Last day!

We really made the most of this last full day in Japan! We took the bus to Narita (where the airport is) and are staying at a hotel near the airport. Narita is a charming town with a really beautiful main shopping street -- lots of tiny shops selling interesting things! At the bottom of the hill is the Naritasan Temple- a very beautiful place that spoke to my heart. I took a zillion pictures of it! Ivy seemed peaceful on the grounds- it was very special. We bought a few final souvenirs and enjoyed a Japanese meal here at the hotel.

Would you believe I left my camera in the cab today? I got back to the hotel and discovered it was missing! Thankfully, we were able to track down the cab company and the kind driver brought it all the way back here to the hotel for me. I'm blown away by his kindness to take the time to return it to us! Well, the posts will become less frequent from home-- Roseville doesn't carry the same exotic flair that Japan does...

Tokyo a gogo

Well, this is the last post from Tokyo! It was hotter than hell here today- and very steamy! We will be leaving tomorow to stay overnight in Norita- to be closer to the airport for Saturday. As much as we've enjoyed every minute of our stay here, we are both (all three, but Ivy doesn't know if yet) ready to be home now. We love to travel, but there's no place like home either-- and I can't wait to settle Ivy into her room for the first time.

Today was a whirlwind of parts of Tokyo we hadn't visited yet-- Omotesando, Harajuku and Shibuya. We tested out Ivy on the subways-- she was fine- and actually seemed to enjoy it. She really was a trooper all day long- not a peep out of her except for one time just before lunch. Ivy really seems comfortable on the go-- it's almost like when we're at home (in the apartment) she gets bored and would rather be out and about!

Her outfit today sort of coordinated with mine- which was nice. I really mean to tell you- it's like she's got a fashion gene from someone (me I guess :) I can change her outfit 3 times in a row without complaint! And thought I brought a ton of onesies with me, I haven't actually put one on her yet.

We got all of our stuff packed up for travel... somehow we are bringing home more than we brought with me. One of my neighbors told me that we should put all of our clothes that we wanted to pack on the bed, and all of the money we wanted to take with us. She said pack only 1/2 of the clothes and double the money! So true! I did officially wear everything I brought with me- but Ivy only wore a fraction of what I brought for her. I'd have traded 2 or 3 of my outfits for a hoodie to wear at night in the room!!! We haven't really bought that much in the way of souvenirs- but they are taking up a lot of space!

Might have time for one more post tomorow from Norita, otherwise we will be back in California on Saturday! We miss everyone!

Mission complete!

Ok, so the embassy went great! We got to skip the line and we were in and out of there in less than an hour! No camer allowd inside... so not a lot of interesting Tokyo pictures from yesterday, though we did enjoy another part of town we hadn't visited before!

We are relieved to have Ivy's visa in our hands!

We all enjoyed a lovely lunch with Taz after the Embassy and a bit of shopping for Ivy. Got her a new dress to wear home on the plane. Also tasted and purchased some delicious rice crackers that we had seen on other family's blogs!! So good!!

Had a quiet afternoon together and a very pleasant evening. Brian and I finally wrapped up the James Bond Film Festival... 2009... with the Quantum of Solace. I never would have guessed we'd still be finishing them up in July, but I guess you can overdo the Bond!

Today we will venture out to Harajuku for some sight seeing and then start getting the packing organized. We acutally will be heading to the Hilton at the airport tomorow- Taz got a great deal on rooms there, and that will shave off a sizeable portion of the travel on Saturday.... which sounds very appealing. It will give us a chance to test out our travel ability with the enormous pile of crap we now have with us!

We sure are enjoying her company... she coos, moves her limbs around a lot... is very social! Ivy is going to fit in with our family just fine! Well... off to wash some bottles!

The hosptial hurldle...

We successfully navigated the hospital visit today (necessary for Ivy's VISA), despite some language barriers along the way. Our cab driver dropped us off at the wrong part of the huge hospital complex... and that stumped us for a bit, until a very kind (and thank God, English speaking) man came to our rescue. The hospital visit consisted of a few examinations and some shots. I had read on another family's blog that the shots were harder on Mama than they were on the kid... totally true. I had to pass her off to Brian because I didn't want my energy to upset her. She was a trooper, as usual and went to sleep soon after it was over. We enjoyed a beautiful taxi ride through the city on the way back to our lodging and plotted a walk to a nearby cafe for lunch.

