250 pounds will not be enough

Hi there!

So there are things we have grown accustomed to having here in the United States that they don't have readily available in Japan. Things we don't think about. Things we assume we can get anywhere. What are these things??? We have been trying to rack our brains for the past few months to try and figure out what they are. Having been to Japan, we know some of the things we cannot get there, but I know we are overlooking something. Now while we obviously can't pack 2-3 years worth of these items, we can possibly pack a few to make the transition of living in a new country a little easier for all of us. Some of these items are on the boat already, but more will go in our 250 pounds of air mail that we will send to Tokyo in 10ish days. So far, we have come up with:

• Goldfish crackers and Bunny cookies for J&J
• Mac and cheese, also for J&J - hahaha, who am I kidding, for me too!
• Ink cartridges for our printer
• Children's Advil and Tylenol (we might be able to find these there but in a bind I want to have some on hand so I'm not a complete mess at the drugstore because my baby has a fever and I can't read the labels of any the medicines)
• Vitamins (for the same reason that I won't be able to read the labels at the store)
• Homeopathic cold medicines for the children
• A few of the next size up clothes for Jackson since clothes are cheaper here and he is growing like a weed (poor Jacob rarely gets any new clothes because he gets them all from his brother!)
• The next size up Crocs for Jackson since he is OBSESSED with them and I am unsure if we will find them there (side note: if you are not a Crocs fan, do not ever buy your child a pair. He will never want to wear anything else! Even in the snow!)
• Clothes and SHOES for Joe since he is 6' 4" and wears a size 14 shoe
• Shoes for me since I wear a size 10, especially rain boots!
• Rain gear for all of us - it's hard to find in Denver though!
• English books
• Some cosmetics that I cannot live without

I need your help in suggesting other things we might need! They do have peanut butter and almost identical diapers, which will certainly come in handy for us. Any and all suggestions are extremely welcomed!

Some things that Japan has that we may not, are (well, all I can think about here is the amazing food!) are the most fabulous clothes for women. Everything is so feminine and soft and just, beautiful. It would be a real shame if say, some of my clothes went missing while in transit to Tokyo and I have to buy new clothes when we arrive. A real shame. What else...? They have these super cool bicycles that have an electric motor on them so that when you're going up a hill or you're just plain tired, they do all the work for you. I have seen women riding them with a baby seat on the front of the bike as well as one on the back and thought, that's going to be me soon! I will post pics, don't worry! They have a lot of really cool, interesting things that I will most certainly write about and post pictures of, but until then, I will leave you with that image of crazy me riding one of those bikes with both of my boys on it!

Has anyone heard of freight forwarding? Amazon.com ships globally and ships to Japan for a pretty penny, which will regardless be very nice for us. But I was super disappointed when I learned that zappos.com (for shoes) does not. While I was live chatting with the nice zappos.com employee regarding that issue, she mentioned (in a sort of off-the-books-kind-of-way) freight forwarding. She said it's possible that zappos.com may work with a few freight forwarders in Japan and to check it out because it may be one way to get my shoes while living there. I did a quick google search and found that, indeed, there are such things as freight forwarders in Japan and that they might be my "in" for getting my goods (shoes in this case). Has anyone had any experience with a freight forwarder or have any information about them that I may find useful? It will be a top priority to find one once we are settled!

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL