Life in the Guch

Busy times!

2010-11-19T20:57:00.003+09:00

It has been forever since I last blogged but I have been pretty busy! October went by in a blur with Liam`s sports day, a trip to Fukuoka to get Kayla`s passport and a very absent husband due to crazy working hours. Then November is all about visitors. My dad arrived on November 1st and was here until Monday. He left at around lunchtime and then that afternoon my lovely Portuguese friend Patricia arrived from Tokyo with her gorgeous 3 month old bub and also a friend of hers. Patricia lived in Yamaguchi until June so is back for a visit and to show off her new baby so have been staying here. They are out and about a lot so I haven`t had to do too much for them but have hopefully been a half decent hostess :-) It`s been nice to have their company and it`s great to have someone around to look after Kayla in the mornings while I dash Liam off to daycare. Anyway, they are heading home tomorrow morning but before that my mum is arriving! She flew in today and is hopefully heading to her hotel in Kansai as I type this. She is super keen to see us (well the kids mostly!) so is getting the first shink. in the morning and we will be picking her up at 8:30. Hopefully we make it in time! Liam takes forever to get ready in the mornings lately and breakfast seems to go on forever so I won`t even bother giving him any tomorrow.

So yeah it will be great having mum here. She helps out so much and it`s nice to have someone to chat to. It gives the kids some nice exposure to English too which is always good. She is dieting at the moment which is probably good for me as I really need to start behaving. I have been taking full advantage of the breastfeeding = no weight gain theory but I have been eating so much sweet stuff lately that I am too scared to weigh myself. I have also become quite into cooking biscuits, slices etc which is so not me but also very dangerous as I tend to eat the majority of them. We do have friends coming to visit on Sunday though so I am thinking something will have to be made. Mum is bringing over some baking goods that are hard or expensive to get here.

Onto kid updates, they are both doing well. Liam is still challenging at times and definitely tries to get attention by misbehaving. I don`t really blame him as it so works but it`s pretty hard to take at times. He is an awesome big brother to Kayla though and she adores him. He has taken to picking her up when she cries which is very sweet but also a bit scary. Kayla is 7 months old next week and adorable as usual. She appears to be teething as she is super drooly and also a bit unsettled when she sleeps. We have also started solids which she is enjoying but her tum doesn`t so much at times. We have done pumpkin, sweet potato, avocado, banana, green beans and pear so far and banana is definitely her favourite. I think she would eat a whole banana if I let her.

Alright my feet are freezing so it`s time for a nice hot shower. Happy weekend to all :-)

What a day!

2010-10-10T21:23:00.003+09:00

A couple of cute photos to start with before I start my whingey post!

Today started with tears and ended with tears! From Kayla? No, from 5 year old Liam! He stayed in his bed all night which is unusual of late and I heard him get up and open the gate to go downstairs at about 7:30. He then came upstairs again to get something and then I heard the front door close. So I quickly manoeuvred Kayla`s head from under my arm and dashed downstairs and outside to find him half way down the street. I yelled out for him to get home which started the sobbing in the middle of the street. I then had to drag him home while he wailed about going to the festival. I somehow managed to calm him down and all was peaceful for a while.

Hub was supposed to be home by 10 to go to the festival so Liam called him at about 9:20 and he said he was on his way. 10 o`clock came and no hub so I called him, swore at him a bit and then hung up. We were all ready to go so off we went anyway. Hub turned up about half an hour later in the clothes he had worn out drinking last night. What a classy guy! The festival ended up being pretty fun. We knew lots of people there and Liam`s two best friends from daycare were also there so he didn`t stop running around all day. Kayla charmed everything and slept in the sling most of the time. Hub went in the arm wrestling competition and came 4th. He was beaten by a young guy in the semis and another young guy in the play off for 3rd so I told him maybe he should give it up as he`s getting too old. He of course blames it on his night on the turps and having a bit of asthma. Yeah right!

We got home from the festival antics at 3ish and then Ryuji and Liam went off to the inlaws house. Liam was already buggared from running around like a crazy animal so it wasn`t the best of ideas. They got home after 6 and Liam put on a major performance about eating dinner and burst into tears every 5 seconds. Ryuji hadn`t really seen him like that before so it was good that he got to see what I have been dealing with lately. I ended up leaving him to deal with it and took Kayla into the bath and up to bed. I came down to brush his teeth as I don`t trust Ryuji doing a good enough job (especially after lots of festival crap) and now they have gone up to bed together. Hopefully that means peace and quiet for the rest of the night. Kayla has already been awake so her sleep of late hasn`t been the best. She used to sleep through for at least 6 hours and sometimes 8 hours plus but has been a little out of sorts the last week or so. Tonight I think she woke herself up by rolling over on to her stomach.

Alright off to bed to finish my DVD. I am watching "It`s Complicated" which is very entertaining.

Another day over

2010-10-09T21:23:00.009+09:00

The kids are finally asleep! We were upstairs at 7:30 and Liam played in his room while I got Kayla down. I then went him and read him some stories but he wasn`t at all interested in going to sleep. Then Kayla woke up (maybe with Liam`s help) so I had to go and tend to her and Liam seems to have fallen asleep in the process. It has been a bit of a crazy week. Ryuji has been working ridiculous hours so we haven`t seen him since last Sunday. He had to work again today and is at a work party tonight and will be crashing at a friend`s tonight so won`t see him until the morning. So I think I coped alright in my first real week alone with two kids. Thank god Liam is in daycare full time though. He loves it and I love the peace and quiet. He is super sensitive at the moment too and I`m sure on some days cries more than Kayla does.

Today was an eventful day. I had a class in the city after lunch but we headed in early as the weather has been crap and I wanted to dry some washing. I loaded it in the dryer and then headed to the supermarket to get something for Liam`s lunch. We then get back to the laundromat and Liam told me to look at his shoes. He had on two totally different sneakers and neither of us had noticed until then. He was mortified and burst into tears saying that everyone would laugh at him and being a soft touch regarding fashion lol I told him we would go and get his some new shoes. Luckily there was a shoe shop nearby so we sped over there. I didn`t have the pram as it wouldn`t fit in with all the other stuff I had and had forgotten my sling so it was rather tricky trying to check the sizes with Kayla in my arms. A nice pair of Addidas were on sale for 2000 yen so we got them and he put them on straight away. It`s actually the second time he has done the wrong shoe thing. Last time it was with two black sneakers though so it was hardly noticeable.

So after all that drama I went and taught my class. I have been teaching two girls since they were four (they are now 12) so am friendly with their mothers and I can take the kids along which is great. I do two classes per month at each of their houses. Liam played with my student`s younger brother and her mum looked after Kayla. They tried to give Liam some bloody kabutomushi (stag beetles?) which I politely refused so there were more tears when we had to leave. He got over that thankfully and then we went to the hairdresser to get his hair cut. After the cut, they put some wax in and gave him a bit of mohawk so he thought he was very cool.

Tomorrow is the neighbourhood`s autumn festival at a shrine just down the road from us. We usually go every year and it`s quite entertaining. Ryuji usually takes part it in the arm wrestling competition but he might be a bit under the weather tomorrow. I have told him he had better be home by 10 as Liam is really looking forward to it. It`s his turn to do some daddy duties too.

Alright I will finish off by attempting to add some photos again. Obviously I have no idea how to move the photos from the top of the post so this will have to do lol :-)

The new domesticated me.....

2010-10-06T22:19:00.002+09:00

So after being spoilt by my mum for almost 6 months and not having to do much around the house, I am actually getting into the whole housework scene. Very bizarre I know but I`m sure it won`t last for long ;-) I am sitting here rather wanting to go to bed but I just made a chocolate cake aka a wacky cake and I am waiting for it to cool so I can ice it. I can probably count on one hand the amount of cakes I have ever made but this one appears to have turned out. My Canadian friend gave me the recipe as she came over here a couple of years ago to use my oven to make birthday cupcakes for her boyfriend. I went to the party and did eat one but I can`t really remember what they tasted like as I was also consuming a lot of wine! I am visiting a friend on Friday so made it to take it over there by might test it out tomorrow first on my obachan students. Now I hope I don`t make a mess of the icing. I wasn`t going to ice it but as the top of it cracked a bit (expert cake makers - why does this happen?) I didn`t think it looked too attractive!

A nice productive day was had here. Spent the day at home with Kayla and she was very easy so I managed to get lots done. She had three vaccinations done yesterday which appeared to tire her out. I put her on a mat next to the window so I could see her (and vice versa) while I hung out the washing and when I came back inside she was asleep. I was amazed as she is almost 6 months old and it`s the first time she has fallen asleep by herself anywhere apart from the car. She slept for almost an hour and a half too which is unheard of for during the day. She then had lots of other little naps throughout the day.

I am trying to be more healthy with my eating and exercise more but can`t seem to find the time to get on the exercise bike. So today I decided that Kayla and I would park the car at a supermarket on the way to Liam`s daycare and then walk to get him. It only ended up being about a 30 minute return trip so I will have to park somewhere further away next time. I thought Liam would be excited about the walk and the offer of an ice cream when we got back to the car but he was rather unimpressed and told me I should have just driven. Charming! He of course scoffed down the ice cream though. He is going through quite a woe is me stage. At dinner, he was asking me why I always kiss and pat Kayla on the head but never do it to him. Of course that is not the case but I think he is missing the attention that he had for five years before Kayla was on the scene. I am trying to giving him special time as well but it`s hard when Ryuji is working like a crazy man and we don`t see him at all during the week.

Alright I had better go and check on my cake so I can get to bed.

Photos.....

2010-10-03T11:06:00.008+09:00

Ok I have somehow managed to post some pictures without too much difficulty but now have to figure out how to work around them. They also aren`t in the order I expected so I guess I need some practice. Random pic of my two kidlets!
Enjoying a cracker with beetroot hummus and cheese on it.

Yummy dinner of beetroot hommus, vegies sticks, avocado and crackers. We also had blue and gouda cheese which I missed in this photo.

Liam ready to go to daycare. Not a good look for my darling boy lol!

Miss Kayla and I at a lovely restaurant about 15 minutes from our house!

Well now that I know that posting pics is so easy (thanks Nay!) nothing is going to stop me lol! Also means I can probably get away with writing less which is always good ;-)

It`s a dark rainy day here so Kayla and I have been taking it very easy. She is sitting in the bumbo trying to attack a paper bag as I type away. I have been catching up on washing but as nothing is going to dry will have to take it to the laundromat. Joy oh joy! I am enjoying the cooler weather but at least the washing was easy to get done in the heat.

Ryuji and Liam are missing in action which is the norm on weekend. They spend lots of time at jiichan and baachan`s place. Ryuji`s nephew and Liam`s only cousin, Ryota is back spending some time with his grandparents. He is 18, a high school dropout and currently not doing much at all. Ryuji's dad is self employed and does lots of random construction type jobs so he is apparently helping him out. I hope for his sake he tries to get his life in order a bit. Ryuji`s sister is pretty wild so I`m sure that hasn`t helped things.

Anyway, off to make Kayla and myself pretty as we are off to Yamaguchi to meet up with a friend for coffee.

Sorry for the messy post! I am having issues trying to get spaces between my paragraphs!

Two days in a row!

2010-10-02T14:32:00.002+09:00

My oh my, who would have thought it was possible ;-)

Kayla has just gone down for a sleep and the boys are out getting up to some kind of mischief so I thought I would attempt a quick post. I have a class at 4 so hopefully Kayla has a decent enough sleep and then wakes up for a quick drinkie before then. Ryuji will be coming home to look after her. With mum being here until yesterday and him working such crazy hours he has escaped most of the babysitting duties. He had to look after her this morning when I had a class at a student`s apartment. There is a park next door to the apartment block so he took Liam and Kayla there. Liam played happily with the other kids there and Kayla howled apparently. I even thought I could hear her from the apartment but maybe I was imagining things. She was asleep when I finished but woke up when she was put in the car so was a very unhappy camper until we got home and could have some of mummy`s cuddles. She is such a different baby to Liam. Liam was such a crier and I often couldn't console him. Kayla is usually happy when she is with me and only complains really boisterously when she is really tired and can`t drop off to sleep. She probably cries the most in the car but that`s also only when she is exhausted. She doesn`t like driving in the dark much either. We drove to Fukuoka last weekend and when we came home at night she was hysterical and ended up crying so much that she vomited. We ended up having to stop at a parking area and get her to sleep and then put her in the car. This was around 7:30 and she then slept until 3:30 which was a good sleep considering she had been so worked up.

So as I mentioned on FB and in my last post, mum went back to Australia yesterday. Even though she will be back again on Nov 20th or sometime around then it was really sad saying goodbye as we had been together since the start of April. The kids and I saw her off on the bullet train platform and there were lots and lots of tears. Liam was so upset! He was still crying after we got into the car and set off home. He has been upset before but got over it quite quickly. The tears didn`t look like ending so we stopped at 7-11 to get ice cream which cheered him up. He spent the rest of the afternoon randomly saying I miss granny but we did some fun things like his study books and going for a walk which kept his mind off it. Ryuji is fortunately off work today so he is having lots of daddy`s attention as well.

In other news, Liam has starting going to a new daycare. It`s a local one about 7 minutes drive away and he is really loving it. There is a daycare about 50m down the road from our place but I decided against sending him there as it`s really small and also if I want to puy Kayla in at times next year it wouldn`t be possible as they only accept kids over 2. He has about 15 kids in the class at the other place and he is having a fabulous time. I didn`t have time to organise him to be in full time in September so he went in the mornings for about 3 days a week. He will start full time from Monday. I thought by not sending him to kindy here I would escape the dorky uniform but alas no. He has a hat and overshirt thing he has to wear to and from there. I have no idea why but of course he is happy because he looks like everyone else. Is this his Japanese side coming out I wonder? I will have to post some pics. Is it difficult to post pictures on here or have I just been lazy for no reason? :-)

We are majorly poor after our trip to Australia and my crazy purchasing of cute kids` clothes so we are now living on a budget. I have started most of my private classes again which also helps and I am trying to cut down on our grocery expenses. I can`t give my fruit and decent bread but I am being good with other stuff. Ryuji is getting way less meat than before. Being the only regular meat eater in our house he used to eat one pack of meat so maybe 200 ~ 300g. I decided this was way too much so he has been getting less. He is also getting Korean/Taiwanese beer which he is not too happy about. He is a smoker though and if he is wasting money buying cigarettes he will have to deal with cheap alcohol. I am so at him to quit but no luck! He gave up before Liam was born and didn`t smoke (I think!) for about a year so it`s so frustrating that he does again. I have threatened to leave him if he gets lung cancer or any other smoking related diseases but that doesn`t help either. Bloody men and bloody Japan, the smokers heaven.

Alright, Kayla is now awake and not too happy about being dumped in the Bumbo so I will be off :-)

Back to blogging......

2010-10-01T16:36:00.003+09:00

I have thought about so many things I want to blog about but always put off doing it so I hope this helps kick start me back into action :-)

1. What's your middle name?

I don`t have one! My mum hated hers (Lillian) so decided not to give my brother and I one. Liam and Kayla don`t have one either as I thought it would be too much hassle in Japan.

2. What's your favorite magazine?

Ummm used to love magazines when I lived in Australia but obviously don`t have access to many here. Sometimes check out the gossipy/fashion ones when I`m back visiting.

3. What are you wearing right now?

Jeans and a purple t-shirt

4. What color are your bed sheets?

Royal blue at the moment

5. Who was your third grade teacher?

Mrs Spenceley. I ended up becoming friends with her niece at uni so her name is easy to remember :-)

6. What is the weather like right now?

Sunny and warm. Surprising as the last few days were a little cooler.

7. Do you know how to ski?

Nope, even though I lived in Hokkaido for 10 months! I`m not a huge fan of the cold and am not very co-ordinated so scared of injuring myself.

8. What was the last thing you drank?

Mugicha served by Liam.

9. Dream vacation?

Europe! My plan was to go there 9 years ago after staying 2 years in Japan. I still haven`t been!

10. Favorite article of clothing?

Nothing in particular but I liked dresses with high heels when I feel like getting dolled up.

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking?

Cooking but baking is growing on me.

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders?

Below. I often think about getting it cut shorter but I think it suits me better longer.

13. What drink do you order when out?

Wine when I am not pregnant or breastfeeding.

14. What book are you reading?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and a very silly book Saving Your Sleep. The latter I am reading for a laugh. The author believes you should have babies on a schedule by 2 weeks old. Crazy!

15. What did you dream about last night?

I can't remember. Kayla slept for over 8 hours straight last night and I had a nice deep sleep.

16. What was the last movie you went to?

Sex and the City 2

17. Any injuries at the moment? Nope!

18. What color is your bathroom?

Pink floor, blue and pink tiles and green bathtub

19. What's the state of your laundry right now?

In the basket ready to put away! My mum who has been with us for the last almost 6 months and spoils us rotten went back to Australia today so that means I have to do stuff around the house. Am trying to be nice and organised but who knows how long it will last.

20. Do you take vitamins?

Garlic oil capsules when I remember

21. Where do you love to shop?

Anywhere really! In Australia, Pumpkin Patch and Trade Secret for the kids and most clothes, shoes, accessory shops for me. I am a bit of a shopaholic!

22. How often do you buy groceries?

I do a big shop once a week but still end up buying miscellaneous stuff every couple of days.

23. Do you have a pet/pets?

A crazy cat called Miffy and two goldfish!

24. If you are married, when is your next anniversary?

April 27 (8 years) for our wedding and September 14 (9 years) for on paper.

25. How do you take your coffee and/or tea?

Both with plenty of milk

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop?

Mac Laptop.

27. Favorite month of the year?

Umm, have never really thought about it but with Kayla being born in April too I guess it will become my fave with both kids having birthdays then.

28. Do you have a hobby?

No real hobbies but I love reading and movies. Love travelling too but haven`t done nearly enough of it lately.

29. What salad dressing do you prefer?

Sesame, balsamic vinegar or my mum`s homemade ones.

30. Live or fake Christmas tree?

Always live growing up but fake in Japan.

31. Did you walk or take a bus to school?

Mostly got dropped off or took the bus

32. Do you have any phobias?

I am pretty claustrophobic.

33. What's your favorite snack food?

Chocolate!

34. When do you take your shower/bath?

In the morning and before bed. I grew up in the tropics!

35. What time did you get up this morning?

8ish

36. What's your favorite animal?

Cats

37. Have you ever broken a bone?

No!

38. Do you wear makeup?

Usually when I am going out of the house but sometimes I am lazy.

39. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Japanese. I studied French at university but have forgotten most of it.

40. Have you ever played a sport?

Not really! I used to swim a lot though.

41. Your last UPS package contained ...

I have no idea what UPS is but the last package I got was a letter and chocs from a lovely British friend.

42. What's on your desktop?

A big purple flower

43. What is your home page?

Facebook

44. Extrovert or introvert?

Both depending on the situation

45. Favorite board game?

Trivial Pursuit

46. What class did you like best in high school? In college?

Japanese in both.

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day?

I have no idea!

48. Do you have allergies?

Not anymore! Was lactose intolerant for a while as a child.

49. Are your nails painted?

Sadly no. I don`t think they have been since I was pregnant with Kayla!

50. Where are you right now?

In my living room.

Lazy weekend!

2010-06-19T13:16:00.003+09:00

I'm trying to stay on the blog wagon while I can so am getting in a quick post before a friend visits in about half an hour. After a busy week of being out for lessons or socialising every day we are having a quiet weekend at home. Ryuji has to work today and then is out for a work party so we don't even have to worry about cooking dinner for him. Mum, Liam and I are planning on having a night of soccer. Liam has been getting quite into it so we will let him stay up as well. He has still been taking ages to go to sleep on his own and is often away until 11 :-0 so we will see how long he manages to stay awake. I thought about getting out a futon and the kidlets and I sleeping on the living room but after finding a centipede in the washing up bowl, I think being in our beds upstairs is definitely a better option.

So yeah we had a pretty good week. Yesterday was super busy as a friend and her 4 month old came over for a visit in the morning and then we had to head out for lunch at a student's house. It ended up being a rather bizarre lunch. I teach 4 middle age women and the lunch was at one of their houses so I expected it just to be them but there were a range of other people there as well. There was one woman who was particularly annoying. She had pretty good English which she seemed to like to show off and insisted on being the centre of attention. She also kept on making rude remarks to the other women. For example, telling them they were eating too much and that they shouldn't touch Kayla as they have germs on their hands! Mum and I couldn't believe it. It was really painful to listen to! Then everyone ended up speaking mainly Japanese which was bizarre as well as the lunch was supposed to be for us and obviously mum couldn't understand. I was over it so pretended I couldn't really speak Japanese and mainly talked to mum. We stayed for a couple of hours and made our escape lol.

My lovely Portuguese friend is coming over soon. She visited just after Kayla was born and loved the custard/vanilla slice mum made for her. She is moving to Yokohama at the end of the month so mum said she would make it for her again before she left. We also have leftover lemon slice and apricot fudge slice that mum made to take to the lunch yesterday so I will definitely have to exercise later this afternoon.

I just remembered it's Father's Day tomorrow. Ryuji is totally hopeless and doesn't do anything for me on Mother's Day so I don't think much will be happening for him either! I don't think he even knows what tomorrow is anyway.

Alright, that's all I have to report today. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend xox

Slack blogger!

2010-06-12T11:45:00.003+09:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged. I have been meaning to for weeks and keep on thinking of things to write about but then something comes up and I forget about it. I also have been terribly slack at commenting on every one's blogs so big apologies for that!

Kayla is 7 weeks old today! The time seems to have flown by but it also feels like she has been around forever. It has been quite a drama filled 7 weeks. Well not really but things seemed a bit more peaceful after Liam was born. I had to go back to the clinic when she was 2 weeks old for her weight check and to see how she was feeding. She was pretty much up to birth weight again by the time she was a week old so I thought everything was fine but she hadn't put on much weight for the week after. There was a youngish midwife there who I hadn't had much to do with earlier and she was completely evil! She told me that I wasn't producing enough milk and that I should put her on formula. I exclusively breastfed Liam and feel pretty strongly about doing the same with Kayla and when I told her that she suggested that I take some medication. I asked what kind of medication and she told me it was for people who suffer from mental illness but it has a side effect of increasing your milk supply.I refused that option and then said that I would increase her number of feeds but she didn't seem to think that would help so demanded I come back again in a week and if things hadn't improved I would have to give her formula.

So I was pretty upset by the whole experience but decided to start feeding Kayla every 2 hours night and day and see what happened. I even set my alarm to get up during the night and on the Monday (I went to the clinic on the Friday) rang the local health centre to see if I could her weighed. I did and her weight had gone up normally over the weekend which was a relief. I was still a bit paranoid about how much milk I was producing so organised to go and see a midwife who worked from home that a friend had recommended. I had a good chat to her and what she said was completely different to the other midwife and she told me I had nothing to worry about. She then gave me a breast massage and said there was no problem with my milk supply either. Phew! I was still a bit worried so got her weighed again on Thursday. All was still fine so I decided not to go back to the clinic. They ended up calling me and I told them I had been elsewhere and had no desire to go back there and to be stressed out by their crazy ideas lol.

Okay, I am now back 2 days later! Kayla is asleep in the swing so let's see if I can finish this post. So back to my drama filled month! What else happened? Kayla had lots of goop coming out of her eyes so we had to visit the pediatrician a couple of times. She now has really bad baby acne which seems to be getting worse so I am thinking about taking her back to get some cream or something. Liam never had it this bad and as we are going to Australia in just a few weeks I want her to be looking her best :-) In other health dramas, I had mastitis which was very annoying. I got it once with Liam but he was much older. Thankfully this time I could pick it up quickly so went back to see the evil midwives at my clinic to get a massage and get some drugs. I seem to be over it but will have to keep an eye on it.

Everything else with Kayla is going really well! I am amazed at how much easier it all seems the second time around. She is not a fantastic sleeper and usually wakes up when you put her down during the day but she doesn't cry much and is quite easy to comfort when she does. She does love the swing though and it often sends her to sleep. She is also happy enough going down in her cot for most of the night after feeds which is good. She is still feeding every 3 hours or so at night but I am still managing to get a fair bit of sleep and with my mum here helping out so much around the house I feel very genki :-)

I am very excited about going to Australia next month. I have sorted out Kayla's Jp. passport and renewed Liam's and also organised our travel insurance (so so expensive as we are gone for almost 2 months) and Kayla's Australian visa. Now I just have to figure out what we need to take. We are flying from Kansai on July 8 but are going up there a day early to meet up with my NZ friend who used to live in the Guch and possibly a Japanese friend. It will probably be raining and miserable but I am quite happy to hang out at shopping centres and coffee shops. Not sure how Liam will feel about that but at least mum will be there to help entertain him.

I am doing a bit of teaching this month to earn some pocket money for Australia. Just 3 adult classes and one kids class. I am taking Kayla to a couple of them and then mum comes along to look after her for the other two. With the classes and meeting up with friends we are out and about almost everyday. Yesterday, Ryuji and Liam hung out and mum, Kayla and I headed to Ube which is about an hours drive away. I went and saw SATC2 with a friend. I took Kayla in for the first hour and gave her a feed. Then I dashed outside with her and handed her over to mum who looked after her until the end of the movie. The movie was okay but wasn't as good as the first one. There was plenty of eye candy though and a few laughs as well. The fashion is always fun to look at as well.

Liam has just come downstairs so he had a good sleep in. He has been going to bed late recently though. He always used to need someone to stay with him in his room until he went to sleep but lately we have been making him go to sleep by himself. He usually comes into my room and I read him stories while nursing Kayla. I send him off to his room when we are done but he doesn't want to stay there and often comes back in to see me or goes into mum's room. So he doesn't usually get to sleep around 10:30 but hopefully it gets earlier as he gets more used to sleeping by himself.

Anyway, I had better stop rambling. Hopefully I will be able to post more regularly again and won't need to write such marathon posts.

Kayla

2010-04-27T20:01:00.004+09:00

My baby girl decided to make her appearance at 2:30AM on Saturday (April 24). I will try and post a birth story soon but I ended up having a very quick labour. We arrived at the hospital at 1AM and she was born an hour and a half later :-) So I was very lucky! I negotiated with my doctor to spend only 3 nights in the hospital so we arrived home this morning. The hospital stay was a bit more relaxing than the first time but I was still very bored. Fortunately mum spent most of the day up there with me so I had someone to chat to and look after Kayla while I showered and stuff like that. Ryuji and Liam popped in and out over the weekend and Liam spent the day there yesterday too. I also had lots of visitors which was nice.

Kayla has been a very easy baby so far. She was a bit grumpy on her second day but I think that was mostly because my milk hadn't come in properly and she wasn't being properly satisfied. My milk came in yesterday and she has been happy to feed and sleep most of the time since. I know it probably won't last for long but it's nice while it lasts. I've had lots of time today to catch up on the computer as I was having net withdrawal symptoms while I was in hospital.

Okay, I am back a couple of days later. Our first days at home have been good. Kayla is a bit more awake during the day and at night but she is quite easy to pacify. Last night she kept on waking up after I put her down in her bed after feeding so at about 5 I was exhausted and gave up and let her sleep with me. She woke up around 7:30 for a feed and then we both slept until 11 which was lovely.

We are back to the hospital tomorrow as because we left the hospital early she couldn't get all the tests done she needs. So tomorrow she will have her second jaundice test and also the one where they prick her foot (what is that for again?). They will also check her weight. She had already regained about 100g on the morning we left hospital and is wetting plenty of nappies so all should be good. It will be nice to get out too. Even though yesterday Liam and I popped out to the bakery much to MIL's horror haha.

Liam is adjusting quite well. He is a bit more attention seeking and seems to be even louder than usual but is quite smitten with Kayla and always remarks how lucky he is to have a beautiful baby sister. He is also looking forward to going to Australia and as I had told him we were going after Kayla is born he is always asking about it.

Anyway, I still have no idea how to post photos on here but if anyone is interested in seeing some please befriend me on Facebook :-) I am Nikki Ehira. Yoroshiku!

40w1d

2010-04-22T20:20:00.003+09:00

So as expected I am past my due date for the second time :-) I am glad to have got through Liam's birthday and now don't mind that there are going to be at least a few days between their birthdays. Waiting 2 weeks doesn't sound too fun though so I hope miss decides to make her appearance before GW or at least the end of it. I don't really have any signs of labour though and baby still seems to be quite high up. I tried lots of stuff out to try and start labour when I was late with Liam and nothing worked so this time I am just trying to get out and walk most days. Unfortunately the weather has been rather dodgy but we did have a fairly decent walk this afternoon when the rain had cleared up.

Today we spent an unusual day at home. I have been spending way too much time on the computer but also had a long phone chat with a friend in Osaka which broke the day up a bit. We have lots on tomorrow which is good. Liam has a dentist appointment in the morning, then we are meeting up with a friend for lunch and after that will do some shopping.

Liam's birthday party on Sunday went well. The food was yummy, all the kids seemed to enjoy playing together and the mums got to have a good chat. We went out to have sushi with the inlaws that night. Then on Monday, his actual birthday, mum and I took him to a nearby safari park. We took a picnic lunch and he enjoyed checking out the animals and having a play at the little amusement park there. He then had swimming that afternoon and loved telling anyone who would listen that he was now 5.

Am sure I will be updating again before Miss K makes her appearance but any bring on labour vibes would definitely be appreciated :-)

39 weeks!

2010-04-16T21:10:00.002+09:00

I was 39 weeks on Wednesday so hopefully will have a baby in my arms before the end of the month. I'm pretty sure my doctor waits for two weeks after the due date to induce but I really hope that doesn't happen to me. Especially as that would be May 5th, the last day of Golden Week. I really don't want to be induced either. Anyway, I am happy that it looks like I will be around for both Liam's birthday party on Sunday and his actual birthday on Monday. My mum arrived on Monday and we have been getting stuff organised for his birthday. We are just doing an afternoon tea but want to have lots of yummy things. We have decided on gingerbread (we have leftover dough from Xmas), a mango cheesecake, Costco muffins, cheese, crackers, vegie stickers, salsa, guacamole, chips and a big fruit platter. Plus cake of course! We are making a chocolate cake with a Spiderman topper. Very dangerous that this will be all consumed before my doctor's appointment on Tuesday but I am a bit beyond caring. I have been craving so much sweet stuff lately and have just polished off a small bag of mini eggs courtesy of my friend's trip back to Canada.

We have been doing lots of weeding the last couple of days and my butt and legs are killing me. The whole crouching down thing is a bit hard at the moment so I sat on the ground and did it but ouch every time I get up or sit down at the moment. I have also had heaps of those sudden pains in the upper thigh that only seem to happen when you're pregnant. I'm sure I had them from quite early on with Liam but this time had been lucky up until now.

I have two classes tomorrow which probably should be my last before baby is born. Mum and Liam are coming with me just in case. I guess if my waters suddenly broke or something it mightn't be very good being out alone. Ryuji will stay home with a list of chores to do in preparation for Sunday :-)

Have a fab weekend all!

Nothing to blog about......

2010-04-10T20:26:00.002+09:00

But will do so anyway as I'm bored :-) Ryuji and Liam are happily watching the Shin chan movie as I type. I don't think Liam as ever seen the show before but he is giggling away watching it. Him and Ryuji are usually playing all sorts of crazy fighting games at this time of night so they are at least a bit quieter this way.

I had three classes today so was quite a busy beaver. Two were in the city but about half an hours drive away from each other and the last one was here at home. I am glad that I am managing to keep busy as otherwise I would be going insane just sitting around. I have quite a few classes planned for next week too so it will be interesting to see if I am able to do them all or Miss K will suddenly make her appearance. I don't think she will appear before her due date which is the 21st but one never knows I guess. My mum is arriving on Monday so it looks like she will definitely be here when I give birth which is a relief. I will know that Liam is being properly taken care of. I have threatened Ryuji if he doesn't behave I will leave him at home and have mum with me for the birth. I had both of them with me when Liam was born and I'm sure she was probably more supportive but I think I had probably better let Ryuji be there.

I took myself out for a stroll this afternoon as I have been slacking off a bit in the exercise department. I walked at quite a leisurely pace but at one stage managed to roll my ankle and almost fall over. Luckily I didn't but I must have looked quite a sight. It probably didn't help that I was mailing on my phone at the time haha.

Tomorrow will be spent getting the house in order for mum's arrival. I know she won't mind if it's a bit of a mess but she always has her house in a pristine state when we visit so I should put in an effort. I have already written Ryuji a list of chores to do. Unfortunately it looks like the weather is going to be dodgy. We have lots of weeding to but that might have to be put off until after mum arrives. We are having a birthday party for Liam next Saturday and if the weather permits it will be outside so we will have to tidy things up a bit. We usually do our vegie garden around this time of year too but as we will be in Australia for most of July and August have decided not to bother as all the lovely produce would be wasted on Ryuji.

Okay, hopefully will have something more exciting to blog about next time :-)

The terrible almost 5s

2010-04-04T16:57:00.003+09:00

My darling son Liam is proving to be a bit of monster lately. I don't know if it's the age or has something to do with the baby coming but it's a very trying time. Probably me being 9 months pregnant and constantly irritable doesn't help dealing with things either. Anyway, today has been especially bad. We went out for hanami with a couple of other international families and he was generally very badly behaved. He is always worse when Ryuji is around as he knows he can get away with more but today was just bad. He was whingey, defiant and plain rude. I gave him a big lecture in the car on the way home and he said how sorry he was but of course that's only until next time. Ryuji and him spend a lot of time at the inlaw's house on the weekend and I decided that he wouldn't be going there this afternoon after his bad behaviour. That of course resulted in another melt down and for the first time ever he has just put himself to sleep on the couch (with lots of tears of course) Ryuji didn't help matters by going out anyway but it's probably preferable that way as Liam is much calmer when he is not around.

So now we have some quiet but I don't know how I am going to stay sane the next week until my mum arrives. I know it will be easier when she does as she won't take any of his crap either and will help me deal with him. I have almost finished my private lessons so we have lots of free time this week and I would usual try to do some social stuff but I think it will be better to stay at home and avoid anymore stressful situations with Liam. He is generally quite well behaved when he is just with me and even though I hear at lot of NO lately I can usually bribe or threaten him into behaving. So yeah I guess I take advantage of the time before the baby comes and give him so quality mummy time. The weather is supposed to be nice so lots of walking might be on the menu too.

In other annoying news, we are hancho for a year from this month. As all of you living in Japan probably know this involves the fun filled task of organising the kairanban and all the other notices that the 15 or so houses in our group need to have delivered. It's a seriously stupid system and I think we are going to be worst hancho in history as I am not very keen about doing it as obviously I will be busy with other stuff. Ryuji is computer illiterate so I guess I will get roped into doing a few things but I have no idea what is going to happen when we are in Australia for almost 2 months over the summer. Anyway, he has a meeting about it all tonight and then next Sunday night another one. I guess they think none of us have lives and are willing to give up our Sunday nights. Crazy!

I am now on weekly appointments so off to the doctor tomorrow. Ryuji's mother is going to come over and look after Liam which is good. As I think I said before I have to have blood taken and he would freak out about that. We made a massive picnic lunch today and I pigged out so I'm sure my weight isn't going to be pretty but as there is only about 2 weeks until my due date I am really beyond caring.

Alright off to enjoy this unusual peace and quiet and read my book for a while.

36 weeks!

2010-03-29T11:08:00.003+09:00

Liam and I got up bright and early today to head to the clinic. I like to get there by opening time (9 o'clock) as it means you get out a hell of lot quicker. There were a few people in front of us but we were out before 10 which was good. Everything is looking good with baby! She is around 2600g and the doctor said it was okay to go into labour anytime now as I was past 36 weeks. I thought 37 weeks was considered full term in the western world but as I am 37 weeks on Wednesday all should be okay. Baby isn't engaged or anything so I can't see her making her appearance anytime too soon. My weight was less than at my appointment 2 weeks ago which I was very happy about. I haven't been doing anything too different but I guess pregnancy just makes your weight do crazy things. I have just had my usual after doctor pig out which was as enjoyable as usual :-)

So now I am on weekly appointments. It will be good when my mum gets here as she can look after Liam. He is not too badly behaved but wants to know about everything that is going and is also constantly asking me if I am going to have a needle as he is so scared of them. I have to get a blood test next week apparently so I will have to think about distracting him or seeing if baachan can look after him.

The weather is doing very strange things today. It was nice and sunny when I got up so I hung out all the washing but then it started going very dark so I brought everything in which was fortunate as it started raining torrentially. It's been sunny and rainy again since so I don't think the heavens can make up their mind what they want to do. A friend who lives about 30 minutes from here said it was snowing too. Crazy! Where on earth is spring? All the rain is going to make the cherry blossoms disappear too which isn't good as we have hanami planned for the weekend.

My crazy father rang up last night as he had heard from one of his friends (whose daughter I am friends with) that Liam had had his daycare graduation. My friend saw the photos I posted on Facebook and must have either showed or told her dad about them. So my dad was all keen about getting on FB which I can't say I was too excited about so I told him I would just send him the link for the photos instead. I know some people are happy to have their parents on FB but I think I can live without it for now :-)

Liam has swimming this arvo but not for a few hours so I should get motivated and do some chores. Maybe pack my hospital bag? Have a great Monday everyone!

So sleepy!

2010-03-27T18:09:00.002+09:00

I made the mistake of having real coffee late yesterday afternoon and it kept me awake most of the night. I have been limiting the amount of coffee I drink during pregnancy and it now seems to have a crazy effect on me. Oh well! I tried to go to sleep around 11PM as I actually felt tired but still felt like I hadn't slept at 3AM. Ryuji then woke up and couldn't go back to sleep either so we had random chats until 5AM. Then Liam came into our bed and we all managed to go back to sleep. Ryuji had to work today so got up at 6:50 muttering about how sleepy he was and then I unfortunately had to get up at 7:30 as we had to leave the house early. Liam was still sleeping at 8:15 so I then had to drag him out of bed too.

Liam had his daycare graduation this morning and we had to be there by 9:30. The daycare he has been going to for the last 4 years only accepts kids up until the year they turn 4. Well kids older than 4 can go part time but not full time so it would be really expensive if you wanted your kids there all the time. Being born in April, Liam is the oldest in his class so had to do everything first. He did well considering he hasn't been going much this month and hadn't been there to "practice". After the ceremony we all had to say a few words and of course I was first. I never know what to say but managed to mumble something. Everyone then had snacks and played bingo. Liam went mad eating all the chocolate he could find as he doesn't get much in our household. We could leave a bit before 12 so Liam and I went to have sushi for lunch. It was very nice and I didn't make a pig of myself which was good for both my weight and our finances. I am back to the doctor in a couple of days so trying to be very good. I just had an early dinner of vegies in white sauce as I figure the earlier I eat the more time I have to burn it off before I go to bed and also I have less chance of getting heartburn. I did have plans to do the exercise bike but I am too sleepy. I have done it three times this week though and will make sure I get on there tomorrow.

Umm what else? I booked our trip home from Australia a couple of days ago. I had booked the trip over a while ago when Jetstar was having a sale but hadn't done the return as it was quite expensive. Jetstar is currently having a 2 for 1 sale though so I really should have waited to book both flights. Oh well! We are still paying less than 7man yen for Liam and my return flights so it's very reasonable. I will have to ring up the airline and add baby girl on after she is born. Even though we have already decided on her name I am a bit worried about how the spelling will be on her passport. I have decided just to get her Japanese one for this trip as it will take too long to organise her citizenship and Aussie passport. I have heard that the Japanese passport office's are good about allowing the English spelling of names but I think I would rather get the okay first and then organise her ticket. Apparently Jetstar doesn't charge anything for kids under 2 which is rather nice. I remember having to pay 20% or something for Liam when we traveled on other airlines.

Okay, this is a very unexciting post so I will be off. As I have more free time lately I am trying to blog more though!

Recent happenings

2010-03-23T21:19:00.004+09:00

It has been a while since I last blogged. I often think about it but then get caught up in the general craziness of life. I finished teaching at the school last year so shouldn't be as busy as usual but we still seem to have something going on everyday. I prefer being busy to just sitting around though and if it means the time passes quicker until my due date that is always good too.

I am 36 weeks tomorrow so excited to be in the last month. I wish I could stop putting on weight though. With Liam, I didn't put on any weight for the last two months so I was hoping that would happen this time too but that is certainly not the case! I am eating quite well and trying to do low carb at night but the scales are being very nasty. At my appointment last week, my doctor told me I could put on another two kilograms but that's it! I don't really care about what he says but I would prefer not to put on much more myself as it will be harder to get it off. Baby girl is looking to be average Japanese size. Dr predicts she will be around 3kg but we will have to wait and see. We have changed our mind about her name too! I was referring to her as Miss M but she is now Miss K :-) It is actually a shortened version of the name we were first thinking of. The M name was a bit long so we decided simpler was probably better.

It is less than three weeks until my mum arrives which we are all looking forward too. I am hoping baby stays put until then as I would worry about Liam being looked after by the inlaws. I'm sure he would be okay but I would be constantly worried about what he was being fed and whether his teeth were being brushed. I shouldn't be too rude though as Ryuji came home with 100,000 yen today from his father as a present for the baby. Very nice of him! We will just put in our savings as they will become very depleted over the next year. April is a big month for bills so it will definitely come in handy.

We have had a couple of fun international family get togethers over the last couple of weeks. The last two Sundays, the three of us, a British woman and her hubby and baby as well as a German woman, her hubby and three boys have hung out. Last Sunday, we had a picnic in the park which was really nice. It was a bit windy but nice and sunny so after the picnic we had a good walk around the park. There is also a mini zoo so the kids checked out the very sad looking animals. It's fun to hang out with similar families. Unfortunately, the other two women don't have driver's licences and live in very isolated areas so we can only really meet up on the weekend or if I visit them. I'm sure we'll work something out though. I have already invited them to Liam's birthday party next month. We usually give him a big party but as his birthday is two days before my due date we weren't sure what we going to do for him. After chatting with my mum, we decided to just do an afternoon tea which if need be can be cancelled if the baby comes early and I am in hospital. He is turning 5 which he is very excited about so it will be nice to do something for him.

I did my interpreting job last week and it went well. There were only 6 foreign doctors that I had to interpret for and they were all very nice. Unfortunately the tour guide was a little annoying and I cringed while interpreting some of her not so funny jokes but it was all quite doable. We made a sudden trip to some caves though and I had trouble pulling out stalagmites and stalactites. Luckily the doctors were happy to help me out haha.

I have a Japanese friend and her two kids coming over for a play and then dinner tomorrow night. I never know what to feed my Japanese friends as feel funny cooking Japanese stuff but am also not sure what Western stuff they would eat. I have decided to keep things easy though and will make ribs as Ryuji loves them, a vegie gratin and a salad. Hopefully it will be enough to feed everyone. I wouldn't mind adding another dish but don't know what would go with the other stuff. Then on Friday I am babysitting my Aussie friend's 4 year old and 2 year old while she goes off to the hairdresser for a straight perm. Liam is going to love having so many play dates. He and my friend's 4 year old have been friends since birth but as they have very different personalities sometimes clash. Hopefully Friday will be peaceful though. It will be good if the weather's nice and we can get out for a walk to the park.

Alright getting sleepy so chat again soon :-)

Snow snow snow!

2010-03-11T18:07:00.002+09:00

The weather here has been totally crazy for the last few days. Snow had been predicted from last week but I don't think anyone guessed we could get as much as this! I woke up yesterday morning and everything was white but the roads seemed to be okay so I decided to head into work in the city normally. As I'm sure I have mentioned before we live a bit out of the city and have to drive 20 to 30 minutes into Yamaguchi city. There are two main ways we can go and one has quite a high mountain to go over so I decided to avoid it and take the other route yesterday. The roads or should I say drivers were crazy though! So many people have taken their winter tyres off as I guess they didn't expect anymore snow so cars we slipping all around the road and others couldn't get their cars up the mountain. I was supposed to teach at Liam's daycare at 10:30 but we didn't arrive until 11:10 so that was cancelled. I didn't have to teach again until 1 so went to get my haircut and then headed to school. I was five minutes from school when I got a phone call saying that classes had been cancelled for the afternoon because of the snow. It had been snowing all morning and there was talk of 30cm accumulating. I was supposed to teach a private class later in the afternoon but decided to cancel it and head home when we could.

So I picked up Liam from daycare and after talking with Ryuji decided to take a round about way home that didn't involve going up or down any big mountains. It turned out to be the drive from hell though. We got within about half an hour of being home and there were trees and branches all over the road and basically just enough room for one car to go through. Then the road was closed as trees had fallen down. Ryuji had left work early and just got through before I did. He told me about another road I could take which I did but was totally freaked out. It was so narrow and I had to drive under half fallen down trees and bash through branches. There was a car behind me which was reassuring as I could just imagine us being stuck in the snow, in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone range or something. We made it out though and thankfully got home in one piece. Liam and I were both mentally drained. He didn't even want to play and requested to just sit quietly and do his Leapster. Very strange for him!

So today there is still snow everywhere! It has been quite sunny so I expected it to melt but I think the sheer amount of it has stopped that happening. We have lived here for 4 years but I have never seen so much snow. Crazy considering it's March! We haven't had to leave the house today though which was a relief. I usually have school on Thursdays but the students had exams today and my private student who I teach in the morning emailed me last night to say not to risk coming in. Liam was of course dying to go out and play in the snow so I let him go out into our backyard while I watched him from inside. I teach 3 classes from home on Thursday afternoons and only 3 out of 12 students ended up showing up. Liam usually goes to Ryuji's parent's house but as I knew so many kids were going to be away he just stayed with me. Only one girl showed up to the second class and as she is only a year older than Liam I let him join the class. He was a bit of a show off but otherwise it worked pretty well. I was then expecting just two students to come to the last class but they cancelled at the last minute so I could finish an hour early. One good thing about the snow I guess.

It's supposed to be sunny and quite warm tomorrow so I hope that means the rest of the snow will disappear. I am so so over it. We don't have to leave home until about midday so fingers crossed the roads will be snow and ice free by then. I am off to lunch with a woman to talk about an interpreting job I am supposed to be doing next Friday. I don't really know the details yet but it's apparently for a group of doctors who are visiting and will be doing some sightseeing around the area. It had only better be sightseeing as there is no way I can interpret medical terms. It's from 9 to 4 and the pay is 30,000 yen which makes it very appealing. The extra cash will definitely come in handy once baby arrives and we will be living on one salary. I am actually quite stressed about our finances as we definitely use much more money than Ryuji's salary every month. We have savings which we will use but it still scares me when I think about it too much.

I was 34 weeks yesterday so only 6 weeks to go until my due date. It still seems like ages away though and I'm sure the time is going to drag by. I am actually feeling really good though. I am sleeping much better than I was a few weeks ago and the heartburn has gone away for now. I don't seem to be getting that much bigger either so am not finding it that uncomfortable to move around. We are pretty much organised with baby stuff. We bought a car seat last weekend and I have ordered a sling online which should arrive soon. I want the cot to be put up around the end of March and then I think we will basically be set. I still haven't got the list of stuff I need for my hospital stay though so I had better get that soon.

Anyway, hub will be home soon so I had better go and get the last of dinner organised.

Not much to say......

2010-03-01T10:18:00.002+09:00

Not much of excitement has been going on lately so I'm not really sure what I'm going to blog about. Probably the most exciting this that has happened is that Liam lost his first tooth yesterday. He is only 4 (5 in April) so it seems kind of early but he already had 4 adult teeth come in at the back so it was expected. His tooth had been loose for a while but he wasn't too sure what to do about it. It was hanging by a thread yesterday though so I convinced him to give it a tug and out it popped. There was a bit of blood which would usually freak him out but he was fine with it. We wrapped it up in some plastic and he took it upstairs with him when he went to bed. The tooth fairy had left him 500yen this morning which he was very excited about. I convinced him it would be a good idea to try and save all his tooth fairy money up to buy something big and surprisingly he was up it so we popped it into a money box for him.

This week is quite lazy as I don't have any classes at the school. Today is the graduation ceremony and then the students have tests for the rest of the week. Liam and I had a lovely sleep in this morning and are still in our PJs. We don't have to go out until after lunch which is nice as it's rainy and chilly outside. Liam has swimming class at 3 but before that we are heading to the hospital to visit a friend/student's mum who had a baby boy last Thursday. It is her third child and as she had two girls first she is very happy about having a boy. I bought some cute Pumpkin Patch clothes online to give to her so I will take them up today and check out baby boy. It's the same hospital that I go to and I will be back there again tomorrow for an appointment. I am taking Liam with me for the first time so I'm hoping he's going to behave himself.

The last couple of months of pregnancy seem to be dragging by. I have also been suffering big time from indigestion and heartburn so feel quite uncomfortable. It has fortunately stopped me from pigging out so much as the scales were getting a little scary but it's no fun having it last all day long. I have been propping myself up a bit when I go to bed which helps me sleep but I still probably only sleep for an hour or so at a time. Last night I was wide awake at 4AM for who knows how long. I guess my body is getting itself ready for the middle of the night wake ups with Miss M.

I am in the process of sorting out Liam's Aussie passport renewal. It's not up until June but as things are going to be busy and we are planning to go to Australia in July I thought I would get it out of the way. There's such a lot of paper work and money to fork out. I still find it unbelievable that I have to get our family register professionally translated for the embassy. I could easily do it myself but am of course not allowed. It's not like the embassy don't have Japanese staff or even foreign staff who could understand it. Aargh! Anyway, I have sent it off to a translation company in Fukuoka who will hopefully get it sorted for me quite quickly. If there are any bloggers out there who are qualified to do this kind of thing please let me know as I will have to do it again when I get Miss M's Aussie passport. I would much rather pay one of you than some random translation company :-)

Alright, enough of my ramblings! Happy Monday everyone!!!!!!

Loving the sun!

2010-02-21T13:31:00.003+09:00

How lovely is it to have a sunny weekend! I can't remember the last time it happened. It is actually pretty warm too and supposed to be for the next week so I'm happening this is officially the start of spring. Bring it on!

Not too much of excitement has been going on here! Hub had a friend's wedding yesterday so left the house before 9 to get there. His friend provided a room at the hotel for him and others even though it's only about 40 minutes from where we live. Super nice and no need for me to play taxi driver or for hub to sleep in his car. The latter would probably be what would have happened. He called me last night before he went to the second party to say a bunch of them were going to have lunch today and he wouldn't be home until 3. I hung up on him after hearing that and he apparently realised it wasn't a good idea and was home by 11:30. He is now outside playing soccer with Liam and the three of us went for a walk to a nearby park a little earlier.

Liam and I actually had a nice day yesterday! We took advantage of the weather and went to the nearby Michi no Eki with a lunch box that we made together. There is a river with ducks and carp so we had a bit of a wander and then he played in the park there. The wind was rather chilly yesterday though so it was a bit much for me after a while and we came home. I used a 7-11 ice cream to bribe him to leave so we were all happy :-) I had a class here late yesterday arvo but Liam kept himself entertained with a DVD. We then had lasagna for dinner which was very yummy. I hadn't made it for ages but Liam loved it too and had a massive helping. I had lots too but left room to pig out on a yummy crunchy filled cadbury block of choc after Liam went to bed.

It has been quite a weekend of eating actually. Liam and I had pancakes for breakfast with some fresh fruit. I am still full I'm sure that will change soon. Hub has offered to make me tofu gyoza for dinner which is one of my fave foods.

Everything with Miss M is going well and my stomach is getting very big. I think it's about the same size as it was when I gave birth to Liam. It's suddenly got more pronounced so I have lots of random people commenting on it. I was back at the doctor last week and everything is looking good. He was happy that I haven't put on much weight the last month and asked if I had been putting in a special effort or was feeling too sick to eat. Neither is true though! The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Liam. I put on lots of weight at the beginning and basically nothing for the last 2 months. It would be nice if that was the case this time but we will have to wait and see. Miss M is average size according to the doctor but when I looked at some charts with average weights she seemed to be biggish. Nay, we will have to compare weights lol! I guess we can only wait and see too.

Enjoy the sun everyone!!!!

Oh so tired.....

2010-02-07T19:01:00.002+09:00

I think I have been unlucky enough to catch Liam's strep throat. At first I thought it was just allergies but yesterday and today I have been feeling awful. I am also super irritable which one of my students told me was a symptom of strep throat. Loss of appetite is also one apparently but not for me! I always wish I was one of those types who got sick and could lose weight lol. I probably eat more when I am sick as I feel sorry for myself. I made the choc-coconut slice that Achan posted this afternoon as my Aussie friend and her two girls are coming over for a play date on Tuesday. I of course had to try some to see if it was okay and it was rather hard to stop. It has been quite an eating weekend actually so now I am too scared to weigh myself.

Liam is fortunately all better but has to take antibiotics for two weeks. He has to take three doses a day which is hard to remember and as we are not that organised re: eating meals at the same time it takes a bit of thinking about.

Even though I have been feeling a little off, I have managed to get quite a bit done over the weekend. I took advantage of the sunny weather and washed all of the baby clothes I had given it to me from a friend. I also bought a few plastic drawers to put everything away in. Mum sent a box over of the stuff she had bought so I already have three big drawers full. I have quite a lot of 0000s so I hope baby isn't too big and can get a bit of use out of them. Speaking of baby, we have pretty much decided on a name which I will keep secret for the time being but I might use it to give her the nickname, Miss M :-)

Liam has his daycare concert next week and we were instructed to prepare a light blue top and pants by tomorrow. This proved to be quite a difficult task as there is really not that much light blue stuff around for boys but we finally found something that will have to do. They are more of an aqua like colour but were cheap which is always good. He is supposed to be playing a donkey so I have no idea why he is a blue donkey lol. We also went to Toys R Us to buy Liam a new helmet. I also got a cute pink baby blanket and some handkerchiefs. I am gradually getting stuff together which is good. The only big stuff we have to get are a car seat and a sling but we have basically decided on both online.

This week is not too busy workwise which is good. We do have a long day tomorrow though as I have my first class at 10 and my last at 5:30 so we won't get home until after 7. I only have 4 classes in total though plus Liam's swimming class and a dentist appointment for me. Liam is coming with me to the dentist so I hope he behaves. I told him he had to hold my hand like I do for him :-)

Alright I am ready for bed already so I had better try and get the boys of the house organised. Hope everyone has a great week!

Annoying husbands.......

2010-02-03T21:57:00.003+09:00

My husband is seriously driving me crazy lately! He is constantly leaving stuff lying all around the place so all I seem to do is pick up after him and Liam. He has managed to lose Liam's bike helmet which is a mystery as he swears he was wearing it when they came home from their last ride. I have to admit he is a good dad and spends a lot of time with Liam but the way they play drives me insane. They are always so loud and boisterous which I wouldn't mind if it was during the day but they are like this after dinner every night. I think being pregnant and the hormones is making everything more annoying but aargh I am so over it. I have begun to think that the whole tanshin funin (husband living in another city for work and just coming home on hols) might be a nice set up.

Liam was sick this week with strep throat. He chucked a major tantrum on Sunday morning over eating his breakfast which I was rather unimpressed about as I had made him an especially yummy one. There were lots of tears on his behalf and yelling on mine and he finally sat down and ate it. We then got in the car to go to You Me City which is about an hours drive from here. He started complaining of a sore stomach and seemed to have a bit of a temp. We were almost there so continued on our way and I ended up buying a baby futon set and some shinkenja glow in the dark (didn't realise that until that night!) pajamas for Liam. He was definitely not 100% though so we headed home after about an hour. Ryuji decided that he had a temperature because I had made him cry that morning. Typical male comment hey! Liam spent most of the arvo sleeping but his temp was gone by that night. It went up again quite high during the night though so I decided to cancel all my classes on Monday and take him to the doctor. The test for strep throat came back negative but after the doctor checked his throat he still decided to diagnose him with. He seems to have been right as after a couple of days on antibiotics he is fine again. I was told to keep him home from daycare yesterday so did so but he was back again today. There were so many kids missing today though! The flu has apparently come back with a vengeance and there are lots of other stomach bugs and stuff going around. This was the first time Liam had been sick for months so hopefully it all doesn't hit him now. Bring on spring, warmer weather and less illnesses!

The males in our household apart from hub have actually been under the weather. Our cat Miffy, who despite his name is male has been in the wars. He is severely neglected as we are so busy and Liam has taken over but on Friday I realised he wasn't his usual genki self and after checking him out realised he couldn't put weight on one of his back legs. Ryuji and Liam took him to the vet while I taught on Saturday morning and were told that he had been in a fight but not to worry as his leg wasn't broken or anything. The vet gave him a couple of needles and us some tablets to give him. He has been very quiet up until today not really eating and just sleeping in his bed but this morning was very vocal about wanting to go outside. I let him out but haven't seen him since so hopefully he is okay.

I had to go to the baby doctor yesterday so baachan came over and looked after Liam for me. Baby girl is growing nicely and apparently a bit bigger than average at 1300g at almost 29 weeks. I was always told Liam was smallish and he was only 2986g even though he was 8 days late. It will be interesting to see what baby girl ends up weighing. I was a massive baby at 4200g so I'm hoping she hasn't taken after me :-) She is very active though which is good! I start to feel paranoid if she hasn't moved for a while but fortunately that doesn't happen very much.

Starting to feel sleepy so had better go and do my chores and get myself up to bed. Hope you all are having a fun filled week :-)

It's a girl!

2010-01-21T21:44:00.004+09:00

At 26 weeks and 6 days, I finally found out I am having a girl! Am over the moon as it's exactly what I wanted but I had mentally prepared myself for having another boy so it came as quite a shock. Baby hadn't been co-operating at all up until now during ultrasounds but this time the doctor was very quick to say that everything was in full view so of course I assumed it was a boy! It was girl bits that were on display though. Yay! I am so looking forward to all the fun girls clothes! I called hubby as soon as I left the clinic and then my mum who decided to go out shopping as soon as we got off the phone. We had a skype chat the next day and she showed me all of the outfits (over 10!) she had bought. So much fun pink and purple stuff! I already have a few unisex outfits so baby is going to have a huge wardrobe to choose from. We will also be back in Australia in the summer so I will be able to go mad buying all the winter stuff that will be on sale. Quite dangerous as I won't be working but that's what credit cards are for right? :-)

January is flying by so hopefully the next few months will do so as well! Going back to work after 2 weeks off was rather harsh but am gradually getting back into the swing of things. I seem to have had something on everyday for the last couple of weeks. Last weekend, we had some visitors from Australia which was rather tiresome to say the least. No work tomorrow though as my one class was cancelled. Liam has an appointment at the dentist and then I have promised him a happy set if he behaves there. He of course only wants the toy and couldn't really care less about the meal but if the thought of it helps him stay calm at the dentist it works for me.

We were spoilt with 3 packages from Australia today. Well one was from China actually as my dad has been visiting there. He sent over a crazy top that lights up and sings a song for Liam, some cards (?) for Ryuji and a picture for me. My friend Sarah also sent over late Christmas presents for Liam and the baby. Liam got a book and some funky clothes and the baby got a few stylish outfits. I also got a box from my mum as it's my birthday on Sunday. She even put a present in it from Liam as she knows hub is super slack and probably wouldn't do anything. Liam has been talking about wanting to buy me a present so I may still be surprised yet. Hub is in the bad books as after going to a wedding about 10 days ago and spending 40,000 yen (30,000 for the wedding and 10,000 for the after parties) he has some silly work do on tomorrow night for a guy who is being transferred to a branch of the company which is only 20 minutes away. I don't see the point of it and as we are trying to be careful with money don't see why he needs to go but of course he HAS to. I was stingy wife and only gave him 5000 yen to take. We live about 20 minutes out of town so getting home is rather costly so he is crashing at a friend's house. I am actually rather looking forward to Liam and I having a quiet night on our own and not having to worry about hub's dinner but am still allowed to be slightly annoyed right? :-)

Alright I am going to hang out a load of washing and then head upstairs to bed to watch a DVD. Have been watching a British show called Hope Springs which is quite entertaining and I think I only have one episode to go.

My noughties!

2010-01-03T21:28:00.002+09:00

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a good one! As I am having so much fun reading about everyone else's last decade I am going to do the same for me. I don't have the best memory though so hopefully I can remember some interesting stuff.

2000 - 2nd year of second stint in Japan. Saw in the New Year in Australia with family and friends and then headed back to the Guch early in the year. Lots of nights of drinking and partying with foreign friends. In February or March, headed to Fukuoka with British friend for a night of dancing at one of the "Cock" clubs in Fukuoka. Met and exchanged contact details with Kenji. He came and visited me in Yamaguchi soon after and we started going out. In early April, jetted off to Thailand with another British friend for 10 days of fun in Bangkok and Koh Samui. Drank way too many Pina Coladas. After coming back to Japan, Kenji turned into a bit of a crazy so I ended it which resulted in some stalker like activities. Came to Yamaguchi from Fukuoka in the middle of the night. Luckily was living with another Aussie who is quite full on and she managed to scare him away. In the end of April, British friend and I were out on the town and met Ryuji and Yuji. We were totally confused and didn't know who was who for ages. Ryuji and I hit it off as did friend and Yuji. Did the double dating thing for a while until friend and Yuji fizzled out mainy because of communication difficulties. Went to Malaysia in the summer and then back to Australia for Christmas.

2001 - Ryuji and I started basically living together but he went home most Friday nights to play soccer and hang with his friends. Went to Okinawa with Ryuji in the spring and then came back to meet Aussie friend in Kyoto. Spent some time hanging out there and then came back to Yamaguchi with friend. Found out I had gall stones so organised to have operation in August. First time to have blood drawn, have a drip and of course have an operation so was a wreck. Thankfully mum came over to offer moral support! Survived operation lol but was worst patient ever. Cried at night when Ryuji had to go home and demanded to leave hospital early.

2002 - I don't really remember much about the start of this year so who knows what went on. Ryuji officially proposed in the summer but as we had already talked about marriage it wasn't such a big deal. We decided to have our wedding in April of the next year but handed in the papers in September. Took Ryuji back to Australia after Christmas for a whirlwind 1 week trip. Bought wedding dress in Australia.

2003 - Wedding in April! Mum brought my wedding dress over in March and it was too big as I had dieted a bit so had to frantically find some dressmakers to bring it in for me. Had a lovely wedding with lots of visitors from Australia and over Japan. Went to Hawaii for honeymoon. Packed on lots of weight after the wedding and at the end of summer decided something needed to be done. Went on strict diet where I didn't eat any carbs well bread, rice, pasta etc and lost 16kg. Shouted mum a trip to Japan for Christmas. Met her in Kyoto and showed her some of the sights.

2004 - Went back to Australia in March for friend's wedding! Surprised everyone with my weight loss which was lots of fun. Decided to go off the pill in preparation for baby making at the start of July. Believed everything I had read about it taking a while to get pregnant after being on the pill so didn't use any precautions on the day I went to Australia in the middle of July. Had 2 weeks of fun and lots of drinking in Australia. Was surprised my period hadn't come after getting back to Japan but thought it must be a side effect from the pill. By mid August was worried so took a test and I was pregnant. Was majorly freaked out that I had drunk so much in Australia but thankfully everything went well. No morning sickness either!

2005 - Started maternity leave at the end of February. Mum came over in March about a month before my due date. Had Liam on April 19. He was 8 days late. Swore I would never give birth in Japan again after the long and painful labor. Mum stayed in Japan until mid June which was a great help. Dad visited in August for a few days. Mum came over again in November and we went back to Australia together. Liam and I stayed for 5 weeks and Ryuji came over for the last week.

2006 - Came back to Japan where it was freezing and I managed to get the flu for the first time in my life. Gave it to Liam but we both survived it somehow. Ryuji and I were browsing on Yahoo real estate one day and found a 15 year old house near his hometown. It was majorly cheap so we came and checked it out. The previous owners didn't seem to like cleaning so we were shocked by the state of it but saw the potential and ended up buying it. Moved in at the end of March. Mum gave over to help us move and to try and get the house into a livable state. Liam turned 1 and I went back to work full time. Ryuji quit his job as the commute to his old one was too far after the move. The timing was quite good as Liam started daycare and he could help with taking him and picking him up. Ryuji got a new job after about a month. Liam and I headed back to Australia for a month in the summer.

2007 - Decided I couldn't handle working full time and bringing up Liam so changed my job at the school to part time and picked up some private students. We put a lawn in our backyard. Mum, my brother and his now wife came over for Liam's 2nd birthday. Liam and I headed home again in the summer. Mum came back here for Christmas and we had a big lunch with other foreign wives and their families.

2008 - Not so memorable year. Usual trip home in the summer but this time a little earlier than usual as my uncle got married in early July.

2009 - Picked up lots of private students so work was busier than ever. Went to Australia in June for my brother's wedding. Ryuji and his mother came along too. Had issues with my father and his new wife at the wedding which resulted in him ignoring me for 3 months. Silly old git :-) After years of thinking, Liam would be an only child decided I would like another baby. Ryuji was up for the idea so we started trying after Australia and got pregnant in the 2nd month. Am having another easy pregnancy with no morning sickness and other problems so far. Have decided being pregnant over Christmas is very harsh though. Not only can't you drink but you put on way too much weight too. Had mum, my brother and his wife here for Christmas and New Year which was lovely.

So that's me done! Sorry it's not too exciting but I am amazed at how much I actually remembered. Aargh can't believe I have a lesson at 10AM tomorrow morning. I have been getting up around that time for the last couple of weeks so I had better get to bed soon.

Christmas fun!

2009-12-19T20:23:00.005+09:00

I can't believe it is less than a week until Christmas! It has come around very quickly and I am totally disorganised. Well we have the food side of things pretty much sorted but I have done hardly any shopping for presents. I don't have that many people too buy for but still I had better get my butt into gear. We planned to buy a bike for Liam but now it appears jiichan is going to buy it for him but still pretend it's from Santa. I have a few other things for him but as he is going to get totally spoilt by other people I might just leave it at that. We are off to Toys R Us tomorrow though so something could jump at me. Ryuji is convinced that he needs something Kamen Rider or Shinkenja related but I think he could live without them!

My mum arrived on the 11th and has been a huge help. Liam is so much happier as I think with both Ryuji and I being pretty busy with work he was feeling a little attention deprived. He is getting heaps now from mum though and I also have more time to spend with him as I don't have to worry about doing everything around the house too. He has taken the month of daycare and seems to be perfectly happy about that too. He will be 5 in April and as he will start school in two years we had been thinking about doing the "normal" thing and sending him to the local daycare full time. As we live in the sticks the nearest kindy is a 30 minute bus ride away so most people around here do the daycare thing for at least 2 years. There is a daycare just down the road from us and I went and checked it out with a friend a couple of weeks and was almost ready to hand in the application papers when I had a sudden change of heart. New baby is due in April and my mum will be coming over again a week or so before my due date and staying for about 3 months and then I plan to go back to Australia with her for about 6 weeks with Liam and bub. We would have to pay about 30,000 yen a month for daycare and if we didn't want to pay while we were in Australia we would have to officially take him out and then re enrol him when we got back. As I won't be working at all our finances won't be very healthy so I have been wondering if it's really worth it. I talked to both Ryuji and mum about it and they both seem to think it's okay if he doesn't go so I think that's what is going to happen. I'm sure people around the place will think we are terrible parents but I don't really care. I will make an effort to do lots of educational stuff with him at home and make more of an effort to work on his English reading and writing.

In baby news, I had my 22 week appointment yesterday. I was worried about getting in trouble for my weight gain as I seemed to put on about 2kg in the week after my previous visit but with some sensible (or maybe not so sensible?) eating over the couple of days before my appointment all was okay! I have to go back again after the New Year though which might not be pretty at all lol. No luck again in finding out the sex either! This time, baby was lying horizontally across my belly with his/her legs jammed together! Rather disappointing but funny in a way too! I knew with Liam by the time he was 20 weeks so this baby is certainly making us wait and giving me way too much time to think about what it is.

My brother and his wife flew into Osaka tonight and hopefully will be at their hotel or making their way there. They are probably freezing as they are coming from the Australian summer where temperatures have been in the mid 30s. I hope they managed to find some warm clothes to bring with them. They are spending the day tomorrow in Kyoto with our Japanese friend Nami who did a homestay with us when I was at high school. They are then making their way down to Yamaguchi on Tuesday afternoon. We are all really looking forward to seeing them and Liam is counting down the days on the calendar. Mum and I spent the day getting ready for their arrival. We are going to give them our bedroom and Ryuji and I will bunk in with Liam. A friend has lent us a double futon so I think I will make Ryuji and Liam sleep on it and I will get the bed.

Mum and I did the usual pre-Christmas visit to Costco last Sunday. We left Liam at home with Ryuji which was a very good idea as it was manic. We arrived around 9:40 and at that stage there wasn't a line so we decided to wait in the car a bit. When we went back around 9:50 though there was quite a long line. We got our shopping done by about 11:30 but the lines at the registers were horrendous - probably 30m long. I had never seen it like that! We finally got out and after dumping all our purchases in the car had a walk around the rest of the complex. I was happy to find the Gap that I heard had opened there recently and was even happier to see they had sales on. Mum and I got a red cardigan which we are going to share and I got a pair of cords for Liam. We also had a look at the newborn stuff which was very cute.

I am off to Fukuoka again on Tuesday with my Aussie friend as she has go to the consulate to get her new baby's passport. She is leaving her two older kids and I am leaving Liam and we are going to enjoy a day of shopping, Starbucks and other fun. I so have to get my Christmas shopping done too.

Mum brought me over two blocks of cadbury choc which seem to be calling my name now. All I seem to have done today is eat but I have at least 2 weeks until my next doctor's appointment :-)

Long time no blog

2009-12-01T21:18:00.002+09:00

I have no idea where the last half of November went and am in shock it's December already! I got my first Christmas card yesterday from a friend in the UK so I guess that means I better get my butt into gear and start organising mine. I used to be super slack about Christmas cards but after living here for so long realised it's actually nice to get them and for that to happen it's really a reciprocal deal :-)

I am having a lovely week as the school has tests on so I don't have to go in at all! I still have my private classes but having 8 classes less than usual is definitely nice. Liam and I headed to a shopping centre about 40 minutes away from here to meet up with another foreign wife and bub for the first time. We "met" on Facebook on a Yamaguchi teacher's page and organised to meet up. We are the same age with one kid and another on the way so it was really nice to hang out. Hopefully we can do it again soon and get some play groups happening in the future. Anyway, today we had pizza and pasta for lunch, did some shopping and then had cake and coffee at Starbucks. Yum yum! Felt the need to do the exercise bike when I got home but after that and vegie soup for dinner I am feeling slightly less piggish.

I have an unusually social week as tomorrow Aussie friend and her two girls are coming over for lunch and a play. I am making pasta sauce at the moment to have with yummy Costco ravioli. I am so not a morning person but my friend is and will probably be here early so at least if the sauce is done just throwing everything together will be easy. I need time to give the house a quick do over as well.

Then Thursday Liam and I are off to lunch with my lovely obachan student after class. I have been teaching two 60ish Japanese ladies for the last 7 year or so and they are like my Japanese mums. Unfortunately only one can come to class this week as the other's great nephew has the flu and as she was around him she doesn't want to risk giving it to me.

After working crazy hours for the last two months, Ryuji is finally getting home at a decent hour. For basically all of October and November he was leaving home at 6:20 and not getting home until 11 which meant Liam and I hardly ever saw him during the week. Before getting pregnant I still would have been up when he got home but lately if I am not asleep by then I am definitely snug in bed getting ready to be that way. But as of yesterday, he has been getting home at 7 so we have been doing the family dinner thing and then he showers with Liam and goes up to bed with him. It means Liam's bedtime is a bit later than if I was doing it but it also means that I get some me time which is definitely lovely.

My mum arrives next Friday which has come about quite quickly. She only left at the start of October but the time seemed to drag by until recently. She is here for a month this time and then will come back in April hopefully before the baby is born. Liam's birthday is on the 19th so she will come a week or so before that. Baby's due date is the 21st and as Liam was 8 days late she should be here. If she's not I guess baachan will have to step up and help out with Liam.

My last ob/gyn appointment was quite uneventful so I didn't post about it. I was hoping to both find out the baby's sex and get the new flu shot but neither happened. Baby was upside down and had its back towards us so we couldn't see anything. Major disappointment but next time I go I will be 22 weeks so if baby co-operates we should have a good chance of finding out. Re: the flu shot, there are at least 250 women at my clinic who want to get it but the clinic apparently only received 50 vaccines in November so gave them to the women who are furthest along in their pregnancy. My doctor seemed to think I would be able to get it at my next appointment at the middle of this month but who knows what will happen. Everyone around me seems to be getting it so I guess I just hope to be lucky enough not to. Liam got his shot last week too so hopefully that will mean he is less likely to bring it home from daycare.

Okay this is turning into a novel and a hot shower is calling me so I will be off :-)

Busy busy.....

2009-11-15T20:10:00.003+09:00

Lots has been happening since I last posted. I had an easier than usual work week as I had a couple of afternoons off at the school I teach at because of parent/teacher interviews. I have also had a few cancellations because of the flu. We are all healthy for the moment so hopefully we stay that way for a while.

I had a lovely afternoon last Wednesday. I had a big gap between classes so first I met my Canadian friend Beth for a yummy Italian lunch and then I took myself off to the movies. I watched The Ugly Truth which was silly as expected but light and soppy so I enjoyed it. I took in a secret stash of choccies so that made it more enjoyable too.

I have been to the hospital to visit my friend Kerry for the last two days. Her 2 month old, Mia has the RS virus and as she is so little her doctor wants to monitor her and make sure it doesn't get too serious. Mia is dealing with it all very well and is still her cute smiley stuff but I feel sorry for Kerry. She is stuck in this tiny little room that only has a fold up bed and TV in it and she is feeling very bored. She has two older kids who are not allowed to visit so she is missing them too. I spent a few hours with her today and yesterday so at least she had a bit of company. I also enjoyed the break away from Liam (I am over using initials!) and hub. I just told hub I am happy that he will be back at work tomorrow as I will at least get a bit of peace and quiet lol!

As hubby was outside painting again today I decided that Liam and I should bake a cake to keep him occupied. I am not much of a baker and can only remember ever making one cake before so I was a little worried about how it would turn out but it ended up being okay. We had a few ripe bananas so I found a recipe online for one with lemon icing. Hubby reckons the icing was sour but this is the man who thinks that strawberries are sour so I didn't expect anything else :-) Liam who in the end didn't help at all in the baking process thinks it's yummy tho. I also made a big fruit salad as I have been craving it lately. I took up both some cake and fruit salad to my friend in hospital and both were hits. I saw her dinner before I left and I don't how she is surviving on such unappetising food. She is using it as a good chance to diet :-)

It is now less than a month until my mum arrives which we are all looking forward to. It makes life so much easier having her around to help out with Liam when I am teaching such crazy hours. He is also going through an anti daycare phase so he will enjoy staying at home with his granny. Hubby is looking forward to the Bundy Rum she always brings over for him. My brother and his wife are coming over for Christmas which will be lovely too. It will be the first time we have all been together for Christmas and the first time in 4 years that my mum, bro and I have been together. My mum usually alternates between spending it here or with my brother and this year she was supposed to be in Australia but my brother decided to come here. Yay! I am little bit sad that I will probably be the only sober one on Christmas day but I will have to make up for it in the eating department.

I am back to the doctor on Friday for my monthly check up. I am looking forward to it as I feel so normal and not particularly pregnant so it will be reassuring to have an ultrasound and see bub. I will be 18 weeks so I'm hoping there might be a chance I can find out the sex but not too hopeful as my dr has a reputation of not saying anything until he is 99% sure. Can always hope though :-)

Weekend eating!

2009-11-08T17:06:00.002+09:00

I guess it's a common thing but I always seem to make a huge pig of myself on weekends. We are pretty busy during the week and not home a lot which is definitely a good thing! I have had the nibbles all day. Even though dinner is not too far away I just made myself a mini feast of cheese and tomato on crackers. It would have gone down even better with a glass of red but alas that won't be happening for a while.

It has been a pretty quiet weekend here. I had a couple of classes yesterday, one in the city and one at home. I went and had my haircut before my first class which was nice and relaxing. I love love the shampoo time! I got a free treatment which was a nice surprise. I used to get my hair coloured professionally too but it was getting a bit expensive so mum is now sending me over cheap Aussie hair dye and hub dyes it for me. He bitches and moans about having to do it but actually does a good job. Better than my mum who gets it all over my face and I then have to walk around for a few days with random wine red smudges on my face. Haha luckily my family doesn't know about this blog. I am actually a bit shy about sharing it with people I know! Is that weird?

Hub has been painting again today so I have had the job of keeping L entertained and stopping him going outside and whining at daddy. I don't really mind R having to deal with the whining but I don't trust L not to wander off. Last week he was missing for over half an hour as he went off with the neighbour to walk his dog. R had basically seen them go off but wasn't sure. Silly man! I made him go off in the car to look for them which he did but he came back saying they looked so happy that he just let them be. If it was me L would have been snatched away and taken home for a severe talking too. He still ended up getting the talking too but it happened when he finally got home with a yellow flower (weed?) for mummy and a strange nut like thing for daddy.

L and I went to get our seasonal flu shots on Friday. We ended up having to go to two different doctors as the place I had mine done wouldn't give L his as he had never been a patient there and they were giving priority to their existing patients. Very silly I thought! R goes there too and as he got the vac through work doesn't need to get it done. I tried to use this as an argument for letting L have his but of course he didn't work. So off we went to another clinic to get his done. They are offering the vac quite cheaply so it was a mad house. After it was done the doctor told us he probably wouldn't be able to get the second one as there would be no vaccines left. Dodgy!

Flu season!

2009-11-05T20:12:00.002+09:00

Does a day go by lately where you don't have a conversation with someone about the flu? Lordy, I am watching the repeat of the Yankees game on TV and they just mentioned it on there. I teach 4 private classes at home on Thursday and they turned out to be very quiet. The parents of 4 kids let me know in advance that they wouldn't be coming. One boy has the new flu but not sure about the others. Then my last class which is with two sisters just didn't show up and I haven't heard anything from them. Very bizarre! I was kind of happy though as it meant my day finished early and I had time to throw dinner for hub before L got home from baachans.

So now I am having dilemmas about vaccinations and wondering if I should just go with H1n1 (is that right?) or have the seasonal one too. I had pretty much decided against having the seasonal one but after doing some reading am thinking maybe it would be better to have it. I didn't have it when I was pregnant with L or when he was a baby but then I ended up getting the flu when he was about 8 months old. It was harsh but bearable even without meds as I didn't want to take anything as I was breastfeeding. But if getting it will have an affect on the baby that's a different matter. So I will do some ringing around tomorrow and see if there are any places around that still have some vaccines available. I want L to get his regardless of what I decide on.

Aussie friend K was supposed to be coming over tomorrow with her two lovely girls, 2 year old E and almost 2 month old M. She has a son the same age as L but he goes to kindy so wasn't going to come. She mailed me earlier to say that he is sick though and will be off kindy and as she doesn't want to give us anything they will stay away. It has been a while since I've had a good gossip session with another foreign pal so it's a bit of a bummer but as I don't have a class until 3 L and I can have a nice relaxing morning. Hopefully L will sleep in a bit. I have actually trained him quite well and he is not an early riser. I'm sure it is a result of all the lie ins we had when he was a baby as he was not much of a night time sleeper.

So as I said earlier I am watching the baseball! I always loved watching sport on TV in Australia but after coming to Japan couldn't really get in to anything here. I then discovered major league baseball and became a quick fan. I follow the Yankees and am a big Matsui fan so was over the moon to hear that they won the World Series today and that Matsui was named MVP. Yay! I couldn't watch the game live this morning but it is being repeated now. I would have been quite tense if I watched it this morning but now I know the result it's all good.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and even better weekend. Stay warm and healthy!

Off to Costco tomorrow!

2009-10-31T18:52:00.004+09:00

Yay for ETC and cheap highway travel as we can make it down to Fukuoka and Costco a lot more. We only used to visit a couple of times a year before big events such as Christmas or L's birthday but recently we have been going every couple of months. I was trying to hold off until before Christmas but I need a few staples like pasta, cheese and canned stuff. We are going to head to the You Me Town in Hakata first. They have a tiny kid's NEXT store so I like to check it out and I also wouldn't mind looking at a few clothes for me. I am not a fan of the maternity clothes here so am trying to stay in normal clothes for as long as possible. I bought a couple of knit dresses that are big and flowy so will work well over leggings and hopefully I will wear again when I'm not pregnant. Being a bigger city though there might be some semi decent maternity stuff so I will check it out. It's supposed to rain tomorrow but hopefully it's not too bad. Loading a load of Costco stuff in the car will not be fun otherwise.

Planning to leave at 8 tomorrow morning which will be a bit harsh. I am so not a morning person but if I have something to look forward I can usually handle it. We will skip breakfast and get something on the way so at least we will just have to get up, get dressed and get out the door. Fun fun! I am such a shopaholic that even grocery shopping is exciting for me.

So is everyone getting ready for the cold snap coming up? I am guessing it will be all over Japan but it looks like it will be majorly chilly from Monday. I finally changed our doona from the thin summer type to a big thick one today. We have to drag the heaters out and buy some kero tomorrow though. I still am not a fan of winter in Japan. I lived in Hokkaido for 10 months when I was a uni student but I don't know how I survived as the winters in Yamaguchi even kill me.

After thinking about my over spending on groceries this week I decided I would make dinner with what was in the fridge even though there wasn't much. I found 2 small packs of mince and chicken in the freezer so decided to make a pasta sauce for the boys. We had some eggplant, capsicum, spinach and a yellow zucchini so it actually ended up being quite nutritious. I had sweet potato with yogurt and salad and sweet chili sauce. Might sound strange but it actually tastes really good.

Better do my chores so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. I took advantage of the lovely sunny day and did about 4 loads of washing. Shit that reminds me I washed some jumpers and forgot to take them out of the washing machine. I must be suffering from pregnancy brain already. I hope they aren't smelling too rank.

Edited to add:

We just had our first ever kids come here trick or treating. We only had rice crackers and a few random lollies to give them. I wanted to say I was Australian so we don't celebrate Halloween but hubby is kinder than me :-)

Two nightmare days over for another week!

2009-10-29T20:42:00.003+09:00

I seriously hate my Wednesdays and Thursdays at the moment. I teach about 24 classes a week but 14 of them are on Wednesday and Thursday. I have no idea how I got myself into it but it's here to stay for the moment. On Wednesdays, I teach at L's daycare in the morn, three classes at the high school, two primary school boys and then two court clerks. I don't finish until 6:30 so L stays until daycare until late which he is not very impressed about. Then Thursday, I have a private class with two older ladies in the morning, three classes at the school and then four classes at home in the arvo. My mother in law works part time at a nursing home but fortunately she organises to have Thursday off so she can take care of L while I do my afternoon classes here. I got myself in the silly situation of letting the parent's of my students wait in the living room while I teach. There are some siblings that have classes after each other so it seemed like an okay idea at the start but it's really not good at all. I have to make sure the living room is in a reasonable state and then the mothers seem to think it's gossip time for them so they don't really watch their kids and let them run riot in and outside of the house. I know I really should say something but the money I get for these Thursday classes is a fair chunk and I really can't afford to lose it.

Anyway, enough of my bitching, tomorrow is Friday and I only have two classes. Yay! I am looking forward to a sleep in on Saturday. I don't have classes until 10 at the earliest so we don't have to get up too early usually but 8 o'clock has been a struggle for me this week.

I am still getting used to this whole blogging thing. I can't seem to change the language to English on my main page and I am unsure about the whole comment thing. If someone leaves a comment on one of your posts and you respond to it, how often do they actually see it? Sorry for the silly questions :-)

Enjoy your Fridays!!!!!

Tired....

2009-10-26T20:15:00.002+09:00

I have been lucky enough to have no real morning sickness this pregnancy or my last one but this time I am really feeling the tiredness. I don't know if it's because I am busier at work or because I have a 4 year old to look after. Maybe both!

Today was a relatively easy day work wise with only 2 classes at the high school. I did some banking when I was done and then picked L up from daycare to go to swimming class. He seemed to be asleep when I walked in the door but then was suddenly crying for some reason. He has been going to daycare since he was one but lately we are having some major issues about going. He hasn't been a daytime sleeper since he was quite little so the enforced nap thing doesn't help but as he has been going for so long he was pretty much used to it. I don't know if it has something to do with the baby but he cries most mornings about going. As he only goes when I have work on there are some days when I can pick him up before nap time and if I tell him that is going to happen he is fine. If he knows it will be later he puts on a performance.

Anyway, had swimming class which was crazy as usual. Ten 4 to 5 year olds jumping around in the water. L is getting better but is half the time too busy mucking around with other boys to do what he is supposed to do. After swimming we hit the supermarket to get stuff for the week. I usually do a big shop on Monday but still end up getting stuff at various times throughout the week. We spend way too much on groceries. Usually over 60,000 for just the three of us but I love my fresh fruit and vege and that's what seems to kill us.

Dinner was leftover pumpkin and sweet potato soup. Hub won't be home until after 9 but of course soup won't do as a dinner for him so I have made him an assortment of stuff including slightly burnt spare ribs. Oops! I have a good excuse though as I was on the exercise bike when they were cooking and couldn't check.

Shower and bed are calling. I bought a region free DVD player for our bedroom which was a great buy.

First post

2009-10-25T11:55:00.002+09:00

After being an avid reader of various foreign wives in Japan's blogs for the last few years I decided to bite the bullet and start my own. I like writing but have never been much of a diary writer even so we'll see how I go. After living in Japan for so long my written English is rather dodgy too so hopefully blog writing will help it a bit. I especially look forward to getting to know some of the writers of the blogs I love to read!

We are having a quiet Sunday here! Hubby R is outside painting our house. He is doing it himself as it is so expensive to get it done professionally but it's a never ending job! He was really into it for a while but for the last couple of weeks has been slacking off big time. Probably the 15 hour days he has been working aren't helping either! The yard is a huge mess with scaffolding and paint supplies all over the place so really hope he finishes soon. At least it's an excuse for me not to do the weeding though. Son L doesn't like the fact that daddy is too busy to play with him so we have some huge meltdowns which I would like to see the end of too. He is quietly watching Animalia at the moment so hopefully that will keep him distracted for a while. I have lots of things I should be doing but of course procrastinating on here is much more enjoyable.

I'm not looking forward to work this week as I have classes everyday except for Sunday. I thought less people wanted to study English with the economy the way it is but I seem to be getting more and more students. Usually I wouldn't keep accepting them but I keep thinking about how poor we will be after the baby is born in April so will somehow keep at it. I will have to take some time off of course and don't know when and what classes I will be able to resume anyway. If I have superbaby who sleeps all the time it might be easy enough but as 4 year old L doesn't even sleep through the night all the time now I am not so hopeful.

L has just announced he is going to make daddy lunch by mixing egg, sugar and tomato sauce in a bowl so I had better go and check it out!