Halfway through our tour!

We have been in Japan for a year and a half now and that means we are about halfway through our assignment here. It's exciting to look back and think about everything we have done and places we have gone in the past year and a half. And the great part is we still have a year in a half to fit in all the things we still would like to do. We have a trip to Kyoto coming up and we plan to visit New Zealand and/or Austraila too. Plus, I think some of the wives are going to take a trip to Bali this summer. We have so much more to look forward to here in the land of the rising sun. We can't wait!

On other news....Heidi is 4 months old! She weighs 16.8 lbs and is 26 inches long.  At 4 months we have looked up her growth stats and it looks like she is above the 95 percentile in height and weight. She is a big girl but I like to joke that she hides her weight well since she is tall and it's mostly in those enormous cheeks. At four months she loves to talk and smile especially to me and Den and even her fur friend Kendall. She will follow us with her eyes around a room now and turn when she hears our voices. She is so close to rolling over....her little arm just gets in the way. Tummy time is going great and she is starting to scoot herself forward on the floor a little bit. We have been practicing sitting up and I am sure she will be up on her own by 5 months. Heidi is loving to put everything in her mouth and drool all over it especially her hands and toys. She likes to try and dive head first at things that she wants in her mouth. She has started to laugh a little bit this past month which is the sweetest sound in the world. As for sleeping she is amazing. She has been sleeping 10-11 hours every night since she was about 3 months old. She is overall such an easy going happy baby and we feel so blessed to have this amazing little girl in our lives.

We are going to start rice cereal this month which should be a fun adventure and than at 6 months we will try some solid foods. I plan to mostly make her foods and start her off with the veggies first and than eat the fruit. I feel like, as in most parenting adventures, I have no idea what I am doing but I am sure Den and I can figure it out together. We have been able to keep her alive for four months so I think we got this :)

I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. We love and miss you all!

Heidi's 2nd and 3rd month!

Our little family has been super busy lately with traveling around for the Thanksgiving holiday. I have finally found some time to update you all with our little Heidi. She is now a world traveler. She flew from Japan to Fort Worth and then to South Florida. She drove from West Palm Beach to New Orleans, Tennessee, Savannah, and then back to Florida. Then ended with a flight back to Japan. She did amazing during all the flights and had a little harder time when it came to long car rides....she really doesn't like to be in the car seat too long. On our trip home she got to meet tons of family and friends and they all fell in love with this little lady. Her first Christmas was spent here in Japan and she even had special pajamas from her Naner that said Heidi's first Christmas.

Loves talking to herself in the mirror :) 

Heidi has grown so much over the past couple months and is getting cooler everyday. She is talking more and more especially to her favorite bug toy. She loves that little guy. She almost has complete control over her neck and is getting better at holding it up nice and high and for long periods of time during tummy time. Probably by next week she will be able to sit in the bumbo. She loves her swing because it has a mirror and she loves to smile and talk to herself. I imagine she is telling herself how beautiful she is. In the states Heidi started sleeping 7-8 hours which was amazing. Now that we are back in Japan she is back on a schedule and slept for 10 hours last night. It was a Christmas Miracle! We are making the transition for her to start sleeping in her crib. She naps in it during the day and once she is consistently sleeping through the night we will move her in there full time.Overall, she is a very happy chill baby who occasionally has her moments. Kendall, our dog, is still so in love with her. He is usually laying near her while she naps. It's so precious.  

We get the question all the time "Who does Heidi look like?" Right now we really can't tell. We hear different opinions from people all the time. Sometimes Dennis, Sometimes me, and that she is a nice combo. I am sure it will change throughout her lifetime. Her eyes have started to look more green, like her daddy's, and I am hoping they will stay that color. 

2 months old

Weight: 14 lbs  Height: 23.2 inches

3 months old

Weight: 15.8 lbs   Height: 24.5 inches

1 month old!

Our little girl is a month old! I can't believe how fast it went by. Dennis and I are not only celebrating Heidi's one month of life but our one month of keeping a little human being alive. You hear it all the time that it's a lot of work having a baby but you don't know how much work it actually is until they arrive. She has taken over our world and we are loving every minute of it. She has already changed so much in just over a month. She is now 11 pounds and 22.5 inches long. Her favorite things are eating, sleeping, staring at toys and mommy/daddy, her swing, cuddling with her alligator pacifier, and listening when mommy and daddy sing to her. There is also a joke that she likes to party since mom and dad have taken her to the adult halloween party and the officer's club several times. Things she does not like is mainly pooping. But I keep on trying to tell her that everyone poops. Thankfully she does like to sleep especially when it's bedtime. She is already hitting 4-5 stretches at night which is keeping Dennis and I sane. We are really looking forward to when she sleeps through the night. We will have to have a mini celebration for that too.

I want to send a huge thank you to everyone that has sent us baby stuff since Heidi has been born. We feel so loved and are so grateful for your generosity. We can't wait for you to meet this special little lady. She will melt your heart :)

It's a GIRL!!

Heidi Alice Muller

It's a GIRL!!!!!!! On September 26th at 5:50pm, Heidi Alice Muller entered the world. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 19.9 inches long. She is the most perfect little being that I have ever seen and Dennis and I are in completely love. We are now back home with her and couldn't be happier. She is a eating, sleeping and pooping machine. Kendall is so in love with her and gets upset if she cry's or whimpers...it is adorable. He is such a good big brother. Dennis has come into the father role with such great ease. He is such a big help and Heidi and she is so lucky to have such a wonderful man in her life. She will for certain be a Daddy's girl. We are now one big happy family and I like to joke with Dennis that now the house is finally even with two boys and two girls. We have had several visitors, in the hospital and at home, and are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. Especially, since it's really tough being so far away from our close family so it's been so nice to have so many supportive an loving friends here in Misawa. We feel truly blessed! And to all of you back home we can't wait for you to meet Baby Heidi in November/December! You will fall instantly in love with this precious little lady.

I know a lot of people have been wondering about how labor and delivery went and I wanted to clear everything up so I have included my birth story below.

"DAD" Scrubbing in ;) 

My birth story

So like most things in life not everything went according to plan when it came to giving birth to Heidi. I went into the doctor's office on my due date having no contractions yet to get my 40 week check up. When I went in this time I was told that because I had high blood pressure last week and are now showing signs of it again this week that I would need to be induced the next day to be safe. They actually wanted me to be induced that night but I finally convinced them to let me wait a night to try and start things on my own. They agreed and told me to come in the morning for induction. I was at first disappointed with this news because I was really hoping to go into labor naturally but now left determined to start things on my own. That night I was on a mission and my contractions began that evening on their own. I went into the hospital the next morning having contractions about 7 minutes apart. Even though I was contracting, they were still planning to mechanically induce me with a foley bulb to get things moving along faster. But before they did they would check one last time if the baby was in the right position. She got out the ultrasound machine and low and behold Baby Muller's butt was in the birth canal instead of her head. She was breech. They told me we could try to turn the baby, which has a very low success rate and is very painful, or we could elect for a c section that afternoon. The doctors told us with trying to turn the baby this late it could be risky and I might have to have an emergency c section in the process. I was devastated at first with this news because it wasn't what I had envisioned for the birth of our child. Dennis and I talked it over and decided it was best for me and the baby just to have a scheduled c-section that day. I was told before I came into the hospital that day that I could eat food since I was planning on a natural delivery. Now since I had eaten and was having a c-section I would have to wait at least eight hours to go into surgery. We waited around most of the day and I was stuck in bed since I was hooked up to a bunch of machines. But it was a good time to let my emotions settle and process the whole c section. I started to pump myself up with all the pros of a c-section like the babies head coming out round and pretty and my lady parts getting to stay intact. But what really got me excited is that in about 8 hours I was going to get to meet our Baby.

She's here!! 

So after waiting most of the day in bed it was finally time to prep for surgery. Dennis put on this cute scrubs and even wrote on his surgical cap "Dad"....he said he didn't want them confusing him with being a real doctor. The doctor's loved it. They wheeled me into the surgery room where they administered a spinal tap. The spinal didn't hurt at all and made me totally numb from the chest down. It was a weird/amazing at the same time. I was then laid down on the table under bright lights....it was almost like my belly was about to play at a college football game with the amount of lights above it. After they got me all prepped and numbed up they then brought Den into the room. From there it was less than 10 minutes until they held up our baby and Dennis got to announce that we had a GIRL!!!!! I was so estatic since I had been secretly (well maybe not secretly) hoping for a little girl. They swept her off to the warming table to get her cleaned off and Dennis was allowed to cut the cord. They brought her back over to me for me to see and put her cheek to cheek with me before taking her out of the room to get all checked up. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I just couldn't wait to hold her in my arms. They got me all stitched back up and I was brought to the post delivery room where I waited for them to bring in my little angel. The only downside to having a c-section is definitely waiting on getting to hold your little baby. Thankfully I am a patient person and it made it so much more worth it once I got to hold her back in the room. We had to stay in the hospital for two nights since I had just had major surgery and were so antsy to go home by the second night. Since I have been back home I have been feeling really good. A little slow at first and sore but I have been able to get by just taking my prescribed motrin. This is great because it has made it so much easier to take care of my adorable baby girl, Heidi! So even though everything didn't go according plan all that matters is that I ended up with a beautiful baby girl in the end. She completes mine and Dennis' world.

