Cherry Blossom Adventures

Feeling a bit unmotivated today and just a bit down- I am not sure why but I think part of it is tiredness, the recent weather and Shun`s insane working hours plus knowing he will be working this Saturday (yet I have know plans for the weekend and am even contemplating ringing my in-laws to see if I can spend the day there on Saturday)

But there are still some things I am loving this Thursday

• Little Scholastic brand books- I love them- they are designed for babies to age three and we have about 4 and they are great to read with Noah! Firstly they are board books (so when he gets old he can`t rip them, plus they will withstand his drool a little longer)
• The 親子カフェ　(parent/child cafe) near my house.
• The sun coming out- yes it is finally out after some dreadful rainy and cold weather
• Purikura- and having Noah in his first every purikura!
• Spending time with Clare over the weekend!
• Hanami plans!
• Knowing Shun`s current work project will be coming to an end in 2 weeks!
• Awesome beef stew in the slow cooker
• Eating yummy yummy pizza in Fuchu with Cassie & Nana last Friday.
• Going in to pick up Noah this morning after hearing him “chat” to himself and having him smile as soon as he saw me!

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Started by Gala Darling

• Shun coming home reasonably early tonight- he will be home just after 10pm. 10pm is not early you say? Well it will be the first time he has been home before 12:30am all week and first time he will be home by 10:30pm in almost 3 weeks so hey, I am going to take what I can get!
• Gummy baby smiles
• Startbucks Coffee- in particular the white chocolate mocha. Oh and I want a sakura coffee mug thingy!
• Have booked Noah`s first baby sign class for April- excited about the possibility of making Japanese mama friends!
• Lunch dates with Nana & Cassie in Shinjuku- plus visit to the English book store and H & M! Plus eating a yummy salad for lunch!
• Earning money through my BlogHer ads- more than enough to pay for my host, flickr account and domain! I have had so many more clicks per month to my blog in the last 3 months- I guess having a baby is a hit? Please keep visiting!
• Having weekend plans!
• Long skype video chats with friends and my mum!
• Slow cooker- it is great to be able to chuck things in in the morning and have a meal prepared 6-8 hours later.
• Spring weather is finally here!
• Lots of happy birthday wishes- can`t believe my birthday was only a week ago though!
• A better bedtime routine for Noah- now from beginning of bath to the time he feeds and then settles it takes about 45 minutes to an hour- so much better than the often 3 hours it was taking! Oh and his first sleep of the night is 6-7 hours now! WOOT!
• A cute bib a friend gave me today which has a bow tie and suspenders picture on it!!! So cute!
• Sleep. Oh sleep, how I love you!
• Finally getting some scrapbooking done this week- another three pages added to Noah`s book!

What are you loving this Thursday? If you have done your own list on your blog make sure to let me know!

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I missed my list last week so here are my things I am loving Thursday for the past two weeks…

