Baby Steps

Our own Peter Pan and Tinker Bell

2011-11-03T22:54:00.000+09:00

There are days here in Japan that I feel like I'm living in "Never Never Land" like Peter Pan. We have a great time "playing" each week with our friends and hanging out at the park, eating lunch together, hosting playgroups, going bowling, taking trips off base, watching airplanes...you get the point...in a nutshell, we just plain have fun! Sometimes, I completely forget that we're in Japan. So, this year I thought it would be neat for Matthew and Catherine to dress up as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell for Halloween. It was just a bonus that Peter Pan happens to be a red head too!
The weather forecast on Halloween was to be rainy, but thankfully we woke up to a nice sunny afternoon. It was windy and chilly, but no rain! We had planned to meet up with several other families that have children around the same age as Matthew and go trick-or-treating together. The kids all looked so adorable in their costumes. And, it was even more precious to see the kids get excited about each other's costumes! We met at 6pm, once it had gotten dark, and set off in one of the neighborhoods on base. Here are pictures of the kids waiting in the parking lot to go trick-or-treating.

One of the neat things about Halloween here at Yokota is that you're allowed to sponsor the Japanese on base to trick-or-treat. The Japanese don't really celebrate Halloween like we do in the USA, but they get so excited to come on base to trick-or-treat with us. Lots of the spouses, who don't have children, teach English off base to Japanese children and adults. Typically, those are the kids who are sponsored on base. I had anticipated that it would be busy with all the kids out during the allotted 6-8pm time slot, but I clearly didn't prepare myself enough. It was madness! There were thousands of kids and adults! A Facebook status from a friend read that she spent at least $150-$200 a year buying candy for the kids because it always went fast. Several of our friends who were experiencing Halloween here for the first time spent around $30, and they all ran out within the first 30 minutes. Crazy!

Overall, it was so fun to watch Matthew walk up to each door and say, "trick-or-treat" in his sweet little voice. And, then he would always politely say, "thank you" after a piece of candy dropped into his bag. By about 7:30pm, the excitement caught up with Matthew and he asked if we could go home. This is definitely turing out to be a big year of memories with Matthew now that he's almost 3 years old!

Happy Halloween 2011!!

Our Little Preschooler

2011-11-03T22:21:00.000+09:00

Matthew has been attending a preschool program on base on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9am - 1pm. He absolutely loves his teacher, who he calls, Mrs. Donna. She's authorized through the military to run the preschool out of her home. There are usually only four of them that are there regularly on Tuesday and Thursday, so it's nice that it's a small group. They go to the park, the indoor swimming pool, do crafts, work on their alphabet, numbers, days of the week and seasons. It's been a great new thing for Matthew to try and he really looks forward to "school" each week.
A few weeks ago, they took a field trip to the Fire Station during Fire Safety week. Donna sent us a few pictures that she took of the kids. Matthew talked about sitting in the fire truck all day long and they even got a neat fire hat to bring home. He's really into trucks, cars and trains these days, so this field trip was perfect!

Matthew with his friends, Serenity, Chloe, and Kirsten

Driving the Fire Truck!

The kids with Mrs. Donna, the Fireman and the Fire Safety Dog

The week before Halloween, Donna had a little party for the kids and invited all the other Mom's to come join in the fun. We had food and did a craft with the kids, but Matthew's favorite part was decorating his own pumpkin shaped sugar cookie and then getting to eat it. I didn't think he would actually eat the entire thing, but he sure did, and he loved it! I'm so glad I had my camera with me, because he had sprinkles ALL over his face by the time he was done!

Fun at the Park

2011-10-21T21:36:00.000+09:00

Ryan took Matthew to the park a few weekends ago and he took some really adorable photos of Matthew. They were taken from his iPhone, so they're not the best quality, but I had to share my these pictures of my sweet boy!

USO Sesame Street Show

2011-10-20T23:14:00.000+09:00

The USO brought Sesame Street to Yokota Air Base on Monday, and Matthew LOVED seeing Elmo! I wasn't sure how he was going to react to seeing the characters in person, but he really got super excited. A few of Matthew's friends were there too, and they spent the majority of the time dancing and jumping around during the performance. It was wonderful to see Matthew get so excited!

Waiting for the show to start with his best friend, Noah!

Getting excited!

Sitting with friends waiting for Elmo

It's ELMO!!

After the show

In front of the USO Banner

I'm a happy boy!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-18T22:53:00.000+09:00

We had a Pumpkin Patch play date with some friends last week. It was the most beautiful afternoon, so we set up the pumpkins outside. I let Matthew hold Catherine for the photos and he did so well. He stayed very still and held onto her the entire time. He's such a sweet big brother!

Cheese!

I love this picture. So sweet!

Thank you for my pretty pumpkin smocked dress, Nana!

Bright eyed!

I just think this picture of Catherine is so precious even though she's about to start crying. She's such a sweet little girl and I love her to pieces!

Japanese Dinner

2011-10-12T22:23:00.000+09:00

Every time we go off base, Matthew asks us if we're going to have a "Japanese Dinner." I think it's so sweet that he constantly talks about visiting our "Japanese friends" off base. A few weeks ago, we were having trouble with our refrigerator and needed to call maintenance to come take a look. When the guys showed up, Ryan told Matthew that our Japanese friends were here to fix our fridge. Later that night during story time, Matthew pulled out his "Where's Waldo?" book and realized that some pages were missing (he'd torn them out in true 2 year-old fashion). So, he looked at Ryan and said, "Daddy, you call our Japanese friends to come fix my Waldo book?" So cute! I love that he gets excited to be surrounded by the Japanese. And, more importantly, that he calls them his friends.

The weekend of October 1, we decided to extend our time off base from just having a Japanese dinner to also having a Japanese sleep-over at the New Sanno Hotel in downtown Tokyo. It's a military run hotel, so you are surrounded by English speaking staff, which makes it almost too easy to have a night away. They even have babysitters on staff to stay with your children so you can have a worry-free date night downtown. Here's the link to the hotel if you want to see what it looks like: http://www.thenewsanno.com/ . Our 24-hour trip was much more eventful that we anticipated, and we learned several things about sightseeing with two kids downtown. Thankfully, we had some good laughs along the way, and overall it was a really nice family getaway.

Here's our Top 10 list of lessons learned:
1. Even if you're packed and ready to go the night before, it will still take you at least 2 1/2 hours to get out the door the next morning....and you'll still need everything but the kitchen sink!
2. Don't assume that every Japanese person knows English.
3. Do assume that they will take pictures of your red headed children. And they won't necessarily be discreet about it either.
4. Make a note to check the events calendar for the sight you plan to see to make sure it's not "Free Admission Day" like we found during our outing to the Ueno Zoo. Yep, we were there with every other person in Tokyo who wanted a free day at the zoo. Oops!
5. Don't be surprised to see ladies wearing stilettos at the zoo while pushing strollers full of kids. And I probably looked ridiculous in my tennis shoes!
6. Don't forget to pack the miracle blanket that properly swaddles your sweet baby girl so she sleeps like an angel. If you do forget it, be prepared for her to wake up every few hours, which doesn't make for a good night's sleep in a hotel room.
7. Don't take a stroller on the subway. It's a real pain walking up and down the stairs.
8. Hire the babysitter to arrive at least 30 minutes before your dinner reservation because your children will probably have a full on meltdown just seconds before she arrives and you will need time to get them settled and still have time to brush your teeth. Oh, and make sure your husband isn't still in his towel when the babysitter shows up.
9. Don't ever assume that your 1995 Honda Odyssey van won't break down in the middle of a tunnel in downtown Tokyo, during high traffic, where there isn't a shoulder to pull off onto. Thankfully, we were able to putter our way to the hotel, but breaking down in a major city where you don't speak the language well, isn't a good idea. We put way too much faith in our van that is 16 years old and has probably had at least 5 owners.
10. Do allow your 2 year old to pray in the middle of the tunnel in Tokyo that the van will start and that we can make it through safely. It works. We made it, by the grace of God.

So, it wasn't the most relaxing vacation, but it was time for us to spend as a family, and that's what matters most. Here are some of our favorite pictures that we took along the way

Matthew and Ryan riding the subway

I just thought this was funny - it was animated chopsticks pulling noddles in and out of the bowl.

At the zoo -- can you spot the line behind Ryan to see the Giant Panda. Crazy?!

Matthew and Ryan watching the elephants

A Japanese Tea Ceremony House

Matthew loved the lions!

Going to eat ice cream with the rest of the zoo crowd

Heels at the zoo...? Not unusual in Japan.

Matthew loves ice cream :)

There was a security guard holding this sign at the end of the Giant Panda line. They are serious about this Panda viewing.

Notice the TWO children passed out asleep in the SAME stroller. That can't be comfortable!

Dinner at Wellington's in the New Sanno Hotel

Outside the New Sanno Hotel after our delicious dinner! I had one very handsome date! :)

Our Little Superstars!

2011-09-27T16:35:00.000+09:00

Fall has finally arrived here at Yokota. The weather has cooled off and we wake to a beautiful blue sky every morning. I absolutely love this time of year!

We were much more busy over the weekend than we had anticipated. Ryan had to fly all day on Saturday, I took the kids to a birthday party that morning, and then we met up with some friends for a nice dinner at the Officers' Club later that night. On Sunday, we decided to make a quick trip to the mall for some lunch, shopping at the Gap, and to let Matthew play in the kids play area. I love that Japanese malls always have a play area for the kids. You usually have to pay about 500 Yen (about $8), but it's a brilliant concept! Matthew had a blast, so I took a quick picture while he was sitting still on the "merry-go-round". Everything is padded, the area is contained so kids can't escape, parents are admitted for free, no shoes allowed so the area stays clean, and when you have a red headed child it makes him easy to spot in the sea of Japanese children! I wish they had things like this in the malls in the US....

Can you spot Matthew riding the merry-go-round? He's in a blue shirt. :)

Monday proved to be very eventful for us too. Ryan flew on Monday night, so he wasn't able to join us, but I took the kids downtown Tokyo for the day. The purpose for the trip was to get them registered with a Japanese modeling agency. We took the shuttle that leaves from the base at 9:30am and the trip took us about an hour and a half to get there. The shuttle stops at the New Sanno hotel (a military run hotel), so we got off there and went inside to "freshen" up. The office for Sugar and Spice modeling agency was only about 2-3 blocks away from the New Sanno, so it was an easy walk. We met with the agency at 12pm, where they took measurements and a few photos of the kids. This basically allows them to add Matthew and Catherine to their database. When companies contact them with jobs, they are able to send out the pictures/measurements for them to select the child/children they want featured in their ad campaign. I'm not sure how often Matthew and Catherine will be called for jobs -- especially since it seems like every child here at Yokota is registered with them -- but even if they only make a few hundred dollars while we're stationed here, it will be a little something to add to their college funds. You'd think they would be popular with their red hair and blue eyes, but I can't tell you how many redheaded kids we have on base here. It's crazy! But, of course, I'm hopeful that my little redheads will be superstars! After we met with the agency, we walked back to the New Sanno, had a nice lunch in their cafe, and took the 1:30pm shuttle back to Yokota Air Base. Overall, it was a fun trip and Matthew was such a trooper on the bus ride!

Watching a movie on my iPad.

My little world traveler :)

I took this as we were walking to the agency. It had started to drizzle a little, so it was a hazy day. Not a very good photo, but it will give you an idea of what the area looked like. We are headed downtown again this coming weekend for an overnight stay at the New Sanno and some exploring. I'll take better pictures to post of that adventure. :)

FALLing in love with Japan

2011-09-22T22:20:00.000+09:00

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year, and it is a beautiful time of year in Japan too. We celebrated our 1 year "Japanniversary" on August 28, 2011, and I honestly can't believe how fast it's gone by for us. I have truly fallen in love with the country of Japan and the Japanese nationals. If you had asked me a year ago how I felt about moving to Japan, I would have said, "It's part of God's plan, so I'm embracing the opportunity." Obviously, I was very excited, but I was also VERY nervous about what life would be like living overseas and so far away from family. My trust in what God had planned for us was the only way I found peace.

