Summer Sprinklers

It was another beautiful day on Saturday, so we took out the lawn sprinkler and let Abby at it.

Abby was pretty skeptical at first. She was only interested in playing in one spigot of water and ignored the other 20 sprayers. It would have been a lot cheaper to just let her play with the hose at this point.

Unfortunately hose water is crazy freezing. Anytime the water would touch her she would SCREAM with anger and then clench her fists and chatter her teeth.

It took her quite a while to gain the courage to go in for a round two.

Abby was all about drinking the water instead of playing with it.

Finally my sweet pea went for the gold and jumped right into chaos.....

But only after she manipulated me into getting her a sheet to stand on because she hates grass to touch her feet. Not at all high maintenance :)

Bad Mom

There is not a lawn chair in the world that Abby hasn't sat in. The furniture store at Atsugi is no exception. As soon as she saw these delightful chairs she beelined for them. She kicked off her shoes and prepared to get comfortable.
For some reason this lawn chair had a seat belt, which Abby promptly got caught in. She lifted her legs about four and five times and then started to get frazzled.
Then she looked back and forth and started yelling mom. At this point I should have stopped hiding behind the fake palm tree and put down the camera, but this had blog written all over it so I kept on keeping on.

Good thing Kristen was nearby to help out. She is a master of the lawn chair seat belt. At this point I was laughing so hard I had to stop taking photos. Abby was pretty ticked I wasn't helping her break free. As soon as she got untangled she pushed over the filter display and hightailed it out of there.

Who knew lawn chairs could be so traumatizing? Or that they were so dangerous you needed a seat belt so you didn't fall off of it. Next thing you know they'll come with a free helmet.

Sweet Beth

Gracie was our first baby and the love of our life. We got her before we left for Japan. We spent countless hours walking her, playing fetch, and giving her tons and tons of petting. Gracie was incredibly expensive, breed from champion dog show stock.

Gracie eventually let us know that she wanted a friend. Someone that would play with her when we were busy.

Beth stole our heart from the first moment we saw her. She was the one. She has just enough sass to stand up against Gracie, the hugest heart to love the children we would eventually have and an adorable face that is impossible to say no to. Beth was a discount dog -- by Japan standards -- at $1,500. They gave us $100 off because she had a rash on her stomach, and another $200 off because her tail was broken and only half of it wagged when she was happy. We didn't care; she was worth every penny.

Unfortunately, it became apparently that Beth is probably the worst bred dog in all of Japan. I am NOT talking about her personality, but her physical traits. Clearly she has the mutant gene that has made her look like an eternal baby. She has a very weak bladder and must go out every four hours day and night. She is constantly suffering from open sores from the inside of her ears to the tip of her tail. They are especially bad on her feet and arms. Her ears are insanely dirty regardless of how much we clean them. It is one thing after another.

A while ago she got a really bad open sore on her back foot and couldn't stand to put pressure on it. Late at night we ended up taking her to a Japanese vet who diagnosed her with a skin rash and allergies. He gave her some medicine to carry her over until we could get to the vet on base.

Two days later she was seen again on base. They thought maybe she had ear mites and a skin disorder. They loaded us up with tons of skin creams, ear drops and pills for her bladder.

A few days later she started growing a tumor like thing over her eye. It got so bad that she could barely see. Then she started growing one above her other eye. Her initial rashes were getting better, but then she started growing open sores in other areas.

Back to the vet we went. This went ON and ON, OVER and OVER for the past few months.

She finally went back Wednesday and they did a biopsy on her foot to try to figure out once and for all what is wrong. We have three weeks to wait for the results to come in. Her foot is pretty tender where the stitches are, but other than that, she is in great spirits.

We are so sad for Beth. She is the most loving and caring pooch that a family could ask for, but I am also aware that she probably won't be with us for as long as we would like. This breaks my heart. I can't even imagine our lives without her. Watching Marley and Me only made things immensely worse. We are so grateful for the joy she has brought to our lives and hate to see her
in any sort of discomfort or pain.

Please keep little Beth in your thoughts and prayers as we await her results.

Splish Splash

Rain, rain go away! And don't come back EVER!

