1st Easter

Easter was great here in Japan! The Easter Bunny was very good to Paige and she had a good time exploring all her new goodies. Paige with all her stuff...she got a new dress, some books, pop-beads, and some things that she can chew on and not destroy.
She didn't waste any time diving in.

One of these days I'll get a picture of her in the new dress. She had such an exhausting day that she slept right through dinner.

Mike's Big Day

While Paige and I were in the states, Mike started an 8-week leadership course specifically for Sergeants. This class will help him get promoted in the future.

The class was very work intensive. He came home with hours of homework most nights and they also did crazy amounts of P.T. (physical training). We were able to go to the graduation ceremony. It was really nice, and we were very proud!

Paige and her Daddy!

Mike getting his award.

We are sure glad he works so hard for us, and we are glad the class is over so he can spend more time with us :)

Six Months!

Six months ago today our lives changed for the better! We got our little 7 lb 5 oz bundle of joy. It's been a great ride and we can't wait to see what happens next!

My sweet girl,

You have traveled around the world and smiled the whole way...we hope that attitude continues forever!

It's been a GREAT six months! We love you munchkin!

A Rare Glimpse

Recently Paige started going to sleep on her own. We sing a song, and sometimes read a story, but then she goes into her crib and we leave the room. She started this at nap time, and now does it at night too. It's been going well, and she is sleeping longer at night too!

This morning I got a wake-up call at 5:30. This isn't rare...Paige needed to eat, but this was different because when I went in to get my princess she was soaked...everything was soaked!

I got her changed and we said good-bye as Daddy left for work. She ate and then it was time to go back to sleep. I didn't want to change her bed then so I decided that she could keep daddy's side of the bed warm.

I got the rare opportunity to experience her putting herself to sleep. After she ate I took her into my bed and moved some pillows around in hopes that my wiggle worm would be safe. Then I put her in bed and walked away (I had to turn out the lights Mike left on). When I came back in and got into my bed she decided it was time to chat. I told her it was sleepy time and sang a song. Then I rolled over so she couldn't see my face.

She rolled. She wiggled. She talked. She wiggled. She played with her hands. She wiggled.

I thought about rocking her, but decided to wait another minute.

Then her talking started to slow down. She wasn't wiggling as much. Her breathing was slower. And with one big sigh she was gone.

It was fun to see/feel what she does while going to sleep and have a little more snuggle time with her.

This is often what I find when Paige goes to sleep by herself.

The BEST picture from my trip!

We loved seeing family and friends, and I loved being able to show off our little girl! However, the best part of our trip, hands down, was seeing Paige re-unite with her daddy!

It was obvious that they both missed each other, and that she was very glad to see her Daddy and get to play with him again.

Coming Home

Our trip home to Okinawa was a bit of an adventure...Space-A always is I guess. We flew from D.C. to Sacramento and then took a shuttle to Travis AFB.

Paige ate a package of cookies on the plane.

We ended up there for two nights before getting a flight to Hawaii.

Paige FINALLY took a nap on the loud plane. The worst part of this flight was taping ear plugs into her ears :(

This is what the plane looked like...not exactly commercial, but WAY more leg-room!

We got to Hawaii and were stuck. The fight supposed to leave that day to Okinawa was postponed (and had been for 2 days already). So we were saved by the USO which had a place for us to stay because I had a baby with me.

Many people didn't feel sorry for me being stuck in Hawaii, but they might have if they knew that this was our only view!

After more than 24 hours in the terminal I decided that I needed to see more of the island than the airport and I rented a car. I hit the exchange first for some much needed diapers, but then we went exploring. It rained the whole time, but was still beautiful! I can't wait to go back someday with Mike under better circumstances! The ocean...so beautiful after staring at an airport for days!

We drove out to Diamond Head, but were too late for tours.

Beautiful views from my drive.

It was fun to get out and about. The next day there were no flights either, so we went for a long walk on base and saw some airplanes...

played in the grass...

and found some flowers.

We got on a flight after three days in Hawaii. We were so, so glad to be on our way home!

Paige could stretch out and get comfy! My friend Alli came and picked us up because Mike couldn't get out of work. It was so nice to be home and know that we didn't have to get on a plane again for a while!

Our Adventures in Virginia

Paige and I had some great adventures while we were away. One of her favorite things we got was a jumper! She loved it there and loves it even more here at home. She doesn't like to lay down because she can't see what's going on, but with this she can sit up and see everyone, and sometimes if shes lucky we'll adjust the straps and use it as a really good swing :)

We also had a VERY good time at the local mall. We shopped and shopped. We have clothes in the next three sizes! We couldn't pass up great sales and a selection that we would never have gotten in Okinawa. (can you find Paige?)
My friend Emily came down from NYC and we got to go to the temple together--thanks mom for watching the munchkin!

After the temple, we had to take Em into D.C. to catch her bus home, but not before a quick picture all together :)

We also got to go out to eat at some of my favorite places! Paige especially like CiCi's because she could eat the pizza crust.

We hit up El Charro--a favoriet of many family and friends. Mike was very sad he missed this one!

And finally, we had to go to Red Robin! Paige really wanted some freckled lemonade, but this was as close as she got.

We had a blast with family and friends. We got to hit lots of favorites, and look forward to our next trip to hit the rest!