Lilia's 6 month update! Scroll down and read it now!
* Note : Cliff just said that "people" will now feel obligated to comment. .... Yes. I hope they will.
( I'm just kidding about the commenting. I just realized a lot of people missed Lilia's post with my shoe entry.)
These, fellow reader, are very dear friends of mine that we tragically laid to rest last week.
Have you ever owned a pair of shoes that seemed to be made just for your feet? These shoes fit me like... well... like a good pair of shoes should! The soft supple leather literally molded to my feet and whenever I wore these sparkly slippers I felt like I was lighter than air. They were an impulse buy in Rome, Italy. I walked into a random little boutique just to get out of the heat and ended up leaving with these treasures.
I owe a lot to these shoes. Not only did they feel wonderful on my feet, they also pulled a lot of outfits together for me and gave my style a little extra personality. I also credit these shoes as "icebreakers" in the first conversation I ever had with my husband! In fact, I believe they were a conversation starter as he commented on them that fateful night of our first meeting.
Anyway, long story short. They completely came apart at the seams the other day as I walked out to get something out of my car. They lived a good life as far as well worn shoes go, but I miss them terribly and doubt I shall ever find another pair like them.
Lilia has been in the world 6 months now! Crazy, huh? I would say that the time has flown, but... Well... I guess in some ways it has and in other ways it hasn't. She is doing much much better sleeping at night but the kid only takes two 30 MINUTE naps a day. I watch her for drowsy signals, put her in her crib, she falls asleep, and 20- 30 minutes later she is screaming bloody murder and won't go back to sleep. *sigh* It makes for a quick shower in the morning and speed cleaning/ laundry. All of my projects for the holidays are sitting in a corner in the kitchen. I just don't have a spare moment to do them right now. Like I said before, though. She IS sleeping much better at night. She goes down without much of a fuss around 7pm and sleeps until about 7 or 8 am only waking up twice now! That is a HUGE improvement that has just developed over the past two months. I am pleased to announce that I am getting a cumulative 8 hrs of sleep now! Not consecutive... but we'll take cumulative at this point. 
Life is mostly pretty good. I really can't complain. I took Lilia in for her 6 month check up and she is fit as a fiddle. She is meeting all of her milestones and even starting to pull her self into a standing position in our laps. At 21 lbs she is in the 95th percentile for weight and at 27 inches she is in the 70th percentile for height. She is just a big kid! I can't remember what her head circumference was but it was all pretty proportional. I am still mostly breastfeeding. We tried her on rice cereal a couple of times just for fun and she certainly enjoyed it, but the doctor said that nutritionally it wasn't really necessary yet if we didn't want to go there. At her size I'm not really in any hurry to add more to her diet.
She still LOVES her baths. Now she splashes, though so bathing can be pretty wet and wild for everyone involved. She cries when we take her out of the sink. I think she would stay in the water all day long if I let her. 
Here we are all ready for church on Sunday. My mom made the hat she is wearing. 
Here she is sitting up! She is still a little wobbly some of the time, but I have read that roly poly babies have a tendency to lean over more than the slim and svelte babies out there. 
I love this outfit!!! 
Here she is in her activity jumper workin' those legs!
Look at those cheeks!
hee hee!
So cute!
In other updates, Lilia is starting to teethe. By that I mean she is ornery and drooly and inconsolable a good share of the day. I haven't seen anything teeth yet but they have to be on their way. She chomps down on everything in her grasp including hands and ... chins.
She likes it when I play peek-a-boo with her and she will turn her head away from me to "hide" as well. She loves to look at books and she loves it when I sing to her. She is probably the only person on this earth that I can say that about.
She likes to sit in her high chair in the kitchen and watch me cook dinner. She is also starting to get a little stranger anxiety, although I think she is too young for that! Sometimes when I hand her off to a friend she will be happy until she turns to look at them and realizes it isn't me - then her lower lip quivers and she begins to cry! She won't stop until I pick her up again. What's up with that?
Even with her mommy addiction she is still the life of the party and puts on a good show for company. Cliff and I joke that whenever she is fussy we just need to take her out around other people as she often calms down and smiles at everyone she meets. The Filipinos at the commissary all swarm her when we go shopping. The other day I had her in the stroller and I was checking out and they were cooing over her. I turned my head for a second and when I looked back around they had her out of the stroller and she was laughing in one of the ladies arms. They didn't want to give her back! No one can get over how squishy and chunky she is. She really is a cuddly baby and my best little buddy right now. Like I said, (although I sometimes do,) I really can't complain.
