Lyla's trip to Japan part two: Hakone

Some pictures my mom took in Hakone.  Lyla is with my aunt Keiko in most of these and my mom is behind the camera.

These are at a glass museum in Hakone

we are lovely: a blog about birth stories...

I am excited to announce that Cody's birth story is now featured on abirthstoryblog!  I stumbled upon this site recently and I have been enthralled with all the interesting birth stories there.  This blog has it all...home births, c-sections, epidurals, nightmare experiences, and picture-perfect ones.  I decided that Cody's birth story was entertaining enough for others to be interested in and perhaps benefit from, so I submitted it and it was accepted.  They even sent me a sweet email thanking me for sharing and to let me know that it would be online today.  His story falls under the categories of "home birth, natural birth, unassisted birth".  If you love a good birth story then grab your popcorn and pull up to your computer for some good reads.  If you are pregnant, be aware that some of the stories are a bit unnerving...but, for the most part, they are all beautiful depictions of how a life was brought into the world.  Enjoy!

a glimpse of lyla's trip to japan

This is the first picture my unle Shu-Chan took when Lyla arrived at the airport in Haneda.  She looks pretty excited!

Eating breakfast or lunch somewhere in Tokyo.  Lyla, of course, hamming it up for the camera.

Lyla went to Hello Kitty world with her third cousins (my cousins' kids).  I am sure that she got a few adorable things from this store.  I am so jealous!

Putting on a show for family.

This past weekend Lyla went to the Anpanman museum.  She got to hug her old pal.

Sweet treats from the Anpanman cafeteria.

Yum!

We got to skype with Lyla on Saturday evening (Sunday morning Tokyo time).  She is having the time of her life!  This coming week she will be taking a trip to Hakone with my mom, my aunt Keiko, and my uncle Shu-Chan.  I can't wait to see more pictures of Lyla's adventures in this coming week!  Stay tuned for another update soon.

35 and 37 weeks

Now we're getting into the melon sizes. 

35 weeks and baby boy was the size of a 5 1/4 pound honeydew.  5 more weeks to go.

Today is 37 weeks and baby boy is the size of a 6 pound mini watermelon.  Baby is officially "full term".  Yay!  He is in the head-down position now so he can come anytime.  A lot of people are asking how I am feeling now and if I feel "ready".  I think it's hard to say that I am ready yet.  If I went into labor today, I would probably feel a bit suprised and unprepared.  I still have a few more things to throw into my hospital bag and some things I want to take care of at work.  On the other hand, I am anxious to meet this baby boy, so I wouldn't mind if he did make an early appearance.  I trust that he will come in God's perfect timing and that the Lord will put me at ease when the time comes to bring him into the world.  3 more weeks to my due date!

We're not going to talk about weight gain anymore.  Let's just say I went past my goal maximum a couple days ago and it looks like I will keep on packing on the pounds until baby boy arrives.  Oh well!  As long as the baby is healthy I don't mind having a little "more to love".

april showers

Saturday was my friend Leslie's shower in Corona.  Leslie is a dear friend of mine from high school and college.  She and her husband Jamie live in Seattle now, so I was very excited when I got her so-cal baby shower invitation in the mail from her sister-in-law.  Leslie is so stunning with a bun in the oven.  Here we are belly to belly 28 weeks and 34 weeks pregnant.

On Sunday some friends from work got together to throw me a baby shower brunch at Mimi's Cafe.  We shared some laughs over delicious food and had a wonderful time.

The gang.  Grace, Sara, me, Jamie, Carrie, Melissa, and Brittany.

Monday night we had a joint celebration for mine and Lauren's pregnancies with our growth group.  We have been so blessed to be able to gather together with all these wonderful people to learn God's word, grieve together during sad times, and rejoice with eachother during happy times.  After our study, the group gathered around the pregnant mommys to pray for us.

The ladies.

A yummy mint chocolate ice cream cake from Coldstone.

Blessed with diapers and wipes!  You can never have too many of either of these.

32 and 34 weeks

At 32 weeks baby boy was the size of a 3 3/4 pound jicama.  He started doing some major hiccup sessions this week to prepare his lungs for breathing air.  It's definitely getting crowded in there!

