Where are they now? 2.1

Keeping Warm

OK, so it’s not really THAT cold here. I mean, compared to where some of you guys are located, I should be glad to be in the 30-40’s. But being that it’s cold out, it meant that a lot of our activities are limited to indoor stuff. So here’s a photo-montage for your enjoyment.

*note: my barely 6 month old DLSR that met it’s untimely fate of a shattered LCD screen is still talking these good shots. I just can’t preview what I just took and I can’t get to the function menu anymore. We’re working on looking for a Sony repair shop in Japan. They should be as plentiful as Starbucks in Seattle, right?

Careese actually sat still long enough for me to do French braids! She’s still got fine hair, but at least it’s long enough to do something with it. I’ve been waiting for this day since I found out we were having a girl! Oh the fun we’ll have with hair!

Evan loves his little baby sister. I mean LOVES his baby sister. He’s right there wanting to help out and hold her all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught him picking her up or moving her without him asking first. He gets right up in her face to oogle and coo at her all day. Good thing Ellee loves it.

These kids keep us smiling and laughing… when they aren’t crying/screaming/being not cute.

Time to reupholster the dinning room chairs. I found this fabric at IKEA for cheap, so I bought it in black on white and white on black cause I couldn’t make up my mind. I think I like the white on black better (as shown here), but it’s been a couple weeks now and I’m starting to wonder if a black fabric is a bad idea. The new ground in food is starting to show. lame.

Evan had the throw-soybeans-at-masked-monsters-festival at school. hahahah ok so I’m just lazy and won’t go find out what it’s really called… soybean lover help me out here, please? Evan made that headpiece, they wore a paper bag around their neck filled with roasted soybeans, ate a few, and threw the rest at the people wearing a monster mask. hehehe I don’t totally understand all the festivals in Japan, but I’m glad to partisipate and see my kids enjoy it too.

OK, so our super amazing quilting friend Aunt Spicyjust sent us this gorgeous, cute quilt for Ellee. I love the colors! It’s just pure joy to look at, as demonstrated by Ellee’s expression. And the bow used to tie the bundle made a cute headpiece too. (to disguise Ellee’s barely there hair) THANK YOU AUNT SPICY!!!

This area doesn’t get much snow, so when there’s even a little on the ground, you’ll settle with making a “dirty” snowman. Evan was so happy to make his FIRST snowman. Ok so I had to do most of the work, but he did a good job helping. And yes, that is Evan’s school uniform, even in the cold winters, this is what they wear. SHORTS?! Evan says he doesn’t mind the cold, he likes it.

Ellee just along for the ride.

Once there was a snowman…

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Lynn

haha i saw that fabric at ikea too and was gonna get (white on black) it but didn't have enough ...

6 February 10 at 16:00

soybeanlover

That snowman looks a lot better than ours. I'll ask 007 about Sony repair places, we had the same ...

6 February 10 at 21:10

siblings

I got into looking at baby photos this evening. I was putting together Careese’s baby photos to be made into a book on Shutterfly. There was a slickdeal for a free book, but as I was making it I found out it wasn’t a deal for a hardcover book like I thought. Oh well, I’ve got the photos uploaded and ready to make into a book the next time I find a free book offer.
Well, anyway, it got me looking at all my babys’ newborn pictures and all those memories and feelings of meeting them for the first time came flooding back. And for a moment I forgot about all the craziness they can be now, and I remembered how sweet those moments were when I realized that I’m absolutely in love with this little baby; that they were mine and I was theirs, and nothing in the world could change that. I looked at the pictures of Mark holding each of them for the first time, so happy and so adoring over them. Now I look back and I see how much he’s grown to be such a wonderful father. It made me realize how much we’ve grown as parents. But it’s also given me a new resolve to do better and to make sure my kids know how much I love them, even when I’m tired and cranky.
I’ve been stressing a bit lately about finding fun, exciting things for them to do on base and in Japan. But now I feel that it probably doesn’t matter to them as much as having a good time with mom and dad, and they probably won’t really remember the places we go to in the long run.
Well, here’s some photos of them as newborns. See if you can tell them apart. They really do look like siblings. And they make me so happy.

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Shelese

Wow, they really do look similar. What a great mom you are. I miss you.

4 February 10 at 02:34

beverly

Thanks soybeanlover! Oh I miss you too Shelese!

