Baby #2 Birthday Guess

Big Contest!

Now here's the skinny.

Look to your right.  Some of you may remember the guessing game we had when Edamame was born.  It was fun, so let's do it again.  If you win, I'll send you some of my favorite Japanese candy, don't worry it isn't sugar coated seaweed or anything like that.

Here are the rules.

Starting on November 1st until November 30th each person gets to submit 1, count 'em, one, guess for a birthday for Brass Knuckles.  All submissions in by midnight your own time.  I sincerely hope you aren't up that late though.  If, in the highly likely chance, there are days open you may submit a SECOND guess between Dec 1st and Dec 3rd.  Once again, this is for second guesses only, if you didn't get a first guess in, well, you loose out.  The winner will be announced sometime shortly after the baby arrives.  Be nice though people, I have to stay in the hospital for 5 days, no matter what....grr, so it'll take a bit of time to announce and to send off a package.  You will get it though.  To guess send email or comment anywhere on the blog, and give me a two letter initial you want to be known by.  Whoever is time stamped first gets that day.  Sorry my dad automatically got his birthday for his guess, them be the rules.

Some Hints and Advice.

Now we all know how worthwhile a due date is, right?  Not very.  Anyway, my due date is Dec 31st, but the hospital wants to think it is January 2nd.  That means I could 'pop' anywhere between December 10th(37 weeks) and January 16th(end of 42 weeks).  Induction would probably happen by January 14th or so, if we go that far.  I will start trying home remedies like eggplant parmesan or green papaya after Christmas, no castor oil though.  To give you an idea, Edamame was only 3 days post due.  Though in an historical context, I was 1 day post due, and my sister was 2 weeks late, so it's your call.  This kid has also typically been measuring large in ultrasounds.  This could mean nothing, or it could mean I'm in for an early but long labor.

update: I put this in the comments, but I'll put it here too.  The Full moons are on Dec 13th and January 11th, the New Moon is on Dec 27th.  Edamame was born on a full moon.

Best of luck to all of you, and I hope one of the earlier guesses wins!

Count Your blessings!

Edamame has this book that I hate!  Why?  I don't like the art and the name of the main character is 'cuddlebear'.  I mean, come on? can't you think of a better name than that???  Nevertheless it teaches some good things about blessings, and so I've been thinking about what my blessings are.  I'm gonna list the ones I've been thinking of, not to brag, but so I can think about them, and you can think about your own blessings.  Feel free to share too.  This is not a top ten by the way.

1. Rhogam shot.  I can have healthy RH positive babies despite my RH negative blood.  Thank you science!

2. A God who gave me the desire, and parents who gave me the opportunities to learn foreign languages.  I met a lady yesterday who has lived here for 4 years and still doesn't speak Japanese.  I'm so glad I can communicate!

3. Brass Knuckles, it's nice that he is always willing to enthusiastically let me know he's still doing ok in there.

4. A husband who knows when to say sorry.  I LOVE YOU!

5. A love of reading, and an iPhone that I can read with.  Thank you eReader!

6. Parents who taught me to understand science, I may not have majored in it, but the world is a lot easier to understand because of it.

7. Halloween Party for Primary on Saturday.  We get to dress up, and it won't be a crazy hooplah like in the US.

8.  Not being in the US during a Presidential Election.  I get to research and vote, but without a lot of the bad feelings, political commercials and phone calls.

9.  An awesome mother in law, that loves me for me, and isn't afraid of me because I'm from a different country.  すばらしぎりのお母さんに感謝します！

10. Awesome parents, that despite the fact that I am almost 30, still do so much for me, and love me!

11. Edamame can now do nursery without me, and he'll even eat his food too.  Double whammy because that means we won't have to do so many of the meetings during the week where he looses his nap because I'll be able to talk with the rest of the Presidency during Sunday School! 

12. Hanging laundry, a house that is cold in the winter and stuffy in the summer, and not knowing what to make for dinner tonight.  It means that we have clothes, a home, and food, and don't have to worry about it!  Thank you Heavenly Father!

