Easter/Migraine Weekend!!!

A beautiful Easter Weekend and guess what I had? Yep...you guessed it a migraine!!! I had it all weekend. Saturday morning I woke up with it pounding so I stayed in bed and sleep until about 10:30 but still no relief. I didn't want Tyler and Bella to have to spend their Saturday sitting in the house while I slept so I sucked it up, showered and got ready and then we all went to the BX for lunch and so Tyler could pick some things up for Easter dinner. When we got home Bella took a nap and of course I still had a headache so I laid down as well, I think we got up at about 3 and you guessed it my head still hurt so I took some more meds and laid down on the couch while Tyler took Bella to the play ground across the street. Surprisingly when they got back I felt a lot better so we enjoyed a couple hours of headache free mommy time by coloring Easter eggs. After Bella went to bed Tyler and I just relaxed, watched some TV and went to bed early so we could get up and go to church Sunday morning.

Guess what I woke up with Sunday morning...yep you guessed it a migraine, man y'all are getting good at this!!! Well I knew how much Tyler wanted to go to church and we also spent like $30 on Bella an Easter dress and new shoes so she was going to wear it headache or not. So we went to church, we tried to keep Bella in service with us but she would not be quiet so Tyler took her back to the nursery. I feel bad saying this but I think that was the worst church service of my life...not due to the preacher or the message he was giving, it was the fact that I could not get comfortable and my head was pounding!!! There were a couple of times I just wanted to tell Tyler lets go but I didn't want to ruin it for him just because of my stupid migraines.

After church we went to the club for Sunday brunch and then the club was doing a members only Easter egg hunt. I was really happy about this because Bella was actually able to hunt Easter eggs, which I didn't think she was going to get to do because we don't really have a yard to hide them in. Once the egg hunt was over we waited in line so she could take a picture with the Easter bunny, the whole time I was praying she would actually sit in his lap!!! Last year we tried to do the picture thing and she was having no part of it, she didn't even want us to stand in line to see him. She actually did really well this year; she sat in his lap and just looked at him. Services took pictures that they would email to you but i don't think the picture is going to be very good because the lady taking the picture didn't even give Bella time to smile. Oh well...Tyler took a picture for us and it is really cute!!! After that we came home and again I took a nap with Bella, she woke up at about 3 but I didn't wake up until like 5 or 5:30. For the most part my headache was gone but I still didn't feel completely normal. Tyler made a great Easter dinner to include Ham, mash potatoes, green bean casserole, and for dessert peach cobbler!!! We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and then just vegged on the couch until it was time to go to bed.
This morning I actually woke up without a migraine, which is good because Bella is the one that suffers when I have a headache during in the week.

I have to tell you guys about this...I am just so excited!!! Last night at about 2 I got up to pee and heard Bella's door opening, I thought to myself crap now she is going to have to sleep with me and Tyler and I'm not going to get any sleep!!! But when she walked out of her room she said "Mommy I got to go potty", so we went in the bathroom and of course we both went potty. After she got done she pulled up her pull-up and went back to her room and climbed in her bed. Now those that know Bella really well know this is very unlike her!!! So I went into her room and covered her up and she went right back to sleep. By God I think she is potty trained!!! Friday I had some things to do around the base and I knew it wasn't going to take long so I put panties on her instead of a pull-up like we usually do when we leave the house. Guys she went the whole two hours without an accident. While we were at Burger King I took her in the bathroom and she went on the big potty. Then on Saturday when we went to the BX Tyler put panties on her and again she went the whole time without an accident. Y'all don't know how excited I am about this...I never thought this day would come!!!

Tyler and Bella coloring Easter eggs!!

Bella and her busted lip!!! She fell off the chair while coloring Easter eggs and hit her chin on the table and bit her lip!!

Bella and her Easter basket!!! It looks like she is yawning but I think she was talking.

Isabella in her beautiful Easter dress!!!

Hunting Easter eggs!!!

She did such a good job with the Easter bunny!!!

Free Cell Phone!!!

