Sorry For the Long Wait!

And here I thought having a blog would make it easy to keep in touch with everyone! Sorry for the long, long wait between posts. We have been busy (and very tired) here in Japan. A few updates, I am now nearly done with being preggo (or so I keep telling myself!), just 10 more weeks to go! It's true...I am engaged. That ring you see on my finger is indeed a beautiful diamond, and I am very, very happy. I wanted to wait until the family reunion to surprise everyone, but I have absolutely no patience! In other family news, we now have two dogs: a 2-year-old Shiba/collie mix named Brittney and a 3-month-old pure bred Shiba named Yuki (which means snow). Brittney is the perfect dog for us (well, me anyway), I have never met a lazier dog in my life. All she does is eat and sleep and want to be petted (just like me! :) She also doesn't jump, sniff or hump anything, bark (except in extraordinary circumstances), drool, or have any other disgusting doggy habits. She is very well trained and makes an excellent companion for Caitlyn (she is, in fact, Caitlyn's dog. Caitlyn gives her food and water everyday and also brushes her, although she doesn't shed much). Yuki, on the other hand, is a puppy we are trying to house train. Other than the peeing and pooping on the carpet, she is also a great dog with a great temperment (no drooling, jumping, sniffing, or humping here either).

Caitlyn is getting ready to wrap up Kindergarten next week. She has had a bumpy year what with the move and my long TDY, but I feel she is in a very good place right now. She has a good group of friends (they are all "fashion girls"), and she loves to read (which she can now do on her own!). Caitlyn is also going through a rough time of missing her dad and not understanding the circumstances. I'm at a loss as to how to explain things, too. My general comment whenever she tells me she misses her dad is that I miss my mommy and daddy, too, but we don't always get what we want in life. Obviously, this is not a very satisfactory answer to a 6-year-old, and Caitlyn is pushing me for more of the "why." She definately doesn't understand why we are going on vacation to visit Tim's family and my family, but she isn't getting to see her dad. How do you explain to your child that their father is a miserable bum who had over a year's notice to save money to see you, yet, somehow couldn't be bothered to save enough money to take you for even a small portion of the 6-weeks he's supposed to get? It's not like he pays child support or anything, so I don't know where his money goes. She seems to think this is somehow me wanting to keep her away from her daddy (daddy being the mythic figure who can rescue her when she's getting in trouble). I'm also a little nervous about her meeting Tim's kids and how she will feel about having to share him with them. I think everything will probably be fine, since Caitlyn will be thrilled to have some playmates instead of just her boring old parents all the time, plus we're planning a shitload of kid-friendly activities since we'll have the three kids with us.

We still haven't come up with a concrete name as of yet. We both like Alexandra as a middle name, so I think that will stick, but the first name is a little harder. Stephanie and Aubrey are currently the top contenders. I had my baby shower a couple of weeks ago. It was very nice, but I couldn't help thinking about all of you. I have only one really good friend here in Japan and a few good aquaintences, but nothing like the friendships I made in college or my prior military service. It's just really hard here beause there's so few female officers to hang out with. I got lucky with Donna, but she's leaving here in the winter :( At any rate, we are stacked with baby clothes and we have most of the furniture we need, but I'm beginning to realize that I've forgotten a bunch of other essentials. For example, no diaper genie, stroller, car seat, diapers, bottles, etc...just a few things, really ;) I remember, with Caitlyn, I was all over getting all the essentials before I had even hit the halfway point. Now it seems like I got the crib and was, like, we'll wing it from here :) Oh, and a big thanks to Laura for the Lamaze book she sent me. They don't offer any childbirth classes out here, which really annoys me because it isn't like I exactly have any off-base options, and I didn't do lamaze with Caitlyn and always regretted it. So, this book is the next best thing. Plus, I'll have Tim and my mom here during the birth, so I'll have some experienced back-up this time. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures I sent. I'll post some new ones when I take them :)