New Years Eve

It's hard to believe this year is over. It really came up fast.

I've been stressing about tonight because of the little one. What if he won't sleep? What if he wakes up? The stresses that go along with sleep training! We decided to brave it and just bring him everywhere with us. I'm glad we did.

In the morning we made mochi (Japanese rice cakes) at my moms. It's hot and fresh out of the mochi machine and we shape them into a ball-like shape. There is nothing like fresh mochi. I can't quite explain it, but it is warm and chewy and delicious. I could eat 10 in one sitting if I could. We stole a piece here and there, dipped them in different things like butter or a sweet soysauce concoction or even with a sweet radish and soy sauce dip.

My mom was busy in the kitchen preparing for the new year-TONS of traditional food being made, which one day I'll have to learn how to make.

The rest of our day:
We spent the first part of our evening visiting the Toshimas. They got to meet Keagan for the first time. It's been a meeting long overdue! It was brief, but we got to see the girls and Reiko and Scott too so it was nice!

We headed over to my grandmother's house for ramen and hung out for a bit. At the end of the year it is tradition to have toshi koshi soba. Long noodles representing long life, but we kind of cheat and have ramen. I ended up having 2 servings. What a fatty!

Then it was off to the Lees for our annual New Years Eve celebration. As we get older, our parties aren't as crazy as they once were and I think I like it that way. We now have kids running around and lots of mommy talk going on. It's nice having lots of mommy friends. Keagan slept the entire time as we rang in the new year over a bottle or two or three of bubbly.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope for a year filled with new adventures and time spent with loved ones!