Sudsy silly sisters in their bubble bath!
Mirei
National Cherry Blossom Festival
It’s DC’s most beautiful time of the year… sakura season! †On Saturday, we went out to DC with my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law to go see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in DC. I’ve gone every year since returning to DC, but last year we went a little late and missed the peak bloom. We had better luck this year, though, and were able to catch the blossoms in full bloom, just in time for the main Sakura Matsuri weekend event during the National Cherry Blossom Festival! Mio was so excited to go from the moment we told her we were going the night before, and she kept exclaiming, “We’re going to see the cherry blossoms! My name means ‘beautiful cherry blossom!’ We’re going to go see them!!!'” I love that she loves the meaning of her name, and can get so excited about the flower that is her namesake.
Mio giggling her way through the cherry blossoms:
After seeing the cherry blossoms, we had lunch in DC together (we wanted to eat at Daikaya, but we ended up going to Full Kee instead because the wait was two hours!), and then took the Metro back home in the afternoon. DC was so crowded and we got a lot of walking in, so we were exhausted! All of us took a nap when we got home. We’re so glad we could see the cherry blossoms together with almost the whole family this year!
Last Week as a SAHM
Today I wrap up my last week as a stay-at-home mom. I feel fortunate to have been one, and I will always look back on and cherish these three years that I was able to spend at home with my young daughters. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to freelance, which granted me the flexibility to create and adjust my own hours so that I could spend more time with them. I will remember with fondness the slow-paced days we spent together. Cuddling and sleeping in. Long afternoons spent at the parks. The moments on the swing set when I would watch them swoop back and forth and realize that someday these afternoons will have seemed to have flown past in a blink of an eye… and I would pause mid-push to savor the experience while it lasted.
This past week, I’ve felt a sense of mourning and have cried many tears as I bring this chapter of my life to a close. It feels like I’m saying goodbye to my girls, even though I’ll still see them every day, but just for much less hours. But I made the decision to go back into the workforce full-time for my career, sanity, and better financial security as a family. I’m not really well-suited to be a stay-at-home-parent, and while I probably realized that a long time ago, it took me a few years to be able to admit it and be at peace with it. I so wanted to be the super SAHM that could fill their kids’ days with fun activities, playdates, learning and lessons, and be able to relish and love every second of it. I certainly made the effort, and there were plenty of times that I loved being able to spend so much time with them and watch them grow. But there have always been worries and doubts plaguing the back of my head, as well as a longing to have more time to focus and dedicate to myself and career. Perhaps someday, I will be able to find a better balance so that I can still enjoy more time with our daughters as they grow, but for now I will hope they get a lot of social interaction at their daycare and make more of an effort to be present, patient, and appreciative of the time I spend with them on the evenings and on weekends. They grow up so fast and time passes by so quickly, whether I am at home with them or working, so I just have to do my best to cherish every minute.
I’ll close this week with some photos and videos I took of the girls when I took them to the park this week…
On the swingset at Borge Street Park:
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Mulch-loving Mirei!
Mirei climbing the playground:
I’m experiencing the gamut of mixed emotions right now, but I’m excited to start my new job on Monday and am hoping for a smooth transition for all of us.
Easter Weekend
We had a very busy Saturday on Easter weekend, as we went to two Easter egg hunts! The first one was at Van Dyck Park in Fairfax, and then we headed over to the Lee’s for their now-annual (?) Easter egg hunt event!
Rushing the field to pick up the eggs!
After the egg hunt, we took some time to let the girls run around and play, as Van Dyck Park has a fairly large playground! It was so windy that morning!
Mio dashing around the playground!
Some of the climbing action!
Mirei with her Easter eggs:
Mirei learned how to dip her French fries into ketchup!
After lunch, we headed over to the Lee household for the egg hunt they organized with all their family friends! We had so much fun with them last year and the year before, so we were excited to join them again this year!
Let the egg hunt begin!
After the egg hunt, we enjoyed a delicious Easter-themed lunch and snacks prepared by Stephanie and Chwan, and they kids enjoyed playing with all the toys inside! The grownups had a great time chatting and catching up while the kids had their fun. On the short ten minute drive home that afternoon, both the girls fell asleep and continued to nap for a couple hours when we brought them inside. They were tuckered out from all the excitement!
Mio’s Fourth Birthday
Mio is now four years old! On the morning of her birthday, she woke up to her favorite donut for breakfast — quite a treat, since we don’t usually give them to her because they are so sweet!
Conversations with Mio on her fourth birthday:
This year, we decided to have a small birthday celebration at home for Mio with family! (Dan and I have decided that especially now that we have two kids, we can get away with doing the big party inviting all their friends every other year for each of them, so that we only have to do one big party a year, switching off between the girls.) Thankfully, she seemed just as excited as she was when we had a big party for her 3rd birthday!
Mio’s reaction to her birthday cake that I made for her was priceless! It made all the time and effort spent baking and decorating it worthwhile!
Dan made a little pinata for Mio, because she really enjoyed the one at Ellie and Liam’s birthday party a couple weeks ago. Here she is hitting it!
Opening presents afterwards:
Mio loves watching Kinder egg surprise toy videos on YouTube, and her Uncle Ted & Auntie Jackie sent her a package full of their own version of “egg surprise” gifts! She was excited to open all of them:
After pinata and presents, we ended with the birthday cake!
Dearest Mio,
Happy fourth birthday to our precious little sweetheart! We look back in wonder at how much you’ve grown in the past four years. You are charming, animated, playful, funny, thoughtful, bright and curious… and even show a little sass these days!
Three years old has been a really fun and memorable age… you completely potty trained as soon as you turned three, making our lives a whole lot easier (though you still hesitate to go to public bathrooms and will try to “hold it” until we get home), and you have gotten so much more talkative in this past year! While you used to speak more Japanese, you definitely seem more comfortable with English now that you’ve been going to preschool for almost two years — you do still say some things in Japanese, though, and we hope that you will continue to show an interest and appreciation for the language, as well as your ethnic culture and heritage. You have grown to be a more tolerant and loving older sister, and no longer show as much jealousy and irritation towards Mirei — you play well with her, share with her, and even defend her sometimes when we scold her, interrupting, “Hey! That’s my sister. Don’t be mean to her!” You have also learned to joke, and make puns (the most recent one being you calling me “Mommy… moo meh moh!”　(「マミー・・・む・ã‚・もï¼ã€) faking me out to say a part of the Japanese hiragana alphabet!) When we exaggerate or say something funny in front of you, you smartly ask, “Are you joking?” and will say funny things yourself, followed by “I’m just joking!” It’s so fun to see you make these associations and develop your own sense of humor! You continue to love building with Legos, blocks, and structures, and are finally showing more of an appreciation for drawing and coloring on your own. (You stay pretty cleanly within the lines when you color, too!) You’ve been able to write your name for a few months now, and will recognize it whenever it’s written somewhere. You love to sing, dance, will volunteer to pray at dinner, and seem to be making friends and becoming more social at preschool. You are so independent now, and will pick out your own clothes, change out of your pajamas and dress yourself in the morning before coming to our room. The impressive thing is that most of the time, the outfits you pick out match pretty well — you’ve already a great sense of fashion! You’re very helpful and like handing grocery items to the cashier at checkout when we go shopping, and ou make fast friends with new people you meet, whether it be the Trader Joe’s cashier or the UPS delivery man! Lately, you like to inform people, “My name is Mio — it means ‘beautiful cherry blossom! Did you know that?'”
It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to your 3 year old days, but I try not to think of it so much as “already four,” but “still only four” as a fellow mom friend reminded me (「もã†ï¼”æ³ã€‚ã§ã‚‚ã€ã¾ã ï¼”æ³ï¼ã€ï¼‰ Daddy and I adore you with all our hearts, and we can’t wait to see you blossom as a 4 year old! We love you, sweet girl!
Oceans of Love,
Mama