomplishments. I made salt. Yes salt. On Sunday we headed to the Gala salt factory for an outing and they offer a program where for 1500 yen you can make your own salt. It's a fairly simple process, you take concentrated sea water and heat it while continuously stirring slowly with a wooden stick until the water evaporates which then leaves pure Okinawan sea salt. Then you move onto a table where you grind the salt to your liking with a metal spoon, finally you spoon the salt into a small handmade pot. The whole process took about 3o minutes and everyone got a chance to help. It was a really great experience, one that made me really happy. As I walked back to the car holding my tiny earthen pot in my hand I was so proud of what I'd done. I think it's because I use salt every single day in every single thing I cook. It is a necessity in cooking and represents a core ingredient which every chef or cook relies upon. To have made it with my own hands was exhilarating. Before I became a serious student of the culinary arts I just thought salt was salt, nothing special. But as I read more and more cookbooks the fundamental teachings all discuss the importance of seasoning. Every chef has their favorite type of salt many love kosher salt, which is what I use, others like more refined specialty salts like grey salt of pink salt. Okinawan sea salt has been featured in Gourmet magazine as an example of a simple process making an exemplary product. The quote in the magazine was something like, their simple process and pristine waters make a salt that truly tastes of the saltiness of the sea and elevates any food it graces. I will use my special salt sparingly but I will use it and go back to make more when ever I run out.

After the salt factory we visited Zampa beach for a little relaxation in the sun. The beach isn't open for swimming until April 1st but we were still able to set up our beach chairs and soak up some Vitamin D. Gabriella and Greg braved the chilly waters to get their toes wet and look for fish. We forgot some of the key ingredients for making Gabriella happy at the beach, mainly a swimsuit and her sand toys, but she persevered with what she had. When we headed back to the car we were ready for a sweet snack so we stopped at the purple sweet potato confectionary factory and had some yummy ice cream. The factory is basically a huge souvenir shop where travelers can pick up special snacks and cakes to take home to family. We sampled a few treats but were really more interested in the cool, refreshing ice cream. With our sweet tooth satisfied we headed back home.

He Will Rock You

2010-03-28T18:25:00.004+09:00

Last night was the intern graduation party at the Habu Pit. It's a great accomplishment for the Japanese interns to complete a year of training at the Naval Hospital Okinawa. This party is the way to celebrate their success. The interns put together an amazing program. There were many stars of the evening, the interns themselves as well as some of the doctors who took part in the evenings entertainment. Greg was one of those doctors, he reprised his halloween costume and strutted his stuff as Freddie Mercury. In front of his superiors, fellow physicians and coworkers he sang out his heart in a karaoke version of We Will Rock You. It was truly an inspiring piece of work. My personal favorite was the air guitar solo at the end of the song. The whole room erupted in applause at his arrival and sang and cheered with him until he skidded off stage at the end of his performance. It was hard to top such a magnificent performance but the interns turned in a stellar video which featured their version of the USNH news. The pinnacle of the video was the hospital's version of the Thriller video starring many of the hospital staff including the CO and XO of the hospital dancing like the zombies in the video. It was fantastic to watch.

After the party we went out to karaoke. It was the first time Greg and I have ever karaoked together and I must say we make a great team. I had such a good time singing with all our friends, we even heard and maybe tried to sing a long with a few Japanese songs. Although I wasn't able to stay out all that late since we had a babysitter at home I did manage to sing a few songs, have a peach soda and some french fries before I had to head back to get Gabriella. Greg of course kept the party going to the wee hours of the morning.

**Check out the video of Greg's performance.

Size does Matter

2010-03-28T17:29:00.003+09:00

I'm not a big fan of numbers especially numbers on a scale or the number of my dress size. There are a few times when that hasn't been the case. When I was actively doing boot camp I looked forward to seeing my weight drop off as I worked hard each week towards my goal. As for dress sizes I haven't really been shopping since I went home to the states for my cousin's wedding. At that time I was still loosing weight so the only thing I bought were a pair of jeans and some long sleeve shirts. Yesterday as I tried on dress after dress only to realize that they were all hopelessly big on me I decided to try to find a better fitting dress. I've never really liked shopping at the exchange because there are very limited plus size clothes. As I walked through the dress section of the exchange I pulled a few dresses off the wall wondering if they would fit. The size seemed completely ludicrous but the dress was beautiful. I held it up to myself and it seemed like the possibility of it fitting was there so I took it into the dressing room. As I slid myself into the first dress I was pleased to see how well it fit, it was a very pretty navy blue. I was also thrilled that it was a size 16. All the other dresses in my closet are size 22. The next dress was black which I was already leaning towards because I had shoes to match but it was a size 14 and I didn't really think it was possible for it to fit me. It was with ecstatic elation that I pulled that dress over my head and fastened the tie. I studied myself in the mirror and was thrilled at how well the dress fit me. It did show off my pregnant belly which is to be expected, but the rest of me looked great in it. I did a little dance of joy and jumped up and down a few times, it was a wonderful moment. In that one moment I saw the strides I've made in weight loss over the past year. I've changed both mentally and physically how I exercise how I eat and how I perceive myself. I can wear dresses from almost every section of a department store. I can fit into a dress that isn't deemed plus size and look good. It was a big wow moment for me.

Market Day

2010-03-25T18:42:00.004+09:00

This morning after a week of procrastination I finally dragged myself to the grocery store. But one grocery store isn't enough here on Okinawa. My first stop was the JA fresh market, this is my favorite produce market. Today I was there first thing in the morning which usually doesn't happen. I like to wait until Gabriella is out of school because she loves to peruse the vegetables. This morning the vendors were still putting out their vegetables and many of them were still warm from the fields. Each vendor happily explained why their products were superior to the others around them mostly in Japanese but a few could speak english. One lady was putting out some delicious looking napa cabbage and although I didn't plan to buy any but her enthusiasm was contagious and I purchased one. I got a full bag of vegetables and fruits for about $15 US, a fantastic deal for a lot of delicious vegetables. My next stop was the Mini Mini egg store where I picked up a basket of eggs. I was going to get some cream puffs but they weren't made yet. My final stop was the commissary to get all those groceries that are only available on a base. Those include bread, milk, asparagus, canned foods and cheese. I managed to do all these errands before pick up time for Gabi's school. Now our house is fully stocked with healthy foods and I'm ready for the weekend.

