Our Weekend - The Park and March for Babies

This post really should be divided into two, but I'm going to mash it all together in one. Saturday I decided that Ten should see Sheep's Meadow...well actually...we had no hot water when we woke up...and still an hour later....no hot water. So, we decided that we wouldn't be making it to the cherry blossom festival. Instead, we headed out to the park. It was a beautiful day, and Ten and Mia were making lots of friends.

Hi Mia!

Playing in the Cherry Blossom Tree

Ten introduced Mia to the wonderful world of sticks...and she found that they made a pretty good snack.

After the park, we went to Trader Joe's and bought our groceries for the week. Love this place to death.

Anyway, so Sunday was the March for Babies! We earned a grand total of $367...yay! I would say not too bad considering all things. There were over 7,000 walkers. The goal was to raise 3 million dollars...and I'm not to sure if they reached that goal...I'm sure they will send me an email later this week.

I wish I could have taken a ton of pictures, but it was too crowded. Here is the beginning of the walk though.

We had bagpipers playing at the start line...which was cool...because I love bagpipes. Also, one guy carried a boom box (do we still use that word....or still make these even) for the entire 3.5 miles. Also, people were hitting beach balls back and forth...overall great time.

Here we are at the end of the walk.

It was a great event, and once again....thank you so much to everyone that supported our tiny team!

Mia at One Year Old

Dear Mia,

Happy Birthday! You are now a whole year old. 

At one you are doing all kinds of things. You wave to everyone (including animals - especially dogs) and say "hi" in such the sweetest little voice. At the same time, you also like to growl like a lion when you play :) 

You are walking a little now, but you mainly do it when you think that no one is watching. This reminds me of when you started to roll over. You only did it when our backs were turned...oh dear.

This past month you have taken a liking to rice. Oh my....how you love rice. You never refuse it and eat it by the handfuls. You also like to eat gyoza, ice cream, and carrots. You aren't a huge fan of meat though, so we are still working on that.

Your favorite toy right now is probably your zoo. You love to push the buttons and put the animals down the slide. You also like to play with your Anpanman book and pen, so you will sit and pretend to write while I plan out my day.

Mia you are an outdoorsy kind of girl. You would spend all day outside if we would let you. When you are feeling a little bit cranky, we just take you out to the rooftop deck so you can play a little. It is guaranteed to perk you up.

Here is to another great year of laughs and giggles and loads of fun!

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Baby Hanami in Central Park

We had plans yesterday to meet up with some friends and babies to have a play date at the AMNH. Then it turned into lunch followed by the museum...and then it turned into a picnic in the park with maybe the museum...and then the day came...and it turned into a 3 hour baby hanami, and it was perfect...and maybe one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my 28 years of life.

When we got there, Mia was dead asleep...so I was scared how it was going to turn out once she woke up. 

But as you can see, she was all smiles when she realized what was going on.

We played with a lot of toys on the picnic blanket.

Attempted to play with bubbles, but it was really too windy...

Played with camera cases in the grass....

Enjoyed the view....

Crawled around in the grass like maniacs...

Threw (and ate) lots of cherry blossom petals....

...and overall had a really great time.

Note: I went home and immediately ordered a picnic blanket after this...what was I thinking not having one ready for the summer. I suggest EVERYONE do the same.

Mormons, Anemia, and Charity Walk....oh my

We have A LOT going on here....probably too much actually. 

• This week we will finally submit all of our documents to apply for Ten's green card...yay...so glad that is almost over with...one of my least favorite things to do in the world is to apply for visas.
• Mia is officially anemia free...also a big yay! We found out she was anemic at her 9 month checkup (probably because she was a preemie), and we have been giving iron supplements ever since...which do not have pleasant side effects...so glad that that is all over too....as well as her little shudder attacks.
• Our apartment is screaming out...crying and begging...for some sort of spring cleaning. The piles are building up, the floor is losing space, and it just ain't pretty. How do people with babies find the time?? I'm guessing during nap time....but we are those co-sleeping weirdos you hear about...so can't.
• Speaking of naps, I am convinced I have a thyroid problem. I seriously slept  hours upon hours this weekend and still felt exhausted. Ten says he feels the same, so he must have one too.
• Also, related to energy/sleep...I am attempting to give up coffee...it has been a whole 4 or 5 days since giving it up...at first, I felt like a ZOMBIE...seriously...so I thought that if it makes me feel this way from quitting...it cannot be good...and now I feel great...though my hot chocolate consumption has drastically increased.
• I still have not taken Mia's one year pictures or done a few other things to mark her first birthday...so they are on the TDL for this week.
• Also this week: play date at the AMNH, play date in Central Park, Japanese lesson, Gymboree lessons (at least 2), Mother Goose Time, library story time, Sakura Matsuri, March for Babies, and possibly church...can you slap me now?
• I dyed my hair this weekend...a golden mahogany brown...Ten has asked to please go back blonde...I believe I shall as soon as I find a good place to get my hair did at.
• We have decided that a true family vacation is needed...like one where we stay in a hotel...our choices so far: Hannibal, Fukuoka/Tokyo, Florida, or Hawaii....Ten and I are seriously in love with Hawaii....but it is so far away....

