Just One of Those Days

Most days I feel like I generally have it all together. Yesterday was not one of those days.

The week had been rolling along great, even while "holding down the fort" with my 5 week old and 2 year old while Tommy was in the States doing some training this week.  I was looking forward to Saturday because we had an Easter Egg Hunt in the morning and a birthday party in the afternoon, and I knew Wyatt would have a fun day!

The morning started off with Wyatt waking up even earlier than usual - 5:45 a.m.! At which point he proceeded to wake up Olivia. So fabulous - both kids up even before the crack of dawn.  After some time we all ventured downstairs, and things started to get a little out of control.

One would think with 4 hours before the Egg Hunt I would be able to get out the door and there on time.  Oh contrare, mon frair!  Not so.  I did manage to get both kids fed and dressed and talk to Tommy on the phone.  I took a shower and meantime, Olivia started screaming because she was hungry (again) and had gas.  I needed to pump so I had something to feed Olivia at the Egg Hunt, so fed her and pumped at the same time and things went downhill.

Wyatt decided to come upstairs and "help" me with the pump.  He turned it up all the way and I thought my nipple was going to twist off.  Then as he was moving away he tripped on the lines to the pump and it pulled off my boob.  Olivia was once again screaming, both boobs were dripping milk, and Wyatt was on the ground trying to untwist his legs from the mess.  He got up and spied the gift bag for the birthday party later that day and made a beeline.  Tissue paper everywhere.  Go play in your room for the love of Pete! He looked at me like I ran over the cat. Sweet.  Now I made him feel bad.

I finished feeding Olivia and this must have relaxed her enough to get out aforementioned gas. There I am, with a kid attached to one boob and the pump on the other, and bam! Poop everywhere. Out of nowhere.  Well, out of her butt, I guess.  Apparently it is time to move up to Size 1 diapers because the Newborn ones aren't holding it all in.  Swell.

I get her cleaned up and go talk to Wyatt. We kiss and make up.  I run around gathering up necessary supplies for the morning outing - bottles, diapers, underwear, extra clothes, purse, keys, diaper bag, stroller, blanket, Easter basket... and am exhausted before we even leave the door. As I am doing so, I knock over the bottle of milk that I had just spent the last 15 minutes pumping. Seriously!!!  Every drop of breastmilk is like a nugget of gold to me. I worked hard for that milk!  Crap.

I finally think we'll be out the door and then Wyatt pooped in his pants. Or rather, in his pants, in his underwear, up his back, and then on his legs and socks when he proceeded to take off said clothing. I think I used half a box of wipes cleaning everything up. Olivia is once again crying, and at this point I realize we're going to be late.  You all know how much I like to be late. And my house now smells like poop upstairs and downstairs.

Eventually we get to the egg hunt and we made it before they started. Can you imagine if we had gotten there and it was over? Wyatt would've had a coniption fit.  So we walk down this embankment (read: steep hill) to get to the start of the egg hunt. I'm holding Olivia and have Wyatt's hand in the other. Wyatt sees the eggs and starts pulling me, he is so excited.  Slow down, buddy, don't pull on Mommy!!!  Crap. I totally bit the dust. I fall down on my behind and slide a few feet down the hill.  People turn and look, gasping because I'm holding the baby. She's fine, but I have approximately 40 people staring at me wondering who Mother of the Year is.

Wyatt sees I am okay, sees the Easter Eggs, and takes off.  Let me rephrase. He sprints toward the colorful Easter Eggs laying in the grass just ahead, and starts screaming with joy and picking up the eggs. All the other kids are waiting patiently at the start line with their parents. I am running behind him screaming, Wyatt, stop, it's not time yet! He ignores me and has 3 eggs in his basket by the time I reach him.  Again, 40 people and kids staring at me.  I am totally mortified!  Did I mention these are all people from our unit?  They are probably wondering, who is this nut job falling down the hill with the out of control kid? Good times.

To top things off, we went to the post office on the way home and I got a letter from the "customer relations" department from the Virginia Dept. of Taxation.  I am the lucky winner to be chosen for a tax AUDIT!  Sweet. This is what I get for changing my residency by using the new Military Spouse Residency Relief Act.  I don't have anything to hide, so fine, Audit me...

The day improved greatly after that (read: nap time) and we had a great time at the birthday party. Wyatt told me, "I had fun today, momma. I just picked up the Eggs and put them in my basket!" Yes. Yes, you did, buddy.  More than once. :)

Things I am Thankful For

Most people don't realize what they've got until they lose it. Fortunately for me, life in the Marine Corps doesn't allow you that "ignorance is bliss" mentality. I know full well what I've got, and I'm serious when I say that I am thankful for it every day.  Every day that I go to sleep with my husband by my side - instead of in some Godforsaken desert like Iraq or Afghanistan - I think how lucky I am that he is here with our two beautiful kids.

