While cleaning out the future baby room

This is the pack Josh used to tow all his military gear while deployed to Iraq.

Ronan fits quite nicely.
(Photo by KP-August 2008)

Ronan is 4!

Ronan, Josh and I celebrated Ronan's 4th birthday with cupcakes and presents at home. Check out how the number 4 is backwards for the photo. I will get these birthday photos down when baby number 2 is celebrating with cake (I hope).

Chocolate cupcake. Yummy!

Ronan LOVES Legos and Star Wars, so the fact that the two are combined commercially made his birthday.

Here, Josh and Ronan have a blast putting the Legos together.

Bean Bags

Here is what my 4 y/o thought of the new bean bags for the Tatami Room. This was his favorite past time for a few weeks after we bought the chairs. (Photo by KP-June 2008)

Tokyo Disney

Here we are at Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan. Ronan and I went with our friends Melissa, Ramone and Esiah Cantu.
(Photo taken by Melissa-June 2008)

Finally, we are able to download pictures from our camera. So I am going to be posting some pics that will not be in chronological order of when taken. I will put a blip with each photo so the details will be known. Enjoy! Kristin


Here are Josh and Ronan at the Kanazawa Zoo Roller Park. Notice the slide. There are a couple of slides like this in our area of Japan. Ronan always has a blast. (Photo by KP-Father's Day 2008)

38 weeks and counting

Hello All

Well I officially surpassed the week that Ronan was born during his pregnancy. I really feel like I am going to go into labor any day now, but that is a wait and see game. I have our hospital bag packed, minus toiletries, and I have an overnight bag for Ronan ready to go. I think I will have Josh put the infant car seat in the car now.

• Still no bed for this child.
• Need new curtains for baby room
• Still need to get the house in a cleaner state than it is in the event company comes around. We live off base, so I suspect we won't have too many people driving out this way. They'll most likely wait till I am on base. Just an assumption, so I want to have the house in decent order, just in case.
• Need to renew our Costco membership and pick up some pre-made meals.

So much to do, so little time. My own fault. I am a procrastinator. Must get it from my mother as she just wrote me an email this morning proclaiming herself a procrastinator. There are worse things to inherit from a parent.

Check back in a week to see if Conor made his debut yet. Love to all my friends and family. Miss you all.

Cheers ---Kristin

36 weeks and counting

Hello All

I am 36 weeks along in pregnancy #2. Feeling good. Get tired easily and I don't average a lot of sleep at night. Ronan is not a fan, but we are taking naps again to help me catch up on my sleep.
Ronan decided he wanted out of my belly at 37 weeks, so Josh and I are trying to get somewhat prepared in the event this baby comes early too. Ronan is getting super excited, but I think he will be most happy to get all of the baby items that are stored in his room out of there. Josh and I have been so lax about fixing up this kids room. Ronan had a complete room at 5 months into the pregnancy.

Ronan and I have been spending a lot time together. We went to Tokyo Disney for the day last month. It was a great time. He was big enough (or small enough) to ride many rides and he wasn't scared like I thought he would be. We went with friends. I was restricted from riding may of the rides. The park is super clean and all the staff very friendly. Typically Japan. I am sure it is part of the Disney thing too.

Ronan and I had to miss a week long trip to Hawaii with Josh because I am too far along to fly. Josh really needed us there because he did not do much in the way of fun outside of going to dinner with friends. No pool time. No beach time. Things he would have done had we been there. I really enjoyed Hawaii when we were there in 2006 and hope to get back there before we leave Asia next year.

Ronan turned 4 last month. Josh, Ronan and I celebrated with cupcakes and presents at home and then we had a party with kids his age at the park. It was hot, but all kids had a great time and we kept our guests well hydrated with water. I was glad Ronan got to have a big cake and blow out candles after friends sang happy birthday. Josh and I forgot to take photos of this event.