The move here has naturally presented the obvious challenges along the way: the Japanese language is very difficult to learn, navigating through the areas off base can be hard when street signs are all written in kanji, driving on the opposite side of the road does not feel natural (although, I can say that after a year, it's much easier!), and we don't have a Target to run to when you need something! The biggest challenge has definitely been that Ryan's job Navigating on the C-130 means he's frequently traveling the world and is away from the family more than he's home. Thankfully, the community here at Yokota is amazing. The ladies I have become friends with have become my sisters. We stick together and try to help each other out wherever we are needed, and I feel so blessed to have met these girls. I've also gotten involved with our MOPS group here as the new Co-Coordinator, I attend a weekly Bible Study that is run by the chapel, the kids and I attend playgroup activities several days a week, I play in a monthly Bunco group, I've joined the Yokota Officer Spouses Club, and I try to attend all of the squadron sponsored events. (See, Mom, I have lots to keep me busy! :) We have our ups and downs, but this has definitely become home. The saying goes, "Home is Where the Heart Is," and my heart is definitely here in Japan!

I'm not sure where the month of September has gone, but I do know that we've had lots of fun. Below are a few pictures taken along the way. I promise there will be more to come. There is never a dull moment in our house! :)

"Made in Japan"

Catherine is 3 months old! She's also wearing a dress I wore as a baby.

Matthew's new "big boy" bed!

Matthew's room

Matthew and Daddy reading books before bedtime.

I hung some small planters from the balcony. It's hard to see, but I love how they turned out. :)

Matthew and his best friend, Noah. They are such sweet boys!

A beautiful rainbow!

Matthew and his friends watching the crazy Typhoon weather from the balcony. We also had our fire alarm go off, so you can see they were also watching the fire truck below. Such cute kids! Matthew is blessed to have such wonderful friends here in Japan.

Chuck the Truck Adventures in the Pacific

2011-09-22T14:56:00.000+09:00

At the end of July, Chuck the Truck decided to pass his traveling torch to his best friend, Eddie Spaghetti (AKA: Eddie Getti). Fortunately for Eddie Getti, he got to travel with Ryan to Kadena Air Base, in Okinawa, Japan. Based on the photos, it looks like they had fun at the beach!

Flying over the Pacific

Eddie Getti spots Kadena Air Base

On final approach into Okinawa, Japan

Can you spot all the airplanes - wow!

Daddy's airplane - a C-130!

Eddie enjoys the sunset!

Eddie dreams of going swimming in Okinawa!

Eddie found a beautiful flower :)

August proved to be quite a whirlwind for Ryan and all of his travels. Once again, Chuck the Truck was back at his side exploring the Pacific. Destination....Sri Lanka!

Chuck checks out a cessna with Ryan and some guys on his crew.

Chuck enjoys playing on the wing of a cool airplane!

Chuck stumbles onto the set of Monty Python :)

Chuck goes swimming at the pool...tough life!

Chuck enjoys relaxing by the fountain at the hotel in Sri Lanka.

Oooh...a BIG ramp! (Ryan said he nearly lost him in the bushes at the end of the ramp. He was afraid to dig him out because of the cobras!)

Chuck scopes out the beach in Sri Lanka

Good thing Chuck has 4-wheel drive. The sand is very soft!

Thankfully, Chuck, Eddie Spaghetti, and Ryan all have plans to be home for most of September. But, it's only a matter of time before more adventures will begin, so stay tuned!

Chuck the Truck travels to Brunei

2011-09-16T22:53:00.000+09:00

Chuck the Truck traveled from Australia to Brunei and then back to Japan. Here are the pictures he took along the way. What a fun adventure!!

A 5 star hotel in Brunei after a long flight from Australia. Chuck the Truck matches the couch!

Getting all checked into the hotel

Time for a shower after a long flight

This is the life...

Headed back home to Japan

What a view!

Back at the squadron resting with the 36th Eagle Airlifters mascot. What an amazing trip!

Chuck the Truck Travels the World

2011-09-16T18:13:00.000+09:00

Now that Matthew is 2 1/2 years old, he has started to understand when Daddy has to leave for a few weeks to go "fly an airplane" (aka: TDY). This means that Ryan is away for a few days or a few weeks at a time, and Matthew sure does miss him!

About a month after Catherine was born, Ryan was scheduled to go on another TDY. Since we had spent so much quality time as a family, we knew it was going to be harder on Matthew to see Daddy leave again. So, we came up with the idea for Ryan to take one of Matthew's trucks with him and he could photo-journal his travels with "Chuck the Truck". Ryan really got creative and has had lots of fun taking pictures of Chuck traveling the world, so I thought it would be neat to share them within the blogging world too. Since we're stationed in Japan, Ryan has gotten to travel to some really neat countries, so this allows us to also keep track of where he's been.

I think it's just as exciting for me to receive the pictures as it is for Matthew. We both have so much fun opening the email and looking at all the fun places that Chuck and Daddy are visiting. Hope you enjoy the photos too!

Here are pictures from Chuck the Truck's trip to Okinawa, Japan and Australia. See if you can find Chuck in each photo!

Chuck the Truck landed safely in Okinawa, Japan

Having pizza with Daddy at Kadena AFB, Japan

Taking a nap...zzzzzzzzz

Having a fun fruity drink at Sams-by-the-Sea in Okinawa

The staff at Sam's-by-the-Sea thinks Chuck the Truck is A-Okay!

Where are we going next, Chuck?

Chuck making friends!

Chuck signed the guest book at Sams-by-the-Sea

Ready for the flight

A beautiful sunrise in Okinawa

Big Wheels vs. Little Wheels

Big Truck vs. Little Truck

Checking out the view

Charting the flight to Australia

Admiring the big clouds along the way

Sunset in Darwin, Australia

Chuck the Truck enjoys a hearty meal after a long flight. He ate Crocodile sausage and Kangaroo steak!

Flying to Sydney, Australia

Sydney at night...

Sydney at sunrise

Chuck the Truck helps the Australian police. Can you spot Chuck?

Life as a Family of 4

2011-09-13T15:54:00.001+09:00

Words can't express how much I love being a Mother to our two beautiful children. I had anticipated that it would be hard, and it is at times, but I honestly feel so blessed! The months of July and August were a complete whirlwind for our family. Ryan was TDY for the majority of both months, so I felt challenged at times as a "single Mom" while he was away. We have settled into a very nice routine and I feel like our transition to a family of four has gone more smoothly than I expected. Here are a few pictures we took of the children during those months...it's amazing to me how quickly they grow right before your eyes!

Catherine - 1 month old

Matthew - July 4th weekend

There was a goat for sale in a local store in Japan -- it could be yours for 59,800 Yen or almost $800!

My favorite Japanese lunch from a place called Pepper Lunch -- it's rice, corn, steak, scallions, and freshly ground pepper that is served on a sizzling hot plate where you stir and "cook" your food. It's delicious!

Sweet smiling Catherine

Matthew out in Tokyo

Thumbs up! I like it!

Sitting on the back of a firetruck at a birthday party

My sweet baby boy!

Catherine's model pose :)

I'm a happy girl!

This is a picture of Catherine at 2 1/2 months old wearing a baby blouse that I wore as a baby...she looks just like Matthew did at this age (see the photo below...).

Matthew at almost 3 months. do you see the resemblance?

Pretty girl - 2 months old

Wearing one of my baby blouses

Look at all that beautiful red hair!!

Our First Visitors to Japan!

2011-09-12T16:04:00.000+09:00

A few weeks after Catherine was born, we were excited to welcome our first visitors to Japan! Ryan's parents, Mark and Candy, arrived and stayed with us for two wonderful weeks. Not only was it fun for Matthew and Catherine to have some time with their grandparents, but it was also fun to show them our new "home" here in Japan. We did some sightseeing and lots of relaxing. Overall, it was a special time with family!

Of course, we had to make a stop by Starbucks!

Looking out at Fussa City (near the base) from the roof of the local Seiyu.

Awesome view of a C-130 while playing golf on the Yokota base course.

Playing cars - Matthew's favorite thing to do these days!

Having fry-frys at a Japanese McDonald's

Riding Thomas the Train with Grandma at the Ome Train Museum

At the Ome Train Museum

Riding a train with Grandpa at the Ome Train Museum

Candy and Mark

Swinging at the park

Reading books on the "baby" couch

Playing at the park with Grandma. Peek-a-boo!

Grandpa introducing Catherine to sushi

Touring a C-130

Dinner out at Un Quinto - a delicious Japanese Italian restaurant

Do you see Mt. Fuji? It's supposed to be right there!!

The Falls near the base of Mt. Fuji

By the time we were heading home, the clouds finally started to lift so you could see the top of Mt. Fuji.

Reading books with Grandpa!

Our Little Princess

2011-08-20T20:11:00.000+09:00

Our sweet little princess, Catherine Louise, arrived on June 9, 2011 at 9:04am weighing 7lbs. 11oz. and 20.5 inches long. She's just perfect! And, she's a redhead, just like Matthew!! I can't even put into words how blessed I feel to have two healthy children. Thankfully, my delivery with Catherine was much easier and faster than my delivery with Matthew. I was a week early with Matthew, and a week and three days late with Catherine. I started having contractions the morning of June 8, and they continued very randomly throughout the day. I was able to spend the evening with some girlfriends, where the contractions started to get more intense and more consistent. By the time I got home at 10pm, I knew that my sweet baby girl was ready to make her arrival! I crawled into bed and tried to just relax as much as I could through the contractions, but when my water broke at 11pm, I woke Ryan up and we packed the last minute items into our suitcases to head to the Yokota base hospital here in Japan. Our dear friend, Kate Chapman, was kind enough to come spend the night with Matthew so that Ryan could be with me. It was so wonderful to know that Matthew was well taken care of and that we didn't need to worry about him so we could concentrate on welcoming Catherine Louise!

My labor progresses very quickly and I was able to get an epidural even though I was already dilated to 9 1/2cm by the time the anesthesiologist arrived. Boy, was I happy to see her!! Once the epidural was set and I was comfortable, Dr. George came in to asses my progress. I was fully ready to push, but our sweet little girl was still sitting too high, so Dr. George made the call to let me labor under the comfort of the epidural for a few hours and let the baby drop before I started to push (her reasoning was that by doing this I would have to push for a shorter amount of time once the baby was lower). They kept a close eye on me and on Catherine during those four hours (roughly from 3am to 7am) because the umbilical cord was loosely wrapped around Catherine's neck in the womb. Thankfully, she was handling the labor perfectly and wasn't showing any signs of being in distress. At 7am, Dr. George woke us up and did another progress check. Everything looked good, so she was going to get her team prepared and I would start pushing at 8am. Yippee!! I pushed for less than an hour, but the epidural made me extremely nauseous, so I had to stop a few times to throw up. Otherwise, the labor was beautiful and so much easier than my delivery with Matthew. Praise the Lord!

Ryan picked Matthew up later that evening to meet his new sister, and it brought tears of joy to my eyes just to watch him instantly love her! He was naturally a bit jealous of the time I spent with Catherine and that he wasn't the one sitting in my lap, but overall he has adjusted so nicely and is already such a loving big brother! Here are some photos we captured during our first few days as a family of four! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for our beautiful children!

My motivation to push! :)

Catherine Louise

My two precious babies!

Sleeping Angel

My handsome boys

Our family of four!

Dr. George, the doctor who delivered Catherine

Our little princess

Heading home...can you believe that Japan is home, sweet baby girl?!?

Maternity and Family photos

2011-08-10T16:11:00.002+09:00

One of our very talented friends here at Yokota, Kate Chapman, took some beautiful maternity and family photos of us at the end of May. We took them at an off base park by the Tama River. It was a beautiful (but very hot) day and Kate captured some amazing pictures of the three (almost 4) of us! Here are a few of my favorites...

38 Weeks...our little Princess is almost here!

2011-08-10T13:50:00.001+09:00

I was 38 weeks pregnant during the week of my birthday. Ryan and Matthew made my day extra special, but I was so sure that our little princess would be sharing her birthday with me. Thankfully, she held on a few more weeks. On the night of my birthday, we got together with a few special friends and had a nice dinner at the Officer's Club. My dear friend, Cara, presented me with my own special tiara, which I wore through our entire dinner. I felt so blessed to have such sweet friends spend the evening celebrating with me!