The past couple of weeks I would say I have had my first case of true homesickness. I think it's the combination of baby hormones, my grandfather passing away, Tommy leaving, among other things. It's funny to me though that we've lived here for 5 months and I'm just now dealing with this, but I guess it affects everyone differently at different times.  All the more reason to remember everything I have in my life and what I am thankful for!

Here are just some of those things I am thankful for:

- The roof over my head.  I've lived in nicer houses... ones without friendly creatures like ants or cockroaches and mold, but I've never been happier in my entire life.  This move to Japan has taught me it's not what you have, it's who you have in your life. After we received our "big" shipment of belongings, I wondered why we even needed this stuff since we had survived for almost 3 months without it all.
- Bladder control.  Overheard in the ICU this weekend by the woman with pneumonia next to us: "Every time I cough I lose my bladder."  I immediately began doing Kegel exercises!
- Our overall good health.  A corpsman at the hospital this weekend told me they just released a man who was on 39 different medications because he was injured in training, life-flighted to Hawaii, and during transfer to Okinawa was accidentally dropped on the tarmac. I forget how many different bones they told me were broken.  Then he waited for 2 months until a flight was available that could take him back to the States in his current medical condition.
- Friends who are family, and family who are friends. I appreciate every single e-mail, letter, card, blog comment, package, phone call, playdate, babysitting assistance, and Facebook comment of support from those near and far that make it seem that I am not quite sooooo far away. If you are reading this blog, you are likely one of those people... so thank you for being part of my life and for helping me along my journey in Japan!

Never a Dull Moment...

It's a good thing we only live 3 blocks from the hospital, because I've spent more time in that place since we moved here than I don't know where!

Thursday Olivia woke up from her nap and was burning up.  I took her temp and it was 101.7.... of course we all jumped in the car and went to the ER.  Long story short, they ended up admitting her to the hospital for 3 days as is directed by some American Pediatrics guideline. Since she is less than 30 days old they had to, in an effort to rule out bacterial infections like meningitis, etc.  They did a full workup, which included IV medication, a spinal tap (!), blood draw, etc. They checked the cultures after 48 hours and everything was negative so they let us go home this morning.  Her fever is gone and she is doing fine - they thing it was just a viral infection she caught from one of us.

I am thankful and grateful that she is doing well and that the doctors are cautious and took the necessary precautions.  However, the hospital experience was not a whole lot of fun.  The ICU we were in on the first 24 hours was an open sick bay... I am not kidding... picture the TV show MASH and there you go.  After the first day they transfered us to a regular room.  They allowed me to stay with her the whole time so I could be with her and continue feeding her.  She tolerated 3 blown IV's and multiple other stickings to get the IVs in (at which point I said ENOUGH), all the baby monitors for heart, breathing, oxygen, etc. and about 42 thermometers up her butt to take rectal temps every like 20 minutes.  Again, I realize the process was necessary, but it was hard to see her enduring all of that.  Me and one nurse in particular did not see eye to eye on things so it was a long couple of days.

That's all for now.  We were released this morning just in time for me to drive Tommy to the aiport. He flew out this morning for a week-long training in California.  Here's hoping me & the kids keep our sanity this week!

HUGE thanks to Jen & Kyle for (once again) helping us out with Wyatt when she was admitted and again when she was discharged.  We couldn't ask for better friends!

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, yes, it's Thursday here. But this "event" took place on Wednesday, and most of my readers are in the States and it is still technically Wednesday there.  So, I feel I have the right to still call this post Wordless Wednesday.  Especially since Wordless is what I was when I saw what Wyatt had done to my living room chair.  I was completely speechless!

This picture doesn't actually do his drawing justice.  The upright part of the chair (where your back would go) actually has crayon in lots of places.  You just can't see the yellow, and there is light blue over a good chunk of it as well.  Ughhhhh.....

The Toilet Bowl

Last weekend we made our second trip to the Toilet Bowl, as the locals refer to it.  I prefer to call it by its formal name, Manzamo Point. Apparently it looks like a Toilet Bowl, although I personally don't get it. 

We explored TB not long after we got to Okinawa, and I fell in love with the place. It's secluded, serene, and beautiful.  This is my Happy Place.  You know the one - when you are doing those crazy relaxation exercises and they tell you to go to your Happy Place?  Well, I have found mine and TB is it!

