iphone photo journey

Just doing some Mac-cleanup today and stumbled upon a bunch of iphone photos that I've yet to share. These are from the span of over a year and I cannot believe it's taken me so long to upload some of them!  My time sure does fly with a toddler and another on the way!

only in japan do you see a pink car with pink rims.  I've actually seen funnier cars then this!

Neko seriously thinks he's a lap dog!

Zach was just a month old here playing with the neighbor's daughter, Nola

Oh the burrito wrap days!  We will re-live this all soon!

Swinging around with Daddy!

Lunch with my boys

What in the world are these?  Mom have you seen these?

Zach and some of his friends.  He was JUST learning to sit up

A boy and his doggie

Gotta love okinawa

Playing with his girlfriend, Kiera.  Hopefully he won't catch these habits early

My skeleton boy!

My garden was just starting to bloom.  It's since exploded with color and is about 5x this size!

Karate kid

Our bar.  This was one piece of furniture Dima requested before moving and we finally got it.  The top opens up to make the top of the bar bigger.

Playing at co-op

Again, playing while mommy works out

Our neighbor, Tim eating a massive sugar shocked cookie at christmas

Mom i'm playing with pooh!

happy boy at breakfast

I love this picture because it looks like he's pooping

Snack time in the front with mommy

Playing in the ball pit at Mihama kid's park.  Don't worry- Japanese ball pits are so safe!

With his girlfriend, Eiley while mommy works out.  They are just 4 days apart

Sliding with my dad at the park

Gosh I love Japanese supermarkets!  I was in heaven here!

his first and last trip in a police car!

about to go for a walk in the rain for babies.  We did a 5k March of Dimes to raise money for babies!

easter egg hung with mommy's running group!

Easter eggs at daddy's work party!

Forget this...

Where's the rest of the candy?

I don't blame him at all!

About to take off on our trip to Tokyo

with his uncle Fedya

Doggie!

Fast asleep at Disneyland Tokyo!

In Japan, they have these little seats for the baby to sit in while mommy goes potty.  They are such a life saver, as baby is not crawling around on the dirty floor!

Went to Alice in Wonderland's banquet hall for lunch in Disneyland

Playing with the red heart

An unbirthday cake for my unbirthday!

Zach playing while we rested in Tokyo

Riding his uncle's motorcycle

At the nature center in Norwalk, CT

He loves pushing his stroller!

Wee!

Trying out some massage chairs!  This one was just his size

yep, that's my husband, warming his wet butt

Leave it to housing in Japan.  This is a piece of our old AC unit (that they won't remove) that Zach keeps playing with.  It's got a rusted screw at the end, which seems to be Zach's favorite part of the thing.  

Zach LOVES the water.  Neko loves his little brother and cannot stand being far from him or me.  

What a walk down memory lane this was.  I know these photos will be cherished in the years to come! I cannot believe how far my family has come in the year i've had this iphone (this is my second since in Okinawa).  I can't wait to upgrade my phone again and go through photos again!

checking in!

I have been seriously slacking on posts over the last few weeks.  Unfortunately, we spent a week dealing with a bad diaper rash followed by a bug of some sort that we all caught.  I actually ended up in the hospital hooked up to an IV!  It's been a long few weeks and we're hoping the worst has passed!  In the meantime, here are a few photos of the last few weeks to keep ya'll updated on the happenings of the Stepanoff family!

 Finger painting in a Ziploc bag with the doggie

 My boys laying around watching a movie

 Zach's diaper rash was bleeding badly at this point and we brought him to the hospital shortly after.  He was naked a LOT around the house to help it go away!

 Daddy had a mess night for work.  Here are the boys in front of my house saying goodbye

 We finally had ONE single day of sun.  We took advantage by having a pants less pool party in the front yard.  Don't worry, only Zach was pants less!  

 Sipping some water from his new Lollacup- thanks uncle Fedya!

 Went to the neighbor's daughter's birthday party.  Here is her son, Ben getting the slip and slide ready

 Zach chomping down on celery at the party.  Unfortunately he got sick after this and we had to bring him home.  He still had the bug!

 Claire- the birthday girl blowing up a floaty!

 Went to a Shabu-Shabu place for father's day.  It was not as good as in Tokyo, but for the price for a local place- it was great.  We got to pick 2 sauces and chose korean and japanese.  Our meals came with lots of meat and we ordered some extra veggies to cook in the sauces.  Zach chowed down!

 Zach and Daddy

Dima blowing on Zach's food- Zach greedy for more

Pregnancy news:

I had a checkup about 2 weeks ago.  Looks like everything is going well, but I was a bit underweight for where I should be at this point.  No worry though, as baby has developed right on target.  When we all caught a bug, I got very dehydrated even though I was drinking over a gallon of water every day.  I lost almost 5 pounds from getting sick and ended up having some contractions as a result of the dehydration.  I was sent to Labor and Delivery and was hooked up to an IV for a few hours.  The baby was monitored using a contraction monitor and fetal heart beat monitor.  I was released after a short amount of time with a bottle of medication and an order to increase my fluid intake AGAIN.  Luckily, it seems the worst is over and baby is still doing great.  

