Tis the Season

Parker is thinking "this kitty looks different than my other kitty!" She was captivated by Rudolph's nose and spent a while checking him out before deciding he was safe to touch.
Parker and Rudolph can both sit up on their own :)
After about 90 seconds, Rudolph was Parker's new best friend!
Here's a close-up of our drooler. Her onesie says "All I want for Christmas are my 2 front teeth"... no teeth for Parker yet, but she's definitely working on them. She's been making us feel guilty when we eat in front of her because she very purposefully watches us and follows the food to our mouths. The other day she also reached out and grabbed my soda can! The pediatrician wants us to wait until she is 6 months old to start feeding her cereal because she already has the milk allergy; part of the theory is that her digestive system is still immature and introducing food too early can add to her problems. We definitely want to do what is recommended but we also know she is probably ready and maybe it would also help her sleep?
What a cutie! We were taking some pictures for our parents and grandparents and I had to put this one up - it's not a full smile, but you can tell she is excited about her presents and anticipating Santa's arrival!

Shifting gears, I went back to Cocok's nail salon last week with one of the general dentists from my clinic. By the way, she is the only other female practitioner and she is also LT/Dr. Anderson. It makes things a little confusing to say the least! Anyway, since Christmas was a week away and I wanted to stretch out the wearing of the polish, I got a winter theme. It takes about 90 minutes to get a pedicure. They put a base coat of nail polish on and then get out acrylic paint and hand paint the designs. It took her a long time to do the snowflakes, but they look pretty cool. I used to think it was weird that everyone has toenail art, but now it looks totally normal to me. Very few people do NOT have it. It costs 3990Y, which is around $45 depending on the exchange rate. It's more of a social experience than anything else and the salon is one block away from the seawall, so there is a great view of the ocean from their second story salon where most of the chairs face a huge window.
Parker wore a cute hoodie/sweater dress last Sunday to church. Here she is in her bouncy seat afterwards. Corey put her hoodie up and she was so cute!
We tried to take some cute pictures but Parker was mostly interested in the bows on her shoes.
We did get a smile after she slid down the side of the couch a few times. Her tights are so cute - they have rows of ruffles across the butt. I think she actually likes the tights and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually easier to change her diaper when she is in tights as compared to pants.
Here's a full smile before church. She is so good. She usually sits in the carseat through the homily and then I have to hold her through the rest of Mass. A few times she's started babbling and we got worried that we would have to leave, but most of the time she will just look over my shoulder or I will turn her around and she watches all of the people around us. One thing I don't like is when people touch her hands during the sign of peace! She puts her hands in her mouth all of the time, and who knows what people have on their hands. I've been holding her more in cradle position lately so that people can't try to touch her hands.
This is Parker after my friend JoAnna's baby shower. Parker likes her little piano, although you can tell that she is pretty tired at this point. The baby shower was at Macaroni Grill (Camp Foster) and it was 3 hours. Parker was SOOOO good. It was great to sit and chat with other moms who are also dentists (JoAnna works with Corey). One of the moms has a little boy who is in Parker's room at the CDC and it was a good opportunity for us to get to know each other better and nice because we are both balancing going back to work with being a new mom!
I love when Parker just passes out in my lap. She is so snuggly. She is getting way too big way too fast!
On Wednesday I received 5 immunizations at work - 2 in the right arm, 3 in the left - my holiday present from the Navy. I am due for 7 but I got the smallpox and yellow fever vaccines deferred since I am still breastfeeding Parker. I still received anthrax, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, polio (didn't have my record and as an adult you can't get the oral dose), and twinrix (combined HepA and HepB). After about 6 hours, I developed a huge, nasty red swelling about 1.5 x 1 inches on one arm. It's the arm I got the anthrax vaccine in, so I took a picture. I am going to try to get a waiver on the rest of the anthrax series. It is a 6-shot series, so I have 5 left. I think I can argue that it is not worth the risk of an anaphylactic reaction next time. Plus, I heard that the second shot in the series really hurts for some reason!

Naughty or nice?

