A few pics

So much to post, so little time to post it!


The Moment of a Miracle












The fam gets a good look














Nearly 11 pounds!













One day old
















Proud Big Brother










Intrigued Little Sister

Perfect!

One Hour Old

A Baby Was Born

Hey everybody,
it's a boy!!!
His name is Israel Lincoln Tsukayama
10lbs 12oz
21.5 inches
Yes, big baby!
He was born at 1:40pm. It wasn't a fast nor painless one, but everything went good and smooth. Praise God for that. Thank you all for your prayers and God bless you.
Elizabeth will write more later...

Labor Day!!!

This is it, folks! It is 6:45am and I've known I was in labor since about 5am. Please pray and we will let you know when we have THE news!!!

41 weeks!

Well, look how far we've made it, folks! I didn't get my wish for the 15th, and with the passing of yesterday, this baby has earned the distinction of being my latest baby yet. Michelle said it well in commenting on my last post: "The Lord planned, before the beginning of time, the very day this litttle guy would be born. He won't come a minute earlier!" Very good reminder. :) So, now what am I going to do with myself today???

Just another day...

... in this never-ending saga.
My mw predicted 2 wks ago that I would have a long prodromal labor like I did with Dominique, but I didn't want to believe her! Turns out she's a pretty smart lady. Now I hope the second part of her prediction turns out to be right: a short active labor. ;-)

Yesterday we spent some time at my sil's house and the kids had fun playing while we visited. It was a nice change of scenery and helped the day to go by.










This morning I'm a bit discouraged again with one more day of no baby. Maybe I won't get my wish of baby by Dec 15th after all. What was that I was saying earlier this week about the opportunity to learn surrender? I think I forgot..........

I'm Hangin' In, Hangin' Out and Hangin' On

That pretty much sums it up!
Last night Fabio and I were up until after midnight, thinking surely this was *it*.... Then things slowed a bit and we decided to try to get some rest since we would likely be up most of the night... I was very disappointed to wake at 4am to nothing much going on!!! Arg. So here we begin one more day.

On the bright side, Fabio finished painting the basement last night, except for a few finishing touches! :) I'm trying really hard to look on the bright side.... Today is the first day I've felt a bit "down" with all the waiting.

Another Kind of Deja Vu

Here we still are! We walked around the block, but got cold, so we headed to the mall to walk some more. I did still keep having contractions, but nothing is intensifying yet. So, now this is reminding me of another part of the week before Dominique was born: four days of early labor! I *really* hope this isnt the beginning of four days like this.....







Here's my comfort: I have never known anyone who was pregnant for longer than ten months. :) There is an end in sight! (Although I hope to not ever be counted in with the group of ten monthers either!)

I have hoped ever since I found out I was pregnant to have the baby before December 15th, so maybe I'll get my wish yet. I'd like to be up and around a bit by Christmas, and I'd like for the baby's birthday to not be *too* close to Christmas.... We'll see!

Deja Vu

Well, good morning faithful readers!

Last night was a major deja vu of the night before Dominique was born. I felt exactly the same ~ lethargic, like I could barely move ~ and so I did the same last night as I did on Oct 28, 2002: I took a long soaking bath and went to bed *early*. On both occasions, I was having some contractions, but nothing too major, and they continued through the night. I slept through a lot of it, though, just waking up occasionally with a big one. Every time I woke up, I kept praying that this would PLEASE be *it*! I kept praying "Please let it be it!" and from there I got the hippie song "Let it be" stuck in my head and kept singing it through the night. hehe.

But.... the deja vu ends there! With Dominique, I woke the next morning around 4am and couldnt sleep anymore because of the ctx, and she was born at 1:40 that afternoon. This time, however, I woke up ravenously hungry at 5am, and ate a whole bunch of stuff. I was still having some contractions, but not real strong ones. Now, I haven't had anything for nearly half an hour.... :( So, we'll see. Fabio went ahead to work. I still think this *might* be the beginning of the end, but I can't be too sure yet. I think after our baths/ showers and stuff, we might take a walk around the block and see what that does for us....

I'll let you know if anything changes!!

Nada.

Here we still are! Nothing exciting to report. Still have contractions every day, and some are rather strong, but nothing that persists for any significant period of time....