After lunch, though, poor little Ivy seemed to wake up to the fact that she'd had some shots, and started to fret. It was a long afternoon of us taking turns comforting her, until she finally conked out about 45 minutes ago. It made us so sad to see her sad little face, and hear her sad little (sometimes big !!!) whimper. We're hoping that the memory of the shots fade into her dreams and that tomorow is more enjoyable for her.

At the same time, though, I enjoyed comforting her, rocking her fragile body until I felt her grow heavy with sleep. It was a nice afternoon of reading, and listening to the Ivy playlist on the Ipod speakers.

Tomorow is the interview with the officer at the embassy, and hopefully we will pick up the visa later in the afternoon. It will be another long day for Ivy, but an important one. It seems like our process with her has been a series of goals to attain, submitting our paperwork, our album arriving in Japan, getting news of our match, waiting for travel, waiting for placement, waiting for embassy approval... etc. the next goal after we get home will be to wait for our court date and for the adoption to become final. I guess life is full of those goals, though, for all of us. They won't stop when she becomes ours officially in the eyes of the law... we are dreaming up all kinds of goals for her every day now, as we make plans for her future. Will she play soccer? Where will she go to school?(Brian says Stanford...) What kind of a musical instrument will she learn, the piano with those graceful fingers?

So the only pictures I have for today are us in our outfits for the hospital visit, one rare quiet moment this afternoon when she wore herself out.... and an attempt of night photography with my unsophisticated camera with the aid of a tripod.

Sleep well, friends in the other time zones...

First Embassy Day!

Today was our first appointment with the U.S. Embassy, to apply for Ivy's visa in order to travel home on Saturday. Armed with a cache of paperwork, we made our way to the embassy this morning to make our case. We knew it would probably take 2-3 hours for the whole process... and we brought along supplies to keep Ivy content. Brian tried out his carrier for the first time... the one with the owls on it that everyone seemed to like in the earlier blog post :) She really seems to like riding in the carrier- and ended up falling asleep on the way there in the cab... and litterally stayed asleep for almost 2 hours until our number was called. By that time, she was hungry again... and Taz kindly put a bottle together while we spoke with the Embassy officer. Everything went smoothly, and we head back on Wednesday for our "interview", which the officer told us would be "anti-climactic". He said he was approving our case, and that we'd be scheduled to pick up the visa. It was a very interesting experience... and went very smoothly, thanks to all of the behind the scenes work that Taz had done, and Brian's uber-organizedness.

We celebrated with an amazing barbecue lunch in Tokyo Midtown with Taz. Words cannot express the delight that this meal brought to us! It was delicious, and as I mentioned to Taz, perhaps the most delicious meal I've ever eaten. In addition to being so tasty- it was only the second meal we'd had out with Ivy (the first was yesterday in a Japanese fast food restaurant...). Ivy was a trooper all day long- and after sleeping through half of lunch, was delightfully accomodating after she woke up. It was such a fun lunch, and a great way to celebrate our great fortune!

We ran a couple of errands and then walked back to our lodging in a sprinkly rain- all of us very ready to take some rest! So that's about all the news that's fit to print. Ivy is such a joy to be around, and I'm sure she can't wait to meet all of her fans!

We did have our very first spit up incident... and it was considerable in volume... enough said about that.

Tomorow is the health clinic visit!

Since we couldn't take our camera to the Embassy, we didn't take many pictures today... we did a little fashion show when we got home- to amuse ourselves- so there are a couple of pictures from that. The picture of Ivy on Brian's lap= certain members of the audience wanted to know what she wore for the embassy day-- this was her outfit- it being hotter than hell outside. I wore a coordinating avacado green dress, and Brian was dapper in khaki's and a long sleeved striped shirt.

The picture of Ivy in her pink kimono outfit- she's striking a pose that is becoming familiar to us- I like to call it "power to the people" as she raises a strong fist in the air. Brian's hoping it doesn't carry with it some particular political leanings.... :)

Thanks again, everyone for your interest and comments- we eat them up!

To the grocery store... and beyond!

The first picture is of Ivy all settled in for the night-- slept from 8:30 pm till 6:00 am. We hopped out of bed at 5:00 and started staring at her... couldn't wait for her to wake up so we could hold her again!

