All 3 kids Pumpkin Picking for the first time.

Connor and Caleb enjoying the park in cold NJ.

Caleb not sure about Santa.

L and I got to go to a Mickey Mouse Magic show...she was delighted!

Connor and Caleb finally hold their own bottles!!!

The boys' cribs are set up...no more guest bed, sorry grandmas. Their room is officially done and they are in their own beds. They have been for awhile, but the cribs were right next to each other due to the guest bed.

Also, the kids got upgraded in the bathroom department. I loved my daisy bathroom, but too many breakables. Now the kids can enjoy a bathroom made for kids!

We are all unpacked and sleeping back on Okinawa time. We were so thankful to see so many friends and family! We are amazed that the boys will be L's age when we get back to the States again, but we are half way through out tour! This year is harder than last year to be away from family for Christmas. I would so love to be spending the holiday with my little brother and sister or our niece and nephews....but that will be another year. I think because we were just with everyone, it is fresh in my mind how wonderful it is to be around family and friends in the States. We are appreciative of all the WONDERFUL friends we have here and will enjoy our holiday celebrations with them!

I am especially sad for our close friends who have their loved ones over in the sandbox. We are grateful for your service and appreciate all that military families sacrifice for our country! (As we travelled, I kept thinking in my head during the very rough spots, "You're welcome America for serving overseas! Because if we didn't server overseas, we wouldn't be having to do this long flight back and forth!!!" Seriously, we are truly appreciative of the men and women who are in the midst of combat. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

We have plans to go to one of the restaurants on the base we live on. We will be sharing a meal with several friends. We are excited to have daddy home or several days ---maybe go to the Aquarium or something! Basically we will be having a very quiet Christmas in sunny warmer weather.

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Carols

I am actually humming Christmas Carols! This is huge because I only hum when I am joyful and the last 6 days and been FULL OF JOY!

You know we went to the States from Oct. 28 - Dec. 9. So many of these joys are a result of that trip, but I am listing them out so you can know why I am so thrilled.

1. The boys now go to bed/sleep at the same time. This is a gift my good friends, who have 2 year old twins, blessed me with.

2. The boys hold their own bottles (also gift from friends above).

3. The boys are using bottles only (that means no more parasite-like action from my body. We are done nursing which means that after about 3 years, my body is mine again.)

4. The boys are now sleeping from 7 pm to 5 am. Take a bottle and were in bed today until 8:45 am!

5. L is back to being a sweet child now that we are adjusted to being back home.

6. While on our trip we got to see so many family members! Family flew in from Bermuda, South Carolina, and Kansas City. We also got to see lots of our family who lives in Jersey.

7. I am able to keep up with the house this week because the kids (all 3) take naps in the afternoon at the same time!!!

8. I get to shower each and every day because I can now count on the boys taking a nap in the AM at the same time!!!

9. I was blessed with a fabulous family who kept the kids 3 different nights while we were in the States so that I could have a full night's rest and relaxation.

10. I am grateful for webcams and all of our family who takes the time to get on and talk with the kids! For families who live far away, this is an awesome way for kids to stay connected!

11. I actually got to buy clothes that fit and didn't have to return them through the mail!

12. It is so easy to live in America! I really enjoyed the ease of being in the States.

13. Thankful for a husband who works a job with health insurance, because C and C have had to make a couple of trips to the ER/Dr. lately.

14. Loving the warm weather this year again in Okinawa as the States have it terribly cold and snowy right now and you know how I HATE the cold!

15. Aside from an Act of God, we will not have to do the newborn thing again! This has been the hardest year of my life (worse than recruiting and you may remember how hard that was). I am grateful that the itty bitty phase of our lives is over.

16. I am grateful to be celebrating Christmas with all 3 of my children -- the boys had a very rough start so I am so appreciative of the fact that they are overall healthy and here.