6 February 10 at 00:25

Mochi tsuki

Japanese celebrate the new year with mochi. And we couldn’t be happier than to help them celebrate… by eating it! We went to our church’s mochi pounding activity for the primary kids. It was for the kids, but really everyone gets involved and eats mochi too. I was so excited to see it first hand and to try out the different flavors of fresh mochi! Evan was excited to pound some mochi. He’s had mochi pounding at school, but I don’t think they let the kids really get involved. So I think he was excited to actually get to pound it. And of course Careese wants to do everything Evan does, so she was excited to get in on the action as well. We love our Japanese ward. I’m glad we joined them, cause we get a more authentic feel for Japanese culture than we do just living on base.

Here are the pictures!

Mochi!

I couldn’t take pictures and hold a camcorder and hold Ellee at the same time… so here’s what I found online to show you what it looks like. Of course the video is of professionals, they get pretty fast, so don’t try this at home, kids.

chauwell

That sounds like an awesome primary activity!

10 January 10 at 12:16

Happy 2010!

I can’t believe it’s 2010 already… You know when you’re a kid and you think about the future, and it seems SO far away, you’d think the world would end before it reached 2010. Well, here we are. And the idea of me turning 30 this year feels like it snuck up on me. Seriously. I thought I was still 25 the other day. Having kids really does shorten your lifespan. hahaha.

Well, I’m not gonna try to play catch up too much from the last time I posted back in November. Too much to cover.

I do want to quickly post about something Evan said to me today. He’s 4 yrs old so I don’t expect him to notice anything about my appearance or dress. Like the time he noticed I got my hair cut short almost a month after I got it cut. “Mommy, your hair is gone!” hahaha. So today, I was busy getting dinner ready when Evan says to me, “Mommy, you look nice.” “Thank you” “But did you get mud on your shirt?” “huh? what mud?” “There.” Evan touches my shirt then smells his hand. “huh?”

This is what my shirt looks like.

I guess it does look like I was playing mud. hahaha. I explained to him that this was the style of the shirt and that someone painted it to look like this. What a silly boy. I still laugh thinking about how he sniffed his hand after touching my shirt. hahaha.

So how was Christmas for you all? It felt like it flew by us here. Felt like I just put the tree up when I had to take it down again. I didn’t get Christmas stuff out right after Thanksgiving like we usually do. Something about having three kids under 4yrs just makes the turn around time for things here a tad on the slow side. Then Mark had training in Washington DC 2 weeks before Christmas that I optimistically thought it would be fun to drag the whole family along to. While it was nice to see family, go shopping at Target and H&M again, drive on the right side of a nice and wide road faster than 25mphs, and see old friends where we used to live, it came at a price. My sanity and energy. Mark was in training from 8:30am to 7pm everyday, so I was pretty much on my own with three kids with jet lag. We weren’t in DC long enough to try to make them adjust to the time zone and then go back to Japan and do it again. Ellee did fab on her first plane ride. Especially since it was an international flight too. Evan has done well on flight since he was a baby too. It was Careese that was over tired and couldn’t sleep well and cried for 5 hours of the 11 hour flight going to DC. She just doesn’t do well when she’s not in her own bed. I don’t blame her. Airline seats are torture devices in some countries.

The logistics of getting a family of 5 from one end of the globe to the other is laughable. We had 3 suitcases going there and came back with 4 suitcases, a box of toys, and a huge box with a printer inside it. hahaha OK kind of outrageous to bring back a printer right? It was a good deal on Amazon for the quality of printer I wanted and they wouldn’t ship APO! They left me no other choice. Then there’s the stroller, 3 car seats, 3 carry on bags, and jackets and blankets and loose toys. AHHHHHHH. Why don’t  rental cars come with car seats?

It was a good trip overall. Stressful at times with the jet lag kids and a snow storm, but good. Nothing like a difficult time to do the family bonding. hehehe

2009_12_24_DC

New Years in Japan is a bigger deal than Christmas is. People make trips to go visit family and friends and eat and eat and watch singing competitions on NHK on the eve. We decided to put the kids to bed and just have a relaxing new year eve at home. There isn’t a big count down like they have in the States. No, we almost missed the big moment cause NHK the TV station shows live shots of major shrines and temples around Japan instead of some exciting countdown. Its a slow video of people praying and gonging the big bells at the temples and just puts you to sleep. Then suddenly they cut to the Tokyo Tower where people at the temple there are letting go of balloons with paper attached with their prayers written on them. Huh? Was that the new year? wow. so anticlimactic.

