Am I really ready?

Today I had a doctor appointment and ultrasound check up. Kiharu is now weighing 6 LB 3 oz, everything looks fine. I'm at 37 weeks, due date- January 17th.......at least that's what the computer figures out, and that's what I have in mind. But after the doctor appointment, I'm a bit "lost" (losing focus), as Nori said.

Well, I'm 2 cm dilate, very thin (cervis)......hm......took me few explaination to remember what that really means. Well, bottom line---

Me: "baby is not coming soon yet, right?"
....he gave me a look of 'it could be, mom...'

Me: "seriously, not like within these 2-3 days, right? at least not before grandparents' arrival"
....he gave me a look of 'no one knows, can't predict.......'

Me: "no, not yet..." (I gave him back a look of 'please give me your crystal ball prediction....')

Doctor: "well......no one can really tell when your baby is ready, she is now consider full term anyway. But if I have to bet, she will be here sooner than your due date. Could be as soon as 5-10 days......"
.... I then gave him back a look of 'shock' & 'speechless'

Well, I know....why should I be shocked afterall, this isn't the first pregnancy. But But But..in my mind, I kept thinking I still have 3 weeks. Although like everyone said, Kiharu is the only who knows when she is ready.

So after the doctor appointment, my mind just kept running......
- got to go grocery tomorrow and stock up more food....
- what else I need to pack for my hospital bag and Yoshi's (in case)....
- got to clean up & organize the house more....
- got to pull out the infant car seat from basement......................................................

In fact, I'm not worry about the labor at all, I am more worry about little Yoshi, hoping to get things prepare & organize as much, so it will be easier for grandparents or whoever, if Kiharu arrives much sooner. Nori reassures me they will be fine, which I know they will, but it's just a mother instinct....

Well, after typing this blog for more than 5 mins, Nori said "u are typing a lot tonight...." "yeah...I just need to dump all my worries here on blog, so maybe I can sleep well tonight...."

Me and Nori took this photo back when we were dating, about 10 years ago perhaps...it's from one of those machine that "predict" what your future baby looks like.....(what a waste of money...but lots of dating couples like us fell into the trap for sure). Wonder if Kiharu will look like this photo? just hope she doesn't have the serious eye bags....^_^

Family time

(Before x'mas)- Yoshi was preparing a x'mas card for Nori......

So glad to have Nori here with us this holiday. We have not been spending that much quality family time together for a long while. It's the best x'mas gift for me and Yoshi. We have been just taking our time, not rushing in and out the house as we always did in the weekend. Today, we stayed at home, trying to prepare the nursery room, but sill a long way to go.

Snack time......there is one more space for Kiharu...

Dinner time together

Admiring the snowfall....

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Here is a video of x'mas day, opening a gift from Uncle Henry & grandparents.....

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

Thanks for the gifts to Yoshi, he had so much fun opening all those, sure will keep him occupied in this long winter. (the toddler camera & tool bench are from Otousan & mama....)

Christmas Eve

Early this morning, Santa received a letter (not in mail....but underneath the bathroom door....)

Then, by noon, Santa & his elf were no where to be found......
Instead of the usual transportation, they had choosen the reindeer sled ride instead. (Have anyone seen a reindeer sled with child car seat in it?)

Then by night, Santa & his elf returned with deliveries underneath the x'mas tree.

What's meant the most isn't the gift, but the effort of Santa & his little elf which already melt my heart......Can't wait for tomorrow.......(Merry X'mas everyone!!)

Holiday cards

I never like the mailbox as much as I do during x'mas holiday. Everyday, there are always new lovely mails (not just bills or junk advertisment). Each x'mas cards, each photo cards... let u know someone is thinking of our family as well. Especially those photo cards, always bring smile and amazement of seeing how much the kids have grown.....so why not using those as part of the holiday decorations.

