Two Week Update

I haven't updated the blog in quite a while, but we've had a pretty busy past few weeks.

Hospital Visit

A few weeks ago we visited Eiju Hospital (See video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvtamTB9F0) for a hospital tour and another pregancy class. The midwife explained the process for when to know when we need to come to the hospital, who to call when its time, how to come, and what will happen after we go to the hospital. We also were shown the maternity floor, and the LDR (labor, delivery, recovery) room (See Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RutBuzJPK1E). The maternity ward seems like a nice, comfortable place and the nurses are all really nice. Most of the people attending the class with us live near Ueno station--maybe we'll get to know some of them too.

Chris and Yuki Visit

My friend Chris and his wife Yuki also visited us last week. Chris is a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/) and had some amazing stories to tell us during their visit. I knew both Chris and Yuki from the time I lived in Yamagata. They visited us on their return to Canada from visiting Yuki's family in Yamagata. We had dinner at a local restaurant in Ningyocho and then spent the rest of the night playing games on the Nintendo Wii (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVp0Ok4ZIq4). We had a great time and wish they could have been here longer!!!

New Baby Bed

We spent a nice day yesterday with Shinachan's longtime friends, the Gotanda family, in Kanagawa Prefecture. They were nice enough to give us a baby bed among other things--we appreciate the kindness very much!

Doctor Visit

We visited Dr. Takahashi at the hospital again on Saturday. Everything looks great with the baby--no problems at all.

Great Weather

It really felt like summer today in our neighborhood. We took a walk through Nihonbashi (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh1WPIaHgwQ) over to Tokyo train station, and bought some food at one of Shinachan and my favorite bakeries--Viron.

More updates soon!

Visit to Kamakura

Saturday we went on a day trip to Kamakura to visit Shinachan's childhood friend, Chie, and her family--husband Atchan and daughter Kaede. Kamakura is an extremely historic area and is famous for a variety of different shrines and temples. It's also located on the ocean and has a number of well known swimming and surfing spots(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura,_Kanagawa).

We took the train to the area where the Takahashi family lives and they came to pick us up at the station. From there we took a beautiful ride along the ocean and had a delicious lunch of curry on the sea-side (see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbQZGMUOLdY).

From there we went to the Hogokuji Temple, which was the family temple of the Ashikaga and Uesugi (well known in Yamagata) clans many centuries ago. It is filled with bamboo, and really beautiful (Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eF9wlj9vWU Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srR0z6hA4IY Video 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuO1bTl77tI).

We finished the day with a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji.

A nice, warm, and fun day!

Gift from England

This weekend we received a wonderful surprise in the mail--Aunt Jane from England sent us a cute little hand-knit dress and shawl for our baby. According to Aunt Jane, in England, baby shawls are used for newborn babies and are a traditional gift. Thanks a lot Aunt Jane!!! It's adorable, and we'll be sure to use it right away!