Reaching New Milestones

Today Grace rode in the car facing the front for the very first time ever! We needed to take my van to get some things fixed so we could get the JCI done (we passed the inspection today!!!) so Dustin took it in and then I drove his car to pick him up and take him to work. I did not like how Grace's infant seat was in his car so I took her big car seat out of my van and put it in his car. It won't fit rear-facing unless the front seat is folded forward so I just put it facing forward since she is now over 1 year old. At first she thought it was pretty funny to be riding in her seat and looking up front. As we drove down our road she kept giggling! She is really growing up!!

{in her big girl car seat}

After we dropped Dustin off at work we went over to her friend Maggie's house to play before heading out to get pedicures. I kept telling Grace that when she learns to sit still she can get a pedicure too. Maggie does such a good job sitting still while they paint her toes. Today she chose a design with cows! I can't wait until Grace gets to go with and pick a design for her toes. It will probably be a lot more fun than having to sit on my lap for an hour and a half.

This afternoon we went outside to play and she learned a few new tricks!

{going down the slide all by herself}

{going down again and again!}

{and climbing UP the slide! She can do this with just a little bit of help, and she can get up the side that has the climbing wall}

{and she likes to JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!}

She has also told me "it's stuck" and "help" today.

It has been such a fun day! Right now Dustin is out picking up pizza and we are having a game night with James and Kelly. Grace is already tired since she did not take a much of a nap. She fell asleep on the way home from picking up my van and woke up as soon as we got home. Maybe she will last a little longer so she can show Maggie all of her new Christmas toys.

Keeping Kleenex in Business

It seems that every single time Grace gets a new tooth she also gets an awful runny nose. Kleenexes have become a staple around our house. Grace has seen us pull them out of the box so much lately that she has decided that she needs to pull them out too!

{take them all out}

{this is what she does if we say "clean your nose"}

{no more in the box!}

{Putting them back in}

{now I can pull them out again!!}

A picture post

We haven't really been doing anything exciting lately, other than getting things ready for our cruise, so I thought I would just post a few pictures from the last week.

{checking our her new Elmo}

{she LOVES playing with her babies and stuffed animals!}

{feeding the teddy bear}

{and hugging the teddy bear}

{it has been pretty chilly and rainy lately so she put on her new sweat suit that is so cute! We kept telling her how soft and comfy it was and then she said "It's soft"}

{a fan in the making!!}

How to fix a leaking sink

We have a leak under our kitchen sink.

I called the housing company so they could send someone out to fix it. Before they came they wanted to know if the leak was in a pipe - No, the leak is coming from the foam that is on the bottom of the sink. So they say they will be here between 9:30 and 10:00 am the next day (which is today!). The maintenance man came and I showed him where the leak was coming from then went to keep Grace occupied in the other room. He looked at something then had to go back to his car. I hear him saying "ahhh" and "hmm" as he is looking at it again. This might not be good! Then he starts laughing calls me to come look. I am now wondering if something got stuck and that was the cause of the leak?? He tells me that a piece is broken. I have no idea what this piece is. It just looks like a little plastic thing! So I go back to Grace and let him continue to fix the sink. Then he yells across the house "Do you have tape?" WHAT??? Did I hear that right? You want to fix this broken piece of plastic with tape? It has something to do with keeping WATER from leaking and you think tape is going to fix it? Of course I didn't voice my opinion to him, I just picked up the packing tape and carried to him and then watched as he covered the drain holes on the side of the sink (you know, the ones that keep the sink from overflowing if you forget you are running dish water) with this tape. As he was doing this I just kept thinking how frustrated Dustin would be when he hears about them fixing a WATER leak with TAPE!! Then he says "Ok, I talk to office and they order part" Whew! So the tape is only temporary!!