A few days before my birthday, Matthew and Ryan decided to relax together and do some reading. I think we have a little genius on our hands! :)

Singing in the Rain

2011-08-10T13:41:00.000+09:00

The rainy season in Japan is typically in June and July, but we had a pretty rainy May too. On Saturday, May 7, Ryan took Matthew out that morning to go to the mall so I could get some rest before the baby's arrival. Of course, it was raining, but that was the perfect opportunity for Matthew to wear his new sharks raincoat. I love that it has orange in it too because it makes Matthew's hair look even more vibrant! This rainy day didn't stop Matthew from having fun with Daddy and the pictures Ryan took from his iPhone came out surprisingly well so I just had to share. Doesn't our little man look adorable in his raincoat and his backpack?!? He's growing up WAY too fast!

The following day was Mother's Day, so Ryan and Matthew took me to the Officer's Club after church for their annual Mother's Day Brunch. It was really nice and the food was delicious. Sadly, all Matthew cared about were the "fry fries"! At least he looked handsome in his little sweater vest while he ate them!

Celebrating and Anticipating our Baby GIRL

2011-08-08T15:41:00.000+09:00

My dear friends, Emily and Cara, hosted a baby shower for our little princess on Saturday, May 14. It was such a special celebration and I felt truly blessed to have such sweet friends take the time to shower our baby girl with lots of pink accessories!

My Diaper Cake

They even had a Princess Tiara for me to wear during the celebration!

Since we're in Japan and Sushi is a big part of the Japanese culture, they made special dessert Sushi out of Fruit and called it -- "Frushi". It was delicious!

With the wonderful hostesses, Emily and Cara

Shopping Made Fun!

2011-08-08T15:04:00.000+09:00

They have shopping carts/strollers at the Japanese malls that are free to borrow while you are there (if you can find an empty one). Matthew loves to ride in them and it makes my shopping trips so much easier! Here's a picture of Matthew and his friend, Ellen, during one of our April outings.

Ryan took Matthew to dinner at Chili's on base one night while I spent some time with my girlfriends. Of course, this is what they decided to eat for dessert!

Cherry Blossoms - April 2011

2011-08-07T23:28:00.000+09:00

The Cherry Blossom trees here in Japan are spectacular. We took some pictures of the ones on base, but we were really amazed at their beauty during a day trip to Showa Park on April 9, 2011.

Here are the pictures we took at Showa Park.

And here are the ones we took outside of our Tower apartment building on base.

Grocery Shopping and Ice Cream

2011-08-07T23:01:00.000+09:00

On February 21, 2001, Ryan and Matthew took a detour from the grocery store and left me to finish the shopping. When I met back up with them I discovered that Matthew had a new love for ice cream! It was such a mess, but they were having so much fun that I had to take a picture! I love my boys!

A Guam sunset

2011-08-07T22:56:00.000+09:00

We took an amazing family vacation to Guam at the end of February. I was 26 weeks pregnant, so it was really nice to get away and just relax as a family together. Guam is really beautiful and I can't believe how crystal clear the water is -- the pictures don't do it justice. My favorite thing about Guam was the sunset. It was breathtaking. We spent 5 nights and 6 days there and it was just what we needed. Matthew did great on the flight from Japan to Guam, and the time difference was only one hour for us, so the adjustment was easy. We stayed at the Westin on the beach and we were fortunate enough to be upgraded to a suite on the top floor because they had booked out our room. We had a great view of the ocean and island and the weather was perfect all week. There isn't much to do in Guam, so it really forced us to just relax. We did enjoy dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and Outback Steakhouse while we were there -- a pregnant lady's dream after being in Japan!

Our week was spent playing in the pool and in the ocean with Matthew, walking "downtown" to window shop after dinner, and catching up on sleep. It was the perfect vacation for us before we prepared to welcome our sweet princess in June!

While we were in Guam, we bought Matthew his first pair of Crocs shoes. The funny thing was that he loved them and wouldn't take them off. He wore them in the pool, the ocean and any other time we were "out" doing something. It was really cute!

Riding the shuttle from Yokota Air Base to the Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

Driving through downtown Tokyo

Matthew having a snack while we wait to board the plane to Guam.

The Westin Resort in Guam

Our view from our room

View from the Westin

Ryan and Matthew playing in the ocean

Mommy and Matthew

Matthew loved watching all the airplanes fly over heading towards the Air Force Base.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

2011-08-04T23:13:00.000+09:00

We had an unusually heavy snow fall on Yokota at the beginning of February. It was beautiful and I've never seen such large snowflakes. Matthew loved playing in it with is friends, but I was happy to see it melt by the afternoon. The best of both worlds!

Oh, and this is the heart shaped coconut cake I made for Ryan for Valentine's Day! It was DELICIOUS!!

Home Sweet Home

2011-08-04T23:02:00.001+09:00

I realized that I haven't yet blogged about the base and what it looks like here. Some things on base look just like they would in the US. Other things are completely different -- not to mention that we drive on the opposite side of the road and our steering wheel is on the right side of the car, not the left. Matthew and I spent a Saturday morning driving around the base taking pictures so you could see our home here. Hope you enjoy a sneak peek at where we live...to see all the cool stuff, you'll just have to come visit! :)

Our tower apartment building. We live on the 8th floor.

My beautiful 1995 Honda Odyssey. Notice where the steering wheel is located. :)

The base Chapel

The Kanto Lodge (AKA - the base hotel)

Random view of driving through the base on one of the main roads.

Yes, we have a Chili's. It helps satisfy those American food cravings. But, sadly, the food isn't that great.

Ryan's hilarious car (yep, it came without hubcaps!). Matthew can pick it out of the parking lot and looks for it every time we're out driving around!

The base Post Office

The YCC (it houses the Commissary, BX, Food Court, Dry Cleaning, Military Clothing, Beauty Salon and various shops that sell Japanese items)

Ryan's Squadron -- the 36th Airlift Squadron

Matthew loves trains! Choo-Choo!

2011-08-04T22:55:00.000+09:00

Matthew loves trains. He's obsessed with Thomas the Train and all of his friends -- Percy, James, Toby, Edward, etc. Our sweet boy can't get enough of anything trains. So, we decided one very cold Saturday in January that we would venture out and take Matthew to the local train museum in Ome (about a 15 minute drive from the base). They have a wonderful indoor display of model sized trains with a huge train set in the middle. There is even a "conductor" that comes in to run the trains for the kids and they love it! Outside is where all the life sized trains are displayed, along with some very fun (and cheesy) train rides. Matthew had a wonderful time exploring and playing. Sadly, we had to cut the day short to go home because it was just too cold. I'm sure we'll go again...his love for trains really is adorable!

Hungry? Need a snack? No problem. Here's a vending machine at the Train Museum that serves hot meals! No kidding -- I can't even begin to tell you how many vending machines there are in Japan. It's crazy, but at least you never have to worry about finding something to eat or drink!

Sledding at Mt. Fuji

2011-08-04T22:43:00.001+09:00

My blogging days have been few and very far between lately, so please forgive me. For some reason I feel the need to post our family news and outings in chronological order. So, it looks like we'll be taking a trip down memory lane to recap the last 6 months and catch you up on what our family has been through so far in 2011. Grab a cup of coffee, a diet coke, glass of wine...whatever tickles your fancy...and sit back and enjoy reliving our ups and downs. Just pretend it's January again....

On a clear day you can usually see Mt. Fuji from certain areas on the base. It's breathtaking. In fact, you don't actually realize just how big it is until you've seen it up close. We heard from friends that there is a ski resort (Fujiten) at the base of Mt. Fuji that also includes a sledding area for kids. So, on January we packed up the van for a day trip and made the 2 hour drive with some friends to go sledding. The highlight was seeing Matthew's face each time he rode the sled down the hill. I think this will be a yearly outing for our family. It was a blast!!

The Japanese signs really crack me up.

Their translation doesn't always make sense and their graphics are hilarious!

This was a warming room they had off the slopes that you could use to change your baby or to breastfeed. Brilliant!!

In other VERY important news....I'm 20 weeks pregnant and we're having a GIRL due on June 6, 2011!!

Next post...Matthew's love of Trains and our trip to the Ome Train Museum! Stay tuned!

The Earthquake that Rocked Japan

2011-03-13T14:37:00.001+09:00

First, let me start by saying that we are all fine and continue to be safe. On Friday, March 11 at 2:46pm here in Japan, we were rocked by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan near Sendai. The earthquake hit about 240 miles northeast of Yokota Air Base and we felt it at about a 5.0 here on base. Just to give you an idea of the distance from the epicenter of the earthquake to Yokota Air Base, it's similar to the distance from Atlanta, GA to my hometown of Rock Hill, SC. For me, that really puts things in perspective.

Matthew had been napping and had woken up a little before the earthquake hit and we were playing in his room when we started to feel the house shake. Since we're on the 8th floor, we feel much more of the earthquakes than most do who are lower to the ground. It's not uncommon to feel a little shake here and there, or to see the light fixture over the table sway back and forth. The difference on Friday was that (a) the shaking was much more severe causing things to fall off shelves, cabinet doors were opening and all the doors and windows were rattling, and (b) this earthquake lasted several minutes as opposed to the others we have felt that only last a few seconds or less than a minute. At first, I thought it would pass, but just when I thought it was surely going to stop the shaking got heavier and I could really feel the building move back and forth. I grabbed Matthew and ran into the living room to asses the situation. I called a good friend upstairs to see how she was doing and we were talking through what to do when all of a sudden another friend came banging on the door to check on me knowing I was home alone with Matthew and pregnant. She ran up 4 flights of stairs carrying her 18 month old son who had been sound asleep in his crib napping! I'm truly blessed with wonderful friends here! Once things calmed down, we all started to check on the other ladies around base. I can't tell you enough how blessed we are with such a tight knit community here. Several of us are without our husbands right now, who are away for work, and with small children it makes it even more difficult to endure such an amazing disaster. Thankfully, we didn't have any major damage at our house (just a cracked vase), all military personelle within Japan are safe, and there hasn't been any reported damage on any of the military bases. We were so blessed. I had spoken to Ryan on the phone about 30 minutes prior to when the earthquake hit. His plane took off before the earthquake, so his crew didn't know of the disaster until they landed in their final destination. It's been tough on everyone to be so far apart.

As word hit the news, the devastation of what had actually occured started to sink in for us all here on base. We rallied together for support and watched as the devastating tsunami hit the coast of Japan. We are further south and too far inland to be affected by the tsunami warnings, but it's horrible to think of a wave rumbling towards the coast at over 500 mph. There were 11 commercial airlines that were diverted from the Tokyo airports to Yokota Air Base. All of them, with the exception of two, were able to take off later that night. The two remaining airplanes brought about 500 people to the base without a place to stay. The Red Cross set up a shelter in one of the ballrooms and provided food, blankets, and pillows. Several of our friends went to volunteer their time - some during the 2am shift - so people are definitley coming together as a community to help. The commercial planes have since departed from Yokota. On Saturday night, we had several planes land here with international and stateside military personnel, all who have arrived and will stay on base to help with the relief efforts.

Since the earthquake on Friday afternoon, they have reported over 130 aftershocks, many of which we have felt here on base (or at least I feel them on the 8th floor of our apartment tower). Tokyo is approximately 30 miles from the base and is still in fairly bad shape. Their two airports are slowly coming back after closing, the mass transit that was at a complete standstill on Friday is slowly coming back as well. They are inspecting all the rail lines by hand and are walking all the miles of lines to ensure no damage has been done, and that takes a great amount of time. One of their biggest concerns is that with the closing of the transit systems, there are shortages of supplies (food, water, etc) within the local communities. Many of the stores have empty shelves. So far here on base, we are okay on food and water supplies, but we may see a delay in the following weeks. There will also be planned power outages that could affect us on base too, so we are all preparing for that and are doing our best to conserve.

This morning the news was regarding the damaged nuclear power plants. Here is what was posted on the Yokota Air Base Facebook page as an update, "Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency reported yesterday atomic material had seeped out of a reactor at the Daiichi power plant. Authorities also said a cooling system failed in three reactors at the Fukushima Daini plant. The plants are at the Fukushima power facility, 143 miles north of Yokota. At this time, there is no danger to Yokota. The base will continue to monitor the situation to ensure our safety." That was followed up with this a few hours later, "Air monitoring results taken by our medical group indicate no radiation levels at Yokota. Base officials will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of our residents." I feel confident that if we are in any danger of radiation that they will evacuate us accordingly, so please don't worry.