We did go visit with our Japanese friends and had traditional Japanese new year food. yumm.

Ellee just turned 3 months, and we can’t believe how much she’s grown. Careese seems to have grown up over night again. She’s quick to do anything you ask her to do that involves her helping with what you’re doing. Especially when it comes to helping with the baby. She’s initiated potty training on her own, and I’m not doing anything about it cause I can’t handle dedicating that much time to it right now. If I know she might need to go and I have an arm to spare then I’ll help on the potty. We’ll get that done with soon. Evan has become quite the talker. You know how they say you’ll love it when they start talking and then you’ll wish they would stop? if he’s not talking, he’s singing. I don’t want to tell him to not talk or sing cause it’s good for his creativity to make up songs and words, but some days I wish he had a mute button. He got a bike for Christmas and has done really well riding it even though he’s a tad too short for it. He wants to do everything by himself now, and wants to tell you what you’re doing wrong and how you should do it. At this age he’s watching and listening to everything we do and say and it keeps us in check.

So, we had a good 2009. No complaints really. We feel SO blessed to be where we are. It wasn’t until we went back to the States where we realized how sheltered we are from the economic downturn. We are so grateful for our children for reminding us to be better people and to live in the moment. We are so grateful for family that have come and visited with us and helped when Ellee was born and for love and support. We are grateful for friends that add light to our lives and sends love to our mailbox and inbox.

May your new year be filled with much love, happiness, laughter, and wonder.

Love from the Changs

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Julie

I LOVE your shirt. You look great after giving birth to #3!!! She's soooo cute by the way. I looked ...

7 January 10 at 19:20

michelle

Bev, you are seriously crazy for going back to the east coast. I told my parents there was no way ...

8 January 10 at 16:01

One Month of Loveliness

Can it already be a month since Ellee has graced our home with her sweetness? Everyday that passes, she brings us more joy as she shows us more and more of her wonderful little personality.

Cheesy enough yet? hehehe

In all seriousness though, having Ellee in our family has been a joy. She’s been a fairly easy going baby, aside from her occasional need to be held for extended periods of time while she goes in and out of sleep. But I don’t want to jinx it by saying she’s much easier, than compared to my other two. No, I think, it’s partly, that I feel more confident this time around with caring for a newborn. I’m really loving having a newborn around, even with the struggle of having to care for two other kids at the same time. It’s like after having to deal with 2 rambunctious and crazy kids, its nice to cuddle up with a sweet little baby at the end of the day that won’t talk back to me, won’t climb the kitchen counters, doesn’t try to feed the dog their dinner, won’t leave toys all over the house for me to trip over, and doesn’t scream bloody murder at their sibling over nothing. Ahhh, newborns are so simple.

Now, how do I keep Ellee from growing up?

Happy One Month, Baby!

Ellee one month

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Shelese

If you find out how to stop them from growing up. Please fill me in. My new little guy is ...

28 November 09 at 05:40

Aunt Spicy

Really, what a sweet, precious face!

13 December 09 at 23:24

Happy 2nd Birthday Careese

It always seems like your kids’ birthdays creep up on you and you suddenly realize your baby isn’t a baby anymore. At least that’s how I felt about Careese turning 2. When we moved to Japan, she was just 8 months old. And now she’s 2?! Its been a little over a year that we’ve been in Japan. Time flies with kids, for sure.

Careese, to me you seem to have grown up over night. We were away from you for a week while we were waiting for your little sister to be born, and when we came back, you seemed to have grown up so much. You looked taller and you understood so much more and you were your own person now, and not a baby. You’re so much more independent now. You’re confident in yourself when mommy or daddy aren’t around, but you’re so happy to see us again. You are so loving to your family and at anytime will give us and your brother and sister hugs and kisses without us asking. You’re so caring of your baby sister. She is lucky to have you as her big sister. Your smiles and giggles makes us so happy. You’re fearless in trying new things. Just like the meaning of your middle name, you’re very cleaver. If there’s something in your way of your goal, you’re quick to figure a way around it. i.e. finding creative ways to get candy from a high hiding place.