Flower Child

2010-03-24T17:38:00.003+09:00

Monday we headed to the northern part of the island to a small village called Higashi to see their famous Azalea festival. We left directly from Gabi's school after pick up. The drive north was a little farther than we expected but we had some snacks to help sustain us. There is nothing more perfect for a road trip than Cool Ranch Dorritos. We stopped at a Mangrove park for our picnic lunch. They had a really cool raised walkway that allowed visitors to walk through the mangroves without damaging the fragile roots. We saw some very interesting crabs, they had one giant claw and then one small one. I'm sure one of the Japanese signs explained the species but the language barrier and our lack of patience led us to skip right by them. After our brief rest we continued our journey to Higashi. The Azalea park has over 50,000 blooms according to their pamphlets. There were a lot of beautiful flowers and the traditional festival snack foods. Greg and Gabriella shared a strawberry frozen yogurt while I just stuck to water. It was a beautiful sunny day which was slightly marred by the sandstorm blowing in from China. Even the slightly sandy air did nothing to take away from the splendidly kept gardens. We traversed the paths, up and over bridges and down into small ravines. On the way home we stopped for dinner at Jam's Steakhouse, it's a tepanyaki restaurant (think Benihana) with a very eclectic decorator. Gabriella really enjoyed trying some new foods including goya and bok choy. Our chef made some delicious food, my favorite was my prawn which was huge. They cook the whole thing including the head and the exoskeleton. To demonstrate the incredible decor I would be remiss if I didn't mention the aquarium in the toilet stall featured in the ladies room. It was quite a surprise and frankly a little shocking. However, while using the facilities Gabriella pointed out the "nemo" fish and a sand crab in the tank. It was a great day out together as a family.

Walkabout

2010-03-23T19:14:00.004+09:00

When I was in junior high I read a book about children going on a walkabout in the Australian outback. I can't really remember the plot points of the story other than these kids going on this long walk. Saturday Gabriella and I went on a walkabout around Okinawa. We started out just after noon heading towards Araha Beach. We lovingly refer to that beach as Pirate Ship park, because there is a huge pirate ship playground. As we headed out of our base we happily soaked up the sun. Gabriella and I were completely decked out in sun hats and bug spray we were ready to go. We made a quick stop for lunch and a cool drink at Mike's Tex Mex. After a quesadilla and some guacamole with chips we continued on our walkabout. Our next stop was the bunny store where we browsed the baby clothes and toys talking about the twins. We left the store with a new pair of capris for Gabriella and a maternity shirt for me, both purchased for under $10. As we walked towards the park Gabriella started to get excited. Once we moved through the metal bars into the park she took off at a run, quickly climbing the ladder to the mast to begin to captain her pirate ship. Her imagination helped to imagine this playground is really the Jolly Roger sailing the high seas. She made friends with a few Japanese kids and once again proved that the language of play trumps all other languages. Soon she and her new friends were running up and down the ship squealing with joy and talking to each other, each in their own language, without missing a beat. After a while we moved on to the beach where Gabriella played with the sand and dipped a few toes in the water. The sand on Araha beach is like powder and very soft. I dipped my toes in the warm sand as I watched Gabriella collect shells and play in the water I felt content. I don't think we've spent enough time at the beach here, I plan to remedy that this summer. When the wind got too strong we decided to start our walk home. As we got closer to home we passed a girls softball game and slid into the stands to cheer for an inning. When we finally returned home to a cool drink of water and a lounge in our chairs. We were both tired but content, needless to say we both slept very well.

A Visit from a Very Special Fairy

2010-03-18T17:23:00.003+09:00

Well I suppose it was bound to happen, I mean the dentist told us her bottom teeth were loose and that she'd probably loose them once she turned 5. However, never did I expect Gabriella to run downstairs crying with a bloody mouth and a tooth hanging by it's root. But that is exactly what happened. She and our neighbor were playing upstairs in her room when I guess Gabriella had one of her plastic princesses in her mouth and Destini pulled it out of her mouth almost taking her little tooth with it. Her mouth was bleeding slightly and when I wiggled the tooth it was clear that it was coming out of her today. With many tears and sweating, all on Gabriella's part, I managed to wiggle that tooth right out of her mouth. While she was pretty traumatized by the whole experience the promise of an ice pop and a visit from the tooth fairy was enough to help her put on a brave face. Through watery smiles and heaving sobs she repeatedly said how excited she was to get a visit from the tooth fairy. Before we moved here I made sure to bring my tooth fairy pillow (just in case) and I'm thrilled that my little girl will use the same pillow I used when I lost my very first tooth. I must admit this is the first milestone that she's reached that really made me think about how fast she's growing up. This was certainly very very unexpected for both of us.

A Whole lot of Maybes

2010-03-17T07:25:00.002+09:00

We had our 15 week ultrasound on Monday and received a lot of positive news. The babies are doing well, moving a lot and are right on target for growth. We could see baby B flexing fingers and arching it's back. Baby A was not in a picture taking mood, but was still active. The whole ultrasound was done by a wonderful doctor. She immediately put me at ease, complimented me on my progress and explained about the road ahead. What we didn't find out in this ultrasound was the sex. Neither baby was really cooperative about giving us a clear shot so for now we will wait and wonder. The doctor did say she could only see one placenta, which means there is a distinct possibility these little ones could be identical. However, she prefaced that by saying the placentas could be squished up against each other and therefore actually be two of them but it appears as one. Also on the sex front, there was the absence of a penis so therefore it could be a girl but she wouldn't say with any certainty because of the angle we were seeing. So it was an appointment with a lot of maybes. I'm still praying for healthy and hoping for blue. We did find out one thing for sure, these babies will (hopefully if no complications arise) be born sometime between August 12th and August 19th. So mark your calendars, in pencil just in case you need to erase, the window has been set.

Like Father Like Daughter

2010-03-15T09:17:00.003+09:00

Many people that we've met both friends and strangers have commented on how much Gabriella looks like me. I'm always flattered because I think she's the most beautiful little girl on the planet and I have a few relatives who completely agree with me. I think there are a lot of ways was are similar, we watch TV with the same zoned out expression hearing and seeing nothing else but what is on the screen, we also have a similar timber to our speech and we share a few facial features. There are some ways she's very similar to her daddy. The first is that she has his ears, they are exact replicas and I love them. The second is that she has his love of puzzles and games, activities they love to do together. I've never seen two more dedicated people when working a puzzle. Another similarity is their love of desserts. While this isn't an innate trait but one learned through countless lessons on Greg's part but it truly demonstrates how similar they are. I use the picture above as a perfect example. That picture was taken on Sunday at the Butler Officers Club, Gabriella and I were there for brunch. It's important to note that Greg was still en route from the states and that Gabriella constructed that massive dessert all by herself. I did pour the soft serve into the bowl, but the rest was all her. When I tried to limit her toppings she said "daddy says I can put a little of everything". I wonder what the two buns in the oven will inherit from us and what we will mold into them.

A Break in the Weather

2010-03-15T08:14:00.004+09:00

Saturday was actually sunny and warm, a combination that has not occurred on Okinawa for the past week. It has been cloudy and downright chilly which is definitely not what the weather was like this time last year. I do feel like this year I've gotten more use out of the few winter clothes I brought here but now I'm ready to pack them away. We started the day with ballet class which is one of Gabriella's favorite things to do. She loves wearing the leotards, tights and ballet slippers. They finished the choreography for their spring recital and it looks adorable. She's going to be dressed as a fairy and dancing to a song from the Tinkerbell movie soundtrack.

