Suitengu Shrine

Suitengu Shrine, is dedicated to safe delivery and childbirth.   Yes, a shrine solely for this purpose, which is not surprising in Japan.

As our quiet weekends are coming to an end, Mike and I decided to go and check it out.   It never hurts to have multiple religion praying for you, so why not.   It is basically like visiting any other shrine: you ring the bell, throw some coins in, pray, and then clap twice.

This weekend also happens to be a celebration of 7-5-3, where you bring your 7/3 yr. old daughters and 5yr sons to the shrine to be blessed.  Its a big deal, as you can see below, everyone gets dressed up.   I though she was super cute

30 weeks...

and counting until the arrival of Swimmy.   We have about 7-10 weeks left, YIKES.   j/k.

Mike and I are as prepared as we are going to be.  All the clothes, blankets, etc, we have thus far are washed and put away ready for the arrival.   I'm still in search of a bassinet/moses basket, but I am sure I'll find one before the time is actually here.   Baby shipment should arrive by early December and just in time.

As you all know, I'm not a belly picture person, but figured I would share as people have been asking.  Plus from what everyone tells me here, I'm pretty small, though I dont' feel that way most days.

September in the States

The entire month was spent in the states, hopping around to see people and celebrate many occasions.   We started in STL to see the family and surprise them with the news of the Swimmy (aka baby Miles).   Little did we know that the secret had already been let out of the bag, which means we learned our lesson for next time!   Golf, lots of golf, and celebrating Swimmy were on the agenda.

I headed to El Paso for 2 weeks, which was great to celebrate my mom and Swimmy again.   I spent alot of time with lil Gabe and Ella, and sister.   It was hard to leave as I really do miss them.
On to Houston to see friends and shop for a few days.   I ended my stay in Tulsa to see a good friend of mine, Ashley get married.  All in all, it was a good trip, but quite exhausting in the end.  I was ready to come home to sleep in my own bed!

Here's a few pictures.   I completely forgot the camera charger, so no camera for the whole month!