Welcome Rosemary!

I haven't found much time or motivation to write a blog post in the past month and a half, but there is no way I can ignore it any longer. I feel pretty justified in not writing, with family out to visit and having a baby, but I am starting to feel a bit guilty about ignoring my blogging duties.

So, a really quick recap: On May 14th, my parents arrived in Fukuyama to spend 6 weeks with us. The plan was that they would arrive about 3 weeks before my due date so that we would have time to enjoy a bit of sightseeing around town, allow them to figure out the boy's routines, and a bit of leeway in case the baby came early.  That would leave us with 3 weeks after the birth of the baby, give or take.

The timing ended up being absolutely perfect, since our little bundle decided to make her appearance three days before her due date. Rosemary Blythe Reimer was born on June 5th,  weighing 3890 g (8 lbs. 9 oz.) and measuring 53 cm (21 in.). My labour was very fast and easy and we are both healthy and doing amazingly well. I will most definitely be writing a more detailed description of my birth experience in the near future, but will probably put it under a separate section of the blog for those of you who have absolutely no interest in reading the nitty gritty details :)

The boys are absolutely thrilled to have a little sister and baby in the house. Theo assumed the role of protective and doting big brother right away. William surprisingly doesn't seem too bummed out that he is no longer the baby but has been shifted to middle child status. He isn't as interested in her as Theo, but always gives a token "aaaaawwwwww!!!!" when he sees her. It really helps that grandma and grandpa are around to shower him with attention and bicycle rides when I have my hands full, so he is not feeling too neglected.

For now I am just trying to survive the demands of a newborn while enjoying the last week and a half of my parents help and company. I sure will miss them when they are gone!

Kochi

Here, at last, is the final catch up on of some of the traveling we did when my in-laws were out.

The first weekend in April, we packed our bags yet again and made our way to Shimanto City in Kochi Prefecture. Seeing as Kochi is the birthplace of Anpanman, what better way to get there (and make our children's day) than taking the Anpanman train! William, who is especially obsessed with all things Anpanman at the moment, was thrilled beyond words.

It takes about 4 hours by train from Fukuyama to Shimanto and so the kids were somewhat bribed into good behaviour with the purchase of these Anpanman themed bento.

Theo modeling his bento lid

We only remembered to take a shot of William's bento after he had taken a couple of chomps
out of Anpanman's head

We wanted to have a chance for Obaasan and Ojiisan to get to know Dustin's parents a bit better, so we invited them along with us for the weekend. We were able to book this fabulous house in the middle of nowhere for the time we were out. It is a model eco home built almost entirely, inside and out, with local cypress and smelled absolutely amazing! 

Front of the house

and the back

Grandma and the boys peeking down from the second story balcony

Waiting to eat some yummy nabe

Theo and I hunted down this 5 cm monster for our more squeamish
housemates and deposited him outside

The gorgeous all cypress bathroom

Even more amazing than the house itself were the views of the mountains and the Shimanto River. Directly across from the house was this large display of koinobori strung over the river for Children's Day. 

 Enjoying a walk in the sunshine with Grandma

Trying, and failing, to find fossils in the rocks

We went on a tour of the river on this traditional boat. What you can't see from the photo is that the whole interior of the cabin has tatami flooring, so everyone's shoes were left outside on the deck.

Theo soon made a new best friend when the boatman let him control the motor. Theo sat with one  hand firmly planted on the man's thigh and the other on the tiller, and giving us all a choppy, bumpy ride for most of the trip. I think he was a little surprised (and probably annoyed after a while) to find out that Theo could speak Japanese. There was an endless stream of prattle and questions from Theo about everything and anything he saw.

BFF

The day ended with a barbecue in which Theo forsook all of his previous claims that he was an herbivore. 

And here are some final random pictures of our adventures:

Theo checking out a rock slide that was blocking part of the road. There were also mountain monkeys on the road which we weren't quick enough to get pictures  of.

Dustin, the hunter-gatherer, finding the biggest bamboo shoots the forest had to offer

 And some beautiful flowers that were blooming earlier in Kochi than in Hiroshima

Azalea

Wisteria

Travels and Visits

One of the first issues that we thought about while applying for JET was how to get us all to Japan. Dustin will be leaving on July 31st to Tokyo for a few days of orientation and then will be traveling to wherever we are living to get settled into our house/apartment, meet his Contracting Organisation, and start working. Ideally, Dustin and I would fly there together and have our collective eyes and arms to make sure that kids and luggage all arrived in one piece, but that is not actually what we will be doing. It would be pretty expensive for us to join him in Tokyo for those first few days since Dustin's hotel and food is paid for and ours wouldn't be. The thought of spending that extra money just to make travel easier absolutely clashes with my innate almost fanatical need to penny pinch (thanks Dad!). So, the boys and I will be leaving mid-late August to join him.

On the selfless side of things, I feel that it is very important for Dustin to be at the orientation alone and get to know other JETs without feeling the need to be involved with us. This is his job after all, not mine, and I want him to feel connected. I am almost certain that he will enjoy Tokyo so much more if he is able to go out in the evenings to explore and socialize without having us on the back of his mind. Also, having a week or two to settle into his job before he has to listen to the kids whining and tearing around will probably save us a lot of stress and grief. On the selfish side of things though, I want Dustin to get things at our home figured out before we show up, like places for the kids to sleep and a few groceries purchased.

The magically wonderful Karlee

Though traveling to Japan alone with both boys would make me lose a bit of my sanity irreversibly, I was willing to try it. However, Dustin's sister, Karlee, has come to my rescue. She will be coming with the boys and I and stay for the first month or so as a vacation. I have this feeling that one of the kids would get lost (accidentally or purposefully) along the way if Karlee wasn't coming. I am also so glad that she wants to stay for a while too; it will certainly help me keep my sanity in the first couple of weeks. What would I ever do without you Karlee?




On another note, my mom is flying in from Vermont today. She hasn't seen William yet since he has been born and will be staying with us for a few weeks. It must seem fairly depressing coming from the mountainous land of springtime beauty that is Vermont to the windy, flat, expanse of Manitoba in the peak of mud season. I am hoping that Theo is not as disagreeable to my mom as he was last time she was here. He had a hard time accepting that she was in fact his grandma and anytime she talked to him or tried to hug him he pretended he was dousing her with a stream of fire from an imaginary fire hose. I think he has a pretty Fahrenheit 451 view of what firefighters do.

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...