Benson's Blessing

 My Mom made a beautiful little man outfit for Benson's Blessing day.  We had been waiting for it to come in the mail as well as waiting for our dear friend Oz to get back from a work trip to bless Benson.  Oz is Marcus' boss and his family has become like our family away from family here.  We really wanted him to be apart of the blessing of our sweet baby boy. The outfit came in the mail and Oz came back the same week so we were all ready to go to set a day for the blessing before Marcus had to leave.

 Then, as often happens in military life, Marcus' training schedule got bumped up, three weeks earlier than we were thinking he would leave.  We found this out on a Tuesday and Marcus left that Saturday. Normally you bless your child on Sunday, although you can do it on another day/time if special situations arise.  I was really looking forward to having Marcus bless our baby during the Sunday meetings, surrounded by those we have become close with since moving here.  Having a little gathering at our house after, celebrating the new life in our family.

 The four days we had with Marcus before he left were crazy busy, running around doing everything that we thought we had three weeks to do and cramming to get everything ready.  We also had to squeeze in Benson's blessing.  I didn't want to wait until Marcus got back because then Benson would be too big for his outfit that my Mom had so lovingly prepared for him.  Plus that is what our life is about right now.  Plans change, things get switched up, life is uncertain but through all of that we have each other.  We have our family.  During those uncertain times, especially during those uncertain times, we still celebrate our life.  Celebrate the milestones, thankful to our Heavenly Father for this special family of ours, for this gift that we have to be together.

 I had picked out dresses for the girls and had been saving them for the blessing day.  I had mentally been preparing a little celebration for our family.  So with a lump in my throat about it all we switched gears, made some calls and gathered at the church on a Wednesday night (with only a few hours notice for those involved) and blessed Benson.

 And by golly I got us all gussied up.  The whole nine yards.  Twisting braids in the girls hair, their new precious dresses, Benson freshly bathed and smelling so yummy and sweet in a outfit that had love in every stitch.

 Even if it was a last minute scramble, even if my heart was breaking a little that my Marcus was going to be leaving, we stopped and stood still.  Marcus blessed our sweet boy.  We celebrated life.

 And Oz, bless him, brought his camera and we were able to do some quick family photo's (and I mean real quick).  He was able to capture some very tender moments of our family and for that I will be forever grateful.

Even though it wasn't what I had envisioned this blessing day would be, it still ended up being just as sweet and perfect.  Because we were together.  My heart is so full.  

Cleanliness

 I like to get the kids started on the chores early.  I took this picture of Benson "helping" me with the laundry when he was a month old.  I tried to do that again yesterday, him hanging out on the clean clothes in the basket while I switch out the loads, and he just BARELY fit lengthwise.  They grow SO SO fast!

 Marcus first time giving Benson a bath, really giving an infant a bath, in like 3 years.  He totally forgot to take his socks off and had him in there totally washing him up before he realized what he did.

Benson's first time in a bath at home.  I LOVE a beautiful, clean smelling baby.  They are so soft and precious!

Christmas!

 Christmas was totally a perfectly magical day for us!  We were so happy to have Michelle with us and had a lovely day at home followed up by a glorious feast for dinner at the Carmitchel's!  Of course we needed to have some of Helen's Chex Mix.  Yummmmmmmm.

 The tree all ready to go on Christmas Eve!

 The girls were totally spoiled and got so many wonderful new toys and crafts to play with!  I was spoiled too.  Marcus totally surprised me by getting me a cuisinart food processor that I have been wanting FOREVER!  We don't do gifts for each other for Christmas or birthdays or anything.  Normally if there is something we really want or need we get it through the course of the year so the presents are all about the kids.  He was super sneaky and got it without me knowing and snuck it in the house.  Love that guy.

 Right before Christmas, Oz and Tori came by to say hi and drop of something special for me.  Oz snapped some pictures when we were in the hospital recovering and didn't post this picture (on fb like he did with the others) and instead printed it out and framed it and then brought it by for us.  It is the most beautiful picture of Benson.  I will cherish that picture forever.  Not only does it capture a really special moment in our lives, but it was also captured by someone really special to us.  We have been so blessed by the truly wonderful friends that we have met and made here.  Also did I mention that Oz is Marcus boss?  How many bosses would do something like that?  Seriously.  We have it so good!

Michelle brought some ugly Christmas sweaters for us to wear to Christmas dinner.  So hard for me to post this picture with my still pregnant looking belly, oh well, keeping it real right guys??   C'est la vie!

Olivia turns 5!!

 I threw together a birthday for Olivia and planned it the week before we had it.  Her one request for party food??  Vegetable, lots of vegetable with especially cauliflower and sandwiches with salad in them (like as in a deli sandwich with lettuce).  SERIOUSLY??  Of all the food she could have on God's green earth the only thing she requested was veggies??  I mean I am happy and all but what kid does that?  Even when I offered pizza (way easier party planning wise) she totally held her ground.  So I made little deli sandwiches with toothpicks, a veggie tray, a fruit tray and cupcakes.  She was the happiest little girl EVER!

