Mr. and Mrs. Kodra...AND our little Lady Bug: Maggie's 2 and 3 months:

Time sure flys when you're having fun! So much has happened to our little family in just 2 months!! Lets see if I can remember it all:
The second month of Maggie's life passed in a blur. She was growing and changing every day, to all the mom's out there with rough newborns, each day gets better. I finally felt like when we hit 2 months, I knew what to do every time she cried, and I could actually get her settled down pretty easy..it was great progress. I was back to work part time, and it was always hard to leave her. I had to commute an hour to and from work, and I was working 10 hour days on top of that. So of course me and Maggie would get into a good schedule, and then I would have to go to work the next day, and not see her for 12 hours, and so the next day we kinda had to start over with a rhythm and schedule! We were able to do Maggie's blessing on Easter Sunday. It was a perfect day, and so many family and friends came to support us. She looked beautiful in my blessing dress and precious booties made by her grandma Kodra. We had a great day!
Anton was busy finishing up the semester, and we were talking about summer jobs. He was going to take a break for school for a little, and was looking to find a job full time, so that I could stay home with Maggie. He was talking to some connections we had from when he worked as an RCT (Radiological Control Tech) before he started school. Nothing was really working out, and we didn't have the time to worry about it...cause in the beginning of May we headed to Hawaii for a 2 week vacation with my family!! It was the graduation trip gift to all the men in my family, as they had all graduated with something :) It. Was. A. Blast. Lucky Maggie girl got to lay on the beach at just 3 months old. Although she wasn't the biggest fan of sandy beaches, or hot sun, and long travel days in cars, but all in all we had a great time. I always enjoy vacationing with my family. On our second day living in paradise, Anton got a random call about a 3 week RCT job in Japan, we talked it over and decided 3 weeks was doable, and a good way to give us some time, to figure out work long term....well as things worked out, we were able to figure out the long term plans pretty soon after, as we were shortly offered a more long term job after the 3 week job...but it was also in Japan. What a big move for our family, but after thinking over the pros and cons, we decided now, with one small baby was the time to take the jump. What an adventure it would be for us, that we would never be able to do again. So....boom!! Anton had to leave for Japan the day after we got back from Hawaii. While he worked away in Japan, me and Maggie and my wonderful In-Law Family packed up all our belongings into a storage unit. I was so grateful to have the help, I wouldn't have been able to do it all on my own. It was definitely hard leaving that family in Utah. There are no words to express our gratitude for their love and support as they provided us a home and a family as we welcomed baby Maggie to our little family. Having a mother in law 10 feet away to help with a tough new born was a life saver, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. They had created such a special relationship with Maggie, and it was obvious that Maggie loves them very much!! Ahh so yes, we miss them, thank goodness we have skype! While me and Maggie waited for our passports to arrive, we took the long drive (thanks to Jenny's help for flying out and driving home with us, shes the best sister on this planet) and spent a couple weeks in New Mexico. It was good to spend some time with my family before we headed off, and it was nice to not have any schedule to keep....AND spend some time with my home dawgs Conway and Elle! I love those two kiddos so much. We went to the pool like every day, and jammed out to music and movement at the library!:) I also had the privilege of babysitting the two for a few days while their parents were off camping. It was rough having 3 children all at once, but all in all I think we had a good time. The kids never cried when they were with me, so I say that was success, Elle only cried for grandma :) haha obviously im one of their favorites, and it makes it really easy because they LOVE Maggie. Elle even says Maggie, ( its soooo cute ahhhuhhh). But Seriously, they, as most kids are better when their parents are not around, for example: Conway did not even through a tantrum once. He was such a big help, and always did what I asked...he's the best at running to get Maggie's diapers and throwing her dirty ones away. hehe Elle was great too..she only really liked me when there wasn't any other adults around...im basically her last choice. haha BUT we survived, I think everyone had a good time, hopefully the remember that aunt nano is the total best and rocks etc. Conway told Jenny when she got back that we did nothing....so thats great! I sure do love those kids though! Then on my last day before we left, my Grandma and Grandpa Bingham, and Aunt Andrea made the trip to come see us. It was so fun to have them meet Maggie before we headed off, such a special moment and memory for me. They are the best!! Then 2 days before Maggie's 4 month mark we began our trip to JAPAN!!!!