I am still taking votes/ bets on baby's gender, date of birth, and birth size, for those that asked. And baby's heart rate has been around 140's. ;-)

On the bright side, the longer baby tarries, the more Fabio is getting done on the basement! He is nearly done with the painting now, which is a huge relief. Every little bit helps. If he can get the painting done, then we can get carpet laid, and the finishing touches he can do little by little, while we start using it. :)

I also finished the last of my projects yesterday. I have been more interested in having a baby lately than finishing my projects, but it is nice to have everything done that I thought it would be nice to do. ;) Since all that was done, I started in on the baby's album! I've never done that before the birth of the child! Here's a preview (click to enlarge):

Nope.

Nothing yet. No baby news.
At this point it sorta seems like some far-off distant dream! Like a fantasy that may never come true.... LOL, I remember getting to this point with the other two too, feeling like I may be pregnant forever and will never give birth. hehe.

Just one more opportunity to learn surrender, right? At least I don't feel too terribly impatient at this point. Probably even less than 2 weeks ago. Maybe partly because I *know* it can't be long now, and maybe partly because I feel more ready than I did 2 weeks ago. Everything is set! So now Im just trying to keep up with the day-to-day, and at least I have no chance to get bored!

Thank you for praying. Keep it up!

Today is "D Day"

That is how I affectionately refer to my "due date" .... and just as I suspected, baby did not choose to come out before that! Baby just doesnt seem to know about this magical date on the calendar!! The good thing is that since the other two came after their due dates, I had more realistic expectations this time around. There was always a chance that it could happen, but I wasnt really counting on it! And actually, at this point I feel pretty relaxed about the whole thing, and as excited as I am, I dont feel too desperate.




I do, however, try to tie up any loose ends before bed each night: make sure all the laundry is done, kitchen clean, house picked up, etc., so that I can relax and feel ready, just in case. ;) I suppose it is a good practice anyway, right??

The kids just got these cute little capes from their Uncle Fernando in Japan and they have hardly take them off since, especially Joshua! They have worn them over their coats when we go out, slept in them, etc. Fun stuff!



As another attempt to enjoy the time I have with just the two children, as well as to pass some time so we don't go stir crazy, we made a trip to the library this week. We read a TON of books, but didnt check any out, so I wouldnt have to worry about returning them. ;) Our library is pretty cool, though ~ it has so many things for the kids to play with. It is especially nice in the winter when we cant play outside. Provides a nice change of scenery!
























Here I am looking plump, with friends Edith, Miriam, Alejandra, Claudia and Esperanza. Esperanza had us for lunch on Wednesday for Mexican homemade tamales. Yum! Miriam and Claudia go back to Argentina on Monday and they will be missed! (They really were hoping to meet the baby too!)







Come on out, baby!

No News = Good News???

Well by now I figure you are all anxiously checking my blog daily for baby news, right?? I know I did that to my blogger friends when they were pregnant! Anway, no news yet. And in my opinion at this point, that is decidedly not good news! hehe. Still trying to be patient and hang in there. I had *very* strong contractions for a couple hours last night again, the strongest yet, but they eventually petered out and here we still are...
Each night when I go to bed, I console myself

by saying, "Hey, you are one day closer!" I dont know how many days I have left, but I know for sure that I am one day closer!! That helps.

Well, here are a couple of pictures of Fabio on the job from yesterday. How would you like to be working on a roof on a day like we've been having lately?? I know I sure wouldn't! Poor guy. The second one is of him with the other guys at work. In case you cant tell behind all the clothes, Fabio is the one on the far right. :) Don't they look cold?!



We do have family news! Suzy and the kids came back home from Georgia last Saturday night. It sure is good to have them back and the kids sure have grown! This is probably the last picture of *only* nine grandchildren. As usual, it is impossible to get a good shot of everyone, but at least they are all present! Dominique was playing dress-up again, which is why she has a funky leotard over her clothes. No, I dont dress her like that on normal days. ;)

Please keep praying for my brother Aaron in Iraq. He is in a hot spot and needs lots of prayer covering.

I'll let you know if anything happens baby wise!!