It's was raining today, as always, so we hightailed it to the pool on Zama. This was Abby's first time swimming outside of the bathtub. Of course we took the camera to capture these sweet moments.

Grandma Denna sent us this adorable swimsuit while Abby was still in my tummy. Conveniently it fits.

This life jacket was a few sizes too big. Confident Abby went straight for the water before I was able to get situated. Good thing this jacket came with a leash. I was not above using it.
Abby flipped on the life jacket about 10 minutes after we got in the pool so I took it off. She was terrified to let go of me.
She spent most of the time on the side of the pool throwing these balls at Kristen and I.

She even figured out how to throw two at a time.

She was pretty proud of accomplishment. Every time we threw a ball we had to clap for ourselves.

Looks who's rocking out the granny suit...

Abby did not want to leave and tried to wiggle herself out of her flower towel.

She was more than happy to eat her cracker in the locker while I changed.

The pool -- loves it!

One of a Kind

Kristen wanted me to take some shots of her belly to send home to her friends and family back home. Every month I try to capture the wonderful joy that is pregnancy. Today I tried to get some more 'artistic' shots. Who wants the standard Kristen-in front-of-the-tree-or-sitting-by-on-a-branch mediocrity?

Here is what she had in mind:

Yea. A lime tree. We're holding our belly to show that we're pregnant.

Look I'm pregnant and sitting on a rock in a park. How interesting.

I stumbled across a tree and sat down for this 'classic' shot.

Ugh. How traditional. Here is what I had in mind:

Crazy monkey arms!
Downward dog!

Push up excitement!

Needless to say, she met me somewhere in the middle:

Crazy arms for Owen

Sass up that rock!

Poke out that pouch!

You got to love a girl that can take some direction :)

Fil-YEAH-o-fish

Yummy, greasy, tarter-saucy goodness. Where have you been all my life? You are worth every single of the 11 Weight Watchers Points that you are. My mouth awaits your next visit. Until then...

K&D's Excellent Adventure

I am so excited to announce my next great adventure: hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and whitewater rafting the Urubamba River. I've never been to Peru before and I am totally thrilled!

My travel partner is Kim Murphy, of course. You might recognize her from my India, Jordan and Israel trips. She has also come to visit me twice in Japan. We made a promise to meet up once a year and go somewhere to challenge ourselves and reconnect with the things we love the most -- good friends, adventure and a little bit of craziness.

This is us in Kyoto with Abbers.

Here we are in Israel at the Wailing Wall. Abbers is in my tummy.

Here Kim and I are kicking it behind the Taj Mahal in India.

It never feels real until we buy our airplane tickets and fully pay off the fees to our in-country organizations. Done and done. We've signed on the dotted line. All we need to now is get in shape. The Andes mountains aren't going to climb themselves!

Here is our Itinerary:

September

9th -- Leave Japan and arrive in DC

10th -- Spend the day catching up with friends in the Nation's Capital

11th -- Leave DC for Peru
12th -- Arrive in Peru and go sightseeing around Cuzco

13th -- Explore the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo

14th -- Hike the Inca Trail
15th -- Keep hiking the Inca Trail
16th -- And still hiking the Inca Trail
17th -- Arrive at Machu Picchu at sunrise. Explore. Take the train back to Cuzco.

18th -- Go whitewater rafting

19th -- Fly back to DC

20th -- Fly to Japan

21st -- Arrive in Japan and go home

I have the best husband in the world. He not only was more than willing to take the two weeks off to watch Abby, but he also convinced his mom to come over for the month of September to help him out. Needless to say, I love her more than words can say. I am so glad I will get to send some of that time with her as well. Jeremy has some fun plans for them while I am off. So fun, in fact, I'm not sure who got the better deal :)

Every day I thank my Heavenly Father for a husband that encourages me to try new things, to push the limits and values independence. I can only hope he understands that means the world to me. Although it will be sad to be apart from him and Abby, I fully appreciate this time to recharge my batteries, learn new things to share with them, and test my new body in this outdoor adventure.

Woo hoo Peru!

