A Very Magical Baby Shower

Some AMAZING friends of mine threw baby girl and I a baby shower...a Harry Potter-themed baby shower! It was spectacular and so fun!

Mandrake cupcakes!

Taylor and Allison...the lovely ladies who threw the shower! 

NAF Atsugi Base Bon Odori

Just a few pictures from our base Bon Odori festival!

And this one is from the Bon Odori Appreciation Luncheon

Fireworks!

During the summer in Japan, there's HUGE firework festivals all over the country as part of their summer Bon celebrations. When I say huge, I mean, without a doubt the biggest, most amazing fireworks you've ever seen. They go above and beyond anything I've ever seen in the US before. A few friends and I went into Yokohama to see one of the biggest of the summer (18,000+ fireworks!!) It was AMAZING. By far the BEST ever. It was so awesome.

 Yokohama!

Me, Erin and Natalie 

3rd Trimester Update

So I've been in the 3rd trimester for, what, 4 weeks now? and I'm just now getting around to posting...sorry! Things are going well over in Japan; hot hot and HOT! The heat index has been an average of about 105 every day for the last two weeks or so, which has been pretty awful. Now that we're in August, it feels that much closer to fall though and we're one month closer to it cooling down...hopefully!!

Baby Girl is doing well, growing and kicking and getting the hiccups about twice a day it feels like. (But I haven't had them once since I got pregnant, kind of odd!) While on the subject, yes she is still Baby Girl/Chubelette/etc. because we have NOT chosen a name. I know there's quite a few people out there who swear we've chosen one and we're just not sharing, but we really have not chosen one. Name conversations are not easy via e-mail and we're honestly in no hurry to choose one. She's got to live with it her entire life, so we're taking our time. We probably won't settle on one until she's born. But! We're open to any and all suggestions and ideas!

I had a super cute picture from 28 weeks with a super cute 4th of July themed board...and my [insert expletive] computer corrupted the file on my SD card and I can't access it now. :( So, here's this one from the same week after a OSC party!

Can you tell I'm feeling super lazy with the sign decorating now? 

(look I did my hair! ;) Anyone who knows how terribly hot and humid it gets in Japan knows I just don't bother with my hair, but I thought I'd put some effort in for a picture. This was taken basically immediately after curling...minimal frizz (but that didn't last long!) )

Mt. Fuji Dog Park

My friend Erin invited Sam and I to go with her and a friend up to a dog resort near Mt. Fuji to escape the heat and go play outside. It was AMAZING! It's an actual hotel that allows dogs, their cafe has dog meals, and the grounds are basically huge dog park enclosures. There's also pools and fun places to play. We had such a good time!

It was especially great because there were TONS of enclosures so we could be on our own and not have to worry about other dogs. Many Japanese dogs aren't socialized very well, so they can be a little hard to play with. Plus, this way the dogs could play together and we didn't have to worry! 

From left to right: Sam, Tiki (a real husky) and Molly!

He was a happy camper! As was I! I miss getting outdoors in a normal temperature!

Tag-team hole digging!

They all played surprisingly well together since this was the first time they ever met! We basically shoved all three of them into the back hatch of a station wagon and drove an hour and a half. They all did so well!

 Playing at the pool!

Sam wasn't too sure about going into the big kid pool. Molly and Tiki LOVED it and were swimming laps. Sam, as per usual, was taking his sweet time warming up to the idea. D (19 weeks pregnant with twins too!) decided he needed a trial by fire and tossed his butt into the pool. It was pretty funny. He couldn't figure out how to get out of the pool, but Molly and Tiki were sheparding him and helping him escape. 

We didn't realize that it was Marine Day in Japan, which is some kind of holiday, which meant INSANE traffic. Driving in Japan is pretty awful anyways, but that day was especially bad. Our one hour and fifteen minute drive lasted about 3.5+ hours. Erins son Avery was super bored, but it was this pup that wasn't handling it very well haha. D was very accomodating to our little princess.