Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. The day we got married Andrew's Mom told me that in marrying Andrew, there would never be a dull moment. She wasn't lying! It still amazes me that we have celebrated all three of our wedding anniversaries in Asia! Not only is Andrew a wonderful husband and father, but not a day goes by that he doesn't make me really laugh. And now we're parents to an incredibly funny, highly entertaining little boy that adds so much to my life and makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. We are truly blessed.

(Obviously) October is one of my favorite months for weddings. I want to wish a very Happy Anniversary to our friends and family members that are also celebrating October wedding anniversaries: Kelly and Massi (the 7th), Matt and Jessica (the 14th), Larisa and Ryan and Stacey and Logan (the 22nd). Looks like our cousin Laura and her fiancee Jeff will be getting married next October so we'll soon be able to add them to our list!!

I love looking back at pictures from our wedding. The day wasn't just about Andrew and I- it was also about celebrating with our family and friends that we love so much. A little trip down memory lane...

The ceremony. We were so lucky to be able to get married here.


Our first dance. Laughing together already!


And serious for a split second.


My beautiful, wonderful girlfriends!


When my Mom went airborne the VERY first dance of the night you know it was a fun party! I love my cousin Len ducking out of the way on the right too.


The dance floor stayed packed ALL night long.


There was a lot of fist pumping. My family's from Jersey- what can I say?!


Tommy and Elaine at their finest.


I love this picture. This was our Christmas card that year. At that point in our lives, no night out with Julie and Andrew was complete without a couple of tequila shots (things have changed a little since then). We pretty much closed down the night with these shots. I remember that Jason Emala bought them for us and Dana took the picture. It's one of my favorites!


And no blog post of mine would be complete without a picture of our beautiful baby boy... he's our happily ever after :)

For Uncle Rob

Today, sporting his Cleveland Brown's shirt (a gift from Connor's Uncle Rob and Aunt Kate), we practiced some of Connor's football skills with his Michigan football.
We worked on passing. Nice catch Connor!

And tackling the ball.

And a modified three point stance.

Afterwards he relaxed on his chair.


His workout behind him, he was a thirsty boy!

I think this went pretty well, perhaps we'll begin two-a-days next week.

The Last (sushi) Supper

On Saturday night Andrew and I went out for our last big sushi dinner. We went all out- knowing it might be a long time before we have sushi of this caliber again (at least for me). It amazes me that I am the sushi lover that I now am- being that the whole raw fish concept really grossed me out when we first arrived here. Now I can't get enough! I'm still smiling thinking about that mouth watering fatty belly tuna. Our dinner was just unbelievably delicious- we had such a great time. I will definitely miss this when we're gone!

10 months!

On Friday Connor turned 10 months old! I've said it before but I have to say it again-- he's just growing up so darn fast. Andrew and I peeked into his room last night while he was sleeping and just couldn't get over how big and long he looks in his crib. It seems like yesterday he was a tiny infant swaddled up in his blanket- now he looks so big in there! He now has 5 teeth- 3 on top and 2 on bottom with a couple more looking like they're just about to poke through. I've already written a post about most of the new stuff he's been up to lately- so I'll just post some new pics!
Here he is snuggling with Dad:

If you look closely you can see his new chompers:

He loves to give high fives.

He's pretty obsessed with Andrew's blackberry. We think he's probably emailing Carter here, who is equally obsessed with his Dad's blackberry. Notice he's standing all by himself now too!

Giving kisses.

He's really helpful around the house. Here he is helping me with my filing. And his way of "helping" is pulling out all of our paperwork and crumbling it up on the floor. He thinks this is really fun.

And with the laundry:

We began packing boxes tonight and Connor "helped" by pulling out whatever we would put in the box. I think the packing is going to take a little longer with Connor around!

Homeward Bound!

It's official! The announcement has now been made to everyone at Andrew's company and we've finally received our temporary housing location.

We're moving home to NYC next month!! We're trading one awesome city for another.

In just two weeks to be exact. Our move home will be bittersweet. We've had a wonderful 2.5 years here in Tokyo-- we've had some fantastic experiences and seen some beautiful places. Most importantly, we've made some really, really great friends. That said, we're ready to be residents of the USA again. It's time!

