Oh heavens to Betsy, it's almost Christmas! Where do I even begin with the updating? First of all, I've hit the 38 week mark in this pregnancy! Absolutely unreal. After lots and lots of deliberation, we've decided to name our sweet babe Jack Thomas. He could be here any day now and let me tell you... I'm very ready. Pregnancy is such an incredibly beautiful blessing but it's lasted the majority of the year and it's about time to stop waddling around and see this kid's face already! Daddy wants him to wait until after the holidays but we'll see!

Since my last post I had the opportunity to share some of my handmade items at a craft fair. It was a bit intimidating initially but so much fun. I'm lucky to have a man who encourages me to be creative. He would want me to add a link now...  https://www.etsy.com/shop/withlovefromokinawa?ref=hdr_shop_menu        I'm not so good at the marketing part of it all but I'm learning! Speaking of creative, my man has tried to spend every spare second in the wood shop lately. An awesome shelf is just about ready to go in the nursery. He's experimented with different joinery and it's been a great success. Finished product picture coming to you soon!

Several weeks ago a group of sweet friends threw us a baby shower. It took place at this seriously precious treehouse-ish cafe called Ukishima Garden. It's been humbling to experience so much grace from our friends and family as they go above and beyond providing the necessities as well as the fun stuff. Our Jack is so very loved already.

Another highlight of late was Thanksgiving. Our friends hosted a beautiful family dinner. I'm constantly amazed by the community we've been surrounded by here in Okinawa. It's such a unique place to live, to explore, to be pregnant and have a little one... I'm thankful.

Last but not least, I'd like to share a few of the maternity photos taken by our sweet friend. Kristine did an amazing job! She's so talented. She had the idea to shoot some of them at our favorite Bakery Suien. So neat to be in a setting that's special to us. 

Thanks for reading! If you think of it, say a quick prayer for us. Things are about to get crazy and beautiful in a way J and I have never experienced before.

Konnichiwa! Time is flying... We're a week into October and 28 weeks into this pregnancy! Holy smokes. It's actually starting to feel like fall here in Okinawa. Storms in the area have brought cooler weather and the most amazing breeze. It's the middle of the afternoon and all my windows are open! It's a good thing, too, because I'm getting bigger by the day (and this babe makes me a furnace). This morning I did something cool and wanted to share. A friend of mine offered to let me join in a little photo shoot wearing traditional Japanese yukatas and kimonos. Sweet Linda-san and Kumiko-san dressed us up and took our pictures at the castle across the street. Here are some of the shots we snagged with our phones...

New Zealand! (2 of 2)

Hello again! As promised, here are some highlights from our NZ south island travels. We got there via a beautiful 3 hour ferry ride. It was super cool making our way through the Cook Strait and watching the mountains rise up on both sides. Unlike in Okinawa, our boat ride was freezing!

Like almost all of our other vacations, we loved just driving around. Lucky for us there was a TON of that on this trip. We discovered that we might be a little too awesome at detours and letting time slip away from us. Oops! It was just too fun to stop at cafes and antique shops in small towns along the way!

Buller Gorge swing bridge

Pancake Rocks

Just a few days before leaving for NZ, J heard about this opportunity on the south island to make your own knife. That's right up his alley so we decided to plan our trip accordingly. Boy, are we glad we did! Not only did he come away with the coolest souvenir ever, we met some wonderful people and explored part of the island we would have otherwise missed. Check out my handsome husband...

swinging ;)

One of the final highlights was the Cape Foulwind seal colony. We made a stop along the coast on our way back up to the ferry and were lucky enough to see tons of seals. Again with the babies!

family photo :)

That about wraps it up! What an amazing blessing to be able to explore New Zealand! We loved every second of it.