Speaking of photos, there are none posted because our camera is not in good shape for downloading pics. The battery died during a download and now it won't download pics. Takes all the pics you want, we just can't extract them from the camera. Hope we can get this problem worked out before baby #2 makes his appearance. May have to buy a point a click camera to have for baby boy Perry's arrival.

Well, I need to get started on my day. Cheers to all our family and friends around the world.
Kristin

Time flies

Hello to all that reads this blog. Boring I know. I have not posted in a while and today I have no pics to load because my hubby needs to work out a kink with our computer. What's been happening in the Perry household?????

I am 33 weeks along in my pregnancy. Boy, being pregnant in Southern California for the last trimester is much more preferable to Yokosuka, Japan. It is hot hot hot here and it is not even the hottest it is going to get. I never had heat issues with Ronan, but that is Southern CA for you. Love that area, but we are enjoying our experiences here. This little one will have a neat story to tell when he is asked..."Where are you from?"

I am feeling good for the most part. Getting excellent care at the Yokosuka Naval Hospital. Ronan is now 4. We had a little family get together, just him, Josh and me on his actual birthday. Star Wars Lego set and Star Wars transformers presents ruled. Ronan got to visit with his cousin Ryan in Rogers, Arkansas this past May. Ryan was great about letting Ronan play with his Star Wars toys and now Ronan is hooked. Speaking of Rogers, AR--we had a great, but too short a visit, with my oldest brother Tim and his family (Vicki, Ryan and Sarah). We also got to visit with my other brother Rourke and family. Erin is 16 and Hayley is 13. WOW! is all I can say. I remember when they were just infants. And Ronan got to spend some quality time with his Cookie (my mom).

Washington State was another visit while stateside. We went to see our good friends, The Bowsers. Laura and I were preggers with our first in Port Hueneme, CA. She is now a mother of 3. Time flies. Ronan and Sarah played with each other as if 2 years had not passed since they last saw each other. Laura's other two are just a beautiful. I must say, her son Ben stole my heart. He is a cutie.

A visit to Portland, OR allowed us to spend much enjoyed time with Josh's sister Rebecca and her husband Peter. Josh's dad Bruce came for a few days as well. It was a good time.
We went to the Portland Zoo, got to see the big hospital where Rebecca works, and we rode a tram. Ronan enjoyed that very much.

Our stateside visit also took us to New Orleans, LA and Carencro, LA. My very best friends and I got together for Memorial Day Weekend at the Crozier House. Marie was 36 weeks along in her pregnancy at the time. We threw her a wonderful baby shower and ate some AWESOME food. I ate 3 lbs of crawfish by myself. I could have done 5 lbs, but I wasn't sure if I was going to have heartburn afterwards (like two more pounds would have made the heartburn less uncomfortable). Good news--no heartburn and the crawfish was delicious. Spending time with Jeanne, Heather and Marie and families is the best.

Well, I could gush about the trip a lot more but this blog is boring enough. I will post pics to match the info later this month. So much more going on, swim lessons, growing belly, birth of baby Morgan Crozier. Until next time--cheers, Kristin

Ronan's Cover

Ronan has done a little modeling since we came to Japan. Here is a catalog he did back in January of this year. The company is called Combi. They are known for their strollers and car seats.

The web address is http://combimini.jp

All the information is in Japanese, but when you go to the site, you will see a catalog with a little boy standing in swim rings with goggles on his head. That's Ronan. Select that photo and you will bring up the Combi Mini Catalog. He is on the next few pages too. Just three photos inside. Above the catalog you will see a button that says 100% then next to it buttons with arrows pointing left and right. Use the arrows to move between pages. Check it out.

Cheers
Kristin

It's a...

I am 5 months pregnant this week and Josh and I went to our revealing ultrasound yesterday.
The ultrasound tech is 95% sure it is a boy. Josh and I saw revealing anatomy quickly. The tech was great about showing us the umbilical cord and it's striations and then the penis to reassure us it was not the umbilical cord between the baby's legs.

We are very excited. Having a little boy already, I feel a little like I know what to do with a boy. I am mostly excited to know that all the measurements taken during the ultrasound show the baby is developing normally.

