The Jonses

Family pictures

2011-07-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

So I am backtracking a bit lol. Last October when Nash was about seven months old, we took our first family pictures since our "wedding" pictures. Why it took six years to get family pictures is beyond me. Actually, I think it large part it is due to the Navy and Jonathan's crazy schedule. At the point when we took these photos, I was already about three months pregnant with Koa at this point, so now we need to try and get some done again haha. Here is the one of all of us <3

Nash is ONE!

2011-07-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Nash the day he was born

We celebrated his birthday late lol Over a month late. It was just a crazy time around his actual birthday and so we threw his party on April 30th. We threw his bash at a local park behind the girls' school and we were joined by Belle, Sara, Lyric, Auntie Kimmy, Evan, David, Becca, Rene and Z. We had a few people with sick little ones who couldn't make it (but we made up for that later) and he had a blast with the kids and his presents. It is crazy to think that my little man is already a year old. Time flies TOO fast!

Nash when we got to the park

His cake and "smash" cakes

Starting the blog anew

2011-07-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been over a year since I have been on here. So much has happened in a year. Kenna had a birthday and is rounding up on another, Michi is now SIX! Nash had his first birthday and we added another new addition to the family <3 Nakoa Vincent. (I will blog about his arrival later) Jonathan has had ups and downs with his body medically and was facing a possible discharge (which he has avoided for now) I have begun a weight loss journey and we are facing our last year on shore duty before heading back to another four years of sea duty :( I am thinking that this will be a good outlet for a lot of my thoughts and feelings now that I am mommy to four and it should get interesting when Jonathan heads back out to sea lol Going to sit here and organize my thoughts and make a few updated posts <3

Belly Laughs and Blood Curdling Screams

2010-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

(on the floor for tummy time... found himself on his back again)

Nash is certainly a vocal lil guy. He will be three months old on the 12th... Three months. Man where did the time go? Seems like three months lasted so much longer when I was pregnant. He is growing and learning and doing really well. Most of the time he sleeps through the night. Last night was NOT one of those nights :( The one night I was exceptionally exhausted, the one night I really would have benefited from him sleeping all the way til 7:30 and he is up nearly every hour. *yikes!* Last night he was only happy being nuzzled into my chest and if I moved him, he would sleep for about fifteen minutes before he would wake up wailing like someone just smashed his lil toe with a hammer :/ the boy has got some lungs and man is he dramatic lol. Finally, I gave in and just propped pillows under various parts of my body so I could be somewhat comfortable as he lay on my chest. On the flip side of being such a fusser butt, he has also been just a ball of joy during his waking hours. He started laughing this past Saturday and his fave game seems to be his daddy sticking his feet in his face lol Nash just thinks this is absolutely hilarious! I so love watching Jonathan playing with Nash. It makes me sad for all the moments he missed with Michi, but it makes me grateful that he has the opportunity to enjoy it this time around. He has also been rolling from his tummy to his back and can nearly get back to his tummy. Soon he will be up on all fours and crawling away from me. We can have full on conversations (him cooing and gooing and thinkin he is telling us all of his deepest thoughts) and those can continue for an hour or more. I just love listening to him discover his lil voice, watching his mouth move and his expressions change as he talks back at us. According to his doc at his two month well baby, he is perfect and right on spot for his growth progression.

(play time with daddy)

There are a couple things I am concerned about, but I try not to stress about them. The doc says they are minor things and should correct themselves or will be easily corrected surgically if need be :/ The first is a lump near his left temple, it has been there since birth. You can see it in some of his pictures. To me it seems to be getting bigger, Jonathan says I am imagining it. Had I been thinking I would have mentioned it to the pediatrician when he was born, or I would have at least measured it so I would have some starting reference, but I didn't. It measured at 1cm at his two month check and they will be checking it again at his four month check. At that point the doc said they will most likely do an ultrasound on it, that it appears to be some sort of cyst. I guess if it has grown they will talk about a referral to a cosmetic surgeon to have it removed, which terrifies me. The second issue is that Nash was born with an umbilical hernia. I didn't really notice it until his umbilical cord fell off, but once that cord was gone, his lil belly button really started to protrude. According to the doctor this is quite common (though neither of the girls had it, coincidentally enough my friends daughter does and she was born two days before Nash... we joke that she is his girlfriend lol) Anyhow, they said that, too, should heal on it's own. Most kids close up on their own by the time they are three or four, but if not then it will require a simple surgical procedure. So I guess we will just have to cross those bridges when we get to them.

