Living Up to His Name

When we found out we were pregnant with JK, for whatever reason, we started calling the little jelly bean shaped baby, our Monkey. Without realizing it, we created our own monster. As the pregnancy progressed, that little jelly bean shaped baby started kicking like he was headed for a Bend it like Beckham future. Since he was born, not much has changed. Our little guy is truly one of the most active children we've ever met. Endless energy, insatiable curiosity, and fearless wonder make this child the most wonderful (and exhausting) highlight of our lives! And everyday he lives up to his name like no other little guy we know.

He will climb anything...



...crawl into the tiniest spaces...



...try anything at least once, as long as it looks exciting!





We only wish he were as adventuresome with food. This guy definitely has his opinions about what goes in his mouth. He's a bit of a picky eater. But when it comes to any kind of pasta with red sauce, it's a huge hit!



Since we seem to have this self-fulfilling prophecy going in our household, we've decided that this next one will be called something other than a little primate that gets into everything. Any suggestions? :-)



We're only 13 weeks along and we've had a few complications early on, thus the reason for waiting so long to share our news publicly. Although, since I'm already showing pretty good, I'm not sure we'd be able to keep this a secret much longer. You really do show quicker with the second baby! We are feeling positive that things are progressing well. We had a heartbeat of 167 at our last sono and the majority of my days are fighting nausea and fatigue just like with JK.

We would covet your prayers for this little one's health and safety. And we would also covet any prayers for our sweet little Monkey. This July, his life will be changed forever and we will need all the wisdom and guidance we can get to make his transition as smooth as possible.

For those of you that have already been praying for this child, we cannot thank you enough! God gave us strength through your encouragement, prayers, and continually touching base with us. We are so grateful for you! You are such a blessing to our lives. You know who you are.

Humbled with His Grace,

A & N

Mommy's Christmas Present = Fun For All!

About two day's into my birth mother's visit, our dishwasher breaks down. Not good when I'm wanting to impress my Mama. But being the sweet lady she is, she took it upon herself to be the official house dishwasher. (Can you see another reason why I was so sad when she left? LOL!) We barely ever saw a dish on the counter, in the sink, on the table, anywhere! So the pain of not having a dishwasher wasn't really felt until Mama left. Wow! Talk about getting hit with a brick wall of reality! But we decided to fight the urge to hit Home Depot and see how we could do without it. So we struggled for about two weeks without a dishwasher, before we threw up our hands and decided it just wasn't going to work for us.

N took it upon himself to do all the research, as I wasn't really that picky. I just wanted something white. Within a few days, he found the perfect one! Merry Christmas to Mommy! Woohoo! But I had NO IDEA how much the whole family would love and benefit from the purchase.

Here is Monkey helping Daddy take out the old decrepit appliance from 1969. Can you say Harvest Gold? Matches our Mary Kay pink countertops.



Here is Monkey celebrating with De-Da on the installation of Mommy's present. I can honestly say, there isn't anyone that can hold a candle to De-Da in Monkey's eyes. He LOVES this man!




Here is Monkey with his new toy...the dishwasher box. This was a bigger hit than MOST of his Christmas toys. He plays with this thing every day and doesn't ever get bored with it. How sad is that? We could have saved all that Christmas money! Live and learn.

Bad Wedding Day

I'm not even sure what to say about this. Laugh? Cry? Be sad for the bride? Be happy it's not you?

I'm struggling here...LOL!

I got this emailed to me today and just had to share. Although I'm sure some of us have wedding mishap stories to share, I'm not sure any of them could top this....

Worst Best Man Ever @ Yahoo! Video

A Boy and His Dog

Monkey is finally getting to the age where he's interacting with our boxer, Bo. Outside of the fact that the doggy is a total spaz when company comes over, he's really a good dog with JK. He's gentle, he doesn't bark at him, he tolerates being poked and pulled, he's never shown any aggression or possesiveness with toys or food. He's been really great!

We were very lucky when we found this guy at a gas station 3 years ago in Mineral Wells. He was about a year old at the time and had just been hanging around the station for about a month or so. The station owners thought he'd been abandoned. They offered us $5 just to take him. Ha! They'd been feeding him scraps, but since he was so skinny, they named him Bones. Within just a few minutes we started realizing he was fairly well-mannered and pretty gentle. So N and I looked at each other and we knew we couldn't just leave him behind. In the truck he went!

