Thanksgiving- Japanese Style

Mallory's First Thanksgiving

Back in the beginning of October, I had a conversation with my good friend and neighbor Bridget.

It was really weird because I was suddenly pregnant again and we were on the top floor of Landmark Tower. Oh wait...this picture was taken almost six months ago! Thank God! Whoopsy. Any who, we decided that it was high time we got all of our husbands together and had our own version of a family thanksgiving.

Here was the problem. Neither Bridget nor I had a dining room table large enough to fit our group of friends. That's where Hillary came in.

We knew that she loved to entertain and she makes a mean apple pie (see picture above) so her house was the obvious choice. She is also a close friend and neighbor of ours so we got right to planning. Bridget started with the invitations.

By end of it, 17 people and two babies came for over to Hil-Dawgs for Thanksgiving. Each of us ladies was tasked with bringing a few dishes. Bridget, the VEGETARIAN of the group, volunteered to make the turkey. I know she scared to pull out the innards, clean out it's cavity and stuff it, but it was awesome! She prepared the brine, soaked it overnight, basted it with a white wine and butter mixture and...Voila! One of the best turkey's I've ever tasted! Doesn't it look delicious?!

Sadly, she didn't even try her own bird. Oh well, maybe next year? So once the turkey was unveiled, everyone took their seats to enjoy our yummy meal.

This was the grand dessert buffet that no one really touched because there was SO much food to be eaten. Hillary made the two apple pies and the rum cake, Amanda made the pumpkin pie, and I made the pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. Oh it was delicious ; )

And by the end of the meal, pretty much the whole turkey was gone. That was perfectly fine with me as I didn't plan on making a soup. I was all cooked out. (I had brought green bean casserole w/ fresh grean beans, cranberry relish and 2 large pans of homemade cornbread stuffing).

For the rest of the night we had some drinks, played some Rock Band and passed around sweet baby Mallory. Here is Mike holding Mal- looking good Mike!
When Bridget was holding Mallory, Mike told her that time was up after 5 minutes. Guess he doesn't want her to get any ideas! Here they are sucking their thumbs. It's the cool thing to do.

After that night of fun, a few of the girls decided to wake up at 5am and drive to Yokosuka Naval Base for some black Friday shopping. In total, we spent $1800! That's about a $400 average between each girl. The funniest part was stuffing $1800 worth of goodies, 5 women and a large pizza into a Japanese sized car!

I miss you all but can't wait to see most of you at Christmas! Brett and I are coming home on the 12th, spending a week in Seattle for his simulator class, then going to Atlanta Dec 18-23rd to see my side of the family. After Atlanta, we fly to Austin, TX to see Brett's family and will hop around from Austin/DFW/Brownwood/Abilene until Jan 3rd. Brett flies back to Japan then, but I'm staying a bit longer with Mallory to soak in some more friends and family time. Can't wait to see you all!!!

My decor can be found at Fisher-Price.com

Yes, baby toys have officially taken over my house. My once Pottery Barn-ish (or so I would like to think) house is now covered in all things pink, with rainforest animals thrown in for good measure. They also all light up, spin, and have some seriously g-hay music on them. It's supposed to be soothing, but I have to switch out toys every 20 minutes or so, for fear that I will go insane from the horrible jingles on them. Nevertheless...Mallory loves them all and has discovered how to have a great time in her jumparoo, exersaucer, and tummy time playmat. She's just getting so big, and has quite the smiley face. We absolutely love watching her grow and discover new things every day.

Mallory watching herself in the mirror during tummy time. Look at our big girl holding herslef up!Bouncing in the jumparoo. Note the magazines underneath because we get our height (or lack thereof) from Mommy!Look at all these fun toys on this exersaucer.
The shape blocks are quite cool. All this playing can wear a girl out!

3 months...already?

Wow! I can't believe my baby girl is already 3 months old- where has the time gone? She's gotten so big already (23.5" and 12 1/2 lbs). She has grown 3" and gained about 4lbs since she was born- big girl! She's gotten much more "vocal" is super smiley and happy and loves to play in her exersaucer, swing in her swing, and have tummy time. She is perfectly content to sit in your lap and be part of the conversation. She has found her thumb and has definitely become a thumb sucker- she sucks on her left thumb and holds her right ear with her other hand. It's quite cute (and an easy symbol of "I'm tired"). Here are her 1, 2, and 3 month pics. Personally, I think she just gets cuter and cuter! Watch out boys!

Bzzzing on By...

Halloween isn't really a holiday celebrated here in Japan. They don't really grow pumpkins, have pumpkin patches, dress up or trick-or-treat. They do ship over a few pumpkins for us crazy Americans here on base. So, before we left I bought one, hollowed it out and took a few pictures of "my punkin".

We spent Halloween in Florida this year. We wanted to dress Mallory up like Godzilla (living in Japan and all), but there are no infant Godzilla costumes to be found. So, the last minute 75% off bumblebee costume from the BX had to do. It was cute though. I mean, look at the little girl in it- how could it not be cute? It was just a big sack basically, which worked out nice, as a cold front came thru Halloween night and it was kinda chilly. Kept her warm and toasty while looking quite adorable.

We also took her to a pumpkin patch while in the states. They don't have those in Japan, so it was fun to get to take her to one and take some pictures. Of course, we didn't go until Halloween day, so the pumpkins were a little scarce and left a bit to be desired by then. That's ok- we got the general idea, and it isn't like she knew where she was or what she was doing anyway. The joy of having a little one I guess.

Watch out or she will "sting" you with her killer slobbery tongue!

We spent Halloween night trick-or-treating on base with some friends that are stationed at Hurlburt Field. It was fun. They have 2 kiddos- a 4 year old little GI Joe (Jonathan), and a 1 1/2 year old ladybug (Mary). She was quite cute with Mal the bumblebee. We joked that Jonathan should have been an exterminator.

