It's about time

But, I don't know where to start....so many things have happened in the last couple of months... We moved from O! town, spent fun 2 weeks with Jordan's family in G, went on a trip to Jackson Hole with Jordan, and moved to the amazing O island, just to mention a few. I want to write all about the fun experiences we've had here so far, but I'm thinkng I should write a post about O! town to wrap things up.

So, here's top 10 reasons why I loved living in O! town so much:

10. Having no traffic jam---I always thought it was funny that they would even have a traffic reports in the morning. Bad traffic in O! town is like going 40 mph on highways.

9. Furniture Mart---It's the most amazing furniture store ever! The Zoo and the furniture mart should be the top 2 tourist destinations in O! town.

8. Med Center---If I have a baby, I would love to go back there to have it! The rooms are big, and nurses are very nice. But the best thing about the hospital is the 24-hour room service. I kind of looked forward to 3am feeding so that I could order a parfait or muffin to snack on while I fed Yuki or Aisa.

7. Vising Winter Quarters and other church history sites---It was nice to be able to visit Independence, Nauvoo, and WQ to learn more about pioneers. Their faith and testimonies are so inspiring.

6. Living so close to everything---and I mean everything. Temple, botanical garden, zoo, children's museum, concert venues, theaters, etc. The farthest place you have to drive is 20 minutes max. I loved how we could go to a concert at a big arena and to be able to come home in 5 min. I also loved having temple only 20 min. away. Such a big blessing.

5. Steak!!!---I've never eaten so much good steak in my life. During the last three years, I have come to realize that I LOVE LOVE LOVE steak and it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to ever be a vegetarian.

4. People---I was impressed with what a good hearted people they are in Midwest region. A lot of people are christians with great values. It was so refreshing to see non-LDS people attending churches on Sundays and participating in different church activities during the weekdays.

3. Having forrest as our back yard---We had quite many "visitors" in our backyard, and Yuki loved it! Every morning it was fun for us to open the blinds to see if there were any animals like deer, turkeys, squirrels and sometimes even peacocks and owls. I also loved seeing how it gets greener every day in the spring time and seeing leaves changing colors in the fall time.

Sometimes, we would see 10+ turkeys roaming around just outside out our window. Crazy!

2. Zoo---Greatest zoo ever! We loved going there and seeing seeing penguins, monkeys in the jungle, and bears swimming in the pool. It was so nice that we only lived 5 min. away from it, too.

1. Wondeful friends and neighbors---Oh, how I miss them... Yuki's playmates. Girls Night Out. Sharing moments of glee and despair. "Jeep rides". Crafting. Hanging out. Music time... I sure miss having instant playdates everyday out in the front yard. There were so many children in the neighborhood, and they were all good kids. Usually no hitting or fighting. And those kids' moms are just superb women-righteous, talented, and kind. Being surrounded by those friends was one of the big blessings we recieved in O! town. I could never thank them enough for being what amazing examples, help and friends they were to us.

Graduation and Lucky 7

Yay! Jordan graduated from his Family Medicine Residency!!! He has worked SO SO SOOOO hard for the last 3 years. The intern year was especially hard. He often had 30 hour shift and worked 80+ hours a week. He would come home sleep deprived and exhausted, but he still made sure that he bathed Yuki every night and spent as much time with him. He would help me with dinner and cleaning up as well. He didn't really have any time for himself. He is so unselfish and devoted to his family. He truly is an amazing person, father and husband, and I couldn't think of more perfect man than Jordan.The same day we celebrated his graduation from the residency, we celebrated our 7th anniversary. Jordan has always been in school/training for the last 7 years, but we sure had a lot of fun. During the 4 years in Arizona, we were able to strengthen our friendship with each other. The last 3 years in O! town, we were blessed to have our little angels and enjoyed parenting together. I'm very grateful that Jordan always tries his best to make me happy, and I feel so lucky to be married to such a thoughtful person!

Happy campers

When we first moved here, we lived in an apartment for 2 months. There, we had less than bear minimum to live-2 chairs, a card table, and a cot. I was 7 month pregnant and was sleeping on a little cot. So crazy! Fist couple of days, we didn't even have chairs and table, so we sat on the carpet using styrofoam box as our dinner table. I sometimes can't believe how insane we were...

