Green Card Interview is Behind Us

This is what September looks like:

Sorry for the bad pic....but it's from my phone.

Yes, we are out of the apartment basically every day. We have weekly play dates, swimming classes, music classes, and gymnastics classes. Sprinkle in a few Japanese classes and kids parties (I think 3 or 4 this month)....and you can see that we are always on the go. I honestly don't mind though because it is much better to get out than sit at home all day.

Anyway, blogging has taken the back burner this month because we have also had some other really important things going on. We had our GREEN CARD INTERVIEW! I prepared for weeks getting all of the necessary papers together, memorizing answers to questions, and putting together photos for our album. On Tuesday we arrived at the federal office (ten minutes late....oops) and met a woman who talked like she had been locked in a room with dementors... I think the interview went fine, but the sad part was that she didn't ask for 90% of what I had been told to prepare!! Either way it is a huge weight off of our shoulders. Now, all we have to do is to get the card in the mail :)

In other news, we made a big announcement on Facebook. In case you aren't my facebook friend....

That is right. We are expecting Baby #2 at the beginning of April! I'm sure Mia hopes the baby will be born in March....because who wants to share a birthday party. I have had two appointments so far and everything looks good. Heartbeat is strong and baby is measuring right on schedule. The plan for this baby includes biweekly appointments starting at 16 weeks and weekly progesterone shots. If all goes well, then this will be the extent of it. If I start to show signs of going into early labor, then it will get more complicated. Also, let's hope we can work it out so a home health nurse can come to me instead of me having to go there for shots....because seriously....who has time for that.

In other news....the doctor's wanted to test me for all sorts of genetic diseases. What the F! I was never asked to do these things in Japan. I was getting told...well how about we test for this and that....I mean there is a 1 in 8,000 chance for some of these problems. I can see already that birth in NYC is much more clinical than what I am used to. I have already told the doctors no to several things....so I'm sure they are loving me.

Toddler Lessons, Future Babies, and Playdate

Okay...so Tuesday was a busy day. Around noon Ten came home early so that I could go to my doctor's appointment....to find out where we stand.

As you may or may not know, I had one miscarriage in 2011 and then had pProm at 33 weeks in 2012. With that being said...I figured it was best to get some advice before we embark on any more baby making. In Japan, I was simply told to wait for more than a year before trying again...but that everything would be handled normally after that. To them...it was probably just some sort of infection that caused it.

Fast forward to the U.S....First, when I was explaining my history...they were shocked that I wasn't induced at 33 weeks when my water broke. In my mind, I was kind of terrified that that is standard practice here. Moving on to the future...yes, it was confirmed that I will be considered a high risk pregnancy (I guessed that) and that I would have additional checkups in the future. The additional checkups just kind of fall in line with what you generally receive in Japan anyway, so no big deal. I was also told to expect some form of bed rest and that I would have to get progesterone shots starting around 23 weeks. Finally, Mia must not be nursing AT ALL from around 20 weeks or it may cause me to go into labor. Yikes!!

Big difference with what I was told in Japan, so I am just confused over all with what my chances are. After talking with Ten...we are most likely going to try again after I lose a substantial amount of weight (making progress on that though...down 2 kg)...as for all of that other stuff...we will just deal with it when the time comes I guess. We will be a lot more careful this time around....though it may/may not help. I'm generally optimistic though....after a Dr. Google consultation late last night.

Now, on to a lighter topic. After I got home, Mia went down for a nap...and then right before dinner we headed to a trial music lesson. It was free, so we were like heck yeah...we are in.

Checking everything out.

Time to get our shakers on.

Watching the puppets from a distance.

Getting a bit braver.

Finishing off with dancing to Single Ladies and pom poms.

Now, I am a sucker for anything that involves pom poms...and Ten loves Mia in music lessons (partly so he can practice his mad xylophone skills)....so we signed up for 12 weeks of classes. 

So, what are we doing right now totally: gymnastics, swimming, story/art/music class, and a music only class. We also go to lots of other free events and may start baby yoga story time...which is free too! Finally, we do Mother Goose Time at home and are planning on starting Kodomo Charenji very soon too. You might think that this is bordering on shall I say...crazy...and I thought so too at first, but now I don't think so. I mean if we didn't have classes for her...what would we do all day?? We play with toys and go to the park every day...but we still have a lot of down time. I mean we can't sit at the park for 12 hours a day. I don't think that is best for little kids anyway....just my opinion though. I want to expose her to just a little bit more than that.

Just as proof...that we actually do more than just go to lessons...here are some pics of Mia at her play date today. I wish I could have gotten all three kids together...but with water features in a park...near impossible!

After three hours outside...she slept like a rock during her nap!

Baby Minestrone

Yes, it has once again been a good long while since I've been on this blog here of mine....and I have no good excuses....hehe.

Anyway, so when Mia turned 6 months old, it was time to start solid foods. The doctor recommended rice cereal, followed by Level 1 foods...blah blah blah. I was a little bit disturbed by the fact that I was indeed recommended to feed my little baby all processed foods. I mean have you ever tried baby food? It is completely disgusting and rarely tastes like the food that it is named after...and why are the bananas pink?? If you have to turn it pink to preserve it...then no thank you...Rant finished.

So, here is one of our favorite baby food recipes for a 6 month old. (I'm assuming that from the above blurb...everyone can assume that we are making Mia's food...as we make our own. I am a housewife...so I do understand that I have the "luxury of time?" on my side.)

So, here it goes. Cut up some cabbage, onion, carrots, and potatoes (a couple of tablespoons of each) and add about 200 ml of water. Boil this lovely veggie mixture for about 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the next step...but it's simple...remove vegetables from the liquid...reserve the cooking liquid since this is now a vegetable broth...how easy.

Next, you need to mash up the vegetables. I use a wooden mortar and pestle...no fancy baby bullet required. I also had a steamed piece of broccoli left over so I mashed this up to on its own to add with the other veggies.

Spoon some of the vegetable broth over your mashed vegetables..and you have a tasty soup...even tastes good as an adult I must say...though I would prefer it to be a little chunkier...haha. By the way...the white stuff is a rice porridge.

I guess I should add...be practical...you are feeding this to a baby...so of course this is NOT a soup served hot!

Does anyone else have any good baby food recipes??