High Lights from week 2

Okay so thankfully our sleep patterns are back to normal and daily naps :) We are still in the TLF but our things our here and cleared customs! They can't deliver until Tuesday morning which should work out fine. It is only going to take about 15 trips from here to our new apartment to clean out the TLF so we are hopeful we can borrow someones van. This weekend should be nice weather so we are hopeful to get out and enjoy it all with pictures of course. Here are some bullets from the week.
* Apparently anything goes as far as transportation around here. It was an exercise week, so it was pretty funny to see someone in MOP (chem mask, flak vest, etc...) gear riding down the road on an electric scooter both the stand up kind and the sit down ones :)
* Not sure the house keeping staff cares to ever Knock before entering or cares that they can hear you in the other room trying to brush your toddlers teeth....good thing we don't walk around naked much.
* We did make it to a new weekly play group, The commissary with toddler size shopping carts for Bryce, he loved that his cart had things in it we needed to buy, and Story time at the library.
* I am overly excited to have more than 5 outfits to choose from when our things get here. Lets just say it has been a challenge to pack  with my growing belly. Since we left our house the last week of Feb. So lots of thing I could wear I didn't bring here bc I already couldn't wear them.
* Very excited to have elevators in our new place...carrying the BOB up and down the stairs is kicking my tail to go for walks.
*We also got to go into Brian's work and meet some of the people he works with and their families...Bryce likes his new office...buttons to push everywhere and lots of spinning desk chairs :)

Posco Apartment we are on the 5th Floor. These are about 2 years old and there are around 10-13 of these buildings around our complex. Everything is key coded and there are TV screens so you can see who you  are letting in. There are a lot of Americans that live here and a few from work...apparently we can call apartment to apartment on them too.

There are 3 parks at our apartment complex this is the one in front of our building. We will get pictures of the other parks later and there is a little spray ground that turns on for a few hours during the HOT months.

There is a gym that is part of our complex and an outdoor workout area. This must mean only the guys sweat?

Outdoor workout area also at our apartment.

Hiking trail around the apartment complex.

A very happy toddler to have a zip line at his own park.

No shoes allowed in the house in Korea either. They do a great job with Entryway storage. There are floor to ceiling closets for shoes and jackets, a few drawers, and a counter with a mirror.

This is the hallway when you come in the entryway. You go right to the 3 bedrooms and left to the kitchen, Familyroom, and our room.

This is one of the small bedrooms, no closet, and there is the random glassed in area that all the rooms have?

This is Bryce's room the only one that has closets, but they do take up the entire wall and they are top to bottom with shelves, drawers, and hanging space.

This is Bryce's bathroom.

Familyroom, with those glassed in areas. One you can see is where you are suppose to hang laundry. You can see the haning thing behind the couch. The apartments come with some furniture and LOTS O Windows. That tall thing in the corner is the AC and the floors all have heating in them, each room with a floor heating control. The last people used the other glassed in area for a play room...which Bryce thinks we should do too...we will see how hot/cold it actually gets out there.

looking back into the kitchen, Fridge is a normal size, I have a special veggie fruit washer :) and a touch with your foot turn on for the sink

 Our bedroom door is off to the right.

Our bedroom

Entrance to our closets, vanity, and bathroom

our shower and bath tub, at least they have a glass door to keep the other part of the floor dry, unlike in Japan

Rest of bathroom...our Japanese house the floors would be wet everywhere bc they didn't use dividers...so in the middle of the night you could step in puddles on your way to the bathroom...very excited we don't have to do that here...we do have fancy toilets that heat up and do lots of other things...I wonder what Bryce will think when he pushes the button that washes his bottom off :)

Our little man still loves to snuggle his favorite toys!

