Just baby talk...

Tonight We went to the base and looked at the baby area. It freeked me out a little.
We looked at baby bath tubs, almost bought one.
We looked at car seats / strollers and I almost started crying... Not with joy.
Then I browsed through changing pads/covers and crib sheets...
Oh and then remembered we did not buy the mattress yet!
It does not come with the crib, lol!!!!
Then off to sheets...
Do I buy pink... Or stick with white, just in case!?
I think I'll wait...
I have to be 100000% thankful to my aunt Jackie who has given me so much newborn essentials, clothing wise & a boppy.
Also Paula who gave me a swing... And Julie who also gave me Like-new clothing.
Meemaw also gave me some nice winter things....
I am just starting to panic a bit.
We will have everything we need.... We will !!!
Feb 10-20th time frame is not Right Now or anything.
I just needed to write this... To get it off of my chest.

The good news is, our room is ready due to Ethan and His Nesting!!!
The floors/everything has been dusted and cleaned as of yesterday. Haha!

Oh and ... We have decided on a name ... Well 2.
One for a girl and one for a boy, Finally!!!
No were not telling! Ha!
But, if you were here@ Christmas... You would know it, as Ej labled a gifts with her name. :-)
.........
I feel better! LOL

What did the baby get for Christmas ...?

Well this year i asked Ethan to PLEASE buy me some baby items for Christmas. He really did not like the idea, as he is a big kid himself, and thought it was not a good idea.
But, to my surprise .... the baby got some gifts too!
He bought her a pack of size 1 diapers & wipes, some A&D ointment, some baby *Japanese* clippers for her nails and *Japanese* sterile Qtips... But, the cutest thing of all? A "coming home outfit" in Pink and a Rattle to match. He bought this off base, and it's soooo cute!
Lets hope "she" is not a "he" ... or he is going to look CUTE in pink. ;-) haha!!!!

Christmas Day 2009

So,... Santa made it to Japan! ;)
This year Ej and I woke the kids @ 630 am! Diffrent, but fun.
We had a blast all day opening gifts/playing with toys and just hanging out in Pj's all day long.
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~Fixed Link~Christmas Eve 2009

Here is a little slideshow from our Christmas Eve.
We made a Gingerbread house/made Cookies for Santa... went to Dinner off base & Tracked Santa.
Oh and the kids (Mom and Dad too) got to open New Pj's & Set out the goodies for the "big guy".... :)
:) Please Enjoy!
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Merry Christmas from Japan!

Thank You Grandmama for the Beautiful Clothing!
I appreciate all the time and effort you put into making them!
The kids enjoyed wearing them today, while going out to dinner & visiting some friends.
They just looked Adorable!!!!!!!!

Olivia Turns 8!!

This is SO late, but ... better late than never, right?
Olivia Turned 8 on Nov 30th.... this is the slideshow of her party/day. ;)
She had a blast with her best friends. ;)
Enjoy!
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Happy Thanksgiving... um late!

Better late than never, right?
So, our thanksgiving this year was a success! The kids had a blast helping me cook and Daddy was home the entire weekend, which made the whole thing just wonderful.

We made the Traditional feast... no Japanese Food on this day. :)
Olivia and Evan both helped with Everything from Pies the day before to Set up/Clean up and Chopping up stuff. ;)
The food was delish, the kids were Amazing ... the only thing missing was our Stateside Family.
We missed "family" so much this year.
We stayed positive and made our own little holiday memories, and that's the best part. :)

One thing I will do next year? Make Meemaws Stuffing!!!!
There is nothing like it, and Thanksgiving is NOT the same without it... 10000%
We miss you Meemaw!!!!

Below is a photo of Olivia helping me chop up the veggies for the stuffing.


Here is a snap shot of Evan, having fun with the Holiday glasses.
We had some Sparkling Cider in special glasses this year, the kids really enjoyed that. :)

Clean up! Olivia was just 2 funny 'getting down' to some holiday tunes. :) :-P!!! She is s a silly gal.

Such a Pretty Sky!

This was taken last week. It's the most beautiful sky I have seen, while living here in Japan.

Mikan Picking with the Japanese Girl Scouts

Sunday the 15th, our whole family went with the Girl Scouts to a Mikan picking Field Trip! The Whole Family is Invited!
We met up with a Japanese Scout Troop and had a great time outdoors. The weather was just amazing!
Please enjoy the Slide show... There are a lot of photos. I am going to try and add a small caption to each, as a few people said how much they enjoy that. :)

For those who get this Slide Show Via e-mail ----->Click Here<------

Baby Furniture!