• My new rocking chair- it arrived on Tuesday and Shun put it together Tuesday night when he got home (which was after midnight by the way) and it was waiting for me all together in the living room on Wednesday morning.
• Getting Noah to take naps in his cot- we have no problems getting him to sleep there at night (after he gets settled for the night I mean although he has been taking a couple hours to settle the last couple of nights making for a very exhausted mama) but during the day he would always wake up straight away so it was easier to get him to nap in his bouncer (when he would fuss before his nap, I would pick him up, pat his back and within 5 mins he would be asleep and then I would just put him in his bouncer at my feet and cover him with a blanket) – he is starting to move around a lot more now though so sleeping him in his bouncer would have involved strapping him in which hasn`t been necessary up to this point so I knew I would have to train him to nap in his cot. So far so good with the cot napping!! At least for most of his naps…
• Birthday cake! It is my birthday today but on Sunday when we were at the in-laws they had a lovely birthday cake for me which even had my name on it!!!
• Polaroid camera- yep, that is right, I finally got one after years of wanting one!!! Shun mentioned to his parents that I wanted one so that is what they got me for my birthday!!! I also got a lovely scarf from my BIL and SIL!
• Getting a couple of nice photos of Noah and his poppy.
• Smiles from my baby boy- they always make me laugh especially when he does giant gummy smiles! Sometimes I hear him wake up from his naps and go in to get him before he cries out and when he sees me he gets so happy! I love that!
• Lunch and coffee dates with friends.
• Life Unexpected- a new American drama. Quite liking it!!
• Weekend plans- this weekend we are going to see my old student Shion and his family and then on Sunday afternoon we are off to an engagement party for our friends Gen & Alice (who live in Melbourne but are in Japan for 10 days this week)- a lot of my old uni friends have met Noah already but he has changed so much in the last month so I am looking forward to showing him off and seeing Gen & Alice for the first time since our wedding! Then the following weekend Sarah & Nay will be in town, we also have a 2 year old`s birthday party and a lunch date out with some of the Tokyo bloggers on Monday March 1st! Then the following week my friend Clare arrives from Australia and will be able to meet Noah. (Clare was one of my bridemaids!)
• Noah`s 2 month birthday approaching tomorrow! I can not believe he is almost 2 months already and what a little personality he is developing!
• Reading spot books!
• Crossing things off my to do list! Even if they are boring cleaning related things like dusting and cleaning the oven and cleaning out the pantry
• Shopping for baby girl things for a certain friend expecting a little one in about  6-8 weeks!
• Salads for lunch- there is something so refreshing about eating salads with lots of yummy veggies plus some cheese and protein! Had a great one out the other day actually which had beans (not usually a beans fan but loved them), tuna and strangely enough strawberries! Plus I made one for myself yesterday!
• Shun coming home early tonight (arrived home at 8:10) and we ate dinner together (Although Noah still wasn`t asleep and cried the whole time)
• Phone calls from Australia and from friends in Japan for my birthday- plus lots of birthday messages.

On another note- we used to bathe Noah between 5:30pm and 6pm then feed him and put him down for the night. Sometimes it would take a couple of tries to get him settled in his cot but usually by 7pm he was down for good. The last week though it has taken up sometimes 4 hours to get him completely settled for the night. Tonight I bathed him at 6:10pm, fed him at 6:30pm in the rocking chair while listening to a lullaby cd in his room (and then again at 8:00pm since he still hadnt settled and seemed hungry again) and he has only settled in his cot asleep in the last 10 minutes (so 9:35pm or so) and we had to leave the light on as he seemed to scream a lot more when the lights were off.

Could he be afraid of the dark at this age? I will switch his light off soon when I go into bed. A couple of weeks ago the crying it out method worked for us (for two nights in a row at least) in which we would let him cry for no more than 10 minutes and he was always fast asleep before those 10 minutes were up….but that is not working now and he just gets himself into a tizzy so I would rather not do it.

During the night he rarely has trouble re-settling after waking up for a feed…in fact usually I feed him, burp him and he is asleep before I even put him back in the cot. Even if he is awake he will usually settle by himself…

Usually during the day he wouldnt go for more than 2 hours without a nap which is why I am not sure why it takes him so long to settle at night.

Tonight Shun was home by just after 8pm so he has been here to help me but most nights I am on my own and while he doesn`t cry the entire time he can not make up his mind whether he wants to be held or put down or rocked or fed or changed. I try everything. If he doesn`t settle though it means that while I may have prepared dinner earlier in the day I won`t usually have cooked it yet and unless he goes down properly I can`t- but by the time I do have him down for the night I am too exhausted to cook (or do anything) and usually I would go to bed about 9:30pm anyway ( have been since he has been born anyway)- obviously this is getting a bit stressful for me especially as it is just me most nights as I said(but I have some great friends who have offered advice and guidance and also just listened to me when I need to have a groan about it- you know who you are girls, and thanks).

I know all babies are different but any advice or hints on what worked with your children would be greatly appreciated? I am trying to stick with the same routine every night so that he recognizes that it is sleep time but it definitely isn`t working for us now. Tonight he screamed at the top of his lungs for an hour straight (8:30-9:30pm) and then fell asleep in Shun`s arms so sudden- he just stopped crying and was asleep and he didn`t wake up again when Shun put him in his cot (although light was on)…

Hopefully something I will be loving next Thursday is having discovered a sleeping routine that works for Noah! haha!

