Island of Love, Life, & Learning

I Almost Thanked A Hero

2012-02-16T19:22:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Maverick and I drove to San Diego to the Naval Hospital to check up with some of his specialists there that we saw last year. We had a long drive and were both hungry by the time we got there. We arrived a little early so I found a coffee shop outside and bought a piece of pumpkin chocolate chip bread and parked the stroller in a little courtyard between some buildings. While Mav snacked and drank his milk and I ate my bread, I noticed a Marine sitting about 20 feet in front of me with his side to me. He was wearing the same PT windbreaker that my husband has. I see Marines all day every day so what was different about this one? Well, he was in a wheelchair. He had a cast on his left arm. He didn't have his legs anymore. As I sat there watching him eat his Subway sandwich with one hand while trying to hold down the paper wrapping with his casted arm that the wind was trying to blow away with the other hand, I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes. I couldn't help but imagine what happened to this young man who was no older than 25. I wanted to know his story and what he had been through. I wanted to know, did his vehicle run over that IED? Did he lose his friends? I wondered what he was thinking as he looked around that courtyard watching people sip their coffee, stroll their strollers and get money out of the ATM. Did he feel relieved to be back in a safe environment where there was no danger to him anymore? Or did he feel like screaming at every one of us for leading our normal little every day lives and walking on both of our legs never having experienced and never even being able to imagine what he's been through? To me at least, he looked like a guy who wasn't going to give up. Like he's going to go on with his life doing what he needs to do. "Adapt and overcome", as the Marines say. I hope that he is able to go on and have a happy life. I sat there wanting so badly to go over and say something to him, but I was already choked up just looking at him and thinking about him, that I was afraid I would embarrass us both by bursting into tears if I were to tell him "thank you". I looked at my phone and it was time to go into Mav's appointment. As I stood up, I saw a lady walk past the Marine while staring at him the whole time. I thought it was rude at first but then realized I had been doing the same thing only sitting down. As I started strolling Mav away from our park bench, I watched the lady turn around, go back to him, lean down and say, "I just wanted to tell you thank you so much for what you did for us." I didn't hear the rest of what she said because the tears were starting to pour and I had to quickly walk away. But I did hear him say, "thank you". She did what I didn't have the guts to do and I'm very thankful for her. I'm still crying as I recall all of this but if I could go back, I would have told him thank you, tears and all. I'm sure he probably wouldn't have been embarrassed and I feel bad now for not doing it. So to you Marine, I don't know your name and I don't know your rank but I know that you are brave and you are a survivor and you are a HERO. And I am so thankful for what you did for me, my family and my country. I will never forget you and I pray that you have a beautiful rest of your life and that people will always be thankful for you and your sacrafice. Semper Fi.

What I Did During My "Lunch Break"

2012-02-10T14:50:00.002-06:00

Just in case you wonder what us stay at home moms do to pass the time, here is how my "lunch break" went today. I didn't get a text from John saying he was on his way home so I took the kids out for some sunshine right as he was pulling in the driveway. I decided to just stay outside with them for about 20 minutes then I hauled everything back in. I fixed Mav a snack while I fixed Izaak's lunch. After I peeled and sliced the orange that Izaak asked me for, he told me he didn't want it after all. Mav is now fussing some more so I fix him something else. I heat up my pizza while John tries to tell me a story and after a couple bites I decide to try and give Mav some peanut butter on little balls of bread for the first time ever. John is annoyed and stops his story while I do this. I tell him to please keep going; I can multi task very well. I keep feeding Mav these balls of peanut butter bread when I finally realize, he's really not chewing and swallowing them that fast. His retarded mom forgot that he has an abnormally high-arched palate and it's ALL going up in there! I then proceed to dig it out and almost lose a finger. Mav is screaming now and I go make him a bottle. John now leaves to go back to work. He's been here an entire lunch break and I haven't gotten more than 2 bites of my lunch because I've been scurrying around so much taking care of everyone. I kiss him goodbye, give Mav the bottle, reheat my pizza and sit down at the computer. Only then I realize someone has been waiting for me to pay them on paypal for like the last half hour. I put down my fork and start working on that. But THEN...the doorbell rings. It's the exterminator. I forgot he was coming today. Duh! I then go to get the dogs out of the back yard to bring them in. I get one in the cage and go chase the other one. He proceeds to pee in the floor. I go to put him in the cage and the other one runs out. I'm now fighting BOTH of them to get back in the cage and didn't know Izaak was behind me and I ended up slamming his head into the door while wresting with these very large four month old Great Danes. I pick him up, kiss his head, put him down, clean up the pee, wash my hands, reheat my pizza and...I still haven't finished it because I just had to write this down before I forgot and I just wanted to let you people know...in case you were wondering...what it is I do all day. And that my friends...was only about an hour of my day. It typically goes from 7 am to 9 pm. Gotta love a stay at home mommy of little ones. :)

Slacking Already!

2012-01-18T11:14:00.005-06:00

Well haven't I just been great at my New Year's "goal" of writing something every day?! Haha! It's so funny how I think of things multiple times a day to write about it...and then somehow, NEVER get to type it out!! One of the reasons could be that, ever since we've lived in this house (about 7 weeks or so now), our computer has been sitting on the kitchen counter. So every time I got on the computer, I STOOD in the kitchen. I guess I just didn't have much motivation to stand there and type. But yesterday, I had my husband unload the desk I bought off of 29palmsyardsales before Christmas (that yes, was still in the car!!), and bring it inside. I moved my bakers rack that was in this corner of the living room/kitchen just collecting dust, diapers, wipes, toys, mail, and looked really horrible, and put my desk in its place. No, I have not finished it yet (I plan on painting and doing it up pretty some day), and yes, it hangs out about 3 inches past the wall into the hallway, but I don't care!! We're only living here until August anyway, it's not a permanent situation. And if it means I get to SIT DOWN in the morning to have my coffee, check Facebook, and yes, hopefully BLOG, then I'll take it! And I still get to be right here in the middle of my kiddies.

As I'm typing this, Z and Mav are playing together in the kitchen. Izaak LOVES playing with his little brother. He loves making him crawl after him. He loves making him laugh! It's just so adorable and I'm so grateful that Mav has Z as a big brother to look up to. Mav's therapist told me that Izaak will be his greatest teacher. I know that he is going to continue to develop in a great way by following his big brother around!

Speaking of developing, Maverick has his first in-clinic therapies tomorrow! I'm anxious to see what this place has to offer him. 29 Palms is very teeny tiny and nothing, NOTHING like Dallas where we had all the big hospitals and nice everything! I just hope this place can really give him what he needs and really help him out. So for now he is going to start with physical and speech therapy, and possibly also start occupational therapy. This is going to be like a 4-6 times a week kind of thing PLUS once or twice a week in home therapy. I just really hope we can get this schedule figured out and that's it not too overwhelming for him or Izaak or ME!

I had considered putting Izaak in preschool during this time, but have decided not to do that. I really want to do preschool with him at home and although I never thought I would be, I'm actually excited about it! I just hope that I can keep up with his needs. Not to brag cause I know every mom thinks their kid is smart, but Izaak is a very, very smart little boy. He amazes me every day at what comes out of his mouth and what he knows and understands and remembers! And I feel like that's without me even really trying. So if I really put energy into it and help him learn all he can, I know he will love it, and benefit greatly from it! I really would like for him to be able to come to Mav's therapy with me. He's always been a part of his therapy sessions before and I'd like for it to be a family affair and for him to know how important he is to Maverick's life and how much he helps him be the best he can be! I just hope that he behaves himself. Haha. I think he will though.

Speaking of behaving himself, this is what he's doing this very moment.

And on that note...I better go entertain my poor ~~dogs~~ kids!

Exhausted

2012-01-07T20:30:00.005-06:00

I'm exhausted. In just about every way I can be. We've lived in this house for 6 weeks and I'm still not done unpacking and putting things away. I try a little bit every day (when I feel motivated). But with John not coming home until 7:00 or later every night and 2 toddlers under toe every day all day, it's really hard to do and I just get frustrated. Today was going to be the day to REALLY get it all done. I was determined. But things did not go as planned. Kids were still under toe. And I cannot shake this tiredness. It's 6:30 pm and literally all I can think about is curling up in bed and watching tv until I fall asleep. Football is on in the living room and kids are fussing. Not a place I want to be right now. Also feeling a little guilty for feeding my (almost) 3 year old greasy cheese bread sticks for supper. Ah well. I cooked good wholesome meals all week so I feel pretty good about that. And I'm trying to decide if I want to try a new church tomorrow or just stay here and get more done on the house. *sigh* That's another thing that makes me exhausted...church hunting. We've done it our WHOLE marriage and NEVER found a church we could call home. That my friends, will wear you down pretty quickly. And I should mention that the churches here take up ONE page in the yellow pages. Yes...one. And that includes the other 2 towns down the road. This is a tiny place! So the one we're wanting to try (and the 4th one we will have tried here), if it doesn't work out, I'm really not sure what we'll end up doing.

Anyway, on a cute note, here's a pic I took of Mav as he was playing "shut the door in Mom's face" from the laundry room. He was getting such a kick out of it! That boy is making my heart happy lately with how much he's developing and doing new and exciting things! :)

New Years Resolution

2012-01-06T17:11:00.002-06:00

I hate New Years resolutions. I just don't do them. So I guess maybe I will call this a goal instead. Hehe. One of my goals is to really get back to blogging (like I keep saying on here that I'm doing). It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable with sharing my stories/life/learning experiences/ups and downs/opinions, etc, etc with the world. But I've decided that, since I'm not a journaler (is that a word?), I really need to be writing down all this stuff SOMEHOW. I SO regret not keeping up with my life on paper or the computer. I'm very sad that I didn't document our lives in Okinawa or keep up with my boys growing and changing (I don't do baby books either). So I really really really want to do this for ME and if no one else reads this, that's perfectly fine. But I vow to make this my little personal journal. This will also be a place where I will express my frustrations, fears, anxieties, joys, hopes, regrets, opinions, ....everything! I am constantly thinking of things I want to write. Things I just want to get OUT THERE whether or not anyone is reading along. Some of these things that I've wanted to get out there include topics that are...sensitive shall we say? Controversial. Opinionated. And if you don't agree, then I'd appreciate if you just keep that to yourself. There may even be some posts that I close to comments because I HATE confrontation. Like I said, this is a place for me to let go and express how I feel. You don't have to read it. Thanks in advance. :) I love to educate people on things they don't know much about. I love to help people. I love to enlighten people and share with them new ideas. So I guess really, it might be more of that kind of thing rather than IN YOUR FACE! TAKE THAT! Haha. Or possibly I might even be too chicken to ever put the things out there that are in my head. We shall see how it goes. I'm going to *try my best* to post something every day. At least just something about my day so that I'll have something to come back and read years from now and I can look back and laugh and say, "Oh goodess...I'm so glad that part of my life is over". HAHA j/k. I also really hope to re-vamp my blog homepage. Ick. I can't stand it. I really need someone to make it over because I don't do that either. Well enough ramblings. Happy New Year everyone!

