Back to school

So in the fall I decided that in order to make a career of teaching I needed to take the next step: get certified in TESOL. There are various ways in which I could do that. There are many short certificate programs and online programs, but I decided that I should go for a full masters (#2 for anyone interested).

Luckily the program I found is entirely online, so wherever I am I can keep working on it. Also, I can take up to 6 years to finish. With any luck I can finish in less time than that, but we'll just have to see. I'll be starting with one class in the Fall at Shenandoah University in Virginia. I'm still in the beginning phases of figuring out which course I'll take and all that, but it should be interesting. I'm just hoping that I can get all the work done and still manage my mommy duties. At least this way I'll have to practice good time management again!! :-)

Touma 10 weeks！

10 weeks!?! How did we get here so quickly?

Touma is such a little bug. He is definitely a morning person (not like dad!!). He wakes up around 6 most mornings and  giggles and smiles up a storm. After that we usually sleep a bit more before starting our day.

At the moment our days consist of lots of eating, floor time (tummy time, singing, reading books, etc.), swinging (he finally doesn't hate the swing!!), and miscellaneous other activities. We get out of the house most days and usually once a week we go on a longer outing. This week we went to visit my friend Ashley in Shibuya. She's giving birth tomorrow!!

Today Touma had his first immunizations. We decided to do rotavirus, Hib, and PCV this time around. Two shots!! It's so hard to watch him cry because he doesn't know why he hurts. I cried a little too! :(

Now for some pictures...

Tummy time!! He's doing pretty good I'd say!

Slightly fuzzy... but it's Touma digging his swing. Notice the lack of crying.

Funny face... he was halfway asleep.

When he finally fell asleep, Touma was propped up on my leg and a pillow!

Who woke me up??

 

Smiles

Touma is now officially 2 months! How did we get here so fast? It's incredible to think that it's been 2 months!! He's getting to be such a smiley sweet little guy. I'm fairly lucky with how well he sleeps (knock on wood!), he generally wakes up only once or twice at night after he goes down after his final feeding (he usually sleeps from 9-11 and then goes down for a longer stretch from 11:30 or 12).

The newest thing he's been doing is getting up in the morning and being super smiley. Means he takes after me and not Daddy (Shimon is REALLY hard to wake up in the morning!!). Maybe he's in early training for morning practices... ;-)

Here are some of the smiles that he gave me this morning!

Just warming up...

for the main event!

He was smiling and wiggling in this one, which is why he's a bit off center.

6 weeks!

This week Touma is six weeks old. How did the time fly?? He's already looking so different from when we first brought him home from the hospital. I can't believe how quickly he's growing and how different he is with each passing day. I am starting to understand why people keep saying to enjoy this time because it's over too quickly. :-)

Touma already has some favorite things... he loves his bath, likes to be on the move as much as possible (mostly strapped to Shimon or me), he likes napping somewhere other than his crib (with mom in bed or on top of mom's chest), he likes music (especially the Stephen Colbert rendition of "Friday" and Motown)... I could go on, but there's too much to list up properly.

One thing I'm grateful for is that Touma doesn't like a messy diaper... I'm hoping that this means that he'll have less diaper rash. So far (knock on wood!) we've been really lucky!

Last week we started cloth diapering full time. There's still some things that I need to figure out and I still have to buy a few more diapers, but all and all it's been a pretty easy transition. I am mostly using all in ones and ones that require a cover (I'm still not totally up on the lingo), but on occasion I throw him in a prefold with a cover as well. Prefolds are great during the week when we're at home just the two of us! Dad would probably not want to mess with prefolds, but for me it's no biggie and they're really good for when he just wets.

Now for some pictures...

This was taken at about 3 weeks... he's making his fishy face!

This was taken at about 5 weeks... very serious boy we have.

He's not always serious... he is definitely a smiley guy.

We had a very good time while my mom was here. This was a typical naptime for Touma when she was here.

He also likes sleeping with Daddy too!

I've been bad at keeping up with my blog, but I'm pretty sure that everyone understands. I'll try to find more time to at least add pictures. It's also good for me to keep a record of how things are changing. :-)

Touma Pics!

