Disney Sea-Tokyo

We decided to take another trip out to Disneyland Tokyo; this time we went to the other park, Disney Sea. It was absolutely magical and definitely my favorite Disney park (in terms of atmosphere). I wish we could have spent more time there! I loved seeing how different of an experience Kora had in comparison to our trip 4 months ago. She was so excited about everything, and enjoyed every mintute of it. We were able to meet a lot of the Disney characters which was fun. I was a bit surprised but Kora actually loved them, she would wave and yell hello and bye bye. She would try to kiss them or pat their faces. The rides at Disney Sea are very low key and quite short (which is nice if you have small children), we weren't as impressed by the food at Disney Sea however they still did have some great treats, the shows were amazing and overall the park was super cool. I would definitely love to go back again!

We got another airbnb close to the park, and spent two nights there. It was a Micky themed apartment, it was cute and cozy. We had stayed at an apartment nearby before so we were familiar with the area which made travel much easier.

Snarky post alert!

I was asked a surprising question the other day. I say surprising not because it is an abnormal question but because it came from a fellow mom, a new mom no less...

She said "So what do you do all day?"

It took a lot of energy to not fire back with a "are you freaking kidding me?!?!" or a "well what the hell do you do all day? Don't you take care of your new baby?!?" Having a new baby is exhausting and you are constantly busy so why was she asking me this? Well two things stopped me, the first being maybe she was wondering how every day life is in Japan (though coming from this person that is not likely) and the other being because since the day she came home from the hospital she has had constant help from both of the baby's grandparents. So maybe she was just confused because she has a lot of free time and figured she I must have the same? Either way I was still taken a back by the question. So for some of you out there wondering what I do all day (and for your various reasons for asking this question) I figured I would go over my typical day. I am currently writing this while my baby is talking to herself in her bed (she should be napping but decided she currently does not want to)....

We wake up around 7am, I usually pick up Kora from her bed and talk to her about things for a bit (yes I know she is a baby but she loves chatting with me). So I ask her about her sleep, ask her what she thinks we should do today, and then ask her if she is hungry...She usually responds to the "Beanie girl are you sooooo hungry right now?" with a lip smacking sound (my indication of yes she is definitely hungry). I put her in her play area and make her breakfast. I prepare both of our breakfasts at the same time and after about 20ish minutes of me cooking and talking to her while I prepare the food I get her in her little high chair and we start eating, usually while we watch a show on tv. We eat for about an hour so by then its nearly 9am. When she is done I get her all cleaned up and we play in her play area for about 45 min until she is sleepy again. She goes down for her first nap just before 10am and this is when I get a little of my "free time". I lay her down and start the silent clean up. Start a load of laundry, hang up laundry, fold laundry, do the dishes, pick up toys clean up around the house, make sure the bills are all paid, and then if I am lucky I will have extra time to watch some TV, work on a drawing, or listen to podcasts. She wakes up just before noon, I talk to her again and ask her if shes hungry sing a few songs, take her to the bathroom to poop or change her wet diapers then I put her in her play area again and make lunch. Takes about 20 min and the whole eating process happens again.. we finish eating around 1:00 or 1:20 and we play for another 20-60 min.Usually during this time I dress her for the day. Her playing is very active, shes walking along while holding the wall, climbing up and down things, crawling all over the house playing with her stackable cups, or her pacifiers or her babies, etc...I am usually chasing her around, singing songs with her, and attempting to teach her things.... She gets out all of her energy and is ready for another nap around 2:00ish she usually sleeps for an hr or so, and usually by this time the other laundry has dried and is ready to fold or I have a little more time to draw, exercise, or rest. Shes up around 3:15ish and from here we either go shop for groceries or play until Robert comes home. Grocery shopping here is done every 2 days or so because the refrigerators are small and you constantly have to pick up food. If we go shopping we either have to ride the 2 miles to the cheaper store (which is way better and has everything), walk to the close one that is more expensive, or take the stroller to the semi far away one and go to 4 different shops to pick up everything. Usually shopping takes around 2 hours if not 3 to get it all done...in the middle of this we have snack time, melt downs, occasional feedings, potty runs or diaper changes. We come home and Robert is usually on his way or just walking in. I hand Kora off after his few minutes of rest and I start cooking the dinner. On a typical night, I am cooking at least 3 different meals.  The meal for us for the night (if we can all eat it) and the breakfast for Robert, and usually his lunch for the next day. If we aren't all able to eat it, (like if I am cooking Robert a steak or some pork) then I may be cooking 4 meals. About the time I am finishing up the meal prep we turn the bath on (which takes about 25 min to fill up and heat up properly) Robert is occasionally chatting with me from the other room while he plays with Kora. I finish up the cooking and set up Kora's food and give Rob his food...I plate my food and wash up the dishes before I finally get to sit down and eat my food. By this time Kora is nearly done eating and Robert is usually helping her finish her food. I stuff my face as fast as I can and help wash off Kora so she can take a bath, we jump in the shower/bath clean Kora off take turns bathing ourselves and whoever finishes first takes Kora out to get her dressed for bed. By then its 7:30pm sometimes later if shopping was late or if things took me longer to prepare. After a little more quiet play time I put Kora to bed and we finally have the rest of the night to relax. Then it all starts over again lol.