I didn't get much sleep that night because we left the house at 3 am to head to Albuquerque!! I had put my phone in my purse on vibrate cause I was trying to get some sleep. Once we made it to the relief route I remembered that I should text Anton to tell him that I had left and all, and realized that I had like 20 missed calls from him, after frantically calling him back, I learned that my flight had been CANCELLED and rescheduled for the next day! This was not going to work as I need to catch my flight to Tokyo from LA at 3:45pm. I was freaking out...so I told Anton to call Delta and make them figure it out so that I was in LA before 3:00. He put on his angry voice and talked to pretty much every supervisor in their call center before they finally booked me on a flight with American Airlines at 6:00am. By this time we were all ready to the airport, so the plan of getting some sleep was out the window. We parked about 4:30 and figured that would be plenty of time to get everything sorted out, I got in line at American Airways, and the super duper nice ticket lady said that I needed a piece of paper from Delta saying that they had bought this flight for me....so I walk over to Delta... whos line is literally out the door due to their cancelled flight (apparently a flight attendant was sick)...so im starting to panic as I wait in line....by the time I get to the super slow workers up front its already 5:15..they hand me some old school ticket and I leave...go back to American Airlines....and what do you think...yuppp, wrong paper! haha so finally the nice helper lady was like I will go talk to them...she goes and gets the right paper work (she should have gone in the first place) and then explained that the flight they put me on was overbooked anyways, and with the time now being 5:30 I wasn't going to make it...so they next flight she could get me on was at 12:15...I figured that wasn't to bad because I would get to LA at 1:15 so plenty of time to get things sorted at the international terminal. Then she explained that the international airlines policy was that I could only check on 2 bags...I had 4 with me....so gag...in the middle of the airport, my dad and I stuffed 4 suitcases into 2....it was totally chaos, and I had to leave some stuff home. Since my flight was later, I got to grab some breakfast with my mom and dad before we said our tearful goodbyes. I was feeling tired, but excited to get this day over with! WE walked the airport multiple times, Maggie took a couple naps, and before we knew it, it was time to board the plane. We get on the plane with about 50 other passengers, its pretty packed tight. Maggie was a trouper though and all in all was pretty good. We were sitting in our chair for probably 30 min with nothing going on when the pilot gets on the intercom and explains that the engine wont start and we need to deplane. I'm on the verge of freaking out at this point. We collect our carry on items and head off the plane...they wont give me my stroller back because it is under the plane..grrrr. I called my mom in a panic and am almost sobbing since I know that it is now 1:30 and there is no way Ill catch my flight to Tokyo!! I then tried multiple times to call Anton to tell him that I wont make it and to not come pick me up.....he finally answers and is so angry at the airlines that I don't need to be haha. Then miracles of miracles the pilot comes over the speaker saying the problem has been fixed....hoooray! I gather all my belongs run to the bathroom while holding a 4 month old baby....(props to me) and get back on the plane....after getting everyone back we don't end up leaving until 2. Meaning we will get to LA at 3:00!!! I'm freaking out the whole flight, and then we land in the middle of the tarmac, we have to walk down those old wire ladders, and then I have to sit and wait for my stroller. It was literally 10 feet away from me but the worker dude wanted to have all of the suitcases down before he handed me the stroller..I was so frustrated since I knew the clock was ticking. There was this super nice lady that had heard I needed to get to the internal terminal and said she would walk me....she was seriously an angel! We had to take a bus to the terminal and then had to run to a different terminal for international flights. I never did learn her name, but she was so wonderful, she had a broken hand but helped with Maggie and holding what she could, I had no problem handing Maggie over to her when I was so desperate for help! She was awesome! She walked me to the door of the terminal, and it was 3:15. I wanted to hug her I was so grateful for her, I would have never