We are still planning a repeat c-section because of the age difference, but no date has been set yet.  

We are just starting to get everything in order for the baby.  We have painted the nursery back to white so we don't have to paint again before moving.  We have a crib ordered and have a dresser in the room already.  Now we will be organizing some of Zach's old things and decorating the nursery.  Less than 3 months until we meet our new boy, so it's time to start preparing as we are days from the final trimester!  I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy is flying by!  

We will continue to update this blog now that we have all recovered!  We are looking forward to a few things over the next few weeks that we will update ya'll on!  

Moving on starts with goodbye

I guess it's gonna have to hurt,

I guess I'm gonna have to cry,

And let go of some things i've love,

To get to the other side,

I guess it's gonna break me down,

Like falling when you try to fly,

It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,

Starts with goodbye

~Carrie Underwood

One of my very first memories of moving to Okinawa involved pulling up to our new home.  We had next to nothing at the time- our shipment had still not made it from America, we knew nobody, and we were still establishing ourselves as a married couple.  And so, we were on our new adventure in a faraway land in our young twenties.  

We pulled up to our new house and saw a man and his young son playing basketball in the parking lot.  I remember immediately being impressed that this man was outside playing with his son.  It's not something you see often in America, as kids increasingly spend less and less time outdoors and more time inside in front of screens.  We started hauling our huge suitcases into our completely empty home, which felt huge to a young couple just starting out.  

The man approached us to welcome us to the neighborhood.  His name was Steve, he was in the Navy and was an OB doctor down at the hospital.  His son, Cannon was 9 years old and he had two more kids in the house with his wife.  He gave us some advice about the new place we called home.  He warned us that he was from Texas, and he couldn't get over how hot and humid the summers were here.  He told us where we could go look for a pet (we ended up coming home with Neko just a few hours later) and finished by offering anything at all while we waited for our shipment of things to arrive.  

We were very impressed walking away.  We commented on how military families are very different then civilian families and we were happy to be a part of the military for that reason.  It seemed we moved to a very safe neighborhood.  I then distinctly remember saying, "Remind me to not see Dr. Coats for my annual check ups.  It would be too weird seeing the neighbor!"  Little did I know then that he would deliver my first child just a year later.  

Over the next few months we were friendly with all of the neighbors, but never became too close to anyone.  That summer, the world cup began.  Dima began talking to Steve, and found out he was a soccer fan as well.  Because of the time change, the games were on at very odd times.  But Dima and Steve were determined to watch the games, and eventually decided to watch them together, at all hours of the night.  It was those 2am soccer games that sparked our relationship with the neighborhood.  Just a few months later, we were more of a family then a neighborhood.  

In those 2 years, we have had parties for many special events- birthdays, christmas, memorial day, 4th of july, labor day, and my personal favorite- our annual burning of the christmas tree new year's parties.  We had get together after get together for random reasons too.  Typhoon parties that involved Dima and Steve sitting in the rain with drinks in their hands, bon fires "just because" and game nights.  We developed the strongest relationship we have ever had with anyone else since we met.  We said many tearful goodbyes to the other neighbors last summer, and knew it would one day be one of us leaving.  It was something we tried to not think about, and we were happy when the Coats extended a year and remained longer.  Unfortunately, that year is up now, and the Coats are on their way to their new adventure.  Steve is getting out of the military, and the family is settling down in Washington state, where Steve will begin working.  

Our neighborhood put together a goodbye BBQ for them, but they still had a whole week to go before leaving us.  Luckily, our friends, the Terpstra's (who ironically knew them long before moving to Okinawa) were nice enough to have a few of us over for a final goodbye followed by an outdoor bon fire.  It was a fun night, with a tearful ending.  

We are so lucky to have met these wonderful people.  They have watched us develop from somewhat newlywed adults to adults with a crazy puppy, to expectant parents, to new parents, to now- expecting once again.  Our lives have changed so much in the past 3 years, and I know that the Coats family has without a doubt contributed positively into the adults we are today.  

A look back at our time with the Coats family:

 Dima and his Girlfriend, Emmy

Dima and Steve, waiting on a typhoon

The guys at a BBQ

Karaoke guys

 Thanksgiving dinner 2010

 The guys, sympathizing with me at the end of my pregnancy

 At the park with the Coats and the Jones

Dima and Steve- right after Steve delivered our son!

Louise and I with the quilt group ladies

At the beach with the Coats

The Coats kids with me on my birthday

Dima and Steve after going deep sea fishing with friends

The ladies at the Marine Corps ball

 Marine Corps Ball

 Steve & Dima

 Christmas tree shopping with the Coats kids

 Christmas Eve baby Jesus reenactment

Dima and his girlfriend playing chicken


We thank them for every moment, every memory we have shared.  It was truly the most difficult goodbye we have ever experienced.  I can honestly say it was more emotionally difficult then moving overseas.  But we know this is not the end of the Coats-Stepanoff friendship.  We will remain in close contact with our family, and we will one day see them again.  Until that day, we all miss you terribly and wish you the best of luck in the new, exciting chapter in your lives.