Saturday, October 30, 2010

Halloween shower


Tonight was my friend Leslie's baby shower. Since it's halloween time, we decided on a halloween theme! Our friend Geneviveve threw it at her house and she went all out with the halloween theme! Lots of fall foods like apples, pumpkin dip, and of course some beautiful flowers!
I made my pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger snap crust and am very happy with how it turned out! it's my favorite recipe and this time i used real pumpkin instead of the canned stuff! Looked and tasted amazing!
Viva went all out with the decor as you can see! look at the bathroom and sparkling juice! I was excited cause i could drink it! Too bad it's not real wine


The mommy to be dressed up as Jasmine with a lamp on her belly! Too cute!! I dressed up as a mummy-to-be. Loved it and I won best costume!
A friend made this beautiful diaper cake! how cute! The bag is from me! Thanks to my cricut for decorating it!There were many other cakes besides the one I made! A friend had an adorable cake made with the pregnant halloween theme! so yummy and I love the pregnant mommy on top. Of course there were the two other diaper cakes! love them all!
The party was a great one and Genevieve did a great job planning it. Look how cute these gifts were! They had cute m&m's that said Baby Baxley on them. so cute!
After the party i helped clean up and Viva took my weekly photo for me! at 27 weeks, baby is the size of a cucumber... about 14-15 inches in length from head to foot. you can't really see my belly too much in this photo but you get the point!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

ok... another update!

So last night, after I had already posted my update on Dima, I stumbled upon this photo on the 31st MEU's facebook page...
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101022-N-5538K-166 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES (Oct. 22, 2010) -- 1stLt. Dimitri Stepanoff, left, assigned to the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit unloads relief aid supplies from a Ch-46E Sea Stallion with the help of a Philippine national. HMM-262 (REIN) helicopters were used to provide initial bilateral relief assistance to isolated coastal areas that suffered severe damage due to Super Typhoon Juan (international name Megi). The assistance from the 31st MEU comes at the request of the government of the Philippines, and U.S. Marines and Sailors worked side by side with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to distribute aid. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Casey H. Kyhl)


Its so exciting to see things like this! Sure am glad for technology. Even though we have had very little communication since he left, I am grateful for when we have spoken and for photos like this! Literally 2 minutes after i stumbled upon this I got a call from him too! I hadn't heard from him in about a week so it was great to hear his voice! He was happy to hear about the photo and asked me to post it for others to see.

So today was a low key day, but I did get my 25 week photo done by my neighbor and friend Louise! Boy is that baby getting big! He is 8.5-9 inches in length from head to butt at this point... wow! I remember when he was the size of a poppy seed! Can't believe that in about 14 weeks, I will be a mommy! wow this pregnancy is flying by! I am not nearly close to ready with the nursery or other baby supplies!

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Friday, October 22, 2010

Update on Dima

So I am of course the one to always write in this, even though it is the blog for BOTH Dima and I. Since Dima is away, there is never much to update on him. But I figured i'd write a quick blog about what he's been up to while deployed with the 31st MEU.
So I am not sure what i can and cannot talk about on here... of course i cant give dates or ideas of where he is going... heck i don't really know to be honest.
I do know he was bobbing around the water for awhile out there. He then went to the philippines for awhile and was supposed to be there still. It was then that a typhoon came to the philippines. The MEU moved out of the way of the typhoon into safe waters and then went there to do disaster relief. I have had trouble getting info on what is going on, but I did find this article that said this:
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A US Marine from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa carries a sack of relief supplies for loading into a U.S. Marines CH-46E transport helicopters at a military airport in Cauayan township, for the three coastal towns of Isabela province which remains isolated due to typhoon Megi Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010 in northeastern Philippines. The U.S. troops here for an annual naval military exercise were diverted for relief operation after Typhoon Megi, the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year, ravaged Isabela and nearby provinces on Monday.

I also stumbled upon this photo on the MEU's facebook page... this is the helo dima flies in and i am positive he was in it when this photo was taken! sure do wish i could see him in the photo!photo.php.jpg

Well, that's all I know, and all I can discuss on him!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

An Indian/Japanese/Italian/American evening!



This week, I am 24 weeks along and the baby is the size of an ear of corn. To keep with the Halloween theme this month, I decided to show that with an ear of Indian corn. This is taken along the seawall. there was a beautiful sunset going on, but unfortunately you cannot see that in these photos. Sorry! This is why I need a better camera! (i just ordered one today!)
we thought this was fitting! the baby graffiti next to the woman with a baby in her belly! I am def. looking very pregnant here. My belly normally does NOT look this big. I notice the baggy maternity clothes make me appear bigger then I really am. There really was a beautiful sunset, but i couldn't capture it in any of the photos! bummer!
Wow do I look big here! I wish these photos showed what i really looked like!

After taking my 24 week belly photo, some friends and I headed to Bella Napoli- a pizza restaurant I have been dying to try for months now! I wish Dima could have come with me, we will have to go when he returns. He has been wanting to go to this place for awhile.
I find it so odd still how we can find so many different kinds of food, even in Japan. I mean who goes to Japan and eats pizza? Apparently we do!
The place was beautiful... right on the seawall with this beautiful view of the water!
our meals included salad (we got an italian salad for my table of 4), garlic chicken (wayyyyyy too many spices and garlic... it was disgusting!), and teriyaki chicken, then the pizza of our choice. I ordered the curry pizza (without tuna) and it was pretty good. I will have to go back again to try this place with Dima. It was pretty yummy, but a tad over priced.