On Saturday, we took Parker to the 18th med group's Christmas party (Corey's work). She was having a bit of a rough morning; We tried to put her in a super-cute outfit but the sweater was too hot. I grabbed her cute pink onesie and Corey finished dressing her. Unfortunately (pay attention, Corey) not all shades of green 'match' or are complimentary. I think Parker was a little bit embarrassed that her pants didn't perfectly match, but her sparkly jeans were in the laundry :( What makes Parker feel better? Chewing on my finger!
Parker and Daddy. She's trying to get over the fact that he put her in a silly outfit. She's workin' the bow and making the best of the party.
We stood in line for a while to get to see Santa, and by the time it was Parker's turn to sit on his lap, it was also time for Parker's nap. She didn't cry, but we didn't get to see her pretty smile. She was falling asleep and Santa was gently nudging her to open her eyes!
Daddy, Santa, Parker, Mommy and the elf (one of the orthodontists' kids who was in the wrong place at the wrong time). Parker was about 10 seconds away from a deep sleep.
Here's Parker about 30 seconds after exiting Santa's lap. It is hard when she doesn't get to rest in the morning. We ran into some friends and stayed to take pictures of them with Santa. After about 15 minutes, Parker felt miraculously rested and was ready to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas.
I am hoping she asked for the ability to sleep through the night. She was all smiles the second time around and I am glad we stuck around to get some more pictures.

Parker was full of energy when we got home so we put her on her blanket to roll around and work out some of her energy. Here's a roll (in sequence):


What a big girl! She tends to stay on her stomach and get frustrated, which is funny because she learned how to roll from her stomach to her back weeks ago. Her teacher said she did a double-roll last week, but I haven't seen her do one yet. She does love to roll to her stomach, though.
What a pretty smile! She is so funny - she goes from being so cranky and tired to being a happy little girl in a matter of seconds.
Parker and Daddy - can you see any similarities ;) ?
All of that rolling made her tired and after her lunch, Parker passed out again! We spent a while watching The Unit, so it worked out well.

For my birthday on Friday night, we rented some episodes of The Unit and got Chilis To Go. Corey had also ordered a birthday cake and we had a relaxing night at home. Corey got me a patriotic Willow Tree figurine and I also got some funds to purchase new clothes when I reach my fitness goals.

Saturday night was my command's Christmas party. I felt very pressured to attend, so Corey and I left Parker with our friend Linda for the evening. It was nice to talk to everyone and introduce Corey to people but I felt uncomfortable because I had to improvise since I am still wearing mostly maternity clothes. I am very frustrated that I am not where I want/need to be yet, and it was uncomfortable sitting with some of the general dentists' wives who look like they've never had a baby even though they have 3 or 4 at home. Also, I worried about Parker AND Linda the whole time. We called Linda on our way home and she told Corey that Parker had been crying most of the time and she was crying "real tears." How sad! I think we learned how we can improve our baby-sitting instructions and also learned that it is hard to leave Parker at night right now. She didn't sleep well that night and we were up 3 times.

I met with a fitness coordinator yesterday and got a work out plan. She was late and I don't think my assessment was very thorough. Example: she told me not to modify my diet since I am still breastfeeding. So it was okay that I ate leftover birthday cake for breakfast? Probably not. She didn't ask me to describe my diet at all, so I need to push that topic a little more. I cannot do a single sit-up. Not one. I am starting with modified ab exercises and hopefully by April I will be able to pass the test. I didn't do any push-ups because of my wrist, so I need to get an appointment to have someone look at it [Note: I've been having left wrist pain since Parker was born. An USAF doc gave me a splint but it is hard to hold Parker and get anything done when I wear it. However, it hurts to move my thumb and I have a hard time with ordinary tasks like typing (ouch), driving, getting dressed, etc. Push-ups make it worse.] I did do the 1.5 mile run on a treadmill in 12:55. I am pretty happy with that and so was the fitness coordinator. She said I need to be lifting more weights so I am going to try to get to the gym more often, but it is hard with Parker waking up in the middle of the night.