Touma is officially a week and three days old. We have been home for about a week. We (Shimon and I) are getting a handle on things with the help of his mom who's up from Yamaguchi (about 5 hours away by bullet train). I'm glad for Shimon in the evenings because by the time he gets home, I'm pretty tired and he does a good job of taking over some things and giving me a bit of a rest.

We don't have so many pictures of Touma yet... which will be remedied at the weekend when Shimon can take some more pictures. I also realized that most of my pictures are of him sleeping. Oops! Also to be remedied soon. :-)

Newborn Touma! This was January 31st a few hours after he was born. At our clinic he didn't get his fist bath until the following day, so he's quite red.

We'd had a small acccident so Touma spent a few hours in his going home clothes... And judging from his smile he must have liked them!

He's just too cute!

The Suzu cat gets very concerned for Touma when he cries... this is what she does to see if she can "help":-)

There will be many more pics after the weekend, but for now these are the highlights!

Touma Patrick Yamamori

This post could have an alternative title as well: giving birth in Japan...

So I thought I'd share my birth story for my blog readers. It also helps me to get it all down before I forget anything!

Monday, January 30th, I went in for my appointment at my clinic. When I had gone in the previous week before my due date there wasn't a lot happening, so my doctor booked me another appointment. By the 30th, there was more activity and some fairly minor birthing waves/contractions. But I wasn't all that concerned as I wasn't in any discomfort and didn't expect to be in any for some time.

Before I continue, I would like to add that I intended to use Hypnobabies as my birthing method. It's a method that helps mothers relax and focus during birth and, since I was giving birth naturally, a good way for me to try to manage my birthing experience. Hypnobabies is a great birthing method and really helped during the first portion of my birth experience, I'll go into how/why it was less effective later on as the story unfolds.

After my appointment, I went home had some lunch, talked to my parents on Skype, etc. In general, I just spent the afternoon relaxed and rather unconcerned about anything regarding baby. As the afternoon wore on though, I began to feel some rather irregular pains in my abdomen. As I hadn't really experienced Braxton-Hicks, I figured that's what it was and continued about my business.

Around six o'clock, I realized that what I was feeling was maybe NOT B-H and started using my Hypnobabies training to manage the waves of discomfort. It worked great. I watched my shows (Bones & NCIS) and made dinner, all while experiencing early stages of labor. By the time that Shimon arrived home (around 8) and we were eating dinner, I had started to time because I had no idea how far apart things were. I also told Shimon quite calmly, "I'm in labor." He didn't really react much, but I think he got a bit more anxious as we were eating.

By the end of dinner, I had been clocking contractions for 45 minutes and I was hitting either 3:40 to 5:15 between them. Still I wasn't having a major problem, so we went into the living room and watching our Monday night drama. I was using my relaxation techniques from Hypnobabies and was standing up or leaning during the most strong sensations. Also, it felt like I had to go number 2 during each one... which I found out later was caused by the baby dropping!

We passed the time watching TV and finally around 11, I went and took a bath. It felt wonderful!! But when I got out, Shimon was pretty concerned and he wanted to call the clinic. He called and then put me on the phone. I was prepared to be told to wait awhile longer (I was all ready to get into bed and turn on my relaxation tracks to start getting more ready for what was ahead!), but the nurse said to come on in.

This is where my Hypnobabies did not help me, because I had misjudged how much time I would have before leaving my house for the hospital I wasn't able to utilize all of the resources from Hypnobabies. However, I realize this was more a problem with my inexperience and less with the program itself. I would still endorse Hypnobabies for anyone wanting an enjoyable and relaxed birth experience. I just wasn't able to utilize it to the fullest this time.

Shimon called a taxi and we were ready to leave in about 10 minutes. It was around that time that it all hit me - this was really happening!! Eek! Shimon was also having similar thoughts. On the way to the clinic I listened to my Hypnobabies track, which did help minimize the stress of being in a taxi on the way to give birth.