After ballet we went home and had a delicious breakfast before doing some puzzles. Gabriella has gotten really good at her Tchaikovsky ballet puzzle book, she barely needs my help anymore. We had a simple lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and apple slices. We'd just finished our lunch when we got a call from our friends inviting us to go for a walk. We joined them on a trek off base to Sunset Beach for a little vitamin D boost. Lathered up in sunscreen and with a few kids in strollers, not Gabi of course because it would stunt her ability to run like Carl Lewis, we headed off base. Sunset beach is directly out our gate down about 2 blocks, it takes very little time to walk there and it's beautiful. Although the beach is still closed to swimming for the "winter" the sand itself is still open to play. Gabriella informed me that the water was warm enough for feet but too cold to go swimming. The kids played in the sand for a while before it was announced that the next stop was Yogurtland. The clammer of children dusting off sand and putting on shoes was quite a sight. We walked to American Village, a collection of shops and eateries which houses my favorite Ramen place, sushi go round and of course Yogurtland. Gabriella and I each got our own cup of yogurt, she completely overloaded hers with sprinkles, gummy things and cookies. I got vanilla wafer yogurt with chocolate rice crispies and strawberries on top. It was a great treat after a walk in the sunshine. Once our faces were covered in yogurt and toppings we headed home. After a pit stop to play on a playground Gabriella and I headed home for dinner.

Making the next Einstein

2010-03-11T20:36:00.002+09:00

The discussion of playing music to your unborn children in order to make them smarter is a much debated and completely unproven theory. Lately television has been boring so I've been listening to a lot more music. As the music of Darren Hayes pours into my ears I wonder what the little babies think of it. I wonder if the ridiculous lyrics of Ben Folds Five or Cake have any positive or negative effect on them. I've read stories of parents claiming their child instantly calmed when they heard songs played to them while in utero. Gabriella did listen to a lot of Beatles while in my tummy and she does like their music, but I attribute it to playing it often for her after she was born and the fact that their song Here comes the Sun was featured in Bee Movie. It's curious to think of all the things that I do that effects these new little lives inside me. What I eat will help them to grow, the exercise I do helps to stimulate blood flow to them and apparently the music I listen to may help them to be smarter. The concept of nurturing while in the womb is the subject of many many books. As I've perused the twin books collection on Amazon I've passed a ridiculous numbers of books claiming ways to make your child brilliant while still gestating. Personally I'm doing all I can to keep these two fed and comfy in their water world. I don't think I need to add an hour of Mozart pulsed through my stomach on a specially designed speaker system, which happens to retail for $150. My attitudes towards necessities have shifted dramatically from when we were preparing for Gabriella's arrival. This time instead of wanting everything I want just the basics. Not the latest and greatest but the time tested and simple. Oh how time has brought maturity, the understanding that these babies will turn into great people not because of what they have but what we teach them.

Water Water Everywhere

2010-03-10T16:35:00.002+09:00

I've really been trying to eat properly these past few days and stick to my pre pregnancy diet plan. While I've kind of fallen off on a few food choices like cheese I have been sticking to drinking a gallon of water each day. I use to have these really cool 32 oz bottles and I knew I had to drink 4 of them to reach my water goal. Well I have misplaced both bottles as of late so I've transitioned to pint glasses. I have 8 pint glasses of water throughout the day and boom that's my gallon. All this water does have some draw backs, firstly I've had to buy ice because I never remember to fill up the Britta filter and I don't like to drink warm water. Next, there are enumerable trips each day to the bathroom. Yesterday I went 11 times. The good thing is that I know it's helping my blood flow easier, helping my digestion and I'm pretty sure I'm at very low risk for dehydration.

This week has been busy, Greg is gone this week at the USPS conference. He's having a great time seeing old friends, eating delicious food and drinking lots of kind beer. While he is gone Gabriella and I have been staying busy. Monday we watched the Oscars together, Tuesday we went to lunch and Library time with our friends and today we had gymnastics and a special dinner and a movie date with friends. Our dinner tonight is spaghetti and meatballs and we're watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I've hidden an entire bag of baby spinach in the sauce and meatballs, I hope no little ones notice.

Gabriella misses her daddy very much, especially when she asks for something and I say no, she has no one else to turn to. I've also tried to keep up with the never ending dessert requests which is usually Greg's responsibility. All and all we are doing well but missing daddy.

A Sunday and a Monday

2010-03-08T12:02:00.002+09:00

Although we haven't been to too many birthday parties on this island we have been to a few. Each one we attend has something great about them. Yesterday was our good friend Luke's 2nd birthday party. His parents held it at their house which is right next to a huge playground. It was such a great place because the kids could eat and then go play. There was no party games which makes everything much less stressful, since no one gets hurt feelings about not getting a prize. Gabriella's birthday is coming up in less than a month and we are starting to discuss what she wants for her birthday party. I think we may end up having it at home, it would be great if our playground reopens in time. The one thing that Gabriella has decided is that she wants to invite every person she knows including her teachers. It should be an interesting month what with Easter and her birthday so close together.

Today we are watching the Oscars together since Gabriella's school has a staff development day. So far her favorite part was the John Hughes tribute and when Up won for best animated movie. We've been doing a lot of cleaning up today, her room has been reorganized and so has her cave. Hopefully she will be able to keep it clean and neat especially when friends come over to play.

What a week

2010-03-07T10:29:00.002+09:00

The second half of this week seems to have been exhausting, yet I don't remember doing anything too strenuous. Thursday morning I had an appointment with the OBGYN, everything with the babies is going well. It was a really quick appointment and because Gabriella was home sick from school she went with me. She looked so cute with her mask on, I insisted she wear one so we wouldn't get every pregnant woman in the waiting room sick. Everyone gave her some strange looks, but she didn't seem to notice. My appointment was suppose to be at 10:40, but of course we didn't actually see the doctor until almost 11, which is typical. We were out the door by 11:30 so that gives you an idea of how quick the actual appointment was. I did get a quick glimpse of the babies on the ultrasound but Gabriella was far more interested in them so I allowed her to stand in front of me so she could see them clearly. They are confirmed di/di twins, which means they have their own amniotic sacs. This is good because it means that there is no chance of their cords getting wrapped around each other and they have no chance of getting twin to twin transfusion syndrome. They were moving around excitedly and their hearts were beating strong. I have another appointment in 2 weeks, which if this keeps up I'll visit the doctor another 12 times before I give birth, not including any lab visits.

On friday I took Greg and a few of his colleagues to the airport. It was a harrowing journey because not only was I driving the Delica, a beast of a van with a pension for stalling, but I was under a time crunch to get to the airport and back before Gabi's 11:30 school pick up time. We left the house at 9:45 and picked up the visiting cardiologist and his resident. Next I had to take them to the Westpac hotel so they could drop off their keys. As we pull into the Foster gate all the cars were stopped waiting for a helicopter to take off from the landing pad at the Macaroni Grill. Apparently someone had a hankering for some italian and needed it stat. We waited there a good 10 minutes or more before that helicopter finally took off. The next task was getting gas, a seriously annoying issue which took another 10 minutes or so. Finally on the road to the airport we arrived with no further delays at 11 am. That meant I had 30 minutes to get back to the base. I made it in 45, which meant I was 5 minutes past the grace period and I owe Gabriella's school $5 on Tuesday. I felt so terrible when I picked her up, she was the last child left at school and she seemed relieved to see me, I think she thought I'd forgotten about her.

