It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We don't have any Christmas decor up at our house, since we are leaving for the states on Dec 12th. I didn't feel the need to put up a tree and lights and all that, just to take it down a week later. But, we still are in the spirit around here. Here's a few pictures to prove it:

Here's all the kids in playgroup posing in their Christmas finest. Mal is in the back, on her "throne". She's the baby of the group, and the only one who can't sit up on her own yet :)Isn't she just the best present?Every girl needs a tutu!My Christmas Cutie!
Mallory and Mommy with Santa at the Japanese Culture Club Christmas Party. She was the hit of the group with many "kuwai's" (cute) exchanged over and over. I think that might be her 1st word, she hears it all the time!
Mall's Christmas dress that Mom spent far too much on when we were in Florida. But don't I look so "kuwai"???
Our culture club group

On Dec 1st, Yokota held a base wide Christmas tree lighting. It was fun, and Mallory's first Christmas "event".

Mal and Daddy at the lighting.Mal all snuggled up in her carseat cover. She looks snug as a bug in a rug. I wish they made these things in adult sizes!
Santa came by firetruck and was milling around the parking lot, so here's M's first Santa picture. Doesn't she look thrilled- ha!
Our little stocking stuffer- looking more like a grumpy elf.
The yummy dinner I cooked after the tree lighting. Yakisoba noodles, gyoza and edemame. I think I'm "turning Japanese"!

We miss everyone and can't wait to see you soon!

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!