I hope that you are feeling Christmas cheer in your life!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Coupons

One of my family members suggested I share the following with you. One way to support military families is to send coupons! In overseas duty stations (which is where we are) we can use coupons up to 6 months after the expiration date. So if you have coupons that you are willing to mail, our family would greatly appreciate them! I went shopping a couple of weeks ago and saved $30.00! If you are interested in helping families across the military, here is some info. on coupon support.

Our family specifically uses the following coupons:

Tide

Joy dish soap

Huggies

Luvs

All baby wipes

Bounty

Charmin

Daisy sour cream/products

Any packaged baking mixes

Cheese sticks

Batteries

I suppose those are the big ones. Please feel free to send any of your expired coupons and I will pass them out to friends. Thanks for you support!

Send a Facebook message if you would like our mailing address.

P.S. Our commissaries let us stack most coupons. So no limit for most coupons for us to use on any one product. That means some products end up being free!

UPdate

Alright, so those of you who placed bets on whether I could let Matthew go back to the states w/o us...collect your winnings.

Since deciding that we wouldn't be able to afford tickets the prices they were, I kept checking the ticket prices almost daily. Just to hope and dream that we could afford them. Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, kids don't pay the full prices and the boys don't pay even close to the full prices." So after looking online today, I realized that we could afford the tickets. I called a couple close family members and discussed our options and the wisdom of traveling with 3 children 2 and under. Suggestions open here for those of you who have travelled overseas with small children...

We are super thrilled to be going back to the States!!! If you think you could make a trip to NJ area, we would love to see you!!!!

School Days

So here are the photos that all parents take the first day of school.

1st -- L leaving the house

2nd -- Standing in front of the apartment

3rd -- L standing outside her new school

After holding off starting school for one reason or another, L has officially started at a local Japanese school. She is the only English speaking child in the school. We are excited for this opportunity -- to stimulate neurons, learn a language and to just have an overall unique experience.

She loved telling me all about her day when I picked her up. She was so excited! Then she took a two hour nap from all the excitement! We think this is going to go very well.

Some updated pics can be seen here of the boys. Enjoy our cute kids!

The boys are asleep...

Connor and Caleb

Connor and Caleb

L going to visit her new school

It got real quiet one day, I walked into the living room to see what L was up to and this is what I found. Connor did not cry, he just kept hanging out.

L and mama got to go on a girls' date. This was L being super cute during our brunch.

Connor's whole face lights up when he smiles!

Being cute

Caleb talking and smiling away

Daddy holding -- can you tell which one?

And his baby girl.

So we will see how much of this post I can get done. These are just a few pictures we've been able to take lately. The boys are growing well, L loves being a big sister and with the maid coming and our Jenny, Mama is not going crazy.

Our most disappointing news is that when M and I moved to Okinawa, we planned all along to make a trip back to the states Nov. 2010 for M to run the NYC marathon. We also wanted to take a trip to KS/MO for my family to be able to meet the boys. (Well, when we moved we thought we were pregnant with one). But then we found out about twins....

Which meant buying an extra car seat, highchair, clothes, etc. Then we needed more help, so the maid and helper. Then with the extra ticket -- well you get the idea. We did not plan on twins when we planned a trip back to the states. Since I am not willing to commit to the stress of traveling on a Space - A (military flight) we are not coming back to the states. You see, if we try a military flight, we have to get up each day at about 3 am and be at the airport (with all the kids and all of our stuff). We hope and pray to be able to get a flight and if we don't, after waiting for 4 hours, we go back home to try again the next day. Then the flights only get us to Seattle, CA, etc. We would then have to buy a last minute ticket to get to NJ and that could be more $$$ than the ticket to get to the States. But we could get stuck on the West Coast for several days until we can get on a flight. If the kids were older, I would be all about this. Traveling alone with 3 kids 2 and under, there is NO WAY! So our disappinting news is that the whole family is not coming back. M will fly to NJ on his won, run the marathon and then come home. Since he gets about 2 weeks away, I stated that I get two weeks next year when the boys are bigger and don't need me all the time! Fair trade don't you think?

Babies are waking up so I am off to nurse (yes, 6 months of nursing!) and take care of my crew.

