Where are they now?

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. :P

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

Love from the Changs

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