Third in Third

I am now in the third trimester with our third baby, so I figured it was time for a belly shot! Such a difference from my 1st baby, when belly shots were much more frequent, but I usually don't start showing until 5 months or so.

Pregnancy always goes by much quicker as soon as I know if it's a boy or a girl, so I am really enjoying this part and thinking a lot about what our new little boy will look like! So far, pregnancy with this boy is very similar to Cash's--a non-stop wiggler who apparently really loves chocolate, mashed potatoes, and anything spicy! I should have known there was a boy in there :)

Cosette also wanted a solo pic:

She is now insisting that we call her "Cosette" and refuses to answer to "Coco". This might have to do with the fact that at our school, there are 2 other Cocos and a Cocomi. Cosette also lets us know when she wakes up if "today is my happy day" or "today is my grumpy day", and she is always true to her word.

Cash wanted a picture, too:

Cash is at a really fun age right now. He has started picking out his clothes for the next day and laying them on his bed every night. In the morning, he gets dressed, makes his bed, and opens the curtains...then plays quietly until Cosette wakes up. He has also started getting interested in sight words and trying to read on his own. Very fun!

We are adjusting to life at our new school/apartment.  It's been a big change for us.  Fox is now working 8 to 6 M-Thurs, with a break for naptime (this is a combo daycare/kindergarten that is conducted only in English), whereas before he was working until 10 or 11 most nights.  We see him all day long, as Cash is in his morning class and Cosette and I are downstairs helping out and playing with the younger kids. Fox went from driving over 2 hours a day most days to literally walking downstairs to go to work and then coming back upstairs when the day is done. Most of his students are ages 5 and under, which is also a huge change.  There are over 30 kids at this school, and about 20 of them stay until 6 pm every day, so it is always loud.  It's exhausting but fun!

We have been having to spend our days off applying for our new city's paperwork--health insurance, library cards, child allowance, etc. so hopefully we will have some time soon to go exploring some fun parts of our city.  There is a dolphin recovery center about 20 minutes away that looks fun!

And--the most important part--there are non-Japanese food restaurants in our city!  This is very important, as we eat a lot of Japanese food at home.  We have Subway (wheat bread!!), Indian, Thai, and Jamaican food restaurants here in Takamatsu...and they are all amazing!

 I will try and get some pics up of our new place soon!

Cash's Undokai

Cash had his first Undokai last Sunday! Undokais are sports' days that are very big deals here--they practice for weeks in advance and get the whole family to participate. Here is Cash doing the warm-up exercises: I love his enthusiasm...and stiff shoulders :) We had moved the day before and drove an hour and a half early in the morning to participate in his last activity at his Yochien. So, things had been a little crazy, but it was still fun. At Undokais in kindergarten, the whole family gets involved! Cosette did a relay for toddlers. Cash and Fox did a fun race while sharing a big hoop:

Here is Cash in another relay:

My favorite part was grandma and grandpa basketball. I didn't get a picture, but they pitted a bunch of grandparents against each other to throw 40 balls into a hoop. The grandparents were very competitive! It was bittersweet saying goodbye to Cash's classmates and teacher. Everyone shook his hand, and he was given his class birthday present early. Cash was the only American there, so everyone knew him. The entire staff of teachers and the principal was so good to us--they translated every piece of paperwork into English for us and really were sad to see Cash go. Here is Cash and his teacher, Shinohara-sensei:

After a final sayonara, we were off to our new city for good--this time a complete 180 degrees, as we are living inside a school where every student is only allowed to speak English. For my kids who were encouraged to only use Japanese in public in our tiny town, this week has been a big adjustment--more on that later :)

Typhoon Day!

This week was interesting. In between a National Holiday on Monday (Respect for the Aged Day) and a National Holiday on Friday (Autumn Equinox Day), there were 2 days where school was cancelled due to a typhoon headed our way. We did get a little of it, but nothing bad at all. In fact, it was not much more than a bad rainstorm here. Hooray!
By Monday, it had already been raining for four days straight, so when we saw a break in the clouds, we headed out as fast as we could!
We went to Sanuki Mannou Park,one of our favorite parks here. There was a lot of bouncing and boinging and sliding, so I sat my pregnant self out on everything.

Here are some pics:

One of the reasons why we love this park is because there are green, rolling hills throughout the park, which is a very rare site here in Japan.