(what is belly button looks like when he isn't upset lol)

In the meantime, we are just trying to enjoy the joys of having a baby in the house again. Adjusting to all diaper changes and deciphering the cries and having to and wanting to spend a lot of time carrying around a lil bitty again :)

My Big Girl

2010-04-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it... today we signed our baby girl up for kindergarten. YIKES! We woke up and had breakfast with daddy (he had today off since he worked so late last night) and headed over to the kinder/1st grade campus. We get there and parking is nil, so I send Jonathan in with Nash and Michi to get signed in and head to the overflow parking lot. I get a fairly good spot and head back to the school, walk in and find a madhouse lol it was loud in that cafetorium for sure. Michi has a little orange paper butterfly pinned to her shirt with her name on it and Jonathan has already grabbed a packet of paperwork to fill out. We find a spot and sit, and the opening presentation begins. After a few speakers, they start grouping kids up to go on a bus ride around the neighborhood, a tour of the school, some sit down time in a classroom to get a feel for the routine and then back to the cafetorium for snacks. At first Michi looked at us like we were crazy when we told her she was going to have to go off with a strange adult and a group of kids she didn't know lol. But she finally reluctantly followed her group and group leader (as I stared after her anxiously... Jonathan laughed at me and said "don't worry, babe, she's fine" and I knew this. But that was my baby I was watching leave with a group of people we have never met, and i saw flashes of the first day of school haha) Jonathan and I began filling out our stack of papers and it all seemed very redundant, many of them asking for the same information over and over again. Finally, we got through it and then I stood in line to turn it all in along with her documents. At long last, I get to the front and turn it all in and I get back to my seat where I start getting anxious for Michi to return... not because I was anxious to leave or anything, but because I was worried about how she was doing. Soon I see her group come through the door and she is absolutely beautiful. My little garden nymph (as every one likes to call her) is frolicking along with her group- happy and excited and absolutely glowing. She has really blossomed out of her shy little shell. She picks a seat at the table so she can sit down and have her snack, and I catch her looking over her shoulder at me with the hugest grin on her face. I wish I could bottle that feeling I get when she gives me that smile. And all at once I feel a flood of so many emotions that it takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to tear up and start bawling right there in the middle of all of those people I don't know. My little Michi Peach is a big girl now, and it seems to have happened over night :( I still can't believe my baby will be starting school in fall. All I can hope is that Jonathan will be able to go with us on the first day of school, as he missed that with kenna *sigh* Here is to one more huge step into the future. My kids are growin faster than I can keep up, it seems.

Got swept away

2010-04-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

I really need to get better at this blogging deal lol. I guess I sort of just get swept up in daily life and the easier things like getting lost in facebook and my beloved MSSN (for those of you who don't know what MSSN is, it is a military spouse support site that I have been a member of for nearly three years now... it has been my saving grace thru a lot of deployments and other trials I have dealt with since being wife to a Navy man) anyhow, a lot has happened since I last posted. A lot of friends have had babies, a lot of friends have found out they were pregnant, a few friends have lost babies (which just shreds my heart to pieces), Makenna has continues to do amazingly in school, Michi continues to floor me with her intelligence despite not having any experience with formal schooling, and my little man arrived.

I am not entirely sure when I last wrote, or what I wrote about, but I know it was something that may have seemed important to me at the time lol (i sure hope it was something important) But in the past month or so I have really had time to reflect on how truly blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband who loves and supports me, he is there for me through all of my emotional ups and downs, he is there for me when I need him to be the strong one. He is my best friend and I am truly thankful to have him in my life. I have two beautiful little girls who I am so proud of... I am still amazed that I am their mother haha. and now I have been graced with this beautiful little boy who has just stolen my heart... Just when I thought I couldn't possibly have any more love to give, another lil one comes into my life and just proves that love grows and grows and grows.

