Sayonara, Baby!

In one week, we will be back stateside. But in the meantime, there's lots to be done. Our phones were turned off this morning and the internet will be gone tomorrow, so our blog will be on hiatus for a little while.

Leaving Japan will be very bittersweet for me. Although I'm ready to be closer to family, I will miss the friendships I have made here. I take solace in the fact that in the Navy, it is a small world indeed and we may run into each other again someday.

And no matter how much I whined about the inconveniences of living in Japan, truth be told, it will always be near and dear to my heart because this is where my family began. My sweet baby was born here. She will never remember it, but hopefully, I've taken enough pictures and collected enough souvenirs for her to know one day that she was my "Japanese baby".

Checking out her daddy's find from the bazaar.

She had so much fun sorting through pantry items. When I see her having such a good time with such simple things, I wonder why we even bother buying her toys.

Tonight was Mike's farewell at the Captain's house. We tried to be a matching Tommy Bahama family with Mike's shirt and my dress. Too bad Tommy Bahama doesn't have a kids' line.

The Last Bazaar

When we first moved to Japan two and a half years ago, I was excited by all the fascinating things that made living in a foreign country different- the language, driving on the other side of the road, using the train system, the different fashion styles, etc.

But once the novelty wore off, all the things I once found fascinating and cute about Japan slowly began to irritate me. I knew it was soon time to head out and thank goodness the Navy agreed.

There is one thing, however, that I have loved from the moment I got here- the Yokosuka Bazaar! It comes twice a year, in the spring and the fall, and I will miss it terribly. The bazaar is an event that I looked forward to with all the excitement and anticipation as a kid on Christmas morning.

I thought I would miss out on the fall bazaar because it's usually held in October and we're leaving the first week of October. But luck was with me when it was held early this year and I got to go one last time.

Here's Grace checking out some of mommy's finds.

A sweet wink for daddy.

Missed Opportunity

I am feeling terribly guilty. It is 11:43 at night, my baby is sound asleep after a very busy day and it has hit me that I didn't take one good picture of her. And today is her 8 month birthday and I forgot about it until just now. Lola would be horrified to know that her grandbaby's monthly birthday passed by without so much as a cupcake.

And while we're on the subject of slacking on motherhood responsibilities, I'm way behind on filling out her baby book.

But, as always, I promise to do better and keep the procrastination at a minimum.



This teenage girl was so taken with Grace that she asked to hold her for awhile. But it was so darn hot out that Grace wasn't in a very smiley mood.

Here's Mike and Greg on their 'man date' at the Estoesta's.

Really though, we were celebrating Greg and Julie's 10th wedding anniversary.

Oh, Happy Day

Thursdays to me are usually nothing more than the day before the weekend starts, but today was a happy day.

I realized we only have twelve more days left in Japan before we move back to the United States. We had our housing inspection today and passed with flying colors even though I was terrified we'd get in trouble for taking off the netting on our balcony (long story).

The movers came to preview our stuff to make sure they bring enough help on our pack out, which reiterated once again how soon we'll be closer to family.

We took Grace to the playground for the first time where she had a blast trying out the slide and swing and watching all the bigger kids running around.

And we ended the night watching Grace wave goodbye for the first time.






We had dinner with the Tejedors tonight and Grace surprised us all when she actually waved goodbye to them. I thought it might have been a fluke, but when we visited a friend's baby in the hospital, she waved goodbye then too.

Gettin' Busy

Sorry for the lack of updates, but we are in full 'move out' mode now. The curtains have been taken down, the closets, drawers, and cabinets are being purged of accumulated junk, and all our stuff is in the process of being organized to make packing, and consequently unpacking in Jacksonville, a little easier.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures that pretty much summarize what has been going on with us since the last update.


Saying goodbye to Josyl. The visit went all too quickly, but we're grateful that she made the trip to say goodbye before we leave this side of the world.


Grace enjoying the train ride on the way back home.


My little monkey is becoming a pro at pulling herself up now. She just started crawling a few short weeks ago! Can she slow it down a little, please? I am not ready for her to race through her milestones.


We tried out a little Zwieback toast and she loved it. I'm not crazy about the clean up, but I do get a kick out of watching her attack the toast.


Grace had a fun playdate with sweet Olivia today. Even though Grace is 3 months older, they're just about the same size!

We had to say goodbye to Cody the Cube tonight because tomorrow, he will be someone else's car. From taking us to weekend getaways, to lugging home our finds from the bazaar, to bringing home our baby from the hospital- he served us well during our stay here in Japan.

Karaoke

We've got two weeks left in Japan and believe it or not, tonight was the first time we went out to karaoke. Even though Mike and I can't carry a tune, we still had a blast hanging out with some fantastic friends.

First we went out to dinner where the ladies sat at one table...

and the guys and kids sat at the other. It was an ideal seating arrangement!

After dinner, it was off to the karaoke bar in Zushi, by train.

A quick stop at a FamilyMart to drink some Chuhai.

Mike started off with a little Journey, of course.

My little baby partied late into the night with us. What a good sport!

Josyl's Here!!!!

This is my BFF, Josyl, who's visiting us for the weekend. Don't ask me why we're holding hands like that. I have no idea. I do love her, but not like THAT- honest. For some reason, whenever we're together, we always end up having unexplainable weak moments like this.

Mom's Nite Out...from Dad's Perspective...