I finally got the free phone yesterday!!! I love the color of the phone but it is very big compared to the cell phones you see in the states. It is a prepaid phone so it will be a lot cheaper especially since I don’t see us using it all that much. The best thing about it is that I will feel much better having it when we go on trips away from Misawa. The past couple of times that we ventured away from Misawa I was always worried that we would get lost and not knowing very much Japanese no one would be able to help us get home. Now that we have the phone I will feel a lot better because we can just call someone to come find us lol!!! Here are a couple of pictures of the phone, don't you just love that color. The other colors they had to pick from were white, black and a silvery white!!!

I don't know if you can see it but above the English letters there are Japanese symbols!!!

Bella's Birthday Party!!

I know it is a little late but I have been really busy the past couple of days!!! Ok that is not entirely true, I could have found time to write but when I did have a spare minute I just wanted to relax. Anyways we had Bella's party on Saturday the 15th and it was great!!! We just invited the friends from Tyler’s shop that had kids, so there really weren’t a whole lot of people. The commissary made a beautiful Little Mermaid cake and Tyler with my help cooked a delicious spread of party treats. I told y'all about the octopus hotdogs but we forgot to take pictures of the food so I stole one from the internet so y'all can see what they looked like. Bella had a great time at the party and she got some great gifts. Tyler and I had a pretty good time to but everyone was gone by 7:00 p.m. and we were left feeling lonely!!! We knew that if we were still in NC several people would have stayed late (The Oaks) and we would have had some fun adult time as well. Anyways Sunday was actually Bella's real birthday so Tyler got up and made pancakes for us. He made Bella a special one that looked like Mickey Mouse and had chocolate chips for his eyes, nose and mouth. We were going go to church but decided against it so that we could spend all day with Bella doing whatever she wanted to do. After breakfast we played with her Backyardagins play dough set and watch the Bee Movie. After that we got dressed and went to the BX for lunch and then took Bella swimming at the base pool. Sunday night Tyler made a awesome steak dinner with garlic mash potatoes and corn on the cop. Well the steak was as good as it good be with cooking it in the stove which is why we went Monday night and bought him a new grill.

The past couple of days I have spend at the BX trying to get a free cell phone. They were having a special going on that if you buy a prepaid phone card you get a free cell phone, but they are were only giving out 50 free phones. So Monday morning I got up at 7:15 and got me and Bella ready, we got to the BX at 9:00 because the phone place opens at 10:00 and I didn't want to have to wait in line all day. Especially since Bella had to come with me and here lately she has been running away from us every chance she gets. Well at 10 till 10 the lady comes out and says the phones didn't come in but she would put our names on a list and the phones should be tomorrow. So yesterday I got up early and we went to the BX but this time I didn't get there until 9:30 and there was already like 10 people in line...I was so mad!!! But Bella was actually pretty good...the food court here has a play area with tunnels and stuff for kids so I kept telling her that if she wanted to play in the tunnels then she had to stay by me. Once I finally got to the counter I picked out the phone I wanted and paid for it...then the lady told me I had to come back tomorrow to pick it up urrrrgghh!!! Right now I am willing to just pay for the phone and sign a contract, but I don't think we will really use the phone that much. We barely used the cell phones we had in the states. So when Tyler gets home for lunch I am going to go drop off some applications at services and then stop by the BX to see if the phone is ready. Which means I need to get going to I can take a shower and be ready when he gets home. I will leave y'all with pictures from the party and I promise I won't be such a stranger!!!

This first one is of Bella and her friend Caleb; I went to Tech school with Caleb's dad Jason!!!

The birthday girl opening her presents!!!

Opening the Hello Kitty piano!!!

I can't believe how good of a job the commissary did on this cake!!!

Singing her "Happy Birthday"

Saturday night playing her piano!!

The famous Octodogs!!! We actually made Shell n Cheese so it would look like they were sitting on the beach!!!

Curly Sue!!!