I truly realized what an amazing man I had married when I gave birth to our son. The entire pregnancy should have brought that to my attention... heck the last six years we have been together should have haha... but it all came to a head when I was in labor this time. This entire pregnancy, I had it in my head that I wanted to go the all natural route. I didn't want to have to sit there and wait for feeling to return to my body before I could get up and clean myself up. I didn't want to HAVE to rely on someone to help me to the toilet or the shower or to get the baby out of the bassinet. I am very independent by nature so getting "waited" on makes me uncomfortable lol

The morning my water broke was insane. I was two days from my due date and we had been at the hospital til nearly 2 am that nite because Jonathan finally listened to me and went in to get his foot checked out. He was in such pain, he was complaining constantly, and if you know my husband, you know he is not a complainer. So indeed, he is injured and ultimately ends up on crutches and in an air cast. But back to the story at hand. We finally get to bed around 3 am only to turn around and wake up at 4:45 when his alarm went off to wake him for work. I got up to help him and to make sure he had everything he needed to take with him (paperwork from the hospital, lunch, etc) and I send him off with the usual "love you, drive safe" and a kiss. Shortly after he left, I hit the bathroom to tinkle and then I stand in the doorway to the bathroom contemplating... food... or more sleep... sleep won. lol I waddle back to bed and just as I am adjusting my nest of pillows, I felt lil man give a big kick and then a gush.... holy wow, that was strange! I have never had my water break like that... with Kenna it broke while she was crowing... with Michi, they broke my water for me. So I laid there for a split second thinking "what the heck am I supposed to do???" I nearly panicked. I called Jonathan, by this time he was just pullin up to base and I told him since he was already there to go ahead and turn in his papers for his foot and let his chief know what was going on at home, then I called the neighbor. She freaked. lmao she insisted she had to get me to the hospital asap so I called Jon back and told him to just meet us there. I get to the hospital, my friend sees me to l&d and then heads back to the house to take care of the girls for me (yet another amazing person I am blessed to have in my life) I am sitting in l&d triage, the nurse comes in, hooks me up, the doc comes in, checks me... indeed, water is ruptured. and then I hear crutches in the hall. My hubs comes hobbling in, still in his bdu's and looking exhausted. He asks if I ate anything and I tell him I haven't so he proceeds to sneak me bits of his pop tarts (lol at this point I am no longer allowed to eat which I think is just ridiculous, but whatever) They move me to my room and by then I had already dilated to 6cm and things were moving right along. I made my requests for an unmedicated birth and made sure they knew I wanted to avoid pitocin if at all possible. I sign all the papers I need to sign and I had an awesome nurse who advised us that it would be wise for jon to go home asap and get whatever we needed since we obviously left the house in a hurry lol and off went Jon to grab the camera, a change of clothes for himself, the car seat and some snacks for himself.

He gets back (ultimately forgetting the camera rofl) and I am talking and laughing thru contractions. (this labor was extremely easy compared to the girls) shortly thereafter they check me again and I am 8 and it had only been 10 hrs since my water broke, but the doctor in charge (wherever he was cause he never once came into my room) didn't like the look of my contractions and wanted them to be more "regular" **rolls eyes** so he insists on starting pitocin and i just roll with it. They start me on a very low dose and immediately it kicks things up more than just a notch. I was still able to grit my teeth and breathe through the pain, though and Jonathan was there holding my hand and getting me wet washcloths for my head and neck. At some point of of the nurses or doctors that came in and out upped my pitocin again and holy wow the contractions were coming back to back. I seriously didn't even have time to catch my breath in between anymore. At this point I am in tears, whimpering to Jonathan that they were trying to break me, that they were trying to KILL me and that I changed my mind, I wanted the epidural lol he just looked at me and said, "baby, you can do this... you CAN... you have come this far, don't let them break you" so for the next half an hour or so he sits there grinding his fist into my back with every contraction as I cry for him to just punch me in the back to help relieve the pain. The nurse comes in to check on me and I tell her I am feeling an immense amount of pressure but I wasn't sure if it was from all my muscles tensing up with the constant contractions or if it was the actual pressure of the baby coming down, so she checks me and I am ready to go. Baby was doing fantastic... Mommy, not so much... I was breaking down. The pain was enormous. Thank heavens it only took three sets of three pushes... fifteen minutes and he was out. It was intense, but my wonderful hubby, love of my life, was there urging me, pushing me through, telling me I could do it. He stayed strong and pushed me, when I couldn't be strong anymore. He got me through an unmedicated labor with a 9lb 13oz baby. He is truly my strength when I don't have any more will. I only had a few small labial tears that got stitched up as I was suckin up oxygen from the oxygen mask. Jonathan was crying tears of I don't know... love, joy, pride. He seemed to be glued to my side even though I kept urging him to stay with the baby because I was fine <3 I love that man with all my being.

