38 weeks

This is Sunday morning after the contractions had faded and I was finally dressed for church. We ended up missing the service anyway. :(

The doctor says there's a good chance the baby will come early. Throughout the day I've had minor contractions and back pain (didn't have back labor with Will so I'm not sure if that's what it is). As of this evening while posting I haven't had contractions for awhile so I'm hoping that I still have some time before the baby is born.

It is possible that because I was on my feet and walking around for most of yesterday at the Fine Arts Festival it might have got some stuff moving. But perhaps if I take it easy (yeah right) I won't go into labor just yet.

I've got a lot to do though -- costumes to finish, Will's doctor appointment, carpets to steam clean, baby clothes to go through, grocery shopping, Easter baskets to prepare, the Mariners Game to go to... not to mention regular chores and taking care of Will.

Babies come when they come. Not much I can do about it. Very exciting time!

Funny Boy

My son cracks me up.

We ask him, "where's the baby" and for awhile he would come up to me and pat my belly or lift my shirt and poke my belly button.

Lately when we've asked him, he lifts his shirt and pats his belly.

At least he got it right for awhile. LOL

Oh, and we're getting things prepared for the new little one and Will gets very upset when he's told he can't sit on the boppy swing (made for up to 6 months) and can't climb on the sleep & play. It'll be interesting to see how things play out once the baby actually arrives.

Missing Japan

Well, I'm full term. Baby can come any time but I think she had better wait until at least April 11th. We'll see what happens. Really uncomfortable and can't sleep.

In other news, the costumes I'm making for the church Easter program are coming along nicely. As long as the baby stays inside I really think I can get all of them finished with time to spare! Yay.

Anyway, tonight I am missing Japan so I wanted to put down a few reasons why.

1. Onsen. As uncomfortable as I have been (and with our small bathrooms) it makes me miss those lovely times at the onsen soaking or exfoliating or getting a massage.


2. Cherry Blossom Season - really missing that this year. Everything here is still so brown... and we keep getting SNOW! I haven't seen blooming trees and of course Yokota had some lovely areas that seemed heavenly with all the blossoms flying around.


3. Macadunadado or McDonalds. Waaaaaaay better in Japan than in the states. We never eat it here and every time I see the signs (all over the place) I always think of how often we would grab it when sight-seeing since Ryan really refused to eat anywhere else.


4. My little car that could go anywhere! Don't get me wrong the van is lovely, but sometimes I miss my awesome car that could pull into tiny parking spots, get up and go, yet was comfortable and had 4 doors. Ahh... I hope its new owners are taking care of it.

5. On the topic of driving -- I miss Japanese drivers. Yes, they were insane but at least they could actually drive and for the most part were very considerate. Very different from what we're dealing with now in New Mexico.

6. The crazy girls walking around in heels at all times! It always cracked me up. And not only their shoes, but Japanese fashion in general. I was always surprised and amused when I went out. I find that Americans dress very boring.

7. Yakiniku. I loved it before getting pregnant with Will. Perhaps with this pregnancy I would actually begin to love it again. You gatta love cooking your own food at a grill in the middle of your table. LOL.


8. Daiso. The most AWESOME store ever! I loved getting super cheap and cute art supplies or bits of whatever really. At least I still have all those adorable Easter baskets I made and look forward to using them again this year. Too bad Daiso isn't an international chain 'cause I'd be there all the time.

9. Going somewhere and always seeing somebody I know. That may not just be Japan, but it was a small base and after being there awhile you got to know a lot of the people -- you saw one another everywhere. We had some great friends and I could go to the YCC for something fast and end up losing an entire afternoon by running into somebody and chatting forever. Eventually I'll create more friends here, but for now I do a lot of stuff alone (with Will) and would love company.

10. Finally (at least for this blog) I miss the culture. While there I was really missing the states, but after being here I still think of Japan as home. I know with time that will change. Yeah we would get stares, but I loved how polite everybody was, the trains, not understanding signs or what people were saying, trying new and weird things to eat/drink, vending machines EVERYWHERE, sight-seeing, driving like a mad woman on the expressways, their architecture, and all those people walking or riding their bikes all over the place.


Now, before living in Japan I found the movie "Lost in Translation" completely odd and stupid. After living in Japan it kind of pulls on the heart strings and makes me want to go back. I wonder how long I should wait before planning a visit???

