If I were born a blonde

Since we didn't have the baby on Feb. 27 (sorry to everyone who picked that day), we were able to attend a fellow Navy officer's farewell dinner party at a local restaurant. Regina has been in Okinawa for 2 years and is leaving in a few weeks. Regina is the most sociable and outgoing person we know on island. We are really sad that she is leaving. She has a great group of friends, who typically have theme parties, so it wasn't surprising to get an invitation to wear a wig and say goodbye to Gina.

On Friday afternoon, I shopped for our wigs at one of my favorite stores. ETWS is the place for everything -- it's Spencers meets Hallmark. This store has costumes, tea cups and postcards. It truly is a variety store.

Avoiding all distractions, I headed straight to the wig aisle and surveyed my options. Of course the neon-colored wigs are the most popular with the Japanese, so a hot pink bob was a tempting choice. But after careful consideration, I selected some 70s hairstyles for Benny and I. Benny also wanted to wear his mustache from Halloween (another purchase from ETWS).




Regina, Benny, and Slash (Garrett); Michelle and Benny

The party was great fun, even though we didn't stay out past dinner. Being 40 weeks-plus pregnant was my excuse to be home by midnight, that meant Benny didn't get to finish his Awamori (Okinawan liqueur that looks like a chemistry set).



My favorite parts were meeting a bunch of people who I won't recognize again because I don't know what they look like without a wig, the reaction from the Okinawans when we were walking into the restaurant (talk about shameless stares) and the guy who asked me "Hey is that real?" while pointing at my stomach.

Yup, buddy. I'm really pregnant. The hair and mustache may be fake, but belly is all real.

Naming Baby V

When I announced we were pregnant, one of the first pieces of advice we received was "Don't tell anyone your baby names."

Naming your child is a personal decision and one that it seems people are more likely to criticize before the child is born, at least to your face. When receiving the birth announcement in the mail, I think people still criticize your name selection, they just do it behind your back.

But Benny and I are an open book about this whole process so we decided early on to not keep our baby name choices a secret. Sure, we didn't shout them from the rooftops. But if someone asked, we would tell them.

Our finalists haven't changed in the last eight months. We also haven't narrowed it down completely to two names, one for each gender as I thought we would have by this point. Or maybe it is just me who can't make a decision.

Our No. 1 choices are Olivia Lydia for a girl and Jack Benny for a boy. Yes, I am aware that Jack Benny already lived and died a famous life in the United States. I don't care and Grandma Lydia said if the baby comes out telling jokes, this would be the perfect. Plus this "famous name" matches Baby Volkmann's 4-year-old cousin Grace Kelly.

I love the name Jack and since Benny's first name is Benny (not Benjamin or Ben), Jack was one of the few names that I liked Jack paired with it. And Olivia has been a name that I've loved since I was child. And yes, I know there is a children's book with Olivia, who is a pig. Since it is one of my favorites, again it is a perfect fit for us.

So you may be asking yourself, it seems like the V-Team is done. They got their two names so they are good to go. Then I looked at the Top 100 Baby Names of 2008 and found both Jack and Olivia in the top 5.

Even though I don't want our child to have an unusual name that is hard for people to pronounce or spell, I don't want our Jack or Olivia to be surrounded by 5 Olivias or 6 Jacks in their kindergarten class. (Benny, among many others, says this isn't a big deal, but then again Benny has never found himself in a room with another Benny.)

Armed with the Top 100 Baby Names list, I went back to the drawing board to reevaluate our options. I looked online at the entire name list. I researched traditional German names, which are pretty popular in the United States. This is how Hannah (Another top girl's name) moved up on our list of finalists. But names like Olga sounded a bit too East German during the Cold War for my liking.

I took an online quiz to determine my "Baby Naming Personality." In this 10-part quiz you answer questions about your dream vacation, your dream car, what type of movies you watch and what you liked to eat, etc. The verdict? My baby naming personality is Retro: Reviving forgotten charm in names that are unique and classy.