Being independent

Grace is beginning to do more things on her own. Just about a week or two ago she would not let us put her down if there were people around. She only wanted to walk at home or small areas with very few people. She would walk around the bookstore but if she were out in the open area of the BX she would just want to be held. Not anymore!!! We ended up going to the BX about 3 times this weekend for random stuff. Once was just to exchange our bug spray we bought for our cruise because it the lid got crushed in the sack and so it was leaking. We decided that Grace and I would just wait downstairs in the bookstore while Dustin got a new bug spray since that would probably be more enjoyable for Grace. Well, she did not want to look at any of the children's books. She wanted to run around the concession mall instead. She took off out the door of the bookstore and walked all the way down the hallway to where they had a couple cars on display. She then decided she wanted to climb into a nice red sports car! It is hard to believe that she was more interested in a car than shelves full of books!!

Here is a video that we took on New Years Day. She walked from the car to the BX and then back from the BX to the car!

Let's get packing!!

Our vacation is starting to creep up on us. It is January, which means our vacation begins THIS month! 17 days to be exact. Dustin only has 9 more work days before we leave too. So I figure it is only fit that we get out the suitcases (or rather, Dustin gets out the suitcases!).

I may be a little OCD when it comes to making travel plans. I have a 3 page document for a packing list. Everything is categorized by person and which bag it will go in. I have listed all of the travel documents we will need (they are organized in a folder already which will go in a carry-on), I have all of the electronics listed, as well as batteries, cords and cables, and memory cards (they all go in the laptop case). I also have a section on the packing list for each person.

And then there is our itinerary, which is 4 pages as of now. It will only get longer as we confirm a few more things we want to do in New Zealand. First it has our flight itinerary. This only makes since to be first since it is, after all, the very first part of our vacation. Then there is our pre-cruise hotel info (name, address, phone). The cruise itinerary is listed next with a map of and port times/dates (copied from the cruises website). Then I went on to add a bullet (I love using bullets!!) for each port along with the date and time we will be there. Under each of these I have what our plans are there with websites, addresses, phone numbers, prices of the tours, etc. The very last thing is our post-cruise hotel info. We have a few more things to nail down and then I think we are set.

Now to decide how to best pack everything on my 3 page packing list into our suitcases and try to avoid excess luggage fees. I think this is going to be a difficult task since we are only allowed 1 bag that weighs 44 lbs. each and Grace is allowed 22 lbs (her diapers & wipes probably weigh that!)

A Japanese New Year

謹賀新年

{kinga shinnen}

Or in English, "Happy New Year!"

We had heard that the Japanese really celebrate New Years, much more so than Christmas. So we were curious about all of the decorations and food so I did a google search and found quite a but of information. I have compiled some of the most interesting facts to share but if you want to learn more google "Japanese New Year"

In Japan, New Years (shogatsu or oshogatsu) is the most important holiday. Much like our Christmas or Thanksgiving day, they clean, decorate, fix a special meal, and give gifts of money to the children. The celebration lasts for several days and most businesses close from Jan. 1 - 3.

{entrances to buildings and homes are decorated with an ornament called Shimekezari which are made of twisted rope, bamboo, and other items to bring good luck}

Much like we send Christmas cards the Japanese send post cards called nengajo. These cards are often printed with the Chinese zodiac sign of the year. If they are sent by a specific date and marked "nengajo" then the post office will save them and deliver them on Jan. 1. However, if there is a death in the family during the year it is not customary to send post cards and a family member will send out a message requesting that friends and family do not send post cards out of respect for the deceased.

{2010 is the year of the Tiger}

{Shimekezari and the Tiger on the entrance of a business}

{Shimekezari on a Japanese home}

{kadomatsu is another traditional decoration for New Years. This is outside out building}

Our Japanese neighbors stopped by this afternoon to wish us a Happy New Year. They brought a traditional plate of Japanese food called osechi and a box of cookies.

{osechi}

{cookies}

Another tradition is to watch a popular TV show called Kohaku Uta Gassen where the red team and white team of popular music artist compete against each other.

They also make two mochi (rice cakes) with an orange (daidai, meaning "several generations") on top and call it kagami mochi. It is a very sticky and is the cause of several choking deaths each year, especially among the elderly. In the days after New Years the death toll is reported in the local papers.