Friday Phone Dump (Saturday Edition).

I've wanted to do something that would give our readers a look into our life every week here in Japan. I thought it to be super boring to just write a play by play on the happenings of our week. But I couldn't figure out what else would work.

And then there was instagram.

If you can't already tell by most of the pictures on here, I LOVE instagram. It makes beautiful pictures out of ordinary photos with two simple clicks on the iphone. So I thought it would be perfect to drop our pictures in one collage that I had taken all week on instagram.

So, here we go...my first Friday (on Saturday this week) phone dump.

Left to Right: International Fair at Expo Park, Earth Display at Expo Park, International Fair Expo Park, Noah enjoying a play car at our local grocery store, Noah’s reaction to the fighting demonstrations, our local subway, our linimo stop, more International fair, snowy Nagakute, Noah stacking, what?, Grandpa flew in for a visit, play dates with friends, ICAN kiddos, fun with legos, Happy Birthday Sarah!, ICAN Secondary kids praying.

Happy Thursday

Who is a sweet, smart, happy little boy who is growing up too fast?


This Guy.

Noah's First Music Class

Since this is our second year and the major culture shock is over, Noah and I are really trying to get out and meet people in the community. I have been blessed to meet a women in our neighborhood who I meet with that is learning English. We are teaching each other the languages we know and it has helped a lot. I have also really enjoyed her friendship. She has a little boy that is Noah's age, which is perfect! Noah and I also hang out at different children's play places during the day in hopes of meeting new people. A few days ago Noah and I went to a children's music class.


As you can tell by the pictures, Noah had no problem being the center of attention. And of course he was, as usual, because of his blonde hair, blue eyes and of course his overall cuteness (although I tend to be a little biased.)


We'll be attending this music class once a month and I am really hoping to build some relationships with the moms in this class and let Noah meet some new friends. Will you pray for us as we make new friendships?

An Update on The Perry Family

If you have stopped by our blog in the past couple of weeks in hopes to hear what we have been up to, I am sorry that there hasn't been much to read. If you did not hear our family is taking a much needed vacation back in Florida visiting family and friends. We are enjoying precious time with family, many of the places we miss dearly here in America and we are also enjoying speaking English to everyone around us. ;) I just want to share a couple of pictures from our time so far:

Daddy and Noah Sliding at the Beach

Noah with His Cousin Dana

Noah with His Cousin Aiden

Our Family at the Beach

I hope you all are enjoying your summer! More to come!

Our Lettuce Garden.

We were going through the normal routine of getting drinks and snacks and food for Noah at the drug store near our house when something caught my eye as we were going inside. Beautiful potted flowers. I just had to take a look. And in the bottom right hand corner of the flower area I saw three small green plants. And then I realized they were red leaf lettuce. And then I saw the price tag.

Whoa. That's a great price. So I went around the store, priced out how much it would cost to buy a pot, some soil, and some fertilizer and I realized it was only going to cost me a little over 500 yen (6 bucks). Now with the prices of food in this country I was so excited to give this a try. So Noah and I loaded up our new treasures into his stroller and headed home.


I was like a kid on Christmas when we got home. Excited about letting Noah play in the dirt for the time and excited that I just might have found a way to save (just a little) money for our family. I put Noah in an old onesie, swept our back porch off and we set out to work.


Noah had never been on the back porch before because it has been so cold here. So the minute I opened the sliding glass door and motioned for him to go out he took off like a race horse for the door. He was so excited he was allowed to go out. I took the pot, prepared the bottom of it and then poured in the soil and then let Noah touch it. At first he was reluctant to do anything with it. Then he touched it with one finger. And then I had to practically dive to stop him from sticking his whole face in the dirt to see what it tastes like. About 30 minutes later I sat with my son, both of us filthy dirty but extremely happy, as we both looked at our new little addition to our back porch: our lettuce garden

Ladies and Gentlemen, We have a One-Year-Old.