Suggested girl names for the Retro mother: Alice, Gertrude (a popular German name), Mabel, Rose and Ruth

Suggested boy names: Ernest, Oliver, Theodore, Wallace and Walter.

This helped me find two more names I like: Oliver and Ernestine. Benny's mom's name is Marie Ernestine, so one option is to name a daughter Ernestine Marie and call her Ernie. That is sure to be unique, right?

Finally I turned to a Web site called "Baby Name Genie," where you type in your last name and it suggests first and middle names that compliment your last name.

The first option the genie suggested was Tamara Donna Volkmann. Strange, since Donna is my mom's name.

Second option: Nehemiah Walter Volkmann for a boy

Third option: Alexis Julie Volkmann, again a girl's name

Hmmm. We aren't getting any closer to finding new suggestions that I like for our baby. So I turned to Benny to make the final decision. You choose, I said. His response?

"I don't think about names the same way you do. If I really didn't like a name you suggested, I would tell you, but I like all these names you talk about."

"And besides," Benny added. "I can't even order off a menu, how can I name our child. It's all up to you, babe."

Our decision right now is to wait until we see the little one. Maybe he/she will tell use what his/her name should be.

Any day

This should be my last belly shot. Baby Volkmann is set to arrive any day now.

Super soft baby blanket

My grandmother made and sent this blanket for the baby. It's so soft, perfect for a little one.

Belly theories

I've never considered myself a patient person. But that's normally the first reaction when I tell people that we elected to not found out the sex of Baby Volkmann. "Wow, you are a really patient person. How can you do that? I would have never been able to wait that long."

But here is my opinion on unknown gender: It was already decided and we really don't care one way or another. It's motivation to push out the baby. I wanted gender neutral baby items so we can reuse them again if we have another child, hopefully one of the opposite sex. And most importantly, I love surprises and I love having people guess the baby's gender.

Everyone seems to have a theory on our baby's sex.

Benny's mother has this string test that she conducted years ago before I was ever pregnant. She did the test again when we told her the news this July. The string test said "girl."

My paternal grandmother predicted a boy in September because I didn't suffer any morning sickness during the first trimester. With her 6 children, she had morning sickness with the 2 girls and nothing with the 4 boys. A New York Times article that Tammy emailed me supports Lydia's theory.


If Baby Volkmann is a boy, he will be sporting this outfit on the car ride home. Soon-to-be Aunt Rachel purchased it for him.

But my mother didn't have morning sickness and she gave birth to three girls. And she carried us differently (the whole carry high, carry low theory), but again had three girls.

Benny's brother is convinced it is a girl, because he thinks that Benny and him will be blessed with daughters. Their sisters, on the other hand, Lynne and Patti, will have male dominated families. So far, Jon has two girls and Lynne has three boys.


If Baby V is a girl, she will wear this outfit home from the hospital, bought by soon-to-be Aunt Colleen.

My sisters are split on the matter.

My co-workers are convinced I'm having a boy because "I'm all belly." But Benny's co-workers said it is definitely a girl because my nose didn't get any wider while I was pregnant. (It's really fun to have people examine you like a prize steer for the Iowa State Fair.)

My friend, Alicia, swears by the Chinese Birth Calendar. According to this chart, if Baby Volkmann was conceived on May 31, I'm having a girl. If the seed was planted on June 1, we're having a boy. When I told Benny this, he pointed to the disclaimer on the Web site saying "For Entertainment Purposes Only."

The best is when prefect strangers offer their two cents on my baby's gender.

For example, last week I was shopping at the base exchange and a woman looked at me (and when I say me, I mean my stomach) and said "What are you having?"

"I don't know."

She smiled, so I invited her to be part of the conversation. "Do you have any theories?"

She said "Well you're all belly so normally I would say a boy, but I looked just like you when I was pregnant and I have 4 girls."
Ah, you got to love that.

Benny and I don't have any strong feelings one way or another. I've had dreams where I've had a son and ones where I was dressing a little girl in pink. My subconscious hasn't been any help.