Careese, you’re name means “beloved”, and that is so much the truth. You are loved, by us and all those that are fortunate to spend time with you. Happy Big 2, Mei mei! We know this year will be so much fun to watch you learn and grow. And we hope it includes getting potty trained too!

Careese 2nd Birthday

Geok Lee

Careese is so adorable. I love that Ikea Kid Kitchen too!

25 November 09 at 00:31

Bruising

The family that bruise together, stays together.

So, for different reasons, Evan, Careese and I all have nasty bruises at the same time. Evan got his bruise on his chin from school. From what his teacher tells me, in her broken English, is that he hit his chin on other kid’s head. Not sure if they were running around or what, but from the look of the bruise, it would have to be a pretty hard hit to look like that. Glad he didn’t bite his tongue. Careese’s black eye, I’m not too sure how it happened cause we were coming home with the baby and Careese was in the bathroom when it happened. I think she might have tripped and hit her head on something. It looked ok at first, but over the last few days, its gotten darker and darker and moved down to her eye. My bruise is the result of blood work gone wrong during Ellee’s delivery. They took 2 vials to get tested in case I needed a blood transfusion. Then they came back and said the lab made some mistake and needed more blood. 6 vials more?! I told them to just get a couple more cause I was tired of being poked all week and all evening.

chauwell

It took the 4-5 nurses to get the IV in... Couldn't get the one in the arm, couldn't get ...

12 October 09 at 05:30

Jerin

Hmmmmm... likely excuses. ;)

15 October 09 at 00:32

Welcome Baby Ellee

There’s something so intoxicating about a newborn that I can’t pull myself away from our little Ellee. I’m so glad she’s out and I can cuddle her.

After having false labor last Tuesday, we decided it would be best to stay at the other base, closer to the hospital. Plus, the OB doctors wouldn’t let us go back home. So Mark and I waited it out at military lodging. Its so hard to relax and enjoy yourself when you’re on standby waiting for something to happen every moment day and night. We watched the 1st season of Arrested Development, finished a 1000 piece puzzle, went to three used book stores in one night, went walking around a few malls, almost bought a laptop, and ate lots of good food.

Sunday morning, I got a call from the OB nurse saying if we’d be able to come in that night to get induced. Nothing on my schedule! Heck yeah. It was kind of a let down though cause we’ve been in “waiting mode” for so long, now its like all that waiting was kind of a waste. Then again it was nice to have some quiet time to rest without the kids around before the baby came.

This pregnancy’s reoccurring theme seems to be “waiting”. Even after we checked into the hospital at 7pm we had to wait. I had tested positive for a bacteria that was harmless to me, but if the baby came in contact with it, it could be harmful for her. So I had to be put on a penicillin drip for 4 hrs before delivery. So from 7pm to 12:30 am we passed the time watching the 2nd season of Scrubs. I think the nurses enjoyed watching it while they were coming in and out all evening.

They started the pitocin drip around 1:30 am but again we waited and waited for real contractions. It wasn’t till 4 am before we had significant contractions. Things progressed so quickly I decided to go without the epidural and just get a shot of nubain. I don’t know how much pain the nubain takes away, but it took me to a happy place. I don’t think I would do the nubain again though. It made me feel so out of it I just wanted to sleep right after Ellee was born.

Ellee was born at 4:45 am. 8 lbs 4 oz. 19.7 inches. She’s by far the heaviest of all three kids, but I think it had to do with our week of waiting and eating very well. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait any longer or I’m afriad she would have been too big. 

So, baby Ellee and I checked out fine and we were home Tuesday night. Evan and Careese were SO excited to see us and the new baby. Careese heard the baby crying and went and got her favorite blanket and give it to the baby. Then she went and got Evan’s blanket and gave it to the baby too. I had called home to let Evan know we were on our way home and he immediately went to draw pictures for the baby. Then he pulled open all the blinds in the living room to watch for us. The windows were  a little foggy and he went to the bathroom to get a towel to wipe the windows clean so he could see better. Cute kids.

Here are Ellee’s pics.

Baby Ellee

Thanks for everyone’s comments and emails over the past weeks! It made checking our email while waiting it out worth while!

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Emi Hui

Wow, I'm out of the loop and didn't know Ellee is here already! She is so adorable, and I love ...

14 October 09 at 14:47

Shelese

Holy Cow! 3 kids now huh? Man time flies... aren't you still a newlywed? :) WEll that is one beautiful ...

