The camera I used to take the pictures at today's baby shower can be found here. It is way cool, and very easy to use. Koichi and I had a great time using it to take both pictures and video at the party today.
Today was my second baby shower, thrown by 2 of my good friends at the school I work at. They threw a "family shower" for me so that kids and dads could be a part of the fun and festivities. It was really nice. We had a big brunch, and I brought some onigiri (Japanese rice balls) and some little Japanese snack nuts to share. I was impressed by the few people who tried the rice balls. More were willing to try the nuts, except the ones with squid flavor. Those aren't my favorite either.
We got some more very cool stuff. Here's a diaper cake made by my friend, Tracy, who threw the shower.
Also, we got some more baby clothes for little Lily. Boy, I really hope she is definitely a girl, because otherwise we're going to have a very pink-dressed boy!
This past Tuesday the social committee at work threw a baby shower for me. It was hard to keep that a surprise since I'm the director of the social committee this year, but a good friend saved me the embarrassment of throwing myself my own baby shower. And even though I knew exactly what was going on, it was still a lot of fun. Koichi was even able to come and join in the festivities.
A good friend of mine, who is a parent of a student who was in the first grade last year, is incredibly talented at making cakes. She made this one for my party. It's in the shape of a baby rattle. Not only was it obnoxiously cute, it was muy, muy tasty too!
Baby girl clothes are SO CUTE! Here's me trying some of them on Lily, well, as best as I could anyway.
I got some of the cutest, most adorable stuff I have ever seen. When we got home Koichi pulled it all out onto the couch to take a picture of all of Lily's loot. I'd say that's a pretty good start. She's already spoiled and she isn't even out of the womb yet!
Did you see that I was holding Skippyjon? He seemed to be a bit jealous of all the stuff that was not for him. Or else he was scared of it. It's hard to tell with him sometimes.
But he need not be jealous! He got to try on Lily's Halloween costumes that were given to me by the same parent who made the baby shower cake. Of course you know by now that this was Koichi's doing. I had nothing to do with it. I just took the pictures to remember the occassion.
Stay tuned for the next round of baby shower pictures! Tomorrow we have another baby shower that is being hosted by friends of mine from work. It's going to be a family shower with kids and dads, and should be a lot of fun. Koichi and I bought a new digital camera today that is waaaaaaaaaaay cool, so we'll get to put some more high-quality photos on here soon. Woo hoo!
Okay, okay, okay. I know I haven't added anything to my blog since December. Yes, I am a very, very naughty girl. But I'm here now late on a Saturday night and since I'm not completely exhausted already I thought I would take a few moments and share some photos with you. Don't you feel special? You should.
Can you see a difference in belly circumference? I wasn't too happy about having these pictures taken this day. I wasn't exactly dressed to impress, and I hadn't done anything with my hair or makeup. The TV doesn't add to the picture at all either. Oh well. Koichi wanted to take these to send to his parents to show them how big my belly has become. Koichi's sister mentioned that I might want to take a picture of my naked belly, sans shirt as a keepsake of this special time. I think I laughed so hard I peed my pants.
I like how it curls out. It's kicky! I feel so hip when I actually get up early enough to make it look nice. That's the thing about short hair. It can be really cute, but it takes a lot more effort than long hair. I like it though. Boy my face looks round. I've got baby weight everywhere!!Skippyjon loves the snow and we got a fair share of it this week. Koichi took some pic's while taking Skippyjon out for a walk.
Every year the school I teach at has an afternoon of Halloween fun for the kids. They get to bring their costumes to school and we have a parade, and then a big party in the classroom. This year the other 1st grade teachers and I decided to dress up. We were "Girls Who Just Wanna Have Fun" and dressed in 80's style clothes and makeup. It was a lot of fun to get my bangs to stand up 6 inches tall and wear blue eyeliner again. Koichi came to watch and help out in the classroom and ended up holding baby Jacob, one of my coworkers' kids. He was dressed up as a pea in a pod. Koichi said he was practicing for next year when he gets to dress up and carry around his own kid. I think this was the first time he's ever carried around a baby. He did pretty good, but was all too willing to hand him off when the first offer came to take the baby. He's going to make a great dad someday soon.