And the fact we've been able to have several ultrasounds and not find out is amazing in itself. Even today at my 39-week appointment, Benny reminded the ultrasound technician that "we don't know the sex and we don't want to know."

Thank goodness he was there. I knew I should have invested in a T-shirt saying "We don't want to know the sex of our baby. Don't spoil my surprise."

Farm girl eats pig's ears for the first time

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ordering food in a foreign country where you don't speak the language and can't read the menu is always an adventure.

Friday night Benny and I had dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Okinawa food at a Hail and Farewell with the Navy officers. One of the officers, who always picks the best places to eat, selected this restaurant.

After we were seated the waitress brought us several English menus. But those don't have any pictures, so you really don't know the size of the dish that you are ordering. As a rule of thumb though, the serving sizes are much smaller in Japan than in America. So it is best to order two dishes and if you are still hungry order an additional plate.

I asked Regina for any recommendations and she said everything is good here. She noted that she doesn't even look at the English menu. She just points to one of the pictures and "has never been disappointed."

I glanced through the Japanese picture menu and selected a soup of sorts with seafood in a red broth. We also got a goya champura (salad of sorts) and bowl of edaname. We saw a listing for the "Okinawa speciality sampler" dish, so we decided to order that too and split it, even though there wasn't a picture.

So imagine my laughter when the waitress brought us this plate:



At first I was laughing because Benny and I plan to "share" this dish that was portioned for miniature people. Then I was really laughing because I didn't know what anything was on the plate and all the other Americans were scared of it.

Luckily Benny has been tasting a lot of Japanese foods at buffets with his co-workers, so he was able to identify many of the items, including the pig's ears pictured at 10 o'clock on the plate. He has had pig's ears before. I had not.

So I dug in and ate it along with the tofu, seaweed and mysterious other squares.

I have to say the pig ears were tasty. But I was kind of disappointed that they didn't look like a pig's ear anymore. That would be a much funnier photo for the blog.

Only part of the Taste of Asia entertainment

For more clips of the entertainment, click here to go to our videos on youtube.

Baby Pool Countdown Fast Approaching

We'll be locking out the baby pool on Thurs, Feb 19 @ 5am Central Standard Time (Friday, Feb 20 @ 8pm Japanese Standard Time). So get your guesses in now if you haven't already!

Happy guessing,
the V-Team

Three Day Weekend

A three-day weekend free from appointments and activities can only mean one thing for the V-Team blog: lots of catching up.

Loyal readers might want to scroll through the postings for both January and February to see what Benny and I have been busy doing since the last three-day weekend.

Sorry I've been a blog slacker. I promise to be be better. At least until the baby arrives. After that I have no idea how much time I'll have to write.

Minnesota Onesies

As part of the national effort by our friend, Andrea, to organize a Baby Shower by Box, Benny's sister, Lynne hosted a onesie-making party at her house in January. As you can see from Patti's documention, I also attended the party .... at least a prego flat miniature version of me participated in the festivities.


Besides sending all kinds of hilarious and creative homemade onesies, the Volkmanns also sent a Welcome Home sign made by Baby V's cousins. The sign is currently hanging in the baby's room, waiting for the little one's arrival.
My favorite part was the books we received from each of the five cousins. The books are copies of Scott's, Luke's, Wyatt's, Grace's and Ava's favorite books. We were happy to find a few of our favorites in the mix, including "I wish I had webbed feet" -- This was Benny's favorite book as a child. Since he is totally a fish in the water, it's not that surprising.

I, on the other hand, can't wait to read "Goodnight Moon" at bedtime. Or memorize the "Barnyard Dance," a gift from Aunt Patti and Uncle Bob.

All the gifts were so special and the whole package was a complete surprise. I loved it. Thanks again to everyone involved, but especially to Lynne for her organization of the party.

V-Team on V-Day

Valentine's Day was pretty quiet here at the Volkmann household. We spent the day relaxing, looking at stuff for the baby's room followed by dinner at home, cheesecake for dessert and watching "The Secret Life of Bees."