 I am blaming it on preggers brain but these are the only shots I got during the actual party (face palm).  It was a princess tea party theme and everyone came in their fancy fancies.

 Our really good friend Shauni came over earlier in the day and spent forever curling Olivia's hair so she could be extra fancy for her fancy party.  Michelle was supposed to be in town for the party but with her flight delay she wasn't there and I had been planning on her helping me get things ready so it worked out PERFECTLY that Shauni could be the hairdresser.  Olivia's hair takes forever to curl and a ton of hairspray to keep the curl in so while they were at it I was able to prep the last things for the party.

 We really had Olivia stacked high on those cushions for her curl-a-thon!

 Jessica made her this darling purse and Tori gave her some of her very own dollars to pick out something special.   Decisions, decisions!  She had some much fun the next day picking out a little treasure at the BX.

 Murphy got her this PRINCESS laptop.  The girls love playing with it!  She got a lot of wonderful presents from some pretty wonderful people here!  Lucky girl!

My darling, sweet Olivia is 5.  How did this happen?!?!  She is such a treasure to me and her sweet spirit is so needed in our home.  She is everything I could ever want or wish for in a first born.  I am so blessed to have her in my care.

Cocok's and First Ever Pedi!

 Cocok's is a really famous Japanese nail salon here on Okinawa.  It is pretty much on everyone's bucket list to go to before you leave the island.  I am a very luck girl in that I have been able to go quite a few times already!  They do the most exquisite nail art and the BEST leg and foot massage after your soak.  It is seriously a full 45 min of just the massage part and it feels HEAVENLY.  They totally know what they are doing that Cocok's!

 Jessica's little girl Sefiny wanted to get her nails done for the first time for her birthday and it turned into a Mommy daughter get our nails done day!  Olivia has been SUCH a great helper and big sister for me since Benson has been born (heck she has always been a wonderful, obedient child!) and I had been wanting to do something special just for her.  So the timing for this was perfect!

 She is my girly girl and LOVES when I paint her nails at home or make her hair super fancy.  She will sit as still as a stone and just LOVES to be made up pretty!  I told her the day before that I was taking her to the nail place and she about died!  She was so cute during the whole thing.  They give everyone ice water while they are getting their nails done and she kept telling me how "really really thirsty" she was so I would pass her the little cup so she could sit there all fancy, drinking her fancy water.  It was SO cute!  The entire column where we are sitting was all our friends getting their nails done and it was such a party!

 This isn't the design I got this last time, this was my Christmas theme I got before I had Benson.  The detail is SO beautiful!  They have a whole book of designs (with like 20 pages and each page has three columns of sample art) that you can choose from.  You can also just tell them any style or combination that you want or show them a picture and they can whip it up for you!   This blue/silver with the snowflakes and stars is probably my favorite one.

Olivia chose an under the sea theme for her nails.  Tropical fish, starfish, seaweed and bubbles with a little sparkly sheen.  She was so proud of herself after and walked so careful as to not mess up her nails.  He nails are iddy biddy and I didn't think they would be able to fit much on her nails but I was so pleasantly surprised at the detail they got on there!  I totally have a punch card to this place and I plan on pretty much going there every 6-8 weeks for the duration of my stay here (that is what I have been averaging this far).  When in Rome right??  Or should I say When in Okinawa!

Toothless

 Olivia came up to us a couple of weeks ago to tell us her two bottom teeth were loose.  We almost didn't believe it, but sure enough they were!  How did our little first born girl get so BIG!  I didn't think this would be happening for a while yet!  So that last week Marcus was here she lost one tooth...

....and then two days later the other one!  I was so glad Marcus was here to be apart of this milestone.  I know there are things he is going to miss, that he has missed, so every time he can be here for a sweet moment like this it feels extra special somehow.  I wasn't sure if he would still be here for the second tooth coming out because he only had one night left and it was still in there pretty good.  Olivia gave it some really good twisting the second to the last day before he left and it came out.  I think she really wanted him to be here for it too.  She is talking a little funny with both those bottom teeth gone.  She is so cute I can hardly stand it!

Real time post

I interrupt my mad catch up posts with a real life "this just happened" post.  

Preface:  Transition from 2 kids to 3 kids has probably been my hardest transition to Mommy hood so far.  One baby was new and overwhelming but also my only responsibility so manageable.  My transition to 2 kids went super smooth.   Way smoother than I was expecting, but also probably because I was mentally preparing myself for it to be super tough.  I felt like I was in control (most of the time) and that I could handle the day to day.  I also feel like I got really good at my "keeper of the house" jobs.  On top of chores, meals made regularily that were yummy and good, keeping the kids entertained.  The house chores rarely got on top of me and I was also taking control of my health and body.  Losing weight and feeling healthy and strong.  