Early Morning Reminiscing

2011-09-04T17:20:00.003-05:00

I've slept good since I got to Okinawa, but I just keep waking up at the crack of dawn every morning (after dreaming of sleeping in every day once I got here, hehe). After laying in bed awake for a while, I decided to go for a little walk and get some Starbucks (since someone has loaned my coffee pot to their shop for their Marines to use. This person's name shall remain unmentioned). Goodness the weather is so different here from Dallas, TX. It's not hot at all out there this morning but the humidity can almost choke you. Thankfully the evenings have not been like that since I've been here and we had a very pleasant, leisurely walk around American Village last night.

Anyway, so I got to Starbucks and even though they're supposed to open at 6:00 (and it was about 6:30), I guess they're closed today because of the holiday? Oh military base...why are you so silly? Just because it's labor day doesn't mean we the people don't want coffee!! :( So I decided to keep walking another quarter mile or so up to the "Shoppette". For you non-military-ers, this is like a convenient store, the only one of which is open 24/7 in case you need some milk at midnight, or in my case during my last pregnancy, an emergency late night run for sweet tarts. (Yea, I know. Weird). Here was some of my scenic little walk.

Once I got to the Shoppette, I felt like I had just stepped out of a sauna so I opted for a java chiller instead of my original plan of a piping hot latte cause that would have just been gross by this point. Yum! Good choice.

On my walk back home, I started thinking a lot about all the times I had walked that path. I was once a stranger here. Completely lost in this new foreign world. I walked that path trying to bring on labor with Izaak. I took him on walks there when he was a baby. I walked trying to bring on labor with Mav. I took them both on walks there after he was born. One of my very favorite views of this walk (or drive), is going down this steep hill towards the chow hall where you have a wide open view of the East China Sea. Depending on the time of day, the weather, etc, the water is always different colors. Sometimes there are white caps and other times it's very still. I just always, always enjoyed driving down that hill and looking out there and never ceasing to be amazed that I live on the East China Sea! I wish my boys could remember their time here and this place where they were born. But I hope that God has plans to bring us back here as a family one day.

So back to my reminiscing...I couldn't help but quickly tear up as I thought of everything we've been through over the past 3 years that we've been stationed here. Of course, I haven't physically been here for the past 5 months, but part of my heart has still been here. John and I have lived here the longest as a married couple. I became a mommy here. I grew so much as a person and a wife and then a mother. The ups and downs. The failures. The sad times, the happy times. The times I lost faith in God. The times I grew in my faith. The amazing, amazing, life long friends that we made here. I could never be thankful enough for them. You guys have been my rock.

Then on February 21st of this year, I left Okinawa, not knowing that I would never be coming back to live. I really had been getting excited that we only had a few months left here. I was ready to leave. It wasn't until after we were told we wouldn't be coming back, because of Mav's health, that I realized how much I missed this place. Having lived in Dallas the past 5 months, it's made me realized what a simple life we lived here. Sure, there were times I was about driven insane when the commissary was out of orange juice for the 3rd week in a row and Wal-Mart wanted to charge me $25 to ship a shower curtain which wouldn't be here for another 6 weeks. But...my family has been separated for almost half a year now and you know what? In Dallas I could go to like 20 different places within a 10 mile radius that had all the shower curtains I could ever want. And I realized....you know, that's just not what life's about. I've also realized that malls are overpriced and overcrowded and I really have not spent much time at all there. Target sure is convenient, no doubt about it. But I know now that I CAN live without it. I never thought I would say this, but I'm very thankful for these past 5 months. God has grown me in ways that I couldn't have grown without going through this. My heart has changed in so many ways. And just one of the many, many things I have come to realize is, "This world is not my home". I am not supposed to be comfortable here. It's incredible how much control I've been able to let go of. Maverick for example....well, that's for another post on another day. I'm thankful for these trials I've had. I feel like it's been more like 5 years of growth rather than 5 months. I'm so thankful the ways God has reminded me that I don't have control over anything and the ways I have been forced, in a good way, to hand everything over to him and just.....trust. I'm so thankful for the beautiful, amazing family he's given me that I just.....can't say enough about because there are only tears of happiness. And today I'm so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to come back to this place. To this beautiful island where my family began. To remind me again of all I've been given. To realize once more that this world is not my home, I'm just passing through. I am not supposed to stay in once place and get comfortable. I will keep going, keep moving, keep growing, keep learning, keep seeking his Kingdom as my ultimate destination. What beauty, peace, and ultimate rest and contentment is waiting for me there...I just can't imagine. Maybe God and I will have an early morning walk to the Heavenly Starbucks that never closes. Hehe ;)

P.S. Blogger won't let me post pictures right now for some reason so I will add them later!

Plagiocephaly, Cranial Bands and Insurance

2011-08-23T15:43:00.004-05:00

Maverick developed a condition in utero called Torticollis. Because of this, he then developed Plagiocephaly that got worse after he was born from his neck always being turned to one side. When he was 4 months old, we were told he needed to wear a "helmet", or technically, a cranial band, to help improve the assymetry of his head. We were sent to Cranial Technologies to get a Doc Band. These people have been awesome and we're so grateful for them!

Last thursday Mav got his Doc Band off after wearing it for 3 1/2 months. He had significant improvements and we were told he went from having a severe plus plus head shape to a moderate/severe headshape. It was also recommended that he get a 2nd Doc Band. We of course want the very best outcome for our little man, but here's the kicker. We were told when we got his first band that almost in every case, insurance, no matter what insurance you have, will not cover it. We were so fortunate, or so we thought, that Tricare agreed to pay for the whole band!! It wasn't until a couple weeks ago I got a call from our insurance coordinator at Cranial Technologies telling me that Tricare still has not payed them and that she found out that it was the WRONG Tricare (West instead of South) that had agreed to paying for it. We will not know for another couple of weeks if South agrees to pay for it, but most likely they will not and then we will have to work on our appeal since it wasn't our fault that we didn't know it was the wrong insurance who had agreed to pay for it in the first place! Meanwhile, I found out yesterday that Tricare South denied our request to pay for his 2nd band. Unfortunatly, that means paying $2500 out of pocket, and if they don't agree to pay for the first one, that will be $5000. Although I am so glad they have covered what they have for all of Maverick's other healthcare costs, I find it unacceptable that insurances typically refuse to cover these bands unless it's post-surgical. And even though $2500 is a lot, that is with a military discount. The regular amount for civilians is around $3800. There are many many twins out there who require these bands due to conditions that happened while in utero (just like Mav) so those poor families are left with over $7000 worth of bills just for the first bands and over $15,000 if they need 2nd bands. This is completely rediculous and unacceptable in my humble opinion. I think insurance companies need to be a little more educated on this subject! We're not wanting our kids to wear these "helmets" so they look cool and we get tons of stares from people wondering what's wrong with them! John and I were told by the neurosurgeon that prescribed Mav's first band that if he did not have this, he could and would probably end up having a life-threatening surgery later in life that Tricare would have to pay for. So...does this even make sense to not pay for it NOW?? No it does not! Anyway, just thought I would do my part in Plagiocephaly awareness and in the mean time I will pray that one day the insurance big wigs will educate themselves and be on board with this. Thank you Dr. Klugh and thank you Cranial Technologies for caring about Mav and helping him have the best outcome possible!

(I wish I could figure out how to upload his before and after pics but I can't at this time)

"Blessings"

2011-08-05T09:40:00.003-05:00

I don't think I'll say much about this song and just let it speak for itself. The very first time I heard this was on the drive to church on a Sunday morning shortly after moving here, right after John left, and when I was just beginning the daunting task of coordinating with insurance and doctors and just desperate for answers for my baby boy. It was perfect timing. Even listening to it this morning had me in tears all over again. I hope it blesses you as well....

"Blessings" by Laura Story

I'm back....for real this time!

2011-08-04T15:47:00.004-05:00

Well friends...I'm back! I see that it's been almost 8 months since my last post and that was just a video of Z Bug. Wow has he changed in 8 months!! Getting back to the blogging world is something I've been contemplating for quite a while. I'm such a private person and tend to keep things all to myself except for a few close friends and family members. But, I don't journal and I feel like this is such a great way to record life and be able to look back at everything. So I decided to give it another go around. I even thought about creating a whole new blog and even took the steps in doing so, but decided to stay here after all. I also decided to keep the title "Island" of love life and learning. Our little island of Okinawa is where our family pretty much began and I'd like to remember it that way. I have so many things I feel like I need to catch everyone up on but that will come in future posts. I won't try to fill in all the missing gaps at one time, so if you're reading a post and are completely lost about something, feel free to comment and ask any questions you want. Our life is crazy complicated to try to keep up with. ;)

For those of you who don't know, I am currently living in Dallas, Texas with Izaak and Maverick while John is finishing up his tour in Okinawa. We are here due to Maverick's health issues and have been apart from John for 4 months. He will finally be coming home next month!! In fact, I'm actually getting ready to go see him 4 weeks from today! I don't remember something I've ever been so excited about in my life I don't think. I left there not knowing I wasn't going to be going back to say goodbye. It's so emotional for me every time I think of Okinawa. There my home still is with all my things in it. There are the friends I left, some of which I know I'll never see again. There John and I lived the longest together. There our 2 precious boys were born. I very much consider that my home and our beginning. I will forever hold a special place in my heart for Okinawa; my Okinawa. My husband laughs at me when I remember the place with such fondness because he likes to bring up the times I cried and complained and wanted to "go home" so badly. I'm not saying that every single day there was a bed of roses. I definitely went through some cabin fever and rough times. But overall, I'm so happy that I got the amazing opportunity to live there, and I hope that one day we can be stationed there again.

