Howdy

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have pictures to put up, but for some reason my card reader isn't working. I'm doing fine. I'm at 13 weeks now and feeling great (except for being a little tired). The other night I fell asleep during the first 5 minutes of The Bee Movie and woke up 2hrs later!

Patrick is doing great and say hi to everyone. I'd say he's counting the days until he comes home, but we're still on the upswing, so that would be depressing to count! He's really excited about the baby and sends me e-mails on a regular basis, asking about what kind of stroller we should get, etc. It's really cute.

I'll post more when I get my files downloaded. Hope everyone is doing great!

Little Samurai

When we were moving to Alaska, we were convinced that we would have two kids while we were there. Patrick wrote on a box of baby heirlooms that we've been toting aroung "Little Eskimos". Well, as you guys know, we didn't get around to it while we were there. When we found out we were going to Japan, Patrick scratched out "Eskimo" and wrote in "Samurai". So, here's our future Little Samurai :)

Patrick and I are SO excited. Patrick is away at the moment, but will be back in time for the birth - and to help me put my shoes on when I can't see my feet any longer! I'm at the end of 11 weeks and am starting to feel better. Things have been pretty good - just a touch of evening sickness, but nothing that going to bed early doesn't fix! I'll keep you guys posted on the progress!

Fertility Festival

This past weekend we took a trip to the Fertility Festival. Due to the nature of the trip, we decided it would make an excellent girls trip. WARNING: SOME PICTURES MAY BE A BIT OFFENSIVE!

Background: Each year, a new giant wooden phallus is carved from a large hinoki (cypress) tree. In Japan newly made objects are thought to express more purity and vitality. The tree is brought to the shrine for purification rituals during the coldest part of the winter, before a master craftsman begins to shape it. The craftsman uses only traditional tools and wears clothing that has also been purified through rituals at the shrine. It is this phallus that will be the central focus of the procession, and then be placed into the Shinmeisha shrine as the principal phallus after the festival. For more info, go to http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/aichi/tagata_jinja.html

Okay, here are the pics:

This guy leads the parade.

These are wishes

Women carry phalic symbols like babies.

Yes, it really was this big!

These are prayers for good fertility and healthy babies/

Here are three of the six of us that took the trip. We didn't get lost at all on the 10hr trip. It was great!