Japaneice

Adam and I just got back from our Florida vacation late Sunday night. I haven't sat down to blog yet because I have been in a bit of a post-vacation depression. It is always hard to come back from a week of relaxing and hanging out with people you love. What made it even harder was when we got home, Vermont was darker, colder, and rainier than I have ever seen it (in my whole two months here). And to top it all off, Adam had to leave for a 30 hour shift within seven hours of us getting home. Nothing like being alone on a rainy day to drive home the fact that vacation is officially over! I tried to call my handful of friends to at least eat a meal with someone, but no one was around. So I made my grocery list and left the house, partly because our kitchen was barren and partly to have some human interaction with the town folk.

The good news is I am in recovery. Today is sunny. I am out of the house and I feel stable enough to blog about what a wonderful time Adam and I had in Sunny Florida. So the reason for this vacation, the same reason that made this post-vacation depression so hard to shake, was our family from Japan was making their trek over to the states, a migration they only manage about once every two years. That in itself is special enough because we love Adam's bro, Troy, and our new sis, Kana, so much! But this trip was monumental because we were meeting our niece Zoe for the first time. Yes, she is ten months old and, of course, we have loved her since before she was born, but we fell in love so hard with this little girl and bonded so much in our week together that I didn't want to leave! Especially, knowing that the next time I saw her, she would be a full blown todd.

The beginning of our relationship was not all roses --there was a lot of crying. Zoe was not on the same page as Adam and I, who understood that there was only a certain amount of time that we had to squeeze all of our holding, hugging, and smooching into and we couldn't afford to waste a precious moment of that time! On day one we experienced a lot of the hold-and-cry where you tell the child things like "give into it" and "you will love me," which you can usually only do for a few minutes without damaging the relationship. We found that banana peace offerings and assisting the girl to walk with the aid of your fingers were the quickest way to win Zoe's heart. By that night, she let me hold her without crying. Victory!

Unfortunately for Ham, babes are always a little more leery of men. After church on day two, Zoe would still cry every time Adam held her, but while she was half asleep we slipped the Ergobaby on Adam and stuck Zoe in it. As soon as she realized what had happened, there was a cry fest. Adam paced all through the after-church crowd trying to soothe the babe, while Troy and Kana mingled. People were looking skeptically at Adam like he just stole a baby. This went on for about 15 minutes until they were both covered in sweat and had a panic-stricken look in their eye. Right when we were about to give up the love-by-force approach Zoe gave in and fell asleep. The traumatic experience was a little like being in a natural disaster or car accident with someone, you can't help but bond after that. From day two on, holding and cuddling was not only allowed but it was sought after by our little niece. That is how we broke the ice.

Aside from wooing Zoe, we spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with all the extended Hammond gang, lounging around the house and pool, and doing P90x (during which I kicked Zoe in the face, luckily it was hard enough to knock the knowledge of who did out of her mind, so she wasn't even mad at me, but I felt horrible). Then on Monday, we hopped in the car and headed south to Miami beach. I have lived in Florida, all my life, and never really hung out in Miami. Most of what I have seen there has been while passing through, so it was fun to get to experience it. We spent four nights of our vacation in Uncle Dan's condos which were right next to the beach. While there, I accomplished a milestone in my literary life..I finished Twilight (a little behind the times, I know). We also made a quick trip over to the everglades for an air boat ride, another first for this Floridian. That was the hottest I have been in a long time. Other than that we just hung out. Life is good when the hardest part of your day is working out and walking a few blocks to the beach. Ohh, I miss vacation.

I chose not to sleep in for most the vacation because I didn't want to miss any time with Zoe. I am sucker for a baby alarm clock (where the parents come in and drop the fully energized baby in your bed- this is a very common practice among my friends with kids, but I won't lie - I love it). Kana spared us from the initial sounding of the alarm, which happens around 5:30am. We usually were treated to the second alarm which sounds around the 7-8:00am hour. Zoe and I played together, we went to the beach together, we napped together....we were in heaven. I could make here smile and laugh and she would crawl up to me, bump me in the head, and shake her little head back and forth (which I think is a Japanese gesture for I love you). And then she would do her cutie patootie impression of an angry Chinese man. If I can figure out how to post a video of it, I will. I only cried a few times during the week when I realized how fast our time together was going and how big she would be next time I saw her. What?! I am pregnant.

As you can tell, ZoZo stole my heart. I could gush about her for hours and hours. Adam and I loved hanging out with her rents as well. You don't always realize how precious time is with your siblings until thy live half way across the world and you only get to really see them and sit and talk with them every few years. I love heart-to-hearts. You just don't want those moments to end. Sometimes I just want to pull everyone I love in the world into one tight little area so we could live together and do life together and never miss each other (I'm pregnant- I have steadily become sappier and sappier as my pregnancy progresses and I was sappy to begin with).

From Miami, we headed to Jacksonville for some quality time with the Cassidy clan. Troy, Kana, and Zoe came with us. That was super fun because Kat has been obsessed with baby Zoe since she learned of her. She would always make me show her pictures of baby Zoe and she even wrote a song for her. Needless to say she was beside her self when she met the girl in real life. Kit Kat is such a lover. She was so excited to share everything with baby Zoe. And she did for me what my husband will not. That girl rubbed lotion all over my belly and my feet to try and make her baby cousin move. It was so cute. My stomach was definitely a frictionless surface after her belly treatment. Adam wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole (he has an aversion to lotion or anything in the lotion family - his nightmare is to be covered in Vasoline). But I loved seeing two of my favorite girls together, playing and having fun.

While we were there, my mom and sis, threw Adam and I a baby shower BBQ by the pool. I love Florida! It was so nice to hang out with family and friends. The time went way to fast as usual and we were saying goodbye to all our Gainesville friends way before we were ready to do so. Many good times were had though before the party did end. I am proud to say Ava Jones did learn to swim at our baby shower. Adam and Walter also took a rockin "my two dads" photo shoot (they might not have been aware of it, but I was snapping away). And we got so much cute baby stuff. I don't know why everyone is always hatin' on yellow and green -like it is the biggest tragedy if you don't find out what you are having so everything can be all pink or all blue.

Then came the saddest day of vacation, where you have to say goodbye and leave. Needless to say I cried. I did not want to leave anyone especially Zoe! We had to do it like a band aid and I was so tore up emotionally after we left that I think it made Adam and I look suspicious in the airport. The security personnel pointed us in the direction of a high-tech apparatus so we could be scanned . I realized after the fact, that someone, somewhere in the airport saw a black and white "distorted image" of my naked body. They assured us the photos would be deleted after we were determined to be safe. Weird. Then home again, home again. I do like my new home, but man do I miss my fam and friends. The warm reception by Jamers made things a little easier. Dogs are good friends.

So now I am off to drop off my substitute teaching/nursing packets. I know...I can't believe I might be stepping foot in a classroom again soon. My PTSD from my days as a teacher is under wraps (mostly). I also have an orientation for a clinic where I will be volunteering as a nurse (woo woo), for people without insurance. They can't keep me out of this profession even if they don't pay me --darn it! Other than that, nothing much is new with the babe. I am less sure that it is a boy than before. I also think I have an irritable uterus. I can definitely feel it contracting at weird times. Hamlet is still moving a lot and from what I read the other day, they are starting to get some baby fat:)