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Very short list tonight as it has been a horror night so far and Noah has only just settled in the last 20 minutes and I am exhausted… plus I have a feeling he is probably going to stir again very soon.

• New recipes, mostly Japanese.
• Dad coming next week (Thursday in fact)
• cheap blueberries
• sleep
• Watching Noah trying to roll over and failing (I love this because it is so funny to watch- not because he is failing so much)
• Comments on my last post
• Getting chocolate cake, strawberries and steak from MIL when they came on Sunday
• Shun taking the day off work yesterday

And Noah has stirred yet again so the list must be cut short…

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• Chocolate. I just ate some meiji chocolate and it was great.
• Watching Shun get so excited yesterday morning when Noah smiled at him when he did “Inai inai baaa” (or peek a boo in Japanese)
• Catching up with three different friends  this week who I hadn`t seen since before Noah was born.
• Reading- I am making an effort to read a little bit each day because while I used to read a lot lately I haven`t seem to be doing much of it. Not just because of the baby but because of the internet/computer more than anything. So I am reading for at least 30 minutes a day at the moment and loving it. Currently reading “It sucked and then I cried” by Heather Armstong author of dooce.com.
• Getting a start on Noah`s scrapbook- still haven`t actually “glued” anything yet but the first page is coming together nicely and I have lots of notes written down for pages to come.
• Japanese recipe book that I bought- inspiring me to make more Japanese food (and hope that we can save a bit of extra money by doing so)- plan to make some things from the book this weekend.
• Breastfeeding- it may sound weird but I love breastfeeding Noah and I am so glad that we have had no issues with it.
• Having Noah go down to sleep tonight with no issues- he was awake when I put him down in his cot but he went off to sleep by himself within 10 minutes (and with no crying!)
• Everwood- Nay recommended this show to me (although it is a few years old) and I am working my way through it. There is not much else I can do while feeding Noah but watch tv or read so it is keeping me entertained.
• That it is almost the weekend again because it means Shun will be home. He has worked late every night this week not coming in before 10:30pm most nights.
• Making plans for the future.
• Loving that Noah`s cold is completely gone now.

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Things I love Thursday, inspired by Gala Darling!