I LOVE having fresh flowers in my home. One of my favorite things about Japan is that if you know where to look - you can buy fresh cut flowers at a great price! I think flowers add so much to a home and they always brighten my day. Back in the states I really couldn't afford to have flowers very often, but here there is no excuse! I have been trying to treat my family and myself at least once a month to some flowers. 
Flowers are also great for decorating and creating atmosphere! My mother helped us arrange flowers this summer for a friend's baby shower. We ended up with 5 or 6 arrangements like ones shown above for about $50.00.
Fabulous! 
Do you know how much you would pay for an arrangement that size at a florist's shop??? These arrangements ended up being around $10.00
My FAVORITE part, though, is that the market I go to sells ORCHIDS. You get about 10 stems to a bundle for about $2.00. !?!??? Crazy, right??? In the arrangement above I used about 1/2 a bundle. That's right. There is only $1's worth of orchids in that vase. 
This one has a more tropical vibe. I love it. Reminds me of Thailand. 
These flowers are from Cliff's latest homecoming. Orchids, roses, carnations, and some Japanese flowers that I don't know the name for. 
The bundles of roses were also around $2.00 with about 8 small roses to a bundle. 
So pretty!
Wouldn't you buy flowers all of the time too???
I had lot of errands to run on Halloween, but that didn't mean we couldn't start the day off in the right spirit! This little outfit was a gift from the Mia. 
All ready to go! 
Some of our friends from church got an early start... smart kids.
Trick or Treating on a military base is a life-altering experience... (see pictures below). The base isn't open to the public - but you can sign on up to 24 Japanese locals under your name so the base is PACKED with Japanese trick or treaters and the candy goes FAST! Cliff and I had spent about $50 on candy and it lasted us about and hour and a half.
Cute, huh? My friend's kids. 
I hadn't planned on dressing up but I thought that I need to set a good example for Lilia! Here is my little faery and my make-shift gypsy costume. 
She was already a little sleepy when things got rollin.'
Ooompah Loompah! 
k.... so this is what I was talking about.... Insanity.
This is right outside of our apartment. Like I said.... the candy didn't last long. It's like you need a laundry basket full of candy and you will still run out. 
And this is how Lilia felt by the end of the evening! Next year she will be walking a little!! How fun!!!
We were busy busy busy in the U.S. for the month we were there. We got to see a lot of things and Lilia experienced some big firsts. She had her first international flight - or any kind of flight for that matter, had her first dip in the ocean, sat in a high chair for the first time, and even had her first car accident! ( We were rear-ended by a lady on her cell phone... great.) All in all it was a wonderful trip and I already miss seeing my friends and family there. It's great to be back in Japan too, though. I don't know how often I will make it back there, but we really made the most of this trip and had some good times!
Here is Lilia in the ocean for the first time! Does she like it? Well she didn't cry anyway...
Beach babes!
Look at that junk in the trunk!
water babies!
Here is my mom and my grandpa at the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta
Shout out to Japan, of course!
We went to the GA Aquarium too.
Lilia LOVED it. I think there is just something about fish and babies. She was fascinated.
Whale shark
Mia and Lilia
Wow! This is awesome!
Lilia learning to sit up!
Out to lunch with our friends Kyla and Sara!
Woo hoo! High chairs are great! Especially for mom!
You guys go ahead and enjoy your paninis and I will just snack on... Mia
Uncle Jey! I'm so happy to finally meet him!
Wee!!
Making friends with everyone.
This is Lydia. She is 9 months. I am 5 months. Yes, I am huge.
Emillers!!!
And of course, the Papa G. We had some good times together watching Castle and Dancing with the Stars...
Love my Papa G!
Lilia has been so spoiled on this trip home! We don't have a lot of options for photography in Japan... It is very expensive - not to mention the language barrier! So I really wanted to get some pictures taken of Lilia while we were here. I had a wonderful friend take some pictures of my little girl when we first got here and just a couple of days ago we got these taken. I found this faery costume at Target. It was the last one and it just happened to be in Lilia's size!! It was only $19.99! Man do I miss Target....
Anyone that has known me for very long know that I looooooove faeries. Poor Lilia has a faery themed room because of this love. I boxed away a lot of my faery things when I got married so that Cliff wouldn't have to suffer... but now that we have a little girl they are all coming back out of storage!! Woo hoo!!
Look at those arm rolls...
Happy faery!!
She's too much!!
