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...