Prayer requests:

M is going to be gone a lot over the next 2 months, so we need prayers...mostly that I don't eat one of my young. ;)

These days

Some days are good around here and some days are not so good. Today was a good day. In fact, this has been an alright week. However, I think the biggest blessing and reason for bringing my mood up -- Caleb slept through the night last night! And not just the 5 hour block that Drs say is "through the night". That is NOT through the night in my book! He slept from about 10 pm until 7:00 am! Then to top it off, Connor only got up once through the night!!! So I woke up refreshed and renewed and looking at the world through brighter eyes. Typically I am getting up about 5 times each night with one various boy or the other, so it was AMAZING!

Now we have also figured out that Connor has reflux. So he started Zantac today and a friend provided some suggestions of things we can do on our own. So with the medicines and helps, Connor may just start sleeping even better. So I am hopeful that we are on our way to more and more sleep. Three years is a long time to go with only a few good nights sleep here and there.

At out 6 months Dr appointment this morning, the Nurse Practitioner didn't have any major concerns. Which was a huge relief since I have been a little stressed about how delayed the boys are physically. She said there were even a few areas where the boys were actually ahead of even what a 6 month old baby should be doing (their adjusted ages -- 4 1/2 months). The boys are growing well and doing well overall. They are still delayed, but making progress with PT and what we do with the boys after the PT leaves.

Other big news is that L is going to school. On Tuesday night, the night before we visited her school, she went to bed at 6:30. She was SOOO excited about going! When I went to get her the next morning, she jumped up on her bed shouting, "Lexi wake up, Lexi go to school!" Then she jumped up and down several times. She will be starting for one 1 -- 1/2 day on Sept. 3. Then she will be going for 3 -- 1/2 days the next week. After that she will be going 3 full days per week. She is so thrilled to talk about school and to get ready for it! She already has her backpack packed and ready to go. I hope she has the language skills of one of M's sisters (she spent 2 years in China and can speak fluently) and not my ability for languages.

M is getting ready to head back to the states to run the NYC marathon. He is running lots and getting very excited.

Those are our big goings on. Have a great day!

At the Habu snake/Cobra show

Dr. Fish -- the fish eat the dead skin off your feet

L being cute

L promoting M with Brandon's help

M swearing in

We had my dad and sister here for 3 glorious weeks! I was so grateful to have them come and help out with the circus that is our home. My brother has now decided that each time he walks out of our door, the Circus theme song should be playing...yeah we have lots going on.

While my dad was here we got to see lots of the island and eat all over too. My dad LOVES to eat different/unusual/new foods so we tried to get in as many places as we could. One restaurant was a Garlic House -- fried garlic, baked garlic, fried potatoes, garlic and cheeses and on and on with the garlic recipes. Oh man, it was yummy!

We visited the Aquarium, a Butterfly garden, Fruit Land, Okinawa World and several other places I am forgetting. It was such a pleasure to be able to get out and enjoy where we are living. When our other visitors were here we had too much going on with sick/quarantined preemie babies. Having the boys older who could tag along was great. The little ones and I only went out and about every other days so they could rest (and I could rest) but we still were able to do lots.

Along with the sites, Matthew was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2! Matthew chose to have my brother help Lexi pin daddy's new rank on.

Let's see - other goings on. We have help coming two days/week. Our Jenny comes to help us hold babies and occupy L. She has Children's Lit background, so she has been recruited to read like crazy to little L.

The boys have started PT and are coming along. Mama has lots of movements that she has to practice with the boys, but they are making progress from week to week. In fact, we are already moving the PT sessions from one time per week to every other week. Caleb has also started baby rice cereal. Connor will hold off a couple of weeks on the cereal but has made baby progress in other areas.

The boys both have Opthamology appointments on Tuesday. Each one of them has a lazy right eye so we have figure out what to do about that.

L is also going to visit a Japanese preschool on Wednesday! She is so excited about going to school and we are so excited about her learning to speak Japanese. We hope this will be a fantastic experience for her.

