Walmart

So, after not having access to any other store other than the military exchange or commissary for the last year and a half I could not wait to be able to go shopping anywhere. Our first trip was to Walmart. We had to buy the essentials like shampoo and toothpaste since we have learned that those items are just added weight to a suitcase! I was completely overwhelmed by the choices that were there. It may seem silly but looking at 50 to 60 different kinds of deodarant can make my head spin! I ended up choosing one of the travel size deodarants because I could pick from the huge shelf of deodarant. Who could have thought something simple could be so hard. I have now been to walmart two more additional times but have gone with a mission each time and for only one or two items which seemed much more managable.

Our big adventure!

Jacob and myself survived our big adventure across the international dateline. We arrived in Florida late friday night. I don't think I could have been any happier to hear "Welcome to Pensacola". That to me meant no more plane rides. We left Okinawa at 1215 pm. Jacob did great on the first flight. He nursed himself to sleep and then slept the majority of the flight. We landed in Tokyo and of course Jacob decided it was a swell idea to have a diaper explosion before deplaning. Other than that the first flight was great. We got checked in with our American flight and the customer service repersentative opened up the bulkhead seats for us. I had a nice roomy seat with a wonderful empty seat next to me. Jacob again nursed himself to sleep. I requested a baby bassinet and he slept in it probably 9 hours out of the 10 hour or so flight and only woke up a few times to nurse and then back to sleep. We landed and slowly made the painful process of going thru customs and then collecting our luggage. I somehow managed to lose my boarding pass at Dallas so I had a new one issued. Jacob screamed the whole time in the line for security. We boarded finally our flight to Pensacola and Jacob ate and went to sleep again. Maybe he is just like his Daddy and can sleep in any object that is moving!! Hopefully, his sleeping will return on our return flight to Okinawa in a few months!

Counting down the hours..

I, of course, love to know when my husband is coming home from a deployment. I have to plan, get organized and clean. I like having my time to do all of these things. But, today I'm just ready for the phone to ring so Jacob and I can head downstairs, get in the car, and drive the terribly long 5 minute drive to the air force base!I've decided I'm just not good at waiting now with just a few hours left. Jacob is down for a nap, the welcome home sign is hung outside, the sun tea is out in the sun, the laundry is folded and put away, and now I sit and wait! Again, not my strong suit in life, I'm not a waiter but I am thankful that today is the day because according to some emails a few days ago we were thinking Jon's arrival back to the island would not be until next week sometime!

I just got...

I just got the best surprise in my email box from my husband! He actually was able to get tickets on my flight that I thought was sold out back to the states. I'm so relieved and thankful to know that I will now have an extra set of hands/lap for Jacob on our 24 hour flight adventure from Okinawa to Tokyo to Dallas to Pensacola!

Now if I could just get motivated to actually start my packing list or actually start packing...

Welcome Baby Aiden Kai!!!

Jacob has a new baby in his circle and I have a new mommy in my circle! One of my childhood friends, Kelly, gave birth to an adorable baby girl last Wednesday!

Trip anxiety

I've decided that I have a little bit of trip anxiety starting. I think I have just realized that going home is not going to be as easy as it sounds. It's hard enough to get myself and Jon packed to fly home but now I have to add in all Jacob's stuff. I've sat and debated now for a month what items of Jacob's I am going to take from here. We are buying a new pack n play once we are home because the pack n play we bought here has a recall on it so we are waiting for our money to come back. I'm waffling between ordering Jake's new convertible car seat or taking an infant car seat with us since we have two car seats and two bases for them and then just ditching the car seat at my parents house when we come back to the island. I want to order a stroller bag so my new Chicco stroller doesn't get dirty but who am I kidding..I am a Mommy to a little boy. The stroller is bound to get dirty sooner or later so now I'm trying to decide between taking the stroller or buying another stroller there. I'm even planning on send some of Jake's toys home so that I not only don't have to waste suitcase space on them but so we don't have to buy any toys while we are there. We have plenty!! It probably doesn't help that Jon is gone and away and all of these choices have to be made now and not in two weeks when we leave.

Nursing Strike...

I believe that Jacob has started a nursing strike due to his cute little bottom teeth that are taking their precious time coming in! Jacob goes from having a great day of nursing to not wanting to nurse at all the next day. He is still refusing his bottle but will drink from a cup. I've tried almost everything I know to do to get him to nurse from loading him up on tylenol, coating his bottom gum with oralgel and giving him a frozen teething toy for him to suck on before nursing. None of it seems to help on the days he does not want to nurse. He will only nurse on those days after he has essentially upset himself enough so that he has red splotches all over his skin and he has broken out in a sweat!

We have pretty much tackled the biting that Jacob started when his teeth first appeared. He does not like my 'no biting' voice and usually will not do it again. I have noticed that the only time that he does it is when he is either not hungry, upset that he can't get enough quick enough, or he is mad that there is no more milk. I look for his cues and take him off before any of these things happen.

As for this nursing strike, I really hope it is only due to the teething and not due to a supply and demand issue. I need to start being more diligent and pumping on the days he refuses to eat. I also started tonight, when he was latching on and off constantly, switching him from side to side and he actually stayed on after being switched four times. I read about doing that somewhere. Whether it was helpful or not we will see. I probably also need to stop sleeping on my stomach. Sleeping on my stomach is usually the only way i can fall asleep when Jon is gone but I need to stop that so tonight I will institute my pillow bunker again. Jon will come home and think I'm pregnant again.

I hope this is just a phase with nursing with Jacob. In 12 days, I will have been nursing for 6 months which was my original goal but now 12 months seems like an even greater goal to achieve. And with our upcoming trip I do not want to have to bother with formula, water, or bottles at all! It's much easier to feed him with my ready-to-go flow of milk!