Well I guess that's all for this time. I'm actually really looking forward to making frequent posts here now and I'm glad that I'll have an outlet for stories, pictures, memories, and whatever is on my heart. Thanks for following! :)

Video Update

2010-11-17T20:07:00.002-06:00

Long Time No Blog

2010-05-24T22:19:00.008-05:00

My apologies for taking almost a MONTH to make a post on here. We were busy with the move and then I was so exhausted from the move to do anything and then I just got lazy! Haha. So for a quick catch up of what's been going on.

We've been in our new house for 3 weeks now. We really like it and it was worth all the hassle it took to get here. There's much more room for our family and we are really enjoying the extra bathroom AND dining table!! We hadn't had a table since we moved here a year and a half ago so it's been great! I will post pics at the end of this post. A warning to you though, the house is not done yet! Still furniture arrangements to be made, new bedding to be ordered, and rooms to be painted, etc. And I certainly didn't clean up before taking these pics. hehe.

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and found out that we will be having another little BOY! We are very excited and currently working on a name for him. Unfortunately, they gave us very lame pictures from the ultrasound and those 3 lame pictures that we did get, got messed up by the faulty printer and have squiggly rainbow lines all over them. I was NOT happy. We didn't even get a picture of the proof of boy parts! Well at least I am even more excited now about getting our 3D ultrasound while we're in Dallas. We better get some good shots then!

This past Saturday, Izaak and I attempted to hop a Space A flight from here to Seattle. We got up at 2 am and arrived at the Air Force base airport at about 3:30. We had to wait until almost 6:30 before finding out that we were not able to get seats on that flight. I was definitely bummed out, but was going to attempt taking a C5 later that day going to CA. Turns out that flight was delayed until the next morning. To make a really long story shorter, I was not guaranteed seats on that flight either, it was going to Hawaii first and we had no idea how long we would be there. Could have been hours, could have been days. Then we would have had to go through the same ordeal there trying to get on the plane to CA. It was just too stressful for me and I decided not to attempt it. Good thing because I found out later that there's no way I would have made it on that one either. So now we're looking at just buying tickets for both of us to leave out of Naha airport this Saturday. So *hopefully* I will be in Dallas this weekend! Which means I will still have a total of 3 weeks in Dallas which is great!

Well that's pretty much a brief summary of what's been going on in our lives recently. Here are some pics!

Looking into our kitchen from the dining/living room
And this is looking into if from the hallway coming in from the front door
Looking into the dining room from the kitchen
Living room
Our very messy and not finished bedroom

Master bath. Ahh I love saying that!
Oh and here's a pic of our FIRST meal at our wonderful table!
P.S. I didn't add pics of the boys rooms because there's not much to see. The baby's room has a changing table, dresser and suitcases in it right now. And Izaak's room has a crib and toys scattered everywhere! Don't worry, I will make a post after I finish their rooms........someday. :)

HOORAY!

2010-04-26T23:18:00.002-05:00

We're getting the keys to our new house on FRIDAY!!! Then we have 1 week to be out of this house. I already have babysitters lined up and I am ready to go!!

Our New Home!

2010-04-22T22:39:00.020-05:00

Ok well you wanna hear another doozy of a story? So yesterday John talked to the housing lady again and she told him that our 1st housing option (see previous post) is getting ready to be renovated and we'd have to move out of it in January anyway. ......I don't even know what to say except WHY would that even be one of our offers?? You people just don't make sense! But I don't know why I still get upset and say, "That's RIDICULOUS!", because it's the military and after 5 years I should be used to this! Haha. Anywho...John went ahead and accepted offer #2 even though we hadn't seen it because, well, it just makes sense since we only get 2 offers! So we got to go see it this morning and oh boy was I happy! Newer, nicer, cleaner, and guess what?? They're putting in BRAND NEW CARPET!! I was just thrilled! I was excited to be getting carpet anyway but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about all those other peoples dirt and germs that I just wouldn't be able to suck up with a regular vacuum and that my babies would be crawling around on it all the time. But I wasn't complaining! It was just an extra blessing that I found out about this morning so praise God! Now if I could put in a request I'd ask that the new carpet not be blue but ya know...even if it's purple I'll make it work! Izaak and I are going to the hardware store today to look at paint samples. I'm excited!! Our housing appointment is set for Tuesday and I believe what they're saying right now is that the house won't be ready for move in until May 3rd (which is only 10 days away) but I'm kinda hoping it's no later than that so we can get moved and unpacked as much as possible before Z and I head to the states for 6 weeks. I seriously doubt I will get any painting done before then but seeing as how we're only allowed to have 4 gallons of paint every 90 days, I figured I'd go ahead and get what I know I want now so that by the time I'm ready to paint Izaak and baby M's rooms, I'll be eligible for more paint. LOL. Oh the life! I was able to take a few pictures but there were about 10 Japanese men who didn't speak English in there doing repairs and whatnot and I guess they never figured out that we're the new family coming to look at our new house because they were giving us awfully weird looks the whole time. Most of them were in the kitchen and living room so I didn't get any pics of in there but TRUST ME it's much better than the last house! Oh and someone was in the master bath so didn't get to see that either. But don't worry, I will be taking lots of pictures of the move!! I can't wait!!

The outside of the tower. Looks pretty much exactly like the one we live in right now. I labeled our balcony and the baby's window if you can see it in this pic. The only downside I would have to say about this apartment is that the balcony is directly above the trash room. So I'm hoping that I can still open the doors and not smell yucky trash. Also, that's where people go in and out of the tower so I'm hoping it won't be too loud.

Welcome to our new house!

Nice laundry room directly on the left when you walk in the front door. I'm so excited that I get to do laundry when the kids are sleeping now!! (Our current laundry room is right outside of Izaak's bedroom). But I'm also just so thankful that the washer and dryer aren't in the kitchen!
The view from the dining room balcony.

The guest bath. SO much nicer than the other place!
Nice hall closets.
Baby M's room is the first one on the right.
Izaak's room is the 2nd bedroom on the right and is slightly bigger than the baby's room.
Me and John's room and look! We get 2 closets!!
And we get a nice big storage room in the hall with shelves. The place we're in now has a storage room (without shelves) and we have definitely put it to use! The 1st place we were offered did not have a storage room so I'm not sure what we would have done!
And here is Z Bug making a mess of his on the go-in the car-broken up pancake in a snack bowl breakfast after we went to see our new house! :)

And to end my happy story, I thought I'd share a poem I just read this morning that TOTALLY fits my life right now. I really like it.

"Dandelion you're like me, set adrift to ride the breeze
Drifting here and settling there, to grow as if you have no care
Only those like you will know, the sudden rush to rise and go
On any ground, you will abide and you never do decide
Flying with no tie that binds, always leaving friends behind
Trying not to show you mind; dandelion I'm like you
I put down roots that have no glue, so I'll move somewhere new."

New Housing Option #1

2010-04-21T02:42:00.015-05:00

So since we're expecting baby #2, we now qualify for 3 bedroom base housing. We weren't even sure if they were going to give it to us before the baby was born, but thank goodness we were able to get on the waiting list! Our counselor at the housing office told us we would be getting a call within 2 weeks, but acted like it would be less than that. Well today makes 2 weeks. I called yesterday and left a message for her. Didn't hear back. Called again this morning and didn't get an answer. Called for a 3rd time this afternoon and finally got her! I told her that I had left a message for her yesterday (25 hours previous) but she ignored me then proceeded to look up our name and place on the list and said, "Oh yeah, your options are ready now to go look at." Umm...really? So no one cared to call and let us know that? She told me we could go look at them this afternoon or first thing in the morning and then let her know tomorrow which one we chose. So I called John and we decided to look at them today and I started getting ready. Right in the middle of brushing my teeth, the housing lady calls back and says that one of the houses won't be available to look at until May 3rd but we can look at the other one today. So I said, "Oh ok so we don't need to call you tomorrow?" She replied with, "Oh yes you still need to let me know tomorrow which one you want." I said, "....Without even seeing one of them??" She goes, "Yes." Ummm...ok. Am I surprised? NO. But that's just ridiculous! John called her back to try to sort it out but he got the same story. So he heads over to Foster housing to pick up the keys while I go to the house that supposedly we can't look at but we decided we were going to knock on the door and see if anyone was home to let us look anyway. So I'm waiting in the car when John calls and says that the house we can't see until May 3rd (the one I'm sitting at) IS open and available to look at today but the other one is occupied and they have no plans of leaving anytime soon. So he ends up staying there another half hour to figure out which house we are supposed to see. In the mean time, Izaak and I play outside and wait for him. Then he calls back and says, "Ok, the tower you're at now, we can look at it but not until Friday." Oh my goodness how could we get 3 different stories in 1 day?? And he finally figured out which number the other house was (the lady gave me the wrong number) so I met him over there. Can I say.....GHETTO!!!!! Wow I would much rather stay in my house now than move into that place! I just laughed the whole way through the house and kept saying, "NO WAY. ABSOLUTELY NOT." Thank goodness the other house is in a newer tower and is carpeted, has its own laundry room, is a bit bigger, is on the 2nd floor instead of the 9th, is closer to John's work among other things, and is not in a school zone! I can't wait to go see it! Thank you Lord that we're getting this 2nd option because I think I would have cried. I forgot my nice camera but took some pictures of this place on my iphone. Hope you get a good chuckle out of it. And sorry to my friends that are here and didn't have a choice but to live in a place like this. :(

So obviously this is the kitchen...with a washer and dryer.
Look at those counter tops!
The view from the dining room into the living room.
The living room
Izaak loved running around the empty place! This is heading down the hall from the dining/living room.
Hall bathroom.
1st spare bedroom.
John showing Izaak the view (the reason he wants this house). I could care less if I'm looking at a soccer field or a trash dump, I would just prefer to have a nicer house.
2nd spare bedroom.
Showing Izaak how to hide in those weird closets.
The master bedroom. Didn't get a good pic of it but it's pretty much like the others.
Master bath.
So what do you think? Would you have chosen option #2 even without being able to see it but just knowing it's newer and nicer? Me too!! I'll post about that house on Friday!