This note is very disorganized, but the boys still get up 3 -5 times per night and I am up around 7 with L...so on little sleep, this is as good as it gets for now.

Have a great day!

EI -- Early Intervention

Update on C & C --

Being a former Early Intervention/Special Educator, I have watched very closely the development of C & C. When taking into consideration that the boys came early, I have watched even more closely. Several weeks ago, we decided that there was enough of a delay to go ahead and refer the boys to be evaluated. I discussed this with the Dr. at the boys' last appointment, but she was of the mindset that the boys just need more time. I agree that given more time, the boys would probably catch up and they probably wouldn't need anything. However, if they qualify, then what difference does it make to have one more person around to provide ideas/suggestions and interact with each boy individually. They don't get much 1:1 time, so a person here exclusively for each boy sounds like a good deal to me.

A Nurse and a PT (Physical Therapist) came to complete the evaluations and sure enough the boys qualify for services. Right now they are only needing physical development. Apparently during the last month in the womb, the muscle fibers develop that help you to make slow and precise movements. When you are born early, as the boys were, the muscle fibers do not have a chance to mature. The PT will be able to help the boys develop these muscle fibers and give us motor movement ideas and suggestions to carry on during the rest of the week. Each boy gets to work with the PT one time/week.

It also appears that each boy has a lazy eye. The muscle problems are probably contributing to the eye problems. So we have appointments to get the boys' eyes checked and see what step we need to take next -- probably just muscle exercises to work on strengthening the muscles.

We are excited to start services soon and get to work -- though I am not sure how to fit in the muscle activities we need to do in between feeding 3 kids, changing 2 boys and making sure L gets to the toilet (before she pees on the sofa one more time), playing, reading books, naps and errands.

The PT suggested that the boys will probably not need services a year from now so that is great! We are thankful that the only concern is physical movement. Otherwise the boys have sparkles in their eyes, smiles on their faces and are cooing up a storm.

Bday and project

I had a wonderful Birthday! M woke me up with a surprise appointment for a massage. Then I got to shopping all by myself for materials to build a table for L. M and I then went to dinner. My wonderful friends gathered for a party a couple of days before my bday -- which was fun. One gal brought those beautiful flowers!!!

I have found that if I have projects going, I am in a much better frame of mind as a stay-at-home-mom. So after finishing my painting of the house and my balcony garden; I had to move on. With the supplies I bought, I was able to build a table. Was fun to put together and will go with the wooden kitchen I am having made for L.

Three baskets underneath for storage and 2 baskets for sitting on.

Birthday

It is that time of year. June 1 is my Birthday. Gifts are not really my favorite, I just love for people to acknowledge my day and wish me Happy Birthday. So celebrate with me as i turn 31!.

On Friday we are having pizza and an ice cream cake. On the actual day of my birthday we have fabulous babysitters lined up while Mama, Dada and Uncle Baba got o dinner. So thank you friends for watching our herd of children.

M also has taken off the next 2 weeks. So after months of craziness at work, we are going to have some time to enjoy one another. The Marine Corps. was kind enough to give M 3 weeks off when the boys were born, but there was not too much down time since the boys were in the NICU during that time. We are very excited to get out, enjoy one another and enjoy the terrific adventures on the island.

As far as L goes, she is telling stories like crazy. She sits at the table for dinner and just jabbers, jabbers and jabbers. We understand one or two words here and there, but every couple of "paragraphs" she will give a hearty laugh so we laugh along at the "punch line". She loves playing with her babies and balls. I am hoping to save up and buy her a real wooden kitchen soon so that she can "cook" dinner with me. I am not totally sure why it is so important to me to buy her a kitchen...I know she would LOVE it; so I suppose that is reason enough for now. Since we became debt-free I have not had too hard of a time waiting to purchase things, but this one is hard. I really want it for her, I know she would enjoy it so much, especially right now -- but will continue to save. Hope this encourages others who are trying to live the debt-free lifestyle. Takes some discipline sometimes. Lots of people are living debt-free which is awesome! Why should we work to pay everyone else. We should work for ourselves.