28 November 09 at 05:38

more waiting

The hospital we’re delivering at is located on another base an hour and half drive away from where we live. So they asked that we check into lodging 10 days before the due date, to wait it out closer to the hospital. Well, it has been even more agonizing to be away from the comforts of home and waiting for this baby to come. My mom is in town and is taking care of Evan and Careese back at home. While I would usually love the time away from the kids to myself, this time away to wait for this baby to show up has made what should be a relaxing time so difficult!

I had been avoiding leaving to stay at the other base because my parents were in town, I would miss my kids and I didn’t want to leave the comforts of home. But Tuesday morning, what I thought was labor turned out to be false. It felt exactly like labor, it timed like labor, and it seemed like the right time because my other two kids were 9-8 days early too. Well, I was wrong. As soon as we got to the hospital the contractions stopped entirely. Argh. I was so mentally ready for this. So anyway, the false labor convinced me to stay in lodging at the other base to wait. I thought it would be a few hours or maybe a day before the contractions would pick up again.

Its Thursday night now, and I’m actually bored. In our haste to get here, and thinking that we would be having a baby real soon, I didn’t take a lot of things for us to do. And there isn’t much around this base to do. I feel kind of trapped cause I’m afraid of going to far from base, just in case. *sigh*

Well, we’re hanging in here. We’ve got a netbook, some card games, a knitting project, and a library to borrow DVDs from. We’re currently watching the 1st season of Arrested Development again. So funny. And we’ve been exploring the city around base.

The waiting is SO agonizing when you’re far from people and things you love. At least I’m catching up on sleep.

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Crystal

Oh sorry to hear that. But wanted to send a personal msg to the Changs that we're having a boy!!!

2 October 09 at 09:12

Geok Lee

Happened to me when I had Shuan. I checked into hospital only to be discharged and charged a fat bill ...

2 October 09 at 16:55

“And now, the end is near…”

“It’s the final count down…”

“I’ve been waiting, for a girl like you…”

“I’ll be right here waiting for you…”

I’m so ready to go. As chaotic as I know my  life will be with 3 kids under 4, I’m SO DONE with being pregnant! After a tough first trimester, I think this has been a fairly manageable pregnancy. But now I know the end is near cause I’m getting more symptoms during this last few weeks left. Like patchy, itchy spots all over, achy hip joints, something that’s like pinched sciatic nerve pain, insomnia, indigestion, congestion, just to name a few. hehehe I’m just falling apart.

Other side effects have included mind loss and the ablility to fall asleep anywhere at anytime. In 2 weeks I broke 3 glasses, on 3 different occasions, and a large glass food storage container. I’ve misplaced $300 in cash. Thanks for finding it in the laundry, Mark, even if I did look there 4-5 times before you did. And putting my kids to sleep by falling asleep in their beds before they did.

Tonight, I was putting Careese to bed, and I know I didn’t turn off her side table light because I wanted to put some lotion on her. But while reading a book to her I feel asleep. Next thing I remember is Mark waking me up in a dark room and Careese fast asleep. She had turned off her light and got into bed and went to sleep all on her own! Funny little girl. If only she would do that every night.

The sleepyness must be effecting Evan too. In the last two weeks, four times, he has fallen asleep on his own, right before dinner, and continued to sleep till the next morning. I don’t know they’re making him do in school. Run laps around the building? I know today he feel asleep because he’s been playing with my dad outside for hours, and I kept him busy with crafts all morning. I’m gonna have to bump up his dinner time if this keeps up.

So, I’m just waiting now… waiting and waiting. My parents are in town and its nice to have them here to keep the kids occupied and cared for. I’m a little envious that Evan has grandparents that are still young enough to really play with him and do stuff with. My grandparents were a lot older when I was little, and I don’t have memories of playing with them like he does.

My actual due date is Oct 6th but Evan was 9 days early and Careese was 8 days early, so I’m just antsy to finally be done with this one. I’ve got 14 days left. *sigh* Plus, I’m kind of hoping the baby will come before Sunday then I don’t have to teach Sunday School at church. hehehe. “yessssss, excellent.”

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Aunt Spicy

Yahoo! Good luck this next week!

27 September 09 at 23:31

Shannon Johnson

Beverly, We look forward to hearing about your new baby when she is born. It's funny this is the second ...

2 October 09 at 02:52