I am down a total of 30 lbs from the morning of my induction (so some of that weight was Parker, etc.). I have about 20 more to go to be where I was when I started the perio residency. The lady told me I will lose about 3 lbs/week. Is she nuts? I've lost 15 lbs in the past 3 months. I am going to give it a try. On the days I have to be at work at 7 am, I have to get up at 4 am if I am going to work out. It takes me 30-45 minutes to get to the gym (plus 5 min from gym to clinic), so if you add in nursing Parker, getting her bag/bottles ready for the CDC and showering/getting ready, there's not a lot of time left to exercise, but even 30 minutes makes a difference. My neighbor and I went to work out on the track on Sunday, but I think we ended up chatting more than sweating. It was a nice day so it was good to just get outside.

I am still plugging away on my computer trainings. My officemates have declared it ridiculous and it is nice that they stop in between patients to chat so that I stay awake. Yesterday I was taking a quiz at the end of a section and I asked them about Operation Praying Mantis. Seriously - it was my quiz question. They just laughed and said that they never had training as in-depth as I am having to do. Oh well... part of the game. My clinic director says he thinks I'll be seeing patients the first week of January...maybe. I am anxious to get back into surgery because we need to start reviewing for boards and it is much easier when I am actually doing periodontics on a daily basis!

Rolling both ways

Parker can now roll from front-to-back AND back-to-front. She is such a big girl. I got a note from her teacher that said "Miss Jen, big news!" She rolled from her front to back at the CDC Wednesday and hasn't stopped since then. She has also been watching us very closely when we eat, and I am afraid she is going to be ready for solids soon. I am not sure that her mom and dad are ready for solids!! Parker had her 4-month well baby on 12/09/09 and she weighed 13 lbs. 9 oz. and was approximately 24 inches long. I question her height. Corey took her to the appointment so I didn't see the measuring, but she seems longer. I am going to measure her at home. She is in the 50 percentile for both height and weight. Her teachers at the CDC are always telling me she is tall, and her legs stick out of her 6 month outfits now. They had a fire drill the other day and they line 4 babies up per emergency crib. They said out of 8 babies, Parker's were the only legs sticking out the side of the crib :) She is so funny sometimes.

Parker's teachers at the CDC love to tease her about her bald head with her new blonde fuzz. One day Miss Akiko told me she found Parker in a book and took a picture. She sent me the following image:

Yep. Looks just like Parker :) The ladies also told me they want to pencil-in her eyebrows so they can see them :) They are just fascinated by her fairness. There are plenty of caucasian babies at the CDC, but few as pale and blonde as Parker. She really is the fairest of them all ;)

At the end of my 4th week on active duty, I still have not seen a patient. My clinic director told me this morning that it will probably be January before I see any patients. The good news is that I have referrals waiting for me; there are several lateral ridge aug cases, a bilateral canine exposure, and some implants. In addition, I've talked to a few dentists about local disease cases. Hopefully by the time I get going, I will have 2 techs trained and we can get a good system down and be very efficient. I think the command wants me to spend time over the next few weeks learning about the Navy; the past 3 days, I have been sitting at a computer doing online trainings. This is fine and I would be doing the same thing in Rhode Island, but I hope soon I can start in the clinic. I sometimes feel like I am being asked to go above and beyond since I didn't have formal training. There is a year-long course on Saturdays related to the Fleet Marine Force. Those of us Navy personnel who are attached to the Marines have the option (highly encouraged) to take this course and earn a pin. It is very rigorous and involves many physical activities and an oral exam. I was planning to start working on it after the perio boards in May... my neighbor is doing the same after his OMS boards. Anyway, now the command is pressuring me to start doing this because I didn't go to training... but this is not any info I would have received at the training. I think everyone is just acutely focused on my limited military knowledge at this point but if they ask, I feel like I need to bring up my perio boards because I know they want me to become board certified, too. It is a fine line and I am slowly learning the politics.

I am still slowly losing more weight, but it can't come off fast enough. I work with 6 other dentists/specialists at my clinic and all are in great shape. They like to tease me about the comments I received from the XO on physical fitness. One of the civilians brought mint candies back to our office yesterday, and one of them said, "didn't you get the memo? Dr. Anderson has to lose weight!" Everyone knows I am going to be scrutinized the day I reach 6 months post-partum. I got up and ran today so I could eat some birthday cake tonight. I am meeting with a fitness coordinator on Monday and hopefully she will make a plan for me. I am also going to contact a nutritionist because I am finding it hard to eat well without dairy (due to Parker's allergy.) Keep your fingers crossed that I lose about 15 more lbs in the next 2 months!