Happy Anniversary & Baby Stuff

Happy Anniversary! As of Friday Ryan and I have been married for 5 years. Where did the time go?? Oh, yeah... Japan. LOL.

The day started with a trip to the doctors. It was just a checkup (which was normal) and because I'm still on antibiotics from that possible strep throat they couldn't do the strep B test. Maybe next week.

In the evening Ryan and I got ready and went to a great dinner. I told him about the place I went last week with some ladies from church (St. Clair's Winery & Bistro) and he wanted to go there. We both LOVED our food. It was a nice relaxing time. We left stuffed.

Me at the restaurant.

Ryan and I after eating our dessert.

After dinner we still had a couple hours to kill before the movie so we wandered over to Burlington Coat Factory to look around. We still can't find a pretty little 0-3 month outfit for the baby to wear for her dedication. It's like all the LITTLE baby outfits for Easter have been cleared out!

We did find a nice glider on sale. We wanted one while pregnant with Will but didn't have the room for it. Now we have the room. It'll be nice to actually rock our new little one and have a comfy place to read with Will.

Still on the lookout for a new stroller that we like. That's hard to find.

Anyway, next we were off to the big movie theatre to see Alice in 3-D. We liked the movie, it wasn't amazing and the 3-D really doesn't add much to it, but it was enjoyable.

We got home LATE and because our babysitter would be coming back the next morning and the roads were getting icy and stuff she just crashed here. And in the morning she got to Will before I heard him so we even got to sleep in! It was great.

Today we did some baby preparation work. The playpen w/ bassinet is now set up in the living room. All of Will's toys have been moved to his room. And the bedroom co-sleeper is at least in our room though I'm waiting a bit longer to set it up. Oh, and a few days ago I got all the clothes put away. I think the next step will be to get the diaper stuff set up and possibly get the boppy swing put together. Both my and the baby's bag have been packed and ready to go to the hospital. In 2 days I'm considered full term though it could be another 5 1/2 weeks until the baby is born... oh, I don't wanna wait that long!

As of right now we do have a name picked out. Nothing is actually official until the papers are signed but I think we're pretty sure right now. Ryan made the decision on the middle name out of the choices we picked out and the first name is the one we've been considering hard and keep going back to for months. You all can find out after she's born. But if the baby comes out a boy it'll throw EVERYTHING off. We have no boy names picked out.

That's really all for now. Still having some issues with Maya even with the cone-of-shame off. After talking with my brother I think when she was spayed they also gave her a labotomy! She's doing better but we're back to basics... how annoying.

Complaints from a stay-at-home mom

I hate not feeling well. My throat has been hurting for several days but I just ignored it because I figured since I'd had a runny nose it was just from the drainage.

Last night it was really bothering me so I get the flashlight and look and find one side swollen with white and black spots. Not good.

Called the appointment line EARLY (since I also passed out early) but they couldn't fit me in. The nurse called back and said that because I'm so far along in the pregnancy this is something that should get checked out so they sent me to urgent care. Ug. Thankfully Ryan was allowed to go to work late so he stayed home with Will while I waited and waited at urgent care.

It's not strep. Whoop-de-dooo. Every couple years I seem to get sick with SOMETHING that resembles strep but it isn't. Happened in '98 again in '02 (where it was tested TWICE and negative both times) and again in '05. It's weird, I know.

The doc says that to be safe I have to go on antibiotics for 10 days to clear it up. He doesn't want to 'wait-and-see' 'cause you never know what will send a woman into pre-term labor and you don't want some bad infection during the end of pregnancy and delivery.

In other news Maya is being stupid. Since her spaying she has been going potty all over the place. It's like she can't control it. Last night she peed twice in the living room without any warning. This whole week of recovery she has been pooping in the kitchen. She didn't fit in her kennel with the cone so we got a bigger kennel and she pooped all over in it, even on her bed. She's not allowed a bath yet and I don't feel like spot cleaning her so she's outside. She stinks. She has food, water, area to go potty and if she really wants to she can get back in her kennel, which is also outside.

Will is bummed out 'cause he wants to play with her but I'm just in no mood to deal with it. As it is, I missed one day of cleaning 'cause I went to bed early since I wasn't feeling good and Ryan and Will were left alone. The house is trashed. Apparently nobody but me realizes the house has to be picked up every day.