So last Halloween Bella was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. My mom had bought some of those foam curler things and we curled Bella's hair. Well I didn't get it curled in time and when it was time to go trick or treating her hair wasn't completely dry, so it really wasn't that curly. Back to the present...Bella and I went to the BX the other day to get hair ties because somehow during the move here I lost all of my hair ties. While I was looking for them I saw a whole bunch of those foam curlers and thought to myself I want to try and curl her hair again. They had the big pink ones and then they had little blue one, my thinking was that she is little so I will get the little blue ones....bad idea. So yesterday after Bella and I got out of the shower (I don't know when the last time I took a shower by myself but that is another post) I decided to curl her hair, I dried her hair a little bit, put some mousse in it to help it hold and then put the curlers in. I was really surprised that she stood there and let me put them in, I thought for sure I would have to fight her to be still but of course there were cartoons on TV so she was like a zombie. Once I got it all done we sat and watched TV for about an hour and that's when the problem came so I thought. It was now nap time and her hair wasn't dry yet, so I decided to just try and lay her down and see how it goes. I was sure she wouldn't fall asleep and I was going to have to take them out and it would be a failure once again. Again she surprised me, she came out of the bedroom once but as usual I put her back in bed and in no time she was sound asleep. Well once she woke up and Tyler got home I decided to take them out and see how cute she would look. I really think I should have gotten the big pink curlers!!!! I took some pictures so y'all tell me what y'all think????

Before

After

Well that's about it for now...last night we went to eat at our favorite Italian restaurant Angelo’s. It was delicious I had tomato and toast, which is their version of bruscetta and I also had salmon in cream sauce which was yummmmmy!!! I guess we didn't learn our lesson from eating out so much last weekend....oh well!!! Tonight we have to go to the commissary to pick up the food for Bella's B-day party tomorrow. For the kids Tyler is making octopus hotdogs with blue mac and cheese, jello cups with gummy fish and chocolate goldfish party. I think it will be really cute with the Little Mermaid party theme!!!

It's been awhile!!!

Sorry guys I just haven't felt like writing, no real reason just haven't been up to it. Last weekend was a very low key weekend.

Friday night we went out to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant "New Miyaki" then we went to the BX to waste money. We got Bella a new Strawberry Short Cake DVD and Tyler the Cars DVD because he has been wanting it for a while. I got the new Stephen King book "Duma Key" which I can't wait to start reading but right now I just don't have time with school and trying to finish up my current cross stitch project.

Saturday morning I woke up with a terrible migraine so I stayed in bed until about 1 or so. When I finally got up I felt a little better so we took Jackson to the dog park for a little while. After we dropped him off at home we went to the commissary to pick up a couple of the things then we stopped by the bowling alley for some burgers. Once Bella went to bed Tyler and I watched the movie American Gangster, a great movie by the way!!!

Sunday morning we skipped church because my headache had come back and we just weren't up to it. That afternoon we went to the BX so Tyler could get his hair cut and I could finish getting the rest of Bella's B-day presents. We came back home after that so I could drop Tyler and Bella off to take naps and I went BACK to the BX to get my hair colored and cut. I didn't get anything new done; I just got my roots touched up and the ends trimmed. Sunday night Tyler cooked a great beef stew and we eat that and just relaxed.

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment for my migraines and some menstrual problems. For the most of 2007 I was on Depo Provera birth control and most people know that you either have no period or you always have your period. Well I was the one that didn't have a period. Back in December Tyler and I decided I wouldn't get my next shot because we wanted to start trying for another baby. In January I had a very light period and then in the middle of February I had a full period but 2 days after it stopped I started again for another full week. Again 2 days after it stopped I started again but this time it was just spotting. During this whole time I was fighting with a lot of migraines, which is normal for me during my period. When I went to the docs yesterday we discussed this and he said the best option would be to start a different birth control to get my cycle back to a normal. Once my cycle gets back to normal and I get the migraines under control we plan to start trying again for the second baby.

After I got done at the doc’s office I came by the house to pick up Tyler and Bella and we headed to the 100 Yen store, which is the Japanese equivalent to the Dollar Store. We wanted to pick up some toys to put in the gift bags for Bella’s B-day party. After that we stopped by Mac Donald’s for dinner. It was so cute....they have a play area at the Mac Ds just like they have in the states except you have to take your shoes off before you can play on it!!! Jess you would love this place :) Bella was playing with the little Japanese kids and they keep talking to each but I don't think any of them knew what she was saying. At one point a little girl was pointing at the trash can and speaking Japanese, Bella went up to her and said "No that's a trash can"!!! I wish she could spend more time around the Japanese kids, I think she would really learn the language and then maybe she could teach me and Tyler!!!