The images of the devastation here in Japan are staggering. It's completely surreal to be this close to such a horrific disaster. Please keep Japan and the people who have been affected by this in your prayers. The recovery efforts are going to take months, if not years, to recover and rebuild the farmland and communities that were destroyed. From what I understand, we can expect that the aftershocks will continue for months. They are happening regularly and they are also happening at extremely strong magnitudes. Most are in the 5-7 range, which could continue to contribute to the damage. I constantly feel like we're in motion and have spent the last two nights being woken up by several aftershocks at all hours, which literally shook me awake.

For updates on the earthquakes and aftershocks that continue to rock the world, this site is the most accurate to follow -- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html

For information regarding the military here at Yokota Air Base, you can visit http://www.yokota.af.mil/ for the most updated information.

Even though Ryan is away, I am finding peace in the Lord. He is so much greater than all of this devastation. He is always with me and He brings a comfort that cannot be found anywhere else. Thank you for your encouragement and especially for your prayers. We truly do feel your prayers, but Japan is not out of the woods yet so please continue to pray during the coming days, weeks and months. May the Lord bring peace to this country and the Japanese people soon.

I want to leave you with a smile in the midst of this tragedy, so here is a recent photo of Matthew that just brightens my day. It was taken at the commissary after Ryan bought ice cream to share with Matthew while we did our grocery shopping. Obviously, he loves chocolate!

Days Gone by....October, November and December 2010

2011-03-06T13:15:00.000+09:00

I'm a horrible blogger. Will I ever get better at this? Who knows. But, for now, I'm going to do my best to quickly recap October - December 2010 so I can get back on track. We just returned from a fabulous vacation to Guam and I want to include details from our trip, but I feel like I need to update you on the end of 2010 and then we'll move on to present day 2011! Thanks for being patient with me!

October brought lots of excitement to our family here in Japan. Ryan and I found out that we would be expecting Baby #2 on June 6, 2011! Matthew will finally be a big brother! To make things even more exciting, the ultrasound showed that we will be having a GIRL! Hooray! I had morning sickness through week 16 of this pregnancy, which was challenging to deal with as I tried my best to keep up with Matthew! We survived and the second trimester has restored my energy and also brought on lots of nesting as we prepare a nursery for the new baby. I feel so blessed and thankful that the Lord is growing our family!

November in Japan is beautiful. The leaves change to the most beautiful bright orange, yellow and red colors and the weather was so pleasant. I can already tell that fall will be one of my favorite times of year here. We celebrated Thanksgiving with some of our close friends here at Yokota, and had 4 families all together at our house (8 adults and 4 kids) for turkey and all the yummy sides. Ryan's squadron, the 36th Airlift Squadron, held an exercise in November that had seven C-130's flying in formation. It's the first time they have done this in many years, so it was exciting to be able to watch them take off. Here's the video (sorry my camera work isn't great). Ryan wasn't flying that day, so Matthew and I went up to the squadron, which is right on the flightline, to watch with him. It was very neat!

December was an eventful month (as usual). Not only were we excited to celebrate our first Christmas at Yokota, we were also celebrating Matthew's 2nd birthday. He loves Sesame Street, so I put together a Sesame Street themed party for him and his friends. The kids had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed planning the party! We had Sesame Street themed music, foods and decorations -- my favorite being the Elmo cupcakes. We also had a small bouncy castle for the kids to jump around in and some other tunnels and toys to keep them entertained (it was too cold to play outside). Here are a few pictures of our celebration.

The Christmas season was tough since it was the first time we were spending it without family, but we still felt so blessed. This was the first year that Matthew seemed to get excited over gifts and all the presents under the tree. His grandparents sure did spoil him this year (but I suppose that is what grandparents do best!)! We managed to set up the camera to get at least one family picture in front of the tree. It didn't come out very well, but here it is...

Matthew continues to grow and amaze us daily. He's such a happy little boy and we are proud parents! We are hopeful that 2011 will bring us another healthy baby and a year full of excitement here in Japan!

It's Definitely Been an Adventure!

2011-02-01T14:42:00.000+09:00

We've been in Japan for 5 months now and it's been a complete whirlwind. My blogging has taken a backseat to so many things, so I'm going to do my best to recap what we've been up to since we arrived at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Our first few weeks here in Japan were exciting but also hard to adjust to the time difference. After we arrived on base, we checked into the temporary lodging apartments and met up with our good friends, Jeff and Caitlin Copeland. They were kind enough to spend their time carting us around the base and getting us acquainted with our new home. Since you drive on the opposite side of the road here, we had to wait to take the drivers class on base before we could drive or purchase a car. So, we were very thankful that the Copeland's were generous enough to act as our taxi service for over a week!

Our first off base dining experience was with Jeff and Caitlin at a place we call, "Truck Stop Ramen," but I have no idea what the name of it really is. Here is a picture -- it reminded me of what a Waffle House looks like (inside and out).

We had a very yummy first meal - gyoza, fried rice, noodle bowl - all with chopsticks! The Japanese working there were very excited to have us come in to eat. They even sat us at the section where the tables are on a platform, so you have to take off your shoes and sit on the "floor." Here are a few photos. Even Matthew had a blast!

After about a week, we were able to move into our own tower apartment on base. It's a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment and we live on the 8th floor. We have a great view of Fussa city right off base. The weather was so nice that Matthew and I had a few picnic lunches out on the porch.

Here is our first lunch off base at the local McDonald's! A little piece of home...although an unhealthy piece!

We spent one of our first Saturday's here exploring the city and finally decided to try out the trains and venture out to Showa Park. It's a beautiful park - huge - with a water park that runs in the summer, play areas for kids, a huge grassy area for picnics and where they hold events. It's definitely going to be a location we will explore on several occasions while we're here. Here are a few photos we took during that adventure on the trains, playing at the "cloud" park that Matthew loved, and walking through the Japanese Gardens at Showa Park.

Here's my first experience with a Japanese bathroom...

After our afternoon at Showa Park, we had a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant near the base. The food is really good here, but I have to admit, I really don't like the cold noodle bowls. In my opinion, noodles should always be eaten hot! :)

Our first month here was definitely a whirlwind of adventures and adjustments. Overall, I think we did pretty well considering we were also dealing with a 20 month old. October, November and December were interesting months too, but I'll save those for a later post. Sayonara for now!

The Journey to Japan

2010-10-22T17:55:00.000+09:00

**(Just a warning that this is an extra long blog post, so read it when you have some time, or come back and read it in sections as time permits.)**

We've called Japan home for 2 months now and we still feel so fortunate to be on this journey together. It took a few weeks to get adjusted to the time difference and to the environment, but now that we're getting more settled, I think it's time I recapped our trip from Little Rock to Japan. Oh, it was an adventure!

The movers arrived on Monday, August 23, 2010 to pack up our personal belongings to ship on to Japan. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and getting our suitcases organized and then tried to get a good night's sleep for the long week ahead. On Tuesday, we left for the airport bright and early that morning to catch a flight to Seattle, WA. Matthew didn't have his own seat on these flights, so it made traveling a bit exhausting with him in our laps. Our flight from Little Rock wasn't completely full, so we were able to have a full row (two seats, the aisle, and two more seats), which helped tremendously since the flight was 2 hours long. Matthew had plenty of room to stand up and play with his cars. He made lots of friends on the flight (thankfully we were surrounded by men and women who were either parents or grandparents and thought Matthew was really cute!). To save on time, we stood Matthew in the center of the aisle and changed his diaper - he thought it was hilarious - and we were just thankful that we got the diaper on and securely in place before we landed!

We had a brief layover in Denver, CO and with our luck had to walk almost the entire airport to get from one terminal to the other. We were able to grab some sandwiches before boarding the plane and let Matthew run around a bit. It was a full flight, so we were praying that Matthew would do okay. The flight from Denver to Seattle was about 3 hours long. The plane was set up with three seats, an aisle, and three more seats. We were fortunate to have a sweet grandma sit in the seat with us, and it was a blessing that she was so patient with us! We had the window and center seat, so Matthew was pretty active trying to move around and play. We learned our lesson -- we'll splurge and get him his own seat next time! When children are under the age of 2 they can sit in your lap, which was fine when Matthew was smaller and not mobile, but at this point as a 30 pound toddler, sitting in our lap for more than 30 minutes is a challenge! Thankfully, we made it safely to Seattle and knew we had at least 36 hours to recover.

We located all of our luggage - 5 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 1 laptop bag, 1 carry-on bag for Matthew, a stroller and Matthew's car seat. This is what we'd have to live out of for at least the next few weeks, so it was definitely a hefty load! We found a guy to cart our bags to the rental car area of the airport and got the keys to a nice, shiny white Yukon! The largest car we've ever driven is the Honda CR-V we sold before we moved, so this was huge! The funny part is that we filled the entire back with our luggage, so I'm thankful they had an SUV available for us! Here's a photo of the car and of Matthew in the back with our luggage.

We checked into our hotel, a Hampton Inn, just outside the city of Seattle, got somewhat organized with all of our luggage, and then went to find something to eat. Since Pacific time was 2 hours behind us, we decided to try to stay on Central time for Matthew's sake (at this point it's still just Tuesday afternoon - had we really just left Little Rock that morning?!?!). So, it seemed like the best thing for Matthew to just stay on schedule as much as possible since our arrival in Japan was going to be a doozie - 14 hours ahead of Central time!

We got some decent sleep that night and got up on Wednesday morning and just took it easy. We were scheduled to be at the airport that night at 10:30pm to get checked in and ready for our big flight to Japan. So, since the Hampton Inn provides breakfast, we had breakfast in bed with Matthew and relaxed and then decided we would try to go downtown for lunch and to sightsee for a few hours. I honestly can't tell you how beautiful the weather was when we arrived. I expected cloudy skies and showers off and on. We were very fortunate to have sunny skies the entire time we were there - up until the day we left!

The drive into the city was absolutely beautiful! I could seriously live in Seattle. It's such a neat city! Here are a few photos from our drive into the downtown area.

After driving around, we finally found a place to park and set out to walk through the city. I sure didn't expect it to be situated on a huge hill with the harbor and water at the bottom, so boy was I surprised to do that much walking up and down hills! It reminded me of San Francisco. Our first mission was to find Pike Place Market. We found some interesting scenery along the way...

At first glance, I thought the things lining the sidewalk on the left side were cable dishes. I was wrong - they were some sort of odd sculptures to keep people off the wall. Very interesting but also very sharp!

This is the famous "gum" wall. Gross if you think about it, but look at all that gum!

An up-close and personal view. Yuck.

After a nice walk, we finally found the famous Pike Place Market! It was a neat area and there were lots of food vendors and restaurants. There were tons of people walking around, so we just followed the crowds and took in the sights.

The fresh produce looked delicious!

The flowers above the building were so colorful.

I couldn't believe how beautiful the flower bouquets were that they were selling for only $10-$15 each! If I lived in Seattle we would have fresh flowers on the table every week!

The one place I definitely wanted to find was Pike Place Fish Market -- home of the flying fish! The guys who work there not only have amazing work ethic, but they can also seriously throw some slimey fish around with their bare hands!

The guy on the bottom right was throwing crabs to the guy behind the counter. He was going so fast, we didn't get one in the air, but it was pretty neat to watch!

We had a beautiful view of the mountains as we drove out of the city. It looked like a postcard! Can you see the mountain in the background? I believe it's Mount Rainier. Wow!

We made a stop at Target, grabbed a bite for supper and then returned to the hotel. We went through Matthew's bedtime routine (even thought it was only about 4pm) and put him to bed (thank goodness for dark hotel curtains!). We knew we were going to have to wake him up in a few hours to leave for the airport, but we wanted him to rest as much as possible. Ryan and I tried to nap, had a last minute phone call with family and showered to get ready to go. We arrived at the airport at around 10pm and dropped off our rental car. We had arranged for a guy to meet us there with a cart for all of our luggage, which was wonderful, and he lead us to the AMC ticket counter. When we arrived the line was completely full and wasn't moving because they weren't opening up the counter until 11pm. So, we hauled all our luggage into the line, picked up the paperwork we were required to fill out, and started waiting. The waiting would have been easy for just Ryan and me since they have free wi-fi in the Seattle airport, but Matthew obviously wasn't going to sit still. So, I hooked him into this backpack that has a "leash" on it and let him run "free" for about an hour. The kid has more energy than the energizer bunny -- and it was almost 11pm!