Scrap Day!

2010-04-20T00:02:00.010-05:00

I LOVE scrap days with my girls here in Oki! We used to go about once a month and then no one held one for several months. Last month we got back into it and this past Saturday we were able to go again! I tell ya, the hours just FLY by during those days! We have so much fun talking, working, and looking at other peoples masterpieces. I'm excited that I've finally started Izaak's book! So far I've only done 14 pages which has gotten us through the birth/hospital stay. Sheesh! I have such a long ways to go to get caught up and I have another baby that will be here in 5 months!! I'm sad to say that I am not much of an artist. No...I am NOT an artist! I'm really surprised I ever even got into scrapbooking because it takes me forever to come up with something...really boring and plain. Haha. But at least I enjoy looking at them. And hopefully my family will in the years to come. But it just gets embarrassing during those scrap days when you look around at everyone elses tables and think, "Oh my gosh! If I could just have 1/10 of your creative genius!" Oh well. I still have fun doing it. Here are the pages I got done Saturday. Keep in mind that I have not written on them yet or finished embellishing them with stickers, etc. I just can't concentrate on that stuff when I'm trying to talk to everyone at the same time. So eventually I will get around to that when I have some quiet time and have nothing better to do. Hahaha. Oh and sorry that the pics are all glary. They're behind a plastic sheet.

Well I was going to add pictures from last month's scrap day but for some reason my blog is not letting me add any more. Maybe I'll do it another day.

16 weeks

2010-04-16T03:58:00.005-05:00

Well as of yesterday, I am now 16 weeks along with baby M. You still can't really tell. My belly is so much smaller than it was with Izaak. I've gained a whole pound so far! The nausea is still checking in with me in the evenings, but the last few nights haven't seemed as bad as usual. Hopefully that means we're almost done with the yuck part! We got a surprise ultrasound last week which was very fun! I asked the doctor if he could peek between the legs. He laughed and told me not to go buying pink or blue just yet. But seeing as how we found out Izaak was a boy at 14 weeks 4 days and I was then 14 weeks 5 days...I figured it was possible! We all saw what was believed to be a little BOY part...but he said the cord was down there too so he couldn't be totally sure. But he said, "If you made me bet my life on it, I would say it's a boy." So weird because I have felt so strongly that this one is a girl! But I also thought Izaak was a girl. So now I'm just confused and leaning more towards a boy. We will find out for sure when we have our anatomy ultrasound on May 17th! I can't wait!! I told my mom today that it will probably be very dangerous if it turns out to be a girl because I'm going back to the states a week after we find out and I haven't been real shopping in almost a year! So shopping deprived momma + a baby girl = "Sorry babe, I spent all our money". I've been thinking about names lately but John still doesn't want to talk about it. He has this thing with not talking about names until we know what we're having. The planner in me can't stand that! I told him that this baby will have a name before I leave for the states in May. We'll see. I came up up with a new baby girl name yesterday that I'm totally in love with now but I don't think it's going to be warmly accepted by Sgt Miller. Oh well he got to name Izaak so if it's a girl maybe it should be my turn! :) Anyway, it's very unique but very pretty (in my opinion). I really love unique but normal sounding names. Can you believe that when we named Izaak I had never heard of any other little kid with that name and now there are TWO other Isaac's in the nursery with him at church?!? Not cool! But at least he's got the unique spelling to hold onto. I love his name! Well that's all for now. I'll throw in a few pics for ya.

14 weeks 5 days
"His" little ankles are crossed!

Me at 16 weeks standing normally (not sucking it in). It definitely looks pudgier this month but still no baby bump.

Pooching my belly out as far as it could go!

I've been inspired

2010-04-14T02:01:00.003-05:00

So today I was inspired through another blogger to start writing more often. I need to be documenting the little things just for myself, even if no one else reads this. It will be a good journal to browse through from time to time seeing as how I never take any time to sit down and actually write in a journal. Although I have been trying to do that lately for my kiddos. So here is a promise to myself and to...whoever is out there reading this, that I am going to be more diligent in keeping up! Now just to warn you, we will be moving houses either this week or next so it might be crazy for the next couple weeks, but I will try to get on here some. And I will post lots of pics of the move and the new house! Until next time...

And Baby Makes 4!

2010-03-10T00:24:00.005-06:00

That's right...John and I are expecting baby Miller #2! I will be 11 weeks tomorrow and we are due September 30th! I've been keeping it a secret from the blogging and Facebook world for a while now. But we finally had our first ultrasound yesterday and I was very ready to make the big announcement! We found out on January 22nd that I am pregnant again. John was extremely excited! I was...in shock. Haha! We knew we wanted another baby in the near future but I was honestly a little scared when I found out. Izaak hadn't even had his first birthday yet! It took me a week or 2 to get used to the idea and of course now I'm thrilled! This baby and Z Bug will only be 20 months apart. I know it's been done before and I know it will be fine! I'm sure I will have my hands full and there will be some challenging days, but I'm really happy that they are going to be so close in age. I hope they can be best friends growing up! People keep asking me if I want a boy or a girl this time, and most people are already guessing that it's a girl. I really feel like it's a girl too...but I felt that way with Izaak so, we'll just have to wait and see! Of course it doesn't matter to me either way and I just want a healthy little bundle. I would like to have another boy so that Izaak has a playmate to rough house with, be on the same sports teams with, etc. But I also keep thinking about how fun it would be to shop for and dress up a little girl! Hehe. So, either way I will be happy and excited! Hopefully I will be blogging more in the near future. I kind of got away from it for a while. I really need to catch up on videos of Izaak! But for now, I will leave you with some pictures!

2 pink lines = baby!

Our little blessing #2

Big Brother!

We Are Family

2010-01-20T19:40:00.012-06:00

Well I am SO BUMMED that I totally forgot to enter this week's I heart Faces challenge because I already knew what picture I wanted!! Argh! It's been a little crazy around here the past few weeks without John at home. I salute single mothers because.....dang! I don't know HOW you do it! Anyway, I still want to post a few of my favorite family pictures. This family gave me and my friend E the wonderful opportunity of photographing them on the beach one gorgeous Saturday afternoon. They are such a sweet bunch and we got some really good pictures of them. Here are just a few of my favorites!

11 month old videos

2010-01-08T18:58:00.002-06:00

Christmas morning playing around in the kitchen

Playing with his new ball pit!

Making a mess of the bookshelf

Can you say "NO"??

Dance and give mommy kissies!

Driving mommy crazy all day long

Guess Who Won?!?

2010-01-02T08:03:00.010-06:00

Izaak and I are very proud this week that we were one of the FIRST place winners on I ♥ Faces . Thank you so much to Rebeckah for choosing us!!

The winning photo

Runner Ups

2009-12-28T02:15:00.009-06:00

I was only allowed to post 5 pictures for the I ♥ Faces weekly photo challenge, and it was hard to choose which were my faves! So here are the runner ups. Just wanted to share.

Hilarious Outtakes

2009-12-28T01:31:00.014-06:00

I ♥ Faces is ending their year by featuring "Hilarious Outtakes". I've been excited about this post because I have SO MANY funny face pictures of Izaak. It was so hard to choose but I had to narrow it down to 5. So here they are! P.S. Be sure to check out my Runner Up pics!

#1 This is Izaak when he was just a few days old.

My mom was trying to burp him, but I thought
this "pose" was just hysterical.

#2 Here he is a few months old making this SURPRISE face!

#3 My husband was letting him lick the cake batter
off the beaters. It looks like he's saying, "Are you
sure you aren't going to tell mommy about this??"

#4 Izaak's daddy is a Marine and Izaak LOVES daddy!
I think he was trying to give me his best Devil Dog
face here. :)

#5 I had to save the best for last. My husband was
cleaning out our fridge a couple weeks ago and
Izaak decided he liked the Coors Light! This
picture is SO funny because it looks like he had
a little too much to drink!

Holiday Traditions

2009-12-22T20:57:00.017-06:00

Bloomington, Indiana. My grandmother's kitchen. That's where my mom was sitting just a few minutes ago as I was talking to her on the phone. Her and my dad and the 3 puppies just got in yesterday after quite a long drive. She told me about the barbecue, baked beans, potato salad and jello they just finished up. And then of course, you have to top that off with a piece of Nana's homemade blackberry cobbler. Wow that sure brings back some good memories. Every year my parents, my brother and I would drive the 10 to 12 hours to my grandparents house to spend Christmas. My aunt, uncle and cousins were usually already there waiting for us, and we would all have a big meal. Chili or vegetable soup the first night, barbecue the next. Hehe. Nana's candy and fudge was always sitting out on the cabinet, calling to you to come take a nibble. The days leading up to Christmas would be full of excitement, seeing all of the family that you haven't seen since last year and hearing, "Oh my how you've grown!" The girls go shopping and to movies. The guys lay in the living room floor watching basketball games. Then finally...Christmas morning would come!! The tree always had an embarrassing number of presents under it but...oh how exciting it was!! Of course, my family was one of those take turns families, so the present un-wrapping always lasted a few hours. After we cleaned up, we would either get ready to go to my great Aunt Toot's house, or start preparing food at Nana's for the HUGE Christmas lunch! (They take turns every year). My very favorite food of the day, and I think everyone else in my family would agree, is Memaw's noodles! And then when I was real young, we would always end the day by going on a terrific hay ride through the woods pulled by Gene's tractor. It would be freezing but SO much fun! That night we would all crowd together in Memaw and Great Grandad's living room for more present opening. When they passed, that tradition kinda seemed to come to a close. And that's ok. Because I will always have those beautiful memories.