So after that, things were pretty mellow, we were kept in the hospital for 48 hours just to make sure everything was ok with me and the boy. He had a bit of a heart murmur in the beginning but it cleared up on it's own. They didn't want to make us come all the way back to the hospital for his two day old check up, so that is another reason they kept us. When we finally went to left, I ended up pushing jonathan in a wheelchair as he held the baby, poor guy was still on a bum foot after all and I was feeling great lol.

We get home and the girls are absolutely smitten. I was afraid of how they would be, especially Michi since she was the baby... but they are both wonderful with him. Makenna totes him around the house when he freaks out and doesn't want to chill in his swing (if mommy holds him he tends to think it is feeding time even when its not lol) and michi helps with diaper and wardrobe changes <3 and then amidst my awe for this beautiful little miracle, I am in awe of my girls.... how grown up they suddenly seem. Makenna has been turning to quite the lil lady for a while now... but it seems like Michi went from baby to big girl overnite. My heart just wants to explode with the overflowing love I have for my family... I just can't believe how much God has blessed me with... what have I done to deserve this wonderful life of mine???

oh the joys of pregnancy and motherhood

2009-11-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

Between the girls and this pregnancy, sleep is a word in my distant past... a faint whispy memory of something I used to enjoy. I sit here every nite and listen to the silence... the the slow steady breathing of my hubby, the soft baby breathing of Michi... and listen to the sounds of Makenna shifting in her bed upstairs. And here I sit at 2 am, unable to get comfortable, exhausted and wishing sleep would just take me, and somehow knowing it won't... until shortly before the lil ones come in to wake me for the day. blah. I guess it's a good thing... let's call it preparation for a newborn lol

My friends

2009-05-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Never fail me when I am down... how totally blessed am I to have such a wonderful bunch of friends.... without them, I'd be just another navy wife... with them, I am a CRAYCEE navy wife who sits in her living room and laughs out loud along with her friends as long as we were all in the same room again.... aye wey!!!! te quiero mucho mis amigas! I can't thank you enough for being you!!!

Busy times in VA.

2009-05-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

So I am lovin it here so far... the weather is crazy, hotter than heck and then rainin with thunder and lightning, it's amazing.... i love my house, though i wish there was more storage room lol. I love the neighbors and Kenna is loving her school. Michi has really blossomed here, she is talkin up a storm and isn't nearly as shy as she used to be (though she does have moments) and all is well. Jonathan is still away at school :( We only have about a month left **fingers crossed** it goes by quickly. I have made a lot of progress with makin the house a home, been takin the girls as many places as possible on the lil bit of money we have to live on til everything gets settled, and been hangin out with my Nee and Aiden, how blessed am I to have one of my besties here <3 I will post pix just as soon as I have a moment to sit still and get em all up, will prolly do them tonite since I will have new ones of Makenna at her first music recital here in our new place of residence.

What in the world!

2009-04-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

A tornado warning in Virginia! Well the weather got pretty crazy, but thankfully the Verizon guy showed up, the vonage got hooked up after an hour and a half on the line with tech support and my wireless is working impecably! The tornado nevery blew thru, but we got a lot of rain A TON of wind and lots and lots of big gray clouds.... it is fun stuff, this east coast weather! lmao

Life in Virginia!!!

2009-04-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I have blogged, so I figured I would roll on by and post and update. Well, there are plenty of updates since we have left Japan, a lot has happened. lol

For now I will update on life here in VA and leave the leave in Cali and the roadtrip across the continent for another time. :o)

Well, Virginia... We are now living in Virginia Beach, VA and it has been lovely so far. The weather was awesome coming into the state... lots of awesome rain and wind... for some reason, I am a loon and LOVE to drive in the rain **hides** So anyhow, it was rainy and windy for the first few days, chilly, but not like we were unaccustomed to it... we got PLENTY of that in Japan ;o) We got a mini tour of VA as we drove thru Suffolk to get to our landlords house to pick up the keys to our new place!!! She had offered to come out and meet us in VA Beach but Suffolk is a lil ways south of where we live now and I didn't want to make her go all the way out to our house to meet us when we had to drive by her neck o'the woods anyway... so we found her house thanks to trusty GPS and then made our way to our new home. First, we stopped at walmart cuz we realized we were going to need A LOT of things such as pillows, blankets, candles for light since our electricity couldn't be turned on til the next day (stupid circuit breaker had been on when they went to start the electricity blah) and food/drinks... yes, we had been living on the bare minimum during the drive lol. We left Walmart after dropping a hefty sum of money and then we wet home... it was late, dark, and still raining!!! We unlocked the door, the girls decided to wander the dark house and check out what they could lol, as they did that Jonathan and I unloaded the car of our new wares and our pile of suitcases haha. Finally, we were done with the car, locked 'er up and came inside... only to realize that we wouldn't be able to inflate our nifty new airbed thanks to the lack of electricity :o( bummer!!! I was resigned to sleeping on the floor... hey, at least there is carpet! but Jonathan decided to slink next door and "borrow" the neighbors electricity via their outdoor outlet **hiding** I guess I have no room to talk, I was surfing the web on a borrowed WiFi lmao