We celebrated Valentine's Day a day when we attended Taste of Asia. Taste of Asia is an annual cultural culinary event at the Officers Club on the Marine Corps base. It is a classy event where you have a buffet of food from across Asia followed by demonstrations of dance and music showcasing the history and culture of Okinawa and Japan.

This event is very popular and it sold out both nights. Luckily I work in marketing, so I had insider information on this event and snagged two tickets for Benny and I last month. This event is the very LAST thing we have on our calendar until my mom's arrival in March. Between now and then, our calendar is bare. It's a very strange feeling for Benny and I.

The evening started out sweet with Benny arriving home early from work with a bouquet of red roses and pink tulips for me. Then we got dressed up and headed to the club because I was starving. Once there, we met up with ladies of marketing, who decided to go stag to the event.


I ate a couple of plates of food and settled in my chair for the entertainment.




We had a wonderful time. Benny took a few videos of the entertainment that I hope to get posted by the end of this week.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

This photo was taken when we had lunch with Grandpa and Dorothy at Aunt Jane's restaurant last year during the V-Team Farewell Tour.

Today the Willes are celebrating my grandpa's 75th birthday. There was a big surprise party for his special day. Unfortunately Benny and I weren't able to back the trek back across the ocean for the party, but it doesn't mean we weren't thinking about it.

Happy 75th Birthday Grandpa!

Gifts from across the ocean

Baby V is ready for St. Patty's Day, thanks to soon to be Aunt Rachel.


Will our baby be a reporter, as predicted by a T-shirt from Tammy?


Benny already tested out this baby carrier from Jason and Melinda.


Benny's nightly reading, thanks to my parents.


My mom sent us this video about Big Bird's travels to Tokyo. Perfect.


A box of goodies from Mindy and Chad, especially the Johnny Jump. It looks like the best entertainment center for a Baby Volkmann.


And Kati's favorite things for Tyler. She shared her insider mommy secrets with Benny and I.

Baby Shower in a Box

This feels like an episode of "This American Life" with four acts. There is so much to write about, and we were so excited to tear the box open, that we just cannot wait to share how happy we are with everyone. Thank you so much for such an awesome surprise.

If you want to see the high quality videos, click on the the ACT links to go to YouTube and select the high quality version. Then you can see the true product of the Flip.

Thank you again, you all are awesome!

ACT I: Opening Ceremony and Onsies


ACT II: GB Packer Bundle


ACT III: Building Baby V's Library, Part I


ACT III: Building Baby V's Library, Part II

Baby V is one clean baby

We had our third and final baby shower on Friday. The public works office ladies hosted a wonderful luncheon for Benny and I. Again, our little one was showered with gifts and love. It is awesome that Benny works with such wonderful people.

Baby Boot Camp

On Thursday, Benny and I completed Baby Boot Camp. It's a daylong class where you learn all the ins and outs of being a parent. We learned about swaddling, bathing, feeding and caring for our baby. Of course we got to practice our new parenting skills on a doll.

My favorite part was the empathy belly, where husbands physically felt the weight of pregnancy. This "belly" adds an additional 35 pounds of weight, and strategically puts pressure on the dad's bladder. Now when I tell Benny I have to go to the bathroom, he understands why I have to go RIGHT now.

Only 4 weeks to go

At my 36-week appointment, everything is looking great. Baby Volkmann continues to be smaller than its counterparts, but happy and healthy. His/her head is down and in the right position for D Day (Delivery Day). My next appointment is at the 39 week point ... also known as my original due date (Feb. 23). I wonder if Baby Volkmann will make his/her arrival before my regularly scheduled appointment.

Cherry blossoms, octopus gardens and Vikings, oh my

Here is a pictorial recount of our weekend.

First we visit Nago Castle Ruins for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's the earliest cherry blossom festival in all of Japan.







Then we went to Expo Park for the flower festival there.





And we wrapped up the weekend by attending a Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders show.