Hello everyone - from the title of this blog entry, you've undoubtedly guessed by now that this is Mike speaking - or typing, rather. As you may have noticed from many other blog entries, now that we're parents, we tend to hang out with other parents as well...in fact, now that I think about it, those are the ONLY type of people we hang out with anymore. I wouldn't have thought I'd ever say this a few years ago, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Parenting certainly gives me a new perspective on life, that non-parents just don't have...not to sound snobby, but it's just a fact. Well, our friends here have any number of kids, from one, all the way to four each. All the ladies decided they needed a "Ladies' Night Out" - and I can honestly say, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I know Cicely deserves more than one, but for now, I was just eager to prove myself as a fully qualified dad, who could feed, bathe, and put my child to bed all on my own.

Here's Mommy and baby before she went out...Grace looks like she can sense something will be different about tonight...


After Cicely left, I decided to take her for a stroller/walk after dinner. Instead of our usual route around base housing, I decided to spice things up a little.

Here's Grace at the train station, surely wondering what we're doing there so late, and where are we going without Mom?

I decided we'd go bar hopping! Now now, all you good Christians don't get your panties in an uproar; I've stopped drinking, so this was just a 'nostalgic' tour for us.

Here's Grace at one of my two favorite bars here - Vahana's. It's a Beach/Tiki themed place that is open air in the summer.

Here she is at my other favorite bar here in Japan - Match Point. Notice she's not too excited in either of these pictures. That's a good thing - my Grandfather always says there are two types of women: bar girls and church girls. It looks like she's definitely not in to bars!

After we got back home, I gave her a bath, and attempted to put her to bed. This picture shows how she cried after I put her down. Note how well she can stand already! Also, this picture is a bit misleading, as it was completely dark in her room when I took the shot - I had just adjusted the camera's shutter speed so you can actually see her. It only took about 20 minutes of crying before she cried herself to sleep. My strategy worked!


*For all of our readers information, Cicely doesn't know I took Grace bar hopping tonight....in fact, she'll be reading here on the blog for the first time, much like all of you - how's THAT for reality TV! TLC, time to dump John & Kate, and start filming the Augustines!!!!

We Said We Wouldn't...

Mike and I pride ourselves on not being huge television watchers. We like to read. Or go out and do stuff instead of watch stuff on TV. Dorky, I know, but that's the way it is. I always thought that I would never use the TV as a babysitter. But there are some days when the lure of the electronic babysitter is irresistible. We only use it in emergencies though- promise!

***I know she's completely too close to the TV in the picture. She starts off at a reasonable distance, gets distracted by her toys so she crawls over there, and then something on the TV catches her attention again.

Terrible Tuesday

I don't know of any woman who likes having an OB/GYN exam. My very first one after finding out I was pregnant was a disaster. A 'new' doctor who didn't know how to use the equipment and then forgot to do a test so had to re-do the procedure. Enough said. But I would rather go to that appointment again than go to the dentist.

I am admitting a secret here that only my husband and closest friends know about me- I am terrified of going to the dentist. I avoid it at all costs. Mike has to make my appointment for me because if he left it up to me, I would never go. Because I haven't been to the dentist since before I was pregnant, he forced me to go today.

I suppose it's a good thing too. Apparently I have one filling that needs to be redone, 3 soft spots (what the heck are those?), and 1 cavity that needs to be taken care of (which could potentially turn into a root canal). I'm a bit embarrassed to admit all this, but I figure, acknowledging a fear is the first step in overcoming it.

My dear friend, Maritza, babysat Grace while I was at the dentist's office trying my best not to pass out from fear. You think I exaggerate, but I kid you not. They had to take my blood pressure to make sure I was okay.

I scattered Grace's toys on the carpet and the girl somehow managed to arrange them in a semi-circle. I'm sure it was a fluke, but I thought it was pretty amazing.

Exhausted

This poor baby fell asleep while I was feeding her this morning. She did have a pretty busy morning...

Grace chased the vacuum cleaner around the house. I thought she would be afraid of it, but she couldn't keep away. I hope she'll love it just as much when she gets older and one of her chores is to vacuum the house.


When the vacuuming was done, she crawled around and tried to bite on anything she could reach- the coffee table, my leg as I folded laundry, and in this case, the ottoman. Who needs a puppy when you've got a teething baby?

Long in the Tooth

The moment I've been dreading as an exclusively nursing mama has finally arrived. Grace's first tooth has surfaced! Just barely, but it can certainly be felt. Her nursing days are definitely numbered now.

It's also a bittersweet moment for me because my favorite gummy grins will soon be replaced with toothy grins. I've said it before and I'll say it again- time is just moving way too quickly!

Daddy and Baby hanging out watching some college football this morning.

Entertaining herself with a water bottle while mommy does some shopping...why do I spend money on toys???

She finally noticed her reflection in the car mirror and couldn't stop laughing.

Super Saturday

This is a way I found to keep her occupied while I'm in the kitchen.

We went to a dual first birthday party this afternoon for Gracie Blew and Sophia Neu (I'm so tickled that the names of the birthday celebrants rhyme!). Here's Grace trying to convince Sophia to give her some of that cake.

I told Mike he could pick out her outfit today and surprise, surprise- this is what he chooses. I did enjoy looking at my matching duo today.


Last night we had dinner at Chili's where Grace managed to spill salsa, ranch dressing, and a full glass of water onto the floor (and all over her mama's skirt). It was a little embarrassing, but very amusing at the same time. I figure it's a rite of passage for newbie parents who aren't yet used to how quickly those little hands can grab things. It was just funny how it was one item after another. I didn't even have a chance to process what was going on before there was another thing on the floor. We made sure to leave a very good tip for the poor waitress.