finally eating in her highchair!!

she can drink out of it really well, but just can't hold it up high enough by herself! But she sure does try!!

I love these gorgeous eyes & everyone seems to comment on how big and gorgeous they are!

she doesn't look so small in the hair w/o the tray on it!

Mommy helps me drink!

And when I'm done eating my food I clean m y bowl!!!~just kidding!

Bowl or cup?umm I'll eat the bowl thanks!
So only three more days and we leave to come home. I'm still nervous about the flight, but I know it will be fine. I can't explain how happy I am to come home and see everyone and attend some gorgeous woman's wedding;-) As well as finally get Lola christened and just enjoy family,friends and wonderful Wilmington. See you all soon-I'm working on getting a cell phone hooked up so hopefully I will be easy to contact. I will send out an email with the number if I get it.
SEE YOU SOON!

she chews on everything!!

she loves to play on my bed!

shes such a happy baby

notice her little hand reaching up for the mobile...this is why I had to lower her mattress. She was starting to try and pull things down to her and pull herself up!!
Not much to update just putting some pics up. We'll be home on Wednesday and I'm sure I will have a ton of pics to upload then!! miss you christopher!and love you!

sippy cups,Iwakuni beach & baby feet

I can do it myself Mom!

trying to feed herself!

hanging out in her crib

she plays hard and sleeps harder-no matter where she is!

she loves to play! We bought her a tent for the beach!

she has big feet like her momma!

I love these shoes!!

Holding her sippy cup (which she only gets water in!) If you click on the pic, so it opens in a new window you can see her bottom teeth!!!

Lola's two bottom teeth are coming in more and more everyday! I still can't believe shes getting teeth! At the rate they are going I'm guessing they will be about half way in by the time we get home. Not only are her teeth coming in, but she is almost too big for her carseat(which actually works out since we are going home I can buy a new one), she weighs 17.5 pounds now, and is sitting so well by herself. She still has her chunky wobbly legs, but is getting a little better at standing. She can pull herself up when she holds onto my hands, and is trying so hard to pull herself up on objects now.
We went to the beach yesterday, as you can tell from the pictures! She had a blast!! She wants so bad to get in the sand and just play play play!! I had her sitting on my lap with her feet in the sand, and as I was talking to my friend, Lola was sneeky and got a handful of sand!! She of course puts it in her mouth, but upon tasting it attempted to spit it out. What she didn't spit out, I got out, but she didnt get that much of it in her mouth. I can't wait to be home and let her get in the water,the water here is too cold for her to get into.
Lola is trying to feed herself now! Thats a mess! I let her hold onto my hand while I feed her so she gets the motions, and then when we are done I let her mess with the spoon on her own a little. As you can tell from the pictures its truly a mess. In case you haven't tried it, click on the pictures and they go to full screen, and you can see more detail.
We only have two weeks until we are home in NC and I know the time is going to fly by here. I have lots I want to do around the house before we leave, and have some other stuff to do also, as well as teach English to Megumi and Noriko! They both bought me some wonderful food this week!! They always spoil me with gifts!Megumi just got back from Taiwan!! They are always traveling around Asia! I love looking at their pictures. I feel so lucky to have found friends like them here in Japan, and can't wait for them to visit North Carolina one day.
I am trying to update with pictures as often as possible seeing as this is the only way Chris will see Lola until he gets to North Carolina. See everyone soon!

new hair

so I gave in and let her have a binky for teething. She chews on it more than she sucks on it.But when she's done teething its gone!!I can't stand the look of a pacifier in a baby's mouth-not sure why!

new haircut even though you can't tell in the pictures!

trying to take some cute mothers day pics, but Lola wasn't feelin' it!

this was the morning after I got it cut so it doesn't look the same as when they styled it. I know the pictures don't look like I had anything done at all, I think what shocked me so much was how much they thinned it out.
So I'm sure you all think I'm crazy for saying how different my hair is, because the pictures don't make it look any different-but I promise they did cut a lot!! It was very very long and very thick!! When I come home you will all probably be able to tell more of what they did than from simply looking at the pictures.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was a bit lonely with Chris being gone, but Lola and I went to church and then out to eat lunch with one of our friends. Chris sent me the cutest card, but of course I didn't get it until Monday-go figure! Now we are just getting ready to come home! I have lots to do here in Iwakuni before we leave, so the time is going to fly by! See everyone soon!

Back in Iwakuni until the end of May

bath time at the hotel

big girl can sit all by herself now

Lola and Jonathon

!?whats up guys?!

Lola loves Isabella!

Lola will sleep anywhere!!

As you all probably know by now we went to Okinawa for awhile, but we are back now-and only 19 days until we leave for home!! I cant wait! But I do dread the plane ride. Lola has settled right back into her normal schedule and I think is glad to be back home to all her swings, exersaucers and toys. Today was a little rough, but I think that is only b/c those two bottom teeth are breaking through. I know Ive said it a million times in emails etc, but I still cant believe that she is getting teeth, sitting by herself and trying to pull herself up on stuff!
There really isn't that much to update but I figured you all would enjoy some more pics! The children with Lola are my friend Diana's-who Lola loved!! Thanks again Middletons for all you did! We miss you guys!

Lola's first trip to the beach!and Daddy was there!

Araha Beach-they have para sailing, jet skiing, and tubing!! All the American water sports-way different from Iwakuni!!

the Wade family at the beach!!!
mommy and daddy at Araha Beach in Okinawa

Lola trying to eat me!!! I think it was snack time!

umm guys?!this is cold!!

what do you want?

putting sunscreen on Lola

mommy and Lola-baby's first time at the beach!!

We took Lola to the beach for her first time, and she was so amazed as you can tell in the pictures. She was staring at the water and the sand the whole time. She wanted to play with the sand so bad, but of course I wouldn't let her get her hands in it, b/c I knew where it would end up-her mouth!!! The water is still a bit cold in Okinawa so we couldn't take her in the water either, but we put her toes in it. When we get back to Iwakuni I can take her to the beach, but the water doesn't get nearly warm enough for her until late summer, if at all, so she probably wont really go into the water until we come home.
I loaded her up with sunscreen!!I was so afraid she would get burnt, but we kept her in her car seat most the of time so she had shade. At home I had a small beach tent for her, but of course didn't bring it here.
Wednesday and Thursday Chris was really busy so we didn't have much of a chance to do much around the island. Lola and I just drove around base and went to the exchange etc. And on Thursday night my friend Diana graciously had us over for dinner. She has two wonderful children, and I hadn't seen any of them since we were in Virginia so it was great seeing her and the kids. Friday we obviously went to the beach, and tried to go see some stuff around town, but its Golden Week here in Japan,which is a big Holiday week so it was super busy EVERYWHERE!! It was rainy all day Saturday, so hopefully it will be sunny Sunday and we can enjoy our last day here at the beach.
Okinawa is so so different from the mainland. Not that its not gorgeous here, and I love their beaches, but I love Iwakuni so much more. We get to experience more of the "real Japan" in Iwakuni and have access to so much more of the culture and traditions.
Since we have been here Lola has learned to sit by herself!! The first day we were here she could sit for a second or two and by today she was sitting for a few minutes. If we hold her hands above her head while she is standing, she is starting to put one foot in front of the other! I cant believe how fast she is growing. I had a dream last night that she just stood up and started walking and talking-it was so weird!! Anyways we hopefully leave on Monday so will update probably on Tuesday with some pics of Lolas first plane ride etc. Love and miss!see you all very very soon!

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.