Enjoying Being a Mother of Two

I am trying hard to concentrate on savoring the moments that I have left as the mother of only two children, and spending special time with them. These pictures are of the other day at the park ~ probably the last nice day we will have this year! I didnt even have a coat on ~ hard to believe on a day like today! I'm glad we took advantage of it while we could.

This picture looks a little overexposed, but I thought it was so cute. They love each other!











While not quite what I was looking for, I thought their expressions in these pics were comical. :)












My big boy! It will be fun to have a 4.5yo this time with the new baby. He can be such a big help to me at this age! I can hardly believe how big he is getting. We have been watching home movies lately, and even to see him one year ago ~ wow! He seemed so much littler then! How they grow!















Still the baby, for a few more days! Funny, several days in a row last week, she crawled in bed with me in the morning after she woke up and ended up snuggling in and falling back asleep ~ NOT something she is used to doing. It was so nice! I just cuddled in and let her be my little baby, just for a few more days. :)













Then, once it turned cold and we could play outside, we tried playing dress-up. Oh, how they LOVED it! How do you like Dominique's long black dreds??

































Well, I had another prenatal check-up last Friday and everything looks great ~ and baby is not looking so small these days... We can probably count on another baby around Dominique's size (she was 9lb 12oz). That's ok, though. I just can't wait to see! Anyway, all seems ready to go, but she doesn't think I will go before my due date (which is only FIVE days away!). That's okay too, I guess. I'm trying to enojoy the time I have left and not get too impatient. It is a little easier now since baby dropped last Thursday and my stomach isnt quite so much "in my throat" anymore. And, I can breathe, which is always a bonus! ;) So, I feel pretty good, but I thought I would journal a little about what waiting is like in the last few days, for me anyway! I'll keep ya posted if we have any news!!


What I feel like doing and what I don’t feel like doing:

I feel like wearing pajamas, comfy sweat pants, or big muumuus, if I had some!
I don’t feel like wearing anything more attractive, that is less comfortable.

I feel like eating pumpkin pie and cold cereal and toast as my main courses.
I don’t feel like eating EGGS! or really any other protein foods, which is what I really need.

I feel like spending hours taking long luxurious baths.
I don’t feel like taking a rushed shower first thing in the morning.

I feel like watching home movies and reading birth stories all day long.
I don’t feel like reading or doing anything that requires much thought or concentration.

I feel like sitting Indian style or rocking on the floor on my hands and knees.
I don’t feel like sitting in chairs in more socially acceptable positions.

I feel like having my kids do sedate activities like read books and color all day.
I don’t feel like having them do anything that makes a mess!

I feel like organizing every nook and cranny of my house.
I don’t feel like cooking.

Does reading this make you feel sorry for Fabio?? LOL, it makes me feel sorry for him! Lucky for him and the rest of the family, I am not governed entirely by what I feel like doing! But can anyone who has been pregnant lately relate with any of this???

The Countdown has begun!

I am now 38.5 weeks and counting. Just TEN days until my due date (who knows how long until the *birth*.....)! This week I have been getting my wish of being able to "nest and rest" and it has been great. I have done quite a few cleaning projects and in between times when I get worn out, I have been reading lots of books to the kids and enjoying this wonderful weather we have had the past few days. We even took a bike ride to the park, with no jackets on!

So, each day I feel a little more ready and am relieved that I have gotten a few more things done. And each day the waiting gets a little bit harder, as contractions keep coming and sleeping is difficult. I did make a new best friend yesterday: TUMS! I had never taken a tum before, but it was wonderful to be able to sleep last night without feeling like vomiting, since my stomach is pretty much in my throat at this point, especially when I'm lying down.



So, since we have been pretty much hibernating this week, I dont have a ton to report, but thought I would post a few picture from last Sunday anyway. The kids are getting as excited as I am to meet their new sibling. I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl! If you haven't put your vote in yet, it's not too late!































One last picture from last Saturday. We had some plans that ended up falling through and the kids were disappointed, so I decided we could at least stop and play at a McD's for a little bit. We didnt know that Ronald was about to come by for a visit! The kids had fun. :)


I'll keep you posted if we have any baby news!

Finally, some recent pictures!!

Here are some of my friends, l-r: Michelle, Candi, and Teri. My sil Amanda had a casserole shower for me nearly two weeks ago, and we had a really nice time!