• Yakiniku at home- my mum bought us a electric nabe (hot pot)/hot plate set while she was here and on the weekend Shun & I enjoyed some yakiniku (Korean BBQ) together. It was kind of like going on a date without even leaving the house (and since I was busy with Noah, Shun did all the prep and then did all the clean up too)- Shun had bought way too much meat and veggies so we plan to do it again this coming weekend.
• Skype chats with Sarah. It was great catching up on Monday for a much overdue chat. Next time, Nay, you will have to join us (It was an impromptu chat, next time I will mail you!)
• My mum`s homemade chocolate slice- mentioned this last week but finished it off this week. Will have to try and make some more soon now that I know where to get shredded coconut. This was my kiwi nana`s recipe, and now my mum makes it and I know how to make it so eventually I will have to teach Noah- I guess it is a “family” recipe!
• Homemade vegetable minestrone soup- I have never made vegetable soup before but with all of us having come down with a cold of some sort over the last week Shun requested it and I figured why not, I could give it ago. I kind of made up the recipe after looking at a couple online and I have posted what I did below for anyone that is interested. I am not usually a huge soup fan but this was great and perfect for winter.
• Shun coming home super early (for him anyway, he got in at 7:30pm!) on Monday night- we actually got to eat dinner together on a week night and this very rarely happens!
• Finding a kids clinic near our house about a 10 minute walk away- not that I had wanted to visit a doctor while Noah was so young but it is good to know there is one so close by and the staff and doctor seemed really nice. When we arrived (Shun walked with us there on the way to work and filled in the forms for me- you try filling in forms while holding a newborn!) they put us in a back room with a bed so that Noah didn`t have to be around other sick children cos he was so little- I thought that was nice. Plus when I had to go back there yesterday they were really good again.
• Making cupcakes- made 18 little cupcakes from a recipe by Mandy`s mum that I have known forever. Thanks Jan! Problem is now I will probably eat them all.
• Noah having a 3 hour nap during the day- I know it is probably because he has been unwell and taking medicine but I got so much stuff done in that time (including the cupcakes, some tidy up, dinner prep and sorting through some of Noah`s clothes) – what finally got him to sleep (after he battled it all morning) was singing Jon Bon Jovi and laying him down on his tummy and taking his legs out of his jumpsuit so that he could move them more freely. I worry about sleeping babies on their tummy as I know they say you shouldn`t but he has been asleep on his play mat in front on me the whole time so I have been able to keep an eye on him. He is still sleeping now (as I wrote that he woke up- will finish list later)
• Getting great advice from blog friends about having a sick baby and about Shun`s potential snowboard trip. We actually spoke a bit about it last night and he said that he doesn`t have to go and that he will pass this time but maybe spend some time with his uni friends some time in February as they have not all caught up for a shinnenkai yet. He had pretty much decided himself not to go which I am happy about- I told him if he wanted to though that I would be fine and would invite Cat to stay in case Noah or I had any problems but he said he was fine with not going. He has asked if he can go to Book Off to buy manga on the weekend and I said “OF COURSE” – having him go out for an hour or two on the weekend is more than fine by me- although should I be worried that my almost 29 year old husband still loves to read comics? hehe
• Easy oven dinners- I love dinners were you can throw everything in the dish, pop it in the oven and 30 minutes later or so it is done! Tonights dinner was pizza chicken and it is in the oven as I write- basically you grab a chicken breast each and pound it flat (or cut it thinner and open it up), smother it in pizza sauce (I used tomato pesto), add chopped pizza ingredients like ham, mushroom, mini tomatos, capsicum and red onion, top with cheese and pop in the oven for 30 minutes. Does anyone have any other easy oven dinners they can share? They are great with a baby because I can prepare earlier in the day if I want to!
• Two spring-esqe days in a row- yesterday and the day before were beautiful days both with tops of 17! February isn`t even here yet and we are already experiencing spring like weather- I love it! Hopefully we get some more days like that in the coming weeks.
• Plans to meet up with Sarah, Nay, Melanie, Cassie and Khea next month! Can not wait! I haven`t met Melanie`s little one yet and haven`t seen Khea`s Missha in a couple of months!!!
• My brother booked my dad`s tickets to Japan for early next month! He will be here for five days and it is only a couple of weeks away. I can not wait for him to meet Noah.
• Discovering things about my son like the fact he has no little toenail on either of his little toes- just like me, my mum and my grandma (we all have them, they are just reasonably non-existent, and mine are the smallest, just like little holes where the toenail should be- it is weird I know but true)
• Having him smile at me and poke his tongue out at me especially when I do it to him first.

What are you loving this Thursday? And remember also to share your favourite easy oven recipes- or any other easy to prepare and cook meals!

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Lulu`s vegetable minestrone soup

Ingredients

1 x large carrot

1 x large potato (or three small ones)

1 x celery stalk

1 x large onion

1 x bunch of spinach

2 x leeks

1 x packet of shitake mushrooms

2 x green piman/little capsicums (This was an afterthought, I just had them in the fridge)

2 x tins of diced tomatos

4 x cups of beef stock

200 grams of pork mince

4 x bacon rashers

5 tsp of minced garlic (you can use less- we just love garlic)

60ml of red wine

Large pinches of oregano, parsley and thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Cook the mince, onion, leeks and bacon in the pot, add the garlic half way through.

2. Add the wine, beef stock and tinned tomatoes and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes- add the oregano, parsley and thyme as well as the salt and pepper.

3. Add all the rest of the vegetables and leave to simmer for 20 minutes or so (or as long as you would like)

4. That is it! Simple! Oh and if you are going to add pasta in as well then I suggest leaving out the mince- I just didn`t have any little pasta on hand!