Now for a brief Mormon update: I've had two more meetings with my missionaries...where I actually redid a lesson (on Joseph Smith) and finally got my Book of Mormon. I've finished reading 1 Nephi, and I like it so far...and believe that the Book of Mormon could be true...I mean why not. If you believe Jonah was swallowed by a whale...and Jesus walked on water...it doesn't take too much to believe that the Book of Mormon could be true.

Also, our life is slowly becoming Mormonized...we have a Hawaiian cultural event we are going to next week at the church and a block party the following week. We are also going to start attending services there as soon as we can clear up our schedule...we made an attempt today...but my thyroid problems got in the way ;) ... Also, Sundays are being transitioned into a family day...you know...no work, no TV, etc.

Say what you will, but we are happy hanging out LDS style for the moment....to at least learn more about it....I like to think that I am 70% converted, so negative comments regarding my LDS homies...will most likely offend me...Sometimes, I think that if I said I was converting to Buddhism people would be less offended...I have no idea why though....anyway, rant over.

So, here is what we have going on....no I need to be getting back to work (the paid kind)...yuck!

Cherry Blossoms in NYC

We miss sooo many things about living in Tokyo. I mean really, the standard of living there is so high. People are polite. It is clean...we just miss it. Also, with our family being Japanese/American we try to make a big effort to find Japanese cultural things to do here in the city.

I was really missing the cherry blossoms in Japan. I miss hanami :(. Also, I love the cherry blossoms because they were starting to bloom when I was hospitalized with Mia. For one week I was stuck in bed with nothing really to do but look at the cherry blossoms. So, when I see them....it makes me happy. With all of that being said, I was on the hunt to find cherry blossoms...and luckily there are quite a few places to seem them in NYC.

On Sunday we decided to walk 30 blocks north to Sakura Park to see if the flowers were blooming since the weather was so nice...I haven't been able to find a bloom update online, so we had to just go see for ourselves.

When we got to the park, we first stopped by the swings.

Oops, not in full bloom yet...but just means more time to enjoy them.

A nice view of the park.

Lantern donated to NYC when it became Tokyo's sister city.

After playing in the park, we headed over to Grant's tomb. It was odd to see a tomb in the U.S....but it was so pretty and worth the visit for sure.

Grant and his wife's tombs.

We hope to head out here again when the flower are in full bloom. If not, we are going to a sakura matsuri at the end of this month. Can't wait!

Mia's First Birthday

Last weekend, we decided to celebrate Mia's birthday. We realized that with over twenty presents to unwrap, assemble, and then actually play with...we wouldn't be able to get it done during the week. So, I worked on wrapping all of the presents throughout last week, so when Friday night came around....all we had to do was put up the decorations.

Mia's Presents

My Martha Stewart Poms that I stayed up making...they are so cute in real life.

As you can tell from the pictures, we had our dining area nice and pretty for when she woke up in the morning.

All smiles when she woke up and saw everything.

Checking out the table decorations.

It took us hours (and hours and hours) to go through everything, and we were honestly quite exhausted by the time that everything was finished.

I had actually taken pictures of her gifts too, but I guess when I chose the pictures for this blog I decided not to upload them....

A quick rundown though. Her favorite toy that she got was definitely her Little People Zoo, and I foresee more Little People play sets in the future. She loves this thing to death. Our favorite present was definitely her American Girl doll. She is soooo cute playing with it. I think we also pretty much bought about every Melissa & Doug toy for her age...not really...but it was a lot.