So, as Requested... here is the baby furniture we have decided on & purchased for the new baby.
We have not picked it up from the store. We're having them hold the furniture for us, until mid-January. We don't want to set-up worry about it, until after the holidays.
And, the fact we wont have a baby room this time... means this furniture will go in our room. So, we have just decided to wait for set-up/pick-up.
Oh and we obviously did not pick the blue bedding (as much as i love it) for the Girl on the way. Actually, i don't think i will buy a "bed set" this time...
I guess it's a wait and see thing, as... i have pretty much forgotten everything 'baby'. :)

26/27 Weeks Belly Shot :-)

Well, things are moving along, aren't they?
We have NOT picked a name yet.
We are picking out baby furniture though. haha

Over the last week or 2 Evan has been VERY protective of his Sister. He always hugs her and talks about her. He also call's her Caitlin. CUTE!
(His best girl friend in his class).

Anyways, Below are 2 pics of the belly.
The jacket is not flattering, haha.... but it's what i got.
:-) Maybe next pic's will be With-out jacket.

Fall Cookies! :)

The other day i got the urge to bake/make some cookie with the kids. It's super fun, and easy.
We pulled out all the cutter's for all the holidays, and the kids picked out the Fall Themed cutters. This is my favorite part of the holidays, mostly because the cookie cutter's are from my Mom/Meemaw and i cherish them.
As I child i used to use some of these cutters. :*-).
While the kids cut/bake/decorated the cookies, I decorated 3 dozen cupcakes for Evan's School Fall Festival. We had a good time, and I enjoyed 'getting into the holidays' a whole lot. :)


Evan cut/decorated a 'Candy Corn'.


Olivia chose a Turkey, but she just wanted the icing i think. haha


I love the Fall Leaf Cutters, :).


Here is some of the cupcakes we made for Evan's School.


:-) Enjoy!

Yokota Trip for Veteran's Day

Click here for the Slideshow<---- if you get this via e-mail.

We went to Yokota for a one day trip. :)
It was Ethan's day off & his choice. We had a Great time getting out as a family. The only yucky part was the horrible rain all day long. We did make the best of it though.
The drive was 3 hours on the way there, and 2.5 on the way back. The rain and traffic did not help the time, for sure :( I wish we could have made it in 1 hour 30 minutes, like we did in the past, but we were not so lucky.

We just went for look/shopping/browsing. Nothing big. Olivia got her Winter coat and Ethan a Tent for his Camping w/ the Scouts. We picked up a few toys and Christmas decorations.
It's hit and miss really, the shopping.
Yokosuka has a lot... and Yokota has a lot. So, it's nice to hit up Yokota's BX when we're tired of the Same stuff here @ Yokosuka.
I did not get many pictures, but what i did get, is in the Slide show.
We Of Course had to have lunch @ BK, as we don't have one on base here. (We do have a BK off base, but it's SOOOOooo pricey!)
Then, we went to CoCo's (not Coco's Curry) for dinner, although i did choose curry, haha.
It was nice to get out of town for one day, and just enjoy hanging out as a family.

Yakitori Chicken Factory

Click here for the Photo Slide Show <---- or View the Slideshow on the blog below.
Last night we took the kids the Chicken Yakitori 'shack'. :) We took the Train too!
This place is one of our Favorite places to go, but we have never taken both kids.
We went Early, and sat upstairs. :) It was nice and relaxing.
At this place 80% of the items are served on a stick, but they do have some other Really good non-stick dishes.
We frequent this place and so we have a 'card' to accumulate 'points' for rewards. Last night we filled a card and got TWO 1,000Y Coupons for the next visit.
Last night MY Favorite was Asparagus wrapped in Bacon, mmmm! The kids ate their weight in Chicken. Oh and they make an awesome Mexican Salad, Weird, i know... for a Japanese place, but it's so good!
Some of the photos are Blurry... :( but i bad to include them anyways.
After we ate, we walked down the "shopping street" and then walked Under the Train station and came out of "Mr Donut" side of the station. Ej and I got a coffee and the kids got a donut.
Then, we walked back to the train, and ... went home. It was an enjoyable night.
Check out the Short Slide Show for pic's of the night. :)

Halloween 2009~!

Click here to view the Halloween 2009 Slideshow!

Krispy Kreme~Yokohama!!

I'm trying out a new Slideshow feature....
This is my trip to Krispy Kreme in Yokohama today. :)
Well worth the trip!

Halloween Carnival Yokosuka Year 2!