It sounds like I'm just complaining, I know. I'm not really upset, just frustrated and tired... normal housewife/motherhood stuff.

So to make myself happy I'm posting a picture of my ugly, yet yummy pie. I made it a few weeks ago for a dinner and though it didn't look very nice it tasted PERFECT. We finished eating it the next morning. Unfortunatly, I only have enough blackberries for one more pie so I'm kinda saving them. Right now I really want to eat more... but I'll suffer through it. Blackberry pie with crust from scratch is a nice reminder of home.

Will's Anatomy

We have been working with Will on names to body parts. I'm keeping things pretty generic and simple and then we'll get into specifics. For now he enjoys playing our little game. Sometimes he is just so cute!

no puppies for us!

Yesterday we got a call from the vet that there was a surgical cancellation -- would we like to bring Maya in to get spayed?

YES! No consideration needed. Over the weekend she turned 6 months old so it was perfect timing.

It was a crazy morning though. Will was watching Barney and eating cheerios while I showered and dressed. Then I went to get Maya out of her crate and she had pooped all over in it. Gross! I didn't have time to bathe her so I carried her outside to do her business (all of it) and then carried her to the kitchen where she could drink some water.

Will wasn't even dressed so I got some shoes on him, we loaded up the car for the, like, 2 minute drive to the vet. Yeah, Maya decided to poop again all over the floor (which was mostly covered with Ryan's papers as well as a plastic bag covering his dry cleaning). Will starts gagging and I'm yelling at the dog while driving -- crazy morning. I would have brought her in her crate, but I didn't have time to clean it.

What's frustrating is that she hasn't done this before but I think she was stressing 'cause she only rides in the car to go to the vet, which she hates.

Anyway, she gets checked out and everything looks good. They even compliment that her grown-up teeth look great. Sign some papers and Maya stays there.

We rush home to get Will dressed and I clean up the car as best as possible then we're off to Bible Study. Will apparently did very well in the nursery and seemed much more comfortable there than last week, which is good.

Because of the overlap in nap time, Ryan picked up Maya. The Vet said she did very well and no complications though both front legs are shaved because they couldn't get the IV to work right in the first leg.

She's home and most of the groggy-ness has passed, but she's still staying low key. The difficult part is keeping Will away or at least keeping him from accidentally hurting her. She's got the cone-of-shame on her head and has to keep it on for a week but Will wants it off, as does Maya. Overall I think she's doing very well.

We're very glad that she could get spayed this month because she should be completely healed before the baby comes.

Happy Birthday William!

Today was Will's 2nd Birthday! We had a good time, though he had no idea what was going on.

The Henry Family came over. Well, Stu & Linda with their 4 youngest kids (out of 7). It wasn't a big deal, but we sat around talking and watching Napoleon Dynamite and would pause it to dish up on veggies, a yummy roast with special potatoes, and then later again for cake and presents.

The Birthday Boy! That's Hannah (our awesome babysitter) with Maya behind him.

Playing with the balloons. Will has decided he loves balloons while Maya is terrified of them.

More Balloon fun.

Some of the decorations

the "special" balloons

The cake I made. It was from a box so I can't take all the credit.

Singing Happy Birthday. At one point he did put his hand on the cake to check it out but thankfully did not touch the candle. He wouldn't blow it out, so mommy took care of it.

YUM!

This time he actually DID open a few of his presents by himself. He thought it was fun to get cheered on and applauded when he pulled something out of the paper.

He didn't open all of them because when he came to this elephant toy no other present opening was necessary in his opinion. He did find a new toy phone in a bag so between those two gifts he didn't care for anything else.

...and here he is with his special birthday ribbon trying to get rid of the tape that was on his foot.

It was a fun day. Will got clothes and some books, Veggie Tale Movies, puzzles, and we got him some T-ball stuff so he can start learning to hit a ball. He has more gifts in the mail as well.

It is also Pregnancy Update Time.

The ultrasound on Friday found that although the baby is growing normally, she is in the small range at about the 38th percentile. I'm measuring right at the correct week so they aren't concerned. She MIGHT make it to 7 pounds before she's born, but who knows. And yes, it still looks like a girl. We still have not settled on a name yet, but even if we did we wouldn't say anything. I will say that there is one name we're really considering but not sure yet, and I am not a big fan of the middle name at the moment. We'll see what we get.

Right about 35 weeks along.