My doctor here has suggested I have an amniocentesis because I am of "advanced maternal age", but I am just not comfortable with pursuing this course of action. Had the ultrasound shown or indicate any abnormalities I would pursue further testing, but I am relieved to know that all is developing normally at this time.

Baby Boy Perry has a name already. I won't reveal his name here. All I will say is that he is getting one of his names from his uncle who is currently deployed to Kuwait right now.

Love to all our family and friends all over the world
Cheers
Kristin

Josh, Ronan and I went to the Enoshima Aquarium a couple of weeks ago. Here are few shots we took to capture the moment. Ronan also pointed out that he could see "mountan Fuji". Enjoy. Cheers--Kristin

Surprise

Well, it has been three months exactly so I thought I'd spread the word to any friends and family that read this blog that I am pregnant.

All is well. Josh and I are very excited and Ronan seems to enjoy telling people he is going to be a big brother.

No idea what the sex is at this time. Hope to find out next month.

Cheers from the Perrys (+1)

Wednesday February 13th was Josh's 36th birthday. Ronan and I met up with him at The New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo and had a nice dinner. Our friend Rick Cook was able to join us too. Captain Cook was Josh's commander when he was with NMCB 5 in Port Hueneme, California. It was nice to catch up with him.

Thursday was Valentine's Day AND Cindy Ludwig's birthday--Happy Belated Birthday Cindy!

On the 14th, Josh and I took Ronan to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.
It was chilly but sunny and most of the animals were out and awake.
Ronan says his favorite thing to see was the tigers.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. Cheers--Kristin

My Super Hero

Here are two adorable photos taken of Ronan when he had Josh tie his Thomas blanket around his neck so he could be a super hero. He has watched Underdog a gazillion times. The other night he even responded "Underdog" when Josh's new boss asked him, "What is your name?" Gotta love 3 year-olds. I Will post again after Josh's birthday.

Cheers--Kristin

Happy Birthday to me!

Cathy, Mike and me singing away

Josh and me

Katsura, Aaron, Cathy, Werhner, me, Mike and Josh

Kazue and me

Another year has come and gone for me. February 2nd marked mine and Tweety Bird's birthdays. My mom reminded me in the card she sent that I used to think Tweety Bird and I shared a birthday. I have no idea if there is documenation to support this theory but when I was little, it was the truth. I do believe Feb. 2nd is Farah Fawcett's birthday for real though.

The Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Honorable BJ Penn, and the Chief Admiral of the Civil Engineer Corps, RADM Greg Shear, attended my birthday party along with other Admirals and various Captains stationed at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan. If you believe this, of course, then I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you for a bargain. Seriously, Josh and I attended a social function in honor of RADM Shear and Honorable Penn's visit to the Far East. I am sure they had no idea it was my 38th birthday.

After the military social, a few of us went out to participate in Japan's favorite social past time (other than baseball)......KARAOKE! It was a lot of fun. The Japanese do Karaoke the right way. You rent a private room sized accordingly with the number of participants. You sit around and sing all your favorites, order food and drink via telephone AND you get free sodas, tea and ice cream. It was great. Until I get their permission, I won't post the photos of those who got super into their songs and sang and danced in front of the room. I want to thank Aaron and Katsura for putting it all together.

Happy birthday to my niece Hayley on the 10th, my brother Rourke on the 11th and my hubby Josh on the 13th. Josh will be in Tokyo this week attending a conference. He is staying at the New Sanno Hotel, which is a nice place to stay if you are employed by the Government. Ronan and I will go up either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and spend the evening with Josh on his birthday.

Love to all our friends and family stateside and other parts of this world. Cheers---Kristin

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas is so much fun with a 3 year old. Ronan's Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Peter sent him quite a few packages, so Josh and I were able to be genuinely excited about some of his gifts not knowing what they were ahead of time. Ronan loves Leggos. And Transformers. And any toy that makes noises. He got Edward from the Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway series. Thank you Cookie, since every toy he picked up and shook before Christmas, he guessed it was a train and I had not bought him one.

