Finished Nursery and Prenatal Yoga

As you can see from the picture, our glider came in and we picked it up on Saturday. The nursery is now pretty much finished, which I am happy about. I know I still have enough time left, but I am anxious for everything to be ready to go.

Since we drove down to Northern Cincinnati to pick up the glider, we decided to stop by Ikea on the way back home. That's where Yusaku found the little stuffed soccer ball I am holding. This is for Olivia as it has been decided that she WILL play soccer! :) We even let Lucy upstairs to check out the room - a special treat for her since she's not usually allowed upstairs.

I am 31 weeks today and getting more and more anxious to meet Olivia. I can't wait to see what she looks like (among other things)! I hope the next two months go by quickly!

Last Wednesday I went to a prenatal yoga class. It's the first yoga class of any sort that I've ever taken. I was a little nervous that it would be hard or I would look stupid doing it, but it went pretty well. It's pretty low intensity. There were a lot of pregnant women there. Apparently, there were about twice as many people there as normal. (I swear that everywhere I go I see pregnant women. I think there's a little baby boom going on or something!) I am planning to go every week from now at least through the end of August. I think it's good for practicing relaxation (lots of breathing), not to mention that it will help me to be more flexible and is supposed to help with some of the discomfort I've been experiencing (i.e. low back pain).

I'll update the blog after my shower this weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family!

The Big Reveal!!!

Things are chugging along. It's hard to believe I'm 29 weeks along and there are only 77 days to go!  Now to get the exciting part...we've decided on a name. We really haven't told many people outside of our parents and our siblings yet. Seeing as how my baby shower is coming up at the end of the month, I figure now would be a good time to share the news. 

Drumroll please......her name will be OLIVIA!!! It's a name we both like and I think it sounds good with Kawai. I think we're set on the middle name too. It will be Japanese, but I think I'll wait to share that til later!

Overall, I feel pretty good except that I can no longer sleep well. It seems like every night I look at the clock every hour. I can't get comfortable...I'm hot, I roll from one side to the other, and I hate sleeping on my sides. I've also been having achy legs lately...kind of a new symptom. I looked it up online. I guess it's normal...something about a hormone that makes your muscle fiber relax and leads to poor circulation, which leads to the achiness.  I go for my next doctor's appointment on Monday so I'll see if my midwife has any advice on how to be more comfortable. After this upcoming appointment, I'll go every two weeks instead of every month.

When summer first started, I was worried I wouldn't have enough to do to keep myself busy and make the time pass. Now it seems like that's not so hard. I've been reading a lot, trying to get in as much as I can because I know once the baby arrives I'm not going to be able to read like this for a while. I just finished The Help, which was wonderful. I've been trying to study my Japanese too thanks to the Rosetta Stone program Yusaku got me for my anniversary present.  I've also been working on cleaning/organizing the basement...something I've put off since bringing everything home for school a month ago.  I've got a little more to do, but it's coming along.  Sarah will be coming home this week and after a little traveling to Chicago and Indy, will be around next week and the week after, which will be nice. She has yet to see me in all my pregnant glory..ha ha! I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of my friends and family at my shower coming up in a few weeks.  I'm off to eat some lunch and maybe be productive! :)

What do you do?

I find myself having a hard time answering this question lately and it's something that seems to come up a lot, most recently when Yusaku and I met with pediatricians. This question is in reference to my job, something which I don't currently have. It's strange though, because as a teacher, I would normally be on summer vacation right now, so it hasn't really kicked in yet that I am no longer working. My automatic response is usually, of course, that I am a teacher. Even though I won't be going back in the fall and haven't yet decided when I will go back, I still feel that being a teacher is so much a part of who I am that it's hard for me to not give that answer. I am choosing to stay home and am looking forward to doing so, but I think it will be hard for me in the fall when school starts back up and I am not there.

Today, for a few hours at least, I had enough energy and motivation to go through/organize some of the teaching "stuff" that I brought home from my classroom and is now living in our basement. Doing this made me eager to be back in a classroom with kids. Maybe I can do some tutoring in the second half of next school year or sub part time. We shall see! :)  The organization process ended, however, when I ate lunch, which was then followed by my now daily nap, after which I decided I will continue organizing tomorrow.