All of this is obviously met with random schedule changes, occasional random shopping days, face timing with the grandparents or aunties, potty breaks, random snack times, baby tantrums, photo adventures, vacuuming, taking the trash out, bike rides, adventure planning, walks, picking up the house...etc...etc...  When we have time off in the evening we do all sorts of things...Friday nights we try to go out to eat for our "family date night", we watch the walking dead on Monday nights. Robert and I watch our current releases of anime on Friday nights, we play our own video games, or check social media or talk about our days. All sorts of things happen just like any normal day but I guess my thoughts just keep coming back to "I do a lot of stuff and mainly its making sure my child is safe and happy"....Don't you do the same?

If I were a daycare worker or an office assistant would you ask me what I did all day? I manage my household, I clean, I cook, I teach, I nurture and I care for my family. No I don't sit around all day...but thanks for asking. :D
---side note--
sorry not sorry for the snarky post ;P

Kora giving me the "come on mom..." face

Waiting for her lunch with her crazy wild hair

Candid shot of me cooking in my pajamas (photo credit to Robert for secretly snapping this)

Family date night at a Japanese pizza and pasta place

poopy potty break while pointing at things on her map 

Tokyo Disney, Tokyo Sea Life, and Odaiba

This weekend I planned a surprise last minute trip to Disney Land, Tokyo Sea Life, and Odaiba. Robert came home Friday afternoon and I said "Your not working tomorrow right? I planned a big adventure this weekend I need your help to hurry and pack." I clicked accept on our airbnb and we started packing. As we packed I explained what I had planned for us and showed Robert where we were going to stay. We ended up leaving a little after 6pm from our place in Yokosuka caught 2 trains and then a bus. We finally arrived at our place in Edogawa where our airbnb was around 8:30pm. It has been quite cold in Japan lately, so adventuring out with a baby, with all of our gear in 2 backpacks, on public transportation can be a bit of a challenge. Managing public transportation as a foreigner in Japan in general is a little difficult...some signs are only in Japanese (which makes reading them near impossible), if you happen to have the Japanese writing for the location you can try to match them up, if you are lucky you can find the Japanese name which is spelled out in plain characters. When both get a little too confusing I tend to ask a random person, usually something like "Sumimasen, (point at name of location and attempt to pronounce it properly) Edogawa? (followed by me pointing at a train or a specific bus I think we are supposed to get on)" Usually they start speaking Japanese and I tend to get the basic idea of what they are saying. A lot of the time we hop on a train/bus we think is correct and hope for the best.

The bus stop by the Airbnb

Our airbnb

Our airbnb

Disney Land was tons of fun, Kora got to ride on a bunch of rides. She kept yelling "WAAAWW" and would point her tiny little finger at all sorts of things. There food was very impressive, it not only looked amazing but it also tasted really good. When it warms up a bit more we are planning to go to Tokyo Disney Sea which is the adjacent Disney park. All of the voices for the rides and all of the songs were in Japanese. There were some signs in English, Japanese, and Korean. A lot of the workers knew some English which helped a little.