Fun times! I love National Holidays, and Japan has A LOT!!

August

Oops..it's been a while :) August was spent pretty much trying to avoid the heat! We went to the beach a lot, and no one got sunburned. Hooray! August here is summer vacation (yep, only August), so there were several activities going on throughout the month.
First, the Gokai Rangers came to the mall! The Gokai are like Power Rangers, and they put on a fighting show for the kids. My kids are still talking about it. No pictures--the line for taking pictures with them wrapped around an entire department store. So, I thought I would get a snack while Fox stayed in the line with the kids. When I got back 7 minutes later, everyone was done taking pictures! What? They made everyone go in groups of five and take only one shot. Wow.

Next, we went to Ibuki Island, a settlement famous for its fish used in dashi. I thought I took pictures, but I guess I didn't. And that's fine, because nothing is happening on Ibuki Island. We just wanted the ferry experience, so we took the 25 minute ferry over, walked around, and came home. Ibuki Island is crazy in that all of the homes there are uphill with no car access, so everyone uses scooters. Then, they take the ferry to Kanonji to do their grocery shopping. It was kind of fun to see everyone on the ferry with the gifts for their ancestors, since it was Obon.

Our stake had a primary activity that was so fun. Again, not many pictures...I need to use my camera more! All of the kids did different physical exercises, which I'm sure tied in to a spiritual topic, but it was all in Japanese. Afterwards, they had a scavenger hunt for the golden plates, and then bound a huge replica of the golden plates together. Then, we all helped sew and package Otedama, or bean bags, which are really popular here and used in occupational therapy. These bean bags would be sent up north to the elderly and children affected by the earthquake.

Here are our friends Chinatsu (we taught her when she was 4! And now she's 8!), Konomi, and Spencer writing letters to send with the bean bags:

 

The "gaijin" table :) Holden, the Shumways, and Cash and Coco working on their letters and packaging:

 

Afterwards, we went to Subway, which is a huge deal, since they have wheat bread. Subway is 1 1/2 hours from us, so we have only gone one other time. It is expensive but very, very worth it!

And here is Coco, being her crazy self:

 

Nothing else too new. The kids are very excited about mommy's growing belly. Coco is convinced that she also has a baby growing under her belly button, and she wants to marry that baby. Hmmm. Cash really wants a boy baby. Today, he told me that if it's a boy, we should name him Antonio. If it's a girl, we should name her StinkyBottom. So, I think you can see where his preferences lie. We'll know for sure September 14th!

Enjoying the Cool of the Evening

Cash's preschool had its "Enjoying the Cool of the Evening Festival" (literal translation from the Japanese title!  Very awesome!) on Wednesday.  It was a fitting title.  Earlier this week, a typhoon passed nearby our little city, which pushed all of the humidity away and actually gave us a few cool evenings.  It was so fun!  We brought along our new friends, the Shumways, and had hot dogs and yummy banana ice cream.  The kids played games to win prizes, and the night finished off with all of the kids relaxing in the dark auditorium to an Anpan-man video.
My camera died after recording this video, but you can see Cash at about 50 seconds.  We didn't realize he should have been wearing a summer jinbei, but now we know!
Here is the Kanonji Yochien's Bon Festival Dance:

Hagi No-oka Park (And Picture Upload!)

Cash and Fox go down the slide at the park instead of taking the stairs.  They have this in a lot of kids' places here, like preschools.  Instead of bumping into each other on the stairs to get to the playground, all the kids just take the slide.  I think this is so neat!

So here are a few pics of Hagi No-oka Park, a free kids' pool and park up in the mountains near our home.  The water is the perfect depth for 4 year olds, which is awesome.  Cash has been swimming every day in school, so it's been fun to see him strap on his goggle and swim cap and go underwater without fear. Go Cashy!

 

Cutie Coco!

On the Way...

Hip Hip Hooray--Look Who's on the Way!!!

 

Who: Baby #3 (Girl, I tell ya, but I'll let ya know for sure next month!)
When: late January 2012
Where: Most likely Japan--not too keen on flying back 36 weeks prego.

So this should explain the lack of blog posts. When I'm not laying on the couch or playing with the kiddos, all of my internet time has been spent browsing gorgeous food blogs. And then eating sandwiches for dinner.