I never knew a Christmas not spent in Indiana until 2006, my first married Christmas. John was about to deploy to Iraq so we chose to spend that year with his family. I can't deny that I was a bit sad not to be having my traditions that Christmas. Then the next year I would have gladly spent Christmas day in a cell as long as John could have been with me. He was still deployed and not even my family's traditions could help make me feel better. But little did I know, the next year I was going to be 8 months pregnant and living in Okinawa, Japan! Obviously, we were unable to travel back for Christmas. It was so very strange to both of us spending the day just the 2 of us with only 10 or so presents under the tree. We hardly knew what to do with ourselves! Haha. We were unable to make it back again this Christmas, but we have a bouncing, high energy, almost 11 month old to share it with this year, and we are SO excited to see him with all of his MANY MANY presents that we've been collecting at the post office over the past month. For the first time last night, I wrote on a gift tag, "From Santa Clause". Boy was that a strange feeling! But I'm sure I'll be doing it for many years to come!

I don't know where we'll be next year, or the next, or the next. Being in the military, it's kinda hard to plan these things. I would like to think that I most certainly will be going back to Indiana to spend Christmas with my extended family once again and share our traditions with Izaak and my future kids. Of course I miss my family and our traditions at this time of year, but for now, I want to make sure that John and I start some of our own traditions that our kids, grandkids and maybe even great grandkids will always have fond memories of just like my Nana and Grandad did for us. I found this quote that I really liked and it really kinda fits my life right now, so I'll leave you with that. Merry Christmas everyone!! Be sure to make lots of good memories this year, wherever you are and whoever you're spending it with.

"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn

P.S. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures with me here in Japan of Christmas in the old days, but I will leave you with some much cuter pictures and my reason for looking forward to many more Christmases wherever they may be spent!

Pets Only

2009-12-14T00:30:00.004-06:00

This week at I ♥ Faces, the theme is "Pets Only" (no people faces allowed). Well, since we moved to Japan, we had to leave our kitties behind and we only have fish here. So I decided to go with this cute little guy from the zoo. I LOVE elephants and think it would be super cool to have a pet elephant!

Sweet Dreams

2009-12-08T06:36:00.005-06:00

I wasn't sure what picture I was going to choose for this week's theme at I ♥ Faces. I had to dig through some from several months ago and found this one that I love! Izaak was about 2 or 3 months old here and wearing the onesie I made him at my baby shower before he was born.

Video Post

2009-12-02T21:56:00.002-06:00

This video was back in October. It's just taken me this long to post it! But it's so cute! I wanted the grandparents to see it!

And this video was taken today (on his 10 month birthday!)

I Heart Tooshies

2009-12-01T19:53:00.003-06:00

Everyone loves a baby butt. I have so many pictures of Izaak's cute little hiney, but this is one of my most recent favorites. And hey, it has a puppy dog face too! Go on over to I ♥ Faces to check out more tooshies!

Sun Flare

2009-11-24T00:00:00.004-06:00

This week's theme at I ♥ Faces is "Sun Flare". It made me think of my first real photo shoot a few months ago. This lovely couple were just weeks away from meeting their baby girl and they were SO much fun to shoot! We happened to catch the sunset that evening and I got this picture of M and E having fun being in love and laughing about their bundle on the way!

Autumn Beauty

2009-11-16T04:52:00.005-06:00

This week at I ♥ Faces, the theme is Autumn Beauty. Well, living on a tropical island you don't get to see many trees covered in oranges, reds and yellows or children playing in piles of brilliantly colored leaves. Mostly there are palm trees and children playing in the sea. :) I do miss this season back home in North Carolina and look forward to seeing it again one day. So for this challenge, I chose to use a picture that had a fall color in it instead. I took this when Izaak was about 6 months old. It's one of my faves.

Big Red Balloon

2009-11-03T22:27:00.004-06:00

I have been having so much fun entering the weekly photo contest over at I heart faces! If you haven't checked it out yet, you should! So this week's theme is balloons. Izaak, my 9 month old, has never been around balloons before until this morning. I had some red balloons so I tried blowing one up and seeing what his reaction was. He was mesmerized. And then I bomped him on the head with it which he thought was HYSTERICAL!! He and I played in the kitchen floor with this balloon, just laughing and laughing for about 15 minutes. I really had him going! He was even getting tears in his eyes! I wish somebody had been there to video tape us! Anyway, here he is with his big red balloon making a funny face!

Life According To Plan

2009-10-29T20:59:00.020-05:00

I am a planner. I have always been a planner. Since I was a young girl, I have had my whole life planned out. My life was going to start at a Christian University. I was accepted to Harding. CHECK! I'm on my way! I was going to be a nurse. Well...ok that didn't exactly work out. But what to do now? Oh nevermind the career, I just want my MRS degree anyway! Find that one special guy that God has in store for me at Harding University. The one who wants to be an Orthodontist. Someone tall who likes basketball. The one who can stand in front of a huge crowd and give an elegant lesson from the pulpit when needed. The one who wants 3 kids just like me. The one who is outgoing so that I don't have to do all the talking all the time. Um...God? Where is Mr. Right Now? After 2 years with no guy and still no direction as to what I should be doing with my life...my family was pleading with me to go back to my first love. Nursing. I was only able to be persuaded by my family's VERY direct, in your face, loud, pushy, driven, smart, exchange student (my second brother) who finally had me convinced it was the right thing to do. OK OK I'll do it! So I packed up and left Harding....without the guy. :(

Fast forward about a year. Living at home with mom and dad. Working girl. Student. No friends. Depressed. Did I make the wrong decision to leave Harding? I miss everything about it. My life is NOT going as planned. Bored one night. Need someone to talk to. Join a Christian dating site on line just for the heck of it. Don't want a boyfriend. Don't want to get married anymore. Definitely don't want to meet someone on the internet! (Can you imagine how you'd answer that question later on when someone asks, "So how did y'all meet?" Embarrassing!!) Just need some company. Weeks of weirdos. Get on to cancel my subscription. This is stupid. Someone sends me a message and wants to chat. A 19 year old (I was 21 at the time)....5'7" (my height.)......US Marine....BAHAHA! No thanks kid! Under age, under height, devil dog. ....6 months later that kid put a ring on my finger.

7 months later we said "I do".

8 months later I kissed him goodbye and put him on a bus headed for Iraq, not knowing if I would ever see him again.

13 months later I was throwing my arms around him welcoming him home!!

4 months later, I showed him the stick with the 2 pink lines and told him he was going to be a daddy!

6 months later my Marine moves me across the world to JAPAN where we will be for the next several years.
3 months later I give birth to our little boy.

9 months later I'm writing this with tears streaming down my face because my life HAS NOT GONE ACCORDING TO PLAN!! And I now thank God for that Every. Single. Day. My life could not be more wonderful!

My Marine is my hero; my prince charming. He's not the tall basketball player I had always dreamed about. He's not the outgoing man who likes to speak in front of a crowd. He wants more than 3 kids! And he doesn't get payed hundreds of thousands to fix teeth. But instead he gets the honor and privilege to serve God while serving his country every day. And he is a WONDERFUL husband and father who loves me and our baby boy so much!

My son is my world. He is the most beautiful, wonderful thing I've ever been apart of and I cannot imagine my life without him.
I live on a gorgeous, tropical island with the most wonderful Japanese people. I'm surrounded by friends that God has sent to me. I have an awesome church family. I AM SO BLESSED! Is my life perfect? Of course not. Life is not a bed of roses, as they say. And for that I am thankful. It helps me to strive for perfect which of course will only be found in Heaven with Jesus. Did I get that nursing degree? No. But who knows? Maybe I will go back to school one day. Right now I'm working 24/7 as a mommy. THE most important job I could ever have! Is being a mommy exhausting and hard work? YOU BET! And I only have 1 so far! Does my marriage have struggles? Absolutely. What marriage doesn't? But we work through our problems when they arise which only brings us closer together. Do I get really frustrated sometimes because being in the military means you have no idea what you'll be doing or where you'll be going the next 15 years?! Haha, yes! But I'm so happy that I'm not "settled" in the place I will live forever at the age of 25! I get to explore, make new friends, have several homes to decorate, and teach my children the importance of being grounded in faith instead of having roots in one place. And yeah, I worry sometimes that John will be re-deployed several times during the remainder of his career. But I know that God will be with him and with me and our children and everything will be OK. So now I want to leave you with a challenge. Have you taken a step back and looked at your life recently? Can you see how God worked in it even when it wasn't according to your plan? Are you allowing him to shape and mold you into the person he wants you to be now? You may be in a rut. Been there done that. And usually it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But just know that God is doing something wonderful. Let him. And try not to fight him. Just wait. Pray that you will have patience and that he will teach you something valuable. There is something so much more beautiful that God has in store for you. Or maybe he has already given you the beautiful and you have just been too busy being upset that it's not YOUR plan. I hope that you can sit down with a warm cup of humility and gratitude and take a few minutes to thank God for what he has blessed you with, for the challenges he has put in front of you, for the way he is growing you, for the person he is making you, and for the future he has planned for you.

Halloween Dress Up

2009-10-27T19:26:00.003-05:00

This week at I ♥ Faces the theme is Halloween Dress Up. This is my very first Halloween as a mommy and I was so excited to find Izaak's first Halloween costume! Being overseas on a very tiny island with only the PX to shop at, there aren't many choices. So I scoured the internet to find the perfect 1st costume for my baby boy. It was a hard decision but I just fell in love with this sweet dragon costume! It's going to be a little warm for him to wear Saturday seeing as how it's still in the 80's here on Okinawa, but he will be the cutest little stifling hot dragon on the whole island!! :)

He was checking out his cool new dragon claws!

Little man is getting big!

2009-10-16T23:04:00.002-05:00

Z discovered that he could go in the kitchen with his walker AND that he could open mommy's drawers!!

My little grumpy head.

He's a stander now!

EXCITED!!

2009-10-13T02:10:00.006-05:00

Well I have a couple of friends who have been entering a photo contest every week and I've decided to join in the fun! So this week over at I ♥ Faces, the theme is EXCITED! I immediately thought of this picture that I took of Izaak a few weeks ago. He was watching his daddy play the Play Station and wanted to join in on the fun so bad! So daddy gave him his very own controller and he was so excited he couldn't contain himself!!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-11T06:41:00.007-05:00

Well I know this is from 2 weekends ago, but I'm just getting around to posting about it. And I've been working for DAYS on this one post. I tried to upload a video from the beach and it just wouldn't work. John's stupid computer keeps erasing all the pics I've put up here. I'm really frustrated right about now! Haha! Anyway, we had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! It's always so much fun when John has a 96! (For those of you non-military, a 96 is a 4 day holiday). He got Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue off.