Ok, I'm done.  You're turn if you want to.

P.s. I thought of two more tonight

13. Going to Institute for the first time.  Just a bunch of old and young house wives, and some kids, but it is great to get out of the house and learn some Gospel words

14. A son who misses me as much as I miss him when I'm gone for a few hours.  I love being able to cuddle my little guy!

Visitors and Points of Interest

We got some surprise visitors starting Friday afternoon.  Let me introduce them.

'Aunt Pam' has also made an appearance but seems to have a very deep voice, facial hair and looks surprisingly like a Japanese man named 007.  Edamame has even taken to calling me 'Andi' when he's crying or when he wakes up in the morning.  Here are the real people.  In case you were wondering.

Also Edamame has chosen to make me into a liar.  How so?  I was gabbing with my sister last weekend talking about how he won't eat salad and doesn't use the pronoun 'I'.  I wasn't worried about either, but it just came up somehow.  Lo and behold THAT night he starts wolfing down my salad, and has kept it up ALL WEEK LONG.  Then sometime this week he starts saying 'I'.  Like 'I need a hug' or 'I want ____.'  Even 007 has noticed it.  Oh and one more lying moment.  We had the now famous Emily & Mark over so they could have a reprieve from crazy food, and I told them 'yeah, Edamame won't eat soup'.  He hasn't liked it before, but what does he do?  Start stealing mine in the middle of dinner.  Albeit half of it was on his shirt, but he was eating it.  I like these kind of lies.

Other little updates, Edamame made it through nursery ALL BY HIMSELF, including snack time.  Good job little guy.  I gave a rockin' sharing time.  We have plans to go to the ramen museum this week, and the zoo next.  The halloween party is coming together nicely.  I'm feeling happier, even after Edamame breaking a bowl this morning.  Adzuki/Jorge/Brass Knuckles has a bunch of clean clothes now(but still no name).  I forgot to take pictures, but my maternity Jane Austen dress looks RAD! And now I'll sign off for some quality time.  Ciao!

HDTV Podcast

So this is a week old story but it was somewhat exciting. One of many podcast that I listen to is HDTV Podcast (iTune Link Here). On last week's episode (#320), about at 7:45 they read email I sent in about Vizio TV sales in Japan. So if you want to listen to it, you can download it on iTunes using the link above, or you can listen to it on their website.
If you are interested in Home Theater and other technology stuff, this is a pretty good podcast.

good for the Yen!

94 yen to the dollar!

Woo hoo! now if only we had money to convert, hey at least we have a nice bathroom instead.

Oh do you want a picture?

Remember this post?  It has pictures of the bathroom we discovered upon coming home.

Rainy Day Activities

It's been raining for the last day and a half, so we've been participating in some fun runny day activities.

For example:

Couch headstands also called 'capoeira' by Edamame

The American tradition of Football. We've learned the words 'pass' and 'tackle'.

Take zany pictures to send to 007 when he's on a business trip from 5am to 11pm.

Mommy also kept reading Little Women. I'm almost done.

Monday's Angels

Monday was a continuation of the 'life sucks' trend, fortunately I had a few angels stop in.
Let's meet them!

Mom - a.k.a. magical phone caller. She knew exactly when I needed a call, and it was DIVINE! Thank you!



007 - other aliases include 'super sexy husband' and 'good listener' He let me cry and gripe after he came home and still smiled. What a great guy.
Edamame - of course, despite the NO NAP on Monday, he is still a hoot. I swear that kid makes me laugh so much. Today he's even started saying 'her' instead of 'him' or 'mine' like he should. It makes for some very funny sentences.

There is on more angel, her name is Emily, and she not only hooked me up with some wonderful cooking ingredients, and played with my son, but she also gave us a wonderful day yesterday and made the week much brighter. I unfortunately forgot my camera yesterday, so if you want to see pictures you'll have to check out her post about yesterday!

Now, there are many other angels out there, but those are the ones for Monday and Tuesday. Thanks!

