So That Was an Earthquake. Huh.

We woke up about 5:30 this morning (wayyyyy too early!) to a whole lotta shakin' goin' on!  I was half awake already so I hit Tommy and told him to wake up.  Then I made him go check on Wyatt in case he was scared - house still shaking... Tommy opens his door and Wyatt is still sound asleep, just laying in bed shaking along with the house!  WEIRD.

I've never experienced an earthquake before, although there was one reported about a month back that was pretty weak, because I didn't even feel it.  This one, on the other hand, we definitely felt!  I didn't realize that the concrete bunker we live in would actually move back and forth for a full 15 seconds.  I was thinking it would feel less like a freight train coming and more like a jackhammer. I was wrong.

Apparently it was a 7.3 earthquake about 50 miles off the coast of Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean. Where we live on Camp Lester it was felt at the 4.0 level.  That was enough for me!  We did hear lots of sirens afterwards, but it sounds like the damage reports are few and far between, which is good news.  Also, the tsunami warning that is in effect as a result of the quake is pretty unlikely to affect us given our location on the island (we are closer to the East China Sea side).

Anyway, glad that's over. Hopefully we won't have any aftershocks!  Now I can say I've been in an earthquake, and as my friend pointed out, can write in Olivia's baby book that there was an earthquake when she was just a week old.  Swell!

No, I'm Not Pregnant. I Just Look That Way.

Hahahaha!  At least I have a sense of humor, right? :)

So I had the baby!!!!  And it's a GIRL!!!  I just love saying that.  It's a Girl, It's a Girl!  Having a "surprise" baby was the best! 
Introducing....

Olivia Lynn Parker
18 February 2010
5:56 a.m.
7 pounds, 11 ounces
17.5 inches

I know I am biased, but isn't she beautiful?!?!  She is just the sweetest baby. She has the softest little cry, and even when she gets really fired up, she is still pretty quiet.

I really can't explain the emotion of having her.  When I first realized she was a "she," I just started crying. I just couldn't believe that I have a daughter. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to get to experience this.  I was excited about possibly having two boys, since it would be so wonderful to see the relationship between brothers. But selfishly, I was hoping for a girl, and I can't tell you how amazing it is to know that I have a daughter and how excited I am to teach her all the things that a mom should teach her daughter about life and what it means to be a woman. It was like an instant bond that we had that I just can't imagine ever having with another human being.

My husband is just in his glory. It is so sweet to see him with a little girl.  I just know she is going to be a daddy's girl. Which is a wonderful thing to be... I was definitely a daddy's girl!  Wyatt is the sweetest big brother as well.  I just love this picture of him seeing Olivia, and he was so sweet to share his blanket with her.  I was so proud of him!

Not only was this an entirely different pregnancy but the delivery was much different as well, and I am thankful that I am not experiencing the same postpartum hormonal mood swings I had the first time around.  This time, I just get to enjoy it.  As my husband says, "Life is good!"

Yes, I'm Still Pregnant.

I've tried really hard to not be the grumpy pregnant lady.  I've put up with the lectures from the doctor about my weight. I've endured their every-other-day appointments, doctor visits, growth scans, and trips to Labor & Delivery.  I've even tolerated the super fun fake contractions I've been having since my car accident on DECEMBER 23rd. All while my husband was gone for 4 weeks, I might add.

But alas, now I am the grumpy, over-due pregnant lady. 

It is 9:39 a.m. and I have already received three "You're still pregnant?!?" comments from the peanut gallery today. My response? Yes. Yes, I am. And I'm SUPER excited about it.  Thank you for noticing.

Admittedly, I'm grumpy. But today is really the first day, and I feel I'm entitled to it.  Mostly because I've been awake since 3:42 a.m., when Wyatt got up to tell me he had wet through his diaper (how does one do that exactly?) for the second night in a row. So I got up and changed him, changed the sheets, put him back to bed.  Then I started having more fake contractions. Seething pain... then nothing.  Repeat.  Then the cat was in my face meowing for some unknown reason. Loudly. "MEOW!"  And pawing at my face.  Husband sleeping peacefully through all of this.  (How do they do that??)  Then the neighbor's alarm clock went off. Three times. You'd think beings our entire place is made entirely of CONCRETE that it would not be possible to hear. Yet I hear it every morning around 5 a.m. Then I hear their closet doors opening, their outside door opening, and their stupid dog going outside to pee and then barking because it wants back in.

And just as I'm drifting back to sleep.... MEOW!