Friday night was pretty low key we spent the evening relaxing which was a nice break from our normally busy evenings. Saturday included ballet class and a playdate with a friend from class. Gabriella and her friend played wonderfully the whole time and her room didn't even look like disaster when the date was over. After the playdate we went grocery shopping and to the commissary. Now that our house is fully stocked I'm confident that we can make it through the rest of the week without making another trip for provisions. We had dinner with our good friends, it was a delicious roast, and we got home in time for bath time and bed.

Back to the gym

2010-03-03T15:46:00.002+09:00

I suppose I've been lax in the last few weeks with my exercising. Today I feel like I made up for it. I started with my normal Zumba class, it was really crowded and I had a few new dances to learn. It was quite difficult learning the new steps in such a crowded class but I managed. I think it's really fun to dance with all the other girls, twisting and shaking to the music. The second class is a core toning class and usually I skip it but today I decided to make up for missing class on Monday. The toning class is only half and hour but we work a lot of muscle groups into 30 minutes. Today we used weights and did a lot of upper body work, it was nice to actually get a workout other than cardio. I feel like some of my muscles are already losing tone because of lack of use. I haven't been able to pick up my best 40 pound weight in over almost 2 months. I don't think Gabriella realizes how in shape she kept me. I barely made it home in time to shower and change before I had to leave to pick Gabriella up from school. I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow.

What are you going to be when you grow up?

2010-03-02T15:50:00.003+09:00

It's a pretty benign question that is asked many times throughout childhood. Today was the first time I think it's ever been put to Gabriella by another child. Riding back from the library with her friend Sophia in the backseat I overheard their conversation about their future careers. Sophia wants to be a doctor and Gabriella wants to be a rock star. Yep a rock star, I didn't realize she knew what a rock star was but she's determined to be one. Sophia seemed a little surprised by her answer, but sallied forth with her reasons for becoming a doctor. Gabriella countered with the suggestion that she may consider becoming a doctor after her stint as a rock star was over. At least she knows that being a rock star isn't always a lifelong job. The whole conversation made me laugh.

I wonder what these two buns in the oven will be when they grow up. Hopefully not freaky dressed alike twins at the end of a hotel hallway.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

2010-02-28T20:08:00.002+09:00

The past few days here in Okinawa have been what I would call disaster centric. Yesterday at 5:30 am we were shaken awake by a 7.0 earthquake and today we were evacuated for a tsunami caused by another earthquake half way across the world. I suppose if either of these disasters were to have happened anywhere but here there probably would have been widespread panic and looting. But here in Okinawa it was business as usual. There has been no reported structural damage from the earthquake. I've never been in an earthquake so strong, yet nothing was disturbed in our house. The only thing to fall was Gabriella's toothpaste into the sink, and that could have happened without the earthquake. In fact while Greg and I were finding doorways to stand in, Gabriella was fast asleep in her bed. She never fully woke up. I stood in her doorway holding on to her bed and keeping an eye on her in case she needed to be rescued. When I woke her up for ballet later in the morning she told me that daddy had shaken her bed to try to wake her up. When I informed her that it was an earthquake she seemed suspicious but eventually let daddy off the hook for the early wake up shake.

The tsunami warning came this morning after Chile's earthquake. The warning was issued at 10 am for a possible tsunami at 3:10 pm. I thought the precise time given was a rather nice touch. The base wide announcement also told us to listen to AFN radio for updated information. Well no further information was given until 1:30 or so when the alert was sent out that people needed to evacuate from low lying areas of the base, specifically those living below the 30 foot level. So those living in the Old Lester housing area were mandated to evacuate. We were planning to barbeque brawts for lunch and of course we didn't have any rolls, so I ran out to the grocery store to get some. Before I left the base I was aware of the possibility of evacuation but in all honesty I didn't think it was a high possibility. Our house is located 37 feet above sea level so I assumed we'd be ok. I got back from my leisurely trip to the Kadena commissary and JA market and was welcomed in the gate without any indication that a massive base wide evacuation was underway. When I turned the corner into our housing area there were about 20 marines hurrying door to door announcing the evacuation. Everyone was advised to get to higher ground on either Camp Foster or Camp Butler. I informed Greg of the impending evacuation and we piled into the car and headed up the hill to the highest housing on Camp Lester. There we sat outside enjoying the beautiful view and watching for the tsunami. We did see a few waves in the harbor but none seemed to be any larger than normal. Finally 2 hours after the evacuation order was given we returned home, an hour later the all clear was given. We celebrated our tsunami survival by having an impromptu bbq at our house inviting our friends to come over. This weekend was seismically crazy but we survived. I hope next weekend isn't this exciting.

I have to go potty

2010-02-27T10:33:00.003+09:00

Those are probably the most feared words in the english language for a parent. I heard those very words yesterday evening while Gabriella and I were walking home in a torrential rain storm. Here is how the evening went down. We went out to dinner at our favorite sushi go round followed by dessert at Yogurtland. The food and frozen yogurt really hit the spot. It was raining steadily as we left American Village for our quick walk home. We dropped Greg off at I's his favorite local watering hole and then walked towards home. We'd gotten inside the gate and were walking in front of the hospital heading towards our home when those dreaded words came out of Gabriella's mouth. I had just received a call from Rachel asking if we wanted her to pick us up. I said we were almost home and would be fine. My first thought was to turn around and head into the hospital but then I remembered that there are bathrooms inside the post office. I hurried up the sidewalk towards the post office. As we walked through the door Gabriella was already in dire straits, she clearly needed to go. We checked the door to the woman's bathroom and it was locked, Gabriella immediately suggested the men's bathroom but again the door was locked. When I delivered the bad news I thought that Gabriella was going to burst into tears. The only thing to do was to do our best to make it to our house. We started walking as quickly as possible through the pouring rain towards our house. As the house came into sight Gabriella was practically crying while I pulled her along towards home. Making it to the door I got the key in the lock and pried the door open. The moment the door swung open Gabriella bolted into the house and into the bathroom. She made it with probably just seconds to spare before she had an accident. We were soaking wet when we got home so we stripped out of our wet clothes, tossed them in the washer and headed upstairs for hot shower and warm jammys.

Pretty Pretty Princess

2010-02-27T10:13:00.002+09:00

Okinawa is not only home to great snorkeling and water activities but also to musical theatre. On Thursday, Gabriella and I decided to take in a play. It was the children's musical version of Disney's Cinderella. We met our friends for an early dinner at Macaroni Grill before we headed over to our night of culture. Dinner was delicious, I splurged and had a Shirley Temple to drink. Although by the time I got to the actual performance I kind of wished I had been able to have something stronger. It was a cute show, all the performers were children and they did a very good job. The girl who played Cinderella had a lovely singing voice and the mice were quite cute even though they had me wondering if they had all sucked on some helium to get their voices so high or if it was natural. All and all the performance was cute and blessedly short, only one hour with a 10 minute intermission in the middle. On the way home I asked Gabriella what her favorite part of the evening was and her answer was having dinner with her friends. I must say that was my favorite part too.