Emart visit and Apartment complete

Okay I know I know I need to get pictures up here. Last week things were so busy that buy the time Brian would get home from work and we were off base it was already getting dark. So we were excited about this weekend, but it is proving to be a very rainy one, which isn't helping the picture taking process. Trust me there isn't anything exciting to take pictures of on base. Which pretty much is a two block walking square, with no grass and lots of concrete :)
We did decided on an apartment but people are still living in it so we felt bad taking pictures. We are suppose to move in next Friday if the inspection and all the paper work is complete...Oh and our things are actually here. I promise to post pictures of it. I sure love FB over here...I wasn't a FB when we were at Kadena. I belong to 4 Osan FB pages...The apartments are sort of furnished and you just buy things off of others to add to what you might need. Picked up a coffee table and end tables yesterday. We heard there are hiking trails close to our apartment along with lots of food and coffee shops to explore.
We went to Emart yesterday, which is their equivalent to TARGET :) It is a crazy 3 story shopping experience. We were looking for curtains bc we need it to be dark when we sleep or rather when the sun comes up super early and all the rooms have floor to ceiling windows. We think we figured those out and how to hang them, so next weekend we will be going back. We also found some foam matts for comfort and our feet in the kitchen or play room that are WAY cheaper than what you find in the states we will see how well they work. Tried some kind of dough on a stick with different flavored sauce that I should have gotten a picture of. The 1st one Brian bought was super spicy, so Bryce and I passed on that one and settled for the chicken broth dipping sauce. Bryce ended up with free candy and a balloon just bc he is American. I didn't see any other American  at emart so we didn't stick out at all. It also didn't help that when we were looking at curtains, Bryce decided to take off  running with the ugly valence roll that you cut to your size. We heard the nice lady saying BOY BOY stop! Good job Bryce.
They aren't kidding when they tell you not to bring your family until the spouse is settled. We are fine but by next weekend I will be more than ready to get out of this tiny place. I have learned how to use a convection oven, that I don't like lights that are on sensors bc all hours of the night they randomly come on or won't turn off, or refrigerators that have a low sensor knob so your toddler can turn the  thing off without us knowing. (lets just say the ice cream was a little soupy last night) I do love that I can do 3 loads of laundry at once, (especially since when we leave hear we will no longer have a dryer bc Koreans don't use them) and that I can walk to everything in a matter of 5 minutes. Plus the little work out gym next door to our room is kind of like a toddlers play ground and nobody is ever in there. Okay that is our end of the week update. If the rain holds off we will get some pictures and post to add to all of this.

Korea here we come!

Well we made the trip and all went rather smooth, even with all of my anxiety about the trip. They could have cared less about my drugs and IV I was taking across the world and Bryce really did well with the LONG trip. He was more excited about wearing his headset and the pillows and blankets they had laid out for us on the plane. I will tell you I was worried bc unless he is tired his TV shows or Movies aren't all that interesting to him for very long let alone for 13 hrs. So I am happy to say that I didn't have to pull out any of the treats that I had bought to entertain him....although they have been used since our arrival and our 3:00 am starts to our days....YUCK. This part has not been fun....it is kicking my ass to be honest. I took a 4 hr nap yesterday since I couldn't sleep on the plane and Bryce maybe the same...we are working at better timing today. That is why I am typing this and not napping :) Luck you all...
Note to myself this is not Japan, this is not Japan...so stop answering in Japanese and freaking learn some Korean. Maybe after I study for my drivers test, with the lack of sleep that may be hard this week. Everyone is friendly and the Koreans love my little blond haired blue eyed boy. He has picked our apartment based on the playgrounds they have available and just ignore the screaming toddler being carried over his Daddy's shoulder while we apartment search and he can't play on said playground. So this morning around 4:00 am he said Mommy we have a car now will you please just drive me to that playground that I couldn't play on yesterday....We think we have picked the apartment complex now we have to decide on which apartment. They are all a couple years old, have a gym on site, and many playgrounds. But they are all a little different inside based on furniture, size, random glassed in porches that don't open to the outside but can be used for storage....I will post pictures of that later..., lack of closets and crazy bathrooms, south facing for AFN or not, and kitchen looking into family room or not. Not all Realtors have access to all apartments so it is a game.
Made it to the BX today but couldn't go in bc I don't have ration card yet....getting this afternoon....but they do have a Starbucks which made me smile even if I can only have decaf right now. Although furniture prices have gone up in the Asian market since we have been in Japan or maybe they were always more in Korea....Bryce did notice hey that looks like some of our furniture....we will see what I can find else where...not that we need anything....but baby boy might :) Out the main gate for you Kadena friends it is a massive shopping of craziness and can you believe that the Commisary is actually closed on Monday and we have to stay under a budget (ration around 600 a month)....we may be close each month...my boys can eat. Better wake up little man after his 3 hr nap and hope for a longer nights sleep. More apartment searching this afternoon will try and actually keep this better updated.

Traveling

Well I would say that Bryce has stayed in a few hotels. Brian travels a decent amount, which allows for shopping trips and fun in Birmingham. We normally stay at the Embassy and he remembers more than we thought. For example when we traveled for Easter we drove most of the way the night before and stayed at a guard base, still a suite...The point being that when he woke up in the morning. He asked if we could please go down stairs and eat cheesy eggs and waffles. Yeah the AF doesn't play that game...sure would be nice if they did though.