Uggh, I hate showing these because not only do I not look pregnant in my eyes, but I look very fat and the whole thing makes my skin itch. However, after much arm twisting by my good, persuasive, half-Italian mafia friend, Grace, I have decided to make these pictures public. If you laugh, I have connections to someone who can break your kneecaps.
The first one here is when I was probably about 2 months pregnant or so. No, that bump is not the baby, it's the previous night's feticcini alfredo.
Koichi made me tuck in my shirt. THAT will NEVER be happening again.
Here's the picture we took just yesterday. Shall we see if there is any difference? Actually, I put my arm underneath my boobs to make sure you could see the difference because as I mentioned before, I will NEVER be tucking my shirt in again.
So that's what I look like after 4 months of pregnancy. Oh, and as of today I am offically 18 weeks pregnant. This baby is pretty much half-baked! Yikes!! Right now it's pretty easy to take care of. Discipline, feeding, changing are all easy as can be while the baby is in utero. What am I going to do when it finally makes its appearance??? Ack! I try not to think about that too much because I'm afraid I'll start to hyperventilate or break out in hives or something. The same thing happens when I try to think of where this little thing is going to sleep. The other night I was mentally rearranging furniture in my bedroom, and thinking "Well, if the nightstand got put behind the bed (yes, I won't really be able to use it, but it just holds my clock anyways), and the CD case got put to the other side of the room (so what if Koichi can't open the closet door all the way, I'm ready to sacrifice my nightstand, he should be able to help out too), then we could put either a bassinet next to my side of the bed or a very small crib." I started breaking out in sweats, so I had to stop thinking about it.
Though I'm already experiencing post-tramatic stress disorder regarding the birth and raising of this child, I am on the other hand eagerly antipating being able to feel some kicks or just general movement in there. Right now if I concentrate really hard......I can feel a lot of gas, and that's about it. This morning I thought I felt something, but I'm not sure if it was an actual baby movement or me hiccuping. By the end of November I should be able to feel quite a bit, and then I'll probably be begging the kid to go to sleep and quit jumping on my bladder (though s/he's already making me go ALL THE TIME as it is).
Here's what Baby Tsukioka may already be doing while biding time in the womb....
Thursday afternoon I had my first sonogram and here a couple of pictures we got to take home. Little T was pretty genki (active), so it was hard to get a good picture at first.
Koichi thinks this one looks like Jar Jar Binks. He's convinced our child has either eyes that bug out of its head or antenna. This picture wasn't too helpful.
Here's one that looks a little better.
If you squint just right you can see her/his (still to be determined) head to the left. S/he's laying on her/his side. It looks like her/his mouth is open and is saying *hello*.
It was a lot easier to make these pictures out when we could see the baby moving on the ultrasound monitor. Now that we have these 2 dimentional pictures, it just looks like a big ol' blob of white and black. We have 2 more pictures and I'll post them as soon as I can. We took the pictures that the sonographer gave us and went to a camera store to have them scanned and then burned onto a CD. Unfortunately they really screwed up our order and we only got these 2 so far. They're fixing their mistake and I should be able to get a new and improved CD with the missing pictures tomorrow. I'll post them as soon as I can.
The Dr. said everything looks good. My bloodwork came back and everything was good and happy. The baby looks fine, thought according to the ultrasound he's 9 days bigger than my calculations put him. Doc thinks he's probably just a tall baby, and it's nothing to worry about. If s/he is 9 days older than we think, s/he'll probably arrive a week earlier than our given due date, and that may be right on my birthday. That would be cool.
In 4 weeks I go back to see Doc for my monthly check up, and in 6 weeks I go back for my second sonogram to check internal organs. If the baby cooperates, we will hopefully be able to find out the baby's gender at that time. We're really looking forward to that.
Gotta go. Blog more later!
Taking a nap with his favorite Star Wars pillow
Wearing his favorite T-shirt
Ready for a night of syling on the town
Making adjustments and alterations for his Halloween costume....and looking forward to a night of barking, barking, barking
Looking good. Looking darn good.
This last Tuesday I met my OB/GYN for the first of many doctor's appointments to come. Koichi came with me, and we were both pretty anxious and nervous about the whole thing, but it turned out to be relatively painless. Actually, there was some pain, but it's over with so now I'm trying to repress it.
