Hard week...

Sorry family, as it has taken me so long to post our Christmas Pics. We have all been either sick (Mia and Chad) or moving slowly (me) or still having a hard time adjusting to all the changes (Nykolas). I am finding getting settled here more difficult than any other place we have been....besides the fact that I am seven months pregnant and am trying to keep house and keep two toddlers in line....Mia was sick for two days as has been Chad and Nykolas is still in 'remission' from potty training. I have never in my life cleaned up more, how shall I put this delicately, disgusting things. Mia is now on the mend and I think Chad is not far behind. Prayfully Nykolas and I will miss out on this horrible stomach thing.

I am much more dependent here on others. Dependency not being my strong point ~ I have struggled. Please keep us in your prayers.

Wishing I was close to home now more than ever before.....

Merry Christmas

Christmas Slideshow.....

CLICK HERE....

Sleeping with blocks.....ouch....

Nykolas had to stay home the other day as Hitomi and Jeeyoon took Mia to the grocery....I decided it was her turn to go as he usually goes....he was fine at home with me and Chad but the next day when we were getting ready to go out all together ~ Nykolas louded shouted "Joy stay, me go bye-bye" ~ talk about holding on to things!

I'm finally up and running with the internet. This has been a busy and tiring week but we have made it through. The house is pretty well unpacked....still buying a few essentials such as drawers for the kids, washer/dryer, iron, etc....

Life is in some ways more convienent as living is much more urban but the walking back and forth from the grocery is taking it's toll on me. I am going to have to adjust to the daily shopping instead of weekly shopping and I'll probably be doing more night shopping with Chad and home and the kids asleep. Shopping and then walking home with two toddlers is trying to say the least.

Everyone here has been so welcoming. Jeeyoon, Chad's secretary has been an amazing help. Hitomi also joined us for a week and I am not sure I would be where I am without her help. We have taken the subway (very convienent and easy), worn the kids out on a tour of the city on a double decker bus, enjoyed a street vendor lunch in PIFF Square downtown, walked on the beach and of course visited at least two Starbucks.

The kids seem to have adjusted pretty well. Nykolas has had more potty accidents than need be but we are extending tons of grace with all the changes....I must say the washing machine has gotten to the MUST HAVE IMMEDIATELY list though. Nykolas did mention going home on our first day here but has since decided, in light of all his toys being unpacked that this is home.

We are looking forward to a two day holiday at a nearby hotel for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Just to rest and be with one another without all the to-do lists that seem to be floating about.

Phone number....

82 (country code) 51 (city code) 912-1870

So, from the states you would dial 011-82-51-912-1870.

We are still in the same time zone....GMT +09:00.

Atlanta -14 hours ahead
Dallas - 15 hours ahead
San Deigo - 16 hours ahead
and Bonnie Scotland - 9 hours ahead

We made it! God was so so good to us on our trip to our new home. In spite of the 3:30am waking time, two one-hour flights en route, a three hour layover in Fukaoka which included a transfer of us and ALL our baggage on a bus from one terminal to the next, a mommy and daddy responsible for 13 bags and nothing familiar ~ our children were AMAZING! Nykolas even stayed dry the whole day ~ letting us know quite emphatically at a very convenient time "Poo poo NOW mommy" and we made it to the bathroom! And both kids slept on both flights. Chad and I kept looking at each other saying "THIS is going too smoothly". God provided help at every turn...airline personnel and even a huge cargo elevator right where the bus in mainland dropped us off with two babies in strollers and 4 luggage carts packed to the hilt ~ we all fit ~ even me with my big belly! Chad did all the work...as I cannot lift anything too heavy and all of our things...including the kids in car seats are a too weighty....I know his back is killing him but what a hero he was!

There was a group awaiting our arrival with a banner and flowers! Nykolas, Mia and I went in one car with two new friends straight to our new apartment and Chad followed with several others and all our luggage. Hitomi arrived the same evening we did and it's been sooooo good having her here for familiar company and the extra set of hands. Our boxes arrived the day after us. Now we are all tucked in our new place with slowly unfolding boxes and new friends in and out helping us get settled.

My husband once again has scored high points with our apartment. I love it....it's cozy yet plenty big enough for all of us. There are some glitches that are being worked out....slow drains, leaking sink, and no heat yet but all that will get fixed and once we purchase all the homey things...i.e. a rug for the living room floor, trash cans, etc....this place will become home very quickly. We are conveniently located one block from a mega store called Homever which has everything from towels and sheets to groceries. The grocery section is huge with a large selection....I didn't realize how un-urban Okinawa was until I was able to walk aisles again with more than 4 choices of cereal.