We got to the clinic at around midnight. We went to the delivery area and the nurse checked my progress (2-3cm) and I changed into my hospital issue nightgown. Then headed to the room where we would be until things progressed a bit more. Slowly, the fact that I was losing my grip on my Hypnobabies methods sunk in. However, I did have plenty of help from Shimon (holding my hand, distracting me with bad late night TV, etc.) to make it through the next 45 minutes or so.

Just before one the nurse came in and I was in some fairly intense pain... and the breaks between were quite short. So she checked and I was already 7cm dilated and she said that we should get ready to move to the delivery area right then. Yet again, I was unprepared for the speed at which things were moving along. Eek! And after this things get a little fuzzy...

My husband was a gem. He offered me his hand (which at the beginning I would take, but closer to the end I wouldn't because I was afraid I'd crush it!!) and water when I asked and counted out the contractions (and the pushes once we got to that point!) He was great. And this is the man who was very skeptical about joining me for the actual birthing...

I think we spent about an hour as I dilated to 9cm. They put a monitor on me for the duration... and I was still getting some amount of break between each contraction. I was able to feel when each one was coming on (intense sensation in my lower back and bum) and Shimon would count so I could concentrate on something besides the hurt. As I mentioned before, this portion of my birthing did not benefit from my Hypnobabies training. So I tried to keep calm and relaxed, but often succumbed to yelling out "Ouch!" repeatedly in Japanese. We also changed positions a few times during this time, but I can't really remember how long I spent in which position.

After what seemed like forever, the nurse said that I could push curing the next contraction. The first few pushes weren't great. It felt good to be doing something, but then the nurse told me how to focus and when to breathe in order to be most effective. That worked better and Shimon was really helpful at this point because I was supposed to try to push for as long as possible... and with him counting it helped me focus.

Finally, after what was at least another hour (in reality it was probably longer), it was time to call the doctor on duty in. The only unfortunate thing about having a baby in the wee hours is that my regular doctors weren't on duty. The night doctor was a guy I hadn't actually seen before. However, at that point the nurses and midwives had done way more anyway and I was confident in their abilities. After much pushing, Touma Patrick Yamamori arrived at 4:08am on January 31st, 2012. It's amazing how relieved I felt when I could see him... and I ended up panting, but Shimon and the nurses/midwives were there to help me keep my breathing regular so I didn't hyperventilate.

From arriving at the hospital to giving birth to Touma, it was just over 4 hours. During all the talks with friends and the official doctor talks (there were two) about giving birth, everyone said that giving birth to your first baby takes a long time. Around 19-32 hours total. From 6 when I realised I was in labor to 4am when Touma arrived, it was about 10 hours. And the brevity is part of the reason that I wasn't able to use my relaxation methods as effectively because I was caught completely off guard.

So... this is very long... but a story like this one has to be told thoroughly! :-) Pictures will come soon!

Still waiting...

Yesterday was my due date!! And apparently the cold weather has our little guy convinced that it's not quite time to make an appearance. :-)

I have done a much better job of getting out and taking some long walks... the only problem was the weekend got pretty chilly and I didn't quite get out as much.

I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. I wouldn't have to go if I'm already checked into the hospital, but I have a feeling I'll be making that appointment.

I can't be too worried as I was born 3 days after my due date and plenty of my friends have had babies later than their due dates. From the beginning I wasn't really counting on the 28th of January anyway... but I would have loved to have been proven wrong!

T-minus 5 days...

We are getting down to the last few days before baby boy arrives... and I'm trying to get all the little things done that I haven't managed to do yet. Like...

-go through old teaching materials and throw extras or unwanted papers away.
-organize under the crib (one of the places where we have storage) with all the new baby stuff
-find places for all the new baby stuff that we've bought
-finish packing my hospital bag (the only things missing are clothes to leave the hospital in!)

Somehow even though I'm just a few days away from my due date... I'm not feeling the stress or like I should be doing a whole lot more to get ready. I wonder if I'm weird in this way. I feel fairly prepared for what is ahead of me, I have been practicing my relaxation program and feel like I can use it when the time comes. I've got Shimon prepped and (somewhat) ready.