4 months already?

Here's our little Christmas gift! Parker was so cute with Santa. She just sat on his lap and smiled in her cute Christmas sweater and sparkly jeans. I am so excited to be a mom this year for the holidays. It's refreshing to try to picture everything through Parker's perspective. She's such a happy, sweet little girl. It is hard to believe that she is already four months old!
After Thanksgiving dinner, Parker was exhausted! I can't remember why we took off her little pants, but I think she was headed upstairs for a bath shortly after this. I don't routinely place her in the boppy to sleep; this was after breastfeeding her - she falls asleep on my lap and I just rotate the whole boppy/Parker combo onto the couch so she can keep sleeping and I can get a few things done.

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had dinner at one of the pediatric dentist's house - Zach and Amie have 4 cute kids and we also met another family. The food was great and it was nice to get together with some other families for the holiday. We also watched many episodes of The Unit. We are almost done with season 4!

The day after Thanksgiving, our friend Linda came over to bake cookies with Parker and me. Parker wore her cupcake outfit in honor of the baking occasion. She sat in her bumbo for a good bit of the afternoon and helped us. We made sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. Both were delicious. I had to put ours in the freezer after a few days because cookies are not good when trying to lose weight. My pictures are a little out of order, but I put a picture of the cookies a little further in this post. Linda is a professional cookie-maker and had all sorts of cool decorations. I want to learn more about baking - I really like working with my hands and I figure if I can do surgery, I can eventually make pretty cookies. I am looking forward to making cookies with Parker in a few years :)

After our afternoon of making cookies, Parker was still in a great mood for her bath. There's really nothing extraordinary about these pictures, but we thought she looked especially cute!

The bathtub (thanks, JD & Audra) came with a little orange whale-shaped cup - you can see Corey pouring water on her to keep her warm. We love those blue eyes!

Here's a shy smile. She usually loves her bath and has started really kicking her little legs. Have I mentioned how cute she is?
Parker has become very attentive lately. She has a little doll that we keep on her changing table. It has a rattle inside and Parker loves to grab the doll and put various parts of her in her mouth. She's getting pretty good at coordinating the movement and most things she gets ahold of go towards her mouth these days. Sometimes she can't quite get the angle that she wants and she'll let out these deep grunts - it makes me laugh and simultaneously makes me feel sad for her because I know she really wants to get it in her mouth to chew on it! No teeth yet.
Here are the previously mentioned cookies. I found a cool icing recipe, so now that we've experimented, I think next year's cookies will be even prettier.
Here's a random smile before bed. Doesn't she look like Corey?
Another look-alike picture. Parker loves to sit on Daddy's lap and watch tv. I caught them watching the BYU/U game before church a few weeks ago. Parker is already in 6 month clothes and growing rapidly.
Recently Parker has started holding her feet. I love this picture because it captures her cute face. She's picked up on Corey's excited expression and she's mimicking him.
What an exhausted baby! This was after a full Monday at the CDC. I think it's hard for her to get back into the groove when we play with her all weekend. She seems so serious. I love holding her when she's sleepy like this - she's so warm and cuddly.
This is Parker in her Christmas outfit - a beautiful sweater I got when I was pregnant back in the states and sparkly jeans. The sweater has a toy soldier, tree, sugar plum fairies, etc. She looked adorable and was in a great mood. It was really nice to take her to my unit's children's Christmas party so that everyone could meet her and also meet Corey. Both the XO and CO came over to chat with us and it was lots of fun. It was nice that our neighbors were there, too, so we could congregate with them. We are really lucky to have such great neighbors and it is also a bonus that one is an OMS and we can talk about techniques and learn from each other.