Today Bella and I went to the BX to order her B-day cake and pick up bags to put the party favors in and also candy to put in the bags. We ate lunch at Subway...man I just realized we have been eating out a lot, Tyler has been wondering where all the money is going...maybe we should eat at home a little more huh!!!! After we left the BX we stopped by the Youth Center because they have a program called Smart Start and it is for 3 and 4 year olds to play sports. We wanted Bella to play soccer and cheerleading but they said there is a really long waiting list for soccer and they are not doing cheerleading this summer. But they also have Jazz/Tap and Gymnastics for her age group, so I think we are going to try and sign her up for gymnastics.

Well I guess that catches y'all up for now, tonight we are actually going to eat at home and after that we will probably plant our butts on the couch and not move until bed time!!!!

Not Much Going On

Well as you can tell from the title not much is going on around here. We did go to the gym yesterday and I got a really good workout. I started out on the stationary bike but I wasn't feeling anything from it so once a lady got of an elliptical I hopped on that and burned about 300 calories in just 20 minutes. But man today I am feeling it, my legs and my back are very sore.

This morning I got the whole house cleaned, I vacuumed and dusted!!! Tyler is going to be so happy that I got it all done in one day. Bella is taking a nap right now and I just finished the homework for my psych class, so now I am going to enjoy a little bit of quite time and some cross stitching. I will leave y'all with a picture of the best cup o noodle I have ever had. It has wontons and bamboo shoots in it!!! Yummmmy!!!

One last thing I just looked out the window and guess what it is snowing again yeah (sarcastic)!!!

I RAN!!!

Yesterday Tyler and I went to the gym to work out in the mommy and me room. It is very frustrating because we usually go when Tyler gets off work, of course at that time the gym is full. You are only allowed to use the mommy and me room if you have a child. The exception is between 3 and 5 in the afternoon because that is when most flights work out together so at this time anyone can use the mommy and me room. Well we got there at 4:15 and of course it was packed the only thing that was open was a stationary bike but when we walked in one nice lady said she was done with a treadmill and we could use it. I tried to give it to Tyler but he said he wanted an easy day and that I should use it. So I hop on and start at a fast walk and after about 5 minutes of that I decided to raise the speed a little. Guys I ran, me and Tyler have a saying that I won't run unless someone is chasing me and this is so true. If I am in a hurry to get some where I will just walk really fast, I hate running with a passion. When you have a big chest it is very uncomfortable to do, grant it I have had a pretty good portion of mine removed but they are still anything but little. Before my reduction I had to wear two sports bras and that still didn’t keep them still, now for the elliptical machines I can just where one bra but if I am going to keep up this running thing I will definitely have to wear two again. I can't believe how well I did with the running, in the 30 minutes that I was on the treadmill I ran for about 10 of 30 minutes, the rest of the time I did a fast walk. I would really like to get a treadmill here at the house but we don't have anywhere to put it our apartment is way too small. Tyler has promised me that once I get pregnant and we move to a bigger house we will get one. That is great but my whole plan is to try and lose as much weight as I can before I get pregnant again. Oh well we'll see what happens, maybe I can find one that folds up really small and we can get it with income tax money.
Well that's it for now, I am just so proud of myself and I wanted to share it with y'all. But I don't think I will be doing anymore running for a couple of days because today I can barely walk my shins are hurting so bad!!!!

A Weekend of Exploration!!!

