Celebrations

Hello all!

*Some pictures are uploaded to a photobucket account! There is a link to the right -->*

This past week was full of celebrations! First off, my wonderful cousin Amanda got engaged to her childhood sweetheart Josh. Next was Father's Day on Sunday, so Jonathan and I both skype called our spectacular dads. Monday was our 2 year anniversary, which will be properly celebrated at a later date when we have a bit more free time. Tuesday marked the beginning of summer and the end of my 3rd month of pregnancy by Japanese calculations (one more week to go in the US). There were/are lots of birthdays around this time of year as well.

So! Congratulations! Happy Birthday! Happy Father's Day! Happy Beginning of Summer! Woo hoo this morning sickness stuff is almost over (I hope)!

We told some of the JHS students that I am pregnant on Monday. They were studying the grammar "I'm happy/sad to hear that." So one of the teachers told me I could let them know about the baby and see if they used the correct grammar. It was pretty funny because the girls all freaked out when I told them I went to the doctor and saw a picture of my baby and pointed to my stomach. The boys acted confused and surprised. Then when the JTE asked them to respond properly a couple of wise guys said "I'm sad to hear that." This particular JTE is always thinking on her feet, and when the boys said that, she came back with, "Oh, I see. Your dream for the future was to marry Laura-sensei. So you are sad to hear she is married and having a baby." For the most part, the boys looked embarrassed and said "Oh, I made a mistake! I'm happy to hear that." But one guy said, "Yeah that's right. I am sad to hear that." Everyone cracked up.

Tuesday was a truly horrible day for morning sickness. I had to leave 2 classes to rush to the restroom. The female teachers were asking me all day if I was ok, and I just smiled. Although I have been miserable, I can feel that my womb has grown. It feels bigger (my books say it is the size of a large grapefruit), but it is too early to feel the baby moving around yet. I should not be able to feel the little guy/girl moving around for at least another month, and we won't know if it is a boy or girl until week 20 (2 months from now). Sorry everyone, I am not capable of giving you that information until the doctor gives it to me! The baby is the size of a "ripe plum" according to my books. That means it is 2.5 inches from head to tail (there is no tail that is just an expression).

I have a new ultrasound pic I will load soon. Also, I want to tell you all about the overnight stay I did on Saturday at Eiheiji, a zen temple/monastery. But I will leave that for a later post since this one is getting long. We are organizing the 2011 Car Rally, which is like a scavenger hunt in automobiles. 12 teams will come down south on Saturday morning (6/25) and complete tasks at 4 checkpoints, answer silly questions, and take ridiculous photos all day long. We will be having a huge after-party and giving out prizes in the evening at a cabin in the woods where most people will be staying overnight. So I have been a bit busy doing preparation for this event with Jonathan and Grainne.

Love you all!
Laura (and Jonathan!)