Final Year in My 20's

Yesterday was my 29th birthday and I had a great day!

It started with birthday pedicures with my neighbor, Sarah. I felt so good! Thanks so much for the birthday pedi Sarah!!!

When I got back home, my parents were there to pick Carter up and take him back to Ohio for the weekend. We had plans to party and hang out with neighbors, so it was nice to not have him with us. We had more time to party!! Before they left, we snagged some photos...

My neighbor, Linda, made me a jello shot cake. It was just orange jello topped with cool whip. It was really more like a vodka cake because instead of making the jello 1/2 water and 1/2 vodka, she just used 2 cups of vodka. It was good, but a tad hard to swallow! Thanks Linda!

Me with our lady neighbors. I'm so glad we are friends and are comfortable hanging out with each other. It's nice to have good neighbors!

The guys played cornhole in our yard. They had fun and it was much cooler because our yard gets the evening shade.

The girls played LRC with $1 instead of quarters. I lost all three games...well heck!!!

I had a great time! I stopped drinking just in time to go to bed 90% sober, therefore felt like a million bucks the next morning. I drove home Monday morning to get Carter. The smile on his face when I walked in my parents house was priceless. It makes all the hard work of being a FT Mommy totally worth it!!! I love that kid to pieces and missed him SOOOOOO much! Thanks to May May and G-Daddy for taking him for the weekend.

I know he can't tell you he had a great time, but by looking through all the video and pictures you took of him I'd say he had a blast!!! Love you guys!

We Got It! (And I Made Changes to Previous Post!)

Scott called me this morning and let me know that it's official, we got the apartment at the building in the previous post and we're going through with finalizing things now.

I deleted the pictures from the post below because they were of the wrong apartment. Our place WILL NOT look like what was there yesterday. Instead, it will be similar, but not exact to the pictures below. These are not pictures from an apartment in the building we're renting from, but we're guessing it will look very similar. And of course, I'll post pictures of the real deal once we get there and get settled in.

The kitchen

Living area

Entry way

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Wash room

In Japan, they have 3 separate rooms for showering, brushing teeth, and going potty. A sink/vanity and washing machine is in the wash room.

Shower room

Housing the shower head and bath tub

Toilet room

A separate room for the potty

FINALLY, A Date and Place To Live

September 17th is the departure date and December 17th is the arrival date. Scott got his itinerary for this trip yesterday, so it's set and ready to go. We will be on the 3:50pm flight leaving Friday, September 17th and returning to the states at 10:45am on the morning of Friday December 17th. Delta says it's a 13 hour flight going to Japan and a 12 hour flight coming back. I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to either of these flights, especially with a toddler. We'll get through it though!!

Scott was also able to sit down last night at work with one of his Japanese coordinators to search for apartments on Japanese websites. We thought we would probably be staying in the Nagoya area, but as it turns out it was going to end up being an hour train ride for Scott to get to work every day. So we've opted to stay in Toyota City which is where his office and Toyota Headquarters is located. Living in T.C. allows Scott to walk 20 minutes to work or take a 20 minute train ride if the weather doesn't allow for walking. It's also right close to a few department stores with shopping and play places for Carter, and grocery market places.

Excited. Anxious. Nervous. Awaiting. Stay tuned to see if this is the place we get!!

Outside of the apartment building

Lobby

Outside hallway to the front doors of the apartments

**I made a mistake in posting pictures of the inside of an apartment as it was the wrong place and only a 1 bedroom. So, I took them down and pictures of what our apartment will be similar to is in the next post. Sorry!**

Baby Steps...Literally

We enticed Carter with a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mega Mix from YouTube on my iPad and he walked. If I'd known that was all it was going to take, I would've played it for him a long time ago. I'm one happy Mama!!

Practice Makes Perfect

We've been practicing walking with Carter, encouraging him to take steps on his own. This was the first time he took more than one step without assistance. Practice makes perfect!!!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Is this seriously not THE sweetest picture ever?

Carter and Kevin playing and splashing in the kiddo pool

Scott and I with sparklers

The boys!

Jennifer and Steve Smart with sparklers!

This is the couple we met while on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Turned out they only live about an hour from Scott and I. I'm so glad we kept in touch with them since 2007.

Me and Jen

It was a long and HOT day, but we had a ton of fun!

Yep, that's me after I've had too much to drink, too much heat & sun, and too many laughs throughout the day.