So on Friday night we went out to a great restaurant called Four Seasons.
It's Teppanyaki style and this one uses TONS of garlic! Mmmm.

Izaak looks like he has a noodle or something in his mouth.
I have no idea what that is! Haha. But he is
intently watching that cook.

On Saturday we went to Kadena Marina. It's pretty much just a beach. But it was very nice. John went "fishing" with some of our friends. By fishing I mean, they bought equipment so they could go catch their own fish, crabs, snails and coral for their salt water tanks. I'm pretty sure that's illegal but they say it isn't. Ah well. My friend M and I stayed under a pavilion so our little boys wouldn't get too much sun. It was hot! You know what's amazing...it is now SEPTEMBER, I live on a TROPICAL ISLAND and do I have a tan?? NO!! This is the first summer probably ever in my life that I haven't gotten a tan. You know what that makes me? A mom to a little one! :) And of course I wouldn't change it. But I do miss my glowing summer skin.

Sunday of course was church, commissary, and relax day.

Monday we finally made it to Okinawa World! I've been wanting to go there forever. It was ok. We had to rush through part of it because we had to get back home at a certain time. It had some of the Okinawan culture like the glass blowing, sake brewing, tropical fruit tasting type stuff. There was a also a neat cave we got to walk through. I think we were kinda exhausted because we got lost and it took us almost 3 HOURS to find the place! Then it only took an hour to get home once we knew where we were going. Hehe. Here are some pics from that day.

They had a Habu Snake show
(Habu's are prevalent in Okinawa)

Here are John and Izaak in the cave

Izaak loved sharing daddy's mango ice cream!

Mrs. and Mr. Shisa :)

Blown glass store

Making Habu Sake

On Tuesday evening we went to American village with the S family (the same friends we went to Okinawa World with) for some delicious Thai food! This was mine and John's first experience with Thai food and it was a good one!!

Pretty wall mural

Overlooking American Village

A lot of the menus here have pictures showing you each dish.
It's kinda neat but not always appetizing.
I have no idea how to pronounce the name of this dish
but it was something with pork and it was DELISH!

This is Thai milk tea. With enough sugar syrup it was
pretty good!

What a GREAT weekend we had and now I can't wait for
the next 96!!

Saturday

2009-08-31T02:36:00.012-05:00

So ever since Izaak and I got home from the states, I've been wanting to get out and DO something as a family on the weekends. But something has come up every weekend to where we haven't been able to. This weekend was free but my poor baby has a bad case of thrush in his mouth that we can't get rid of. The nurse practitioner told me it is due to the climate we live in. So I figured I probably shouldn't have him outside very much. But we decided to head down to Naha to go to a few places indoors.

Our first stop was PetBox; John's favorite place to go! Izaak has fun there too looking at all the fishies!

Then we went to the bunny store, but sorry guys, didn't get any pics there. We did get Izaak 2 cute little Japanese baby outfits. Oh the "bunny" store by the way is a baby/kids/maternity store. It's always fun to look around in there.

Next stop was Arin Krin, better known here as, "The Garlic Restaurant". Or you can just call it Aaron and Kens as my husband does. What a goof. Anyway...we met our friends The S family and the M family for some yummy dinner! I had been wanting to go here for a long time and finally made it!

There are LOTS of menu choices at very reasonable prices. John says the portions are small and that's why it's cheaper but they were plenty big for me!

We got some kind of spicy potatoes as an appetizer/side dish. They were pretty good.

I got Garlic Pasta for my entree

And John got Garlic Pizza for his entree (well one of his entrees'. I didn't get a pic of the garlic fish he got after he finished the pizza). The pizza was my fave of the night and I'm going to try to re-create it at home this week! We'll see how it turns out.

And here is Nathan and Izaak. We had to take pics of them dressed in the same exact outfit which was NOT planned. They were so cute though!

So we had a wonderful Saturday and I'm looking forward to planning next weekend! There's so much to do in Okinawa and I don't want to miss out on any of it! Oh by the way, I forgot to take my new Nikon with me that day so all these pics were taken on my iPhone. Not bad quality for a phone but I'll have to remember to bring the other one for the next weekend photo shoot!

Video Catch Up!

2009-08-24T02:14:00.007-05:00

So these are mostly for the grandparents who are dying from a lack of Z Bug videos!

Here is the little man in bed acting silly with daddy and mommy

This one is a little boring but still thought the G-Parents would want to see it. I was trying to catch Izaak spitting his food out. He gave us a real hard time for a few days when it came to eating his baby food. He only wanted a bottle. We finally figured out it's because he was trying to cut a tooth. He's doing a good job of eating now in his new high chair.

Last week our little Z Bug finally figured out he could roll over!

Eating his Mum Mum crackers

O Ye of Little Faith

2009-08-12T21:11:00.003-05:00

This is not a typical post for me, but something I feel like I should share for whoever out there might be reading. I was going through my book shelf yesterday and pulled out the "My Utmost for His Highest" Journal. I flipped to August 12th (yesterday in Japan), and this is what I read.

"When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.
"O Ye of little faith!" What a pang must have shot through the disciples - "Missed it again!" And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced downright joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.
There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him."

By the way, that was based around the passage in Matthew 8. I just thought it was a really good lesson for me. I guess I never really thought about "producing downright joy in the heart of Jesus" when I remain confident in him. I often wonder how God feels when it's been several days or weeks since I've really come to him to just worship him, talk to him and be in his presence...but out of fear or anxiety over something, beg and plead with him to "Just get me through this". Why is it that we tend to turn to him when the going gets tough but not in our every day lives where he's blessed us with all the wonderful? I try to put myself in his position and well...God has a lot more grace and forgiveness than I ever would. I would have given up on me a LONG time ago! Well anyway... just thought it was a great lesson for me and I hope it can bless you in some way too.

Mmmmm Pickles!

2009-08-09T07:12:00.003-05:00

Izaak tried his first pickle at Jason's Deli while we were visiting mom and dad in Dallas. I guess it was all those pickles I ate when I was pregnant with him cause he seemed to like it!

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

2009-07-31T01:41:00.002-05:00

Ok first of all, about my title up there, I don't know if anyone else ever says that but my parents always said it when I was a little girl. Haha. Anyways...I'M HOME!! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us! We had a wonderful trip. I was full of anxiety when we left Dallas. It messed with my tummy a little bit on the first flight, but then I was ok after a few hours. It was sad leaving my parents but I was so overwhelmed with fear that I didn't think about the sadness quite as much. Or maybe I was just trying so hard not to. It makes it so much worse having Izaak and watching my parents have to say goodbye to him because I know it kills them. And that makes me very sad. I wish we could live closer or that they could visit more. It's just so darn expensive to fly from/to here. So back to the trip...if you want to hear a *God Story* (as my mom would say), listen up. As I already mentioned, I was very nervous about the trip home with just me and Izaak. I had been dreading it the whole 6 weeks I was in the states. I was trying hard Wednesday morning to concentrate on not having a panic attack or something. Just breathe through it...keep breathing. "God get me through this" I was definitely expecting the worse. Yes I tend to be a bit of a "half empty" kind of person sometimes because I tend to get stressed out quite easily. So mom told me that she was praying for a grandmother or grandmother type to be on each plane to help me with Izaak. I thought, yeah right, no one will be there to even hold him for me if I have to go to the bathroom. I guess I'll just flag down a stewardess. I made it to my gate in Dallas as they were boarding the plane. I went to check my stroller in and asked if I could get an isle seat thinking that it was too late now, but he was very nice and got me one. As soon as I saw where I was supposed to sit, this very sweet, grandmotherly lady was sitting in the middle seat smiling at me and Izaak. I thought..."really?" She cooed over him and wanted to hold him and wiped milk off of his face, covered him with a blanket when he was asleep in my arms, held him for me when I went to the bathroom, and made my ever so jittery stomach ease up a bit. It was amazing. But that flight was only about 4 hours and I thought, "I really needed her on the long flight." We had a 4 hour layover in San Francisco and I was still working on getting my stomach settled. Z and I walked around the airport for a long time just trying to enjoy ourselves. I parked the stroller in front of a big window so he could watch the planes and he loved that. Ok backing up a second, I forgot to mention that the night before I had only had an hour and 45 minutes of sleep (and had to leave the house at 4am). So on top of this 30 hour trip that I was dreading, I was running on very little sleep. I had no idea how I was going to do this because even when John traveled over with us it was hard! And I thought I was going to die on the last leg of our trip if I didn't get some sleep soon! So ok, we boarded our big plane and thank goodness they were able to get me a bulk head! (A lady was very nice and changed my seat). So I was in for an 11 hour flight, another 4 hour layover and another 2 hour flight. Here goes...Izaak was doing really well. He cat napped here and there. He was quiet and happy and kept smiling around at everyone who would look at him. It was a little tiring holding him the whole time, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. So about 4 1/2 hours into the flight, I had sat Izaak in our seat and I was kneeling down in the floor making a bottle when I heard this lady's voice above me say, "You're going to think I'm crazy, but can I help you with him? You are going to wear yourself out. I'm not tired and I have nothing to do, I'll be glad to walk him around and hold him for a little while." Was I going to say NO?!? Haha. So I said, "SURE if you want!" So for the whole rest of the flight, she would come get him sometimes or she would hold him while I went to the bathroom or washed his bottles. At the end of the flight she waited with me outside the plane to help me get him in the stroller and then we realized that we were both going to Okinawa. We talked during the layover and I found out that she's going to be a first time grandmother in December! Her son and his wife live here and that's who she was coming to visit. So we had the last flight together too and once again she was there when I needed her. I had them change my seat on the flight too and there ended up being an empty seat beside me so I got to lay Izaak down and he slept almost that whole flight and I got in a little nap too. Oh and in Osaka when we went through customs and had to re-check our baggage, I had another lady and a couple who helped me with the stroller and luggage cart. And on top of all of that, Izaak was an ANGEL! I mean, he couldn't have been any better. I was SO proud of him! The poor baby was so glazed over and exhausted by the time we arrived, but he was still being a good boy. He even slept pretty well last night and watched cartoons in bed with me this morning while I slept a little more. Hehe. So, thank you mom for your prayers! And thank you to everyone else who prayed too. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! You just don't understand how bad I thought it was going to be, and it turned out great! I even still had energy when I got home. (Get your mind out of the gutter). What I mean is, I thought by the time I got to the airport in Okinawa, I was going to be handing Izaak off to John while crying because I would be so completely exhausted. But surprisingly, and I have no idea how, I was holding up!
Well I started to write this post a couple days ago and our computer just shut off on me, but luckily it saved my draft! I've been so busy since then that I'm just now getting back on to post it. We are pretty much adjusted back to the time now thank goodness! A couple rough nights with Izaak but we are recovering. Now I just have to re-train him to not wake up 2-3 times a night to eat and to stay in his own bed. We were doing so good the first 4 months of his life until we went back home! Hehe. Oh by the way, yesterday he turned 6 MONTHS old! Can't believe it. Another 6 months and he will be ONE! He is my sweet, sweet baby. Ok I will end this now. Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers on our behalf!

