Trick or Treating & Sesame Street

Ako (owl), Rana (princess), Reina (Fairy)

On the 31st, we stayed up a bit later so that Reina, Rana, and Ako could go trick-or-treating.  They loved it.  We didn't brave on base, mainly b/c Chris and I didn't want to deal with the massive amounts of people signing on Japanese guests for trick-or-treating.  So, instead we went to Sunabe, which, if you haven't been to Okinawa recently (or ever) there is quite a few Americans squashed into one area. While the number of people handing out candy wasn't very substantial, there were tons of Japanese kids walking around trick-or-treating, and we still made out with plenty of candy.  Reina was by far the cutest trick-or-treater ever...I'll post the pics so you can see yourself.

Passing out candy at the Stevens' after we were all done

This friday Sesame Street visited Kadena.  The USO flew them over to put on a show about deployment and moving.  We scored some tickets from a friend, so that all three of us could go meet the Sesame Street gang.  Their message wasn't exactly appropriate for Reina's age nor the topic, but she enjoyed all of the singing and dancing.  Elmo was her favorite.  She was very concerned as to why Big Bird didn't make it, so we told her he couldn't fit on the plane b/c he was too big and that it was too far for him to fly.  She seemed more or less ok with that.

Reina's Japanese is coming along great.  She uses quite a few phrases with us, and I can only assume that she uses it more at school.  Things like, "ma-te" [wait], and "kore nani?" [what is this] for example. She even busted out in Japanese on her own with Obaa-chan, which is especially interesting since Kuniko tends to speak to her in English. Its like Reina knew Obaa-chan was Japanese.

Enjoying the Sesame Show!

Kaiya should be here soon.  I'm secretly hoping for 11/11/11, because that would be a cool birthday.  But that would also be a week early, and planning wise, its not a great time for my AP Bio class..but what can you do!?  I'm very uncomfortable, at plus 40lbs, and ready to be done.  I know that after Kaiya is here, I will STILL be tired but at least that will mean the beginning of re-gaining control of my body!  I have another appointment this Wednesday, which will put me at 38weeks and 2 days.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Yesterday we had the neighbors over for our second annual pumpkin carving.  The girls loved it.  Sure, there was some distracted playing with the golf clubs and bowling balls, but they liked scooping out the seeds and drawing on the pumpkins.  The "big" girls, Ako and Miri (5ish) were able to use the little knife provided by these cute kits I got this time.  All 4 girls wanted cats, so we have three cat pumpkins in a row in our little neighborhood, but who cares, its for them, right?  We plan on going trick-or-treating on Monday.  Reina will be a fairy. We'll see how it turns out...its a costume I just happened to be able to put together with things she already had around, so we'll see how it comes together.

I'm almost 3 weeks away from D day!  Crazy.  I'm feeling really tired and seem to have quite a few contractions, as compared to my pregnancy with Reina.  This worries me a little, since delivering early is going to be a school-planning nightmare. I'm not quite sure what I can do about it though!  I have another appointment with the doctor when I'll be 38 weeks, which should be the week of the 4th.  Baby was head down last week when the doc checked with the ultrasound machine, and said, as usual, that all of my stats are normal.

Reina's First Haircut

After Chris and I both chopped off some hair this early fall, we decided it might be time to give Reina a trim.  We like her hair long, so we just took off a little on the bottom so it is straight across.  It sounds simple, but cutting Reina's hair was more of an ordeal than either of us expected.  At first she was excited, since both Mom and Dad had their hair cut....then she realized it involved scissors.  As soon as I pulled them out, after combing her hair she got quite upset and insisted on us NOT cutting her hair.  I think she thought it was going to hurt.  Finally, after much encouragement, and holding her blanket and Chris I got one small snip off.  After that, it was fine.  As a matter of fact, she wanted more hair cut after I was done.  Silly girl.

Our goya!

We are continuing to prepare for baby Kaiya.  Today we swapped out dressers, since Reina's dresser is much lower and perfect for diaper changing.  Reina has been great about all of these changes, but I've been sure to include her in the decisions.  Today she got to pick which drawer to put her panties and socks in, and even helped out with the transfer.  We also raised the crib back to its highest setting.  Aside from a couple of other small things, we're pretty much set.  I am trying to start Xmas shopping early, as I'll be swamped I fear, in the weeks approaching Christmas.  Two friends of mine have insisted on throwing a shower, so I've kept the guest list pretty small and we're just supposed to have a good time!  Its next weekend, and I admit I am honored that they have insisted, and a little excited!