Big me and more friends: Danielle and another Michelle, holding sweet John Michael. :)














Pregnant Bellies. I love taking these shots! Me at 36 weeks, Teri at 31 weeks and Amanda at 19 weeks.











Me and long time friend Kristi.


















Then last Saturday we had a hectic day! We got up early to go to my Grandpa's early Thanksgiving/ Christmas gathering, which we technically had to miss because of a wedding, but we at least wanted to go for a little bit to see some of the out-of-town family. Especially since we aren't going to trave this year, at Thanksgiving or Christmas because of the pregnancy/ baby. We had a nice short but sweet time, and left from there to go to the wedding.



Here is the happy couple! Our friend Greg, from church, went on a mission trip with out church to Argentina a little over two years ago and this was the result! He met Alejandra down there and this was the long-awaited culmination of what started then. :) Alejandra was finally able to come about a month ago, and we are enjoying getting to know her.






This past Wednesday night we had a Thanksgiving gathering with the hispanic "gang". It was a good turn-out and a good time. We had lots of food, and then I used a children's story book to tell them the story of Thanksgiving, which none of them had heard! They just thought it was turkey day. :) Fabio also shared from the Word and we had a good time singing together.







Remember Alejandra, from the wedding picture? This is her mother, Miriam, and sister, Claudia, who were able to come up for the wedding. They stayed with us for a few days this week while Greg and Alejandra are on their honeymoon, since they can't speak English and Greg's family can't speak Spanish! We really enjoyed getting to know them. They were here for both the hispanic Thanksgiving gathering, and my family's Thanksgiving the next day.




Here are a few of the kids that were at the Wednesday night gathering.
Two things about this pic:
1) See the pool that I plan to give birth in? Isn't that cool!? It's been here since Tuesday and the kids have been having a blast playing in it! (There is NO water in it yet!!!)

2) Notice my bald child?? Tuesday morning as we were trying to get out the door to Ladies' Bible study, I told Joshua to get out of the bath and get dressed. He always does that by himself. A few minutes later, I was thinking that he was taking too long, so I went to check on him. He had the tiny little scissors that I use to cut their nails and was using it to sheer himself to the bone all along his forehead! After being disciplined, he was then shorn the rest of the way, which he thought was rather traumatic. He did NOT want to be bald. After it was all over, I was trying to console him a little by telling him that at least now he looked like his Uncle Aaron and cousins. He said, "But this kind of hair only looks good on them, not on *me*!!"


Here is a picture of Dominique and Cheyenne, all gussied up! They just LOVE playing dress-up, so it made for a nice Thanksgiving afternoon activity. :) Unfortunately, my memory card was full, so I deleted a few pics to take this of the girls, but didnt get any others from Thanksgiving. The good news is that our video camera is finally working again, so at least I got some footage that way. We had a great time together!
(Scott, if you read this, could you email me your pics from this day please?)


Today I am 38 weeks pregnant, 2 weeks from my due date. Everywhere I went today I had LOTS of people comment on how "ready" I looked, that it must not be long now, and that I looked like I was about to pop. I feel like I'm about to pop! I guess there is still a shred of hope that I might not go too late this time ~ it would sure be nice ~ but I'm not getting my hopes up too much! In the meantime, I have been working on nesting projects all week, as time and energy allow. There are still a lot of things I want to get done, but each day I feel a little more ready, and if baby would oblige me by coming early, I would have NO problems not getting any more of my projects done, that's for sure!!
Oh, and I think we finally have names! We have never been secretive about names before, but since it's this close already, I think we'll just wait until baby makes his/her appearance to make the name announcement. :)

Technical Difficulties

I haven't posted for a little while due to the many technical difficulties that have arisen in our home over the past week and a half. Our computer crashed, the monitor blew, our oven broke, TWO tvs are on the blink (one blinked for the last time already), the speakers on the stereo only start working if you hit them hard, and the toaster feature no longer works on our toaster oven! All this happened this past week!!! Ugh. There must be an electronic monster in our home....

So, we lost a lot out of our computer and are having to reinstall everything all over again. We had an old monitor in storage that is so tiny that Fabio and I are both getting eyestrain using it, but at least it works for now. And, I still havent reconnected and reinstalled all the "stuff" to hook the digital camera up, so no pics for this post. Just thought I would give a little update.