Since our ginormous air bed was finally inflated, we made it up with the new bed in a bag i had picked up and Jon and I joined the girls in meemees time. We awoke not so bright and early the next day to ELECTRICITY!!! woot!!! apparently we were so dead asleep we didn't even hear the Electic Company come thru the side gate and into our backyard to turn on our service... either way, we were STOKED! first thing we did was take HOT showers and the girls got their bath. From there, we headed out (rather late) to pick up my brand new car!!! What an ordeal that was. We had to go pick up papers from the dealership, take em to the DMV only to find out they needed proof we lived where we said we lived (and a childsupport check was not sufficient evidence... bastards) so luckily we were back down in suffolk and only ten minutes from our landlords, so we were able to get a copy of our lease and get my temp plates and headed back to the dealership.... five minutes later we were rollin' out in my new whip! rofl easy as pie... (you should check out my key...the thing is CRAZY!!! I will post pix later in a highlight lol) So yeah, that was our fun friday! Then we got to see my renee!!! YAY! and aiden! I have missed them so! she spent most of the weekend with us, which I loved! It is so good to have my Renee back close!

The weekend went pretty smoothly, got a bunch of stuff that we needed for the house and whatnot... then the movers came with our household goods bright and early Monday morning! Lucky for us, Jonathan had gotten up super early to go to base to get decals, only to find out his registration card was missing! yikes! and that they couldn't give him any :o( So then we had to send kiki and Petey on a mad hunt for it (still hasn't been found but he was able to get his decals thank heavens, cuz the plates have the correct mo and year) anyways, back to the HHG.. the movers were awesome, they worked quickly and efficiently and we got to the organizing and unpacking once they were gone. Also found out my grandpa Tracy passed away Monday morning, most likely while the movers were here :o( may he rest in peace... I am blessed that Jonathan and I were able to take the girls to visit with him while we were in Cali. As for the unpacking, we got a majority of it done, but we were trying to relax and enjoy our last week together. Got Makenna signed up for school last Wednesday and she LOVES it, thank heavens, and she is looking forward to me signing her up for the bus... she is getting to big to have mommy drop her off, I guess, Ms.Independent. Thursday, we found out his pay was messed up, tried to take care of that, but couldn't and so we had to sit on that til he got to school. Got the decals for his car and my temp pass for mine (no permanent plates, so no permanent decals) we were good to go!!!

This past Saturday (March 28th) Jonathan got in his car and drove off for Chicago to attend C school... After many tears and hugs and kisses he left our drive way some time in the early afternoon. We were in touch via cell for the entire drive, and he arrived at his base around 0500 Sunday (29th). We got another bomb dropped on us, his room was not available and he had to stay in the lodge... at a whopping 48 bucks a nite (remember, we are broke due to pay issues) and luckily he finds out he gets per diem for his stay in the barracks on top of our bah for VA so everything should work out just fine now. Our internet is slower than mud (50-100 kb/sec YUCK) and so I wasted two days in a row waiting for their field tech to show up and he stood me up both days... by now I had cabin fever, I was beyond livid with Verizon (the weather has been GORGEOUS and we missed two days of it), I was stressed about the pay issues, I was missing my hubby and in desperate need of some peace and quiet which the girls were obviously not going to give me and so I had a bit of a breakdown... Thankfully for me, Renee came to my rescue and the girls and I spent the nite at her house this past Friday. We spent half of the day together Saturday, and then I brought the girls home to enjoy the rest of Saturday so she could go enjoy some time with her hubby and Aiden....