As of today, I am 9 weeks and 5 days pregnant, and my baby looks something like this...
which isn't all that different than last week, though s/he's grown to the size of a medium olive. The Dr. asked us to schedule another appointment for a sonogram in 4 weeks and we should be able to hear the heartbeat as well. We're pretty excited about that.
Koichi has been having me go through a big baby name book at an almost feverish pace. We're up to M's for both boys and girls, and when we find a name he likes we put a K by it, or a D if I like it. The hard part is finding names that are bestowed with both a K and a D. They are few and far between. The goal is to find a few names we really like in both genders before we find out the sex of the baby in November (God willing).
When we get our sonogram pictures I'll make sure to post them for all to see.
Again, monetary gifts and presents are always accepted! Support the Little T college fund!! :O)
So as it turns out, there is a new Tsukioka family member to introduce! As my brother, Dwain, said, we have a Japanese hybrid on order. I'm pregnant, and have been now for about 8 weeks. So as of now, Little T (the baby's name as of right now), looks something like this...
Right now it looks like a little alien, but he/she is quickly developing into a more human looking baby. Koichi and I are really excited, but of course we're nervous too. All the big questions are floating around: Will we make good parents? Where are going to get the money for ______ (formulae, diapers, college, etc.)? Will the baby make it through all 9 months? Right now that's the biggest question on my mind.
I happened to have a friend at work, a fellow teacher, who became pregnant nearly the same time that I did. That was really exciting for me because she's already had one baby, so she'd been through this before and knew what to expect so I could ask her all sorts of questions. Just this past week though, she lost the baby. She's doing really well, and I'm encouraged by her resilience, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking, Will that happen to me too? But I'm trying to not think about that too much, because even if it does happen, there's nothing I can do to stop it. I have to trust that God knows what He is doing, even if he takes this little one away from us.
I get a lot of the "So how are you feeling?" question these days. And today seems to be a good day, which would make 3 good days in a row for me, a personal best for the past 2 weeks. At first, I was just tired...all the time. And a little crampy. Now the crampiness is gone, the tiredness seems to be here to stay, and added to that is dizziness and blechy nausea that seems to be with me all the time. But right now is a good day, and I don't feel to nauseous.
Koichi is being an excellent daddy already. He's very concerned about the nutrition level of my diet. He asked his mom to send him a book on pregnancy from Japan so he could understand it more in depth. I was pretty impressed by that. But now he keeps trying to get me to eat liver and sea kelp. I stand firm in my convictions that neither of those are meant to be consumed. He is doing a great job though, and has been very considerate of me and my food cravings so far. Actually, I only had one craving that I know of, I had the strongest desire for fried chicken from KFC. For 2 days that's all I could think about. Koichi let me go and get 1 piece of fried chicken, and that really seemed to satisfy the craving. That was a weird craving for me, because I don't usually like fried chicken all that much. Anyway, I'm looking forward to craving brownies and ice cream....mmmmm, maybe I already am.
Well, that's it for now. I go in to see my OB/GYN in a few weeks for my first Dr.'s appointment. I think Koichi is going to try to go with me even though it's right in the middle of his sleeping time. I'm looking forward to it. I'll let you know what the Dr. says and how things are going a little later on.
(If you would like to make a donation to the Baby Tsukioka fund, checks, money orders and cash can be sent directly to me. Presents of any sort are always welcome.) :O)
Yesterday I went to a "Celebration of Life" memorial service for an 18 year-old girl from the school district I work in, who died last weekend from injuries sustained in a very bad car crash. It was heartbreaking to be there and feel the pain of her family, friends, and teachers. This year was going to be her Senior year, she was a valued member of the basketball team, the volleyball team, and the choir. She had a lot to look forward to, and now it's all gone. As I was walking to my car after the service ended, I thought, "Dying is easy, Living is so hard."
I couldn't help but think of all the time I've wasted doing stupid stuff. Every fight I've ever had with my husband, my family, my friends...all of that was wasted time. Everytime I've vegged out in front of the TV instead of doing something productive or helpful has been wasted time. Every time I've put something off until tomorrow, and then the next day, has been wasted, wasted time. Life is short. I don't want to waste any of it. When I die, I want to leave behind more than an empty bag of chips and an impression of my butt on the couch.