Family picture. We need to coordinate our outfits a little better. I was shooting for the holiday-inspired Christmas green. I am not sure that Corey's cowboy shirt fits in with the Christmas theme, but we are on an island and it is 70 degrees on a regular basis. I was driving today with my AC blasting and Christmas carols playing.
The Christmas party wore her out! Parker passed out in the car on the way home and I couldn't resist taking a picture. I think her little jeans and shoes are so cute! When we got home, she woke up and Corey was playing with her while I ran upstairs. When I came down, I caught him singing "doin' a dance in sparkly pants" and Parker was standing on his lap holding herself up with her little hands. Precious.
Parker is getting so much better about tummy time. She's been working on it at the CDC and it's not torture at home anymore. When Parker first started doing tummy time, we would wait until we knew we could stop her crying (nursing or a bottle) before we attempted it because she used to have mega melt-downs. Now her neck is a little stronger and she is so cute when she just hangs out and drools into a big puddle :)

It's 5 o'clock somewhere (but not in Okinawa)!

We've been awakened multiple times recently so I need to make a public service announcement. We hope you weren't trying to wake us up, but it is irrelevant; we are exhausted and we need our sleep! We are 14 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. When it is 10 AM Saturday morning here in Okinawa, it is Friday evening 8 PM on the east coast. We are also 15 hours ahead of Central Standard Time and 16 hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time.

We go to bed between 8 and 9 pm and get up between 3 and 5 am, depending on Parker's agenda. Lately, she has been waking up around 2:15 am for a feeding as well. This leaves us exhausted because sometimes it is hard to go back to sleep. The hours from 9 pm to 2 am are precious to us! So unless you are up at 3AM in the US and want to chat, don't plan to talk to us during the week!

Our U.S. phone number is (210)775-2708. CALL ONLY ONCE. PLEASE. We can see that you've called and we will return your call. Do not call 3 or 4 times. The best way to talk with us is to email us and set up a time for us to chat over the weekend. We are pretty flexible and it is free, so just give us a heads up and we will call you back.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving today and it's hard to believe how much has happened since last year! We decided to do Thanksgiving on our own last year because we were unsure how the IVF would go and didn't want to worry about a big dinner. Obviously we were elated and enjoyed our time at home celebrating our new pregnancy. This year we went over to one of Corey's colleagues and had dinner with his family and another family. We had great food and a great afternoon visiting with them.

We are so thankful for Parker and for each other. So much has happened in our lives over the past 12 months and we are very fortunate. As we begin the season of Advent, we are making an effort to be conscious of how very fortunate we are and to be grateful for all that we have. Parker has been so wonderful and we are already hoping she will have a sibling in the near future.

On to our funny adventures. I have now lost 10 lbs since we arrived on Okinawa. I can't update that silly ticker and I will probably just remove it. Anyway, I am having such a hard time, and Corey thought maybe I miraculously got pregnant and that's why I wasn't losing more weight more quickly. Then we started analyzing signs and symptoms and convinced ourselves that we might have a miracle on our hands. Nope. We went to the shopette, got a pregnancy test, and it was NEGATIVE. We were not surprised but we were both disappointed. I think infertility changes you forever; even after having Parker, it is still frustrating that pregnancy won't come easily for us. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that we will be able to have another baby soon. For now, I need to get back down to my pre-Parker weight so I don't embarrass the USMC while wearing the uniform.

This week I gained a new perspective on my job. I met with the commanding officer of my unit. He supervises all Navy dentists in the Pacific. He told me very directly that he was not happy to have me in his command as a 'newbie' and that I needed to learn and prove myself. Wonderful. He actually seems like a good guy and I understand his point. I am pretty uncomfortable wearing the USMC uniform because I know I have no experience. Also as previously mentioned by my XO, I am bringing down the entire Marine Corps by wearing the uniform while being unfit. These young Marines out here are the ones that are going to the front line. They are deploying directly to Afghanistan on a regular basis. They are my patients. I am going to have my hands on some heroes and I don't even know their ranks or titles yet. I need to learn these things and also understand their daily operations so that I can provide the best care and recovery. There was a briefing this week on holiday depression and activities to avoid. It was held in a huge theater and most of the audience was young Marines. As I was walking from my car into the briefing, several groups of Marines stood at attention and saluted me. I felt so uncomfortable because I am still learning and I am sure they could tell. It's kind of comical because I usually wait until I don't see many people coming before I get out of my car and then I make a bee-line into the building (for those of you who are non-military, you salute outdoors).