Minus 40

I've had a ton of doctor's appointments lately and I always get stressed out when they ask the following question: how often do you exercise? I always answer: for an hour to an hour and a half six times a week. I am always expecting them to laugh at this point and then shoot me a crazy look. I certainly don't look like someone who works out that much and down deep I always think they must be laughing at me behind my back.

But last week I had an 'Aha Moment.' Something that changed the way I see my life and the things I am doing to improve it. Every doctor that took my blood pressure said: you must be a runner. This took me by surprise, but I laughed off and mentioned that I had been running about 10-15 miles a week for the past four months or so. Finally, after about four or five times of this, I finally asked: how do you know? The answer: you have a nice slow runner's heartbeat. I was so shocked and pleased that I teared up a little bit.

I've always been the funny one -- cute and friendly but chunky as all get out. I've never been the one with the "runner's heartbeat." I'm not where I want to be yet, but every day I am getting closer. It might not show on the tag on my pants, but it is written loud and clear across my heart and all throughout my body.

My dad loved to run. My older sister loves to run. I have so many friends and extended family who've laced up their shoes. I have so many wonderful examples of people who really take care of their bodies and are healthy and strong because of it. I also have great examples of people who are currently on the same emotional journey that I am. I want to be that person for both myself and someone else who needs the motivation.

I have now lost 40 pounds. I'm more than halfway through my journey. Only 30 more pounds to go.

Here are a few snapshots of where I am and where I've come from. I look forward to the future with a joyful and hopeful heart -- a runner's heart.

Here is a fun photo of me and my dad.

I was a track and field champion in public school. The last thing I needed was this cheesecake, which I ate mostly by myself.
I also didn't need the $250 in Omaha Steaks I won for Regis and Kelly.
Here I am being funny while interning at the Late Show.
Rocking in scrubs -- the only comfortable clothes at this point -- at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Getting fitted for my C-Pap machine. I had to wear it when I slept because my neck was so fat I stopped breathing during the night.

Here I am on a beach in Cozumel. I can't believe I wore a bathing suit!

Round Two: Extract and Discard

I was looking forward to Monday with equal degrees of sheer joy and concern. I was very excited to have the tubes, stitches and other unmentionables removed from my nose, but I was terrified of the pain that my doctor promised would follow this quick procedure.

My biggest concern was making sure I was fully medicated. So I took my dose of Percocet an hour earlier than I was supposed to and gave myself an extra half dose to really make me giddy. Let's just say it worked -- I was a chatty Cathy, full of giggles and free of all earthly cares. This turned out to be the best idea ever because they decided not to use any additional pain suppressants when I got there. Perhaps they noticed it would not be necessary....

Below are some gross, but informative, snapshots of round two:

The first photo is of me covered and ready to go. At this point and I am still naively smiling.

This is what initially came out of my nose: a few stitches and two very irritating nose tubes. The doctor praised me for the cleanliness of my tubes. Apparently, the usually come out with clots and other gross attachments. Jeremy and I cleaned them like clockwork three times a day with the nose needle and Q-tips so I'm glad it paid off.
Then he took the nose vacuum and sucked out all the gel padding, leftover stitching, scabs, loose pieces of skin and whatever else was 'suckable.' It felt really good when it was all done.

When all was said and done, it will take about three months for my nose to heal. During that time I have to be sure that it doesn't get smashed. There are still a few stitches in there so I have to keep it moist and irrigated with Saline water for the next week or so.

He checked out my tonsils and they look great as well. He said they will continue to hurt for the rest of the week, but the pain should dull significantly sometime this weekend.

He also thought that I should drop my Percocet dosage to 5 mils every four hours instead of 10 mils. I tried that for 12 hours but the pain was so bad I not only went back to 10 mils, but I also made him write me a new prescription for a small bottle just in case I run out before the pain stops. I did get two surgeries and he gave me the same amount he would for someone who only got one.

I'm starting to feel like my old self again. Still on drugs so I can't drive and am a little woozy. If I get off the meds by Sunday he said I could start jogging on Monday -- not for very long or very fast. I got the okay to start taking walks outside, which has been wonderful. I still get plenty of rest and sleep. Jeremy is doing most of the work with Abby so I can concentrate on getting better on my own pace. Loves him!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!