To My Sweet Baby Boy:

Wow. It's been quite a year hasn't it? You were two months when we struggled with you to get a passport picture and three months when you received it. In the first six months of your life you lived in five different homes, three different states and two different countries. I'm sure you have figured out by now that if you wanted a normal, quiet, non-adventurous life this was not the family to be born into. But as you are growing and changing I am pretty sure that your bundle-of-energy personality would not do well in that sort of life anyway. In fact, I think you fit perfectly in our crazy, exciting, adventurous way of living. God knew exactly what he was doing when he blessed us with you.


As I sit here and think about the first year of your life it has been quite a journey. I still remember sitting in the hospital exhausted from labor and seeing you for the first time. How quickly my heart melted. You were perfect. And then I also remember taking you home that first night and taking night shifts with Grandma and your daddy because you did not want to be alone in your bed. I remember those weeks of having you sleep on my chest and feeling your little heartbeat. And I remember you first tooth, your first solid food meal and the first time I heard you say "dada" and "mama"; even though those words didn't mean anything to you at the time.


I also remember when I was feeling you kick, roll and hiccup inside of me. Back then I had no idea what it meant to be a mother, I had no idea what was coming for me, no idea how much hard work it was going to be. But I also didn't know the unexplainable joy and love I was going to experience with you in my life. And it's only the beginning! Oh, what joy and love is to come as you change and grow!


I am praying that one day you will know Jesus. I pray all the time that you will. Because even though I have an amazing amount of love for you as your mommy, Jesus loves you far more than I ever could. I hope one day you will see this. And I pray that Mommy and Daddy will be good examples and teachers to help you understand.

I love you very much. I am blessed by you. I am excited to see what year number two (and beyond) holds for you and our family.

Happy Birthday, Noah Boah.

Love,
Your Mommy

Getting Ready For the BIG First Birthday Bash!!!

So, we are getting so close to Noah's first birthday! I am planning an Under the Sea birthday party for the little guy and I have been making all his decorations. Here are a few I have made in the past two days:

Starfish Cups:


Crab Cupcake Toppers:


Didn't they turn out cute?!?! I am so excited to celebrate his first birthday!!

The Overseas Mom: Homemade Baby Food

So today was the day.

Noah was 5 1/2 months old and it was time to start solids. A few days before I knew this adventure was going to begin I decided I'd better scope out the different kinds of baby foods and price them out. When I had finished my investigating I was pretty shocked. First of all, I realized I could not read anything on the labels so I had no idea what ingredients were actually in the jar. And then I could not believe a single jar of baby food was around 128 yen plus ($1.50 each).


Now on a missionary/teacher budget that was going to be hard. This is when I decided that I would make all of Noah's food. I was pretty overwhelmed at first with this task. It stressed me out that I was going to have to make two sets of food for our family every day. But after careful research, I realized it wasn't going to be nearly as hard of a task as I thought it would be. In fact, after I found out about homemade baby food cubes things were even easier! I wanted to share with you one homemade food and the recipe for it for each month that Noah has been enjoying since we jumped into the world of solids:

5 Months- Homemade Baby Rice Cereal
6 Months- Crock Pot Apple Sauce
7 Months-Oatmeal Cereal
8 Months- Pumpkin Yogurt (Although I used squash)
9 Months- Red, White and Yellow Saute (Puree before 10 months)
10 Months- Sweet Potato Pancakes
11 Months- Tofu Nuggets

I know I am writing this as an overseas mom but really and truly any mom can do it and I am pretty sure it will save you money no matter where you live (I think).

Want more info? A very helpful website for homemade baby food is Wholesome Baby Food. If you want to purchase a book in case you will be in a country that does not have Internet, I think the best one is Super Baby Food. I loved this book!


Does any mom reading this have any baby food tips they want to share? Any new moms have any questions about the homemade baby food process?

My Little Astronaut.

We were unpacking a printer someone gave us and Noah thought the box would be fun to play in. I decided to play spaceship with him and so we pretended to head into space. I pushed him all around the living room. On the second ride around the living room, Noah decided to pack some essentials to take with him. He chose blocks, a book, and his teddy bear.



That's my boy.