carrots,standing & of course more smiles

are you seriously taking another picture of me?

up close with Lola and mommy

standing in her crib!

don't you wish you could do that?!
she gets both her big toes in her mouth-but of course I can never get a picture of it.

carrots-which she also loves but not as much as bananas

take note at how clean her face is-this is b/c she ate bananas,which she loves!

this standing stuff is tiring!

am I not supposed to be doing this?

she loves the camera!!as you can tell!!
shes sitting on her changing table, which I don't even put the sheet on anymore bc too many accidents happen on it!

So much is happening with Lola I don't even know where to begin!! She is obviously hitting the "5 month growth spurt!!" As you can see from the pictures, she can stand up while leaning on something now, and in fact does that better than sitting by herself. When she is sitting, she is so interested in her feet, that she wont sit up straight. She would rather have her feet in her mouth, so she will fold herself over flat and "eat" her feet.
It was I guess three days ago that I discovered she could stand by herself. She has a little play table (as you can see in the pictures), and I am always standing her up against it and trying to let go, well I let go and she stood there leaning against it for almost 5 minutes. I was in such shock the first time she did it, that it didn't even register to get the camera! Not only can she lean against the table while standing up, but she can hold a toy in her hands and stand up(of course still leaning on the table.)
Well then last night we were at a party and of course everyone was playing with Lola and we knew she was teething, but one of them felt her teeth!! Then I felt like a bad Mom, b/c I didn't feel her teeth first. But Dawn, my friend who watched her this week while I took my exams didn't feel them either this week, so that made me feel better. We cant see her teeth yet, but we can feel them through her gums!! I cant believe how fast that happened!
So since she is teething, all the girls gave her crackers last night-which she loved too! I'm going today to get her some of the teething crackers, and more food for her of course, since she eats so much. Don't worry though Grandmas-we hold the crackers and she gnaws on them,so she doesn't choke on them.
She has been "baby talking"for awhile now, but over the past few days she has really found her voice. She starts almost screaming now. She isnt mad or upset, she just really found her voice. Her yells are sooo loud and she does it for so long! I think she might be a singer;-)
I held her in the bath with me the other night and she loved it. She was kicking her feet like she was wading in the water. She is almost too big for her bathtub so I'm going to have to get her another one! But she loves loves loves bath time and the water. She kicks and waves her arms around in it, and when I hold the water hose from the shower over her she grabs at it and laughs so hard!
I feel like I'm forgetting something she has done new, but I cant figure out what it is. If I think of it though I will update the blog again.
I am finally finished with school for this semester and I cant explain how excited I am!! Lola is on a great schedule now and we have been going on jogs every afternoon when she wakes up from her nap. It has been soo nice here lately, I just hope it stays this nice. The weather has been perfect-minus the tremor we had this week!
She has started sleeping great for me again and puts herself to sleep, as long as I don't wait until she is really tired to put her down.

sweet peas and smiles

talking to grandmother fay!

this is what i do sometimes while moms folds laundry, not really i just thought it was cute!

~kisses for abby~

there are no words to describe this picture

im supposed to eat this?!

but my feet taste soo much better mommy

In case you couldnt tell, Lola started eating food-organic of course! So far she has eaten sweet potatoes, applesauce and sweet peas; applesauce being her favorite and as you can tell sweet peas she doesnt like so much! She is getting really good at eating, but as you can also tell has discovered her feet and likes eating those as well. Anytime I put her on her back she grabs both her feet and puts her big toes in her mouth.Its so cute! I havent gotten a good picture of it, but when I do I will certainly post it. She is almost rolling onto her belly from her back, but can't quiet get there. Everytime she almost does it she either gets distracted or her foot gets in her way.
I take my last exam on Thursday and I can not express how excited I am that this semester is over. I am soo excited to just hangout with Lola, go on jogs and do things around the house. I plan on getting Lola on a good schedule so the time change wont be so hard when we come home. She was doing pretty well during the day, except for the past week with my studying and Chris leaving. As for nighttime, that is a different story. I think she is teething!! She has started to wake up anywhere from every hour to every three hours, and I think what makes it more frustrating is that when she turned two months old she started sleeping through the night.But thats part of being a baby!!
She has been sitting in my lap while I have been typing and I just looked down and she fell asleep holding onto my arm-its soo cute!
Anyways a month a we will be home! cant wait to see everyone!

chris is off

Just wanted to let everyone know that Chris made it off safely this morning. Of course it was hard saying "see you soon", we dont say goodbyes,but it was comforting knowing we will see him in two months....and its only a little over a month until we make the long trek home! I'm getting soo excited about seeing everyone, and not to mention Lindsay's wedding!!
Im finishing up this semester with school, have my finals next week then all my attention goes to Lola and doing some things Ive been wanting to work on around the house. Hope everyone is well and will post some pics this weekend.love and miss you all!