We had a great family weekend!!! Friday night was spent getting some groceries from the commissary and eating Chinese food. Japan has some of the best Chinese food!!!
Saturday morning we got up and headed to Hachinohe, a town about an hour from Misawa. Misawa itself is not a very big town but there are several decent size towns close by and Hachinohe is one of them. There is a Toys R Us there and since Bella's B-day is coming up (in two weeks WOW time flies) we decided to look for some presents there. Things in Japan are usually more expensive than in the states and that was the case with Toys R Us. Bella has recently found Pokémon and she loves it so Tyler was going to get her a little stuffed Pikachu but it was $20 so we decided against it. Since the toys were so expensive we decided to only get her big present there and get the smaller ones at the BX. For her big present we got her a small Hello Kitty grand piano, she loves to play the piano and any time she sees one she wants to bang on it. Before we went to Toy R Us we went to the mall that was next door and had lunch. It might sound silly but we had MacDonald’s, it is strange but the MacDs here doesn't taste anything like the one in the states. We didn't buy anything in the mall mainly because there styles are so much different than ours. But when we got ready to leave we did stop and get some donuts. There is a donut shop in the food court and several guys that Tyler works with have told him about Mr. Donut. They were right it was awesome; I would say the best donuts I have ever had!!! Once we left the mall we decided to find the famous Fish Market, so many people have told us about this place and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They had so many vendors selling many varieties of fish and seafood. They had some of the biggest fish and squid that I have ever seen. We have been told there is a live Octopus there and the guy will take it out put on the floor and let it crawl around but I guess he wasn't doing it on that day. So we plan to go back sometime soon to see it for ourselves!!! After walking around for awhile we decided to leave and stop by the Harley Davidson shop we saw on the way to the fish market. It was a very small shop but we just thought that it was cool they had a Harley Davidson shop in Japan. We wanted to get T-shirts but we didn't have enough Yen so the next time we go to the fish Market we are going to stop and pick up some. By the time we left the HD shop we were all pretty worn out and Bella was getting really cranky so we head home to eat leftovers and watch some Prison Break.
Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church, once we got there the lady in charge of the nursery informed us that is was our Sunday to be in the nursery. Since we haven't been in a couple weeks we were pretty bummed because we felt we really needed to be in service. But it kind of worked out for the better because since we hadn't been in awhile Bella wasn't really digging staying in the nursery by herself. After church we went to the base club for Sunday brunch, and then headed home for Bella to take a nap and so I could finish up some homework. After Bella woke up we got ready to go to the Swan Festival. When we got to the Swan Park there was no sign of a festival so we just feed the swans and the ducks, which was ok because Bella loves to feed the ducks. After all the bread was gone we walked around the park for a little bit to take some pictures and wear Bella out. When we were leaving Tyler saw a poster that said the Swan Festival was from 10 to 2 so we missed it by a couple hours. We don't think it was very big because by the time we got to the park there was no sign a festival even occurred. On the way home we stopped at the Universe to pick up some more sushi and noodle cups and by the time we were done there it was too late to go home and cook dinner so we decided to try the Tex-Mex place right outside the front gate. It was not the best Mexican food I have ever had, remember I am from Texas. But I will say that for Mexican food in Japan it was pretty good.
So that about wraps up the weekend, now it's back to school work, potty training and trying to find a job. I will leave y'all with some picture of the wonderful weekend!!!

The KFC in Hachinohe.

The MacDonalds in Hachinohe!!! The sign on the MacDs in Misawa is in English so we thought this was pretty cool.

This place is so unlike Italy...Japan has so many of the American restaurants and stores.

The Harley Davidson shop...as if you couldn't tell!!!

Tyler and Bella at the Swan Park!!

Me at the Swan Park!!!

Look at all those Swans!!!

They kept getting her fingers...I guess they looked like little pieces of bread!!!

A beautiful rock garden at the park.

Looking out over the Swan Park from atop a big hill!!!

This is a video Tyler took of Bella and I feeding the ducks!!!

Cooking with Mommy!!!

Some of you might know that I make awesome Chicken and Dumplings. Seriously it is the only thing Tyler lets me cook on my own and it is the only thing I cook that he loves. So Thursday night we decided to have them for dinner and of course Bella wanted to help cook. She always wants to help but most of the time there is not much she can help do. But with my C & D I use can biscuits and put them in flour, then use scissors to cut them up. So there was finally something she could really help me with, her and Tyler smashed the biscuits out, then rolled them in flour and I cut them up to put in the pot. At the end of the biscuit part this is what Bella looked like!!! At one point she was trying to eat the raw flour.
Today we did a little exploring, we found the Toys R Us, the famous fish market and a Harley Davidson shop. But I plan on writing about that tomorrow because we are going tomorrow after church to the Swan Festival, so I want to wait and do it all at once. Until then I hope y'all enjoy Bella in all her silliness!!!