Post Boot Camp Exercise and Diet

2010-02-24T14:45:00.003+09:00

Learning to keep on top of my exercise without boot camp has been a challenge. I'm trying to balance getting as much rest as possible while still doing some sort of exercise each day. Lucky for me my base gym offers Zumba two times a week. Although it's no where near has tough as Cardio Funk it definitely gets my heart pumping and my body moving. The music makes me want to shake my money maker and the moves remind me of learning dance moves for flags. I try to stay away from all the jumping which isn't recommended for pregnancy. The good thing about Zumba is that you are able to make it as hard or as easy as you want. If you don't want to put your hands all the way up you don't have to. But the key to a good cardio workout, I've been told, is to work your arms. The harder you work on moving your arms the more your heart pumps and the more parts of your body are working. I always end Zumba hot, sweaty and completely happy with my workout. I hope the twins are enjoying all the dancing and music, I'm sure in time they will be able to tell me.

By the way it's 13 weeks today, the first trimester is over and the second is beginning. I wonder if the sickness will start to fade or will the cravings. Supposedly I'm suppose to be starting to get my baby bump, but I can't really see it. I probably have trouble seeing it because all my clothes are still big on me. I don't have a scale here at home so I have no idea if I've continued to loose weight. I know I've done my best to keep my diet as healthy as possible while adding in the 600 extra calories I need everyday. My favorite 600 calorie addition is an Avocado with salt, pepper, lime and tabasco sauce. The one thing I haven't been able to get enough of is fiber, but I'm working on it.

Cravings

2010-02-23T20:04:00.002+09:00

There is nothing worse than seeing a commercial for a restaurant that we don't have on this island. It's like those poor people in San Diego who have to watch Sonic commercials yet there is no Sonic in SD. I have to watch Sonic commercials here and there isn't one for 3000 miles. Now that I'm pregnant I've been having the weirdest cravings. They are all salt based, I haven't really had a desire for anything sweet. That being said I have eaten a few brownies in the past few weeks. My main kick right now is tomatoes. I love freshly sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper or tomato juice. Today I made myself a delicious fresh yellow and red grape tomato salad with cucumber, feta cheese and homemade balsamic dressing. Tomatoes are good for me, they are full of Vitamin A which I'm sure will help the babies develop good eyesight. However, eating too many can also be harmful. I just learned that too much Vitamin A can make a person photo sensative. Which could explain the sunburn I'm currently sporting. Greg has asked me to cut back and I will try. I did eat 8 roma tomatoes yesterday and that was probably a bit much. Today I only had one pint of the grape tomatoes and one glass of tomato juice. I suppose I can always go back to eating lemons with salt, that's another craving I've been having. But eating that is bad for the enamel on my teeth. I guess I will just have to eat my cravings in moderation. I'm only 13 weeks along so I'm sure there will be a lot more of these intense desires for specific foods before these babies are born. Hopefully it won't involve wanting something from Sonic.

Olympic Fervor

2010-02-22T18:55:00.004+09:00

As some of you know Greg absolutely loves the Olympics and he is dedicated to seeing as much of them as possible. When the Beijing Olympics happened a few years ago Greg filled up all 40 hours on our Tivo with various events. This time around we have no Tivo and Greg is forced to get up at 3 am to watch his beloved games. For some reason curling and hockey are what he's watching between 3 and 5 am, then there are some heartwarming stories which he catnaps during before watching some skiing before heading off to work. Thank goodness these Olympics are only 16 days long because I'm fairly sure Greg is going to collapse from exhaustion soon. I love the Olympics, but I lack the insane dedication that Greg has. I'm not getting up that early to watch anything, only to go work out. Hmm, I wonder who the insane one is now. Gabriella has proved that she is just as interested in international sports as Greg is. However, her interest is more in the trying of new sports than watching them on TV. Her favorite sport is speed skating, she's been begging us to take her ice skating so she can try it out. She also really enjoyed watching the luge and skeleton. In fact yesterday while she and Greg were out at a park she wound herself up like she was on the luge before flinging herself down the roller slide. The photo above is of her on the "luge track".

Take me out to the ball game

2010-02-21T12:06:00.006+09:00

Saturday we headed out into Chatan to partake in a very popular activity here in Japan, a baseball game. The game was the Chunichi Dragons versus the Yaukult Swallows. The baseball stadium was just outside our gate so we walked to the game. It was great to feel the fresh air and get a little exercise at the same time. Gabriella took the oportunity to take a photo with the Dragon's mascot Doala the Koala. The Dragon's use a similar font to the Dodgers so it was almost like we were at a baseball game at home. Of course there were no peanuts or crackerjacks, but they did have hot dogs and beer. Greg had the beer and I had a corn dog. Before the game started the team captains were presented with huge bouquets of flowers from the city of Chatan. There were two mascots on the field, the koala and a tomato/apple girl. They entertained the crowd with flips, cute little waves and skits before the game began. The game started promptly at 1 pm and went until after 4. It ended in a tie, they don't go to extra innings because the teams are in spring training. Both teams are from mainland Japan and will return to the mainland once the season begins. I must say that the food served at this game was like nothing I've ever seen at a in the states they served soba noodles, takoyaki (octopus balls), and yakitori (skewered chicken). They did have a few sweet snacks like carmel corn and cotton candy, but we chose to wait for our sweet treat until after the game. On the way home we stopped at Blue Seal for ice cream. We picked a good day because it was buy one scoop get a second for free. Both Greg and Gabriella got two big scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone while I had some cream of spinach soup. It was a great day out and the rain held off so we could enjoy a little bit of sun.

It's over...

2010-02-20T09:49:00.003+09:00

Well my turn at boot camp has officially come to an end. I will be packing up my little pink alarm clock for the time being. No more 4:07 beeping to disturb Greg's sleep or mine. I must say it's almost bittersweet. Of course I'm looking forward to more rest and hopefully more energy during the day. But, this rollercoaster of exercise has kept me and my diet on track. It's rather daunting to continue this pregnancy without my food journal constantly being checked or my body fat being measured at every 4 weeks. But I'm sure I'll be able to stay healthy. The good habits have been cultivated over the last 5 and a 1/2 months and I'm not too worried I'll forget them. Even when I make somewhat unhealthy choices I know what it means, I know the fat it will add to my body. But sometimes a brownie is worth it. In a previous post I told you all the vital statistics of the weight I've lost, in this one I want to show some visual proof of how different I look. Obviously the before picture is on the left, it was actually taken a few days before we moved to Okinawa. The picture on the right was taken on our trip to Taiwan in mid January. I think it shows a dramatic difference in body mass and although I'm certainly happy in both but I can tell you I definitely feel better about my body in the picture on the right. I'm sure in future blogs you will see more pictures, probably with a growing belly but hopefully not a fattening face.

Short Circuitry

2010-02-18T13:00:00.002+09:00

Today was my last day of class at boot camp, I will run tomorrow but that could be cancelled due to rain. As a special treat on my last day we did a brutal circuit with stairs thrown in for fun. It truly was horrendous, I can't remember the last time I've sweated so much or felt so exhausted after a workout. But I finished it and I'm proud of that accomplishment. This amazing boot camp experience has come to a close, now that I'm pregnant with twins I need more rest and I can't seem to get that getting up everyday at 4 am. I will of course continue to work out the only difference is that I will do it later in the day while Gabriella is at school.