Awesome Daddy = Less Cranky Mommy

Oh boy was I cranky yesterday. I needed sleep, good food and fresh air. Fortunately 007 helped us get fresh air, sacrificing his run so that we could walk, let me go to the store, and was gracious about my early bedtime.

As you can see the boys enjoyed their walk


...and their time on the slide.


I was still a bit tired.


Then to top everything off, he made me Norwegian Pancakes this morning. Yes, I'd asked him to, but he remembered, and just quietly jumped out of bed at around 7:30 and started making breakfast. I did make the whipped cream though, with a little help.



It has made my whole day go well, and I didn't even cry when Edamame wouldn't go back down to sleep after waking up when we got back from Stake Conference(trust me, no small feat).

My boys are wonderful!(ohh nice tie Edamame! thanks grandma!) Oh and Edamame has been a hoot all day, talking about going to the ice cream store by himself, eating a ton a salad, and making all sorts of funny faces and big boy facial movements. Wow he's growing up.

S.O.S.

Help!  I'm being held captive by a 2 year old.  He refuses to leave the house, or if he does walk out the front door, will go no further than the end of our block and say 'go home'.   I broke down into tears when I neighbor asked me yesterday if I was going out.  It worked out well 'cause she offered to babysit Edamame while I did some very necessary grocery shopping.

You may say 'Well, you're the mom, just pick the kid up and go!'  Let me list the reasons not to now

1. I want my child to love not fear me

2. I have no drivers license, that means we walk to the store.

3. Edamame is heavy and needs to burn off some extra toddler energy, it's good for him.

4.  007 has either been teaching baby #2 the one inch punch while I'm sleeping or slipped him some contraband brass knuckles to use when he kicks and punches, which can be EXTREMELY painful at times.  Not something I want to deal with while carrying the screaming 2 year old and a bag of groceries.

Ok so life isn't that bad, but I'd like some fresh air, exercise, and some adult contact.  I am getting some good time reading Little Women for the first time since fourth grade(I know I'm a loser for waiting so long).

Here, to balance it out, some good things going on.

Laundry - I'm really starting to like hanging laundry.  It is starting to feel cathartic in a way.

Taking out the Trash - the mornings are crisp, I don't waddle yet, and I like using my feet and legs to walk to our trash drop off area.

The Temple - 007 took his monthly trip tonight.  I hope he enjoys it!  I get extra reading time in too.

Tie dye - Edamame looks super cute in his new tie dye shirt.  This is not his Peter Pan shirt though.

A fun kid - I may be frustrated, tired and cranky, but his energy and smile make me try hard even when I don't want to.  We practiced 'capoeira' on my bed today.  He jumped like a mad man all over the place.  He drew some surprisingly good pictures of apples.


 Oh and he was 'adding'.  I put it in quotes because I'd say 'dinner is 3 minutes' and he'd say 'dinner in FOUR minutes'.  I'd like to think it is adding, but it is much more likely that he just knows the sequence of numbers.  Last, but not least, he followed me out when I finally was too tired of the house to stay inside any longer, and played until he got knocked over when the neighbors dog ran away from him as he was holding the lead.

One more post for the day

No reason, I just loved hearing this come out of Edamame's mouth

"Mommy, Edamame eat oatmeal in the tummy."

He LOVES that stuff.  He'd eat oatmeal 3 times a day if he could.

Mommy's need a funny?

I was procrastinating everything today, and came across this on the BabyCenter Website

Eating my words

I seriously about spewed out my soup like 4 times while reading this.  It'll give you some good mommy laughs.

Messy

We we're reading a bedtime story about dogs last night and 007 asks 'Is Edamame messy like the dog?'

Edamame's response???

'Mommy, messy'

thanks kid...unfortunately it is true.

Hospital Days...

...Are a curse.  I know, I'm lucky to be going, and to be having a baby and that he is so healthy he keeps me up at night kicking, but man oh man hospital days wreak havoc on my body.  I'm not that nervous, but just enough so that my digestive system goes haywire, I can't eat in the morning, and yeah the rest is up to your imagination.

