Christmas in April!

IT'S HERE! Our HHG shipment has arrived! It was a bit of a fiasco cause early on in the week TMO told us it had barely arrived to Japan and would take a minimum of 10 days just to clear customs before arriving to Misawa. So I was getting discouraged thinking there was no way our stuff would arrive before Kyle had to leave for Alaska, making unpacking that much more difficult! Ok, to be honest I wasn't just discouraged, I was devastated, upset, emotional, and exhausted. I just wanted my stuff so I could make this house a home. I was sick and tired of living in an empty house trying to find something to do. Then a miracle happened. The very next day Kyle checked his email and received a notice that our stuff had arrived and would be delivered on Friday! Obviously TMO was wrong and boy am I happy they were! On Friday morning when the trucks pulled up and started to open the crates with our whole lives inside. I just wanted to cry. It was like Christmas in April... But better! This is by far my favorite picture I have taken so far here in Japan :)

Before our stuff arrived we had some fun saying goodbye to the nasty FMO furniture that we have been borrowing for 2 months. We decided to make forts out of the couches and snuggle one last time in the tiny, hard, full size bed. I have to say Abby and Connor were awesome these past 2 months without a lot of their "stuff." They never complained or fussed because they had to watch their Disney movies on a tiny 6"x 6" portable DVD player, or sleep in awkward hard cribs with little to no blankets for comfort. My kids have been so wonderful during these hard couple months and I am grateful for their example. Funny how the humility and innocence of little kids can make us adults look like the ungrateful whiners. It was a humbling experience in which I learned to make the most out of our situation, and to truly enjoy my family. We may not have it all together but together we have it all!

 

 

So this week my baby boy turned 6 months! I can't believe half a year has already passed. He is getting so big, I have to find a new car seat for him cause he has already out grown his! He has 2 bottom teeth now and a full head of hair that I love to slick over after his bath. He loves baby food (so much more than baby cereal/oatmeal) and loves to play with his big sister. He is really into things that crinkle like plastic water bottles, fruit snack bags, and the packing paper from the moving boxes. I can tell he gets frustrated that he isn't mobil yet cause he gets a very determined face every time he has tummy time and gets into a crawling position... Just not quite strong enough yet. He will get there and then I will have 2 Mobil babies, heaven help me!

To celebrate Connors half year "birthday" I decided to put him in the swing and see if he liked it. He didn't like it, he LOVED it. He was laughing the whole time he was in the swing I wish I never had to take him out. But sure enough, the winds picked up and it got to be too chilly to be outside any longer so we headed inside. We will be making more trips to the swings in the near future. I sure do love my little man child. 

 

Kyle has been wanting to go to family swim night for weeks now. So this week we finally decided to go. We went to "first Friday" (even though it wasn't the first Friday this month) dinner at the squadron and had a hail/Farrell to all those coming and leaving. I guess the squadron does it every month, so that will be an activity we can look forward to. Anyways, afterwards we went swimming, and by we I mean Kyle and Abby. I think the only reason Kyle wanted to go was so Abby could wear her cute KU swimsuit she got for Christmas. It was pretty adorable and I had fun watching the two of them play together in the water. Connor fought bravely, but in the end the warm pool air got to him and he passed out. So much for keeping me company on the sideline.

 

I finally finished the rug I have been painting for the past 2 weeks. I can only paint when the kids go down for the night so I paint little by little every night. I finished just in time for our stuff to arrive and I can't wait to see how it will look in our master bedroom under our bed. I always like having a project to do... It keeps me sane! Now that my sewing machine has arrived my next project, or should I say projects, will be quilting. I already ordered fabric and am set to go! 

 

The weekend finally came and as I am sure you can probably guess, all we did was unpack. It's been a slow process and we are almost done, thankfully. On Sunday we attempted to go to church but the base had a lock down in which no one was allowed on or off base. Church was postpone and eventually canceled due to the shut down. I am still trying to get used to living on base and what that entails. So we came home and watched some more conferences, sang some primary songs for Abby, and had our own church at home. It was a relaxing Sunday and we took advantage of spending time together as a family. Kyle leaves this next weekend for almost 3 months. We are dreading it, but also just want it to happen so it can be over and he came come back home. Poor Kyle is leaving Japan just as the weather is starting to get nice and cherry blossoms are starting to bloom. Yes, REAL Japanese cherry blossoms! They are beautiful and everywhere! I hope they continue to cheer me up even when Kyle is gone.