First night at the W house. It was freezing outside, but with blankets and a heating pad, he was happy as a clam.



The original idea was to take him back to DFW to the local no-kill shelter. But within a few days he'd won us over. So a trial week at our house and we gained a pet. Bones became Bo and the rest is history!

We discovered he LOVED to chew on things. Including Italian leather boots, a newly upholstered antique chair, pillows and the window sill. We quickly learned that boxers love and NEED toys to keep themselves out of trouble.



Little did we know at the time what a good friend he'd become to our future son. We look forward to watching the two of them growing up together.

The Standoff



The Getaway



The Tease



The Fake Lose



The Victor Takes The Spoils (Or at least that's what the dog is letting him think.)

Thank You Mandr!

Have you ever received a great gift, but it just wasn't something you needed at the time? My sweet friend got me a package of foam letters at one of my baby showers for JK to use in the bathtub. He wasn't even born yet, but it was a perfect gift for when he got a little older. Bathtub toys are a thing of the past. His floaty boats and ducks just don't hold his intellect anymore. This week he screams if he doesn't get his "didders" (letters).

He's doing pretty good if I say so myself. He wrote his first thank you note the other night.



There was only one A in the package, so even though it says "Mandr", it's supposed to be your full name. You know who you are. :-)

Playing With Mimi

Grandmother in Japanese is obaachan. A bit of a mouthful for anyone, but even more so for a 14 month old that calls his stuffed monkey "Buh". So we got creative! My mother's first name starts with Mi, so Mimi seemed like a possibility. Little Monkey took to it right away and my Mama loves it! It was so precious to wake up yesterday morning and see him run into her arms saying, "Mimimimi". Talk about making a Momma's heart melt! Oy!

We've discovered that Mimi and Momma are quite alike in their methods of Monkey Play. Neither of us have any qualms about making a huge racket or looking like total idiots ourselves in an effort to entertain The Toddler In Charge.



















About three seconds after I took this last shot, Monkey jumped off the sofa and ran into the other room to play with toys. Mama sat on her knees for a few moments catching her breath. She looked to me and said, "He is so busy. I am very tired."

LOL!

Yeppers!

A Thousand Words

Happy Birthday Little Asa Benjamin! The world is now sweeter with your miraculous presence and it was my honor to meet you today. You are flesh and blood proof that God answers our prayers. We have loved you since before you were even conceived and cannot wait to see what God's plan is for your sweet life.













Heavenly Father, I sit tonight so incredibly humbled by Your Faithfulness. Why I question You so often is beyond me. Why you put up with our faithlessness is beyond me. Thank you for Your Patience. Thank you for Loving us and refusing to give up on us. This child is here today because of You and ONLY because of You. Let us not take credit for any of Your miraculous work. You are so very Good! Thank you for making my sweet friend a Mommy!

Conversations With My Mama

We've spent every night up very late talking. So needless to say, my makeup has not been taken off every night like it should. I'm too tired. It's not escaped her noticed.

Mama: A-chan, you must take off make-up before you go bed. You will look old faster if you sleep with makeup on night time.
A: Yes, mama.
Mama: You are too pretty daughter. I don't want you look old too early.
A: Yes, mama.

She has fallen into her mama role very naturally. LOL!

I was wondering what her husband and sons liked, so I could find appropriate souvenirs for her to take back to Japan.

A: Mama, does your husband and your sons like baseball?
Mama: Yes, very much. But I do not like baseball. I like American football.
A: (a little surprised) Really?
Mama: Yes, I like Cowboys.
A: (wondering if she's just being polite because we're from Texas.) You like the Cowboys?
Mama: Yes, I like uniforms. Tight pants on man look very nice.

Of course! How have I missed that all these years???

We are entering the Asian grocery market and a Chinese lady standing at a sample table immediately starts going on and on in Chinese to my mama.

Mama: I sorry. I am Japanese.
Chinese Lady: You like dumpling sample?
Mama: No thank you.
Mama: (turning to me in a whisper, as we walk away) Do I look Chinese to you?