When the attendants arrived at the ticket counter, we found out that the flight was going to be delayed 24 hours. So, instead of taking off at 4:30am on Thursday morning, we would now be leaving at 4:30am on Friday morning. No problem. We'll just pack it up and get a good night's rest and do this all again tomorrow. Not quite. Instead of just sending us back to our hotel, they had us file through the line as if we were checking in our luggage. We had everything weighed and got our boarding passes and then were told to be back at the AMC ticket counter at the same time the following evening. While Ryan waited in line, Matthew and I ran back to the car rental office to see if our car was still available, but they didn't have anything at all -- not even a smaller car. So, I frantically went from counter to counter looking for a car, and by the grace of God found one. The attendant happened to be a mother of a young man who is finishing up his college degree and then plans on joining the Air Force. Not to mention she was pretty sure he was slotted to be a Navigator! So, when she found out we were moving to Japan with the military, so took special care of us. Isn't God awesome!

After successfully having our luggage checked and picking up our boarding passes, we loaded everything back into our next rental car (this time a Suburban) and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully we had paid for the room so we could leave late, so that made it much easier to check back in. We got a pretty decent night's sleep and woke up the next morning planning to take it easy since we had a better idea of what to expect at the airport that night. We made another trip to Target, let Matthew run around, grabbed some lunch and headed back to the hotel to get organized. That evening, we ordered a pizza, went through the same bedtime routine for Matthew, had another quick round of phone calls with family and napped with Matthew for as long as we could. The excitement finally set in for me when I got up to shower and at this point I was just ready to get the show on the road! Once again, we made it to the airport and headed to the back of the very long line. We moved much faster through check-in this time around since our bags had already been tagged and boarded passes had already been handed out, so our wait was fairly easy and Matthew did awesome! Here are a few pictures of the area where we checked in -- just imagine it full of a few hundred people...

Here we are with all of our carry-on luggage. Yuck.

Here's the AMC ticket counter, which was full of people when we arrived!

The line actually wrapped around the corner to the big open space to the left of the counter. If you look closely, you can see Ryan and Matthew in the background standing where we started in the line. I had no idea so many people would be heading to Japan!

Instead of heading straight to the gate, we let Matthew run around the airport for a while. At this point it was almost 1am, so the place was virtually empty. It was here that we discovered Matthew's love for the escalator!

We made a stop at Starbucks for some coffee and snacks, and then went to check out the USO Lounge. It was already full of people sleeping, eating and some kids playing, so we decided to go on and head to our gate. In case you're wondering what it looks like, here are a few photos of the front of USO Lounge. In the back there are couches, a few beds, bathrooms with a shower, and a few cribs.

The security gate check point was empty (which turned out to be a blessing since we had SO much stuff). One of the security guards was sweet and gave Matthew his very own security badge to put on his car seat!

We made our way to the gate, grabbed a few snacks, magazines and milk for Matthew and basically just spent about 2 hours letting Matthew "run free" before we boarded the plane. We were scheduled to have two seats together by the window and then a third seat across the aisle. Ryan went to the gate counter to see what time we would be boarding and just happened to be there when they loaded a family onto an emergency vehicle because they were all very sick with some kind of stomach bug. Again, God works in mysterious ways, and I'm not happy that a poor family was sick and couldn't make the flight, but Ryan knew that now meant there were 4 available seats open and he worked his charm on the ladies at the counter and got our seats switched! So, instead of 3 seats, we now had 4 seats to spread out in -- and they were closer to the front of the airplane than what we had originally been given! Praise the Lord!

We boarded the plane a little after 3am and got settled for the almost 10 hour flight ahead of us. Matthew was getting tired and he fell asleep before we even got off the ground. We had a very smooth take off and the majority of the plane settled into a quiet sleep. About two hours into our flight, they turned on the lights to serve breakfast. I was hungry, so the food was welcomed, but the lights woke Matthew up, and that wasn't good. After being awake a few hours and taking turns walking him around the airplane, playing with cars, reading books, watching Elmo DVDs, we finally got him to go back to sleep. But, a few hours into our sleep, they turned the lights back on to serve lunch/dinner. Once again, Matthew was wide awake and this time wasn't very happy. Looking back on the situation, Ryan and I were very patient and worked really well as a team, but it was exhausting and very frustrating at times. We were seated around several other families, so they all understood and were also dealing with kids who couldn't sleep. With about an hour left on our flight, I was able to get Matthew back to sleep one last time. He managed to nap until we began our decent and the people around us started to move around. I tried to take a few photos as we came into Japan, but they didnt' turn out well. Here are one or two just so you can get an idea of what we were seeing -- but the pictures honestly don't do it justice!

After being on the plane for a very LONG 9 hours and 45 minutes, we landed safely at Yokota Air Base, Japan! It was so exciting to have our first look around. Here are a few photos I took from the plane as we taxied down the runway.

I'm so thankful that the Lord brought us here safely! We feel blessed for this opportunity and plan to embrace every aspect of it as we get more and more comfortable with our new home!

Stay tuned for the next blog post, which will be about our first week in Japan!

Family Days in Little Rock, AR

2010-10-03T14:55:00.001+09:00

After we returned from a great trip to Canada, we had to kick things into high gear for the move to Japan. Ryan and I were so thankful that my parents (AKA, Nana and Poppy) drove all the way from Rock Hill, SC to Little Rock, AR to be with us for a week. It was such a huge help to have them with us to keep Matthew entertained while we sorted, packed and cleaned. Of course, we took some time out to do a little sightseeing and enjoy the beautiful (but very hot) Arkansas weather.

There is a playground on Little Rock Air Force Base, where we lived, that has a wonderful tree coverage and is right near the base lake. The playground is the perfect size for Matthew, so we decided to go there one afternoon to play and then feed the ducks. The weather could not have been more beautiful. Of course, it was hot and humid, but it was a great summer afternoon!

Matthew loves the bucket swing!

Nana was brave and took Matthew down the slide!

Nana and Matthew had so much fun, they decided to go down together again!

The slide looked like so much fun, I had to give it a try too!

Matthew and Nana walking across the bridge - below is a small creek that leads into the bigger base lake.

Poppy helping Matthew climb the slide backwards!

Poppy decided to give the big slide a try too! The slide was a hit for everyone!

Once we finished playing at the playground, we went over to feed the ducks. It took them no time to greet us once they saw the big bag of bread we had for them!

Matthew had so much fun watching them! We had to make sure they stayed in the water (they were not afraid) or else they would have been eye-to-eye with Matthew!

After a long day at the park and feeding the ducks, we went home for a nice dinner. Matthew had his bath and got ready for bed, so Nana sat with him on the couch to read some bedtime stories. So sweet!

There is a Trolley that runs through downtown Little Rock, and you can ride for $1 per person. We thought Matthew would love riding the trolley since he loves trains, and it was also a great way for us to show my parents the city.

Nana, Matthew and Poppy walking to the Trolley stop.

Poppy showing Matthew the Trolley as it approached to pick us up.

Happy to be riding the air conditioned Trolley!

Matthew was so happy snuggled on the bench with Nana!

Matthew taking time to snuggle with Poppy too!

We're having fun!

After an exciting afternoon downtown Little Rock, we decided to go on an adventure and find the famous "Hubcap Burgers" at a local restaurant called, Cotham's. I have to admit, when we drove up I was a bit hesitant about going inside. The place honestly looked like it was about to cave into the swamp it was sitting on. If I hadn't heard first-hand that these burgers were amazing, then I may have suggested we find another location for lunch! I'm glad we stayed because the food was amazing once you got past the look of the location!

Sitting on the front porch waiting for a table.

Dad and Ryan were the only ones brave enough to eat the Hubcap burger -- look how big that thing is and they both ate the entire thing!!

Mom and I after our very filling (but very yummy) lunch!

Can you spot Poppy in the background trying to get Matthew to smile.

I still can't believe we ate here! It looks like it is about to fall apart!

This is the side view...glad we survived!

Sadly, our week together came to an end so quickly and it was very hard to say our goodbyes. Our time together was wonderful and I feel so blessed that they were able to come visit before we left for Japan. It really meant so much. I obviously cried like a baby when they drove away, but had a peace in my heart from God that I know we are meant to be in Japan - even if we are half a world away. So, thank you, Mom and Dad, for taking the time to drive 15+ hours to see us! You don't know how much it meant to us that you had some quality time with Matthew and with us. We love you and can't wait for you to come visit us in Japan!

Matthew with Nana and Poppy before they headed back to Rock Hill, SC.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Time with Family and Special Memories

2010-09-29T14:59:00.003+09:00

After Ryan completed his Navigator training in Little Rock, we went to visit his family in Canada for about two weeks. It was a wonderful visit with family and a great time for us to relax after a busy 6 months in Little Rock. Matthew had some quality time to bond with his Grandma and Grandpa while we were there. He's one spoiled grandchild and it's evident he is so very loved!

The Nashville airport had a wonderful children's play area and we got some very "colorful" photos of Matthew playing while we waited for our flight to board. We were so thankful for a place for him to play before the flight!

Matthew and Waddles had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa while Ryan and I spent a few nights downtown. Here are some photos that captured their fun. Grandma and Grandpa were worn out by the time we got back, so I think Matthew kept them very busy!

Matthew and Waddles waiting to go out to play!

Grandma pulled out Ryan's old football toy box for Matthew to use. He loved it!

Matthew loves story time with Grandpa!

Enjoying the beautiful day with Grandma!

Grandpa and Matthew were having so much fun they tipped over the chair! Thankfully, everyone was okay!

Matthew left Grandma lots of little hand prints on her glass window, which I believe are still there today!

One of the highlights of our trip was Matthew meeting his great-grandparents for the first time. Great-grandma Middleton even celebrated the occasion by playing the piano with Matthew - and he absolutely loved it! It was also a momentous occasion since there were four generations of "Middleton Men" together! Great-Grandpa Middleton, Grandpa Middleton, Ryan and Matthew. We got some great photos of our time in Orillia, Ontario. It's such a beautiful place!

We received such a warm welcome with cake and coffee!

Great-Grandma Middleton playing the piano for Matthew

Matthew and Grandpa

4 Generations

This picture just makes my heart melt. How sweet!

After we said our goodbyes to Matthew's Great-Grandparents, we decided to stop downtown Orillia near the lake to have a quick lunch and let Matthew play. The weather was just perfect for some more family photos. Overall, it was a very special day!

Matthew also had some quality time with his Uncle Michael and Aunt Nicole (who just got married this past Saturday, September 25, 2010!). Matthew really took to his Aunt Nicole and loved snuggling with her. Uncle Michael was lots of fun and Matthew wanted to be wherever he was in the house!

On our last afternoon, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather with Waddles. She had so much fun running in the field (where she is still happily running around every day) and Matthew had a blast playing and running across the bridge. It was so sad to leave since our time together was truly a blessing. Praying God will make a way for us to visit again soon!

A Blogger's New Year's Resolution...in September!

2010-09-27T15:23:00.000+09:00

I'm officially going on record to say that I am the most horrible blogger out there. To top that, I'll also go on record and say that I'm going to turn over a new leaf and make blogging a weekly priority. Yes, you heard me right, a weekly priority. It's definitely going to take some organizing on my part. I just feel like while we're in Japan I should make more of an effort to share our worldly adventures with family and friends. No excuses.

Now that we have that out there in the open, I need to recap the last three months. My last post was about our beach trip to SC back in June...yes, June...and it's September. So, I have quite a bit to cover. I think I'll break it into sections so this week will probably be a full week of blogging and then I'll start the weekly updates next week. Some will be more eventful than others, but since we're half a world away it will help make us feel a bit closer.

Once Matthew and I returned home to Little Rock from our beach trip in SC, things settled down a little for us. Ryan's Navigator training schedule remained very busy and he either had very early morning report times or he worked very late into the night. He began flying pretty soon after we got home, and had an intense flying schedule up until his graduation. He completed his training and made the highest evaluation score he could get on his final flight. I am such a proud Air Force wife!!

