Labeled

I remember way before we ever even thought of Maximo, struggling to "see the baby" when looking at a grainy black and white sonogram picture and usually not figuring out what I was looking at...

But in the past three years, I've looked at over thirty or more and we've been lucky enough to get to see sonograms each time we visit the doctor (for both kiddos). Because anatomy and physiology have always fascinated me, I ask the doctor many questions as he/she has checked the baby's measurements and we've watched them flipping around. So now, I'm a pro at "guess the part of the baby", although you may be not.

So, I've labeled the "creepy" sonograms of Lola:
And not to leave out big brother, here's a recent picture of him at the Osaka Castle playground, which he LOVES!

A Christmas Present (to myself) Early

Note: The new banner is made of the creepy face-shots that my doctor thinks are so "kawaii" (cute).

I've never been a huge bike rider. Yes, I adored my banana seat Schwinn as a kid and have been on a couple of fantastic mountain biking treks, but I've never owned a nice bike or used a bike regularly.

Japan has changed all that. We don't have a car here, which I love, except when it's pouring down rain. So everyday, we hop on our bikes to go to work, shop or do our everyday things on the island. And now, I have become a proficient everyday biker. The first couple weeks we were here I was a little wobbly, especially with Max on the back. Unfortunately, I always buy too much when I go to the store, so I'm forever trying to creatively pack on my groceries - with bungies or with the front basket and back babyseat full AND my handlebars both with bags hanging off them, but I still seem to manage.

I have also mastered the art of riding my bike while holding an umbrella. This has become a little scarier now that I'm pregnant, but I can do it just the same. The big problem is loading the bike while it's raining. While I can arrive at my destination fairly dry when riding my bike, pushing the stroller while trying to hold an umbrella is near impossible... Hence, my purchase:

I hope it's easy to move from bike to stroller. If not, I may have to buy another.

We bought this today at the bike shop. Why were we at the bike shop? Well my petite frame caused my tire to POP on Saturday afternoon!

I did learn one lesson from using an umbrella while riding a bike, you may want to note if you want to try this balancing act... do not ride your bike with a dark colored umbrella. The clear ones are the best. (I almost ran over a lady one day because I had the umbrella down low because the rain was coming down hard.)

A Baby and Maximo Update

It's been ridiculously busy at work - so much so that I barely feel like I'm balancing everything. I'm trying to "take it easy" as much as I can, and I normally feel pretty good physically, but this week has been rough... and this week is continuing for me into the weekend as I have signed up for a workshop which is being hosted at our school Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't read the fine print when I signed up for a full-day workshop for the whole weekend, but, fortunately, it was great today and motivating.

I had my check up this week and Lola is doing well. Her size is good (1550 g *3.4 lbs.* about the size of Max at birth) and my cervix is still completely closed! This is encouraging because this was the same time as the check up I had with Maximo when I learned that things were taking a turn for the worst. She's jumping, dancing and kicking around quite a bit. So much so, that I have a hard time sleeping at night.

I'm getting big as you can see:And this is what the little lady looks like:
I get ultrasound pictures every time I have a doctor's appointment, which is a perk of having a baby outside the US. Unfortunately, my doctor likes to get "head on" shots of the baby. All the photos are creepy alien -like vacant-eyed skull shots. Not those cute, profile, baby shots you normally see. So, I'll spare you those shots, or maybe I'll make a photo montage for Halloween.

I get these updates weekly through BabyCenter. It's a nice little weekly email to look forward to which explains where the baby is developmentally and its approximate size. And as the kids get older, it switches to monthly emails, which I still receive for Maximo.

And now on to Maximo... he has been really fun lately. The things he does and says are always entertaining to John and I. He, of course, has his moments, like when he pitched a fit this week because he didn't want to wear pants to school (because his Thomas underwear were just too cool)., or when the stem of the banana broke and he couldn't peel it from the top by himself - you know, HUGE toddler problems. But on a whole, he's been a joy and so curious and excited about everything around him.

To add on to our busy week, both John and Max were a bit under the weather. Maximo has a nasty cough, but has been fairly happy, so he's gone off to daycare all week. Today we got this note (we get notes everyday, and love that connection with what's going on during the day).
This one takes a bit of deciphering...

La La La La

Lately, Maximo has been singing anything he can - the jingle at the beginning of Dinosaur Train, Happy Birthday song, Yellow Submarine, etc... and wants to hear the kids' music CD we have regularly (even though it gets annoying after a while).

John and I aren't the best about playing music while we're just hanging around the house. Partly, I know for me, this is due to the fact that I love to come home to a "quiet" house after being around kids all day. We're going to need to start playing more music around the house, and find some good "adult" music so I don't go crazy listening to toddlers sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Here are some mini-concerts for your listening enjoyment:

She's Crafty

So far, no news is good news. I said I'd post after every doctor's visit, but this is a week (and a half) late. Work has been insanely busy and I'm not getting everything done and my to-do list gets bigger by the day.

I had my doctor's visit the other day after an overnight trip with the fifth grade class... and everything looked good. Since running around with a bunch of 5th graders didn't put stress on my body, I'm hoping that I'll go the distance with bebe #2.
I did get another "talking to" about my weight, but... I'm not too concerned, let's just say that my prenatal vitamins have a tendency to slow things down... so I had a little extra weight (ah, hem 5-6 days worth) in my body. (Sorry if that was too many details!)

While I was waiting at the hospital (for the hour it took to do the gestational diabetes test), I was playing with my iPhone. There's a new option on facebook to "show your location". So, I posted where I was. So, my facebook profile read:

Julie just checked in to Rokko Island Hospital.

Luckily the location was in Japanese, but for a few of my friends, it was a bit alarming. I'm hoping I don't have to write a crazy post like that from my iPhone in the hospital, but I'll be more clear in the future.

This pregnancy is SO much different than when I was pregnant with Maximo. This one has been much harder - I had horrible morning sickness and vomiting until about 22 weeks and my weight gain is very different (I don't know how much I gained with Maximo or even with #2, because I've never cared much about wait, but with Max I got huge everywhere and with this one, it really is mostly in my belly). Even before all the "Maximo birth drama", I'm was actually surprised how pregnancy felt so "hard" on my body. I've always been pretty healthy/athletic and carrying a baby rocks my world (and not necessarily in a good way).
With this one, after I started feeling better, I am much more of a nester (John probably wouldn't notice, because I could never keep up with him with housekeeping), but I adored planning/decorating/cooking for Maximo's birthday and I am holding an afterschool activity this semester for Grade 2-5 (girls) called Wearable Art, where we make, well, art that you can wear. We've made friendship bracelets, beaded bracelets, headbands and I'm excited for the next two weeks - tie-dye shirts and one of my favorite childhood crafts, ribbon barrettes.

16 girls... lots of beads, ribbon, fabric, glue and even dye! What fun!

I was going to post my enormo bod in this post, but by the time John and I settle down for the night, I don't want to get up again, unless it's lugging this enormo bod to my bed. So, I'll get a picture before the next doctor's visit (next Wednesday) and will try to post in a timely manner.

And Her Name Will Be...

We didn't want to share the name until at least 30 weeks when we felt like we were more in the clear... but it's kind of slipped out.

That is, unless we change it in the next 10 weeks^_^

(And no, we didn't name her because of this song... that would be a bit weird... but it is a great catchy tune.)

At Least It's Better Than TV

For his birthday, Maximo received his first book on tape. We read the book a few times with him, but he didn't listen to the story, because we had to upload the CD into our iTunes and yes, sometimes a teeny thing like that can take me a while to get done.

So, I uploaded it onto my iTunes this weekend... and Maximo FELL IN LOVE with it. He was a slave to the "ding" and would anxiously turn the page each time. So, we got to listen to Alex Baldwin read "Thomas and the Rumors" approximately 25 times (and that is no exaggeration).

A Tidbit

We're enjoying a three-day weekend and I'm recovering from an overnight trip with my students. I have some updates to share, so hopefully I'll get a post in before returning to school on Tuesday. The temperature is finally out of the 90s, so we are venturing out of our air-conditioned cave a bit more... We are so ready for fall!

Growing, growing, growing...

We're rounding week 25. I had a check up last week and everything is good and closed, so that's good. I only gained about a pound and a half, so my doctor was happy. The baby looks good - a little big (but she assured me her measurements were for Japanese babies, and I was okay with my big gaijin baby:). I'm now on a two week rotation for appointments which makes me a little more comfortable. Next Friday, I go in for a diabetes test - I hate drinking that sickly sweet concoction.

I have no idea what it's like to have a baby in the US, but I love that both here and in Peru you get to see the baby through an ultrasound every visit.

Work is definitely making the time go by faster, which is nice. It's ridiculously hot here, which leaves me feeling horrible at the end of some days. I try to drink a lot of water throughout the day and then take a cold shower when I get home and it seems to help.

I'll try to continue to post about HER and my health after each visit. I continue to keep my fingers crossed that I make it to DECEMBER!!!!!!! (Please do the same.)

Child's Play

Maximo received a couple of games for his birthday. Age 3 and up may be the youngest you can find in games - and we weren't sure he'd be able to play yet.

We opened up Cariboo and gave it a whirl. HE LOVES IT. Everyday he says,

"Daddy, Cariboo, please?"

He gets pretty excited about it and forgets to talk and yells his actions as he's doing it.

"Hmmm. Something red."
"There it is."
"Look a ball!"

It's cute to see how excited he is about it. It helps him practice his colors, letters and numbers too. We're playing the beginners' game and there's an advanced option, so we can play this game for a while!

Last night, Denis and family came over and after dinner we pulled it out and the boys played together. It was fun, although Max tried to tell Denis where he should play! We can't wait for more Game Nights in the future!