New Years was spent with friends from Japan. It was nice to experience another's culture and traditions. It is customary for the Japanese to eat noodles at midnight, unfortunately, we did not make it to the 12:00 hour. We are old farts.

We look forward to another wonderful year in Japan.

Cheers/Happy New Year!

Kristin

2nd Dinner

I forgot to tell you about our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner. My friend Linda is American and married to a Japanese man. They have two beautiful children (see photo). Linda and her kids came trick or treating with us on Halloween night and then we went to her house for Thanksgiving on Friday the 23rd. Living in Japan for the last 7 years, she has not celebrated Turkey Day often. She had a couple of our mutual Japanese friends over also & ate ham instead of Turkey. Lot's of fun. Again, too much food but it was all delicious. Cheers---Kristin

November????????

Wow, where did November go? I feel like the month just flew by. Ronan, Josh and I had two Thanksgiving dinners this year. On Thursday the 22nd we went to our friends Wayne and Cindy's house along with 12 others for a great dinner. Sooooooooooo much food. Karthik is from India and he brought lemon rice and spicey chicken and Kinuko, who is from Japan, brought a Japanese salad. Very nice traditional food mixed with new foods. Very Tasty.

Thanksgiving weekend was not a good football weekend for the Perrys. GA Tech fell to GA (again), and LSU lost to Arkansas. I can only hope my brother Rourke regained his voice before going back to work on Monday the 26th. He is a huge LSU fan along with my oldest brother Tim. I felt for them when I saw the score of the game ON THE INTERNET! Damn the internet and AFN. The LSU game was obviously taped and set to be televised on AFN (Armed Forces Network) at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday the 24th, but I got online and the score was right there on the Yahoo home page. Oh well, I am sure it was a great game (until the final OT of course).

Josh bought us a Cannon EOS Digital Camera. Just in time for Ronan's and my trip down to Okinawa. On November 28th, Ronan and I flew down to Okinawa, Japan. It is the southern most Island that makes up Japan. Very tropical. It rained 2 out of the 3 days we were there. Ronan was cast as model for Fuji Digial Camera photo shoot. His pics may appear in any still photo ads for Fuji Digital Camera sometime next year. The way it was explained to me, he could be on websites, billboards, buses, magazines, etc... I took pics of Ronan has he waited around to be photographed. Wow, next time (if there is a next time) I will bring a computer and let him watch movies to help pass some of the time. Entertaining him was a bit tiring. We read the same four books over and over and over, but once we got to know thewe had fun hanging out with the other models and parents. The young girl was 8 and Russian. She spoke Russian and fluent Japanese, but no English (she has lived in Japan for 7 years, I think). The 5 year-old boy was from the Ukraine and could speak fluent Russian, a little Japanese and no English. Ronan spoke only English, so they all got along, of course. The boys father could speak English so I was never left out of the loop. The Japanese production crew were great and treated us very well. I will post the pics I took, mostly of Ronan playing while waiting around to get his picture taken, later.

That brings you all up to December. Today is the first of December and Ronan and I did not get home from the airport until after midnight. I must say, that this modeling thing Ronan has going on has made me have to travel long distances by train without Josh. I have navigated my way up to and from Tokyo on three separate occassions with the need to change trains and train lines. It has helped me to increase my confidence with train travel sans Josh.

Happy Holidays to all who read this post!
Kristin

Here I am getting off the plane after being away from my baby for 5 days.

Here are the Smiths in Shreveport, Louisiana October 2007. From left: Rourke (older brother), Melanie (sis-in-law), Hayley (niece), Vicki (sis-in-law), Sarah (niece), Tim (older brother), Mom, Ronan, me. Kneeling: Megan (older sis) and Ryan (nephew). Missing is my 15 year-old nephew Erin, who had gone to his Byrd High School Homecoming dance the night before, so he slept in rather than eating out with the family.