We celebrated by making the drive from Little Rock, AR to Nashville, TN and caught a flight from Nashville to Toronto for almost two weeks to see Ryan's family. This was also the monumental "move" to Canada for our precious dog, Waddles, who will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa (AKA: Ryan's parents, Candy and Mark) while we're in Japan. Mark met us in Nashville to pick up Waddles, and he made the drive from Nashville to Stouffville, Ontario in one day! It was a 16 hour drive and thankfully he had no trouble crossing the border with Waddles. In fact, he had her "sitting pretty" in the front seat all ready for the customs questions and the guy was more concerned with where Mark had gotten his coffee! I guess Waddles already looked Canadian! I still don't know how Mark made the drive with her in one day -- I hated making the 5 hour drive with her from GA to SC! The crazy part was that Mark and Waddles made it to Stouffville in time to drop off their luggage and turn around and head to the Toronto airport to pick us up that evening! Wow - now that's love!

We were so sad to leave Waddles behind, but two months later, it sounds like she might actually like living in Canada better than she does living with us! It probably doesn't help that Grandma and Grandpa spoil her rotten! I miss Waddles dearly, but it makes my heart smile knowing she is so loved by them both. Here is a picture of the "official" changing of the collar from Ryan to Mark.

Our trip to Canada was so wonderful. It was just what we needed after 6 crazy months in Little Rock. Plus, it was so special for Matthew to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa. They even babysat over the weekend and let Ryan and I go downtown Toronto for a few nights on our own. It was our first "vacation" away from Matthew since he was born (sadly, it took us 19 months!). We enjoyed walking around downtown, going to the top of the famous CN Tower, having the most delicious "street dog" I've ever eaten, and we decided at the last minute to get tickets to the Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay baseball game. Here are a few photos of our weekend getaway.

My first "street dog"!

Ryan at the top of the CN Tower...I didn't know I was afraid of heights until that day!

Outside on the observation deck of the CN Tower.

At the Blue Jay's game!

They had the stadium dome open and we had the perfect view of the CN Tower.

On our last night in downtown Toronto, we stopped at "Habeebe's Shawarma" to experience an authentic Shawarma. I'm pretty picky when it comes to trying new foods, but I have to say that it was excellent! It was a huge pita that wrapped up chicken and veggies and was topped with some kind of (very tastey) sauce. If you ever encounter "Habeebe's" I would recommend trying his Shawarma!

I think I'll finish my recap of our Canada trip in another blog post so it's not picture/information overload. Part II will detail our time with our Canadian family. It was a very special time for everyone, so stay tuned!

Matthew's 1st Beach Trip

2010-07-09T12:19:00.001+09:00

Matthew and I flew to South Carolina in June to spend a week at Surfside Beach with Nana and Aunt Sissy (AKA: my Mom and my Sister). This was my last trip “home” before we make the big move to Japan in August , so it was somewhat bittersweet for me. We were sad to leave Ryan in Little Rock, but knew he would have been with us if he didn’t have Navigator training obligations. It also happened to be Matthew’s first trip to the beach, so of course, I caught as much of it on camera as possible. It took a few days for Matthew to adjust to the sand and the waves, but once he got used to it, he really had a great time. Poppy (AKA: my Dad) met us at the beach towards the end of the week, and Matthew had a blast playing with him in the ocean! Overall, it was an amazing week with family!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our trip…

When we arrived in Charlotte, we stopped by to see my brother, David, at his office. Matthew instantly loved being with him and held his hand as we walked through the parking lot. It was so sweet!

Matthew had lots to say on the beach. I could barely get him to stop talking and smile for the camera!

Nana and Matthew took a walk one evening and I was able to capture some great pictures from our balcony. It was really precious to see them walking in step with one another.

Matthew's "trick" of the week was that he discovered how to stick his finger up his nose!

This is one of my favorite photos. Matthew was getting ready for his bath and was super happy. His smile and giggle just make my heart melt!

Cuddling with Nana!

Discovering seashells with Aunt Sissy!

Playing with Poppy in the ocean!

Our last night in Rock Hill, SC before heading back to Little Rock, AR. Aunt Jennifer and Uncle David read Matthew his bedtime stories. He was really comfortable snuggling on the couch with them!

Time flies when you're having fun!

2010-06-26T13:22:00.000+09:00

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last blog post...wow, I'm slack! I promise to do better from now on. I've been procrastinating at this because I'm not sure how I'm supposed to update everyone with what we've been up to since March in one blog post. Is it impossible? Probably not. Will it be lengthy? Probably. Oh well, hang in there...I'm going to give this a try.

Life has kept us busy these last few months. Ryan's training here at Little Rock Air Force Base, AR is going really well. I'm so proud of him! He stays very busy and is exhausted by the time his work day is complete, yet he still manages to play hard with Matthew when he gets home! They really are a funny pair when they play -- and I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing Matthew giggle and laugh when he and his Daddy are really having fun! It's the best part of my day!

At the beginning of April, we attended the Easter Sunrise Service at the lake here on base. It started at 6:30am, and I'm proud to say that we were there on time! It was much colder than we had expected so we ended up bundling Matthew up in my pink pashmina. The service was very uplifting and it was really special to spend the morning in the presence of God as the sun rose above the lake.

April was also a very special month for my brother, David, as he married his beautiful bride, Jennifer, on Saturday, April 10 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The wedding was just breathtaking and it was truly a ceremony centered around God. We could not have picked a better wife for David. They bring out the best in each other and we were honored to celebrate with them.

(The Siblings: Ryan, Laura, Jennifer, David, Anna, and Steve)

(Anna, Mom, David, Dad, Laura)

(Our little family)

May also proved to be a very eventful month. On Memorial Day weekend, Matthew had a horrible allergic reaction to amoxycillin (penicillin) and broke out in a rash that spread from head to toe. The reaction caused his hands and feet to swell, his face was so swollen that his eyes could barely open, he ran a constant fever, he stopped eating and drinking, and he was basically a very miserable little boy for over a week. We made three trips to the Children's Hospital here in Little Rock, AR and received wonderful care. I couldn't have asked for better doctors to treat Matthew. Ryan and I felt so helpless as parents. You never want to see your child in pain. It's heart wrenching. Thankfully, after an IV of fluids, some medication, and lots of rest, our sweet baby made a full recovery. I praise God every day for our healthy little boy!

Our final news in this very lengthy blog post (and I promise I won't wait this long to post again...) is that Matthew had his 18 month check-up on June 24, and he weighs 30lbs. 6oz. and is 32 3/4 inches tall! He's growing so fast and we are trying to soak up every moment with him. It's exhausting to try to keep up with a toddler, but we couldn't be happier! God is SO good!

Mr. Hollywood

2010-03-19T12:12:00.003+09:00

We've taken several videos of Matthew over the last few weeks now that his personality is really starting to shine. He LOVES the camera and always puts on a great show, so I thought I should share some of our favorites with you.

I had just poured myself my first cup of coffee of the morning and walked back around the corner to find Matthew quietly talking to himself and playing in his "toy area" in the living room. He had completely pulled everything out of his toy bins and was happily looking through it all on the floor. I managed to capture some of it on video and can't help but laugh every time I watch him in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuqJMeG1-9Q

Matthew loves taking a bath...and he especially loves bubble baths! Here are a few videos that we took one night when Matthew was extra animated in the tub. My personal favorite is when he tries to say the word butterfly. It just melts my heart to hear that sweet voice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyiIvQLS-CE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdzCEW9h_Dc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1d3EhXljmw

One evening at supper (this was about a month ago), Matthew and I were discussing all the family members he loved and he was really getting excited as we talked about everyone. Of course, in my tired state, I completely missed asking Matthew if he loved his Uncle Steve (my sister's husband). I feel horrible, so I'll have to capture this on video again one day soon, but for now take note of how much Matthew loves Waddles (our sweet dog)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnszhawmb1Y

Matthew still isn't walking on his own yet, but we bought him a new toy to push around the house and he loves it. In my opinion, he doesn't need anything to assist his walking - he swings that toy around like a pro!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWPkP99axs

Being a Mother is the biggest blessing and a daily joy!

Matthew's 1st Haircut

2010-02-26T01:21:00.000+09:00

Matthew had his first haircut yesterday and he had a blast! I wasn't sure how he was going to handle sitting still while someone cut his hair, but thanks to the airplane seat he could play in and some crackers to keep him busy, he did great! We went to a place called Pigtails & Crewcuts, which specializes in children's haircuts, and they were kind enough to give me a few locks of Matthew's hair and also took a photo and put it in a nice card to add to his baby book. I was sad to see his baby curls go, but they made the experience enjoyable for Matthew so that made it much easier.

I may be biased, but I think I have one handsome boy and the pictures to prove it!

Crayola Time

2010-02-23T12:25:00.000+09:00

Matthew had his first experience with crayons this past weekend and he really had fun...well, he had fun trying to eat the crayons more than he did coloring on the paper! In one of the pictures you can actually see a piece of the orange crayon in his teeth -- oops -- so glad they are non-toxic! Here are a few pictures of our budding little artist. We're so proud!

Moving and Snow Daze...

2010-02-20T12:21:00.000+09:00

I'm happy to report that we have successfully made the move from San Antonio, TX to Little Rock, AR. It was a hectic week of moving and we are thankful to have this portion of our move complete. Since Ryan had to go ahead to Little Rock, we were so thankful that my Mom was able to come and help me deal with the move and to help with Matthew. She was a blessing and I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. Plus, Matthew got to spend some quality time with his Nana!

Here are a few pictures of the moving week. It was very difficult for Ryan to leave us and not be there to help with the move, but it worked out well for him to go ahead of us and have everything ready for our arrival to Little Rock. Once again, God always provides exactly what we need just when we need it!

We stopped at a hotel in Dallas, TX to break the trip up a bit for Matthew. We were all exhausted and it was so nice to sleep in a bed after sleeping on an air mattress for a week! Matthew enjoyed his first hotel stay -- he really liked the big fluffy bed!

We finally arrived in Little Rock on Saturday evening. Matthew was so excited to spend time with his Daddy -- and of course, he loved bath time! We're living in a furnished house on base since most of our belongings are in storage and will be shipped to Japan. It's not luxury, but it's comfortable and we feel fortunate to have a place we can call "home" during this time of transition.

Little Rock presented us with a nice little snow storm a week into our time here. It was Matthew's first snow experience so we caught some of it on camera (although he wasn't sure what to think of it). Ryan made a great snowman for us and we enjoyed a few cozy family days together! So far, Little Rock has been great and we look forward to embracing our time here over the next 6 months before we make our final move to Japan.

2009 Was So Fine

2010-02-10T02:14:00.000+09:00

Matthew is growing by leaps and bounds these days. It seems like yesterday I was snuggling with my little baby and now I turn around and see a handsome and precious little boy! I love every minute of every day with him and feel so blessed to be able to stay home with him. We sure do have fun!

December was quite an eventful month for us. Ryan graduated from Navigator training on December 19 and Matthew and I were so proud to celebrate with him (even if Matthew did fall asleep)! Here is the video of Ryan getting his new Navigator wings! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFrxIKUZeU

Spending the Christmas holidays in South Carolina was such a blessing. We had a wonderful 2 weeks with family and I am so glad that we were able to make the trip. We were also able to visit Lisa (Ryan's sister) in Warner Robins, GA for a few nights. Matthew loved his time with Aunt Lisa and her puppy, Max. Here are some photos that capture the highlights of our time in the deep south.

Matthew celebrated his 1 year birthday on Christmas Eve. He didn't care much for the cake and didn't have much interest in opening the wrapped presents (in fact, he wanted the boxes more), but it was special to be able to celebrate with Nana, Poppy, Aunt Sissy, Uncle Steve, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle David.

One of the other highlights of our trip was that Matthew was baptised at First Presbyterian Church on December 27, 2009. We had lots of family there with us, which made it an extra special day. Here is the link to the video if you want to watch the baptism -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOlFVvdDns8

We are so thankful!

2009-12-19T10:45:00.016+09:00

November was a rather relaxing month for us, but the absolute highlight was having Grandma and Grandpa Middleton here for a week over Thanksgiving. Matthew loved spending time with his grandparents and I have to say he was spoiled rotten! Ryan and I were able to have a much needed break and Matthew made some wonderful new memories with his grandparents. We had a yummy Thanksgiving turkey with all the fixins and Matthew was surprised with an early birthday present -- a new red wagon! He absolutely loves riding in it as we walk around the neighborhood with Waddles. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for the sweet and thoughtful gift!