Love our little lady! 

Thank you to everyone for all the congrats and love! And we can't wait until you all get to meet this very special little girl in our lives. Love you all!

Proud Daddy 

Proud Mommy

Proud Big Brother

Growing Belly!

6 weeks!

10 weeks

11 weeks

13 weeks! CP! 

14 weeks

15 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks. 

20 weeks

21 weeks

22 weeks.

23 weeks

24 weeks

26 weeks

26 weeks 

28 weeks

29 weeks. 

29 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

36 weeks 

37 weeks

38 weeks

40 weeks pregnant! 

Waiting for Baby M!! 

Barbells, Box Jumps, and Babies

38 weeks pregnant! 

Less than two weeks to go until Baby Muller could make his/her appearance. I got the hospital check list made, the nursery filled with all the essentials like diapers and wipes, and my text/call list of people to inform when we I go into labor. I did get an exciting delivery the other day from my best friend Allison from back home. She is the ultrasound tech that scanned me the past few times I have been in the U.S. and is the only one who knows the sex of Baby M. I gave her some money and made a wish list of boy and girls clothes for her to buy for Baby M. The clothes have been arriving over the past few weeks and it is so exciting to think that within these boxes lies the answer to if Baby M will be a he or she. I have a good amount of will power and will not be opening the boxes prematurely but I sure am wondering. We plan on opening them once Baby Muller is born and I am just so happy that I will have some gender appropriate clothes. It is so nice to have such a wonderful friend who could keep such a big secret and help out so much.

Are you still working out? 
Yes. I actually just did a Crossfit WOD this past Friday and rocked it. Throughout my entire pregnancy I have continued to workout and specifically continued to Crossfit. I was told by my doctor and other doctors, who also Crossfit, that it would be safe to continue since I had been working out before I was pregnant. Throughout my 1st and 2nd trimester I was still able to go 4-5 times a week with modifications on certain workouts, of course. Sometimes even doing two a days with Spin class or a run. Since I hit my 3rd trimester I am more of a 2-3 times a week with daily walks with Kendall. I am still able to kip a couple of pull ups together which was my one goal since becoming pregnant but man do my hands hurt from the extra weight their having to hold. I keep thinking to myself how much easier it will be once all this extra baby weight is gone to do pull-ups. Working out throughout my pregnancy has made feel great and hopefully will help me with the "workout" of giving birth that should happen soon.  I have always heard that people who are in better shape seem to have easier births and have an better time getting back to their pre-pregnancy bodies. Here's to hoping :)

After a workout with my other Pregnant Crossfit buddy :) 

Crossfit Baby Shower....Love these ladies!

While crossfitting on base here for over a year I have made many good friends who also share my love for working out. One of my good friends, Martine, threw me a Crossfit themed baby shower this weekend. It was at this cute little Japanese cafe and was decorated with a barbell made of diapers and chalk on the table. We even played a game of "Name that benchmark WOD" (workout of the day) using descriptions of birth and babies. It was such a wonderful shower and I am so lucky to have these wonderful ladies in my life. Thank you all who attended and showered Baby Muller with love. I can't wait for you all to meet Baby M once I am able to bring him/her to the gym with me! 

Diaper Barbell. Mini Box Jump. And a sign for the babies room with benchmark workout names on it :) 

With Baby Muller coming in less than 10 days I have been feeling more anxious and my mind keeps racing with questions like do we have everything we need, are we ready to be parents, and will it be a little Dennis or Heidi?!?! I have read so many birthing and baby books over the past months trying to prepare myself for this life changing event. My mom always reassures me with that she and my dad had no idea what they were doing but you figure out as you go. I am just so thankful that the military will give Dennis ten days of paternity leave and we can figure it out together. I know everything will be fine, though I am sure overwhelming and life altering at first. I just keep on thinking how we are about to embark on one of the best journeys in our lives....being parents. I can't wait!