No, I'm not pregnant. Not yet, anyway, but that's another blog entry for the future.
While I was in Kansas City (I'm back in Colorado Springs now, by the way. Got home on Tuesday morning, and still feel like I have jet lag...weird) Koichi endured the tragedy of the untimely death of our beloved clown fish, Juan. Juan was a part of our family for the past 2 years, and my husband had grown quite fond of him. Koichi was pretty depressed when Juan passed away. It was even worse since he was all alone with me in Kansas City. My family members were all sorry to hear of Juan's passing, and my sister-in-law, Jen, astutely pointed out that Koichi was sorely in need of a dog. Well, we followed her advice.
So, circumstances come up and things change. Such is life.
This last week my mom went to the hospital to have a few tests done on her heart to search for blockage. Heart disease seems to run rampant in my family. One grandfather died from it, both of my parents have had heart attacks, one stroke and now my mom was finding out more bad news. Turns out that 3 of her valves had 4 blockages in them and the doctor recommended that she have immediate bypass surgery. (And by immediate, I mean the next day.) The next morning the surgery went well, but the doctor evidently found more to be concerned about and her triple bypass turned into a 5-way bypass heart surgery.
My husband and I decided that I needed to come home and be with my family during this time. So, due to rising airline costs and the thought that Kansas City isn't all that far from Colorado Springs, I decided to give the Greyhound bus a try and ride my way across the Midwest. Wow. That was an experience.
I left Colorado Springs on Thursday evening around 7:45 and took the bus to Denver. This 1.5 hour ride was pretty nice. The bus was pretty full, so I sat next to an unassuming woman who turned out to be headed to Denver to take care of her sick grandkids. The bus ride was pretty uneventful except for the incredibly beautiful sunset over the mountains in the west. God is an awesome artist.
In Denver I had to transfer buses to go east to Kansas City. When I got there, the line was already long and winding its way through the terminal. I got in line and waited for the doors to open when our coach arrived. At 10:15 it came, and as I slowly made my way to front, pushing luggage along the floor (which was sticky with some suspicious looking substance), I was beginning to wonder if everyone was going to make it on the bus. There seemed to be about 50 people in front of me, and by this time, there seemed to be about just as many in line behind me. Finally I made my way to the front of the line and the ticket taker (which I'm pretty sure was her official job title, by the way), stopped me. She and bus driver conferred over the number of passengers and decided that the bus was indeed filled to capacity. There I was at the front of the line and looked like I was going to be stuck there for quite some time!
But just as I was about to lose hope, another bus pulled in and I got first pick of the seats. Having sat near the rear of previous bus, and in too close proximity to the lavoratory and its odiforous aromas, I decided to take one of the front seats on this new bus. This bus was filled to the brim with all sorts of people. I ended up partnered with a nice teenager who was kind enough to help me get my bags out of the overhead compartment, and let me off the bus to use the bathroom during our 2 scheduled breaks. I thought sitting next to the window would be a good idea as I could lean against it and use my teddy bear as a pillow. Turns out that there is absolutely NO leg room next to the window, so I had to keep my knees bent the entire time which lead to very swollen ankles by the time I arrived in Kansas City. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Our first stop was in the Kansas town of Colby. Not too much happening in Colby at 3:00 am. However, the McDonald's was kind enough to be open and allow us to use its restrooms and get a little food. A few hours later we pulled into the bustling metropolis of Salina, Kansas. We pulled into a gas station/truck stop at 6:30, and our travel weary bus driver said that a replacement driver would be arriving shortly and the bus would pull out at 7:05. I quickly made use of the facilities and bought a Big Gulp for the road. Being terribly exhausted I fell asleep on the bus while awaiting its immanent departure. At 7:30 I woke up to find that not only was the bus not moving, it had not moved, and did not seem to be moving anytime soon. Several passengers were expressing concern for the arrival of the new bus driver, who by this time was a half hour late. Some went inside to look for him and to consult with the store attendants at the gas station/Salina bus stop. The gas station attendants didn't have a clue to the whereabouts of the new bus driver, and it turned out that the previous bus driver had taken off to get some much needed rest, but had not waited to make sure a new driver arrived. We were stranded. In Salina. Kansas.