It was a fun way to spend Mallory's very first holiday. I'm already soooo looking forward to the rest of the holiday season with her. We are spending Thanksgiving in Japan this year and celebrating with about 6 other families here, who have become like our family over here. For Christmas and New Year's we get to be back in the states with family, and I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!

Our Family Vacation to Florida

We just got back from our first family vacation and airplane ride. Brett had a class he had to attend for work at Hurlburt Field in Florida, so Mallory and I joined him and made it into a 2 week family vacation. We had a great time shopping, laying on the beach, eating American food, and just spending time together. Here's a few pictures to document our great trip and Mallory's very first plane ride and trip to the USA.

This is how Mallory rode on the plane from Narita (Tokyo) to Dallas. This bassinet clips into the bulkhead wall, so you don't have to hold her for the entire 13 hours. Bliss.

Mallory asleep in the bassinet.

Mallory's very first trip to the beach.

Chillin' in the hotel room, watching some tv. Note the Route 44 Sonic cup- we miss Sonic in Japan.

My new sleep position- one finger in my mouth, the other in my ear.

So stinkin' cute, and drooly!

Such a diva.

Hello there cutie! (Both of them!)

Aaaahhhh...

The boardwalk in Destin, FL

We ate dinner on the boardwalk. It was calm and relaxing, as you can see. Mallory throughly enjoyed it.

My shirt says I'm a "super star", and well, I am of course!

Feeding the birds on the pier

Visiting with some close, family friends

Hanging with Mommy in the hotel

My Daddy is so fun!

We stayed at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort. This is the pool that backed up right into our room. Inside the cave was a swim-up bar (but it was off season in October, so no drinks for us- in the pool anyway).

Our family beach picture.

Mommy and Mal on the beach

Our little sunbather. Such a diva at 2 months.

Leaving her mark on the beach :)

Daddy and daugher time

Check out my cool sunhat. Keeps the sun off my face and neck. Also hides my face in all the pictures.

Laying on the beach is hard work- it's time for a nap!

Trying to keep the sun off our little diva. Since we didn't have an umbrella or anything, the next best thing was pulling out all the contents of the diaper bag.

My shirt says "Could I be any cuter". The answer is, of course, NO!

What is this stuff on the ground? Sand? What is that??

Brett + Kim = Mallory 2009

Mallory's Party Tricks

While we love getting out and about in Japan, Mallory is our main focus these days. But, with such a cute face, can you really blame us? :) Here are just a few pictures to show you what she has been up to lately:

She can "fly"!

Look closely and you can see a lovely little spit stream on this one. That's another trick of hers- she's a juicy kid!

Her very first Christmas ornament, given to her by my friend Christina (hi Christina!!) in my DFW ornament exhange.

Sucking her thumb. She found it a few weeks ago, and it is now her self-soothing mechanism. it is usually her left thumb, with her fingers up on her face. She takes her right hand behind her head and rubs her head in a diva-like pose.

Helping Daddy hold the bottle

Holding her own bottle (not really, it was sorta just propped up on her, but it looks like she was holding it so of course I had to snap a picture of it) Please ignore that her fingers look freakishly weird- she was actually making a fist.

Looking adorable after bath time. Couldn't you just eat her up, she's such a cutie pie?!

And not to be forgotten, my first baby, Maverick. Here is Maverick and his buddy Huey (our neighbor's dog). Aren't they cute? Huey is around 8 months to Maverick's 8 years, but they still have fun and run around together.

Hot Mamas go to Kichijoji

Here at Yokota I am blessed to have made friends with lots of people, many of them mommies of little ones as well. One such group calls ourselves the "Hot Mamas". Super fun group that meets Friday mornings in the EDIS playroon to let the kids socialize (as well as us). But we also get together at other times and go on "field trips" together. It's great to get out and about in Japan. Plus, when you are with other mommies, they understand about having to stop to nurse or change a diaper. And you are pretty much guaranteed that if you forgot something in your diaper bag- someone else has what you need!

On October 21st, 7 of us (and our babes) loaded up our kids, strollers, carriers, blankets, food, diapers...you get the idea...and headed out for a stroll and picnic in Kichijoji Park. As you can see, we had a great time!

On the train...off we go...

My view of Mallory, in the baby carrier.

We didn't, but you can rent these swan paddle boats and go around the pond in them.

Mallory stopping for her picnic lunch :)

Mallory hanging out on the picnic blanket.

The group stopping for a picnic lunch.

The temple located in Kichijoji Park.

Mal and me on the temple bridge.

7 mamas and 7 babes.

Just the babies- and Rachel and myself :)

Everyone again.

A stone near the temple. I have no idea what it says :)

Beautiful park.

The group in front of the temple.

A Japanese artist painting the scenery in the park.

Enjoying a dessert crepes break in a pavilion on the way back to the train. Crepes are a delicious dessert they sell here. It's like a huge flat pancake and they will fill it with just about anything you want. Mine had ice cream, bananas, chocolate sauce and sprinkles on it today...I ate the entire thing and only managed to drip one small drop of ice cream on Mallory's head :)

Obviously a spin off of Hard Rock.

The whole group on the street in Kichijoji, walking back to the train station.

An escalator in the train station. When someone in a wheelchair needs to get up or down, they rope off the escalator, slow it down, have a few of the stairs attach together to make a "platform", and down they go. We'd never seen that before- kinda neat, huh?

The walk from the train station back to base. I'm the one wearing the backpack. Mallory is in the carrier on my front- that way I'm balanced out! The little boy in front of me wasn't with our group. He was a Japanese kid hurrying home from school.