Connor is consistently rolling over and can be selective as to when he wants to pass out smiles. He is holding his head up and loves to be held and swaddled. Connor is definitely a higher maintenance baby than L or Caleb ever were or is. Though in the world of babies, he is still easy.

Caleb is somewhat holding his head up. He gives out smiles like no other and he rolls over occasionally. He is much more content to hang out in the swing and does not need to be swaddled during the day. Caleb is very laid back and squeaks all the time...even while eating and sleeping.

Mama is holding up. So many people comment on how lucky we are to have twins (especially the Japanese) or comment on how they always wanted twins or thought it would be cool. Who wold wish for twins?!?!?! Who would want to have barely enough sleep to smile. In the last week, I have had 4 days which started at about 4:30 am and ended at about 11 pm. Why would that be cool? Why would you want to just get one baby to sleep and literally within 30 seconds the other starts to cry? Then when you get number 2 down, you hear, "Mama, Mama" coming from the big girl's room. Ok, I know this is a bit different from the last post, but the reality of twins and then twins with a toddler is tiring. Teaching was still more difficult than parenting, but with parenting I am just so tired.

All of this is also included with chasing L through the house and then tackling her with tickles. Then there are the moments where L and I get to giggling and just keep on and on. Oh, yeah, we also have the times when Caleb looks into my eyes and smile at me like I am the only person on the planet. L will also walk up to Connor and kiss him on the head or ask to hold Caleb. The joy of seeing calm wash over the boys when they are laid together is pretty great too. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids...but maybe my grandmother was right to cry when she found out I was having twins. She cried because she remembered how hard it was. Maybe I should have a good cry and then go change another diaper :).

Happy Birthday to me!

Thinking

This past weekend we had a NICU reunion. The families who have had babies in the NICU while living in Okinawa are invited to attend this annual celebration. The NICU staff gathers and invites the families to honor the babies who have been taken care of in the NICU.

It was surprisingly an emotional event for me. The staff who took care of our 2 boys were incredible. And every once in a while I think about what they did for our boys. C & C would not be alive had the staff and NICU not been there. I would be a mother grieving the loss of her two boys. Especially the first week of the boys' lives...there is no way that Connor would have lived just after birth and Caleb would have died shortly after. So in the moments when all 3 kids are crying for something, all 3 kids need diaper changes (though L is very close to big girl panties) and all 3 kids are having rough days --- I need to think back to how had we not had the NICU and NICU staff, I would still be the mother of one living child.

I don't know why I keep processing our NICU experience over and over. I suppose its just part of life. At one point M and I were so stressed that the skin on my feet and the skin on M's hands was all coming off. Before this experience I had no idea that skin would peel off in times of stress. As soon as the boys were home, both of our hands and feet cleared up.

I wonder too if I keep thinking about this because I have several friends struggling with the grief of loosing their babies. I read their blogs and am so heart broken. I know how close we were to grieving our boys, but our boys are alive and doing well now.

I celebrate the lives of our 3 kids. I am grateful that L has had an extremely healthy life and that the boys are now doing well. I am grateful for a husband who works hard for our family. I am grateful for my brother who is the Godfather for the boys and who took care of us through all of the craziness with C & C's births. I am grateful for wonderful friends. And and I am grateful for my mom and M's mom and step-dad who came to get us through the roughest part of being home with the boys. Even the first month and 1/2 at home were very difficult. I am grateful for my dad and sister who are coming to visit. (My dad is a awesome cook as well). I am so thankful that these people who came to help and are coming to visit are getting to meet C & C rather than attending their funerals. Sitting at the NICU reunion, I was overcome with thankfulness for the lives or our children. I suppose these moments will come and go throughout the lives of my boys because I know how close we were to not being able to enjoy watching their first smiles, first laughs and so on.

Here is one photo of Caleb while he was in the NICU. When I walked into the NICU and saw Caleb under the blue lights, I remember thinking, "This is the worst he will look. Take a picture so that when he is marrying the girl of his dreams on his wedding day, we can remember how far he has come." This is still the hardest photo for me to look at -- but I am so grateful for where C & C are now!

