family – The Haruna Home

Coming Soon: Hiragana at Home!!

February 8, 2023

I’ve been keeping a secret!!

We are excited to announce the upcoming release of a brand-new home education resource:

Hiragana at Home!

As a mother living in Japan and a second-language speaker of Japanese, I longed for a home education resource for exposing young children to Japanese language in a way that was gentle, simple, play-based, and not time-consuming or filled with busy work.

Home-educating a bilingual child should not mean that their language skills have to suffer!

However, there are few home-education resources available for people who desire to teach the Japanese language to young children (including overseas), and little support is available to families in Japan who decide not to enroll their child in preschool.

Eventually, I realized that if I wanted a home education program for our family that met my expectations, as well as would allow our children to thrive without losing out on their language development, I would have to make it myself – and so, I did!

**Note: this post was updated on March 24th, 2023, to reflect updates regarding the spring 2023 release!!**

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Our International Love Story

July 31, 2021

In honor of our 5th wedding anniversary on July 30th, it seems like the perfect opportunity to share our love story with our readers!

The post below was originally written in February 2017, and appeared at a previous blog that is no longer in use. The title then was “Raindrops and Shared Umbrellas: On an anniversary and the story of a year’s happiness”.

Now firmly out of “newlywed” territory, I can say that marrying Masashi is something I would choose again and again a thousand times, and all of the challenges we have faced together have made our marriage even stronger and more beautiful than it was in the beginning.

Our love story is no longer just a story of a year’s happiness, but five years of numerous experiences and emotions, sickness and health, grounded firmly in love.

I enjoy revisiting what it was like at the beginning, and am thankful for how God brought us together.

To reminisce with us, please read below!

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10 Pregnancy Must-Haves

November 1, 2020

The word is out.. we are expecting a boy!

The 1st trimester of this pregnancy seemed to drag on and on forever, but now at over halfway through the 2nd trimester, time is flying past so quickly. As a result, I want to make sure not to forget what I’ve learned along the way, and document it to share!

For example, I recently compiled a list of my pregnancy must-haves so far.

So, whether you are preparing for a future pregnancy, are experiencing your first pregnancy overseas in Japan, or just a mom veteran looking for ideas, I hope that you find this list helpful!

Please note: this blog post uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from certain links. This does not affect your purchases or the price you may pay.

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We’re Expecting! – Pregnancy in Japan

September 24, 2020

We are happy to announce that the Haruna family is expecting a baby! The due date is March 10th, 2021.

This is our rainbow baby, a term that is used for a baby that is born after an infant or pregnancy loss. Before conceiving this child, we experienced 3 miscarriages, as well as secondary infertility, over the course of about 3 years.

Getting here has been a long, difficult road.. and pregnancy after loss can be so much harder than one with no previous losses. Add onto that the uncertainties of a pandemic, and it has the potential to be even more challenging.

Yet, I am so thankful that God has blessed us with this child, and slowly the excitement has been growing.

In addition to new medical restrictions due to the pandemic, there are also many differences between giving birth in Japan vs. the U.S. If you are pregnant in Japan or just interested in the process and differences, please read more below!

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Welcome

December 24, 2019

Hello there! My name is Hannah, and The Haruna Home is a site for sharing about our international family, what it’s like to live overseas as an immigrant, and country life in rural Japan.

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