Now, we are back to "camping out" in our place again. The mover came to pack our stuff last Tuesday. It hasn't been too bad. Jordan has been grilling Omaha Steak, cheese-stuffed hamburger, and other yummy meals for dinner. Yuki, even though we don't have much toys and books, has been adapting to this living situation pretty well. It'll be so nice to have a home and sleep in my own bed again!

So much to do with no time to do

I have been wanting to blog, but things have been so crazy lately. On Tuesday, the movers are coming to pack our stuff. Then a week after that, we'll be saying good-bye to "O! town". It's finally starting to sink in that I AM leaving soon and saying adios to friends and all the other things that have become so dear to me in this town. Last Wednesday, one of our good friends left to Utah. When we were saying good-bye, the last thing she told me was "love you." It meant so much to hear that from her. She is someone that I look up to and admire. She has the most tender heart, yet she is a strong woman. She tackles her trials with a smile and stays so positive. She is such a patient mom. I wish I had even half of her patience when dealing with my children. She is an amazing person, and so are many of girls that I met here. Each one of my good friends here is an amazing person with superb qualities. They inspire me to be a better person, and I feel so fortunate to have them as my friends and examples. I will surely miss them a lot.

I think Yuki will miss his friends as well. He used to be so shy, but he has opened up a lot. He loves to go outside and shout "De" to get his friends' attention. He loves running around with friends, riding in a push-car, and dancing around with friends. I love seeing his excited happy face when he sees his friends.

Yuki ASKED me to take this picture with S.

This is their new favorite place to play.

Yuki always says, "I want to play in bu-shes."

My princess is growing so much! She LOVES to eat! Tonight, I was feeding her baby food. She wasn't too excited about it, but when Jordan handed her some broccoli stems, she went to town with it. She was eating like a champ!!! I was so pround of her :)
She is ready to crawl. She gets on her four, and she does push-up move while wiggling her bum left to right. She scoots around quite a bit. I can't belive she is almost 9 months old. I'm sad that she is not a tiny little baby... She has been such a joy in my life. She is a sweetest girl with a cutest smile. I love her so much!

Potty training part 2

So, the second day of potty training went a lot more smooth.
He started out with a couple of accidents in the morning. When I found him with a wet underwear, I just exclaimed, "OH, NO....." and made a sad face. I was feeling pretty weary and stressed, so I cheated and put him in pull-ups. Within half hour, he had gone in the pull-ups. So, I made a sad face again, and said, "OH, NO....." Then 20 minutes later, he came up to me and told me, "Buddy doesn't go shee-shee." At first I thought he was simply telling me that he didn't need to go, but I realized he NEEDED to go when I saw him trying to pull down his undie. I guess the sad face and "oh, no" worked because next 3 hours, he stayed dry. Every 15 to 20 minutes, he would come and tell me, "Buddy doesn't go shee-shee." I was quite impressed that he got it so quickly.
Even though he did so well, he is back in his diaper today. I just couldn't do it any longer because I felt so overwhelmed. I had so many things I had to get it done, and I wasn't able to get hardly anything done while I was training him. I think I'll train him after we settle down in Japan and I think it'll work out much better for us. I'm so relieved that I don't have to run to the potty every 20 minutes!