Upgrades

Before

After

Before

After

We have been busy upgrading our home. When we moved in I was over the toilet puking multiple time per day; that does not leave much time or energy for painting. Now that I am no longer being poisoned by pregnancy, I have been working. We had M's mother and step-father here for an entire month!!! They were able to take L out for the day or hold C & C so that we could paint and garden. Here are a few photos from our home...

Before

After

Before

After

We are so grateful for the help that we had during the last month and 1/2. We would not have been a very successful family of multiples with a toddler had we not had support. We are so thankful that the boys are coming right along. Though we did have an ER visit for Connor this past weekend.

Connor started only nursing for about a minute or 2 on Saturday afternoon. Sat. night he started throwing up and didn't keep any of his feedings down along with arching his back and screaming out right before he would throw up. (you may be thinking acid reflux...I know what that looks like and it doesn't happen for 5 hours one night). I called the Dr. and we headed to the ER to get things checked out. Connor had to go back in Sunday morning to have follow up, but he was just fine. The X-ray and check-up showed nothing wrong. With L, this kind of stuff happened a couple of times and I never worried. With C & C I am much more of a nervous mother since they were peemies and so sick at the beginning. They are so much more susceptible to illness because they were early and we have no room to spare. They are tiny for 2 and 1/2 month old babies (ok weight for their adjusted age) and they cannot afford to loose any weight. So the Dr.s said he was clear. By Sunday night Connor was back to normal with eating and sleeping. So sleepless weekend for Mama and Dada but all are well.

Two days on my own with my 3 kiddos and all is going well so far. The true test will be this Thursday through next Thursday. M will be out in the field on an exercise and I will be home alone. I am disappointed that M will be gone on Mother's day, but I'll get over it. One of my fabulous friends has already offered to go out to eat with us on Sunday!

L is growing up! She has long hair and talks up a storm. She has over 150 words and that number grows each day. She is using consistent 2-word phrases with 3-words thrown in there. She and I fairly regularly put on loud music and dance around the house. I think this is our favorite special time together; we laugh a lot! She is trying her hardest to "help" with the babies. Those of you who have had multiple children know how it goes. I am convinced that it will be a HUGE miracle if C & C make it to their first birthday. We may have to follow in the tradition of the Hawaiians and and have a huge babys' first Luau to celebrate actually surviving the first year.

Coming back...

I will be back soon. Things are calming down around here so updates on the kids for those far away will be coming soon.

Another day in Paradise

If you could name one things about me, what would it be?

That I feel free to speak up.

That I love working with kids?

Maybe that I HATE the cold? Ding, ding ding!

This year I am particularly grateful to have moved off of the entire Continental United States of America. You guys have had it cold! I don't know how NJ (where we were last stationed) is dealing with the 28+ inches of snow in some places. Today is another day in Paradise. We are in the upper 70's with shining sun. So those of you who are grateful to our family for severing in the military, you are welcome. :) I wouldn't have it any other way. This weather is amazing. And it's February 11!

Now for the real update -- Babys' update!

Connor is weighing about 4 lbs, 12 oz
Caleb is weighing about 5 lbs and 1/2 pounds

Have you done that math on that one? I am a woman carrying more than 10 pounds of baby with 6 & 1/2 weeks left until my due date! Can you say you have carried around that much baby? I think I get the "real woman for March" award!
Each boy is estimated to put on about 1 1/2 more pounds and then they will be delivering. Which brings us to our next update.
We will probably be delivering around March 10 as long as I don't go into labor earlier. Next week I should have a better date, as in I see my OB/GYN and his schedule book. We are no longer scheduled to have any more big, super, duper sonograms because we are so close to delivery! Yeah for passing a milestone.

While the Dr. was looking in there today, I asked if the boys are still boys. Yep, they are definitely still boys. I could see the parts that make them boys, even with my untrained eye.