Bittersweet

2009-07-27T10:36:00.003-05:00

So it's been almost 6 weeks since I got back to the US. I've had a wonderful time visiting friends and family, watching my little brother get married, holding the newborn babies of 2 of my dear old pals, and of course, SHOPPING! We (at least Izaak and I) were able to travel to WA, MD, VA, NC, TX, OK, and AR. My son has traveled more in his 6 months of life (and while he was in utero) than I did by the time I was 20! I now have less than 48 hours before I'm heading back to Japan. Last night I made my final trips to Target and Wal-Mart. Never thought I might almost cry walking out of Wal-Mart's doors. Haha! I'm not sure when we'll be back to the states. I'm guessing either Christmas or next summer. It's really sad to leave but I'm also very excited to get back to my hubby and my Okinawa friends. I have become more appreciative of both the US and Okinawa since being here. I've had a good fix of America, and now I'm ready to go back and embrace everything about our lives in Oki. I'm definitely ready to see more, taste more, and live more of the culture there. Saying goodbye will be hard. I know there will be lots of tears between mom and me. It makes it especially hard because of Izaak. So I'm not looking forward to that. I'm also not looking forward to the 25 hour trip with a very active and loud 6 month old by myself. But like the Marines say it, I will just have to "adapt and overcome". Hehe. I might be in tears by the time I arrive to the Naha airport, but we will make it! Say a little prayer for our trip if you think about it. Thanks to all who made this trip special for us! I wish I could have seen more people and spent more time with the ones I did see, but it makes me cherish those moments even more. Just like Wal-Mart. :) So now I'm just waiting for Z Bug to wake up from his morning nap so we can put our goulashes on (it's POURING in Dallas this morning!), and head to the mall for the very last time.

Guess what I can say?!?!

2009-07-16T19:52:00.003-05:00

We have another first today! This is for you John. Wish you could be here to hear him! Congratulations. You won. ;)

sitting up!

2009-07-16T19:43:00.003-05:00

We were at Auntie Jen's house and Izaak sat up all by himself for the first time!

We've Got a Screamer...

2009-07-03T20:59:00.003-05:00

Showing off at his Great Grandmother's house.

A baby after his mother's own heart

2009-06-29T11:52:00.003-05:00

Looks like he might love Dr. Pepper just as much as mommy!

I love to laugh!

2009-06-15T08:42:00.004-05:00

He was just getting the biggest kick out of me making "Donald duck" noises and moving my hands like a duck quacking. It was so hilarious!

My Funny Boy

2009-06-03T21:16:00.003-05:00

Just more of Izaak being silly!

Izaak's new toy!

2009-06-03T20:38:00.003-05:00

This was just hilarious! He really did such a good job seeing as how he's still not completely steady holding up his head yet. But poor thing didn't know whether to laugh or cry!

Izaak's new trick

2009-05-28T03:34:00.004-05:00

Ok you knew I couldn't stay away from videos of him for very long didn't you?? Haha. This one's pretty funny.

Catching Up and Some of Where We Live

2009-05-27T04:47:00.008-05:00

Well it's been a while since I've written a real post. And I'm still going to post a few videos but not JUST of my son. Hehe. I mostly put those videos up so my parents can see him. Well and of course cause he's so darn cute who would not want to see him?? ;)

So life has been pretty good lately. Can't believe we've been in Okinawa almost 7 months now! In a way it has seems like it has flown by. Then there are days that seem like it's been forever since I've been "home". I do miss the US but I'm learning to like Japan a little more. When we first got here, everything was new and interesting and exciting. And of course I had the birth of Izaak and the visit from my parents to look forward to. But after everyone left and I was still here with this brand new little baby all by myself every day, I started to sink into a slight depression. I'm sure some of it had to do with postpartum hormones. I was also mad and sad that none of my friends and family could come see him and hold him and watch him grow. We don't have a church family that we're really connected to yet so it was sad taking him to church and no one came up and coo'ed over him and talked to us about him. We only have one car so being cooped up in the house all day didn't help anything either. Plus whenever we did go somewhere, Izaak always cried because he hated (and still sometimes hates) his carseat! Plus I think getting used to living in a new COUNTRY and getting used to mommyhood are really big challenges and it had me a little overwhelmed. And if you know me well at all, you know that I can get overwhelmed pretty easily! But I was finally able to let it out by talking to my girlfriends and my hubby about it which made me feel a lot better. (You also should know that I tend to keep things bottled up inside quite a bit). Thank you to my wonderful girlfriends back home for all of your support and prayers on my behalf. Because they definitely helped so much! And thank you to my new wonderful friends here in Okinawa. I am so thankful that God put you here with me! :) I am now learning to love where we live, I'm getting out and doing more, and of course I'm getting more settled into my new, full time, permanent job as mommy and I LOVE that too! :) And part of it could be that I'm really excited about going "home" for a visit in 3 weeks!! I'm so excited to see my family and my friends I just can't tell you! And I'm so anxious for everyone to finally meet my son! It's going to be a crazy, exhausting trip though! This is the plan right now: Flying into Seattle for my brother's wedding where we'll stay for 1 week. Flying to MD to visit John's family where we'll be for 2 weeks. Then John will be coming back home while I stay a few more weeks. From MD I will be driving to VA to visit friends for 4 or 5 days. From there I will drive to NC to visit more friends and meet up with my mom (she's flying in from TX). We'll stay there a few days and then her, Izaak and I will fly to Dallas where I'll stay with my parents for 2 weeks. *Whew* It kind of wears me out just thinking about it. And especially when I"ll have a 4 month old who has to switch time zones 4 times in a matter of 6 weeks. Pray for us! Haha! I'm also a little nervous about the flight home when it's just me and him so you can keep that on your prayer list as well. We finally were able to buy tickets last night! Oh except for Izaak's which we're going to buy tonight (didn't realize we had to BUY a ticket for him when we're going to be holding him the whole time but yep, they charge 10% of my ticket. Which will only be like $170 but still.) So for all our tickets together, we're going to end up spending around $3,500 give or take a little. Oh my goodness! But praise God that John has a not always safe but always steady job (hehe) so that we can afford this big trip home! A friend asked me if we can't hop a military flight? Yes and No. You can go through a whole bunch of paperwork to get your name on a list and then once a week you can go to the airport at the appointed time and hope that you get a seat. I have one friend who got her seat on the first try and then for one friend of a friend, it took her 13 tries to get a seat!! Also, you could get stuck at any military base for several days. Or they could lose your paperwork for your flight home and then you have to buy tickets for a commercial flight (happened to my friend who got her flight out on the first try). So all that to say, hopping a flight is very unreliable. And when you're trying to get to a wedding on time, that just won't work. It also wouldn't work for John because he only has so many days of leave and has to get back by a certain day and that definitely is not guaranteed. Anyway...I guess I've rambled long enough. Now I'm going to post some videos for you to watch!

This is of right outside our "tower". It's apartment style (almost reminds me of big dorms actually) but they are called towers here.

I took this video to show everyone a little of what our base looks like. This is up the street from us where Izaak and I go walking a lot.

I wanted to video us driving so everyone could see what it's like for us driving on the other side of the car and the other side of the road. We were driving back to our base from a day trip to Naha. (Notice the song playing in the background. Kinda funny.)

And here we are on the huge ferris wheel right down the street from us. Gives you a pretty nice view of where we live!

Bath Time!

2009-05-17T04:48:00.002-05:00

Holding up his head!

2009-05-08T03:25:00.003-05:00

He was trying to roll over so we helped him and then he held up his head for a long time! I was SO excited! But the dumb camera cut off because my memory was full! :(

Making new funny sounds

2009-05-08T02:51:00.002-05:00

Trying to Fall Asleep

2009-05-05T07:02:00.002-05:00

Good Morning Happy Baby!

2009-05-05T06:28:00.003-05:00

My cutie little Marine in his dress blues

2009-05-05T06:01:00.002-05:00

More of Izaak loving the camera

2009-05-04T22:13:00.002-05:00

Z loves his cow!

2009-04-14T02:50:00.002-05:00

He's my silly boy!

Camera Ham!

2009-04-02T03:37:00.002-05:00

Blowing in Izaak's face part 2

2009-04-01T23:41:00.002-05:00

He is just the funniest thing!

Blowing in Izaak's face part 1

2009-04-01T23:25:00.003-05:00

We discovered that when we lightly blow on Izaak's face, he has this hilarious reaction! Take a look!

Izaak's new mobile

2009-03-23T23:37:00.003-05:00

Izaak's Meme and JoJo sent him a new mobile and he loves it. Look how big my little boy is getting!

Izaak in his bassinet

2009-02-27T23:20:00.002-06:00

tried to catch him talking a little bit

Swinging

2009-02-14T22:15:00.002-06:00

First time in his swing

Tummy Time

2009-02-14T07:13:00.002-06:00

Izaak's first tummy time on his tummy mat

Hiccups

2009-02-14T06:49:00.003-06:00

My little buddy had the hiccups which isn't anything unusual. He had them all the time when I was pregnant and he still has them all the time! This was the first video I took of him on my digital camera.