2 wooden sticks- $0.40

A roll of red ribbon- $2.00

A handmade poinsettia- no cost

The holiday spirit + Yoshi's enjoyment- Priceless

Mrs. Santa workshop closed

After more than a month of work, Mrs. Santa has finally closed the workshop today.

This all started because & I have made so many new friends this past year, and I hope to give little something to each other. I had a much bigger ambition at the beginning when planning for this x'mas project, I was hoping to sew the hats and scarfs as well. But the list was just getting too long and there was no way I could have the sewing machine out when Yoshi's around. So I have decided to scale down the project to handmade only. (scarfs & hats were being purchased, then added my own decorations).

In fact, it's a very enjoyable process, I found it very therapuetic during this past month of pregnancy. There were many late nights, but it was my way of relaxation. Though it's not any big gifts, but I hope those who received would enjoy a little bit of our holiday spirit.

Mrs. Santa workshop x'mas production capacity:

- 32 poinsettia ornaments

- 12 x'mas tree ornaments

- 28 hats

- 3 bags

- 9 scarfs

- 25 pairs of hairclips

- 135 christmas cards (yes....135....oh my)

...........HO HO HO!!

Count down..

4 more days to Christmas.....

9 more days to grandparent's arrival......

11 more days to 2010......

27 more days to Kiharu's arrival......

.....but somehow Nori starts saying Kiharu will probably be here sooner than we think.... no no no....we aren't ready yet.... so there I went to start packing hospital bag & Yoshi's, in case little sister arrives before grandparents....Nori, stop saying that!!! Don't freak out your pregnant wife please!!

Underneath the X'mas Tree

6 more days till Christmas......seems like little Yoshi is enjoying all the holiday spirit. When we were out tonight, he kept saying "kirei....kirei" (beautiful...beautiful..), because there were so many x'mas light decorations everywhere.... it's really fun experiencing his first Christmas here together.

When we opened the gift packages from Aunt Junko & grandparents in Japan, we made Yoshi take the presents and put them all underneath the tree, and not allow to open till 25th. So far, he's been doing really well, haven't peep thru those at all. Perhaps he doesn't really understand the "present" concept yet, just only knew he's "helping" us move the stuff....let's see if those gifts will remain untouch for 6 more days?!

(Nana & Yuuki-chan, arigato for the presents & card, Yoshi was admiring your drawing)

(Obaa-chan & Ojii-chan, arigato for the package. we received today. Here is a video of the father & son team....hope Yoshi will be able to keep the Shimajiro gift untouch till x'mas day. Arigato!!)

Video rental center - customer

After returning from grocery store,

Mama: "Yoshi, why don't u pick a video to watch while I'm preparing lunch"

Yoshi- ran towards the "video rental store..........

............................................................................................................................

.................................................after almost 8 minutes of (serious) browsing, he finally picked one. (& lunch was almost ready too)

8 more days to Christmas.......let the holiday spirit begins (from our x'mas tree)

Video rental center

Tonight after Yoshi went to bed, and we finally had time to sit down in the living room, here was what we found on the floor (& started laughing)........ 6 dvds laying side by side neatly.....wonder why??

Recently, we noticed Yoshi starts to recognize each dvds/videos, which one he likes or not. There are many times when I refused to let him watch a video, he would just keep starring (admiring) at the packaging. Usually those Japanese dvds packaging comes with a printout showing what to expect on the episode, so I guess that's how he was able to identify. Like today, I let him pick a video to watch, I showed him few options, and he kept shaking his head indicating that's not what he wants.......(oh gee....)

And the funny part, if we let him pick a video, he wouldn't just pick it out from your hand. He would need to lay down those "options" side by side neatly on the floor, then make some SERIOUS comparision & thinking process before deciding the final choice. (haha). So I guess these 6 dvds on the floor tonight were part of his (wishful) action before bathtime.......