Luckily Edamame really enjoyed his time with Obaachan today, and only cried slightly when I told him I was leaving in a few minutes.  When I really left he just waved, said 'Bye-bye' and started playing with his trains.  I think he feels bad for me, since he HATES going to the doctor.  When I came home he said 'Mommy went to doctor, mommy say ahhhh.'

Oh, and Adzuki a.k.a. Fist of Fury is healthy, strong, and big.  Woo hoo!

Conference Weekend

We had a very nice time listening to General Conference this weekend.  Edamame was tired of being in the same room by the end, but is fine now that we've been on a walk to the forest.  He's even discovered the slide there!
We also had quite a few friend's over this weekend too, but no pictures with them.  I did get a picture of Edamame playing with one of his regular friends though, and even saw him reading to him.


Oh and just because I had mentioned it on facebook, a picture of the peter pan hat I made. 
We had Grandpa and K over today, so we dyed Edamame's tights and shirt, as well as having everyone else do some tie dye.  When those are clean, etc.  I'll take some pictures.  

all by myself

Edamame has definitely hit the 'all by myself' phase.  While there are still times he wants to 'eat like a baby' and have me feed him, overall he is gaining a very wild independent streak.  I need to figure out what to do when he doesn't listen to what I say, so that he knows there are repercussions, though usually when I say things sternly he looks away or downcast, so I think he is getting the message.  Yesterday was crazy though, 007 drove to do a wharehouse check, and ending up getting home after bedtime, so I got the dishes done before he came home.  While I was doing that, this is what Edamame did...
we already had a box of soymilk open in the fridge, but he ripped the tab off, and poured himself a huge glass.  Fortunately he also cleaned it up with some help.

Oh and yes another potty training day.  He did awesome in the morning, and even told me he had to go pee pee(great timing too, just before the JW's walking up and down the street got to our door, I think they even saw us go inside!), but afternoon he wasn't as in touch with his body.  Oh well, at least he can put his own diaper on, so that is one more step I don't have to do.

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

ohh goodness, this is cool.  Albeit Edamame won't wear it, I know a few girls who would.

One liners

Edamame has come out with some interesting stuff lately.

"More spinach mommy!"

"I want to vacuum."

"Edamame, Mommy be Tinkerbell"

"No Dear, No Heavenly Father, no thank you for..." while praying

"Anytime, Anyplace, On the Case!"(can you name that kids TV show?)

"I need to pee pee in the toilet!" (trying to go downstairs so as not to sleep)

"Cars all done praying"

...and since it's a new trimester, time for a new look.  007 really liked it.  I think he says he likes it long, but secretly really loves it short.

We took some photos in photobooth too to show off the haircut, this was the MOST appropriate of them, the rest, well, this is a family blog people, and it was rated R material.

Tv

All of the cars wanted to watch TV. In case you can't tell, that is
peter pan & co. drawn there for their viewing pleasure.

a SPECIAL day!

Can you guess what I did today???

Still don't know?

Are you going to vote?  

I don't care WHO you vote for, just use the Right that great men and women fought and died for.  There are a lot of people in a lot of other countries who aren't allowed to vote.  Use your voice, it is important!  Once you've voted, encourage your friends and family to do so as well(see, this is me encouraging my friends and family to vote!)  Help the missionaries in your ward sign up for their absentee ballot!

p.s. Pam, this bump is for you!  Taken today 27 weeks 5 days!

New Podcast Episode!

We just posted our 109th episode of podcast on iTunes. It used to be weekly podcast, us talking about a week (not that exciting) but this was the first since mid-May. You can subscribe to the Podcast by clicking on the title of this post. If you are already subscribing it, then next time you update your podcast, it'll be downloaded automatically.
If you just want to check out this episode, you can do so HERE.

On the mend

Edamame is definitely feeling better.  We did skip nursery today because I didn't want to be one of those evil mothers that exposes my child's germs to everyone's kid.  We did go for sacrament and then had a fun day at home.  Today was fast Sunday, so 007 made breakfast burritos!  Oh so lovely, and he makes the BEST tortillas!  


