current happenings

Well these homes are more than awesome.

Walking around in Kamakura neighborhoods. Apparently they have a knack for modern architecture.

pounding the mochi!

We have been dying for a true mochi experience since we arrived in Japan. We LOVE mochi and have been known to prepare it many different ways (check out other mochi posts here & here). When we interviewed at Ella's school and discovered they held a mochi pounding event we were over the moon! In fact, I'm pretty sure they were creeped out by our excitement. Flash forward to last weekend and we finally got our chance to pound the mochi!

The fathers took turns pounding steamed rice in a large mortar & pestle while the teachers splashed warm water to keep the rice moist. After the rice was pounded into a smooth ball they removed it and placed it on a table of flour. While the kids got to pull the mochi apart and roll it into balls the parents prepared the edible mochi for eating. We made balls of warm mochi covered in soy bean power (which is also amazing on vanilla ice cream). We also dipped warm mochi into (soy?) sauce and rolled it in seaweed. In the end we all sat around the table and feasted on mochi, tea and pickled cabbage.

It was a great experience and as always, the cute babies running around in tiny people aprons and bandanna's made it all the more enjoyable!

hello, goodbye.

2011 was quite a year. It's strange how quickly a year moves when you are documenting a little person's every first something in their life. Looking back through pictures Brandon & I can see that we had a very successful year. We taught a little person how to crawl, sit, walk, dance, eat, wave bye-bye and blow kisses. We took a baby on two international flights. We taught a little person how to brush their teeth. I got a promotion too. It was a good year. Sorry, but I couldn't pic just one - here is this year in photos! xoxo

A new city for living, Yokosuka, Japan. A new city for discovering, Tokyo, Japan.

Jiji & Grandma visit for the 3rd time. Aunt Stephanie visits from Okinawa. We visit Aunt Stephanie in Okinawa. 2011 Cherry Blossom's. Meeting new friends.
Shie & Nate at their pop-up shop in Tokyo. Ella and Cypress play on a hot summer day. Seeing old friends: Kent a friend from high school tours through with his band, Letting Up.

Laura visits Tokyo for business.

A trip back home to Texas

Brandon with great, best friends Ty & Sean and Sean's rehearsal dinner.
Ella meets her Nana Elaine for the first time. Tear.

Marine Day, Zushi Beach.

Ella begins Japanese Day School in May and by her birthday, fits in great!

Ella's first birthday Party!

Yokohama Octoberfest & Jiji & Grandma Willett visit for the 4th time!

Sumo Championships.

Out first time to Mt. Fuji.

And we should never forget the over 15,000 people who lost their lives on March 11, 2011 to the great Japan earth quake and tsunami. And we should never forget the thousands of people who selflessly came to their aide.

Good bye 2011. Hello 2012.

the truth about taking your 13 month old on a plane that passes the international date line

We did A LOT of research to prepare for our trip to and from Walt Disney World. We were looking at 11 hours from Narita to Orlando and 14 hours back in the same direction, with layovers in each direction. What can you say, we flew the cheapest way possible.
There is so much information out there and it's hard to know who to trust. I wouldn't say you should trust us over anyone else, but just in case you need a little more advice or just a bit of encouragement feel free to read on. It's best to lay out what we found most encouraging and then let you know what really happened.

Some research (that we found helpful):

• EVERYONE, even the most holistically organic, natural people said to invest in Benedryl. Advice taken.
• EVERYONE said to buy 1 new toy for each hour you expected your child to be awake. Advice taken - mostly.
• At least 3 bloggers said to individually wrap each toy. With the intentions that unwrapping would eat up some time. Never got around to it.
• 3 bloggers recommended this toy: Lauri Toys Toddler Tote. Advice taken.
• EVERYONE said to buy Gerber Puffs. We bought these instead: Happy Baby Puffs & Happy Tot meals.
• EVERYONE said buy a big water after security. You will use this to not only keep your baby hydrated but to clean their sippy cup. DO NOT clean sippy cups with airplane water. Airplane water is NOT SANITARY and the crew usually only stocks enough for service.
• Many blogs said to spend the extra money and buy your baby their own seat. Advice not taken.
• Every blog had a great packing list. We'll let you know below what we packed and what we actually used.

Our experience:

We bought the Bebedryl and we used it. We gave her a small dosage right before her usual bed time and she slept for 6 hours! One the first flight. On the second flight, not so much. The dosage helped, but she only selpt for 4 hours. However, she naturally fell asleep later and slept for another 3. DO A TEST RUN AT HOME.