Here's the details: We're moving home Nov. 7th. We'll be living in a temporary, furnished apt. on the upper east side of NYC for two months while we wait for our furniture to be shipped by sea from Tokyo. The best part of our temporary apartment? It just so happens to be on the very same block as Annie and John, two of our BFFs. Look out! While living in temporary housing, we'll look for a place of our own. Andrew will be doing some back and forth between the Tokyo and NYC offices through the spring, after that he'll be full time out of the NY office. We can't wait to be back in NYC- we've missed that city and all our friends there from the moment we left. And just in time for the holidays- the fall in NYC is one of my favorite times of the year. I can't wait to show Connor everything!! I hope he likes his new playground, now THAT is a park!!

There are 101 things I will miss about living in Tokyo. It's sad to move away from any place you've called your "home" and especially the one where we started our family. The Japanese are most definitely among the kindest people I have ever met. But for this moment, I'm focusing on the wonderful things and people waiting for us back in New York City. We're so happy!

Me and my (little) Guy

Go Moms!

Yesterday Melanie and I ran the Run for the Cure 10-k race here in Tokyo. The course was around the Imperial Palace- so neat! I'm really proud of us - this is the farthest distance either of us has run before (in a race) and if I do say so myself- we really rocked it. Of course- there were four of the best boys in Tokyo there to cheer us on- our husbands and Carter and Connor (who had a "puff picnic" while they watched from the sidelines.) As usual, Andrew missed me coming across the finish line because he once again underestimated how fast I'd be (this has happened before) and wasn't paying attention, but whatever- he was there and that's all that matters!!




The boys and their Puff Picnic:


Not only was the race great, but for the last month Melanie and I have met up every Saturday morning for a practice run around the Palace. I really enjoyed these "mornings with Melanie"- I'll miss them now that the race is over!

My Boys!

Just some random pictures I took over the weekend:

Love this one:

When babies attack!

There was a game of "This Little Piggy" going on here:

Connor was putting on a show for the waitress. I think I've mentioned that he loves the Japanese ladies!

Connor loves to ride around on his Dad's shoulders. Really wish the second picture wasn't so blurry. Thanks for Connor's adorable outfit Aunt Kelly!

These boys make me so happy!

Kate Jensen's 1st Birthday

On Saturday Connor went to Kate Jensen's 1st birthday party. Kate's parents put out quite a spread- it was super fun! This was the first birthday party that Connor's ever been to and we found that he is quite a fan of the whole party scene. He loved birthday cake (no surprise there), playing with all of his baby friends (the whole gang was there) in all their birthday party finest and especially helping Kate open all of her birthday presents (she didn't seem to mind). Happy Birthday KJ! Thanks Trish and Seph for a great party!

The Birthday girl having her cake and eating it too!

Connor helping to open and then examine all of Kate's gifts.

Now all the babies want in!

On a side note, it was no easy feat getting Kate a birthday present. However it ended up being such a positive experience that I wanted to mention it here. There's a Babiesrus here in Tokyo, about a 40 minute subway ride away. Now this Babiesrus is definitely a Japanese version of the US store, so don't go thinking that I can get any baby stuff I need there. It's very different. But they do sell toys and KJ was in need of some new goods, so we made the trek out there. I took Connor in the stroller, and managed to find all of the elevators in the subways so that I didn't have to carry the stroller up any stairs (this is really, really difficult so I find myself avoiding the subway whenever possible just so I'm not faced with this situation). Where there were no elevators there were escalators and I pretended I couldn't read the signs that said No Strollers on the Escalators. I arrived at Kinshicho- the area where the Babiesrus is located, and managed to ask someone (in Japanese) for directions on how to get to the store (I asked someone with a baby, banking on the idea that she'd been there before, and I was right). I got to the store, and did my shopping. Then, without using any English (and not much Japanese either- mostly just awkward charades and pointing) I managed to arrange for the stuff I bought to be gift wrapped AND delivered (for free too!). I filled out some forms (in Japanese) and crossed my fingers that the stuff would somehow make its way back to my apt. As I traveled back home on the subway with Connor I couldn't help but think about how far I've come since living here. The old, super-impatient Julie would have been so frustrated by this whole shopping process (it took the better part of the day). I probably would never have attempted the subway, I would have gotten angry at the lack of recognizable stuff at the store, I would never have attempted to have the stuff delivered and worst case scenario- I would have come home empty handed. But instead it was a super successful trip and the stuff DID arrive the next day- right on schedule! It was a proud moment for me. Here's Connor in the shopping cart at the store:

Some signs in the subway indicating Subway Stroller Etiquette (Japanese signage is one of my favorite things about living here):

The only negative was the gift wrapping. I just assumed that they would wrap the whole box but here's how it arrived. Oh well- can't win em all!