Getting there this time around was a bit of... a challenge. Let's just say that we got lost, adding about 30 minutes to our journey (SERIOULSY - I would pay someone SO MUCH MONEY to make an accurate map of this place!!!), the baby screamed all 60 minutes of the car ride, and we had to pull off to the side of the road for Wyatt to pee in the grass.  Yes, we were those people, whose son was standing butt naked on the side of the road with his butt cheeks out.  I even took a picture, but I'd pry get arrested for child porn if I posted it.

Needless to say, I was relieved to finally get to my Happy Place!  As soon as we drove through the forest and crawled through the cave, I melted.  Wyatt played in the tide pools.  Olivia slept in my arms. I sat on the beach under a rock cliff with my feet in a tide pool, watching fish swim around them.  The sun shone. We gathered sea shells. We found sea cucumbers, sea urchins, a school of beautiful blue fish, and these awesome blue starfish.  I took a deep breath and enjoyed my family on our own private little beach, with no one but a couple of Japanese scuba divers in sight for hours. It was amazing!

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

The Forest-like part... it's a little off the beaten path, to say the least.

The Cave part... yes, we crawled through that... and even brought the stroller through it!

Blue starfish in the Crystal-clear water!

My boys exploring the tide pools!

Wyatt swimming in his own private "Bath," as he referred to it!

New Pics of the Baby Girl

Many of you have been asking to see some more pics of Olivia, so here are a few!  She's doing great. I will try to update the babysite with more pics later this week when she turns ONE MONTH OLD!  Can you believe it??

The Day the Music Died

My grandpa passed away on Friday. My dad's dad, for those of you who are wondering. At 93, he led a long life... but not long enough by my book.

My grandpa loved to play his guitar, and played with some other guys in a band when he was younger. In fact, my second favorite memory of my grandpa is of my brother and I begging and begging him to pleeeaaase play his guitar.  He got it out and strummed a few chords for us, of course.  I vaguely remember going to see him play with his buddies and I remember thinking that I had never seen him happier.

Grandpa Charlie could be a tough old bird to others... but to me he was always sweet as pie.  I remember he and Grandma coming to visit us and basically parking my butt on his lap for the weekend.  He had the best lap.  Whenever it came time for them to leave, my begging would commence for them to pretty  please stay just one more day.  Sometimes they went on ahead, but other times my begging paid off.

My favorite memory is of Grandpa taking my brother and I fishing. He liked to fish, and mostly what I remember is a beautiful day and a whole lotta minnows and bluegills.  But I remember thinking how great he was, because in my mind that was the type of thing grandpas were supposed to do - take their grandkids fishing.

Of course I have tons of other memories... the State Fair, his limited talks about his time in World War II -
England, Germany, Japan, Normandy - Christmases spent at their house or ours (they always spoiled us with a boatload of gifts!), spending a week or two at their house during the summer and exploring their huge property... the list could go on, but I think you get the picture.

I am so sad that I couldn't be there to pay my final respects to my grandfather.  I know he would understand, but it's hard to be 8,000 miles away and unable to do anything other than pick up a phone and call. If I didn't have a 2-week old without a Passport you can bet your butt I would have been on a plane.  But I know that him dying isn't about me, so I try not to dwell on that and instead do what I can to support my family, my dad, and my grandmother - his amazing wife and caretaker of nearly 69 years.

Rest in Peace, Grandpa. You were loved.













I have no eloquent words to post, no words to share, really.  I am still just processing the fact that I won't be there at the funeral, but instead I will be sitting on some random island 8,000 miles away

The Zoo, Okinawa Style

So last week we decided to check out the zoo in Okinawa.  It was a little different, to say the least!  Forget the lush, sprawling cages you see State-side.  These animals are lucky to get a 20x20x20 cage and some food! It's kind of sad, really.  Also, I think it funny that the "wild" animal Wyatt liked most was.... drum roll please.... a dog.  A plain ol' run-of-the-mill island dog.  All island dogs look the same here. I don't know how to explain it, they just do.  Wyatt thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

The funniest thing by far is their home-made Zoo signs.  No joke, these are a sampling of the signs proudly displayed around the Zoo! Have a good laugh :) No Japanese translation necessary!

Another weird thing is that while most zoos have animals from exotic locations, like an ostrich from Australia or what not, the Okinawa Zoo proudly displays animals from Okinawa. No kidding.  Labels will read, "Okinawan reptile" or "Okinawan monkey."  Huh.  Lots of diversity there!

Still, it was a fun day out, sunny and 75 degrees.  Olivia slept, Wyatt ran, Tommy chased. I pushed the stroller. And, as it turns out, walked up very steep hills and down very steep hills at 8 days post-partum.  Maybe I should have re-thought that adventure because my crotch hurt A LOT by the time we got home, but we had already paid the admission when I realized there were steep hills.  Wasn't gonna waste my 500 Yen!