Tokyo Sea Life was incredible. There were tons of fish, a tank with stingrays and a bunch of different sharks. They had sea turtles, octopus, penguins, different birds, and a whole bunch of other sea creatures. There was also a special area outside where you could pet the stingrays and a few sharks. I have to admit I was a bit sad by how small their cages were....Oh and ironically you go to their food court and all of the food is seafood...which sort of made Robert and I a bit sick to our stomachs...

Odaiba we didn't get to spend as much time at as I wanted (because we had spent most of this day at Tokyo sea life). We saw the Gundam monument and walked around a huge mall. There were all sorts of cute little shops and cafes. We plan to go back to Odaiba during the anime convention in march. Hopefully we will get to explore a lot more then.

Life in Japan so far

Things are great here, really great I am so in love with Japan. All of the "gadgets", even just the basic basic living style. It reminds me a lot of being in the Netherlands. Japan feels comfortable and safe; I truly have enjoyed every minute being here. I think people wonder how difficult it is here, and I would have to say the hardest thing lately has just been being a mom. I miss having other moms I could share my difficulties with, and although my mom friends are just a skype call away sometimes you just need a hug ... Kora is getting 2 more teeth which will be a total of 8 teeth (6 on top and 2 on the bottom) ... She is active and very stubborn (just like her parents) ...She wants to walk but can't, She wants to stand but can't. She also gets frustrated when she can not eat what we are eating, for example: this morning she lunged at my peanut butter sandwich which then quickly turned into her whole face covered in hives ... (we are pretty sure she is allergic to nuts ...) Sometimes I just want a break, and lately breaks are hard to come by. When you do not have anyone you personally know or necessarily trust with your child, handing over part of your soul to a stranger does not sound appeasing ... Jet lag for her has been a bit challenging. She has done well for the most part but she still gets really cranky around 5-6pm and wants to sleep. Overall just the whole parenting thing is hard ... because of course being a parent is difficult but it is especially difficult with all of the change.

If you are not friends with me on Facebook or do not follow me on instagram you can add me and see some of the "Interesting" videos of our house and some basic things here in Japan.The short quick things are easier to post on there then on blogger during the week. I will do my best to keep up with the updates! 

With the internet here my posts automatically come up in Japanese its weird (it might be because of my auto translate thing) but sometimes the sentences get a bit mixed up or punctuation is weird (so I apologize in advance)

Update: things with our house purchase back in the states has been a bit crazy the last few days, but yes we are still buying our house! So another post about that later :D

I figured my airport/flight experience deserved its own blog post....