Last night we went to Yokosuka Bases Kids Halloween Festival. It's just perfect for my kids ages. 3 $ for kids, Adults free and they get Candy and Prizes perfect for little ones. An added bonus is they get to wear thier costumes more than one time.
Check out the FEW pictures i got from last years festival by clicking this link----> Last Years Halloween Festival <----- I cant believe how much the kids have grown, especially Olivia, in one years time! Now check out the few i got this this year. :) --->

There was a kiddie Haunted house and a bunch of games/activities.

We saw a lot of our friends @ the Festival, this is Olivia M., Olivia's friend.

Evan saw some of his friends too, this is Garreth and his Brother Gavin is a good friend of Evan's.

Evan did really good on these "throw the ball games"... and made it in the hole a few times. (Even when Olivia could not!)

Aw... Evan was an ANGEL!!!! He was so well behaved, i thought... where is my Evan. haha
He is just growing up so much, and i was proud of him in a big way last night.

Yesterday was SO rainy and Wet! Windy too. Not a fun night to be out in the weather.
But, we had fun anyways.

Update on Us (no pictures)

Here is a little bit of an update on what we have been up to around here.
The blog has been Quiet in all honesty. Most of what i have been posting has been about the kids/school and so on. We have not been "siteseeing" or "exporing" in a while. It seams like life has just caught up with us. I do want to get out and into Japan more and find things to see... but we have just been busy! On another note, we have been staying off the Public Transit (Trains) mostly because i have been a little overprotective. I just dont want to get sick!! I feel like being in close contact with strangers in a big city... thats just asking for it. So, we have been driving a lot. I do plan on taking a trip to Yokohama via train soon and maybe a side trip to Kamakura for some Fall pictures, but ... i want to pick up some mask's 1st.
(I know, me again, being paranoid!)

So, today is Thursday ... but on Monday we (the kids) went up to Ikego School and got in line for the Flu Shot. Both kids got the standard ole' shot... no nose-mist stuff for us. We have to go back on the 19th for the "booster".
That day was also Olivia's 1st girl scout meeting. :) Fun fun!

This past weekend we went and visited Blue Street in Yokosuka for a little Fair-Type-Fun. I will be blogging that soon. We enjoyed kids games and FOOD, the Japanese food vendors are just beyond amazing!

We have been eating out and trying new foods, but i have been bad with keeping the camera with me, so... look for more food posts, once i get better at it! haha

Ethan has just started a new position at work (yay for him) ... It's longer hours and he seams to get home later (booo for us!). He is enjoying putting some skills to work, but it's hard to get used to him being @ work all the time again.
This weekend he is going out of town for Boy Scouts... I cant complain, because he really does try to limit his Volunteer time to once a week and one weekend a month.

Evan is loving his new school, and i am loving it too! :) The decision to place him in Pre-K type of school has been amazing, and i cant say enough about it. He is just blossoming and learning and enjoying new friends and teachers. On a sad note, his Teacher will be leaving soon, as PCS season is here. :(:(... I am happy though that he wont loose his Teacher Aid, as i like her a lot!!!
I will be sad when he leaves this place next year... but i know he will have a blast here in IKEGO Kinder.
Evan's upcomming events are Halloween Parade and Celebration and the Fall Festival. :)

Olivia is also coming right along in pretty much every way!
She is enjoying school and is soaking everything right on up! 2nd grade is just so fun, and brings back a lot of memories for Ethan and I. Some of the Topic's she brings home to talk about even get Ethan and I into Heated disscussions. haha.
As far as 'school' goes. She is doing well in Every area, but ... Math is her strong suit. This is no shocker, because Ethan was always good at math...
She now takes Extra Math @ School for the Girfted Program & just this week we were sent home yet another Math focused "group" permission! So, she is just getting in all the math she can handle! haha.
As you know, She has just started Girl Scouts... and we have some upcoming events with this too! (And were excited) She will pair up with a girl/family from a Japanese Troop and go Trick or Treating! :):) and sometime in November we are going on our 1st girl scout field trip! We're going Mikan picking (Japanese tiny winter clementines). We will take the train, and ... for both events, she will earn a patch for her vest. :)

Other than all that and the fact I am driving everywhere ... things are good. haha.
I will know more about Swimming for the kids after this weekend. Ethan and i have talked about it, and i think we are going to try and get the kids into swim lessonns. It should be something fun to add to the list of stuff we are already up to.