Hahaha! I moved to the mainland US when I was 17. After being raised around mostly Polynesian and Asian folks, I remember thinking all these caucasian folks look so alike. I guess even Asians look too similar to other Asians.

At my friend's baby shower on Saturday morning, my mother-in-law walked around with a platter of cappuccinno cupcakes. She bent down to offer some to my mama, sitting next to me, whose plate was still very full of breakfast foods.

Mama: No thank you.
A: No thank you.
Mama: (turning to me in a whisper) I already eat three!

Like me, she sneaks her sweets! :-)

We're eating dinner at our local favorite Mexican restaurant. N and I ordered her a large dinner sampler with a taco, a tamale, an enchilada and the customary beans and rice. I didn't expect she'd eat it all, but I wanted her to try a little of everything. She plowed through almost everything and I remember thinking she must have been really hungry. I ordered a box to go from our waiter because I was full and wanted to take my leftovers home. When he brought it and I started scooping my food into it, she stopped mid-bite to watch me.

Mama: A-chan, you take food home?
A: Yes, mama. I am full and we can eat this later.
Mama: (sighing deeply) I did not know. In Japan, it rude to not eat everything on your plate. I tell myself, "Eat, eat, eat. Go, go, go. Don't think full tummy, think empty tummy. Eat more, eat more!"

LOL! Bless her heart. When I got home I showed her the wonders of unbuttoning your pants and using a Bella Band. She is now a big fan. Along with chips, guacamole, and margaritas! We sat in front of the boob tube and relaxed, watching cute men in tight pants.

She's He-ere!

For those of you that are praying for us, I cannot tell you thank you enough. Although I will try: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and THANK YOU again! We have needed your prayers desperately and are very, very grateful.

After a very emotional reunion at the airport and a night spent catching up on as much as you can before jet-lag just plain knocks you on your butt (her body is about 14 hours ahead of Texas time - eeks!), we've gotten some rest and are spending some time catching up some more today. JK is at school, N is at work, and I've taken the day off, which has left us time to focus on each other.

We've cried, we've shared pictures and stories, we've giggled, we've laughed until we almost wet our pants...and I feel "found"...if that even makes sense. Not that I don't have roots, but these are roots that feel like they belong to ME. I have finally seen where my wrinkled hands come from. Where my short legs and completely flat-ass are from. Where my giggle is from. Where my chatterbox personality and silly sense of humor is from. Where my taste for salty foods and love for gardening comes from. And this is just in 20 or so hours with a pretty decent language barrier. (A lot can be said for drawing, hand gestures, funny noises and LOTS of patience - ha!) I can only imagine what the next few weeks will be like!

So today, our agenda consists of shopping at some Asian markets for familiar foods, browsing more pictures, more catching up, enjoying the beautiful weather, and just BEING. I really don't know what the next few weeks will be like, but if we go underground for awhile and you don't see N and I in our normal schedules, it's nothing personal. We are just trying to make the very most of every waking moment we can squeeze from each day while she's here. Which I can tell you already, is not long enough...

Monkey At A Fall Festival - Parte Dos

On Halloween night, we went to visit Gramma and De-Da's church. They had a Fall Festival similar to the one at our church. Except the booth's were not overrun with the older kids and the booth workers were a little more generous with the candy. TOO generous. LOL!

Very excited to see Gramma....



A family shot before the night got away from us. (And before the sugar made it hard for him to sit still.)



Our first taste of candy...he was not really a fan. Neither was Mommy when she realized the fur around his monkey face was all sticky-fied with green candy dye.



Are you keeping up De-Da?




Enjoying the side of the bounce house. He was too little to actually go in, but he still had a good time when Daddy bounced him on the side of it!



I DON'T WANNA GO HOME!



Yeah, we had a bit of a meltdown at the end of the evening. LOL! I don't think it was really that he was upset at leaving the festival, but more along the lines of not wanting to leave Gramma and De-da.

Even though this was officially our 2nd Halloween, it's the first one that Monkey was old enough to enjoy and participate in. All said, he had a really good time! And Mommy and Daddy had a good time raiding the mini-Snickers after bedtime. :-)