Due Date

2009-01-26T19:37:00.003-06:00

Well, yesterday in Japan and today in the states was/is my due date. But...still no baby Izaak. So in the mean time, I will give in and do the random facts about me blog too like all my best pals have done. Don't know if I have anything good but here goes.

* I love almost any kind of pasta!
* I miss NC
* Someday I want a Dachshund and a Great Dane
* I used to want 3 kids but really don't want to be pregnant again. (I'm sure I'll change my mind)
* I'm looking into doing an on-line photography school
* I still regret not finishing nursing school but I know everything worked out the way it was supposed to and I might go back someday.
* I never EVER thought I would marry a guy in the military and move across the world with him!
* I'm disappointed in myself for not being the Christian that I should/that I want to be
* I LOVE George Clooney
* The thought of being a mom forever scares me sometimes
* I used to NEVER cry over anything and since I've been with John I cry very regularly (That is a good thing. He allows me to express my emotions where I used to feel like I couldn't).
* I have really bad anxiety and I HATE it
* I want to learn how to quilt on a sewing machine
* I love the beach!!
* I really miss wearing normal people clothes and am ready to shed the maternity pants!
* I never realized how grateful I am for Target and Wal-Mart until I moved here
* I'm a sucker for reality TV shows even if they're really stupid
* I really didn't think I would like the "Twilight" book but I loved it and can't wait to read "New Moon".
* Cleaning out the refrigerator is one of my least favorite chores!
* I have seen someone die
* I'm addicted to country time pink lemonade (and still Dr. Pepper)
* I LOVE getting a foot massage
* I have the best girlfriends anyone could ask for!!!
* I think this is enough randomness about me for now ;) (thanks jess!)

Izaak the wiggle worm!

2009-01-15T04:16:00.000-06:00

Thought y'all might like to see this. I tried capturing one his wild nights last week (he was exactly 37 weeks). Enjoy!

Playing the Waiting Game

2009-01-14T04:40:00.000-06:00

Well *someone* said I should update my blog. :) But there really isn't much to report. Monday I killed myself cleaning the house and now I'm trying to keep it as neat as possible because I CAN'T STAND when it's messy and I don't want to leave for the hospital with a messy house. Cause I know I won't be able to clean for a little while after I give birth and then we're having company for a month straight. Well actually from Jan 31st - Mar 5th with like 5 days break in between. *whew* Anyway, so yesterday I did my big PX run (for those of you who don't know what a PX is, it's like a very small store that has some essentials in it such as clothes, personal hygiene stuff, cleaning supplies, electronics, etc). Kinda like Wal-Mart but about 1,000 times smaller! And went to the furniture store to once again try to find a rug for our living room (they come and go so fast and I've been looking for one since we got here!) Then to the commissary (military grocery store). I was pretty tired after that. And then my husband made me walk I don't even know HOW MANY stairs last night before I went to bed! He's gonna try to do it again tonight but I'm going to fight him on it. haha. He is definitely more anxious to get this baby out than I am now!! I think he's just ready to get out of work. haha. And then today I mostly relaxed and talked on the phone a lot. When John got home we went to another base to their PX so John could look for a PS3 game and guess what?? I FINALLY found a rug!! I think I like it. We just rolled it out so I'm getting used to it. Oh yeah and I got some baby blue nail polish because our PX didn't have any and I've been wanting some so I can paint my toenails for the birth. So as you can tell...my life is pretty boring right now because I'm just PLAYING THE WAITING GAME!! I know he'll be ready when he's ready and I'm just trying to enjoy these last days of my free time and independence. But I'm ready to get the labor and birth part over with and I'm SO ready to see my son!! It is sad that I won't have any friends or family here when he's born (unless he holds out until my parents get here). And I have a couple friends here who I know will visit. But I wish all my girls back home could be here. :( I guess facebook pics and messages will have to do for now. Well I'm HOPING the next time I post something, it's a LOT more exciting than this! haha.

First Christmas and New Year's in Okinawa

2009-01-02T22:35:00.000-06:00

Well this holiday season sure was different from what I'm used to! Typically I would be in Indiana in a 3 story house with about 10 or 12 other people, MOUNDS of presents under the tree, homemade candy everywhere you look, cousins and aunts and uncles I haven't seen in a year, Nana's blackberry cobbler and Memaw's noodles. And for New Year's I would be back in Statesville at mom and dad's with friends pouring in from different states, eating all of mom's snacks she loves to prepare for my friends, playing DDR, catching up on girl talk with all my girls (and Jordan because he's one of us), ringing in the New Year with champagne toasts, sleeping all over the house wherever we can find room, and taking a million pictures the next day! What amazing memories I have of those days and how blessed I am to have my friends and family who have helped make those special memories. Even makes me want to cry as I'm typing this. (Darn these hormones!) But there was a very big part of me missing last year even among all the family, friends and craziness. My husband John was finishing up his 1 year tour in Iraq and I missed him and ached for him daily. Throughout that very difficult year without him, I remember telling everyone, including God, that I would go anywhere the military sends him, just as long as we could go together. It was actually the day after Christmas last year that I got a call from him where after about 10 minutes of catching up he said, "...What do you think about Okinawa?" I remember coming back with, "What do you mean?.....To LIVE there??" And when he said "yes", all I could say was, "Baby, I'll go anywhere you go. If this is what you want, I'm with you." And 1 week later, he had orders! It's been a crazy year with him coming home, re-adjusting to married life, finding out 3 months after his homecoming that we were expecting our first baby, morning sickness, packing up our apartment...again..., not leaving when we were supposed to, more morning sickness, living with 3 other crazy marines, living in a condo on the beach, and FINALLY arriving in Japan in November...5 months after we were supposed to get here. But hey, what's life without a little excitment and un-predictability? (is that even a word?) I'm finally starting to feel a little bit settled (it's been so long I'm not sure how it's supposed to feel!) But the nesting has definitely kicked in and since I could have this little guy any day now, I feel like I can't sit still and always need to be on top of the laundry, dishes, etc. *sigh* And to add to that, I've had horrible insomnia recently making it impossible for me to fall asleep before 3 am usually. I guess my body is preparing me for sleepless nights. But anyway...back to the holidays. We went to a Christmas Eve party at a family's house across the street from us. John works with the husband and they seem really nice. There were several other families there too that we are getting to know better. So far it seems so different here. Much more family oriented and much less drunken rowdiness! And so far I haven't heard of even one divorce in progress which is...a miracle! So then John and I spent a quiet Christmas in our little apartment together. I missed my big family get together but remembered how lonely I was last year without John and it made me thankful that we could spend this Christmas across the world together. :) It only took about 10 minutes to unwrap our presents. haha. Then we spent the rest of the day watching movies, taking a nap, I cooked a lot for lunch, and then we made some cookies together that night. For New Year's Eve we went to some other friends house (but pretty much all the same people). The wives talked and held the babies. The guys played cards and sang karaoke. We ended up staying there 'til 4 am! But it was a great time and I'm so thankful for our new friends even though I missed my best friends back home very much. Well...I think that's about it. I'm just rambling now and I feel hung over from not much sleep last night. So maybe I will go put in some more laundry and then take a nap? yeah right! Oh we have our maternity pictures tomorrow and I'm so excited! Well I guess I'll end with wishing you all a very happy and blessed 2009!! Much love!

And His Name Shall Be........

2008-12-18T06:34:00.000-06:00

So after 20 weeks...yes i said 20 WEEKS of discussing what our child's middle name will be and my husband saying over and over "I don't know what I want it to be", he has decided!!!!!!! I thought I was going to pass out (and it certainly didn't alleviate these contractions I've been having all night!) You ready for it??? Our son's name IS.....................

Izaak Raiden

For those of you who don't know, the 2 names we've had it narrowed down to are Raiden and John. But hubby John decided he didn't want that to be his middle name after all. Also:

1. Izaak is the German spelling of Isaac and John is German on both sides. Plus we think the spelling is really cool (although I realize people will always and forever mis-spell his name. oh well. there's about 1,000 ways to spell my name!)

2. Raiden is a unique and cute name (we think) and it's Japanese and he will be born in Japan! So that's something he will always have.

*thanks for letting me share in my excitement!!

40 days and 40 nights

2008-12-17T02:35:00.001-06:00

....that's how much longer i have before my little man is due! in a way it seems like it will NEVER get here and i will ALWAYS and FOREVER be pregnant! but it's really just around the corner! i'm trying to enjoy the last few weeks i have of no crying, no breast feeding, etc. but as far as sleep, i'm not getting much of that these days so it really doesn't matter. at least i can attempt to take naps right now if i want to. but he usually likes to wake me up with his feet in my ribs and banging his head on my bladder or having the hiccups (which he gets all the time!!) so it's safe to say that i am now pretty darn uncomfortable and tired. but besides all that, i am SO ready to see my baby! i try to imagine what he's going to look like but i really can't. i'm anxious to see if he has hair and what color it is, what color his eyes are, who he looks most like, how much he will weigh, etc, etc. i want to hold him and kiss him so bad! at the same time i'm scared to death for him to come into this world! i think i'm starting to get mommy anxiety and i know it will only get worse! i fear everything from how will i know he's getting enough to eat? to when should i vaccinate? to will we be good parents? will he grow up being a good person? it's so exciting bringing one of God's miracles into the world but so frightening at the same time!! i guess all i can do is read books, trust my gut, and pray that we make the right decisions and do everything we can to help mold him into who he's supposed to be. well...just thought i'd put that out there. :)

Getting My Feet Wet

2008-12-14T22:10:00.000-06:00

WELL...here I am world! Thanks to my best pal Jessi, I now have a blog! It's something I've been interested in for a while but something I was a little scared to commit to. Some people seem to pour their hearts out in these things and I'm the kind of person who doesn't even keep a journal in the house for fear someone will read it someday!! haha. But I think it might be fun and it will be nice to have a way for friends and family to keep up with me and my life. So that's all for now. I just wanted to say hi and try this thing out. I promise I will be posting again soon though so stay tuned.