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Yes, I realize I am two days late with my list BUT this is the first time I have had to blog since then so here goes (I wanted to start doing my lists again too, I had missed them since Noah was born)

• Saying goodbye to my mum last night was hard but I am so thankful that she was here these last three weeks helping me out with Noah & around the house. She will be very missed!!!
• Red & brown fuzzy blanket mum made for us- lovely having it on the sofa to rug up in!
• Gravy. Need I say more?
• Having no issues at the Japanese passport office yesterday- Noah`s Japanese passport can be picked up in 10 days and his name with have a “h” on the end like it should. YAY!
• Seeing Noah smile for the first time- he smiled twice yesterday (3 weeks, 6 days old), once at his daddy and once at me! We are hoping for more today!!!
• Home made lasange in the fridge. Thanks mum!
• Chocolate slice in the fridge- again, thanks mum!
• Nabe parties with friends- last Sunday Cat, Koki, Erika, Sumi, & Hiro came over to see Noah (for some, it was the second or even third time!) and we had kimichi nabe hot pot for dinner.
• My husband Shun- I fed Noah at 9:30pm last night when we got home and had some milk expressed for Noah`s next feed so I got to sleep from 10:30pm til 4am when Shun woke me up for Noah`s next feed.  5.5 hours sleep in a row! BLISS!
• Our five year anniversary- Shun & I met five years ago yesterday!!!
• Recent visits from lots of friends- Sarah & Sakura in late December, James & Shizuka, those that came for the nabe party, Benay & her mum, Elizabeth & Tatsuya and more!!!
• The promises a new year brings- I know we are now at the 16th of January but there is something about a new year that always brings new hope and promise. I have some goals for the year but I have yet to write them out.
• Approaching Noah`s one month birthday! Only a couple of days to go! Can`t believe he will be a month old so soon!!!
• My dad (FINALLY!) making plans to come to Japan. If all goes according to plan and he stays healthy then he will come next month. I can`t wait for him to meet little Noah.

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I had really really hoped that I would have had my baby by now and wouldn`t be posting my things I love Thursday this week since I would have been at the hospital- unfortunately Goma-chan is still playing games and making no signs of showing up just yet. Looks like I might be destined for induction unless he gets his bum into gear. I am definitely over the whole pregnancy thing….Definitely over it. But enough ranting, I am supposed to be talking about the things I am loving.

• First up- knowing that I will DEFINITELY have had my baby by next Thursday. I will be induced Monday and he will be born Tuesday at the latest. Hard to believe that the pregnancy will come to an end and I will be a mama.
• Getting out of the house at 40 weeks plus pregnant- if I stay home all day the time goes so slowly so I am happy that I got out on Monday to the dr`s and supermarket, Tuesday I went for a walk to a bakery about 1.5km or 2km away that is apparently a bit famous (and in the middle of nowhere)and ate some lunch and today I met a friend for lunch in Funabashi.
• Peater Pan- That is the bakery. It was awesome. And the name cracks me up. And it has free coffee.
• Discovering a little cafe/studio on my walk (about 10 minutes away) that offers baby sign and baby massage classes and other music/dance orientated classes for mum`s and their babies. Definitely will have to check it out once Goma-chan is a little older especially since it was so close.
• Watching Heroes with Shun- we have been watching an episode a night for the last week and it is so nice to snuggle up on the sofa and watch together under a blanket. I will finally be able to cross it off my 101 things list as well as we only have 4 episodes to go until we finish season 3.
• Yakiniku lunch date on the weekend with Shun. Probably our last lunch date as a couple for awhile!!!
• Just over a week now until Christmas. YAY!
• Just over a week now until my mum arrives in Japan on Dec 26th. Can`t wait to see her!
• A visit from Benay & Naoki on Sunday- was great to see them both (Shun & Naoki hadn`t seen each other in almost six months) and the cookies that Nay bought were AWESOME! So glad she shared the recipe on her blog.
• New recipes in general- firstly the cookie recipe from Nay but I also have added a couple new recipes to our dinner menu`s in the last couple of week and most have been a great success.
• An email from the mum of an old student- I had a little boy I taught for 18 months at my last kindergarten job before returning to Australia and he was definitely one of my favourite students (I know, I know, not supposed to have favourites but anyway). I had not heard from them since I left Japan 18 months ago but it was great to get an email from her out of the blue and to hear about how her two boys are going. Hard to believe my student, who was  just 4 when we met is now in elementary school and that is little brother who was a newborn the first time we met is now 3! WOW!