That brings us to Sunday... today... it was a glorious day... the sun was out, it was warm, slight breeze, it was lovely. I washed my car, after the crazy weather and birds (eew) it needed a bath... I washed it, dried it, cleaned up the garage a bit. Made lunch for the girls and myself and we watched movies... then they went out to play and I put together the bunk beds and tidied up both of their rooms. Now they are bathed and it is bedtime so they will be headed to bed and i will be working on cleaning up the rest of the downstairs area and folding the mountain of clean laundry that is sitting upstairs in the loft lol I hope you all enjoyed my lil update... hopefully next time I update, I will have more to say of Virginia itself ;o)

The time is nearing

2009-01-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

For us to leave Japan :( I am still sad that we are going to be leaving, but I am stoked that things seem to be falling into place. Our stuff was picked up on the 7th and 8th of January and we have been living with our futon a few end tables and the loaner furniture lol Surprisingly enough, it still feels somewhat like home, perhaps because its been home for so long??? Whatever the reason, I am glad it does not feel as UNhomely as it did when we first got here and had the loaner furniture.

We have a condo lined up, it is in a good neighborhood, good schools for the kids, nice yard for them and the pup when we get it, close to Jonathans work <3 it is perfect, and I can't wait to get there. The owner said we are welcome to paint any colors we want, which I am THRILLED about.... AND turns out she works at the same base Jonathan will be at.... so he won't be completely alone there, which makes me happy.... he is painfully shy so I am worried, but at least this way perhaps he will have a friendly face passing by every now and again, or someone to go to lunch with or something. And she and her hubby are dual military and so they will only be living about twenty minutes from us and she is helping the girls and me get settled in while Jonathan is away at school! WOOT!

I finally got the car sold! YES! the car is still with me and will be until the ship returns, as it is one of Jonathans shipmates and wifey who are buying the car from us. But they will need to use our car to go take the manual test :) Iam stoked to finally have that task out of the way.

Lets see, what else, I did our tax return all by my lonesome and efiled it and everything. I am stoked about that. I am working on getting Jonathans cruiser paid off and working on stockpiling in the savings acct. So far, it is going well

The kids are doing amazingly well with the transitions.... Michi had a bit of a rough time watching them take our stuff away, and she had some bad dreams the first few days with the loaner furniture and lack of selection in dvds, but she is doing better. The girls are in love with the portable dvd players that jonathan and I bought for them. And I have been sumplementing the movies that Jonathan kept behind with a few new ones, just to add some variety for them ;) Makenna has lost yet another tooth, she got two dollars from the tooth fairy :-D She is looking forward to the new house and of course they are both excited that daddy and mommy promised a puppy.

Unfortunately, while all this good is going on in our lives, tough times are falling on my family. My mother just got laid off and I am so worried about her and my dad. More my mom, because I know this worry and stress can't be good for her already high blood pressure... Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, that she will find a new job in this weakened economy... as always, thank you for reading my ramblings. I know I have not updated in a while but things have been so hectic. Lots of love to all!

Here we go again!!!

2008-11-17T00:39:00.000-08:00

A giant let down. My hopes have once again been dashed by my husbands homecoming schedule changing. Just when we are getting to the countdown. Just a few more days, just a lil while longer... BUT NO!!! Once again they are messing with a collective group's emotions and it just isnt right. I truly don't understand why it seems like we are down to the wire and they rip it away... why not let us know up front, instead of having us start a countdown and being forced to start over again...

living life by email.

2008-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

I remember there was a time where Jonathan and I were in constant contact via phone multiple times a day, just to say hi, or "I love you" or to see how the other was doing (back then he was commuting to San Diego from LA and often spent days at a time on the ship). We thought that was rough. Since coming to Japan, I have found myself living my day to day life listening to the saved msgs on the answering machine just to remember his voice and sitting next to my computer as if it needed to be babysat. Most days I am lucky and get to recieve emails that vaguely resemble a conversation, but other days I don't hear anything at all... and then there are times where I don't hear from him for two or more days, and those are the days I realize I have to rip myself away from the computer (and the house) to keep myself from going crazy. I used to love having email, it was always a pleasant surprise to see an email from a friend or family member I hadnt talked to in a while, now it's like a drug, calling to me, keeping me up all hours of the night, causing me to feel down and a little bit lonely when I see there are no new messages **sigh** I can't wait for shore duty.

The wonders of shopping on base.