Tommy's alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. and I finally resign myself to the fact that I am not going to get to go back to sleep and get up.  At least I still have my Eggos and caramel latte, I think.  Then my latte machine breaks. Sweet!

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment, and guess who I saw in the lobby?  My friend LeeAnne, who is due two days after me. Pushing a stroller.  With a baby in it.

"Oh, hi!" she says. "Oh.... you're still pregnant..."

Yes, yes I am.  Thank you for noticing.

Stick a fork in me.  'Cause I am DONE!

I understand that there really is no "positive" thing people can say to me at this point.  I'm just grumpy. And I'll get over it, but probably not until after I have the baby. At which point I will be even more exhausted, which will also be SUPER FUN!  Until then, you get to read my grumpy rants.  Lucky you!

My New Ride...

Me & My New Ride... at 39 weeks pregnant!!

I find it ironic - yet unsurprising - that I had been on-island with a car only 2 months before I managed to get in an accident and have it totaled!  Granted, the accident was not my fault, but ironic nonetheless given my driving record!

Anyway, I finally settled with the insurance company and got the check last week.  The check was in Yen, so that involved a funny story about Tommy going to the Japanese bank, lots of hand signaling, and him somehow walking out of the bank with 90 percent of the money in American dollars and the other 10 percent in Yen.  Still unsure how that happened, but nevertheless we were able to purchase another car.

Shopping for cars on this island is... interesting. You have two options: One, the Lemon Lot.  Yes, this is the actual name.  It TOTALLY instills confidence, doesn't it?!?  This is a parking lot where military leaving the island park their cars and pray that someone calls them to buy their car.  It is what it is.  Sometimes you get a great deal, sometimes you get... a lemon.

Option #2 is to go to a used car dealer.  There is a definite price markup, but the benefit is, they do all the paperwork for you (there is a lot...), the Japanese Car Inspection, and a one-year warranty.  There are true Japanese dealers and then there are ones that cater to Americans.  We couldn't find any cars initially at the American ones, but we found two at a Japanese dealership that we wanted to buy.  After an hour we were told they couldn't help us because of the communication barrier... how frustrating!  On Monday we went back to an American place and they had a new arrival, and we ended up buying the car above - a 2003 Honda Fit Aria.  I have no idea what the American equivalent is, and I wasn't really looking to buy a car, but at this point, we just wanted something that met the following requirements:

1. It didn't smell like smoke, body odor, or wet dog.
2. It had keyless entry (two small children...).. i.e. newer than 1998.
3. It sat 5 people.  Not 4. Not 7.  FIVE.

These are, apparently, tough requirements here on the island.  The smell factor eliminates over half of all cars automatically. #2 eliminates another 25% because most cars on island are pretty old.  Seriously this car we bought was like the newest car I've EVER seen on an American lot!  Then #3 is hard because Japanese cars are not very wide at all, so most seat either 4 people (2 front, 2 back), or 7 (think minivan).

Finally we bought this car, and I do like it, although an hour after we bought it I couldn't even remember what color it was.  You don't get to test drive them, either, they are all just crammed in a lot, so it was a nice surprise to find out that it drove nicely!

It's almost baby time, so I'll keep you posted on that info as soon as it's available!

Wyatt-isms

Just a few of the funny things Wyatt has been doing/saying lately. He is such a ham!

"Kitty's soft! (Rubs his face on kitty). I like Kitty's ears!  I like kitty's eyes... I like Kitty's butt!  Poop comes out of kitty's butt!"

Wyatt and I go to the grocery store and we pick out a cake mix to make to celebrate Daddy's birthday when he gets home. Wyatt picks the "confetti" cake with sprinkles. We get home and he pees in the potty, gets his "reward" candy and is very excited.  Daddy calls a few minutes later and Wyatt is talking to him.  I tell him, "Wyatt, tell him what you just did a few minutes ago!"  and he says, "Got you a birthday cake, daddy!  Want some?" So much for the surprise!

A few weeks ago I had my baby shower, and later that night I had to take Wyatt to the emergency room for an allergic reaction he was having.  It was pretty late when we got out of there, and Wyatt was getting tired. I told him, "When we get home we'll just put on your jammies and read books. You can take a shower in the morning."  He looked at me and said, "Did the baby take a shower?" I was confused and asked him what he was talking about.  He said it again and then I realized he thought that I had taken the baby to get a shower that morning - guess I should've explained what a baby shower was!