What do you love this Thursday?

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I am really hoping this is the last Thursday I will be writing this without Goma-chan in the outside world- fingers crossed!!!

• Cheese bread- I made it in our bread maker overnight. I have never tried to make any other kind of bread except my normal bread for breakfast which I usually put black seasame seeds in. I ate some this morning and it was great- could use some more cheese but the compartment to put the cheese in was stocked full already.
• Christmas bonus-  Shun gets two bonus`s a year and it came in last week. We could finally replenish our savings a little and Shun could finally buy the parts he needed to finish making his computer so he has been spending time on that the last couple of days.
• Izakaya food- Nothing better than eating gyoza, nabe and kani cream croquets with good friends.
• Nights out with friends- I am so glad that I went out on Saturday night to see Ryomei and other friends. Last time pre-baby.
• Visits from Sarah & Sakura- so happy I could see Sakura growing up even though I don`t get to see her so often. I am very excited that Sarah and her family might be moving to Tokyo next year if Ryohei gets transferred here. Would be so nice to have them closer by so that Goma-chan and Sakura could become close friends!!!
• News that Goma-chan had moved down a little bit- keep moving down bub!
• News from my friend Eva (due date 2 weeks after Goma-chan) that her bub has started growing again meaning she will not need to be induced early. I hope her bub keeps growing a lot each week. I know it was a huge relief for her and her husband.
• Christmas lights
• Christmas cards- I finally wrote our christmas cards and attached to them all the presents under our mini tree.
• Region free dvd player as a gift from my brother and his gf for Christmas- I told him we needed one and he let me  buy it through FBC for our Christmas present. Thanks Paulie! It only arrived today so I will have to get Shun to set it up tonight.

What are you loving this Thursday?

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Things I am loving this Thursday…

• My purple boots- it was a rainy day today and when I went out to go to the city hall, bank and meet a friend for coffee I wore my purple boots and my feet/tights stayed all dry! Can`t go wrong with purple boots!
• Poinsetta plant from Shun – it was so sweet of him to buy it for me.
• Salt & Vinegar chips and eating them with my husband- Shun grew to love salt and vinegar chips in Australia although they don`t have his favourite brand at the international food shop I bought him some the other day and we sat enjoying them together the other night.
• Knitting again- had been awhile since I had done much knitting and now Goma-chan has a cute little hat. I am still trying to find a bootie pattern that can be made with the yarn I have- would much prefer seamless booties too if anyone knows any good patterns for a fairly thin yarn (since it was handspun I am not sure exactly of the “weight” of it)
• Knowing my mum will be here in just over three weeks- seven months since we last saw each other! I can`t wait to be able to chat with her in person.
• Discovering an English playgroup that is just 20 minutes away by train- Obviously it will be awhile before Goma-chan & I head for a playgroup but nice to know there is one going strong just over the Tokyo border. I am sure in a couple months time we will head to check it out.
• Getting all the hotels/ryokan booked and ready for my brother and his gf Gem- everything is done and they are all set now for the trip here in March/April. Will be so great to see them and have them spend some time with us as well! Hoping I can go with them for at least one of their day trips out of Tokyo- maybe Hakone/Fuji since a visit to Hakone is on my list of things to do!!!
• Positive results on my father`s recent medical tests- things are definitely improving there.
• Knowing that sometime in the next 2.5 weeks I will be holding my son in my arms for the first time- I am sure the Things I am loving the Thursday of that week will be all about him!

What are you loving this Thursday?

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