We got ready to head out in the stroller for the first time (thanks Erin and Greg!). Today was the second day of sun in Tokyo since we got here- and when it's sunny, an already amazing city just turns stunning. We met a fellow American traveller last night on the roof who told us about a "big" supermarket nearby- so we decided to check it out just for fun. We dressed Ivy in my favorite outfit, that Sally gave us, and headed out into the glorious sunsine. The store was about 8 blocks away through our neighborhood. It's essentially an imports grocery store... I saw things I can buy at Raley's! We decided to stay in for dinner and make spagetti (of all things... embarassing, I know...)

Ivy was perfectly content in the stroller, and seemed to enjoy walking around in the store- lots to look at. She fell asleep on the walk home and was asleep until we had lunch out for the first time. We went to a "fast food" restaurant and enjoyed some shaved meat, rice, salad and miso soup. Ivy was a trooper the whole time- just haning out and keeping her own counsel.

After lunch, we headed home for a rest and a meal for her before we braved the crowds at the Tokyo Tower. We enjoyed some quiet time on the bed... I do love this picture that Brian took of Ivy and I- and I took an equally tender one of him with Ivy this afternoon as well.

It was a lovely afternoon.

The Tokyo Tower was nothing short of incredible. From the observation deck, you can observe the curvature of the earth... and you can see endless Tokyo as far as the eye can see. The scale of this city is unbelievable... and I don't mean that lightly.

We braved the tower in spite of the crowds because it was perhaps the last sunny day we will see while we are here... it was a beautiful view for sure.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, we managed to give Ivy some gas.... we're not sure if it was the heat or not enough burps.... but she was an unhappy camper for the late afternoon and early evening. We were able to finally get her comfortable, and both of us feel more confident, having seen her through some difficulty. It required a team effort, but she was soundly asleep at the proper time!

She caused quite a stir in the waiting line at the tower. I now can meet the eye of other mothers, with a knowing look, as we admire each other's children. It's a club I've longed to belong to- and today for the first time, out in public, felt admitted to. It was very special. There was a whole busload of traditionally attired elderly Japanese ladies that went "gaga" over ivy. Lots of cooing and virtual chin chucking! I'm sure they were wondering what our story was... but it was so fun to watch her get so much attention. Also, we rode up the elevator (packed in like sardines- no joke...) with a family with 2 young girls- who apparently fell in love with her. We saw them all over the tower, they asked her name, and kept waving to her and to us while we were there. So sweet!!!!

Anyway... we continue to be thrilled with our new role- We are attempting to soak up all of the atmosphere that Tokyo can offer us as a family, before we make our way back home to California in less than a week!

Monday morning (tomorow for us) is our first Embassy day. I have chosen Ivy's outfit already... my own fashion future is less certain! More tomorow! We love you all, and really enjoy reading comments, though I don't seem to have time to reply to them all... :)

And now for something completely different...

Ok, so I realize, that Brian is holding Ivy in each and every one of these pictures... but I'm the camera girl. Also, he's in charge of the video camera, and he's not in any of those... so that's how it works for today.

She is Precious. That is a good word for her. Ivy's disposition is very mellow and easy going so far.

It sounds ridiculous to write this, but I feel like I know her more now at 6:30 pm than I did at 12:30 pm.

We (mostly me) were very nervous this morning. I can honestly say I've never been more afraid of anything in my entire life. The first picture here is right when Okada-san and Taz brought Ivy to our apartment-- litterally minutes after her arrival. I got to hold her first, and then Brian wanted her. We've taken turns with diapers and feedings and amusing her for the day. They stayed for about 1.5 hours... watched us change her and feed her. I've got to give props to my girl Sally for helping me get ready for those first moments. If I hadn't "practiced" on Donovan, I would have been in BIG trouble. We chatted for a few minutes about her schedule and habits and then that was it! We were on our own.

We both feel amazingly comfortable in this very new role. I'm impressed with Brian's alacrity for Fatherhood- he's a natural. He says the same of me (only motherhood, obviously). We haven't had a little cry that we couldn't soothe yet-- but tonight might be another story!

One of these pictures is of Brian changing his first diaper. The last two pictures are about 10 minutes apart. Brian said he just wanted to lay down with her on the bed.... and then he was snoring and she was asleep too.

Right now, he's feeding her a bottle as I write this.

We both are so happy, and feel very at peace. Ivy is a precious baby, and we can't wait to see what happens next.

Thanks to all of you who sent us good wishes and love today, such an important day for us. We'll try to update the blog often, so you can see what we are up to. Tomorow (Sunday) we think we will pop out to the park for a walk and see what that's like. Monday we go to the embassy for the first time. Tuesday, Embassy and the health check up.

Until tomorow....