Well lets start with the fact that we had to get up at 2am. We decided to rent a van the day before we left so we could move the rest of our crap to Robert's family's home; making it easier the morning of our flight so we could just drop the rental at the airport and ride the shuttle to the terminals. ***Oh I almost forgot Robert's work booked him on a completely different airlines departing 20 minutes after my flight*** So we get to the airport and through security robert helps get us to our gate and heads to his own. Things are going great until I hear an announcement that my flight had been delayed nearly 3 hours making it highly likely that I would miss my connection in SFO which would take me to Narita. My 2 hours of sleep brain starts to panic....I go up carrying my sleeping baby and ask the airlines what they can do, I ask if its possible to transfer me to a direct flight they assured me it would be fine and that the Narita flight would be delayed as well. So I wait...I fall asleep for an hour and wake up to them annoucning its delayed even longer, now I will for sure miss my connection. I run over to the line of people which is now at least 40 people long (not even exaggerating) and wait and wait and wait. They start to board the plane and I am still in line panicking I get to the front of the line and everyone is boarded except for Kora and I. I ask the woman what the plan is now because she assured me she would call me up and adjust my flight if I was to miss my connection. She quickly books me on a flight and tells me to go on blah blah blah flight when I arrive which would send me to LAX and then to "Narita". I am sobbing at this point....This flight was set to arrive in "Narita" at 10pm...more than 10 hours after Roberts intial landing time (this complicates our ability to get to our housing or have any information in Japan for that matter because the liaison is set to meet him at 11am...I am panicking also because Robert is in the air flying to LAX at this time. I cant call him or inform him of anything. The lady assures me I will make it just fine and when I arrive in SFO someone will be waiting there to help me get to my gate.....Well on the plane I buy wifi inform Robert of the changes via FB and ask him to see if he can jump on my now Delta flight to "Narita" at 4pm instead. He then informs me that the flight number is saying my flight will arrive at the other Tokyo airport Hanida....not Narita. I panic she told me that was the last flight available to tokyo. *reminder I have a very very squirmy 9 month old who likes to have my attention...and I am tyring to deal with a crisis* Robert tells me its alright he will adjust things and get on the flight and we can sort out how to get from Hanida to Narita later and to just catch my LAX flight. So I arrive in SFO run out of the gate with 20 min to get to my connection, to find no one waiting for me at the gate, I run to a United desk and ask for help. She rudely informs me they booked me on a different airlines and she "couldn't" help print any boarding passes and wouldn't give me any more information, she proceeded to tell me I HAD to walk all the way to the other terminal to talk to customer service. I run (with 2 backpacks a baby strapped to my chest my coat and a huge baby carseat) *reminder if you don't remember I have major back problems....so i am in excruciating pain through all of this* I arrive at customer service to find the line of 40 people from my old flight in line waiting to talk to a representative... I run up to a representative cut in front of everyone and beg for help the guy says he can't help me I they booked me on Alaska airlines and now I have to run through the airport get out of security go back through security and head to the international terminal....I now have 10 min until my flight is set to leave. I start running and I am sobbing when my rolly stroller carseat carrier tips over and my bags and all of my stuff goes flying ***again Kora is strapped to my chest*** I drop to my knees and start sobbing in the middle of the airport. ---if it wasn't crucial that we arrived at the same time as Robert or if I happened to know where we were staying I would have just carried the burden of dealing with it all. I would have flown into Narita a day later, would take a train and find my apartment...but of course I have no information and no way of getting to where we are supposed to be without Robert... and Robert has to be there at the specific time.---
A very nice united woman runs up to me and asks what she can do, I try my best to quickly explain and she demands an agent help me. They sit there and tell me all sorts of things mainly that there is no way to make it to Narita when I have to be there, but that they can put me on a later flight to LAX and I end up getting a new flight to Narita for the following morning. At this point Robert missed his connection in LAX which allows us the ability to have a "redo" the next morning....still on seperate flights but this time hopefully no delays. So now a nice airport gentlemen helps me get my things to my gate. We hang out for a while when we find out our flight is delayed to LAX....and nearly 3 hours later our plane arrives...

Kora was a trooper. For the most part she cooperated with me, although she rarely let me put her down, she did a great job. Pooped on the toilet on the airplane, and at the airport. She ate tons of snacks and was smiley most of the time.

We were able to get some rest and start our journey again. We are currently on our nearly 11 hour flight from LAX to Narita; Kora wont let me put her down. I am exhausted but I have 2 amazing women around me helping out anytime I need something. Allowing me a chace to eat and use the restroom. I am grateful for the kind souls who have helped me on this insane journey to Japan. Soon we will be eating katsu and drinking saki in Japan. Things always work out.

I am strong, I am brave, and I know I can do this.

(also excuse the terrible run on sentences, misspelled words, and overall errors....lol)

Photos to come :P

Leaving San Diego and Japan-7 months old

Maybe it was the short notice, or maybe it is because of the little life we have made here but I didn't think that I would be so upset when it was time to leave San Diego. Last year while we were in San Diego, I would cry because I missed the Seattle rain...now I am sad to leave all of my new friends. Sad to leave all of the fun things that San Diego has to offer. Yes, yes, a new journey is on its way...I am excited for Japan, just not in the way I expected to be. It was always a dream to travel to Japan. I guess now it is just a little more hectic, more of that "unknown" that scares me.  How will I make my way around town? Will our cell phones work? How will I be able to read the signs or read anything for that matter? How will we spend our days? Will I be incredibly isolated? I am just so worried about being in a foreign place and not being able to have the resources to function... I used to love that part of the "journey". I loved exploring; I love the unknown of a new city. However, with a baby its just a little more difficult. Ifind myself repeating, I am flexible, I am strong, I am brave...but I tend to keep going back to "am I enough?", "Will I be able to do it?" Well I will have to, and I want to.