4 months old

the engraving on our bar

our new dining room-new table&chairs and new bar that we bought at the bazaar

I think every person stopped in Miya Jima to say Kawaii which means cute!! There was a point in the day where I had about 15 Japanese people around me oohing and ahhing over her!

as you can tell everyone was having fun!-note ken in the back with the funny wig on!

Lola and I underneath the cherry blossom trees

Lola had her 4month checkup this morning, accompanied by her shots!!! She weighs 16pounds-can you believe it? and is 26inches long. The doctor said she is developing wonderfully and is a happy baby-which we already knew!!
Tucker and Liz(his girlfriend) came to visit this weekend, which also happened to be the weekend of the Cherry Blossom festival, so we had a wonderful time. Friday we took a trip to Miya Jim, where we ate wonderful oysters, and then that night went out to the festival. Noriko and Megumi(the girls I teach English to) had a tarp layed out underneath the trees, with some wonderful Japenese food fixed for us. Megumi's grandmother fixed us some wonderful homemade sushi, and they bought a tray from a local Japanese restaurant that was wonderful. As we sat underneath the trees and just enjoyed friends and food, I felt like I was in a movie. Strung from tree to tree were Japanese lights, people were playing music, and we had the wonderful view of the Kintai bridge(a wooden bridge that Iwakuni is famous for). Once we get the pictures I will post them, of course they do not to the scene justice though. I can not describe how gorgeous the Cherry Blossom trees are, I just wish they bloomed longer.
On Sunday we took them to Hiroshima to see the Peace Park, Hiroshima castle and to just enjoy the city. In Hiroshima, they had Cherry Blossom festivities too, so the city was extra busy, but we enjoyed seeing various Japanese celebrations.
They have moved Chris' leave date until next Friday so we have a few more days to enjoy with him!! other than that things have been pretty quiet.

A look into Lola's life

her first pair of sunglasses!she tried eating them later when they fell off her face!

my baby already knows sign language!!haha

only Lola would have two of the exact same robes!!

one side of lola's room

lola in her crib playing

the other side of Lola's room/reading corner

watching the piano music maker in her crib

After almost four months, not counting the time I was pregnant, I finally have Lola's room the way I want it. Of course the pictures don't look that good, but we love it. Lola and I have our own little corner to sit and rock, read and listen to music and she has enough room to play in there now-well, when she gets older. The pictures of the room make it look messy, but its really not-I promise!! We had futon in there for guests to sleep on, and we really didn't even use it, so we decided to take it out this past weekend. Now her room finally looks like a nursery.
The time is getting closer to when Chris leaves Iwakuni so we are trying to enjoy every minute we have with him. He taught me how to play golf on Sunday!! And I actually liked it-when I hit the ball!! We hope to go this weekend but we have the spring bazaar on base (lots of Japanese furniture, clothes, paintings and random things), as well as an Easter party for the unit so not sure if we will make it. I already have my pink golf outfit and pink golf clubs picked out though-and of course Lola's!!! Chris has been looking at a pink child's golf set here on base since I was pregnant and I might have to breakdown and let him buy it-its super cute! Even though she wont use it for a long time!
We went to eat Sunday night with my Japanese friends at a restaurant out in town and had so much fun. I didn't realize how well my students are learning English until that night. Megumi also brought her friend Ken (that's his English name-I have no clue how to pronounce his Japanese name) with her. He is learning English also through a company out in town. I explained to him about barbie and ken! We forgot the camera so we didn't take any pictures!
on the way home Lola had her first meltdown! I knew she was hungry but I thought she could make it home, since we were only a 5 minute drive away.....well she couldn't!!! She screamed and cried the whole way home. When we got to the gate, the gate guard just looked at us with this horrified look at said please just go! When we finally got home and she started nursing it took her a good 5 minutes to calm down. She would nurse for a few seconds and then start crying.But of course she was fine.
I will probably put up some more pictures later this week-its so hard for me to decide which ones to post and they take awhile to upload.