2008-11-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

Seems as how we are very limited here as far as shopping venues, it makes it tough to truly bargain shop. You have the off base stores, where if you know where to look and you have the time, you can get awesome deals... otherwise, it is not always the best choice. Then you have the NEX and the commissary on base. Depending on what you are looking to get, if you catch the sales at the right time, you can get killer steals. You learn that the best place to get diapers and razors and other toiletries is the NEX, but you skip the snax, foods, and the sort cuz that is cheaper at the commissary... even batteries are cheaper at the commissary for some reason**shrug** I just went shopping at the kids store in the NEX today, got the girls some new winter outfits for the sudden cold wave that hit... and spent almost 188 dollars **choke** but i suppose it could have been worse. Then I had to go to the other part of the NEX and get the pullups, wipeys and razors and spent another 27 bucks. Then I needed a new card for the cell phone and that was 30 big ones, and I was contemplating my grocery list and figured I would keep myself safe by pulling out 100 cash from the atm... what do you know, I went spend crazy at the NEX but I kicked arse at the commissary lol. I spent 77 bucks and got everything I needed... only I ended up tipping the baggers 12 bucks (it was for charity they were running a fund raiser) so now I have ten bucks left in my pocketbook ;) all in all it wasn't a bad trip.... but then I indulged and ordered 30 dollars worth of novels for jon and myself haha. Online shopping is the other route to take... sometimes you can truly save AND get exactly what you want by taking that road!!! Just had to share what I was contemplating in my overly tired head. I haven't slept in over 24 hours :o0

Sad but inevitable endings, and semi-bright, all too quickly approaching beginnings

2008-11-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

The end of our first tour as a Navy family is fast approaching.... and to that i say, NO!!! NOT YET! I have no idea why, but I am as reluctant to leave Japan, as I once was to come here :(

I must admit I was filled with fear, anxiety and uncertainty when I first left my home state of California on a huge 777 bound for Tokyo, Japan. Do you blame me? I had never left the state for more than a week, and NEVER to another country. Cali was basically all I had ever known, minus what I had seen on television (and let me just say that tv just DOES NOT do Japan any justice) But however intimidated I was by what the future held for me and my young family, I was more than over the top excited to know that my beloved would be waiting there at the airport when the children and I arrived. The flight was gonna be a long one. Thank heavens Michiko was two months old and in love with sweet blissful sleep. Makenna, well... she was four, impatient and excited to see her daddy. It was all I could do to keep her in her seat. Bless the person who came up with the idea for in flight entertainment in the form of a small tv screen mounted in the headrest of the seat in front of each passenger that we could control with a click of our lil remote... gloriously playing an ever looping array of cartoon network programs. She finally nodded off and with as sleepy as I was, there was not much chance for me to even close my eyes, let alone catch a nap. Between fears much like that Jodie Foster movie where her child disappears on the plane and not a soul has seen or remembers seeing her **jaw drops** to the thoughts racing thru my mind about life in Japan, it was nearly impossible to quiet the shouts in my brain long enough to do anything other than let them overwhelm me.

Much to my surprise the flight did not last nearly as long as I thought it would (it's amazing how quickly a 12 hour flight ends) I remember waking kenna up, being unbelievably apologetic that not only had she spilled her glass of sprite in her seat, but she had also tinkled in her sleep ((shoot me now)) and yet the flight attendants had been understanding and so unbelievably kind and helpful. They helped me gather up my five carry on bags (diaper bag, kenna's backpack full of goodies, my backpack with my snax for the bottomless pit known as kenna, my canvas tote with every important document you could imagine, and the mesh bag full of baby toys, teething rings, etc) my children, one of whom was still fast asleep surfing thru dream land in her carrier, and the sleepy four year old who had woken up in a foul mood and what whinning all the way about her wet skirt **sigh** they helped me as far as they could and helped me retrieve my stroller from last minute baggage call and then I piled what I could into that :) then I hit the baggage claim...

OH.MY.GOODNESS. how in the world had I managed two huge duffle bags, two huge suitcases and two medium ones thru the airport in Los Angeles. Oh, that's right, family had helped me. Here I was in Tokyo, I was all alone, except for my two month old and my four year old, and she was helping as much as she could with the stroller full of empty baby carrier (I had moved the baby to my sling) and the five carry on as I pushed two extremely heavy baggage carts all on my own to customs. There a kind soul helped me to fill out my paper work and pushed my extremely overpiled carts to the other side.... and again... I was on my own... grrr.... after much work getting it all up a ramp that never seemed to end, I could see a opening and on the other side, tons of anxious family members waiting with anticipation for their loved ones... and they were ALLLLLLL Japanese. I didn't see Jonathan anywhere. My heart sank, had he forgotten? had ne not been able to make it? how was I going to get home.... where WAS home???!!! I was in such panic mode and my already exhausted brain was whirring outta control to the point that i thought my brain might literally explode... and then I caught sight of him. He looked beautiful... like a greek god illuminated by a light that seemed to shine from the heavens. As our eyes met and I burst into tears, some kind Japanese airport attendant had grabbed my other baggage cart and helped me wheel to my hubby. Our flight had arrived late so I didn't even get to relish in the embrace of my love before we were rushing off to catch the bus.