Joshua got a fever during the night last night, so I barely slept since he was up a lot. He was pretty low-key today, but wanted to sit *on* me all day, so that was uncomfortable with my large abdomen, and I didnt get much done, but at least I was forced to rest that way! My big accomplishment of the day (and about the only one!) was that I finally finished getting boxes ready to send to the out-of-country fam for Christmas. :-D One to Iraq, one to Japan, one to southern Brazil and one to northern Brazil. I try to get them out early to send them surface and save on shipping. So, it was a relief to have that done.

Dominique's 2 year molars are almost done coming in! Yay! I was really hoping that she would be weaned, potty trained and done teething before the baby came and it looks like I'm going to get my wish. I wished the same thing for Joshua before Dominique was born, and I got my wish that time too. :-) She is starting to talk a lot more, finally, and it is comical to me how "girlish" she talks! Hard to explain in written form, but her tone of voice and mannerisms are definitely feminine.

Here's a funny from Joshua from today:
Joshua: Mommy, I prayed to God for wisdom and honor.
Mommy: That's a wonderful thing to pray for, Joshua. Why did you ask God for that?
Joshua: Because I want a LOT of money!
Mommy: Huh???
Joshua: Ya, Daddy read to me in the Bible that Solomon asked for wisdom and honor and God gave him lots of money too!!!

So, we had to have a little talk about the heart issues in the story and all of that deep stuff, on a four year old level. ;)


Tomorrow I am 37 weeks pregnant, three more weeks to go!!! If it weren't for all the projects I want to finish first, I would wish to have the baby NOW. I feel enormous and uncomfortable. All is well, though. All in God's good timing.

Anyone want to play a game? We played this the other night with a few friends and I think it's fun. :) Leave me a comment guessing the baby's sex, date of birth and size. I think I might give a prize to the closest winner after baby is born. :)

We still have no idea about a name for this child, either. So, feel free to leave us some suggestions, for boy or girl, as many names as you can think of. Hey, if we choose your name, maybe you can get a prize for that too!

Our Terrific Two Year Old!

Well, Dominique's birthday was October 29th, but we just had her party last night, together with my mom's, whose birthday was October 27th.
What a change two years can make in a child's life! Here is Dominique when she was 3 days old....
















And this is Dominique right around her first birthday, so excited to be walking!








And... this is Dominique last night. I made the mistake of waiting until bedtime to try to get some adorable pictures of our big girl, and here you can see how cooperative she was being! She kept saying "night-night" and pretending to be asleep! Ah, well, I guess that captures the spirit of the wonderful world of two year olds. ;)





Here are the birthday girls with their cake.


Grandma Carol and Dominique.







My sil made a child-size sling for Dominique, and she loves it! I'm sure she will even more once I am carrying this little one around in the sling. Her cousin Cheyenne brought her sling along too, so they could sling their baby dolls together. What fun!
Here are some belly shots from last night. Me and my sister-in-law Amanda. Here I am almost 36 weeks, and she is almost 19 weeks, due in April.








Finally, a family picture. It actually turned out okay, too! (After about a hundred tries, that is! All you with small children know what I'm talking about, no doubt!)


Mother and daughter.

Mother and son.


















My midwife just left from checking me. I love prenatals with her! She stays like two hours and I get to talk to her about anything and everything. I have learned so much from her. And, despite how my belly looks, it seems this baby is not all that large! Her estimate is that s/he is around 6 lbs now, so I *might* even end up having a child that is less than nine pounds! I can hardly imagine! Only time will tell, and there isnt too much time left now. I cant wait to meet this baby!

Care to Compare?

I am 35.5 weeks along now. This first picture was taken today. The second picture was taken when I was 35 weeks along with Dominique. Yes, I wore this shirt on purpose today to take this picture. ;)

So, what do you think? It's hard to tell exactly, since the pics are from different angles and stuff, but which do you think is bigger?



Personally, I think I look and feel just about the same.... which means that I am feeling quite good, but just this past week I have gotten a good deal more uncomfortable, been having a lot more contractions, baby is lower and all of that fun stuff. All is well, though. I had blood work done last week and this Friday I have my second appointment with my midwife. Just one more month til baby!!! :)