I started packing my hospital bag last night.  As this is my first time going to a hospital to deliver a baby, this is all new to me.  I searched some online sources for a good hospital bag checklist and then I asked some friends for advice.  I want to be prepared and comfortable without lugging a bunch of bags to clutter up our room.  I've only packed about 1/3 of the items on my list and I've already filled a carry-on sized luggage.  I don't know where Travis is going to put his stuff.  Ha!  I picked out baby boy's going-home outfit and laid it out on the bed.  I showed it to Travis and we both got very emotional and excited picturing him wearing it!   We just can't wait to meet this little dude.

Today is 34 weeks and baby boy is the size of a 4 3/4 pound canteloupe.  That means he has put on about a pound in the last 2 weeks.  He is definitely plumping up and preparing for life outside the womb.

I have gained 29.6 pounds.  I am still technically in the "normal" range for pregnancy weight gain, but I can only gain a pound a week from here on out...and I recently discovered Talenti's black cherry gelato at Sprouts.  This could be bad.

at the AWANA drive-in

AWANA does a drive-in movie night once a year where the kids get to bring a cardboard box car and watch a movie under the stars.  Due to poor planning, Lyla did not go last year.  But we planned ahead this time and marked it on our calendars.  I reminded Travis a few nights prior to drive-in night that he needs to make her a car.  Although he had so many other things going on, he decided to start on it right away.  I encouraged him to keep it simple, but in true Travis form, once he gets going he wants it to be exactly right.  He pulled an all-nighter on Monday night to make this awesome rat-rod for Lyla.  He used a diaper box for the body, pizza boxes, paper plates for wheels, paper towel rolls for the pipes, plastic bins for the front and back windshield, water bottles for the headlights and tail-lights, and a bottle cap for the fuel cap.  What a great creation!  I was shocked when I came downstairs in the morning to see this bad boy in our kitchen.  Lyla was pretty jazzed too.

We pulled up to AWANA and the kids got to "park" their cars wherever they wanted.  Some of these cars were really spectacular!

There was a volkswagon bus, hot pink cadillac, princess carriage, old-school batmobile, and so much more.  Some of these parents really spent time on these beauties.  A few of them even had working headlights!

130 kids watching Veggietales as the sun goes down.

Lyla sat still in her very cramped car enjoying the movie.  I somehow was able to stuff her in this thing with an entire mexican blanket to keep her warm and her jacket to use as a pillow.  Her little arms could barely maneuver enough to hold onto her box of popcorn.

She had such a great time and she was very proud of her little vehicle.  She got lots of comments like, "cool car, lyla!" to which she replied, "Thanks, but it's not a car, it's a rat rod".  She is surely her father's daughter.

the getty

Trisha was in LA this weekend visiting her long-time friend Lana and her new husband Nick.  It was a great excuse to make a day trip to Los Angeles, which is something we never do.  Our day trips usually involve the mountains, Orange County, San Diego, or Palm Springs.  LA has so much to offer, but we are always intimidated by the traffic, parking hassles, crazy drivers, etc.  I am so glad that we had a reason to make the drive this time because it was a great reminder that we are missing out on a lot of great stuff by avoiding LA.  Anyways, here was our Sunday funday with Aunt Trisha.  The weather was chilly and overcast all day, so it made for excellent photo opportunities. 

First we had brunch at Lana and Nick's house.  It was an amazing spread.  They made irish oatmeal with all the fixins, bacon, apple sausage, cappucinos, and yogurt smoothies.  We were in food heaven!  We discussed our plan for the day over our brunch and decided to head over to the Getty museum which is just minutes away from where Nick and Lana live.

We spent the most time in the central garden because it was so beautiful and the kids could roam around to some extent.  Some of the art exhibits were tough with the little ones running around and making noise.  I think at one point Lyla and Cody tried to high-five a Claude Monet painting.  Not cool with the docents.

Walking through the garden paths.

Cody surveying the beauty of the garden....or contemplating whether or not he should try somersaulting down this hill.

They REALLY didn't want to stop for pictures.  I had to bribe Cody with a rootbeer lollipop to even get him to take this photo.  There was just too much to see and touch!

Like these awesome flowers that look like they could have been on the movie Avatar!

Enjoying his lollipop with auntie Trisha.

Family!

And of course Travis had to liven things up with a little wall-climbing in the garden.  People were stopping to take pictures of him running up the wall and over the kids. 

After the Getty, the kids crashed in the car for the ride home.  It was the perfect distance from our house to allow for a solid naptime.  We arrived home refreshed and ready for a relaxing evening at home.  It was a very successful sunday-funday.

What's in a name?