3 1/2 months

not really sure what to do in this thing

love bath time!

fell asleep in daddys lap

this is what she does when she spits up---rubs her face all in it!

cant tell by the picture, but she loves baths!

Lola went to her first birthday party on Saturday! Of course she wont remember and nothing significant happened but it was still another first!! She is more and more active everday, trying desperatly to move. When we put her on her belly, she moves her legs like she is trying to crawl, but cant get her arms and legs moving together. We got her an exersaucer(pic above) and she isnt quit big enough for it, but just loves it b/c she can sit upright and see everything.
Last week I had spring break, and had all these plans for Lola and I,and had so much I wanted to do around the house and feel like none of it got accomplished. We did go to Fernando's retirement, which was sad! And Lola and I played a lot!! It was windy and cold so we havent been able to go for our usually jog in the morning, which I am missing but it will be soo warm I'm complaining again before I know it!
Lola is making G,M and P sounds now! Every morning I wake up to her talking to herself..if she wakes up before me! I think she must be going through a growth spurt because she has been sleeping soo much the past few days. anyways promise i will update more regularly now. love and miss
see everyone hopefully in june!

3/1-lola is almost 3 months!

lola holding the music maker on her swing

one of our favorites places to eat-chicken shack

My CLC girls!!

Me & my Cori who is leaving me!!

happy baby Lola

what Lola will look like when she gets hair!!
So Pam left on Tuesday and we weren't initially that sad b/c we thought we would be seeing her again in a few short weeks-yeah right we are in the military when do plans ever stay the same?but we are still coming home, just not until june now.
Anyways we have been having a blast over here. Saturday night Pam and I went out with all the girls from CLC (chris' unit) for Cori's retirement/going away party, and I actually sang karaoke-well more like yelled the song but whatever!
Chris and I have actually gotten a chance to go out since his parents were here and could babysit, but thats over now since I dont trust anyone else but grandparents to watch her(still too overprotective I guess)
My classes are going well,they are kicking my butt but going well. And Lola is doing amazing. She pulled herself over top of her boppy(its a round pillow) yesterday and today while on her belly,and can inch herself along now.She doesnt move very far or fast but she pushes and pulls herself along.She can also turn from her belly to her back,but honestly its probably more like a fall to one side. Other than that we are just hanging out enjoying life.Lola and I go on a jog/long walk every morning and she either sleeps or enjoys looking at everything passing by.will update again soon!miss you guys!!

2 months already

happy Lola with meemaw!

she loves her playmat!!

lola playing on her playmat

Lola turned two months old on Thursday!!! Then Friday she had her two month checkup which meant she got her first set of shots!!Mommy was definetly sad-I think she handled it better than me. Chris was right there with her and I sat just outside the doorway where I could see her. She cried for maybe 5 seconds then started laughing at Chris. She was a little grumpy the whole day after and a little on Saturday but now shes back to normal. She slept through the night on Thursday, but hasnt since then.
At her appointment we found out she was 22 1/2 inches long and just over 13 pounds!! We definetly know that she is eating enough and is a healthy baby!! The doctor said she developing wonderfully and everything is oikay. She is almost too big for her bassinet now, so hopefully she will start sleeping through the night more often so we can put her in her crib at night. She has been really good about putting herself to sleep at night lately so hopefully that continues also.
We did a little bit of sightseeing this weekend, but it seems that whenever we try to go somewhere its either closed,the weather is bad or traffic is ridiculous! Mack only has this week left so hopefully we will get to see a bit more.
Other than that we are just enjoying Mack and Pam and trying to make preparations to come home in April. I know everyone can't wait to see Lola and we cant wait to see you guys!

meemaw and lola napping

carolina baby!

already a carolina fan!!!

meemaw and lola

just hanging out
thought I would add some more pics. chris is taking off starting today so we are going to go do some sightseeing this week. We got Lola's passport paperwork started today-our first step in coming home!
thought you guys would enjoy the carolina outfit-well except Lori the Duke fan!! you know we have to get her started early supporting Carolina so she doesnt get confused!