I do have gestational diabetes. So I have to start pricking my finger and monitoring my blood sugar. I have to watch my diet and need to try and get some exercise in. With M coming home soon, maybe I will have some time to go to the outdoor heated pool up and Camp Hansan and do some moving around. A pool would be a place I would feel "not pregnant" so I am going to look into this.

Speaking of M, he was supposed to be coming home on Friday. His flight was cancelled and it looks like he'll be home on Sunday. We are disappointed, but at least he will get one full day of rest in the hotel before coming home to the very long list of things I am hoping he is willing to do as we make the last little preparations for the babies. Maybe this was God's way of giving M a break before he comes home and jumps into a crazy couple of months.

This post would not be complete without letting you know again how wonderful my friends here are! For the last several weeks, a lot of us have husbands away. So we have been trading off having dinner at one another homes'. It has been great. Then today my friend, J, watched L while I had the loooong Dr. appt. My neighbor friend, E, came over too and between them both, they did my laundry, dishes, put toys away, and took all the trashes out. How can it be that so many wonderful people are in my life all the time. I am such a blessed person!

Ok, this mama has one baby girl awake and over 10 lbs of baby to feed an afternoon snack. This real woman is signing off.

Have a wonderfully wonderful day!
B

You know that mama or not, preggo or not, wife or not; I believe all women are real women. I am just finding a fun way to celebrate carrying so much baby. Carrying over 13 pounds of baby by the time this is all said and done is definitely a feet. (sp?)

Mama-san!

Oh we love our mama-san! And I wonder if we are adjusted to living here since L has played "mama-san" in the hallway with our 5-year old neighbor. I don't think L quite understood what she was pretending, but the girls asked for brooms, dustpans and mops. They proceeded to play "mama-san" by pretending to clean the hallway. Have we lived in Okinawa too long?

Several other nuances about living in Okinawa include:

1. The Okinawans like to drive in the middle of the road and MIGHT move out of your way if you don't move first. I think because by looking at the license plate you can tell if it is an American driver or National, the Nationals expect the Americans to move out of the way.

2. Okinawans respect when you try to use Japanese.

3. The fruit here is amazing!

4. The weather is still warm many days. Yesterday the high was 68* which I adore!

5. The Okinawans like to look at blue eyes. They are all in awe of L's blue eyes and repeatedly compliment her.

6. The local people are fascinated by the fact that we are having twins. Twins are not very common in Japanese people, so they are very interested in the fact that we are having 2 boys at the same time.

7. Okinawan women, especially older women, like to rub pregnant bellies -- even more so when they find out its twins. In America this drove me insane and I snapped at strangers who would are to touch me. Here it doesn't bother me that much. I just smile. Don't know why that is so different.


Now for some updates.

Today, several of my amazing friends and neighbors gathered for a shower in honor of Caleb and Connor. About 30 minutes before the shower I started getting really excited. I hadn't realized that this shower was going to be such a blessing for me! I have struggled with the idea of having two newborns at once, but this shower put excitement into the pregnancy for me! All the griping I have done to M, the sleepless nights, soreness, and my impatience with L have not been easy to live with -- for my family or myself. I then feel guilty about being such a pain in the neck on top of being hugely uncomfortable and grouchy. My women's' Bible study group is praying and helping me along with this...but man oh man are there days I think L wishes she had a different mama. So, this shower really came to mean a lot to me! I am grateful for the effort and thought that went into our blessing. I am grateful for the excitement that those around us are sharing with us! I am grateful for God using people in our lives. I am grateful I only have 5 to 6 weeks left of being pregnant!!!!

I hope that someday soon I can start to be a blessing to others! I feel like I have been just leeching others for help and support the last two years (while M was on the hellish year of recruiting and while being preggo with twins). However, I do recognize that I am not super-mom and at this point in our lives, our focus is on our family. Maybe in another 6 -8 months when we have gotten closer to having the twins thing under control we can find people who need support.

So thank you for kind words and loving on our family! We are so blessed to have 3 healthy kids who will hopefully grow into God-fearing, independent contributing citizens of the world! Thank you all for helping us along on this journey.