Corey and I miss 'home' but we are getting into the holiday spirit here on Okinawa. Our friend Linda is coming over to bake cookies tomorrow and I am planning to take Parker to get her picture taken with Santa next month. I will miss shopping on Black Friday, but if I wanted to go, the BX is actually opening at 4 AM and will have some sales. I think I'll be shopping on Amazon.com :)

I will have to post more pictures of Parker soon. She has been sleeping much better and is so much fun! She laughs and smiles and she is such a good baby. We love her so much!

In the Navy....

I reported for active duty last Monday, November 16th. It was a rough morning! Without any Navy experience, I bought a uniform, gathered all of my important documents, and headed over to the 3rd Dental Battalion headquarters. I was immediately told to remove my earrings (yep, the ones I am wearing in this picture.) Some of the administrative officers looked at my orders and then one of them (same rank as me) started telling me how horrible it was that I hadn't been to ODS and told me she was going to "fix" the situation. I sat there waiting for about 2 hours and then I was told I would be meeting with the XO. Let me digress for a second. I had squeezed into the skirt, which is 5 (FIVE) sizes bigger than any clothes I own, including my maternity pants. I was horribly uncomfortable and pretty angry because I had received an email back from the detailer who wrote my orders telling me that the CO and XO were "awaiting [me] with open arms." So much for the open arms. The XO (executive officer) started by telling me that I had a long 7 years ahead of me because I wasn't properly trained. Hold up.... I owe 3 years. I must have looked shocked because he questioned me and I told him that I thought I owed 3 years. He then explained that I was getting off to a bad start because it isn't good to show up and try to get out of active duty time. I was trying to remain calm as I sat in his office wondering how to get out of this nightmare. He had 3 other people in there taking notes who were supposed to help me get checked in. I was told that I am "clearly overweight" and also got reprimanded for not coming by to introduce myself earlier (as a civilian). He asked me why I hadn't come in, and I just kind of sat there. I was wondering why I would; I had Parker with me at home and have been wearing the same jeans and rotating 4 nursing tops the past 2 months. I know I look like I got dressed in the dark and would not have considered meeting my future boss like that. He said he was disappointed but that it was water under the bridge, yet he brought it up a few more times.



After over an hour of lecturing me about how little I know and how bad it is that I didn't go to training, the XO started talking to me about dentistry which was a little better because at least I knew what I was talking about at that point. I am assigned to the Marines and he explained that as a 'surgeon' I would be very useful on deployment. There are 4 spots opening in my unit for dentists to deploy to Afghanistan. He explained that it is good for one to be deployed and he is personally grateful for his 2 deployments on which he was repeatedly in the line of fire. I appreciate that sentiment and I am glad he feels that way because I don't; hopefully there are others that want to deploy because right now I am focused on staying with Corey and Parker! Basically, the message I got was that I committed to the Navy before getting married and I shouldn't have gotten pregnant because it made things harder for the Navy. I tried to smooth things over, but I made a horrible first impression. The Air Force is definitely different than the Navy or Marines. My experience with Corey's faculty and current unit did not prepare me for the more 'military' tone of my unit.



That day they had me go buy a new uniform. Because I am assigned with the Marines, I will wear a USMC uniform but it says "U.S. Navy" above one pocket. I am told that the Marines are very critical of Navy people who wear their uniform, and on Friday the XO gave me another lecture about how one should not be overweight while wearing a Marine uniform. They also told me to bring exercise clothes while I am getting checked in over the next few weeks so I can go to the gym during down time. Yes, they are calling me fat.

