Passing the Time

Grace and I stayed busy over the weekend trying to make time pass quickly so we wouldn't miss her daddy too much. Because of our full weekend, I was left exhausted at the end of the day with no energy to blog. My mom called me today about my lack of updates. Sorry about that, grandparents!

Saturday we went to the big Spring Bazaar where I normally spend way too much money. And with this being our last Bazaar before we leave Japan, I was expecting to go crazy. I walked out of there with just $20 worth of washi Japanese paper. I then proceeded to spend two and half times that much at the baby store buying Grace spring and summer outfits. I suppose this is another sign of motherhood when I get more pleasure buying stuff for my baby than for myself.

Sunday was spent at church and a professional photography shoot for Grace's 3 month portraits. Church was great, the portrait session, not so much. My normally laid back and easy to smile baby cried pretty much the entire time! Her daddy and I would've been better off messing with the new SLR and taking her picture ourselves. Go figure.

Check out her latest accomplishment- she can hold a rattle!


Yet ANOTHER diaper blowout. Why does she always look so pleased with herself at times like these?


Diaper and wardrobe change in the car before her big photo shoot.


See this pretty smile? She didn't have any of these for the photographer...


Birthday wishes for Grandpa.

Three More Days

Three more days and I can take showers lasting more than 5 minutes. Three more days and I can stop eating cereal for dinner. Three more days and I can take a break from bath time routine- not that I mind it at all, but the 30 minute evening break I get because of it is sorely missed. Three more days before Mike comes home. The countdown has officially begun.

As I type, she is complaining about being put in her crib before she was good and ready. Don't misunderstand- she's not actually crying. She's got this thing now where she just 'whines'. I don't know how to explain it. It's actually quite amusing. When I'm not completely exhausted.

Stay-at-home moms should get bonuses during times like these when daddy's gone and they have to do overtime. Luckily the big spring time Bazaar is this weekend. Stay tuned for what kind of 'bonuses' I find....

Welcome to the Jungle

Thanks to my dear friend, Elizabeth, Grace has been playing in her jungle gym ever since she was a week old. But today was the first day where she was absolutely captivated by it. She had a blast batting at the hanging rattles and had intense conversations with 'Mr. Monkey' and 'Timmy the Toucan'. I didn't even turn on the lights or music and it still kept her occupied for a good while. I am so glad Grace enjoyed her time in the jungle!

Today's Lesson: Always Be Prepared

I learned a very important lesson today: always be prepared. I was in a rush this morning to get to my Zumba class and made a monumental error when packing the diaper bag. I had a few errands to run after my workout so I wanted to put an extra change of clothes for myself in the diaper bag. Because my clothes took up so much space, I decided to do just the baby essentials - diapers, wipes, hooter hider.

Normally when I pack her diaper bag, I bring everything for all situations- blanket in case it gets chilly, Tylenol in case she gets a fever, burp cloth for spit-ups, little toy for entertainment, disposable changing pads for messy diaper changes, and an extra set of clothes.

Not packing the last 2 items was a big mistake today.

I was shopping in the baby section when I heard Grace having a gassy moment. I didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later, I realized that she needed a diaper change so off to the restroom we went. This is what I find...



This looks pretty tame compared to what I found when I actually lifted the shirt. It was the kind of nasty that would normally send her straight to the tub.

It figures that this would happen the one and only time I decide NOT to pack her a change of clothes. So I put her back in the stroller just like this because I had no choice, went and picked out an outfit, paid for it, went back to the restroom and changed her into the new outfit.


Life with a baby is never boring, that's for sure!

On a different note, the quest to lose the baby weight continues. Yesterday I went on a power stroller walk around the neighborhood with Jojo and Julie. The babies certainly enjoyed themselves- they were out like a light before we were halfway around the block.






A look of sweet innocence from the Little Stinker.

Fight the Temptation

The Easter Bunny put lots of goodies in Grace's Easter basket. One of the treats, Cadbury Mini-eggs, was something I never had until yesterday. And today I spent all day trying to fight the temptation to devour them. I even contemplated, albeit very briefly, running to the grocery store to see if there were more left to buy because surely they'd be on clearance now that Easter is over. Crazy thoughts, I know, since I'm still trying to win the battle over my excess baby weight.

Other than that, it was a lazy day for us girls. After such a hectic weekend, we needed a day to just chill and do absolutely nothing.

This one's for Lola who likes to see pictures of a happy Grace. Lola, if you enlarge the picture, you can see her latest trick- a mouth full of spit bubbles!


This one's for Grandma who gets a kick out of crying Grace pictures because she thinks they're funny and cute.


And this one's for me who always enjoys seeing her daughter being comforted by her daddy.

Happy Easter

We had a whirlwind of an Easter weekend! A BBQ, two egg hunts, and an Easter lunch potluck have left all three of us completely exhausted. I'm so tired, I'm not even sure where to begin so I'll just post some of my favorite pictures for y'all to enjoy.


My sweet little angel slept through a BBQ party.


Mike was in charge of getting her ready this morning. Because we got back so late from a BBQ last night, she had to skip her evening bath. Apparently, she didn't like the change in routine by having a bath this morning because she gave her daddy "the lip".


Her Easter dress that I ordered online came in just in time. It also came with a matching headband, but as you can see, it was way too big for her. Mike and I didn't think the Pat Benatar look would work for Easter Sunday.


Why are her white tights missing? She had a diaper explosion during church. While I was nursing her. In addition to getting it on her brand new beautiful Easter dress, she got it all over her mommy's dress too.


Daddy's turn to take her egg hunting. They found a grand total of one egg together.


Here's all her loot from the Easter bunny. She looks a little overwhelmed...


And here's a shot from an impromptu photo session on the top of a hill overlooking Tokyo Bay. We rudely woke her up from a nap and made her sit in the bright sun for a few minutes. Consequently, this is the closest thing we got to a smile.


Happy Easter, everyone!

Egg Hunting

Today was Grace's first Easter Egg hunt, and as such, I, as a father, wanted to ensure I documented the grand event.

Between the new SLR, the HD video camera, and two point-and-shoot cameras, I figured I had plenty of options and back-ups to get the shot!

Unfortunately, no matter how prepared I was, Grace just wasn't too excited about putting eggs in a basket.





I absolutely adore the girls in my life.