All I can do now is go about my day and wait patiently! Wish me luck!

Getting ready for baby!

Warning: Men may want to be careful (or refrain from) reading this entry!

We are down to the last few days before baby arrives. And I feel pitifully under prepared for the main event. I am just now packing my hospital bag (after not being entirely sure what to include because I wasn't able to discern what the "must have" section and the "hospital provide" section were on the handout from said hospital), which seems strange since I think a lot of people get right on that once they hist month 9. Oops!

I have had to purchase some strange things in preparation for baby boy. Things that when you get pregnant you don't really think about. Like ginormous pads! The package of 10 is the same size as a package of 30 "normal" pads. Also, the pads for bras when you get leaky. I know I didn't really think about that until recently.

These are my goodies... sideways... if anyone can tell me how to fix this problem (I have problems with pics taken on my iphone), let me know.

My next surprise were the specific underwear they told us to purchase. And wow! I have found the country that will simultaneously turn you into a mommy and a granny all in one fell swoop. Check these babies out!

Not only are they massive (thus the granny allusion), they have a velcro-ed area for easy changing... of things that need to be changed. It's amazing! My cat was even intrigued by them.

Suzu and the really silly granny pants!

To be fair, there's this stain resistant lining that makes a funny sound similar to a rustling plastic bag (one more reason to love them!), which is probably why Suzu was so interested.

I'm actually really glad that there's all of this stuff out there to help us ladies after the babies are here and are bodies need recovering, I just didn't realize what it all was like. And now I have a bit better idea. Maybe in the States things are a little different, not sure. It sure would be funny to know the differences in postpartum care between the US and Japan... maybe not funny, but at least enlightening.

Baby bed...

I realize that picking a baby crib is probably pretty agonizing when you have so many options and space is not your main consideration. In my world, space is the first consideration. Baby boy is not going to be getting his own room until he's quite a bit older. Our crib is really quite compact and has a nice little shelf underneath so that we can store baby things.

Right now the crib blocks the bookshelf, but it is also on wheels so we can move it if we need to.

To back track a little bit... we actually considered two options for sleep earlier on in my pregnancy. As most Japanese families co-sleep, I thought that initially we would be doing that. (We haven't ruled doing a bit of co-sleeping if necessary for sleep considerations.) The biggest problem is our bed. It's not really that big and my husband moves a LOT in his sleep. He sometimes nails me in the middle of the night! He was very worried about the baby.

The second option, and the one we ultimately chose, was the crib. It's currently located in the dining area of our apartment, but I expect that might change once we don't have any help with us (my mother-in-law is coming first and then my mom is coming... giving us about 6 weeks of help initially). I kind of wish that we were doing co-sleeping, but I think that in the small apartment that we live in we'll still be in pretty close proximity.

How did other people choose a crib or sleep method? I'm fairly interested since nothing is really set in stone (other than the existence of the crib!) as of right now. :-)

Diaper bag...

Over the course of preparing for baby, I haven't mentioned much about diaper bags. Mostly because there's only one place I've managed to find bags that seems suitable. And they all seemed quite overpriced. Alas, I have not found another place with other viable diaper bag options. SO... with our "due" date about 3 weeks away, I committed.
I got a Skip Hop messenger style bag in (no surprise) lime green. There were a couple other ones that were quite nice, but considering the bigger the bag, the more things go in it and the heavier it gets。. So I was motivated by convenience and weight to purchase the bag I did. And the fact that I haven't found anything else that compares to the bags at this shop.
I hope it works out for me... if not... oh well!

Getting Ready for Baby... Japan style!

When getting ready for your bundle or joy, mothers and fathers generally encounter lists of things that "must" be purchased in order to be prepared for welcoming a newborn home. I have found in my experience that these lists are really not that helpful. Instead, I have found advice from friends to be much more valuable. Also, living in Japan and having a very different lifestyle than the average American has led to a lot less money spent on baby things.

There are a number of "musts" that due to my lifestyle, I just don't need.