Potty training

I could not wait to write/vent my day...
As I mentioned in my previous post, we sold the Civic. So, I don't have a car anymore. No more children's museum or Early Childhood Center for us. So, I thought, "why not potty train Yuki since I have nothing better to do!" I have been dreading this day. We purchased a potty about 3 months ago because Yuki was really interested in using a potty. He would use it here and there, but I was never mentally ready to start training him. I still wasn't ready to do it, but I felt that I should at least give it a try since we couldn't leave the house anyway. Boy, it was SO HARD!!!
First thing in the morning, I put a "big boy pants" on Yuki. He didn't seem too excited about it, but he agreed to wear it and to tell me if he had to go "shee-shee." My plan was to put him on a potty every half hour because that's what a lot of people told me to do. I set my timer. After 30 minutes, Yuki's big boy pants was already wet. So, I made him sit on the potty watching Elmo and Thomas. He sat there for almost an hour enjoying his show, and he finally went. Yay! I was so excited. I put a new underwear on him, and set my timer for 30 minutes. I was cleaning/packing when Yuki came running to tell me, "I wet." It had only been 15 minutes since the last "shee-shee." I put a new underwear on him again and asked him to tell me if he had to go. For the next hour or so, he used the potty every 15 minutes or so. Every time he went successfully, I jumped up and down, screaming "Yay!!! Good job!!!" He seemed to enjoy watching me so happy. I was thinking to myself, "He's going to get it by the end of the day. He'll easily be potty-trained in a next couple of days."
However, the next couple of hours, there were 3 more accidents. Ugh!!! oeajneidk*ewkn#kdn%keiwnd&kemd%kens (I'm not cussing. I'm just screaming...) After 4 hours of emptying and cleaning the potty(who knows how many times) and cleaning up the accidents while doing a couple of laundries, taking care of Aisa, eating/feeding lunch to 2 kids, cleaning the house and other chores, I was so done with this potty-training business. I couldn't wait to put him in a diaper and put him down for a nap. I was so drained mentally and physically. I think both Yuki and I were traumatized, and I'm so not up to doing this again tomorrow. But, I think I should try at least one more day and see how it goes.
Anyway, this blogging is quite therapeutic for me. I like it...

Miss you...

Last night, Jordan put our Civic on craigslist thinking it'll take a while to sell it. WRONG!!! So many people called today, and a handful of people came out to look at the car. Less than 24 hours after posting it on the craigslist, it's sold.

So the story goes, Jordan got in an accident in his Chevy pickup a day before our first date. He was okay, but the truck was totalled. On the first date, he came to pick me up in his sister's Civic. On the second date, he came to pick me up in his family's old beat-up Honda. On the third date, he showed up in the good looking silver Civic which we loved and enjoyed driving for the last 8 years. I learned to drive stick shift with it. We've gone to so many fun places with it-Grand Canyon, Sedona, California, Las Vegas, to name a few. I used to think Civic was such a greatest car. The car has gone through a couple of accidents and the back doors don't open from the outside. But still, Civic has been a great car for us, and Jordan is sad to depart with it. I'm a little bit sentimental too since it was our first car. This experience has reminded me that material things don't last.

While you were gone...

Jordan came home from his military training today! Yay!!! He was gone for a week, and I hope he'll share his experience on this blog. He had a really interesting experiences....sleeping on a cot, eating MREs, using communal bathroom, doing obstacle courses, etc. Before he left, I was dreading it and expecting the worst. To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I expected. The hardest part in the whole week was when I saw Jordan off at the airport. It was hard because I didn't know what it would be like to take care of the children alone for 7 days. It was also hard because Yuki loves, loves, LOVES his Dada, and he didn't understand how long Jordan would be gone. During the week, I just tried to keep busy so Yuki and I won't have time to miss him.
So, here is what we did to keep ourselves busy while he was gone:

Children's museum

Girls night out for Aisa and me while Yuki had fun hanging out with his friends, Parlee and Cooper.

Sprinkler party with friends

Making a craft at Early Childhood Center-It was Yuki's first time making a craft and he was so proud of it. He loved wearing it around.

Move over Thomas!

For the last three months, Yuki was so obsessed with Thomas the Train. Every night and nap times, he wanted to me to read the same Thomas books. All day he would talk about Thomas, recite Thomas books, and play with Thomas.

Something has changed in last few days. He has a new passion/obsession now. He loves Alphabet. He loves ABC songs. He also loves this alphabet book called, "Chika Chika Boom Boom." He recites the book so many times a day. I'm so delighted that he is interested in alphabet and is learning to recognize them!

Sunday = a day of rest

NOT!!! At least not for me today... It was quite chAotIc today.

Usually on Sundays, I get to sleep in a little while Jordan wakes up with Yuki and makes pancake breakfast. Then after the church, I take a nap while kids are napping, and Jordan cooks dinner for us.