We have plenty of beds...although Chad, the kids and myself have all been sleeping in the same room so far....a sofa, a t.v. and dvd player...key in entertaining the kids....and I even bought a wee Christmas tree with lights. So there you have it...once again the Hammonds have conquered a move with the sweet help of our gentle Savior going before us and preparing the way!

New address..

We fly to Busan on Wednesday morning. Our house is full of packed boxes, which the kids view as their own private climbing wall, and we are living on minimal 'stuff'. Chad takes all the boxes to the airport on Monday morning to ship them air cargo...so the kitchen, as of today, is officially closed. Hooray for mommy!! Ya-ya left yesterday to be with her family in Manila and will join us in Korea in February.

Transition always pinches a bit but I think we are hanging in there. I will be glad when we are settled into our new apartment and can take some time to unpack, enjoy our new home and find twinkle lights to put sparkles in little eyes for the holidays. We've decided not to try and push ourselves for a traditional Christmas and are instead going to spend Christmas Eve and day in a suite at a nearby hotel. Taking advantage of all the holiday cheer at a hotel and of course the indoor swimming pool should be a memory, although not traditional, that Nykolas and Mia enjoy.

Friends have invited us to dinner and a free circus over the next several days. It will be nice for the kids to be out and about instead of stuck inside with loads of boxes and not many toys!

By the way...Mia is sporting the newest use of big brother's Thomas the Tank Engine briefs...clean ones of course!

Our address in Busan is as follows....

Chad and Heather Hammond
Busan-si Haewundae-gu
Woo-dong 1388-4
Daewoo Marina Apartment 106-903
South Korea

On our way to the doctor....

We are all decked out in our pack pack and rainy day gear for the trip to the doctor. This little one is a trooper when it comes to doctor's visits and shots. She hardly cries.

Daddy met us at the clinic and Mia and I had our check ups and shots. Mia got to see the baby for the first time and was fascinated by the doctor covering my belly with gelly for the ultrasound....she kept patting my head and wanting to go 'night night' with me as I was laying down.

Daddy had to go back to work after the appointments so Mia and I went on a date to Starbucks.....apple juice and toffee nut latte! "Yummy!" as Mia said!

We also averted true disaster by having someone point out that the front tires on our wagon were truly in a horrible state. As we have had so many cars since being here I have not really committed myself to this one. I've just been holding my breath until we leave. I took it down to the shop and had the tires replaced with no accidents....although, I think Nykolas would have LOVED a blow out and a crash!

One MUST be like ones brother.....

A horse and his boy.....

....and his boots! Feasting on Okinawan lavender.

Texas Game with the Aggies....

....I mean Reilly's! Fun day full of brisket, leftover Thanksgiving sweets and great fellowship....with the occasional football banter....ok constant football banter. HORNS HORNS!

Nykolas' 3rd Birthday Party

As we will have just moved to Korea on December 22nd and will not have had time to make friends we had Nykolas' party here the day after Thanksgiving. We found a great park that has a skate area, open grassy fields, a beach and a smaller people geared playground. We all had a blast and Nykolas and his new friend Joshua bonded quickly with a cool slide, sticks and yucky mud! Mia befriended a stray cat.....and the "Herbie" birthday cake was a big hit.....though pitifully homemade looking....ahhh if I could only be like my amazing cake making sister!

Nykolas received THREE (3) Herbie's....one for each year of his life....cowboy boots from Mamsie and Grandan and a yummy cozy quilt for cold Korean nights is on it's way from Gran. Oh, and as we 'speak' Chad is putting together the all too complicated race trac set I bought....all the directions are in Japanese and there are at least a million pieces.....isn't that some sort of rite of passage for every father...at least one terribly complicated toy to put together?

Thanksgiving!

Shower!!!!

Ladies from the Bible Study I've been attending gave me a shower today! So amazingly thoughtful! Feeling truly blessed....and this little one will be all decked out in very cute things!

Yesterday.....

To avoid the risk of sounding dramatic, I'll say it this way - our day yesterday was awful. Mia awoke at 2:00am with a raging fever and wouldn't settle back down to sleep again even with motrin for 2 1/2 hours. Then Nykolas woke us up earlier than usual. Poor Joy was miserable so I cancelled my plans for the day (which included a pedicure and lunch with a friend...I know 'poor me') and we stayed home. Since we were home, I thought, 'good day to start potty training'.

Everything was going pretty well. Nykolas didn't even have one accident in the morning! Until in the afternoon.....I thought it would be good to get us out on a walk. I needed to post some letters and pick up some lettuce and chicken for dinner. Plus everyone seemed to be feeling fine and needing some sunshine. So off we went....