This 22 weeks of boot camp has been a life changing experience. I've lost 34 pounds and 14% body fat but those are just numbers. The real change has been far greater. Firstly I feel much better about myself and I've trained myself to eat better and to appreciate the feeling I get when I exercise. Secondly, when I started this boot camp I was depressed and not sleeping without the aid of sleeping pills. Now I take nothing and haven't for quite a while. Thirdly, I'm pregnant. We've been trying to have a baby for 2 years and until I lost some weight and started eating better we'd been failing at it. I'm able to keep up with Gabriella a lot better these days, I'm able to run with her although she still goes faster. Greg and I go out to explore the island and I'm able to go up stairs without feeling like I'm having a heart attack. Greg and Gabriella have been so supportive through this whole process. Eating the different foods that are on my diet or coming with me to classes or just praising my accomplishments and giving me encouragement. As I step away from boot camp I'm confident that I've learned enough skills to keep me healthy for the rest of my life.

Twin Power Activate

2010-02-16T18:52:00.002+09:00

Today started my last week of boot camp. I dreaded telling John that I was cutting out a few weeks early but the truth is that I'm exhausted. I need to get more sleep and one way to do that is to stop getting up at 4:15am 5 days a week. I'm still planning to exercise 5 days a week, the only difference is I'll be motivating myself and doing it later in the day. I still plan to go to Zumba twice a week and then spend the rest of the week days going to the gym while Gabriella is at school. I'm hoping the extra rest will help me overcome the exhaustion that has plagued me since this pregnancy began. As I write this it's almost 7 at night and I'm still in my pajamas. I was too tired to leave the house today even too tired to get dressed. Gabriella was a real trooper today she didn't even complain about being cooped up the house all day, it probably helped that it was raining on and off all day. This morning at boot camp we did circuits again and those always wear me out. In between these circuits we took to the stairs, I will absolutely not miss climbing those stairs. I only have 2 days of running and one day of class left and I can say goodbye to boot camp. John has told me to activate my twin powers to help propel me through my workouts. I hope the twin power will continue to help me to keep motivated to keep moving. The key to keeping me healthy during this pregnancy is to keep exercising.

I did manage to pull myself up by my bootstraps and make a delicious Mardi Gras inspired dinner. We made a similar meal last year however this year we didn't have guests. The shrimp po boys were as delicious as ever and the red beans and rice were Gabriella's favorite. As I quickly finish this blog I'm listening to the soothing sounds of Pat "Mother" Blues playing on the ipod. Tomorrow is a run day and I'm hoping the twin powers will be in full effect.

A Gold Medal Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T07:56:00.003+09:00

The weekend has been rather wet here in Okinawa so our big plans to leave the house have been thwarted by the weather. It has worked out though because the Olympics are on. Greg has been getting up at 3 am to watch the games live on TV. Saturday morning we all watched the opening ceremonies together, Greg of course was able to tell me a little about each of the 82 countries that marched into the Marshmallow arena. After the pageantry was over we settled into a quiet afternoon of reading and relaxing. Saturday night we headed across the street for Indian food and frozen yogurt. I'm glad we walked because I felt like I ate more than usual and I needed a bit of walking to help me digest. Gabriella really surprised us by devouring the chicken curry and cheesy nan. It's always nice to find something she likes to eat when we go out for dinner. Usually we get her a kids meal and she eats two bites then says she's full. For dessert we went to Yogurtland, a serve yourself place. Greg and Gabriella shared a bowl and had it filled to the brim with 3 flavors of yogurt and a whole lot of toppings. I got my own bowl since I like flavors no one wants to share, like pistachio and tiramisu.

On Sunday Greg was up early to watch the first few events of the winter olympics. Gabriella and I got up around 7:15 and got dressed for church. Greg was able to tear himself away from the women's mogul just in time to make it to church. There was no CCD this week so Gabriella and I were able to come home and make Valentine's day pancakes for Greg. After a day of Olympic watching we made our special Valentine's day dinner, porterhouse steaks and King Crab legs. Needless to say dinner was delicious, Gabriella especially enjoyed the crab legs eating at least 2 legs all on her own. She also ate a fair amount of steak. I made some delicious roasted parmesan cauliflower but I was the only one who ate it. Greg did have one piece and pronounced it not as yucky as he thought it would be, which is probably the best compliment I could expect from him. Gabriella had a few friends over last night so our friends could go to out for a Valentine's dinner. The kids were really well behaved and they all enjoyed a delicious brownie sundae for dessert. It was a great weekend, that isn't over yet. Both Greg and Gabriella have the day off on Monday so after the Olympics and depending on the weather we may actually leave the house.

The first of many

2010-02-12T12:51:00.002+09:00

Today was the last day of school before Valentine's day. Gabriella headed to school with all her Valentine's for her classmates and her share bag. While she was celebrating with her class I was at the lab sucking down a disgusting orange drink and sitting in a waiting room for an hour for my first blood glucose test. I'm sure it will be my first of many. I've already been to the lab to get a host of blood drawn before my initial OB appointment. This trip was for a few more vials of my precious blood, only this time I fasted all night. My lab trip was successful and although I don't know what my test results are yet I'm just glad I'm done with the lab for now. I hope I pass my glucose test so I don't have to go back and do this again.

I picked Gabriella up at school and everyone in her class had a huge bag full of Valentine's. Once we got home we opened them and I read the names on the cards so she knew who gave her what. She also had a special package from Grandma Oggie and Papa John which she immediately opened with the same enthusiasm she uses on Christmas presents. She's already read all of the new books she received and is wearing one of the new Valentine's day dresses as I type. We are both looking forward to the weekend, Greg and Gabriella both have Monday off so we will have 3 days to play.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

2010-02-11T08:33:00.002+09:00

This blog started last year as a way to document our adventures around Okinawa, a way to show friends back home what we are doing. Then about 21 weeks ago it became a work out centric blog telling the world at large about my struggles and triumphs at boot camp. Now I'm sure it's going to become a pregnancy blog. But for right now it's going to be a little of all three. I'm still exploring the island with my family when Greg has a day off. I'm still going to boot camp Monday-Friday, for now. And I'm still pregnant and will be for the next 7 months. Greg has the weekend off so I'm sure I'll have something fun to post about an Okinawa adventure later.

This week I've managed to make it to most of the days of boot camp. I missed Monday because Greg was on call but I've managed to go Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow is a run day and I will be going to that one too. Tuesday we did squats with weights which worked our legs and arms. I was so sore on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday that when I actually got up this morning I contemplated not going to class. But I promised I would drive so I had to make it. Today we did some crunches, mine were modified, and walked the stairs. The combination of getting up off the floor and the cardio work of the stairs was a little much at times. I think when I stand up the blood in my body doesn't know whether to go to my head or my tummy. Towards the end I got a little light headed and was able to get some water and take a brief rest. Luckily that was at the end of the class so I was able to make it through the whole thing. I'm not sure how many more of these classes I'll be able to make it through. The good thing is I have a 3 day weekend so I can try to regain some of my strength and endurance this weekend.

Gabriella has a party for Valentine's day tomorrow and she's also the share bag girl so we've been working hard on making her class Valentine's treats. She even insisted on making some for the babies. We all felt very blessed to receive all the congratulations about our little twins both from facebook and via skype from the Superbowl Party. The twins are doing fine, I've been trying to make an appointment with the nutrition department so I can get an idea of what kinds of food I should be eating and how much.