Since Jordan was gone, I had to do it all alone. I managed to get kids ready and left the house at 10:35, but we were still 10 minutes late to church. The chapel was pretty packed and the only seats available were up front. As we walked in, it was ward business. Yuki ran up the isle. That was embarrassing enough for me, but to make the matter worse, he kept running, passed the empty seats and circled the whole chapel. When he finally came back and ran passed me, I yanked his arm and made him sit. Then the sacrament started. He sat there quietly. He knew that as soon as the sacrament was over, he'd get to eat his fruit snacks. So, he behaved very well till the sacrament was over, but as soon as he ate his fruit snacks, he started to ran around again!! I chased him, and that made the running more fun for him. So, he was laughing and screaming. I yanked his arm once again and dragged him down the isle. I was so embarrassed... This was happening in front of EVERYBODY since I was sitting in the front row. I took him out and sat in the very back seat for the rest of the meeting, but he kept running around and screaming at times. I sometimes don't know what to do with my cRazY little boy... I've never felt this much frustration during church!

At home, things weren't too bad. But then when I was making dinner, he started to pull water bottles off the shelf. He made big noises and kept yelling, "Bang! Crash!" Then, I heard him say, "Sorry, Mama. Sorry, Mama." I turned around. I saw RICE all over the kitchen floor. UGH...iendiowpw&oeo%j*kwi#wend3oe%enm!!!! Since he apologized, I couldn't get mad. All I could say was, "It's okay. We'll clean up." At least it was uncooked rice, so it wasn't sticky...

Then, I took him upstairs to bathe him, and I saw that every inch of his room was covered with toys, toys, and more toys. Is it just Yuki or does every little kid LOVES to damp everything?

I just felt like cHaoS followed me everywhere today. I'm just happy to be writing this in complete silence and peace right now while trying to ignore the fact that I still have to go and face the chaotic kitchen sink overflowing with dishes. Sigh...

*Pictures have nothing to do with the post, but I thought I'd insert them since the post itself is so boring!

First of many lasts

Last Wednesday, Yuki attended his last music time. Last two years, we've enjoyed Cherubs music time a lot. He mostly just observes while at the music time. But, at home he sings along and dances when I sing the song we learned at the music time. Some of his favorites songs are(I'm writing this as a note to myself):

• Where is ....
• The world outside my window...
• Ice cream songs
• Once there was a snowman
• Chicken dance
• Shake, shake, shake your bean bags
• Tooti tata

It's been so much fun to learn different songs together with Yuki. We'll miss music a lot.

One of Yuki's favorite parts of the music time-performing the La La song with a puppet

It's sad, but there will be a lot more lasts coming...last trip to the zoo, last walk at the garden, last hanging out with the neighbors, etc. Even though I'm so excited to go back to Japan, I'll miss it here tremendously.

Dried rice

This is the beginning of our family blog. We've had many challenging and fun experiences together. Recently we have returned from living in rural Nebraska. We lived in a small bungalow apartment and enjoyed the quiet lifestyle. When we returned back to the city, life again became fast-paced and busy. Jordan spends many hours at the hospital and clinic. One day Jordan bumped into his colleague who had just returned from our old bungalow apartment in rural Nebraska. Jordan asked his colleague how he liked the job there. His colleague replied, "The work is great, but the apartment is awful." Jordan asked, "Why?" thinking to himself, "I thought when we left the apartment we did our best to clean it." His colleague replied, "There's dried rice everywhere! I wouldn't be surprised to see rice on the kitchen floor, but to see a rice trail in the living room to the bathroom is really odd. And how the heck did rice get in the bedroom?" Later that night Jordan told the story to me and we laughed and laughed as we remembered Yuki eating his rice as he ran around the house. I thought to myself, "Follow the trail of rice and you'll find us."

P.S. Just to clarify....so you won't think we are the biggest slobs who don't even clean up after themselves. The flooring at the apartment was carpet, even in the kitchen and bathroom(Yikes!). Why didn't we just vacuum the apartment before we left? We tried, but the vacuum was broken. I tried so hard to sweep up, but obviously it didn't work...