Amazing energy

This past Saturday, we had invited few friends & their families for a x'mas gathering at our house. At first, everyone was worry about doing that at here, just because I'm almost 9 months pregnant. But I really wanted to do this, knowing it will be a while before having another gathering after baby arrival. And I hope to add more holiday atmosphere this season. I'm glad we did it, it was a lot of fun. I was amazed with my energy level as well. Of course, Nori helped out a lot during the party too. Everyone brought a dish to share (even a single guy brought in a bucket of KFC chicken as u can see below....^_^) Though it was a long night, Yoshi had never stayed up that late before...(till almost 12:30), but it was good seeing everyone.

I had prepared craft projects for the kids- little ones got to glue foam pieces together; the older ones got to paint and decorate their foam ornaments.

Late night movie showing

The next morning, Yoshi got to put up his foam ornaments onto the tree....

Can u tell these aren't your typical snowman & penguin.....

Magic door

Take a look at our backyard patio door....... 20 months went by, many things have happened, but somethings remain unchanged in the mind of the little one- his curiousity to the outside world. (I like these quiet moment of him starring outside, wonder what he's thinking...)

(April 2008)

Her name is......

So after many days, we finally have a name for our baby- "Kiharu Kambayashi" 神林希明.

Let me share a little bit about our thinking process- After posting those 6 choices on previous blog, we have pretty much narrowed down to three-

-"Yui": I always worry it might end up sounding like "You" in American school. Instead of "hey Yui"...it'll become "hey YOU!". And if I want to call her name fast, like yelling at her or calling her (& Yoshi) for dinner, it sounds a bit strange....

- "Yuuka"- for a while, this was our favorite, just because the chinese characters mean well. (佑=helping others; 佳= good in general about the personality) And it's easy to pronounce for anyone. There wasn't really any reason for not picking this name. (that's why we were stuck between this & Kiharu)

- "Kiharu"- this name also has good meaning in chinese characters. (希=hope; 明=bright future) We have been stuck with these last 2 options for many days. Especially for Nori, he kept saying "let me think about it"....... BUT the decision came very clear to us on one Saturday evening ...................

While we were having dinner together as family, out of nowhere, I mean really out of a sudden- Yoshi called out "Kiharu.....Kiharu" (twice). We had only mentioned the name options to him few days ago. Since then, we hadn't bring up in our conversation at all. So as soon as he said the name, me and Nori PAUSED!!! We looked at each other with a shock expression. Though Yoshi hasn't mentioned the name since then, but that was enough to help making the final decision. We felt it was a sign of something & means a lot to hear from Yoshi.

"Kiharu", we can't wait to meet u in about 5 weeks.......(really? only 5 more weeks left? oh no, I'm still stuck in the santa workshop, fill with holiday mood.....u will have to wait on your nursery room...)

2.5 years old Yoshi

So how's been Yoshi doing lately being 2.5 years old?! (just as I'm out of topic to write about these past 2 days busy with santa workshop.....) here are few random things about Yoshi:

- definitely he is much easier to communicate than 6 months ago. He's able to speak more volcabularies in both/ tri-languages. We don't speak to him in English, but he picks up from hanging out with few friends, songs and TV perhaps.

- everynight, we have a storytime before bed. Whenever Nori is around, he would be in charge. It's a great bonding experience & Japanese learning time. Nori would read him few Japanese books. It started with only 1 book, but now Yoshi would not let him go without finishing at least 3. (and those nights when Nori is not around......it would be my turn. I tried to switch him from those Japanese books to others, but Yoshi wouldn't let go. So I have to tell story in half Japanese and half Cantonese...I sure can tell Yoshi was a bit confused and less interest than daddy's version)


- there are times when Yoshi is frustrated with things he can't do and need help, he would first make annoying sound....so I have been trying to teach him to change his tone. There is no need to be panic or frustrated as he's capable to put words together. He's doing much better and the funny part is, he would say "no need to panic" in cantonese after he corrects himself....

- Every weekend, Yoshi would join Nori in having Japanese breakfast- rice + natto + miso soup. And he is eager to use chopsticks (& ask for "ohashi"). But so far, I only let him use in the weekend, because he would only "pick out" meat and left behind a bowl of rice....