Just stayed at a non Embassy...Momma why don't they have a round and round door.....Momma why don't I have my own room......Momma why not have cheesy eggs....He cracks us up. He was so excited to swim in the pool that he was up waaaay late, 10:30. Then we forgot to turn the air down, he woke up at 3:00am freezing, got in bed with us, up at 6:00...lets go get cheesy eggs. We rolled over and said no it was too early. Momma my belly soooo hungry. So at 6:00am he ate some green beans and pears then laid back down for another hour of sleep. Who eats green beans at 6:00am..that would be Bryce...Needless to say he slept the whole way home and didn't get up until 8:45 this morning....AHHH a good nights sleep. :)

I hear why A LOT during my day. Followed by this smile...so it is all good.

Could I be any further behind!

Yes I could :) I did however catch up on 2 yrs of pictures  by creating two 100pg photos books. So I do feel pretty good about that.
Bryce is talking up a storm and always makes us laugh. He definately has an opinion and will let you know. He loves to play outside, hits a mean t-ball, likes to sing and reads lots of books. He still loves almost any food you put in front of him, but prefers to pick out what he would like for breakfast and lunch. Saturdays he normally wants to make waffles or pancakes with Daddy and has added cream to dip his bites in. Sleep is still important and he has been known to ask to go to sleep. Or at night to ask us to stop cleaning up from dinner bc he wants a bath and to go to bed.
Chores are his favorite, which is helpful! I think the laundry shoot is his favorite and so far he hasn't tried to jump down there. Water chores outside normally require a bathing suit, but the flowers are well watered and car washing is super fun.

My handsome boys!

Shopping Trip

Funny things that just need to be documented. Last week Bryce and I went to Tuscaloosa for the day with friends....you know we have to drive a whole hour just to get my Target fix. I still wouldn't say Bryce is potty trained, but he does pretty well. Which means after a whole day of being out we may have spent half of it in public restrooms, GROSS! We hit Targets 3 times before we even left. The funny story is the first potty trip of the day. Bryce went and all was well. Then I had to go and the conversation started like this, actually it wasn't a conversation as much as Bryce just talking and talking and me trying really hard not to laugh and think boy I bet someone is getting a kick out of this conversation.
B "Momma pee out of her penis"
K "No Momma doesn't have a penis" he proceeds to bend over and look, "Oh it come out of your bottom"
We shopped with two active 2 yr old boys. As we drove past Chick Fil A in the morning Bryce spotted the indoor play area. So we continued all day (two whole stores) and we will go to the slide. Which helped their mood. There was a lot of "need a break from being strapped in Momma, just a little break, please?" Spent close to 3 hrs in Target alone, then hit TJ Max, before we went to Chick Fil A. I am not sure what we were thinking, but the Momma's were hungry the boys not so much. They ate in every store the entire time. So after a spilled full cup of coke all over the floor by 1 boy the other boy (Bryce) didn't hesitate in knocking over a vase filled with water on top of the spilled coke. So very soon we took both boys to play while one Mommy had a peaceful lunch and then switched places. Everyone was much happier and before we pulled out of town they were both asleep. Good Times....

Oh he also had his first sip of Starbucks, not on purpose, I didn't think he could reach it....he said MMMM Momma's coffee good as it dribbled down his chin.

Last night he wore his dinner. When this kid is hungry he needs food ASAP. I had his plate ready I was just getting his milk. When I turned around to fill his milk he was coloring at the table. I turned around again and he was grabbing his plate. Which ended up being half of his bowl of Gumbo, the plate stayed the bowl went flying, landing straight up. Gumbo on his head, shoulder, back, and pants, it was great....if I wouldn't have been trying so hard not to be upset and stepping in all of the mess I would have taken a picture :)

Snow in MS!

Still behind...I will get Christmas up here soon....Bryce got to play in the snow and things around here were shut down for 2 days.....for very little snow...but it was fun. We don't exactly have snow gear for the kid, but he was good to go for 2 hrs and I made him go inside so we could have lunch. He was pretty wet when we came inside , but loved every minute of the morning.

Throwing snowballs from his snow fort....

The snowman family....with lots of grass and extra arms :) He was sad that they didn't talk like Frosty though....

Helping Daddy roll the snowman...


Then off to make sugar cookies....it wasn't messy at all....