As the bus drove us to Yokosuka, I drifted in and out of sleep, I watched the sites as we passed, I stared at Jonathan as we chatted wanting to breath in every part of him. We finally got to the base and I was ready for a shower and a bed... it seemed like every possible obstacle hit us on the way but we had finally gotten to our room with all of our belongings and I got seven blissful days with my sweetpea before he and his ship left me and our children all alone to get situated in a new apartment on a new base in a new country. Those first few months had been hell... straight up hell.... our pay was messed up, michi was in a horribly terrifying accident, my husband was gone and couldn't even put his arms around me and tell me it was gonna be ok... and somehow I made it thru.

The next three years to follow were full of happiness, sadness, excitement, awe, a touch of anger and frustration here and there. So much love it is crazy.... good friends... and not so good friends. I have been on such an emotional roller coaster since the second I stepped foot off of that plane, and it seems to endear this country to my heart that much more. They say if your marriage, you and your spouse can make it thru a tour in Japan, you can make it thru anything. I am beginning to see why they say that and I whole heartedly agree. I have gone thru days where I have wanted nothing more than to jump on a plane and head home, there have been days I have cried while I hoped, begged... prayed that my husband would miraculously walk thru the door even though the ship was in the middle of the ocean and I knew better. There were days where I have just gulped in the sweetness and the awesomeness that is Japan... and I have fallen in love with the country, the people, the customs... the launguage... my heritage. And now it is like a second home to me, and I don't want to leave home again **cry** I have seen so much and yet there is still so much left to be seen. I am positive that someday we will once again get the opportunity to call Japan "home" and I can't wait!!!!

I am very much trying to stay positive about what lies ahead of us. I have roughly three months to get my ducks in a row before we toss ourselves into a whole new world. I am bracing for the culture shock of returning to the states, which I personally think will be much harder than the "culture shock" of coming to a new country. I am stoked that I will have one of my best friends awaiting my arrival at our new duty station. I am actually quite ready to see her since it wasn't so long ago that I had been dropping her off at the airport and crying my bloody eyes out like I was losing her for good. Looking back, I remember that feeling as if it had just happened yesterday. And now, it will be me and my family driven to the airport by one of my nearest and dearest friends, and it will be me walking away to get on a plane... and I wonder how many times in my life my heart will have to endure saying goodbye to my closest friends, my battle buddies... my confidants.... The thing I am grateful for, and the thought that keeps me from bursting into tears on a daily basis, is the knowledge that these are friends that will forever be in my life and it isn't goodbye, it is merely "see ya later" and they will always be there for me, just like they have been there for all the many ups and downs during my short time in this country that means so much to me.

I am looking forward to vacation home, I am anxioulsy awaiting the leave time with my husband who has spent 90% of his last three and some years with his navy family and a mere 10% of it with us. I am reveling in the thought that for the next three or so years after arriving back in the states, Jonathan and I will live a semi normal life with decent work hours, nightly dinners, movie nites, weekends to kick around if that is what tickles us, or exploring the wonderful historical lands we will be living in.... learning a new religion that has lighted a fire within me and that I think may finally be what my soul has been searching for, teaching michi how to ride her big girl bike TOGETHER, taking kenna to sports practice (since she has decided she wants to throw herself into everything possible) switching off on helping with homework, for once jon will be there for first days of school, birthdays, holidays and anniversaries <3 first steps, first teeth, first everythings he has missed with so far... he will be able to partake in all the joys that have made me realize how truly blessed I am and how wonderful my life is... I am one of the lucky ones... and I simply could not ask for more.

As I look to the future... I am not sure what it will bring, and it scares the pee outta me... but as long as I have my family and my friends, I say bring it on!!!! here is to the past, for teaching me that there are things greater in this life than me and my ego, to the present for treating me so kindly and to the future, may it be a long, happy road that I am able to travel with my soul mate, my children and my beloved friends and extended family. blessed be!!!