- Yoshi loves fruit, any kind. Usually- strawberries, oranges, apples, banana, watermellon, grapes......

- Weekdays- I only let him watch videos during my cooking time. And it's always Japanese kids program. There are many times I would refused to play the DVDs and prefer to have playtime instead. He's pretty good about listening and wait. But he would then hold on to the DVD case and kept looking at the packaging. Henry said Yoshi looks like browsing in a video store.... But weekend is a different story when Nori's home. Whatever Yoshi gives to daddy, seems like his wishes are always being fulfilled (unless the mama patrol officer issues warning.....)


- From books or videos, Yoshi's favorite transportation objects are 'bulldozer', 'shin-kan-zen' (Japanese bullet train), 'airplanes'....so whenever he's outside or in the car, he would get very excited seeing those...

- Even with the weather is getting cold, I still try to go out everyday, at least in the morning. If we aren't meeting friends or going to music class, we would go shopping (especially with the holiday season). However, it's also challenging sometimes as he wouldn't want to sit still in the shopping cart. He would either want to push the huge cart or wants me to carry him. (forget about stroller, we stop bringing that to anywhere many months ago....) So lately, I am using "raisins" strategy. I would carry a box of tiny raisins and let him enjoy eating & following me while I look around. He's very good in staying right next to me and not run around at all. If I have to visit few stores in a row, then I will choose to give the raisins in the store that I know I would spend most time in....


- Not sure if Yoshi have any idea about his future "little sister". He knows what "baby" is, and he's pretty interest in my friends' little ones. At least he stops pointing to his own stomach and said "baby", he knows she is inside my tummy....

(photos from last Friday with his Japanese friends)

Mrs. Santa Workshop

This year, I have decided to be more crafty on holiday gifts, especially for the little kids. (yes, the word "crafty" is really pushing itself to the limit, hopefully the little handmade effort helps to cover up all those uneven sewing lines, or gluing mess....) As I have started this handmade (or semi-handmade) determination, I can't stop, and the list seems to go longer and longer. Do I really have more and more "private moment"? Absolutely not. So what's the secret?....

~ less blog update
~ less TV time with Nori at night on the couch
~ "goodnight Nori, sweet dream" ..... "Don't stay up too late" ----that's our latest late night conversation.
~ more eye consealer makeup next morning

Well, but I do really enjoy this, afterall, it's holiday season. Though it's not much of a big gift, but there's little love from our whole family.

(P.s- I did underestimate the time and effort requirement.....just as I thought I'm done with craft project #1, I still have to do the gift wrapping and ....the worst part- planning a trip to post office WITH my little elf, I better prepare a huge snack bag with me before walking out the door....)

(P.s- as u may wonder, where are the santa elves? Elf #1 (Yoshi)- sometimes curious about my projects, sometimes I would rather avoid working on anything while he's around.... Elf #2 (Nori)- his job is more to keep Elf #1 entertained, so I can have little free moment to catch up my project....)

(P.s- how do I know when to stop the craft project and go to sleep? well....u would know when your ten fingers are being covered with dry glue and your eye sight is getting weaker and weaker....)

Another late night.............Zzzzzzzz good night my friends.

First taste of chocolate chip cookies

Today we had our first winter experience. I thought about taking Yoshi out in the morning, but the weather was very cold and cloudy, just didn't feel like dragging him in and out of the car...so we stayed at home the whole day. (I'm sure we will have many of these days coming up.....)

So besides art and craft projects, I need to find more activites to fill up the whole day. I was craving for something sweet, so I pulled out a package of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough, and let Yoshi prepared with me. I knew he would have lots of fun with this new experience.

I did catch him almost licking his fingers once ......

This was Yoshi's first taste of chocolate chip cookies, he sure was enjoying every bite of the sweetness from those 2 tiny cookies....