I think I'll be sad the day we can get store bought ones again, just because his are so good!  Plus a man in the kitchen is just sexy.  We were even listening to Elder Uchtdorf's talk and it just made me so thankful to have a husband who can do more than cook greasy eggs and toast.  Let me just say, that was an AWESOME talk too.  I loved when he talked about creativity.  

Yesterday was also pretty exciting.  Edamame was coming down off the decongestant and expectorant, which both made him really sleepy.  Unfortunately when it wears off he goes bonkers and won't nap.  We made the best of it and rode our bikes to the craft store.  Edamame and 007 played in the fountains(I know, horrible of me suggesting it when he's still sick), and I got to browse the crafts store at a leisurely place.





 I'm excited to dye his tights and shirt for peter pan, though I think I'll have to re-sew the hat to make it larger.  I think after I post this I'll start making the cut outs for the boys stockings too.  I'm so excited to start sewing again!

That morning we also had a  fun trip to the forest started when Edamame decided he needed breakfast outside.


 I wish we could go again tomorrow, but the forecast is rain, and it has already started.  Oy!  Now I'm just hoping we can make it to the post office.

Oops

And here is the photo...description below.

Sick kidlette

I'm testing out blogging from my iphone and thought I would share a
pic from Edamame's sick day on Friday. Poor guy fell asleep on the
couch!

banana diet

007 told me what this 'banana diet' is.  You eat a banana and glass of water first thing in the morning and then wait 40 minutes and then you can eat anything you want the rest of the day.

Insanely stupid in my book, but hey, any doctors out there that can give me why this would actually work, please comment!

A run on....bananas???

One of the greatest and yet scariest things about Japan is the sheep culture.  For the last week and a half or so we've had a hard time getting bananas, and the local grocery store even has a sign up that says one bunch per person.  007 just found out why today.  Turns out a TV program did a special about a banana diet and now everyone is jumping onto the banana FAD diet bandwagon.  We've had issues with TV show popularity causing problems before.  We tried going to Costco one weekend and had to wait in line for over 30 min just to get into the parking lot, and we were on the 'secret' road to the store.  We had no idea why, and it turned out there was a big TV special about Costco and everyone and their mother was signing up for membership and going.  Sometimes it benefits us like the TV special about Costco's Vizio TV's which helped Costco sell out and probably helped 007 get his promotion on Monday.

Either way, the lesson is, be careful what you show on TV in Japan, and make sure whatever you show is well stocked in stores.  We'll wait this one out, and go back to not worrying about our banana supply in another week or two.

More Lions!

Yep, what Edamame keeps asking for since he's been sick.  We've watched Lion King 2, Lion King 1 1/2, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh more times than I wish to count.  I've got some critiquing I'd like to do with LK 2 and how Kiarah steals a lot of lines from Ariel, and a lot of her attitude too, but hey you can see that when you have to watch it.  Seriously Disney what is with the single fathers(chicken little, finding nemo to name a few), and the really obnoxious know-it-all teenage girls?  Oh that and how super misogynistic the movie Peter Pan is!  Wow!

Ok, so onto Edamame being sick, we went to the Dr. today to get some meds so that Edamame could finally sleep(coughing too much).  He's feeling pretty yucky still, but at least he is sleeping now.  Look what he had me set up for him while I cooked dinner yesterday?  

I was sick and tired of watching TV today, so I made these while we watched Tigger and Pooh for the five billionth time.  A friend down the street just had a baby girl, and our boys are only a month apart, so she definitely gets something.  Edamame even helped.

The pattern is from Nested and these went together in under an hour, with scraps I had.  I'm pretty stoked.  It helped fulfill some of my crafting needs until I can get to the fabric store on Saturday.

Oh and Edamame is going to be Peter Pan for Halloween.  He LOVES the three Peter Pan books we have to read at least one of them a few times a week.