Several passengers used their handy dandy cell phones to call the Greyhound bus line to express their dismay and to ask where the heck our driver was. The word finally got around that there had been a scheduling mix-up and a driver had not been scheduled to drive out of Salina for some unknown reason. Another driver was called, though he was in Kansas City and would have to drive the 3 hours out to get us, pick us up, and driver us back.
Several hours, and 3 magazine readings later, he finally showed up, ate some lunch, and sent out a call that the bus would be leaving at 11:00...about 10 minutes after we had expected to be arriving in Kansas City. A general roar of applause went up when the doors to the bus closed and the wheels started to turn east. I finally got in at 2:30 in the afternoon, a mere 19 hours after I left Colorado Springs. I tried not to think about the fact that I could have driven to Kansas City and back in that time, and just be appreciative to be there.
So, sometimes the wheels on the bus go round and round. And sometimes they take unplanned pit stops for 4 hours. You never can tell.
I sure am glad that I was able to come to Kansas City though and see my family. The last time I saw everyone was for Christmas, and that was a VERY short time together. My husband is so good to me and is staying at home by himself in Colorado Springs. I miss him, but it's good to see my mom and the rest of my family. She's doing well. The surgery went fine, and she's gaining a little more strength everyday. In fact, I'm supposed to go to the hospital and see her bright and early tomorrow morning, so I should get to bed.
Just when it seems like things are going well for me spiritually, I screw up. Sin is so sneaky. And so persistent. Just when I think I've finally got a handle on a particular temptation, BOOM! It comes back at me again and this time it brings its big brother with it.
I used to imagine that sin was like this giant weed that we continually hack at. And when we finally do manage to cut it down we find all these little weeds growing underneath it. But as it turns out that big ol' weed that we sometimes do manage to cut down has deep roots sometimes, and we can't take it out by our power alone.
In Orthodoxy it's stated that Jesus didn't come to just save us from death. Praise God that He did! But, more than that, to save us from our sins. Not only at some future time when we're facing the judgment seat of God, but right here in the present, everyday life that we live. Christ came to overcome our daily sins so that we may become more like him. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, Christ said. Wow, that is so hard.
Please pray for me, a sinner.
I will give them a new heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I shall be their God.
Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all transgressions which you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God; so turn, and live.
A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ...I will put my Spirit within you and you shall live ...
(Ezekiel 11:19-20,18:30-32, 36:26-27, 37:14; cf. Psalm 51:10; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 57:15-18; Joel 2:28-29)
For 11 months now I've been going to an Orthodox church in Colorado Springs called Saints Constantine and Helen Holy Theophany Orthodox Church. Theophany is the churchy name for when Christ was baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan river. Saint Constantine was the ruler of the Byzantine-Roman empire in the 4th century who ceased the persecutions against the Christian church and even made Christianity the national religion of his empire. Saint Helen was his mother who was a devout Christian herself.
The first time I encountered Orthodoxy I didn't quite know what to make of it. It was very different from my Southern Baptist background. It's always intimidating to step out of one's comfort zone, but I am now glad I did. Things that were once exotic and strange, if not a little bit scary, are now commonplace and comforting. All the bowing, kissing, prostrating, crossing, etc. has become part of my worship when I enter the temple and I can't imagine ever going back to the Protestant realm, though I still cherish the church I was brought up in a
The reason I'm a little UN Orthodox is because I'm not yet a full Orthodox Christian. I'm currently a catechumin in the church. A catechumin is a person who intends to become Orthodox but is still learning about the church and has yet to be baptized into the church. I've been reading and researching a lot, and of course going to church and becoming involved in the services as much as I can. But I'm longing to finally become Orthodox myself and I think it probably won't be much longer before I talk with the priest, Father Anthony, about being baptized into the church. Because I am a Christian already and was baptized (when I was 6) under the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I do not technically HAVE to be re-baptized. I can choose to accept Chrismation (anointing of the oil and the Holy Spirit) instead, but I think I will probably go ahead and be baptized. The baptismal service is incredibly beautiful and meaningful. This period in my life is similar to being engaged. I'm not yet married to the Orthodox church, but the intent to do so is there. It reminds me a little of my own engagement to Koichi. It was a beautiful, sweet time. But there finally comes a point when I start to think, Okay, let's get married already! I'm ready to get married to the Orthodox church.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He arose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets.
In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