We only bought 3 new toys:

• The Toddler Tote (mentioned above) is great because it doubles as 3 or 4 toys. Ella loved the puzzles, but the pegs were a bit too difficult for her tiny hands.
• Doodle Sketch. AMAZING.
• Leap Frog Junior Tag Reader and 3 books. However, Curious George Colors was the favorite.
• We got an iPad. We had been toying with the idea for several months, but this trip finally sealed the deal. We bought a cover that lets you stand the iPad on it's side like a TV, loaded up a handful of her favorite Yo Gabba Gabba episodes (and a few of our favorites too) and the rest was history. On the first flight she watched the three episodes, twice. This ate up approximatly 2 hours. Amen.
• Never got around to wrapping the toys because of, well life. However, I could see this would be an excellent idea for parents with children who understand what opening a toy means.
• Snack food = awesome. We always bring our own snacks like bananas, nuts, etc. Plane food is so boring and full of sodium so adding in some natural favorites always helps. It just made sense to pack Ella the same goodness. Happy Baby products are our favorite.
• Buying a seat. We are indiffrerent on this idea. Here are the reasons. For this flight, we didn't even think about it. If you buy your own seat (on American Airlines) for a child under 2 you must have a car seat. Since we don't have a car, we don't have a toddler car seat. On the flight back we lucked out - we were sat in a row with an empty seat. However, Ella still needed to switch from lap to lap to keep her entertained. It was great for sleeping hours because she was able to stretch out, but if we had paid we would have had the car seat; so she wouldn't have been able to lay down. If you are an American living in Japan with no car this could end up costing you more hassle (and money), but if you have a car seat and your kid likes sitting in that seat for 10+ hours, go for it!

Now for some things we discovered on our own:

TOYS: Everyone tells you to pack plenty of toys, but no one talks about what happens when your kid drops those toys on the ground. We all know those airplane rows are cramped - but imagine being a 6' tall guy trying to bend over and pick up a toy in a dark isle while the guy next to you is sleeping. Not a good situation. So, be prepared to drop toys - and to loose toys. It sucks. If you are lucky the person behind will pick them up for you. Thank you random person!!

SOBA NOODLES: If you fly a Japanese airline you will most likely get soba noodles at some point. Don't eat them - save them for your child. We gave Ella Soba and she ate/played for 1 1/2 hours! Not flying Japanese? Pre-cook some of your childs favorite noodles and pull them out about 2 hours into the flight.

ASK: Ask for everything and anything that might help your experience. Ask for the crew to hold your food until your child is asleep. Ask the gate attendant to hold a seat in-between you and your husband in the hopes it will stay empty. Ask for the last row in the plane - you won't feel as bad when your child is craying because there are less people around to bother. And once your child goes to sleep, ask for a glass of wine.

DOWNSIZE. We bought ONE large piece of luggage that doubled as a backpack. It was key that we packed as few suitcases as possible. We bought an small stroller so that we could check it at the gate. We bought a new carry on BAG. Bag is key here. If you bring everything in a bag you can stuff it under your seat which equals easy acess for toys, food and diapers.

Packing List for the Plane:

As promised: what we packed and what we used.

• 1 diaper for every hour on the plane, this left plenty for layovers. Just enough.
• 1 package of wipes.Plenty.
• 2 sippy cups. Used both.
• 5 small towels . Used all.
• pair of PJ's. Didn't use.
• 2 plain white onesies. Used 1.
• 1 extra pair of pants.Used.
• 3 bibs. Used all.
• snacks (mentioned above) plus a banana, cheese sticks and pre-made grilled cheese & peanut putter sandwiches. Everything was eaten
• toys (mentioned aboveUsed all.
• iPad.Used!

Well, we hope that this provides you with some helpful bits of advice. If nothing else we'll never forget what we read on one blog: Just remember that your flight will end and the plane door will open. You will get off and you will have a great vacation. If all else fails - just tell yourself that! Proof that your flight will end, the door will open and you will have a great vacation.

First day at Magic Kingdom!

uncle nate walks!

Congratulations to Uncle Nate! He graduated today from the University of Little Rock. Keep your ears and eyes open for his documenting, reporting and general awesomeness!

Workin' hard amidst Occupy Protestors

In case you were curious, we purchased a Kammok as his graduation gift. No better gift for an outdoorsy, earth and human respecting adventure guy who needs to take a load off! Buy a Kammok today!

follow ups are good for happiness

Ella Elaine is updated. I hope you enjoy my follow up thoughts on joining Mommahood.