Thursday, October 27, 2011

The naming of the bub!

Now that we know we're having a boy, we have upped the name search. Sadly, we had more or less decided on a great girls' name when we found out our baby is a boy! Oops. So much for planning ahead.

I know that choosing a name is hard, but from my experience it's mostly about choosing a name with a meaning the parents like and that fits nicely with the last name. However, in Japan, the difficulties are raised to a whole new level.

Yes, there's a certain amount of thought put into the meaning and sound of a name. There's a whole other dimension because of the Chinese (kanji) characters. With characters, there's a certain number of strokes. In order to determine the fortune associated with a name the number of strokes are combined from the first and last name to determine if it's a good, lucky, number or not. There's also consideration for the actual characters themselves. Are they "good" or are they "boring" characters!?!

In the past, all of these determinations were made by using books. Thank goodness for the internet!! There are a lot of sites that will actually do all these calculations and say what the name means as far as fortune is concerned. These sites are all in Japanese, so Shimon is in charge of figuring out that part. I get a say in the "sounds good" department.

I have a good list of middles names built up, but until we choose a first name we can't really choose a middle name. My job is more or less on hold until we find the magic first name. Every time I think we're stumbling closer to a name, we stumble backwards a few paces. It's kind of frustrating, but we still have about 3 months to go before we HAVE to have a name. I'd like to have it sorted out before going to the hospital though.

Wish us luck!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Big news!

On Thursday, Shimon and I went to a doctor's appointment. This is the first appointment that has been able to work for Shimon, which was really nice. Our goal on Thursday: find out the gender of our baby!

In Japan, weight gain is taken very seriously with the recommended gain being only 10kg (22lbs). In the US, the recommended weight gain is between 25 and 35 pounds (or 11.5kg and 15kg). It still strikes me as rather uncompromising to expect every woman, regardless of body shape, overall health, etc. to gain the exact same amount of weight.

I had gained nearly 2kgs (over 4lbs) since my September check up. And this is with limiting what I eat, but still indulging a little bit. Well, it looks like I am changing my eating habits (and starving at the same time!!). Once I get the hang of it, I should be fine. The worst part of this news is that Japanese docs seem to like to use the "scare" technique when getting women and their partners to conform to the weight standards they have set. While I was in the other room the doctor explained all of the "dangers" of gaining too much weight and that if I kept going as I was going.... well, you get the picture. He freaked Shimon out completely.

Then we went next door for the ultrasound... Shimon had never seen one (it was his first visit with me!) and had never heard the babies heartbeat - two firsts!! And then the doctor told us the big news... we're having a boy! Shimon was SO surprised (I was too, but I think he was more surprised)! We had started discussing names and had come to a consensus on girls' names... but we hadn't really tackled boys names yet.

Well, now begins the big naming decision. Luckily we have a few months left, but still... it's going to be a bit of a struggle (more on that in a future post!).

Monday, October 03, 2011

Better late than never: Party pics!

So a few weeks ago we celebrated our marriage again with friends here in Yokohama. It was a really good night and I've finally figured out which photos I want to put up. I will include a bit of narration... but many need no explanation!

Since there was a bit  planning to do before the party, I showed up in casual wear and changed into my dress (in the bag still). Our party was held at a very nice hotel that had a fantastic changing area! And my friend Sunaho (person I'm talking to) helped zip me up and make sure I was presentable.

Starting off the party, Shimon said a few simple words in Japanese and then passed the mic to me. Not having prepared any formal speech, I basically repeated what he said... only in English.

These are my Tokyo "Mama" and "Papa." The Iidas took me in when I first came to Tokyo and are just amazing people. They have 3 kids who weren't able to come, but I'll see them sometime soon.

Then it was time to meet Shimon's real family! These are two of his cousins, Junko and Maiko. They were really nice and we'll have to do dinner soon.
The person I've known the longest at the party?? Sara Harriger! We grew up together singing and playing handbells in church among other things. It was really nice to have here there... her Japanese definitely got a test drive that night!


This is my dear friend, Ikue Toda (aka Toda-sempai). We had extra time, so a few friends were asked to give a few words. She said such nice things and I'm so glad that she spoke.

She also had all the kendo guys get up and chug a beer in our honor! Gotta love Toda!!

Then there were Shimon's college, hockey buddies (and manager, Marie!). They were also given a chance to say a few words... and the mic got passed around quite a bit. But they were a really fun bunch and I'm glad they made the trip.


We then cut into another cake. In Alaska, we were both very polite. In Japan, they gave us big spoons to feed each other with. However, with Shimon's very drunk friends egging me on...

This is what happened!! Heehee... I really couldn't help myself. To be fair, I did help him clean up and nothing actually got on his clothes.




 After a few more shots with various groups, the party came to an end. It was a really special night. It was really great to celebrate with our friends in Japan.