Halloween and a Surprise from God

2009-11-01T23:15:00.029+09:00

The last week of October proved to be a very eventful week for our family. Ryan and I celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage on October 23, Ryan received his first Air Force assignment as a Navigator, Matthew turned 10 months old on October 24, and we celebrated Matthew's first Halloween!

Ryan was so thoughtful (as always) and sent me flowers on our anniversary. They were one of the most beautiful arrangements I've ever received. God has truly blessed us these past 5 years!

On Wednesday, Matthew attended his first Halloween party with our playgroup. We had a great time playing with friends and seeing all the kids in costume. They had an area sectioned off for the younger children to play and Matthew had a blast. He even crawled under one of the toys and got stuck! Now that he's crawling he's very adventurous and loves to explore new areas. It makes things very interesting for us at home!

Halloween night was equally fun as we dressed Matthew up in his pumpkin outfit again and took him Trick-or-Treating (well, we actually only went to our neighbor's house). Our little pumpkin looked so adorable and his outfit made him that much more cuddly!

Obviously, the most shocking event of all was on our 5 year anniversary when Ryan received his assignment to Japan...wow, what an anniversary gift. We will be moving to Japan sometime in 2010 and will spend about 3 years living on Yokota Air Base just outside of Tokyo. At first, it was hard to digest that we would be moving halfway around the world from our families, but once the initial shock wore off we realized this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we trust that God has an amazing journey planned for us. Will it be hard? Yes, absolutely. But, we have so much to be thankful for...a healthy baby boy, a family who supports us and loves us, and the chance to experience another part of this great world. God always provides what we need and we know He will provide ways for us to see our families and for us to teach Matthew about the Japanese culture firsthand. Our little redheaded angel will be a Japanese superstar!

Here is the video of Ryan receiving his Japan assignment (it was an Oktoberfest theme and the assignment was taped to the bottom of the mug so it was a surprise to everyone)...We were definitely not expecting it, but thankfully God is good...all the time!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!!

2009-10-20T11:58:00.013+09:00

Matthew had his first experience at the zoo on Tuesday (10/20/09). Ryan and I thought that he would be mesmerized by all the animals, but it turns out he was much more interested in the other kids than he was the animals. The only time he showed interest in the actual zoo was when we were looking at the fish!

He did take the time to look at the huge tortoise, but it still didn't capture his attention like we had expected. (If you notice, we had to strip Matthew out of his overalls because it warmed up so much. Oh, I just love those chunky legs!)

They have an area for smaller children with a waterfall and stream that the kids can play in. Matthew and Ryan had a great time splashing in the water. He giggled every time Ryan splashed his feet in the water. It was really cute! I could sit and listen to Matthew giggle all day long...it's music to my ears!

A Family Day at the Park

2009-10-20T11:56:00.020+09:00

We took Matthew to the park on Monday (October 19) and discovered that he LOVES the swings! He giggled and laughed - especially when Ryan was swinging on the swing next to him. We took some great photos and videos. Hope you enjoy!

Matthew also rode down the slide and played in the dirt. It was a great family day at the park!

Our Little Pumpkin

2009-10-20T11:54:00.012+09:00

We took Matthew to the pumpkin patch on October 12th to pick out his first pumpkin. While we were there, he crawled into the pumpkin patch and tried to blend in with the other pumpkins (actually, Ryan strategically placed him in the pumpkin patch and he looked super cute with his red/orange hair). Luckily, we captured it all on camera! Matthew sure is one precious pumpkin!

Fun with Family (a little recap)

2009-10-20T10:59:00.016+09:00

Living in Texas has made it hard for us to have quality time with family. Thankfully, we've been blessed to have family visit us on several occasions. Matthew and I were also fortunate enough to make the trip to SC in September and he was able to meet his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. My Dad and my Grandmother (my Dad's Mom) both celebrate their birthday on September 13, so it was special to be there to celebrate with them. Matthew also loved having some time with his Aunts and Uncles. Here are a few photos of Matthew with his Nana, Poppy, GGma, and GGpa during our visit. God truly blessed our time together (but we sure did miss Ryan)!

After spending a wonderful week in SC, I was pleasantly surprised when my cousin, Christy, made plans to come visit. Christy and I have always been very close, so it meant so much to me that she made the trip all the way from New Jersey! She flew in the first weekend of October and we had such a great time! Matthew bonded with her instantly and it was definitely a treat to have more time with family. We are so blessed!

The gift of family time will continue in November - hooray! Ryan's parents are coming to stay with us for a week during Thanksgiving so we're sure to have lots to be thankful for while they are here. We feel so fortunate to have family who are willing to make the long trip here to Texas. It means so much to us and it's so important that Matthew have quality time with his family. God is so good and we are so thankful!

Matthew crawling for the 1st time

2009-09-27T00:42:00.005+09:00

Matthew was 9 Months & 1 Day old on Friday, September 25 and it turned out to be a very special day...he crawled for the first time!

Ryan and I were getting ready to feed him supper and Matthew decided he would surprise us and delay eating a little longer so he could play and show us his new trick of crawling! We were so thankful that we were both home to witness this milestone and we actually caught it on video. What a brilliant child we have! :)

Matthew's first airplane ride to SC

2009-09-16T08:42:00.005+09:00

Here is a preview of our trip to Rock Hill, SC. Matthew did great on the airplane ride - although the people sitting around us might have thought otherwise since Matthew "talked" the entire 3 hour ride to SC. He did manage about a 45 minute nap and was otherwise very happy and interested in his surroundings. The video below is worth a thousand words...hope you enjoy and I'll have more photos and videos to share soon. It has truly been a blessing to spend some quality time with family! God is so good!

Where has the time gone?

2009-09-03T10:56:00.008+09:00

I can't believe it's already September...where has the time gone?!? My sweet little prince is already 8 months old and is growing right before my eyes!

Matthew loves bath time and we recently got some tub toys for him to play with while he splashes around in the tub. One of his favorites are the letters that stick to the side of the tub. One night Ryan was spelling out words for him and Matthew thought the sound of them hitting the side of the tub was so funny. I posted the video below. I never get tired of hearing him giggle!! It's music to my ears!

A day trip to Austin, TX

2009-08-30T10:38:00.010+09:00

We took Matthew to the Children's Museum in Austin, TX today and he had a blast! We met up with my cousin, Shele', her husband, Bobby, and their sweet son, Blaze (he's a year old). Matthew loved spending time with his cousin and experiencing all the neat gadgets at the museum. Afterwards, we went to Matt's Famous El Rancho for a yummy lunch! It was great to spend the day with family and Matthew and Blaze had a chance to prove just how smart they are at such a young age!

8 Months Old

2009-08-25T10:07:00.013+09:00

Our sweet little Matthew is 8 months old today and I honestly don't know where the time has gone. He's growing by leaps and bounds and his little personality is really starting to shine! He's just precious and I feel so blessed to have such a sweet little boy!

As the weeks pass, Matthew gets more and more ready to crawl. He's up on his hands and knees and can rock back and forth -- it's going to happen soon and then our world as we know it will change completely! He still loves to play in his exersaucer play gym and loves his "tummy time" on the floor. We are fortunate to have such a happy baby. Every time we go out to run errands, Matthew is very popular and gets lots of attention. The little ladies we see in the grocery store just love his red hair and his dimples! We have also joined a few playgroups and enjoy spending time with other children and their Mommmy's. It helps for me to have some adult interaction and Matthew loves watching the other kids. It will be so much fun for him when he can move around and actually "play" with others. The ladies in the nursery at church always comment that Matthew is a happy boy and this past Sunday they were laughing because when Ryan went to pick him up, he was smiling at one of the other little girls! Looks like he's already flirting at the young age of 8 months!

Since Matthew seems to change on weekly basis, we've taken quite a bit of videos lately to keep up with what he's doing. Sadly, I haven't done a good job of posting them regularly so I've posted a few below and will post more in the next few days.

This is one that we took back in July that I could watch over and over again... Ryan was throwing the ball to Matthew and he thought it was so funny. He kept giggling and it was too cute so we had to capture it on camera!

This was also from back in July - Ryan got this on video one Saturday morning. Too cute!

Here is a preview of Matthew's attempt to crawl. He's a strong boy despite his chunky little legs!

We are so blessed with such a beautiful baby boy!!

7 Months Old

2009-07-28T21:45:00.020+09:00

Matthew turned 7 months old last Friday, July 24 and Ryan and I still can't believe how fast the time is flying. We love watching Matthew grow right before our eyes and he looks more and more like a "little boy" every day. We've had a fun month and since I haven't made any posts recently, I'll do my best to recap what's been going on with our family....

Matthew had his 6 month babywell check-up at the end of June and is a "healthy boy" weighing in at 21 lbs. 4 oz.! He's almost tripled his weight in 6 months since he was 7 lbs. 4 oz. when he was born. It's a miracle that he can grow like that from just breastfeeding...God truly is amazing! We had to buy a new car seat for Matthew because his "baby" seat only goes to 22 lbs. (which we thought would last us at least a year when we purchased it!). At least we'll have a baby car seat ready when we decide to have baby #2. So, Matthew has officially advanced to a toddler car seat.

Aunt Sissy (aka: my sister, Anna) came for a week to visit at the beginning of July and we had a wonderful time! She was a huge help by cooking dinner every night and playing with Matthew so Ryan and I could get some extra sleep. It was such a blessing to have some quality time with my sister. It's tough to live so far away so every little bit of time we get with family is important and needed. Here are a few of my favorite photos from Aunt Sissy's visit.

Snuggling on the couch before bedtime...

Playing with hats during our shopping trip to the outlets...

Watching the airplanes fly over the house...

We're also enjoying trying new foods with Matthew. I've uploaded Matthew's 1st Taste of Peas video and here is the link to watch it (it was too big to post on the blog) --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siXv0NGEeNk Since his first hilarious taste of peas, he now seems to really enjoy eating peas and other fruits and vegetables. He's a good eater and so far has tried peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, apples, and pears.

Matthew's latest tricks include: roaring like a dinosaur (I'll be sure to post a video for you to hear - it's too funny!), giggling, playing and rolling all over the floor, looking at and eating his books, sitting up, and he just started babbling "ma-ma-ma-ma" - I love it! We're working on "da-da" but haven't mastered that sound just yet.

Enjoy the video of Matthew eating his peas. Here are a few more photos of our family from July. Hope you enjoy!

July 4th Holiday weekend

2009-07-07T01:47:00.007+09:00

Ryan, Matthew and I enjoyed a nice relaxing (and uneventful) July 4th weekend. It was great to have some quiet time as a family and to spend quality time together playing with Matthew. He's changing so much each day, that it's hard to capture all of his new "tricks" on camera.

His tricks lately have consisted of: sitting up on his own, transferring toys from one hand to the other and banging them on anything he can to make noise, playing with his beach balls that Poppy (my Dad) brought to him in during their visit in May, making lots of new sounds and squealing and yelling as he plays (he definitely has my loud voice!). He's rolling all over the place and is starting to push up his torso with his arms, so he may be on his way to crawling within the next few months.

We started solid foods about a month ago. He first ate rice cereal and had no problems. After the doctor cleared us to start other foods, we decided to begin with peas! I got it all on video, but it's not downloading to the blog since it's a large file so I'm working on ways to share it with everyone. It's priceless -- Matthew's facial expressions when he tried the peas for the first time were hilarious! He kept opening his mouth for more, so I kept giving it to him and he would pucker his face and even gag a little but he managed to swallow every bite and never spit it back out. Now that he's been eating them for about a week, he has actually grown to enjoy peas. Next food....carrots!

I've posted a few pictures below from our July 4th holiday. Grandma (Ryan's Mom) sent him a cute outfit that was perfect for the occasion. Ryan and Matthew even sat down and read the "Declaration of Independence" -- We're proud to be American's and so proud of Ryan's service in our military! Thank you to all the military families out there that sacrifice for our country's freedom!

Splish Splash

2009-07-01T08:55:00.005+09:00

Matthew loves taking baths. We're still using the baby tub that sits in the sink (although we're realizing that we're going to have to graduate to the larger tub soon...). Ever since Matthew was born, he has loved bath time. Here's a little video to prove it...enjoy!

I'm a happy boy!

2009-06-05T22:38:00.006+09:00

Here's another cute video of Matthew riding around on Ryan's shoulders. I'll post more updates on his latest "tricks" this weekend. Enjoy the video!

Matthew is 5 months old!