Name update: We have narrowed down our baby name list to a general "top 5" that changes from day to day.  But it seems like names #1 and #2 have stayed consistently at the very top of this short list, sometimes switching positions.  Choosing a name for this baby boy has been a difficult task for us.  I feel a little guilty that he remains nameless, but I also want to be sure that the name we settle on is the right one.  It may come down to finalizing his name at the hospital.  Which I am ok with.  Kind of.

The trouble with this baby is that we have now set a precedence with the names of our two existing children.  The name for this baby needs to flow with Lyla and Cody.  We have always liked western, cowboy-sounding names for boys.  For girls, we tend to favor simple, old-fashioned, and feminine names.  There are so many great names out there and it's hard to narrow it down to just one.  We also have to keep in mind what the current baby-naming trends are...we want to have a name that is not too trendy and also not too odd. 

I sometimes envy other couples who already have a name picked out, some even by the time they find out the gender of their baby.  I would love to talk to this baby boy and refer to him by his name, but we just don't know his name yet.  At least we can tell our children that baby naming was a serious task for us and something that we took into serious consideration.  Perhaps they can appreciate this and not hate us for picking the wrong name.  That might be unavoidable anyways.  Lyla constantly tells us that she wants her name to be Lucy.  Maybe you just can't win with naming kids. 

30 and 31 weeks

Here I am at 30 weeks and baby boy was the size of a 3 pound cabbage.  I found out this week that I am anemic, so I started on an iron supplement.  Hopefully this helps with my energy levels! 

Today I am 31 weeks pregnant and baby boy is the size of a 3.3 pound pineapple.  He is still moving a ton, so apparently there is still plenty of room for him to toss and turn in there.  I have gained 27 pounds so far, so I am still somewhat on track for total weight gain.  I might need to cut out my nightly bowl of ice cream.  Maybe.

Resurrection Sunday

We had a lovely Easter yesterday.  The morning started out with an incredible church service at Reliance where we were blessed to witness a lot of people dedicate their lives to Jesus for the first time and others who were re-dedicating their lives.  It was a beautiful sight to see all those people come forward!

After church we headed over to Nick and Sara's for an Easter lunch and egg hunt.

Travis and Cody were almost matching in their Easter outfits.

The highlight of the afternoon is definitely the egg hunt.  It takes a little while for the little ones to realize what is going on, but once they get it, they have the time of their lives!

Lyla hunting for eggs.

Counting up the loot.  Nia was the winner with a total of 13 eggs.

And then we got to dig into some dessert!  I made the coconut cake and decorated with bunny peeps.  My mother-in-law, Cheryl, made the cherry pie with the cross cut-out.

It was a wonderful day spent celebrating our Risen Lord.  "...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

25 and 28 weeks

Here's my photo at 25 weeks when Baby Boy (yes, he still doesn't have a name) was about the size of a 1 1/2 pound cauliflower. 

Today is 28 weeks.  Baby boy is the size of a 2 1/4 pound eggplant.  This already seems quite large, but he will more than triple his weight between now and birth!  He can also open his eyes and can supposedly see small amounts of light filtering through.  I wonder what he can see?  I am also officially in my third trimester and in the "home stretch" as they say. 

I have gained 21.6 pounds during this pregnancy, so I am still on track for "normal" weight gain.  I am feeling very large and starting to get uncomfortable...so the idea of gaining another 13 pounds sounds quite undesirable at the moment.

girls night out

Lyla and I went on a mommy/daughter excursion last night.  We got all dressed up for our first night out together.  Just the girls!  We left the boys at home and went out to paint the town red.

Travis bought us tickets to see a play at the Old Town Temecula Theater.  It was "Wizard of Oz" by the Christian Youth Theater performers.  They are a group of actors and actresses between the ages of 8-18.  This was Lyla's first play and she was very excited.  We have some friends whose children are part of the CYT program, so they offered us the tickets.

Here we are at the theater taking pictures during the intermission.

She was so cute sitting in her chair.  She's not really big enough to hold the seat down, so she was sort of folded up in it the whole time.

The show was great!  It was fun to see some of our little friends on stage.  After the show, our friends were kind enough to introduce us to a lot of the cast members so that Lyla could get some autographs and snap some pictures with them. 

With Dorothy.  She is 13 years old and this is her 14th CYT show!

With the Lion.

With Tin Man.

and with the Wicked Witch of the West.  She was awesome and she's only 14 years old. 

We had a wonderful evening out and I hope to take Lyla out again.  I just might wait until after the baby is born and I can handle saying out until nearly 10pm.  This pregnant mommy was wiped out last night!