Double Happiness

2010-02-09T07:50:00.003+09:00

Check out our two newest family members. The one on the left is twin A and the one on the right is twin B. They are about 10 weeks old and until Friday I didn't know they existed. I've known for a few months that I was pregnant but twins were a bit of a surprise. Really more of a shock. I suppose it makes sense that I've been so tired and I've gone back to taking naps at odd times during the day. Friday was ultrasound day and Greg was able to meet me for the appointment. It started out pretty typical, the doctor was running behind and I got to spend a while in the waiting room watching all the other pregnant women waiting for their appointments. Some where close to popping while others seemed to be just starting out. Once we were finally called back I ended up seeing a different provider. The standard patient history was taken and the initial exam was started. Greg was working as the inpatient doctor so he was constantly being paged so he was in and out of the room throughout the exam. He was able to see the ultrasound. My first question when the internal ultrasound began was "there's just one right?" and the answer was "nope there are two". This was a shock because I have no history of twins in my family and I wasn't taking any fertility medication. These two little miracles are all natural. The exam finished up and we were sent home with a few pictures of the twins in utero. As I waited at the pharmacy for my extra vitamins I thought of how unexpected these little twins were. In the process of the next few days I think I've told almost everyone I know and the more people I tell the more real it becomes. As Greg and I lay in bed at night we toss back and forth ideas of things we'd need two of, an example double stroller, two cribs, etc. I think over the coming months many more needs will come to light and I hope we will be able to handle them all.

Lacking Motivation

2010-02-04T17:21:00.003+09:00

I must say I've really let this blog slip. Recently I've just been too unmotivated to summon my creative powers and write. I feel like this week has been excruciatingly hard, yet in reality it hasn't been as hard as weeks in the past. I think I'm loosing my energy. Monday and Tuesday at boot camp were as hard as ever. We used the bands of death on Monday and the red balls of fire on Tuesday. Then Wednesday we ran but John left early so we were on our own doing the short track because of persistent sprinkles. Since I didn't run my best on Wednesday I headed to Zumba after I dropped Gabi off at school. I made it through the whole class with no issues to speak of, but then on the cool down dance I popped something in my knee. I heard the pop, I felt the pop and I almost fell down because of the pop. I managed to walk it off but my knee has been bothering me ever since. I hope it's nothing and honestly it hasn't hurt all that much today unless I stay in the same position for an extended period of time. It hurt a lot when I got up for boot camp this morning and I serious considered calling in injured. But I promised Esau I'd pick him up so I dragged myself downstairs and out the door. The whole drive to boot camp I rehearsed what I was going to say to John about my knee. Slipping between telling him I couldn't possibly do anything because it hurt and asking what sort of stretch/exercise I should be doing to help it. God must have heard my plea for mercy because when we got to the gym it was dark. Esau crossed the road to check out the sign attached to the door and came back to report that classes were canceled today and that we'd be running at the stadium on Friday. I hope John feels better by Monday and I hope my knee is better by Monday.

As for the rest of the family everyone has been busy. Gabriella has been learning a lot at gymnastics and ballet. She is speaking a lot of Hawaiian, thanks to her hula class. The other day she said "Mahalo tu tu" to me when I helped her at the drinking fountain. Today her class had a field trip to the post office which she said was lots of fun. I was hoping she'd discover the reason our mail takes so long to get to our boxes and why sometimes my magazines have coffee stains on them. Greg has been really busy at work, he was on call the other night and got no less than 10 pages throughout the night. He's also on call this weekend which is a blessing because he gets Superbowl Monday off. We will be enjoying the game with the Montoya's via skype. Although we won't get to see the awesome commercials we will get to see the rugby previews on Australia ESPN. Hopefully we will see some of you there.

This week in Boot Camp

2010-01-28T11:09:00.003+09:00

This week has been a tough week. Although I'm sure I've had harder weeks, had weeks where we've done more reps or weeks where we started over more often. Yet this week for me has been increasingly tough. I suppose without pain there is no change. I know the plan, I know the way to be successful is through diet and exercise. I know these things yet I continually make bad choices. Like chocolate ice cream for dessert instead of nothing. Monday and Tuesday of this week were standard days, weights, crunches and pain. Wednesday we ran and I had a realization about my journey. When I started boot camp in August the very first week I got lost running around the same park I ran at on Wednesday. I suppose a change is that I don't get lost any more that my path at that park is ingrained into my brain now. But that wasn't the realization. When I started in August they had just started working on a building at this park. I believe it's for a sporting event coming up sometime late this summer. Possibly an Olympic try out center or something, I'm not sure. I don't read Japanese. But that's not the point. The point is that on Wednesday I realized how much this building has been completed. The windows are in, the smell of fresh paint spills out into the cool early morning air. This building has gone from just a foundation to a beautiful structure in 5 months. I couldn't help but see the similarities between this building and myself. I suppose I already had the foundation when I entered boot camp, I was relatively healthy and I had the desire to complete this challenge. Just like the building has been put together so have I. As the building had walls constructed I constructed healthier eating habits. When the building got floors I was probably strengthening my legs or as it got a roof my brain began to praise my own accomplishments in self improvement. Now this building is almost finished, the outer facade looks wonderful, very artful and modern. I too feel like my facade is looking nicer these days but what I'm really proud of is my structure, my inner workings which are firing on all cylinders and working efficiently for the first time in a very long time. This is all thanks to boot camp: getting up every day at 4:12 am, working as hard as I can for 1 hour and then coming home and continuing the program throughout the rest of my day. I have a mere 5 weeks left until this second session is over and I'm unsure if I will continue. Do I have the necessary skills to keep my new building from falling down or should I stay and work a little longer with the architect that helped sculpt this new me. That is a question I will consider in the coming weeks but this week I'm just celebrating the building of a new me.

Ole, Bullfight in Okinawa

2010-01-24T19:18:00.003+09:00

This weekend Ishikawa, a small city to our north, held a Bullfight. Since we've heard it was a must do activity we purchased tickets earlier in the week and headed up to Ishikawa Saturday afternoon. We arrived earlier enough that we were able to park in a great parking spot just next to the sport dome. As we walked towards the event we passed the small paddocks where the bulls were being held before their fights. There was a small playground so Gabriella was able to play for a few minutes before we ventured inside the venue. Once inside we purchased a small toy bull for Gabriella, it was adorned in a fabric pattern famous here in Okinawa. Some of our friends had already arrived so after we perused the food and drink booths we moved down the bleacher seats to sit with them. Before the match they invited members of the audience down into the bullring to take pictures with one of the bulls. He was draped with a red banner and his handlers kept a close watch on him to make sure he was calm during the photos. Many people placed their children on his back or climbed up themselves for the pictures. After the photo opportunity the program began in earnest. There was a brief explanation of how the fights would work, which was acted out by four men dressed up like 2 bulls. They demonstrated the different types of movements the bulls would employ to win his fight. It is important to state that in Okinawa the bullfights take place between two bulls, their handlers are on hand to help to keep them safe and from what I could tell they do not move the bull in the fight unless they are too close to an edge or the winner has been determined. Once the explanation was complete the first Eisa drum/dance group performed some very rousing numbers. Then it was time for the first 2 bullfights. The first two fights ended in a draw and the winner was determined by audience applause. The intermission had another Eisa drum group performing. Then the final fight was set to begin. The last bull fight was much more exciting than the previous two. The bulls seemed to be in better condition which meant they were able to fight longer, this fight had a clear winner. The bullfights were very different then I imagined, without a toreador attempting to stab a bull with knives it seemed almost humane. The bulls were very well treated and seemed to enjoy sparing with each other.