When we arrived at the post office Nykolas had his meltdown. There is nothing more humiliating than being told very loudly "no" by your two year old and hit....in a public place! I know all the Japanese were internally shaking their heads and thinking 'American children...so out of control!'

Then as we were walking toward the grocery, Mia had hers. And what a spectacle it was! Never in my life have I seen a child fall apart and for the extended time that she did. We still aren't sure exactly what was wrong...did she want to walk and not be in the stroller, was she frustrated because she couldn't buckle herself in ('me do' is her favorite quote at the moment), did she feel bad, OR was she just testing out her two year old behavior BEFORE she turns two?!?!?!? She screamed all the way home....about a 30-40 minute walk....arching her back and head so far back in the stroller that I am sure the on-coming cars thought I had a headless child....she was pitching so far that her feet were scraping on the ground! I tried everything to sooth her...NOTHING worked. Finally, toward the end I carried her and she thrashed even more and screamed "NO". I am so glad she and I look alike otherwise people would have thought I was kidnapping her.

Can I tell you how tiring it is to be pregnant and wrestling with a 20 pound child and walking home....I wasn't sure I would make it. Finally we reached the front door. I settled Nykolas down with Ya-ya (after a spanking and a short conversation of how NOT to respond to mommy) to watch a movie then Mia and I both fell exhausted into our beds. She didn't even peep....after thirty or forty minutes of screaming and thrashing she was tuckered out!

One hour later I heard Nykolas very upset downstairs. He had had his first accident....on the sofa. Ya-ya was trying to change his clothes and put him on the potty to 'try'. I think two things were in play here....one, boys have a one track mind and really "The Herbie Movie" is riveting....ha...so I think he forgot that he wasn't wearing diapers....and two, he is totally responding to the encouraging words and wanting to please momma and ya-ya and could care less about the 'prizes' I have. Anyway, in feeling that he disappointed his ya-ya he had his second royal meltdown of the day. We quickly encouraged him that he was still a big boy and that an accident is ok and we would just try again....he finally settled down with clean Thomas the Tank engine briefs on.

Whew! I made a quick dinner and put all under two years old in bed. Then I had ice cream and watched "Remains of a Day" with Anthony Hopkins...ahhhh....those old British Manors were run with such order and dignity...both of which my day was parched of....although, I must admit there is one scene in which the butler, Mr. Stevens, is ironing his master's newspaper....that, I believe, is taking order a bit too far! And when you watch the sadness and solitude of Mr. Stevens life, occasional chaos doesn't seem so bad....actually preferable to the monotony of too much order.

When I lay down in bed I listened to the rain fall and the grasshoppers sing and I missed the song of the frogs surrounding my parents house. My parents have a creek not too far from the front porch and I remember nights when their joyful song was almost deafening. Always made me feel safe somehow....I mean if someone was traipsing in the woods up to no good they would be silent and not full of sounds. Then I got to thinking of the creaks and groans of my family home. It always made sounds as if adjusting to the needs of the family....expanding as we grew and seeming to shrink a bit to make life more cozy for just mom and dad. Our house here, to weather the typhoons, is made of solid concrete....not a creak or a groan ever to be heard. Funny when 'missing home' things hit you.

We've started this morning on a much better note.....no fevers, plus pancakes and sausage always puts you in a good mood AND Nykolas woke up with dry pants!!!! So we are off to a good start....

Did you know....

...that kitty kitty's here in Okinawa wear clothes and say "neow" not "meow"? Yes, we have adopted two kittens not children....does tend to wear out the knees in clothes! But is really "toot" (cute) as these kittens also say....

mountain climbing....

Our extreme sport boy......

The ever growing me....

I know I don't look so big but I feel 'so' big!

Check out this beautiful smiling baby.....

Nykolas Hilarity.....

We are at a very silly 'almost' three year old stage....Kola is constantly running and bumping into things on purpose and laughing a funny forced laugh....sometimes I am sure it hurts but he still laughs...Chad and I have decided to steer him away from football as this one would get injured think it was funny and go right back in the game...

Sometimes in utter frustration Nykolas yells at Mia, "No, Joy stay, go away", slightly mixed message there....but I think the underlying wish is that she would STOP bothering him!

He is very insistent on when I should "Go" and "Wait" at a traffic light. Sometimes getting the green and the red instructions confused....I have chosen not to listen too intently to the loud voice in the back seat telling me what I should do.

He loves to have "tea" when we have coffee in the mornings. His "tea" consists of watered down apple juice heated in the microwave....makes him feel so old!