figured out where to go in time! I frantically ran around looking for the airline that I was supposed to be taking and finally found them, with no one at the desk to help me of course...when someone finally showed up they gave me all the paper work I needed and then said they would give me an escort and that I would need to run... sure enough this little old lady takes all my bags holds her badge over her head and starts busting through security, I ran over so many people's toes as they waited in line and we hauled through security! Once we got through security she very sweetly told me that we needed to sprint haha...so we took off and I swear I ran a freakin mile in 4 mins haha.....once we made it to the gate I just lost it and started sobbing. I was so grateful that they had held the plane for me (they held it a total of 20 minutes for me)......the workers were so nice, they all hugged me and said it was fine. They adored Maggie. They walked me to my seat and I buckled up and we took off, it was that fast. I was a huge sobbing sweating mess, but I was so glad to be on my way to Anton. The 11 hour flight was so fast, and Maggie basically slept the whole time. It was like a 5 star airplane...they were awesome. When we landed customs and all of that was easy...everyone really loves Maggie cause she is so alert and responsive. We got all our bags (they all arrived which was awesome) and made it through all the check points and then we finally got to see Anton. It was such a happy moment, mostly because I knew that I was done, I didn't have to deal with the messy travel anymore, I had made it. Luckily as crazy as the whole day was, Maggie was so perfect! She was the best part of the day, I can only imagine how hard it must have been if she was cranky. We were so glad we had made it safely and all in one piece! :)

The base is pretty cool..it just looks like really really old Los Alamos... the buildings are all government old looking (if youre from Los Alamos you know what im talking about) and then there is a fence around the whole thing with guards everywhere...totally not weird cause thats what I grew up with. I always forget that we live in Japan because it looks so normal, and then I see the fence and the sky scraper Tokyo in the background. Its been fun living as a family again....except me and Maggie just want to sleep, we are so jet lagged. Im sure we will adjust soon. We are all unpacked and settled.

So thats been our past few months! so much has changed...and now we are living a crazy new adventure. Maggie is so fun, she is getting quite the personality. She can go from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds...she always gets the hiccups when she laughs because she doesn't know how to breathe and laugh at the same time (not sure who she got that from haha cough cough haha). She loves her daddy, being apart for 5 weeks didn't skip a beat with her, she knew exactly who he was, and enjoys playing toys with him the most. She was starting to have favorites when we were living in New Mexico...she seems to only want to eat and sleep when i'm the one holding her of course. She is quick to smile and hardly blinks. All of the Japanese people enjoy talking to her, they communicate the way they can, and I'm sure they are basically saying that she is the cutest thing on this planet...cause she totally is! :) (thats the biggest thing ive notice about being in Japan compared to America....everyone notices Maggie and makes it a point to talk to her and gawk at her adorableness!) She is drinking out of a sippy cup, (her choice not mine, she loves to be in control of everything she puts in her mouth). She tries with all her might to sit up, but hasn't got the balance part down yet. Im sure she will have that mastered in a couple weeks. She is still tiny as ever, but thanks to Grandma Christensen insisting I feed her more, she kinda has a roll on her leg...haha shes just a really petite girl!! She loves all technology, so she mostly behaves while me skype our family in the states...most days haha. I can tell that she really misses her best friends Conway and Elle, she loved to just watch them (they were the best fake puppies on this planet) and now she just has me and Anton to look at so obviously she's bored. haha We are beginning the sleep training and its an adjustment, but she sleeps great when it works. :)

Ok well I'm exhuasted....Japan is 15 hours ahead of Utah and New Mexico, in case you were wondering :)
So grateful we are together and living the life. We love and miss you all so much!! Stay posted for more about our Japanese life!!
Here's some pictures from our adventures: