forgot to post mother's day...

long belated, but here's mother's day.
i was gently awakened with breakfast served in bed by my little guy. he made perfectly scrambled eggs with toast (all by himself - A. only turned the stove on and off), accompanied by french orange blossom honey, fig jam, california marmalade, hawaiian pepper jam, and a cup of milk tea. it was absolutely delicious. then he later surprised me with a little box of chocolates from neuhaus, my fave, and a card full of hearts. what a guy. he is just the best.

later, after a perfectly beautiful and relaxing day, we had dinner with oomama, grandbob, and baba (my maternal grandmother), so we got to celebrate 3 generations of mothers! how cool is that?

34 weeks

so here is the ever-growing belly at 32 weeks, just over a week ago at our last check up. i don't think i am as big as i was with JG, but being in japan makes me feel as huge as a mountain. i feel good though, and still feel cute, most of the time. we'll see how long that lasts.

due in for next visit to the dr on thursday. bebi seems to be doing just great, and is still pulling crazy moves all the time. this one just does not let up. the head butt into the bladder is getting old, but i am getting some satisfaction by pushing back on her/his feet when they pop out of my tummy with each kick, or poking the elbows back whenever i get a jab. forgot how strange yet fun that was.

it's now really getting to be summer here, with lovely hot weather, but inconsistent with persistent rain on the weekends. total bummer. but we are all happy and well, JG still battling his ear infection, A. still getting over his cold, and me suffering through allergies. next we plan on tackling the biggest project before bb2's arrival yet - moving bedrooms...yowza! we are planning on moving JG's room (to be JG and bb2's room) to our current bedroom, the studio to JG's current bedroom, and our bedroom to the current studio. wish us luck.

child labour

so kidzania was pretty amazing. an amusement park based on working. start these kids early. it's like a little kid size town with all these businesses. my little guy had enough time to fly and land a plane for ANA, make an ice cream cone, and work at a Morinaga factory to make and package "hi-chew" a classic chewy candy in green apple flavour (complete with hairnet and the ubiquitous japanese mask). they get paid for their work with 'kidzos', and can go spend their hard earned wages at a Mitsukoshi dept store at the end of their day, or put it away in the bank, if you are that kind of guy. what an evening. we went with his old buds ann-chan, moe-chan, and yo-chan, and we didn't get home until past 11pm. party on.

on sunday, i was seen by dr. joaquin, my other ob. above are his ultrasound images. he said everything is going good with baby. the appointment involved a lot of tools and communication with the baby through the "window", plus a shot of vitamins to help the baby grow big enough to come out soon.

check out those gams!

31 weeks and the countdown is ON! still struggling to grasp the fact that the baby will be coming in 2 months. indeed, i am getting really tired of being pregnant...and am increasingly eager to get this big, round, heavy obstruction off of my body. right now, i cannot imagine it getting any larger. but i know just how MUCH larger it will get. mercy.

timmy was here for a few days over "golden week", which wasn't golden at all thanks to the grey and strange weather. but a good time was had by all anyway. our koinobori carp are still flying boldly on the terrace, and we went to suitengu shrine to get our blessings for bb2 and for joaquin, for whom we are so incredibly grateful. we had indian food for lunch, to which the little man said, "mama really likes indian food, and you too, papa. but me is not such a big fan." where does he get this stuff??? but his nan, pilau rice, paneer pakora, and butter chicken were all gobbled up, and i am hopeful that he will become just as big of a fan as his parents one day.

bb2's 30 week check up went fine, and we got to see more real time action. don't know if you can make it out, but the top photo is of her/his long, long legs, stretched out against my uterus. so that is what hurts so much! but looking at that sweet sweet face, i'm all, bring it on, bebi. JG continues to take really good care of me - as i got up from the ultrasound bed, he says, "wait, mama!" and gets my shoes for me and actually puts them on my feet for me. at the park the other day, i was swatting away a gnat from my face, and he came running to swat and punch away that pesky thing. he actually stood guard in front of me for a little while, daring that gnat to come back. what a man.

earthquakes! it was definitely unmistakable earthquake weather on wednesday though - very warm and eerily still. i felt 2 on wednesday late night, and 2 again early this morning. JG looked at me incredulously, "really??? me no feel it!". happy to report our apartment seems solidly retrofitted. not too much action, even if it was a magnitude 6.7.

today after school, we are off to kidzania for an afternoon of fun with a few of JG's buddies. will write about his adventures in future careers in the next post. along with new belly photos. hope spring is blossoming everywhere for everyone!