Okinawa Franklin Graham Festival

....the sound of Asian Believers filled with God's Holy Fire.
All God's children singing
Glory, Glory, Halelujuah
He Reigns.....

The event was fabulous! Chad did an amazing job! Well worth all the blood, sweat and tears shed during the preparation time. Over all, there were 30,792 people that attended the Festival and 82% were Japanese...a miracle, considering the culture! There were 1,560 people that accepted the Lord and are being integrated with local churches. Which is a 15% increase of the church on Okinawa. Wow! As worship was sung in Japanese and English on the last evening, the rays of sunshine from behind the stadium filled us all with the knowledge that the angels in heaven were celebrating along with us as new babies were being birthed en mass! Thank you ALL for your prayers!

Nykolas and Mia were absolute darlings as I drug them to most all the events. There were always plenty of people to play with and take walks as neither kiddo is very good at sitting still for long. Nykolas has a wee plastic turtle named "Hurry" that he had on a leash the whole weekend...you should have seen the smiles on people's faces as he trotted by with a turtle dragging behind.

Scott and Susan Moore and two of their four visited and attended with us. It was so good to spend time with them even though it was MUCH too short and jam packed with activity. The Korean Office Manager for the Busan Festival also came. Rev. Kim has made us all look forward to being in Busan...he is great AND is married to a pediatric surgeon....great contact for an OBGYN!

My camera isn't made for pictures of the masses and I felt a bit of an intruder snapping shots during a sacred event but I did get some pics ....Click here for SLIDE SHOW....

Funny Joy....

Mia was, how shall I put this delicately, messing in her diaper and she produced a very loud noise from that region....she looked at me with big eyes and said with the cutest pursed lips "Whoa".

As I was eating pineapple Mia threw a truck in my direction causing the bowl I had to topple juice all over my shirt....quickly summing up the situation she said, "Joy mess!"

Her favorite movies these days are the Veggie Tales...she wakes up saying "Bob", for Bob the Tomato....and claps and whirls in delight when I say ok.

Nykolas still refuses to say Mia so our little girl is more often called Joy than not. Nykolas calls her that so often, Joy no, Joy pank, Joy go, Joy stay etc...that she now calls herself and Nykolas ~ Joy. It's nice to have so much joy wafting through the house!

"Halloween Halloween"

So, as the Japanese, as a culture, do not celebrate Halloween and the "Y" platers (military people) around us trick or treat on base - not to mention the fact that my family never celebrated Halloween - I was totally ignorning that today was the 31st - imagine my surprise when I answered the doorbell to five Japanese boys dressed in white trash bags, birthday hats and plastic noses! All saying in unison...."Halloween Halloween". Guess they missed the American class on what to say when you beg door to door for candy but definately had the 'where to get the goods' part down and had huge bags for collecting....great expectations.....I am not talking normal Japanese supermarket bags...one kid actually had a Gap (have NO idea where he got it as Gap is not here!) bag....the large kind you get when you purchase like 10 pairs of jeans in one go. I had to scrounge around the house for anything sweet! Following that embarassing moment - I mean really, what kind of cold hearted person am I - Mia and I turned off the lights and hid for the next couple of hours as several groups came ringing our doorbell.

I am a sad example of an American. Maybe I should join 'How to be an American' class myself. Although, if 30 some odd years of cultural indoctrination didn't take I doubt a class would help. In my defense, had I factored in the Okinawan kids and the 30,000 strong American influence here on the island I might have been a bit more prepared.

AND then yesterday, our Ya-ya, answered the door and focusing on the mother in the driveway and not the wee trick or treater at her doorstep screamed in fright as the little white garbed princess moved at her feet, which in turned made the little princess jump! Ya-ya not knowing what to do (not celebrating Halloween in her life) reached into the bag and took a chocolate for herself! I am sure all the goblins, princesses and trash bag wearing children in the neighborhood have marked our house for tricks next year...so glad we will be gone!!! What do Japanese children do for tricks....pumpkins to smash are hard to come by....maybe 'egging' our house with sushi!

Who would have thought that coleus and impatience would sit nestled with pumpkins.....balmy island weather!

One should not be forced to battle gray hair and pregnancy at the same time.....daddy for all those years you blamed your gray hair on me....BACK AT YOU!

Gray....
1. of a color between white and black; having a neutral hue.
2. dark, dismal, or gloomy: gray skies.
3. dull, dreary, or monotonous.
4. having gray hair; gray-headed.
5. pertaining to old age; mature.
6. Informal. pertaining to, involving, or composed of older persons
7. old or ancient.

I feel torn between new life and old......

Babies with Hibiscus....

Lovely~

Hanging with Hitomi.....

New coats from Mamsie for Korea!