If you haven't already heard, we found out a week ago that they are sending us home from San Diego early. We leave Friday, and Rob is supposed to start his training for our trip to Japan. They were planning to send us to Japan at the end of November; we were supposed to be there for 2 weeks, following which we would be sent back to Japan starting in January until the middle of May. (Robert has recently petitioned to stay in Seattle until the beginning of January to make it easier on our tiny family. We are hoping they honor his requests so we can hopefully get our house closed and at least partially moved in before leaving again.) It is all a bit stressful to say the least, and since we currently don't know our exact departure dates I am stuck "winging it"...again.... I know when we arrive I will be so excited. I am excited to meet new people, learn the language, and try new things. Although currently that excitement is just a little clouded, I know I will love it. I know it will work out. As long as I have Robert and Kora things will be just fine.

Kora is now 7 Months. These months just seem to be flying by. She is 12lbs 12oz and 25 inches long. She is quite the little lady. She now poops and pees on the toilet. She still uses her diaper sometimes and because she has a very limited ability to communicate, she can't really tell me when she needs to go. I usually just read her ques and give her as many opportunities to go as I can. She has even gone pee on the toilet when we were at dinner the other night! She is so so observant, loves to watch what we are doing and see how things work. She crawls, pulls herself up onto things, tries to stand up, sits by herself (still a little wobbly), and loves to snuggle. She shakes her head like shes saying "no-no" and she sometimes will wave hi-hi. She is one smart little bean and we absolutely love her!

We will post her 7 month pictures when we finally arrive in Seattle. EDIT: here are a few of her 7 month pictures!

5 and 6 months old

San Diego is great (for the most part). We love the sun, things to do, and I especially love the meetups for moms.and babies The things we are most struggling with are the distance from Rob's job and the unknown back in Seattle. Rob has been working 10-12 hour days usually at least 6 days a week, and on top of working a ton he has an hour commute. By the time he gets home, he is exhausted and so am I. We of course try to make the best of our time and get out and do fun things when we can, its just the amount of work and the distance to his work, makes things difficult. The unknown...so many things are up in the air, we just tend to try and problem solve when things come up...but me being the "worry wart" that I am, I can't shake those feelings of what will happen when we return. Our house still hasn't gone through and all of our stuff is still in storage. We are set to return on the 20th of November and are currently homeless... then comes the possibility of going to Japan in January...what if they change our date to leave sooner? How will I manage putting together a new house and leaving the country for a few months?

I have to stop my self from going down the rabbit hole of what ifs. I have to remind myself daily of the now...of enjoying every minute of the now.

So instead of focusing on my worries here is some stuff we are enjoying now:

Robert graduated! He tries to down play his achievements but he really did have to work hard. Late nights working, studying, traveling hours and hours on public transit...but he did it and we are so proud!

excuse the blurry-ness I was breastfeeding, cheering, and taking a photo from extremely far away  :P

While we were back for Robert's graduation we adventured all over Seattle, met up with friends, went to a Hawks game and enjoyed every minute we could.

We (well I) successfully moved out of our condo, packed everything and put it into storage.

Took two different trips to Seattle with a 5 month old with only a few poo-splosions

Robert had a birthday, which we celebrated by eating at random places, spending time on the beach, taking photos, and leading Robert on a few blind folded adventures.

She was afraid of the candles..

We have done everything from hanging out by the pool, shopping, dinner dates (more like pretending to be food critics as we test out new restaurants) , meeting up with friends, going to the zoo, adventured to a strange pumpkin patches in the middle of no where, mommy meetups, beach days, and so much more. We really are doing so much and loving every minute we have together. Hopefully Rob gets more free days so we can make more memories before we return back to Seattle.

Update on just Kora: She crawls (more like an army crawl but its incredibly fast)...she tries to pull her self up on things now,  she rolls, says mama and dada (mostly dada unless shes sad and wants me..), she loves to eat everything, is still incredibly small, is a great observer, seems to be getting a tooth (we will see on when it actually pops out), loves being outside, loves being in her carrier, loves the mirror, dances (more like wiggles back and forth), likes to watch other babies, gives kisses, and loves to snuggle. This kid is a wonder baby, she sleeps well and is always smiling.