Taiwan Day Five

2010-01-23T09:20:00.003+09:00

The last day of our vacation dawned warm and clear. It was a free morning, we had to meet back at the hotel at 1 pm in order to head to the airport for our return flight. We decided to head out on the subway to check out a few temples and the Chiang Kai Sheck memorial hall. Our first stop was the Confucius temple. On a side note every city, town and village in Taiwan and China as a whole will have a Confucius temple because his teachings are so widely worshiped. The one in Taipei city was under construction, it was very large and even through the rubble of the construction it was beautiful. We went next door to Bao An temple which was open and we were able to explore. The temple is set up with many deities in individual worshiping areas around the outer ring of the temple. There were large alters in the front and the middle which are dedicated to the most powerful of the gods. I can't tell you which they were because there were no signs in English. This particular temple had a gift shop where people could buy offerings as well as trinkets of their gods. It was a beautiful temple and the smell of incense followed us all the way down the street.

Our next stop was the Chiang Kai Sheck memorial hall which not surprisingly has it's own subway stop. It's located in between the National concert hall and opera house. It's a beautiful blue and white pagoda like building surrounded by a lovely garden. There are 150 steps to climb to get to the top of the hall. As you walk into the rotunda there is a huge statue of Chiang Kai Sheck that was a little reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. We were there in time for the changing of the guards, which made 3 times we'd seen their elaborate changing ceremony. There was a bank of elevators off to the side and as we made our way down to the third floor we realized that the memorial hall wasn't just a statue and some guards. Instead the hall boasts a large collection of local paintings, some statues, an animatronic dinosaur exhibit as well as a very interesting collection of memorabilia from Chiang Kai Sheck's life. As we walked through the exhibit rooms we were able to get a better idea, through the photos and small descriptions of events, of who this leader was. It was a beautiful exhibition of his life and I came away knowing a bit more about this iconic historical figure. After our history lesson we headed back to the hotel where we doggedly searched for something to eat.

We were back on the bus at 1 and arrived at the airport before 2. This gave us plenty of time to check in and grab a bite to eat before we loaded onto the plane. Our last meal in Taiwan was a plate of dumplings from the airport food court. Although not as good as the ones from the other night, they were still delicious. All and all we arrived back at our car unscathed and no worse for wear by 8pm. It was a very fun trip and I look forward to taking a few more before our time here is over.

Taiwan Day Four

2010-01-23T09:11:00.003+09:00

Sunday was a free day and we opted for an extra tour, we and another couple went to see Chiufen Mining Village and the seaside. The day was slightly warmer than the day before however as we drove out of the city a steady sprinkle of rain began to fall. At the seaside the waves were wicked yet there were still people standing on the rocks fishing. Our tour guide Michelle said that many people die each year by being swept into the sea and seeing how they are precariously perched on rocks while waves crash around them the death toll seemed a bit low. After our view of the Northern Sea we headed to the village of Chiufen. It was quite a drive and as we slowly wound our way through the mountain side we were able to get an idea of the struggle it must have been for the people living in the secluded mountain village. Once we finally got up there, we walked around sampling many of the food products and looking at the merchandise on their market street. On the way back to Taipei City we passed a very large funeral procession, our guide said it must be for a member of the mafia because she’d never seen one with so many bands and floats. Apparently each band or float is sponsored by a family or a business. This particular procession went on for almost a mile. It was truly a sight to see. Once back in the city we went to the Formosa Regent hotel for afternoon tea. It was really more of an afternoon buffet, there was Japanese sushi, Chinese dumplings and 100 other items to eat. The desserts included ice cream that you scooped yourself and a chocolate fountain. Needless to say we were all stuffed by the time we left. Next stop was Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world until a few weeks ago when the Dubai tower opened. We rode the elevator to the top which arrived in 45 nauseating seconds. The view of the city was spectacular and since we were above the clouds we were able to see the bright red sunset. The building itself was quite beautiful, it houses a mall and office buildings. We had a beverage at one of the restaurants to rest our tired feet before the walk back to the subway station. By the way Gabriella is born to live in a city with a subway system. She's loves scanning her token and walking through the little gates. Greg and I imagined her living in NYC taking the subway to school or work, she's a born city girl. On the way back to our hotel we stopped at the night market. Greg was able to get his noodle bowl from the famous noodle house. The noodle house has no seats, a customer orders, is handed the bowl of noodles and eats them standing up in front of the shop. We went to the Risotto stall but sadly I was still too full from lunch to partake in the delicious offering. Greg did surprise me with a coca cola slurpee from 7-11 which made my night.

Taiwan Day Three

2010-01-21T16:26:00.003+09:00

We started the day again with the hotel breakfast, it was the same as the day before. Our first tour stop was Leofoo Theme Park. I would describe it as Lion Country Safari meets Knotts Berry Farm. The whole tour went together on the safari bus ride and as we drove through the animal enclosures we saw Bengal Tigers, not just one but 10, baboons straight out of that scene in the Omen and enough Lions to start two prides. It’s amazing how many animals there were just roaming around or relaxing. One of the baboons even jumped up on the bus for a free ride around the enclosure. After our safari we hurried to ride as many rides as we could in the scant hour and a half we had left before we had to be back at the tour bus. Greg and Gabriella had a great time riding a few rides while I ordered lunch. Greg said that all the visitors in line at the rides wanted to take pictures with Gabi, she was a mini celebrity. We made it back to the bus 15 minutes late but no one seemed too upset by it. On the way to our next stop Gabriella made the fatal mistake of reading her Princess magazine while driving on a windy road after wolfing down lunch the combination caused her to throw up theme park chicken nuggets all over herself. Needless to say it was a terrible mess that was difficult to clean up and she was forced to spend the rest of her day in Greg’s oversized hoodie and no pants. The flower Oasis was probably nice but I spent most of the time washing out her pants and then trying to will them dry. The next stop was Chiang Kai Shek’s tomb and statue garden. It was interesting to see so many statues of this both beloved and despised dictator. We did make it back to the hotel for a brief rest before heading out for dinner. I was able to shower off Gabriella and get her a new pair of pants before dinner. We went to dinner at a lovely dumpling restaurant. Gabriella’s favorites were the pork dumpling in soup, she must have eaten at least 4 or 5 of them. We learned the proper way to eat a dumpling, with soy sauce, vinegar and ginger shavings on a spoon. I also added hot peppered soy sauce to mine and they were delicious. Everyone was so full we didn’t even want to stop to sample some local Taiwanese delicacies on the way back to the hotel. We were going to go to ice cream but that idea fell by the wayside.