With the USMC uniform, I cannot wear earrings or carry a purse. Also, I cannot carry an umbrella. The Marines are hardcore.
This is the clinic where I'll be working on USMC Camp Kinser. I will be the only periodontist but there is also a prosthodontist and an orthodontist. We met them and they all seem very nice. I won't have my own office which will be a bit of a problem while I am still pumping and nursing Parker, but my clinic director seems very understanding, so hopefully he can find me a place to pump. I will be very glad when I get out there and just start working.
And now onto what keeps me going: little Miss Parker :) We were excited to get her in her Johnny Jump-Up, but unfortunately her little legs are not quite long enough.
Here she is a week ago. She wore her little bow and cute jumper to church but then had to change as soon as she got home. It is not uncommon for her to wear 3 outfits in one day.
On Veterans day, we decided to go to the botanical gardens. It's not too far from here, and it was a beautiful day. It is a large tourist attraction in Japan, and there were tons of school kids and Japanese tourists. Parker was quite popular and lots of people would wander by and peek in the stroller :) The grounds are beautiful and we heard that they do a lights show at Christmas, so we will have to go back and check it out.
The Shisa dogs are very big here. They are supposed to represent protection around the home (I think). Parker slept through most of the trip, but here is a picture of her next to the dogs.
I detest fish. I truly do. However, I was a good sport and waited while Corey fed the carp. We have a video of them eating the food that I think is just disgusting. As soon as Corey walked over to the water, these huge carp started jumping out of the water with their mouths open. There were literally around 100 carp piled on each other under the little bridge trying to get food. Gross.
We went into the little gift shop and had to get a picture of this - the Japanese love Spam. Seriously. This is even funnier - if you look at the picture, you will see that it is Spam sushi - spam on rice wrapped in seaweed.
A big thing out here is sweet potato ice cream. There are purple sweet potatos out here and it is a popular flavor of ice cream. We've been wanting to try it, and Corey finally got a chance. I had one lick, but I couldn't have any because of Parker's milk allergy. That has actually been really frustrating for me because I can't eat yogurt, cheese, milk, etc. I have been trying to eat healthy food and I really wish I could have some dairy products! They are such good sources of protein.
Last weekend we went to the holiday bazaar at Camp Foster. Parker slept through most of it (which was good because Santa got her some presents) but she was all smiles when we got home. She is such a happy baby! That night we went to her friend Porter's 1st birthday party. Parker was a bit of a baby and had to leave early because it was past her bedtime, but it was nice to have dinner with some new friends.
Parker has been doing well at the CDC but she's been itching her face and eyes lately after she eats. I am wondering if she has other allergies that we don't know about, although she does it even after formula at the CDC. I picked her up on Thursday and she had socks over her hands because she had been scratching her head :(
Shortly after she got home, she sat in the Bumbo in the kitchen and did her business. After about 15 minutes in the Bumbo, she suddenly seemed much happier and I asked Corey to check to see if she pooped. As he lifted her out of the Bumbo, pooped dripped on the floor. Corey quickly put her in the sink and we decided to just fill the sink and bathe her right there!
We just moved her upstairs for baths last week, so I got her bear sponge and bath accessories and started a bath in the sink. She was a good sport but made some funny faces. She is so serious sometimes.
Parker giggled this past Thursday. Corey and I were playing with her before her bath and I was wiggling her and kissing her cheeks. Suddenly, she let out this deep belly laugh. It was not a cute little girly giggle! She's started to do it more regularly, and it is so funny. I love her more every second!
I've been working out more regularly and when I came back from the gym on Saturday, Parker was passed out in her new jumper. Corey was trying to get out house cleaned up so he had her playing in it. Her feet don't actually touch the floor, but she seems to like it anyway.
Here's a close-up of our little angel. I think she continues to look more and more like Corey everyday!
This past week I weighed myself again and I've lost 4 more pounds. I'm not sure from where, as my clothes still fit the same, but I am not giving up. I HAVE to lose weight or I am going to get in trouble because the Navy does fitness testing AND body composition analysis. I just need to keep it up, and it helps that we are getting into a routine. Someone needs to explain this to Parker since she continues to get up multiple times during the night. Hopefully soon she will start sleeping through the night.

We are getting settled and starting to have a life. Our neighbors are great and many nights after work we'll congregate outside and chat. We had Corey's sponsor and his wife over today for lunch (we still need to work on our entertaining skills), and it was nice to feel like we have a normal life. We should have taken the boards this past week, but since I was supposed to be at ODS, we are not taking them until May. We will have to star studying soon.

One year ago, we got the incredible news that I was pregnant! I will never forget when I heard "you are very pregnant" last November 21st after my blood test. It is so clear in my mind and it is unbelieveable how far we've come as I sit here and look at Parker. She is our little miracle.