Adding a third baby?  Totally overwhelming.  Benson has been colicky pretty good and needed/wanted to be held a LOT.  He is leveling out a lot the last week or two which has been a TOTAL blessing from Heavenly Father with Marcus leaving.  He still has his fussy-crying-I-don't-know-and-I-can't-seem-to-fix-it spells but they are getting further and farther between.  Michelle was here for just shy of a month and having the extra help when she was here was AWESOME!  Marcus was also able to take a lot of time off work during that time too so it was basically a magical time in my life when I totally and completely had all the help I could ever want or need for the time of life I was in right then.  That was so needed because when Michelle left, Marcus' work schedule got a little crazy and then he left three weeks earlier on this trip than we were expecting.  He spent three weeks doing night exercises down at the range and that was tough but also prepped my good for when he was gone.  

Basically I often felt like I did not have enough hands to get anything done that I wanted to or needed to.  Often making dinner with Benson crying and crying.  Trying to get the kids bathed and in bed while trying to settle down Benson and try to keep up on some kind of housework so the house doesn't get out of control.  I am a neat freak.  If the house is messy or dirty it instantly stresses me out and limits my ability to deal with other situations.  I have been trying to turn down that level of intensity about cleaning a little, but I need the house to be a certain way for me not to be crazy.  Very fine balancing act and I often reached the end of the day feeling totally overwhelmed.  

I feel like I have a good handle on things now which has been really nice.  Figuring out how to do this even more efficiently and faster than before (household wise) which leaves me calmer and more time to be with the kids and give them what they need.  Benson is on a little bit better of a schedule and beings how he LOVES to be held and near to me I just put him in the front pack if I have a job I really want to do and he cuddles me and goes to sleep while I am able to bust out some cleaning stuff.  

This was the first week of Marcus being gone and I feel like I survived it, that we survived it pretty well.  We are getting our grove and figuring it out.  Yesterday we ran a ton of errands which left me feeling pretty wiped and unmotivated to get out and do anything today.  The sun was beautiful and shining though!  

 My really good friend Jessica messaged me and invited me to a picnic of sushi and play at the park time.  At first the thought of loading up and going out felt really overwhelming but I just had a gut feeling like I should do it anyway and I am SO GLAD that I did.  It was sunny and 75 degrees out!  Jessica picked up extra sushi and lunchables for me and the girls and my other really good friend Tori went by a Japanese bakery and brought some yummy treats for us to eat too.  So all I had to do was just show up.

We went to Kenney Park which was a place on base I hadn't been to yet.  It is set up on the hill with this cool jungle hill behind it and to the other side was sweeping views of the oceans.  The Mom's and Benson hung out under a shaded pavilion while the kids ran around and played and played and PLAYED!  There was a cool breeze the whole time and lots of jets taking off.  It is still the coolest thing EVER when the jets take off and you can see them sweeping through the air.  I don't think that part of living on an Air Force Base will EVER get old to me.

 Benson didn't really sleep very much while we were there but he was happy to be held and feel the breeze on his face.  The sushi was DELISH and the girls cheeks got dirty and sun kissed.  I got to talk to other adults which was something I was seriously needing at the time.  My adult interaction was pretty low this week with Marcus being gone and just visiting and having girl time felt so good for my soul.

Also in the time that Jessica invited me to go I had like a good 45 or an hour to be there and Benson fell asleep so I busted out some serious cleaning SUPER fast!  So my house is all tidy and clean how I like it for the weekend and it felt glorious to come home after the park to a sparkly clean home.  Benson nursed when we got home and promptly went down for a blissful nap, so calm from all the wonderful fresh air he got.  Basically the rest of my afternoon has been magical too.  BEST DAY EVER.  

 I have also done awesome at eating healthy this week.  Lots of yummy salads, green smoothies, healthy snacks and well rounded dinners.  I ate pretty crappy the week before so at the start of this week I had a headache that lasted for a good few days but I honestly think my body was detoxing from all the crap I had been consuming.  I feel really good about my healthy food choices I made this week!

This picture was from our crazy errand day yesterday.  I went to basket making in the morning, came home for lunch and a nursing for Benson, ran to the commissary and loaded up for the week, came home and unloaded the groceries while the kids waited in the car, headed over to Torii to check our mail and hit the library there AND then back home for a little outside play time/dinner/bath/bed.  I was beat by the time we headed to Torii but I promised the girls all day that if they made good choices that we could go to the library when we checked our mail.  They were awesome all day so there was no way I could back out of the library deal.  It was a crazy busy day that left my feeling TOTALLY wiped by the end.

So first week solo in Japan and doing good.  I mean how could I not with sun and 75 degrees in FEBRUARY!!!  (I might die this summer with the heat and the humidity, but I will whoop it up right now!)