1. Baby monitor - Our apartment has three main rooms. There are three sets of sliding doors. One set of doors has been removed in order to open up the space. Our apartment is nowhere near big enough to warrant a baby monitor.

2. Car seat - No car. No car seat! Not that we won't purchase a car at some point, but now is just not the time. Since I'll be taking the next year off from work, we thought it might not be a great time to have car payments to make.

3. Changing table - As mentioned above, we don't have a lot of space. Instead of a changing table, I will most likely be using a fold away changing pad in combination with any flat surface... sofa, floor, bed, etc.

4. Baby swing - While I've heard that these can be a godsend (and I'll sound like a broken record!), many of the swings take up far too much space. So in lieu of a swing we're going to get a Baby Bjorn bouncer. While expensive, they take up much less space.

5. Stroller - Now, don't get me wrong, I'll probably be getting a jogging stroller at some point, but for the immediate future I'm not getting a stroller. I'll be doing a lot of baby wearing instead! The more that I see strollers in Japan, the more that I'm convinced I don't want a "regular" stroller. In Japan, strollers block the flow of traffic, are used to carry shopping as often as to carry children, and are generally quite inconvenient to both the operators (moms) and people around them. Also, from what I've seen many stroller handles seem to be positioned really low and mothers and fathers often are hunched over when pushing them. All in all... those are enough reasons to keep me from buying the standard stroller and aspire for just a jogging stroller a bit later on.

I'm sure there are other things that I'm leaving out as far as things I'm not going to be purchasing to get ready for baby... but those are the biggies. Things I still need to purchase... diaper bag, post-bath essentials (nail clippers, q-tips, etc.), baby bath, bedding, etc. So there's plenty of things still to do before baby arrives... Luckily I've finished with work, so I best make my list!!

New year, new look.

So I've been spending the last few days trying to find a nice and convenient way to change the style of my blog. Many of my attempts have failed completely, but I think I found a way that I like and will be able to stick with as I move forward. After all, this new year holds lots of busy-ness and changes for us around here.

I decided to rename my blog "The Happy Katei." (Still not sure how to make katei italicized in the title! Eek! As I said, updates/changes have been hit or miss.) Katei is the word for home in Japanese. And while all relationships, couples, families... have ups and downs, the ultimate goal at the end of the day is a happy home.

My goal with this blog update is to a) keep up with it and b) allow friends and family from far and wide access to stories, pictures, and movies (a video camera is one of the things that we'll be purchasing very soon) of us and our new addition. Since he's due to make his appearance at the end of the month, I figured that taking care of blog maintenance early might be smart!

So here's to the New Year!

The Yamamoris - Christmas 2011

Pumpkin muffins...

This morning one of my pregnancy apps had a recipe for pumpkin muffins as a good source of vitamins during pregnancy. Well, they sounded so nice (and easy!) that I had to give the recipe a try.

Problems that I faced?? No muffin pan! Also, no canned pumpkin. And... last, no dried ginger! However, this did not deter me. First of all... if Amy has taught me via her blog is that you can rearrange recipes to fit the implements that you have! So, I decided to make a muffin-like cake with one of my rectangular pans (smaller than 9x13, but not sure the size...).

One thing that is quite nice about living in Japan is that in the fall there's lots of "pumpkins" to be had. Now, Japanese pumpkins don't look ANYTHING like their American counterparts, they look like this instead. So, I picked up a quarter of a pumpkin up at the store (one from Mexico, funnily enough!) and decided that I could steam and mash it for the muffin-cake.

It came out AWESOME! There was lots of cinnamon and nutmeg in the recipe and I improvised on the ginger by using oroshi ginger... it's more or less mushed up and mixable ginger. The ginger is great for sauces and dressings and things.

And the final result??

Seriously dangerous! I will probably freeze some for snacks later... and to prevent me from eating too much of it before Saturday (aka next doctors appointment).

Now that I know how well my oven does with baking... I will baking much more in the future. I just haven't found a recipe that was easy enough that I wanted to try! :-)
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I LOVE Ikea!!

