The Beach Birthday Bash

We had a great, great day at the Casa de Los Lemleys. After trying to decide what to do for Maximo's birthday, we decided on a good old fashion birthday party at home. It's hard to do that here, because the apartments are so small, but we luckily have a yard, so we decided to invite a couple of friends over to help celebrate.

Maximo had a great day and handled everything pretty well - it must be pretty overwhelming for a three year old who is jacked up on sugar (which started by licking the frosting beaters at about 9:00 am) to get a bunch of presents and have his house full of friends.

Here are some of the highlights from our day:

Playing Pin the Tail on the Whale


Happy Birthday to Maximo - he loves this song, and will sing it anytime he sees anything that resembles a birthday cake - like dirt and a stick or when he sees candles!

Happy Birthday, Maximo! We love you heaps and heaps and heaps!

Photos from the Day:

Happy 3rd Birthday, Maximo!

I'm attributing the fact that I am pregnant with a girl with how domestic I became at planning this party. I had a lot of fun planning the menu and we had fun planning our little party at "Lemley Beach". No matter how much I plan and try to get everything done, I swear I never get around to brushing my hair before hosting friends - I did make it in the shower though.

And August is Almost Gone...

I just realized that I didn't have a Picasa photo album made for August. To me, August is like a Sunday, sometimes it's hard to relax, because work is looming around the corner! Last week was busy with us trying to get back into the swing of things. Maximo did beautifully all week at school which was so nice and such a huge change from last year. We had three day of faculty work days and the kids arrived on Thursday. Both fifth grade (which I teach) and high school (John's neck of the woods) have gone 1:1 laptop, which should make for an interesting year. We're both pretty techie, so it'll be nice not to have to fight for resources, but it will change the dynamic of the classes a bit.

Here are a few photos from the week. Our last week with a two year old... at least for another two years:

CAT TATTS:

The cat who was so starved for attention... this cat just doesn't run away

Princess Party - Max had no Prince attire, so he wore a cape!

And requested his toes be painted in blue!

Royalty at the party!

Cuteness Among the Exhaustion

We went to go see a friend this past weekend who just had a baby. The wonderful thing was that she started having complications and went on bedrest around the 24th week, but ended up delivering a baby boy on HER DUE DATE. Oh, I can only dream:)
Here are a couple of pictures from our visit:

Big Sister Kiyona and Soon-to-be Big Brother Maximo sharing a muffin.

A not so happy Toma, after finding out this milk factory isn't open yet!

Yesterday was our first day back at school and while it was nice not to be a newbie and pretty stress free, I was exhausted and felt pretty bad by the end of the day. So for day two and hopefully for the rest of the semester, I'm going to try to drink more, try to sit more and hope that all goes well. The heat is crushing right now. Our rooms are airconditioned, but the hallways are not, so I also need to not hang out there too much too.

I'm going to try to post a couple of short posts while I'm working, so hopefully you won't have to wait weeks between posts. (I'm not promising anything, although I'll try!)

We're Think We're Going to Like 3!

I don't know who likes the ViewMaster more - Maximo or John

The past few weeks with Maximo have been dreamy. He's been so good and quite funny. John and I look at each other and cackle half the time he says something and even find ourselves quoting him quite a bit when we're on our own (yes, a little sad, we know).
Here are some of our favorite Maximo quotes:

"It's heavy." - He uses this whenever anything is too hard, maybe heavy or he can't do it on his own.
"Bust my buffers." - Straight from Thomas the Tank Engine shows.
"Mmmmm. Scrumptious."
"I fine."


Some of the things we hear all the time and aren't our favorites:
"Maximo do (it)." - Seriously this is about 1,000,000 times a day and which takes us three times the amount of time to do anything, but we're glad he's getting more independent.
"No, it's mine."

He's finally getting the potty thing down pretty well. The "special stickers" seemed to do the trick this summer with his poop - that and the fact that he's pretty regular - and it's usually at a time we're at home. He's been so-so with pee accidents. Usually pretty good, but he often forgets when he's playing. But up until this week, we've had to tell him to go to the bathroom and twice! in the past two days he's told us and two other times he just up and did it himself. Whoa! I don't think I've been so excited since John proposed.

Since I'm finally feeling a wee bit better after almost 20 weeks of horribleness, I decided to make a little educational game for Max. He knows all his upper case letters, but not his lowercase... and why not throw in some words!

He seems a little less aggressive with other kids lately, which is nice because it isn't very relaxing to be out with friends with kids with him. He's had a huge boost in his language this summer, so hopefully he can work out his feelings better and talk about sharing rather than hitting or worse, biting.

We put him in daycare last week for three days so we could start getting ready for school and to get him back into the routine and he did GREAT! He walked there with us and was really happy. The senseis said he did well, which was nice. He hadn't played with children almost all summer, so we were a little worried.

He's just a lot of fun to be around. He's easy to take out, well, as easy as a toddler can be! He loves to run around outside and climb at the playground and does much better overall when he has time each day to be physical. So even with the horrible heat, we've (mostly John) been trying to get him out as much as possible.

John and Max got a fish tank and they're both having fun with it!

I'm going to be sad to go back to work. We've had a wonderful summer together as a family.

But in a less than two weeks, Max turns 3! We're going to have a little party at home. I'm getting all domestic (and excited) planning this one. Here's a sneak peek of the invitation:



Two has been an up-and-down year for all of us! Max has been fun, albeit challenging. There have been a lot of changes: a new country and home. Maximo started daycare. We got rid of pacifers, he moved from a crib to a big boy bed, he's potty trained. Wow! We can't wait for #3 with Maximo and the new baby.

It's a Girl, I think...

This is what I've heard from the doctor three times now. Today I had my monthly check up and John got to finally see the little one. It's so different with the second one. John went to every one of my prenatal visits with Maximo, but for this one, he stays home with Max so I can go.

I'm a bit of a worry wart as it is, and this pregnancy is really making my mind spin a bit. I am now just over 20 weeks pregnant, and so far, so... well, decent. The baby looks good and is the right size for its gestational age. There are a couple concerns, although not major at this point:

1. I gained double what I should have this past month - normally it's about a pound a week (1/2 kg). I gained almost 4 kg this month! That's almost 9 lbs, and I thought I was doing so much better with this one!

2. My placenta is sitting almost right on top of my old c-section/kidney surgery incision. My doctor is a little concerned with it adhering to that tissue. She's hoping the placenta will move up and then it won't be a problem. From what I could gather, the main concern is major bleeding during my c-section.

3. This week I started to have some contractions. I seriously was already writing a blog post in my head in the wee-hours of the morning... "Here We Go Again" is all that I was thinking. They didn't seem to be caused by anything, so I just laid low and they've been much better. They seem like they were just Braxton-Hicks and not regular or super consistent.

On a positive note, my cervix is totally closed and LONG, and if you didn't know already, that's exactly how you want your cervix when it's holding a baby in!

So, I wait another month for my next appointment. I'm a little concerned with working (we start back in a week), but I'll just take it easy as best as I can. The doctor told me not to worry too much. Ha!

I wish I could get more of a definitive sex on the baby because I want to go through the boxes of baby stuff I have, but we're just going to go with the fact that it's a girl. With Max, there was no doubt, and with this one there really wasn't anything there. So, the name game will begin!

Here's picture of my bigness:

Catch Up

I didn't get those Kyoto photos posted "as soon as we got home" as I intended. Kyoto was nice and we'd really like to go back - when it's not so hot. The heat was a killer. We made it to one shrine and the Nishiki Market - which has mostly food based products, then we had lunch and came back home. I don't think I could have made it all afternoon trudging along town in the heat.

@Temple in Kyoto

Nishiki Market

Getting our knives engraved

This is what Max did while we were purchasing knives

We had a great time with Nana. The day after Kyoto, we went to Osaka for the monthly shrine sale. It was again, excruciatingly hot, so we shopped 'til we dropped all morning, then headed back on island. We spent most the rest of our time on island and buying little odds and ends. She wanted to get Maximo a birthday present, so we went to Toys R Us and I stashed it away for him - and even got a birthday present for him too, which is really unlikely for me to do so early! On Friday, we went to the water park on island, which is really, really fun for Maximo. There are so many things he can do there and got more courageous to try some of the slides!

On Saturday, Nana left. Unfortunately, there was a little drama with her departure, but she made it on her flight (barely) but packed something we asked her to take back for Pete and Elvia's wedding (I'd be more precise, but they may read this!) and let's just say you shouldn't fly with it in your carry-on, so we have to return to the airport this week to go pick it up and try to ship it!

Since Nana left, I've been recovering! She wiped me out - in a good way. Really, it was more the heat than Nana. Max and John have been going out on secret missions to get Mommy ice cream (very important) and to catch bugs. We've also been just trying to stay cool.

Here's a cute little video from this week. Maximo has been talking so much - and in complete sentences. I'll have to post some of his best quotes lately, because he has us laughing all the time!

Three more weeks of vacation left... oh, where does the summer go?

A Week Chock Full of F-U-N!

Since Mom arrived we have been going at full speed almost the whole time. The first four days Mom was here it rained incessantly, then we went to Tokyo and came back to extreme heat and humidity - but at least it's easier to get around and we're not trapped in the house.When Mom arrived, it was Christmas in July which was fun, especially for Maximo. Nana was full of Thomas paraphernalia, so Maximo was super excited.

Maximo already in new pajamas and playing with new toys from Nana!

The next day we went to IKEA, 1. because Mom has never been to one 2. because we wanted to buy a "big boy bed" for Maximo. This may have not been the best plan. There were about 8 trillion people in IKEA, Maximo was HORRIBLE and his new bed got him off his sleeping schedule for about... well, tonight was the first night he went to bed without a bit of a fight.Maximo and Flavius trying out the new bed (this is the top bunk of the bed)

We then just relaxed and were kind of stuck in the house due to the weather for a few days, but ventured out in the gaps of rain for lunch, shopping and a little River Mall.

On Wednesday, we boarded the Shinkansen for Tokyo... Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea! This wasn't our original plan, but we scored a free night at one of the resort hotels and knew Mom would like being a part of Maximo's first experience at Disney! We had a great two days.

Nana, John and Maximo @ Disneyland Tokyo

On Thursday, we went to Tokyo Disneyland, which was a lot like Disney World, but, in my opinion, a bit better. It was a little more modern, there were a lot of places to sit down and there were also many shaded areas. John took Maximo on his first ride = Pirates of the Caribbean! He's really into pirates, but when he came out of the ride, he ran over to me, saying, "Mommy, pirate boat, little scary!" (John said he cried through some of it!) Pirates of the Caribbean - Maximo's first amusement park ride!

There were tons of little girls like this dressed up as princesses, I think there was a place you could go to dress up! I loved this one's hair! They must have been so hot in these dresses.

We persuaded him to get on another couple of rides with us - the train around part of the park, It's A Small World, and the carousel. We wouldn't go on any rides that had a wait, really the only thing I wish he could have done was the Dumbo ride, otherwise, we did all we needed to do. We went back to our hotel mid afternoon because Max was too wound up to sleep in the stroller in the park, then we returned for dinner at the Pirates of the Caribbean which was like stepping into Louisiana - very dark with lanterns and Spanish moss, then stayed and watched the Electric Parade. It was a fantastic day!

Water cannons shooting off from the castle - delicate Nana with her umbrella!

Maximo and Daddy on the carousel

On Friday, we headed to Disney Sea. To me, it was like what Epcot is to Disney World. It's an amusement park that has a water theme - all the different areas were different "ports" from around the world. It was scorching hot outside, but Max got to ride a few rides that didn't scar him for life and we saw a Little Mermaid show that was like little kid Cirque de Soleil. We went to a Mexican restaurant hoping for some decent Tex-Mex, which it didn't, but had a real Mexican band who played while we ate. Then we headed back on the Shinkansen for home.Maximo and Daddy on the Little Mermaid Flounder ride - pretty fast - he loved it!

Since then, we've been recovering from our trip. We've gone to Kobe Club for a swim, we went out to dinner one night for Kobe beef at Kochan's and we've shopped.

Tomorrow we head to Kyoto for the day. I'll try to post after our trip.
Here are more pictures from this month:

Morning at the Water Park

We're tracking Nana on FlightStats.com kind of like tracking Santa and his sleigh. (She'll probably bring as many gifts - no actually, probably more than what Santa usually delivers.)
On the horizon we have some pretty yucky weather coming our way and we've been trying to get together with one of Maximo's old schoolmates this week, so we decided to venture out to the Water Park this morning.There's a water park on island - and Max and Kiyona had a fabulous time! There were so many cool water features and all-in-all pretty safe. Max could play on his own without us standing guard the whole time. It was a great morning, and he quickly went off for a nap... until our next major event of the day... NANA'S ARRIVAL! We can't wait. She's about an hour from Tokyo as I write this, then she has another short flight into Osaka.

Maximo's favorite thing about the water park - the "big bucket" - once it fills it tips over and makes a loud noise and a ton of water comes out. He was fascinated, yet scared at the same time!
Time to go home!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

This video is from two weeks ago, it's not that exciting, but here it is...

Maximo is the one in the green shorts and the red swim cap. He's the youngest by almost a year and he hangs in there. This is the class stretching before going up to the pool.

Home Again Home Again Jiggidy-Jig

I was discharged on Friday morning. I don't think I've ever been discharged when I said I was going to be discharged... actually even earlier. Max was in daycare, so I requested something American to eat - because I was a bit tired of the hospital food. John made me a BLT that was hands down the best one I've ever eaten. I slept like the dead that afternoon, then Max came home to me being home!

He was great when he came to the hospital, but he's really all boy these days - so he was using my propped up bed as a slide and twice he called the nurses' station. So it's much easier to hang with the monkey at home.

It is super nice to be home.

I can't really say the surgery was successful, because only time will tell. If this baby comes out full term about the 2nd week of December, then, yes, it went perfectly! But, I feel pretty good. I have a follow-up appointment in a week.

Unfortunately, all day yesterday it rained. Not just rained - POURED, so we had to get creative with Max, so it was art projects and playing chase around the house (all day long).
And in less than a week Nana comes, we can't wait!