For lunch, we broke down and had something pretty unhealthy. Ham sandwiches with chipotle Gouda cheese and buffalo chicken Doritos (OMG...good).

Finally, at the end of our long day we brought out the birthday cake. 

Strawberry Banana Shortcake

We sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candle and gave Mia a big hunk of cake. Our little lady wasn't too interested in it. Instead she picked the strawberry off of the top and then pushed the rest aside.... :)

It was a long but really fun day!

Rundown

I am so looking forward to the rest of this month. We have Mia's birthday this weekend, and the Sakura Festival at the end of the month. Should be lots of fun.

Mia's gym class and Japanese class are both ending this month, and I am looking forward to having the chance to reexamine our schedules a little bit.

We also have the March for Babies at the end of this month, and I'm a teeny bit worried that Mia may not want to do the whole thing. However, we have our rockin team shirts which I am excited to wear (and don't worry your donations did not go towards those...haha).

Speaking of March for Babies, I have been so happy with the donations that we have raised from friends....and to be completely honest...completely underwhelmed when it comes to my family. A few have stepped up....but not what I was expecting....note to self: lower expectations :(

Speaking of events, there is going to be a Greek festival in our neighborhood next month...and we love Greece, so we are sooo looking forward to this!!

We were so, so exhausted today and didn't get home until around 6 pm...and Ten wasn't impressed with my meager offer of old rice, leftover salmon, and half container of Trader Joe's soup (love that stuff), so we ran up the road to grab some takeout. I ordered a 3 pc chicken with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and cornbread....heavenly...and plenty leftover for lunch tomorrow....yum.

Finally, wowzer my investigating the Mormon church has brought with it a lot of (unsolicited) advice...I mean like from everywhere...even STRANGERS. I had no idea that people had such strong feelings about Mormons. For the most part, I totally appreciate everyone's opinions.

Well I'm sure I wanted to get some more things off of my chest, but it is nearing my bedtime.

Nighty Night

Sometimes you can get really excited about something....and jump into it without thinking it all the way through.

I think we may have ran into a case of that over the weekend when we bought this tent for Mia.

It was possibly a little bit (or a ginormous amount) bigger than what we thought...and it took us literally hours to put away....because we are that smart.

It was definitely one of those days where you are so frustrated it is funny. 

My new mug (thank you Ten!! I love this thing to death) was perfect for the occasion.

But....this little gal was definitely worth our "Sea World Moment."

Plan of Salvation... Lesson 2

So, last week I had my second lesson with my Mormon missionary teachers....sigh...I think I am more confused than ever...and I haven't felt like the truth has slapped me in the face.

The topic of the lesson was The Plan of Salvation. Here are some of the points they covered with me along with some of my questions...and their answers. Here we go.

• The Fall- According to Mormonism, Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and being kicked out of Eden is something to celebrate (I think). It was God's plan for them to commit this sin...without it we would have been too innocent to have sex and make babies, experience pain so that we would know happiness, and given agency (or the right to make our own decisions.

Okay, I am not an expert on theology...but this kind of really confused me. I asked them about the whole fact that God commanded them NOT to eat it...if he wanted them to eat it, then wouldn't he have told them that they could?

They really tried to dance around this point, and I told them that a lot of what they are saying makes sense...except for the point where God wanted them to eat it...he is God...he said DON'T...to me that seems really clear. They actually couldn't answer this question and said that they often wondered the same thing.

• The Atonement of Jesus Christ- A lot of what they said here made a lot of sense, and they explained it really well. So, I actually highly encourage people to meet with the missionaries to learn more! They do know their Bible peeps.

My problem with this point was that they said that Jesus was chosen as our Savior...not that he just is...Indeed Jesus is our older spirit brother (along with Satan), and he volunteered to go to Earth for this mission...hmmm.

• Tithing- You must pay 10% of your income to get into the highest kingdom of heaven...I have major hang ups here..why does God care about money...though...we haven't fully gotten into this topic yet, so I let their explanation slide about showing our devotion to God...I get that...but a requirement for heaven...I'm not sure.

• God was once a man and we can become like God (our own planet and all) - This is probably my most major problem with Mormonism. Yes, it is true...they believe that more than one God does exist (though we only worship our God) and we can become Gods too! Exaltation is the goal. There are some passages in the Bible that could support their ideas, so you can click on the link and read more.

Here is my problem though...I told them that maybe we can become LIKE God, but we cannot become a God...we are human. They then said, but God was once also like man. I said...this is impossible in my mind. 