(I also hope that by being honest on this blog about my thoughts and feelings, that another person who may be in a rough spot will be encouraged. Its ok to feel your feelings! Just don't let your feelings control your life.)

Have a wonderfully wonderful day!
B

A few more pictures. On Christmas Eve Santa was brought to our housing area by firetruck. Since L kept saying "Ho, ho, ho" and signing all done, (little scared of Santa) we skipped going downstairs to see him. She was perfectly content to watch from our 6th floor balcony. One of the pics is at the table in the chow hall with dada and Uncle Baba (Brandon, my brother).

Today L was not feeling her best. Runny nose, horse voice, you know - a kid cold. She was a little irritating to both M and I so I asked L if we could sell her to the gypsies. She said, "No, Baba." I guess when Uncle Brandon gets back from his one month trip, she is going to live with him :) We both cracked up and fell in love with her all over again!

Hope you enjoy the pics...obviously trying to do catch up.

Soon to come are pics of the boys' room. We started painting today and it is looking cute! We have moved L into her new room and she is adjusting. After we finish the boys' room, we will be doing L's room too. We have her big girl bed all set up and are doing some playtime in there, but no sleeping yet. We will want her in the big girl bed in the next 6 months, but no rush. She has enough to deal with when adding in two newborns in the next 7 to 8 weeks.

Speaking of newborns. I get to a point where I am excited about having Caleb and Connor. Then, honestly, the next moment I am freaking out. Not looking for advice here, but just being honest. I think most of my struggle is not knowing what our lives are going to look like. I know what it is like to add one baby to the mix and I have a pretty good idea of what it would have looked to add a second baby to the mix. But 2 newborns at once is scary. Again -- no advice at this moment please - having pregnant moment and just venting. We are grateful for my mom who is coming for 2 weeks right when the boys are born and grateful to M's mom and step-dad who are coming for almost a month to help. Did I mention that M's step-father is a chef --- yeah us!!! So I keep telling myself and M keeps telling me it will be okay. Maybe once these pregnancy hormones are out of my system and I am holding the two bundles in my arms all will be well with the world!!!!

I haven't posted for family far away the new things L is doing for quite awhile so here goes:

Multiple two word phrases.
Trying to tell us stories.
Sitting and reading her books.
Jabbering (with lots of new sounds showing up in the jabber) as she plays.
She is probably up to about 70-80 words, but I am trying not to be obsessive and have stopped writing down each word.
Pretend playing with her dolls, toys and us.
She LOVES "Melmo" or Elmo as we know him.
She pees in the potty every couple of times when sitting on it. Has started to tell me when she is wet and tells me when she has pooped.
She is sensitive in that if you get hurt, she is there comforting you.
She is making friends. She LOVES to play with our 5 year old neighbor. This little girl is amazing with L! We are grateful L's first friend is so kind and sweet with L.
L likes to help with chores -- sweeping, putting dishes away, dusting.
If you have an itch, she likes to help you scratch it (can't figure out why).
She will say two and eight when counting objects.
She will answer "2" when asked how many babies we are having. She know the babies are in mommy's tummy. When we get new baby stuff, she points to it and says "baby" because that stuff is for the babies.
She loves to eat from shop sticks. And she especially enjoys Japanese noodles.
She will now tell you "No" if she doesn't like or want to do something.
She tries to care for kids who are younger than her and is very concerned if their mama isn't helping as quickly as she thinks the mama should.

Those are the newest things I can think of. Probably missing some because I have pregnancy brain times two, but you get the idea that she is doing well and growing up.

Have a wonderfully wonderful day!

Our Christmas Scene

Some pictures from our Christmas Scene. We loved decorating and being able to enjoy the decorations this year. The last two years in a row we were immediately moving right after Christmas, so everything came down quick. We loved having my brother over during Christmas. We had homemade waffles Christmas morning and then tried a meal the the Chow Hall. Will not be doing that again!

A few pics coming soon.