Toshi Koshi Soba

A New Year's Eve wouldn't be a Japanese New Year's Eve without traditional Toshi Koshi Soba.

What we have here is soba, egg, and kamaboko (3 types!).

Time for bed. ;)

Okasane - Plastic and Real

Does the real okasane look a bit odd? Jeff ate one of the mochi for the okasane, so we used a smaller mochi instead.

Entire Fist in Mouth

Saya can put her entire fist in her mouth. I had to capture it as I don't think she'll be able to do this much longer.

Barefoot Saya

I finally got a shot of Saya's feet. She kept moving so I had to wait till she was busy with her toy. We counted all her toes and she has 10. Woo hoo! If you look quickly you may think there were 12.

Saya and Whoozit

We got Saya a new toy called the "Whoozit". It seems to keep her occupied for about 5 minutes.

Happy Birthday Auntie Shiho

Hope you have a wonderful birthday Shiho!

More Bumbo Action!

Saya enjoying her Bumbo for the first time.

Saya's Bumbo

we tried looking for a pink one but only found a few blue ones on Craigslist. I don't think she would care about the color. We won't be using it till she is better at holding her head up but still wanted one for later.

Ryder and Bella love it too!

Christmas Day Festivities

It was a great Christmas this year with our newest member of the family.... Saya! As you can see below, she is in quite the festivus mood.

The dogs even decided to get in on the opening of the presents. As you can see, they were really into it and couldn't wait to have more bows and ribbons stuck to their heads. Yes, that is a dead beaver toy in front of Bella... they are Jack Russells, they love rodents and small animals, especially the bunnies that run all over the neighborhood.

Shino received a cool set of new pajamas, a necessity in the cold winter months!

Saya even got in on the action with some clothes of her own. And blankets. And toys. And stuffed animals.

And yes, Jeff even got his share of presents with an official oven stone and bread board. This is much better than the "ghetto, many piece clay tile conversion into a pizza stone" that we currently have. As well as much better than the "90% chance of a burn" process it takes to get a pizza out of the oven now with a long wooden spoon in one hand and a normal 1/2" thick cutting board in the other.

And who could forget the most important thing, the food. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad... and a spice cake for later. Mmmmm. Did I mention we missed Thanksgiving because we were in Japan? That's ok.

Bella loves all types of food except her own. They should be sleeping good later because we gave them some coma-inducing turkey. Ryder is all ready for his nap.

So long, that's all, farewell.

White Christmas

Yes, it snowed pretty good yesterday and last night and it gave us a white Christmas! Maybe anywhere from 4 - 8" fell. The temperatures are also going to be pretty chilly so the snow will stick around tonight and tomorrow for Christmas day.

Hopefully the dogs don't become dog-popsicles in the mornings when the temperatures are around 6.

Saya and the News

Here is baby all into the news.

Funky Farm Activity Gym!

Just came in the mail. So excited for Saya to try it out. We are hoping she will get a "kick" out of it.

Bella is eyeing the activity gym as well. She is so ready to get in there and play with the toys. Oh Bella!

Saya's First Christmas Stocking!

We had to get Saya her own stocking- personalized of course:) Isn't it cute?

Saya seems to like it as well.

Who's Boppy?

Ryder and Bella love the Boppy and want it for themselves. I caught Bella sitting in it several times and Ryder today. Here is Ryder using the Boppy. I think we need to get the dogs their own.

Happy Birthday Jiichan!

It's a bit early still but I have to post when Saya is asleep. We all wanted to wish Jiichan a very Happy Birthday!

Odoru Ponpokorin- Chibi Maruko-chan Theme

Gake No Ue No Ponyo

Gake no Ue no Ponyo
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First Official Walk

We took Saya on a walk today around the football field in our neighborhood. I think it's about 1/4 of a mile or so. She did great in the stroller and took a short (very short) nap. We put a bundle me in the carseat which kept her nice and toasty during our walk. It's still a bit chilly out though the sun was shining. The pups came along and enjoyed the walk too. Poor pups haven't had as much attention lately.

Baby's Playtime

Saya playing on her play mat. Thanks Shiho!

Baby's New Pack'n Play

Finally, something to put Baby in for naps and diaper changing.

As she is getting heavier everyday, going up and down the stairs with her caused back pain. So this should help out a lot.

Our Little Couch Potato

Baby seems to be facinated with the TV and computer these days. I am sure it's just the lights that she's into but we thought it would be funny to see her on the chair with the remote.

Baby Sitting Up

Baby is getting really strong everyday. She is gaining more strength in her legs and her neck. When we sit her on our lap she hardly tilts forward anymore. It's only been 3 weeks since we got her and already, she's growing so fast.

Strawberry Shortcake

Saya wanted to try on a new hat as most of the hats we got her are too small. Doesn't she look like strawberry shortcake? Too cute!

Onara Taiso

In other words, the Fart Exercise! From Nodame Cantabile in case you don't know... my favorite drama.



Jeff

Bottom Biting Bug

My new favorite song...



Yes, it is addicting, just admit it.

Saya's Eyelashes

I just get a kick of Saya's eyelashes so we tried to take a picture of them.

Ugly Ohagi

I tried. I really did.
For some reason they came out huge and messy. I gave up towards the end so they weren't covered all the way with the anko. They look horrible but still taste like an ohagi.

More Saya Pictures

I wanted to post a few more pics of Saya while she is sleeping upstairs. I miss her when she sleeps and I so want to go and pick her up. Ok no. I'll just update the blog and get ready to head out for our first outing together. We're going to attempt shopping at Babies R Us. That place is so daunting for us, I wonder what Saya will think. We''ve got our diaper bag packed and ready to go. I wonder if a massive poop will come out during our trip.

Here's a pic of me and Saya while she gets a bit of tummy time. We need to start giving her more time on her belly so she doesn't have a bald spot on the back of her head anymore.

More time with daddy!

Sleepy time in daddy's arms.

What a Journey It Was

Find out all about our trip to Japan and back and how we met Saya, our daughter on our Neima Family Journey blog, http://neimafamily.blogspot.com/. We hope you enjoy it.

Finally A Family of Three!

Our happy day has finally arrived. We adopted our daughter from Japan and now are in back in our house in Colorado. It's been a long journey but now it's all worth it.

Here is Saya Alia Neima. Born September 1, 2009 and in our arms on November 27th. She is all smiles and is sure growing fast. She's already wearing 9 month old clothing as 6 month clothing barely fits her. We love her very much and can't wait till everyone can meet her soon.

It's going to be a fabulous Christmas and New Year.