They then explained how caring and loving God is. He is so smart, so perfect, etc...he had to learn this from somewhere...and he learned it through his experience as a man.

My answer...God need not learn anything...he is all knowing...he is eternal...he is GOD...the end.

They had no idea what to say, so we moved on.

Finally, I left them with some questions that I wanted them to answer during our next session. They weren't sure of the answers, and I didn't want them to feel rushed or attacked...but I do have some major issues:

• The Book of Mormon: How did horses get in there and all of that other stuff when they didn't exist in America at the time it portrays?
• Why would God ever command racism? Blacks weren't allowed in the temple up until the 1970s. They tried to say that that was because it was a different time and our generations were different. Yes, I understand...but their prophets commanded it...and they speak from God...God doesn't change with human social movements. I hinted that maybe their prophets made a mistake...and that is fine because no one is perfect...they weren't ready to admit to that...so, a discussion for next time.
• Why do they encourage single mothers to give their children up for adoption to temple worthy Mormons? I explained that I thought that this does not fit with the idea that families can be together forever. They said that this mainly applies to teenagers...I told them my mom was a single, teenage parent and found this offensive....silence.

Finally, no Book of Mormon. They have asked me if I have read it, and I said no...but they didn't give me a copy...what the F people. Maybe they haven't found me worthy of their book yet.

Anyway, so when I think about all of these points...my stomach turns...and I just know that they are not the true church.

However, if I could close my eyes and ignore all of these (huge) points, I could so become a Mormon. I LOVE what they stand for folks, and I would rock Mormonism so hard...but there are just to many things that I find to be...wrong...with it all.

Maybe our next lesson will help me understand more....I hope.

Easter 2013

Welcome to our apartment on Easter.

Seriously, I just wanted to take a picture of my wreath because I love it so much. Actually, I love all of our Easter decorations!! However, I forgot to get those pics off of my camera....so, maybe next year you will get to see them.

Anywho, the night before Easter we decided to attempt to dye eggs with Mia. I give it a 10 on the success scale considering she isn't quite one yet. She loved putting all of the eggs into the dyes and then splashing her hands in it. Only the yellow dye didn't survive the process. We got two eggs out of it before it was knocked onto the ground.

Mia's eggs...nothing too fancy this year.

Mia had to taste test all of the eggs before coloring them...and I believe that is spaghetti on her face.

One point...peeps...I be lookin wretched during Easter (a whole other blog post)...so the rest of the pics won't be featuring me...those are for private use only. ;)

Anyway, I wanted to have a special little decoration for Mia on Easter morning...something different, so I hung these Easter swirly egg things on the doorway for her to walk through when she woke up. They were a huge hit, and they may have been her favorite part of the day....besides the Easter grass.

Mia's Easter baskets...a bucket of goodies from her granny, and the lamb basket from the Easter bunny of course. She also got a t-shirt from her aunt and an outfit from her grandpa....lots of fun little things.

Opening plastic eggs...with Little People inside...one happy girl.

Eating part of her chocolate chip cookie from nana (spelling...also I'm not sure what we are calling my mom yet...haha) and don't worry she didn't get the whole thing.

Homemade (kind of) ball pit

After playing with all of her toys, we sat down to breakfast. We had resurrection rolls (so good), bacon, eggs, and baked beans...our version of an English style breakfast....no comments UK friends. ;)

Next, we headed out to Riverside Park to hunt for Easter eggs. After realizing that it was cold and wet outside...we decided to hide them inside in the Easter grass instead.

A few seconds later...eggs thrown out of the way and grass thrown all over the place...and then Ten joined in...my attempt to keep the grass contained to our tarps...fruitless...fruitless.

Ten then went to lunch with a friend of mine while I cleaned up and worked on dinner...sounds strange...but really not. P.S. Thank you friend for such good advice!! We  are so lucky to have you.

Anyway, for dinner we had deviled eggs, roasted chicken, rice, and steamed broccoli...not the most traditional dinner...but good to us and not too heavy. Oh I also made a peach cobbler that turned out so poorly that it isn't pictured...and it ended up in the trash...if you know me...I never waste food...so this tells you how terrible it was.

It was a long, but nice day. We were all pretty tired by the end of it though.

P.S. How do you bloggers get your Easter posts done on Sunday or at the latest Monday? Super human you are.