Yesterday, Shimon and I rented a car to do a bit of shopping. It may sound strange, but it's much less painful to have a car when you go to certain stores... Ikea and Costco are two such stores.

Our trip to Ikea was a HUGE success. I knew that I wanted to check out the kids and baby section because I hadn't really had a chance (or reason) to do so up until now. There was so much! There were beds, furniture, sheets, duvets, clothes, stuffed animals and more! Sadly I didn't have the dimensions of the baby bed that we're going to get so I had to skip getting sheets or a duvet. But I did manage to find some other fun things...

Here we have a blanket, a crib bumper, and a snake rattle. Note: they all match!! :-)

Baby towel with a hood... and a random character... who knows what that's supposed to be, Either way, it's cute, but not cutesy.

This is something still in the package (and flipped the wrong way, my picture viewer was not cooperating!)... it's this neat wearable sleeping bag kind of thing. Since our little bundle will be joining us in winter, I figured it might be handy. 

So I officially LOVE Ikea! And what was most remarkable was the fact that we only spent 2 hours walking through the store and making our purchases. I was quite surprised as it was a national holiday... I thought it would be much worse. Turns out Costco was the worse place... but I won't get into that!

Food safety, Japan and Pregnancy

As many of you may know, eating during pregnancy is a bit different than eating when it's just for one. Thinking about how many grams of protein, how many servings of green veggies to eat, etc. There's a lot to process and keep tabs on.
Now, you may remember that in March of this year there was a large earthquake and tsunami that decimated large areas of Japan. It happened to have been one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history and was certainly the largest quake I've ever felt. Then there was that little thing at the nuclear plant in Fukushima.
Those of us living here are used to following the radiation updates and the news from that area.

The biggest problem for me as a pregnant woman in Japan has been food safety. Though foods are on the shelves, especially produce, some come from areas that are banned for import by the US. I figure it's good to avoid buying that produce for the time being. What's the problem, you ask? The majority of produce is coming out of the areas considered to be dangerous these days!
The Japanese are quite big on buying local... many areas are well known for certain types of fruits and vegetables and a lot of the local areas happen to be in the area not far from the nuclear plants. What kinds of things do I have to avoid, you may ask. Carrots, cabbage, spinach and other greens, strawberries, some types of onions, napa cabbage... the list goes on! And that's just fruits/veggies... then there's pork and chicken and beef that are all coming from somewhat suspicious areas.

This may sound like a big whine-y post, but... I just envy the people who don't have to worry about radiation right now! It would be so nice to be able to buy whatever it is that I fancy to eat on any given day, without having to worry about the safety of the food I'm buying!

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!

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!).

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.

Party Week!

This week has been busy and exciting!!

Since so many of our friends in Japan could not make it to our wedding in Alaska, we decided to do a small party here in Yokohama. That party was on Saturday. In the lead up to the party there were lots of little errands to do.

Luckily, I had the day off on Friday. So I had a list of things to do: get my hair done, make a music CD for background music, wrap some prizes for bingo (we played a silly kind of bingo game at the second party!), and choose pictures for the slide show! I got everything done, but man, I was tired at the end of the day!

Then came Saturday, the big day! I had forgotten to call my clinic on Friday (amongst all the other things I had to do!) and so had to go in to the clinic on Saturday morning.After an hours wait, I got in and out and back to the house in time to help Shimon get going (he had to meet people at 2ish) before I got ready (makeup and hair) to meet up a little after 3.

In Japan, there's always an MC kind of person (no DJ because there's no dancing) at these kind of parties. Shimon's two friends from Tokyo volunteered to do the honors. These guys were great. Another friend helped with getting people seated and he also took lots of pictures (as soon as I have copies, I will post them).

The party went off without a hitch! Lots of people came and had fun. There was good food (really amazing Italian food!) and plenty to drink (open bar!), which helped fuel the party.

Since it's a long weekend, I've been mostly relaxing at home, while Shimon has been out hanging with some of his friends who are still in town after the party. They came a long way, so he wants to make sure they have a nice time while they're up here! I don't mind... it's nice to lay around and relax sometimes!