2009-05-25T10:15:00.005+09:00

Matthew is 5 months old today and is cuter than ever!!

I've been rather slack with my blog posts lately, but it's not because there are a lack of things to share about sweet Matthew...I've just been busy keeping him entertained and haven't made time to write. I try to make up for the lack of blogging about Matthew's life by taking lots of additional photos (we average about 200 a month!). He's growing by leaps and bounds and has new "tricks" (as my Dad likes to call them) that he performs each week. Lately, he's found that he can twist his little body around and roll over from his back to his tummy....and this is a pretty good "trick" considering that his thighs are so chunky that it's a mini-workout for him to lift and roll them! He's laughing and giggling more and more, and really loves exploring the toys on his exersaucer (a "jungle gym" for babies that was a gift from my college roomie, Jill). Here's a picture of him in action in his exersaucer...

His other new favorite thing to do is to sit on Daddy's shoulders and ride in his Baby Bijorn. I think it's because it's a new "view". Last night he was riding around on Ryan's shoulders and was literally "eating" his hair! Here is a video...it's too cute!

It's been a fantastic 5 months with my little munchkin. I love him more and more every day!

Matthew gets the giggles!

2009-05-02T09:53:00.003+09:00

These are such special moments that I cherish! Can't believe Matthew is already 4 months old. Enjoy the video of him laughing -- we praise God for giving us a healthy baby boy!

My little munchkin is 3 months old!

2009-03-26T10:59:00.005+09:00

Matthew was 3 months old yesterday (March 24) and it was also Ryan's 29th birthday. What a special day!

It's hard to believe that it's already been 3 months since we were blessed with our little miracle. He's growing so fast and I love him more and more every day! Here are a few photos I took of him to mark his 3 month birthday. Isn't he adorable?!?!! I just love his big blue eyes and chunky arms and legs! He's my little prince!

The First Two Months

2009-03-03T06:02:00.007+09:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted a blog entry, so I thought I would recap the first two months of baby Matthew's arrival home. He continues to bring us joy and I love him more and more with each day!

Several people have asked how we came up with the name Matthew Charles. Matthew is Ryan's middle name, so we thought that would be very special for him to carry on his Dad's name. Matthew is a strong name and fits him perfectly. Charles is after my Grandfather (my Mom's Dad), who passed away when I was 6 years old. Charles was his middle name and I have such fond and sweet memories of sitting in his lap as a child and asking him for Dentyne gum. He always had Dentyne gum in his pocket and we had to "snuggle" with him in his big brown chair to get any. To this day any kind of cinnamon gum reminds me of him. He was such a wonderful, sweet and genuine man and I miss him and my Grandmother so very much. It will be nice for Matthew to know that his middle name is after his Great Grandfather -- a man who loved God and loved his family.

It's hard to believe that Matthew is already 2 months old. The time has really flown by so fast, although there were a few days and nights where it seemed never ending! Our parents came into town each for a week to help out with Matthew when he was first born. It was great to have them here to help out with cooking, laundry and to give Ryan and I a break to catch our breath. When Matthew was 4 weeks old, Ryan had to leave for some flight training in Colorado. That was very hard on us both. Matthew was still adjusting and had some very fussy days and nights. It was so much harder to be home alone with him than I expected, so we were fortunate enough to be able to fly my Mom out for another week to help. That was a pure blessing to have some relief and to have her here to help keep me on track. Ryan was working so hard in Colorado to finish his training so he could get home and it was equally tough on him to be so far away from Matthew and me. Thankfully, God got us through the 4 weeks apart and Ryan returned home safely.

At Matthew's 2 month baby wellness appointment, he weighted 14 pounds and was 23 inches long. He's gone from being in the 25 percentile at his birth weight (7lbs. 4oz.) to the 85 percentile at 14 pounds! He's extremely healthy and it's obvious that the breastfeeding is going great. He had his first series of shots (one oral and 3 shots in his legs). He did really well and only cried for a few moments as the shots were given. He slept most of the rest of the day (probably a result of the baby Tylenol we gave to him) and didn't get a fever. He was a little fussy and his legs were somewhat sore the next day, but he bounced back wonderfully. We feel so blessed that he's healthy and growing like a weed! He's so cute and chunky! :) I love his little dimples!

We have family coming into town to visit us over the course of the next month, so it will be nice to see everyone. David and Jennifer were here this past week and it was so cute to see Uncle David with his red hair next to Matthew and his red hair. I've attached some photos below. We had a great time exploring the Alamo and walking downtown San Antonio at the Riverwalk.

Now that Ryan is home, I'll try to do better at posting updates on Matthew. He's talking more and more, so I'll take some videos and post those soon too. In the meantime, you can view our family photos at http://themiddletonfamily2.shutterfly.com/ Enjoy!

Our little Christmas miracle!!

2009-01-02T15:10:00.006+09:00

Matthew Charles arrive on Wednesday, December 24 at 5:35am after 24 hours of labor. He was a healthy 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long.

He is just beautiful and Ryan and I feel so blessed to have a healthy baby boy! Here are a few photos from our first few days at home. I never knew you could love someone so much...he is absolutely perfect! Praise God for our little Christmas miracle!

38 Weeks

2008-12-19T01:48:00.002+09:00

My 38 week appointment went well this week and we're counting down the days until we welcome sweet baby Matthew into the world - only a few more days! Since I have what they are calling gestational hypertension (a fancy way of saying I have elevated blood pressure), they won't let me deliver past 39 weeks since it could be harmful to the baby. So...they have scheduled to induce me on Tuesday, December 23!! We could have a Christmas baby!

My blood pressure has been lower and lower with each monitored visit (which is twice a week) and the baby is doing great (he's active, has a strong heartbeat and my fluid levels are right on target). We found out that I'm currently 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Since I am already somewhat dilated, it should make being induced a little bit easier. I was very nervous about being induced at first, but I am actually feeling much better about it now since it will be a controlled environment and I have an idea of how things will progress. Of course, if baby Matthew decides to join us earlier that's okay too (as long as he's ready and is healthy!).

I am reminded daily that I have been blessed with such sweet and thoughtful friends and family. The notes and comments on my blog, Facebook and through email have truly touched my heart. Our faith is in the Lord and we know He will provide a stable and comfortable environment for us when Matthew is born. We could not have asked for a better situation with Ryan having limited duties at work right now while he waits for his training, and with the holidays approaching it means we will get to see family as they come visit to meet our new bundle of joy. We give God all the glory for orchestrating everything in such perfect timing!

2008 has been full of many changes and surprises for us -- finding out we were going to have a baby (that one topped the charts), Ryan being selected to become an Officer, moving to Texas, and dealing with two parents who have had to undergo treatment for cancer (my Mom with breast cancer and Ryan's Dad with prostate cancer). Thankfully, all of the above have had very positive outcomes and we praise God every day for His continuous blessings and mercy. Looking back, we can see how gracefully and wonderfully God has led us through this year and we will continue to seek His guidance as we enter 2009.

As Christmas approaches next week and we welcome our sweet baby boy, we also rejoice in remembering the true meaning of Christmas -- the birth of Jesus and the joy He brought to the world! I can't imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt as they prepared to have a baby and had to ultimately find comfort in a barn. It makes me truly appreciate the hospital and all the doctors and nurses that have cared for us so far and the warm home we have created for Matthew to grow. Thank you, Jesus, for your love, forgiveness, and many sacrifices that have allowed us peace and comfort as we prepare for baby Matthew's arrival. Without the love of Christ, our world would be so empty.

Praying for each of you and your families this Christmas that you feel peace, love and the joy of the Lord in your heart!

Updates and some exciting news!

2008-12-09T11:23:00.006+09:00

The last 6 days have been quite eventful for us. It all started last Wednesday, December 3 when we went for my 36 week OB appointment. I was a little nervous...I've gone from a private practice that was always so calm and relaxing to a crisp, large military hospital that is nowhere near calm with all the people milling around everywhere for everything. Not my idea of comfortable. Anyway, my appointment got underway and was going okay until they took my blood pressure -- 149/91 (not good and not normal for me). I'm usually pretty low (the 110/60 range) so they decided to wait and check it again before I left to see if it had gone back down. Unfortunately, it didn't help when the nurse told me that if it did not go down I was going to need to have some blood drawn, give a urine sample and go to Labor & Delivery to be hooked up to the fetal monitor. So, when they went to take my blood pressure again, it had gone up to 153/92...so much for calming down. The only good news we received was that the baby has finally turned head down, so we no longer have to worry about him being in the transverse position. He is ready for delivery!

I headed down to the Lab to have my blood drawn and to submit a urine sample and then went back up to the Labor & Delivery area. We waited for 2 hours to be seen and were finally taken back to a small room with a curtain pulled to separate me from another patient. They monitored my blood pressure for about 45 minutes (which finally leveled out around 125/77) and everything looked okay. My blood test and urine sample were normal, but the doctor wanted me to submit a 24 hour urine sample to be sure everything was okay and there weren't any signs of preeclampsia. The doctor told me to call or come in if I was seeing spots, having headaches that wouldn't go away with Tylenol or if I had any severe pains in my upper abdomen.

On Friday, we went back to the hospital to turn in my 24 hour sample and to fill out hospital paperwork so it didn't have to be done when we were there for the actual delivery. While we were filling out the forms, I started to see a funky spot in my vision, which kept growing larger and was something similar to what you might see if you looked through a kaleidoscope (a prism of colors). It scared me so Ryan calmly took me up to Labor & Delivery where we checked in to be monitored again. My blood pressure was elevated (how could it not be -- I was terrified) but it slowly went back down and the baby was doing fine. He even got the hiccups while I was hooked up to the monitor, which lightened the mood. I was having some mild contractions so it was neat to have the doctor confirm that's what they were when he looked at the test results. Again, everything looked fine but the doctor told me that I would now have to come in twice a week to have my blood pressure monitored until I deliver. We left the hospital feeling okay and thinking that maybe this was a little blessing from God -- since we had just moved here it would give us an opportunity to meet some of the nurses and doctors that would be delivering me. So far we have been impressed with the doctors who have been monitoring me, so that is a blessing.

On Sunday morning at 5:15am, I woke up to roll over and the prism light spot appeared again. It scared me so I woke Ryan up and we called Labor & Delivery to see what they wanted me to do. Since the spot wasn't coupled with any headaches or other symptoms, the nurse advised me to go back to sleep and call if it happened again. Thankfully, it didn't.

Today (Monday) we had our first scheduled blood pressure appointment at 1:15pm so we headed back to the hospital. They hooked me up to the monitors for about 30 minutes and again my blood pressure started out slightly elevated but eventually leveled out. When the nurse did an ultrasound the baby looked fine and my amniotic fluid levels were great so they let us head on home.

We go back again this Thursday and will go again Monday and Thursday of next week too. My last appointment for blood pressure monitoring will be on Monday, December 22. If I haven't gone into labor on my own by then (I'll be 39 weeks) they will induce me.

So...after all the drama...it looks like we'll be having a Christmas baby! Ryan and I packed our bags for the hospital this weekend so we're prepared for whatever God has in store for us. I'm praying baby Matthew will decide to join us on his own terms, but if not we're excited that he will be here sometime during the week of Christmas!

36 Weeks and Counting...

2008-12-03T13:12:00.002+09:00

We're finally feeling a little more settled here in San Antonio, TX and we're finding our way around pretty well. The most important thing is that we know exactly how to get to the hospital and that it takes around 25-30 minutes! Baby Matthew is due in 4 weeks and we're getting very anxious and excited about his arrival! Naturally, I'm nervous about the delivery (and the pain that goes along with it) since we've had to transfer to a new hospital with new doctors so late in my pregnancy, but God knows what we need and I'm sure He will provide the proper care and support!

I'm still feeling pretty good but my poor feet have just recently decided that they have had enough and just plain hurt! I have been fortunate to not have any swelling...they just ache so I try to keep them propped up as much as possible. Other than that, sleeping has been challenging and I can't wait to be able to sleep on my back again! I have pillows everywhere and still seem to toss and turn quite frequently through the night (poor Ryan...). We both laugh at the fact that this is just God's way of preparing us for when Matthew wants to be up all night (which ironically is when he seems to be the most active right now).

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my 36 week checkup so I'll be sure to post an update on my progress. I still can't believe he could be here in 4 short weeks! Hooray!!!