In BABY News--->
I am about 23~24 weeks now, and in full pregnancy swing. haha
So far, on most days i feel great.
I don't have much to complain about. Well, ... except the fact that i am 5 foot 9 and a "real" woman and ... so i have ZERO Chance to buy anything Clothing related in the Japanese world...haha.... so i have to rely on the America store on base and / or online ordering.
The American store does not carry but 2 racks of Maternity clothing! WTF! And i seam to have bad luck with online ordering. So, i have to be thankful for the big bag of maternity clothing a friend gave me, and ... the odds and ends i find at the American store on base.
I have to "make things work" most of the time.
I have got some nice comments though, about how i don't look so pregnant really... or just comments i consider to be flattering. So, i guess all is good. I do have a belly... but... it's not that big just yet, i guess. haha.
We have our Doc apt next week and i am again dreading it. (I hate worrying about how much weight i have put on... as of 20 weeks it was 2 pounds).
I am thinking soon enough i will be going in for the sugar drink test and my RoGham Shot. Things are just trucking right along.

I hope all is well with you (Family&Friends!)...
We are just looking forward to this fall/winter holiday season. :)
End Update ~ hahaha

Pumpkin Carving!

Yesterday Ethan wanted to go ahead and carve our pumpkins. He is going out of town this weekend, again and so he wanted to make sure the kids had their pumpkins carved before Halloween.
Both pumpkins were pretty easy and quick to carve, especially with the new scrapping tool he got this year.
Enjoy the pic's below. :)








Evan trying to carve himself. Ethan did 99% of Evan's pumpkin.

All done, and Ethan did this design free-hand!!



Olivia's pretty excited, don't you think?
Her expression's are wild sometimes.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

Yup... you need to clean it out 1st. :) lol

Eww, again.

Ethan and Olivia stayed up to carve her pumpkin. I decided to hit the sack early, as i was SO tired. Evan crashed out too.
To my surprise Ethan let Olivia carve the entire pumpkin out herself, and... he also drew her design onto the the pumpkin, to make it easier.

She did an Impressive Job! :)
I was shocked when Ethan said she carved it.
She is just like her Dad! :)

Oh and here are the kids TRYING to be Spooooooooooooooky. haha
They are Silly silly children!

Mikoshi Parade... Snacks and Games!

A few weekends ago, there was a Mikoshi Parade near the Main base. We tried to make it to the actual Parade, but ... we were lazy and chill'd at home all day.
We decided to head out anyways, and hit up the Food and "game" booths, for the kids.
We had a very nice time, and it was nice weather.
Check out the slideshow! --->or click here for the slide show, if you receive this via e-mail<---
I added caption's this time, and i hope the slide show 'thing' is working out.
It's much easier for me, ... if you like... give me feedback. Photo's or Slide show?

!~Girl Scouts~!

Yesterday was Olivia's 1st Girl Scout meeting. :-) She was so very excited to join a group JUST for Girls. :-) She Insisted to wear her full uniform yesterday (minus the shirt, as its just way to big)... We had no problem letting her. She did not wear her Vest or anything to school. Those things were stashed in her GS Backpack. So, she looked Adorable in her brown skort, knee socks and white shirt.
The other little girl who also wore her full uniform for the 1st day went home VERY sick from school :( (I hope she feels better soon!)... Olivia did not feel out of place thankfully, although she was the only one in uniform bottoms.
Below ---> Olivia before school.

She HAD to have the Girl Scout Scrunchy! haha.
She did wear it all day.

This is picture is from after school, getting ready to walk with the troop to the meeting room.



1st meeting, Her leader is AMAZING and really has her 'stuff' together. I am soooooo happy she is Olivia's Leader this year. (The co-leader is awesome too!!!)
I am looking forward to an awesome year for Olivia!!!
I also registered as a Adult Member, so i hope to be involved in events and so on.



Learning the Friendship hug/handshake thingy.

S'mores for a "snack". :) Thanks Paula for an awesome meeting.
I will not be at every meeting, but ... i wanted to sit in, for the 1st meeting.
She is going to have a Great Fun Year!

Evan's 1st Birthday-Party-Invite!

This weekend Evan attended his 1st Birthday Party!! His little friend from the Navy Lodge/Neighborhood invited him. BOY was he Excited!!!! This was a biggie for him. He made sure to let me know what gift he wanted for him, how to wrap the gift and so on. He is just getting SO big these days!
He had a blast! Here are a few pictures of Evan... having a blast with out Olivia. :) (This is pretty rare!)

Below: Evan heading to the party. He was so Excited!


A balloon race......


The best idea in the world, a Bounce House... indoors! :)


Balloon fun...


Cake time :p


And best of all. His Mom let him open all the gifts, so all the kids got to play with them. :)
Evan really had fun picking out the gift for him, and... he even got to try it out too. :)
They all had fun!


With 3 'guests' and the birthday boy and his brother... it was a PERFECT size for a 4 yr olds birthday. :)