Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Promised Photos


Here we are on May 20, 2001, in front of the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront Hotel (I did not make up this name!) with the Willamette River in the background, just an hour or so before our wedding, which took place inside the hotel. I wanted to post these pictures five years later to the day but I had some trouble, so here they are, fewer in number than I expected but still better late than never!

Aogu likes documentation, so here's proof that we were then, and still are now, really and truly legally married!

Saturday, May 27, 2006

(Bantam Weight) Champion

Drum roll please!

Today Izumi weighed in at a hefty 7 pounds, 2 ounces, which is two ounces more than her birth weight and puts her in the "safe zone." Good job! I think her pediatrician felt bad for having us do so many weight checks; normally we'd be due for a check-up in two more weeks but she said we can be excused for another month. Who knows how much Miss Izumi will weigh by then? Any guesses?

Friday, May 26, 2006

Yes, I've Been Sucked In...

So it's been less than a day since Taylor was declared the next American Idol, and I freely admit two things: although we didn't vote for Taylor (Aogu persevered through the busy signals to put in three votes for Katharine) we had a feeling he was going to win. We, or here I should probably say "I," was nevertheless thoroughly sucked in to the final show. I was even overcome by a sort of high school graduation like feeling, as though I was having a special moment with friends that would never quite be repeated. Yikes, I hate to think I'm being so worked over by a TV show...and American Idol, at that, but it's true, folks.

Second, count me in the some hundred thousand plus (I wanted to document this, I thought I read the number 160,000 something somewhere, but can I find it now? Of course not.) people who have already downloaded the American Idol: Season 5 Encores album. It's not the most wonderful collection of music I've ever purchased, but it's entertaining enough, and brings on the fake nostalgia I mentioned above, for better or worse.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Weight Update


Izumi is the only one in our family with a weight problem. Er, an underweight problem, that is. The rest of us might describe our weight problem(s) in other terms...but I digress from the point, which is that, as I mentioned the other day, Izumi was meant to gain five ounces between last Thursday and today.

When we took her in and put her on the scale, she weighed in at a disappointing 6 pounds, 12 ounces which was a mere two ounce gain. Fortunately, it's not considered cheating for her to eat lunch and then weigh in again (in the same way as it's not cheating to run to the restroom one last time before weigh-in at Weight Watchers, but again I digress). So that's what we did, and she gained a magnificent two ounces, right on the spot! Therefore, she was still one ounce shy of goal, but close enough for the doctor to not be worried. She does have to weigh in again on Friday, though. We'll keep you posted.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Five Big Ones

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It's already been five years since we got married at the Marriott Hotel in Portland, and with unabashed cliche, I must say the time has flown. Wouldn't this be much more fabulous if I could post a couple of pictures of us in wedding garb? I agree, but alas, the digital photos we have seem to be somehow incompatible. I'll keep trying but for now you'll just have to imagine us five years younger, promising to always be together.

So far, so good!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Pictures of Our Little Fountain

...and when I say little, I mean it. We took her in for her first doctor visit this afternoon, and she was pronounced in good health, praise God! But we also found out that she now weighs 6 pounds, 10 ounces (2749 g). Yikes! I am feeding her, I promise. At that size, she's probably burning more calories than she takes in just with the act of eating. Which leads me to mention that thankfully she is getting much better at nursing, and I am too. Therefore, hopefully we can meet her doctor's goal for her, which is that she will gain five ounces (14 g) by her next weigh-in on Tuesday next week.
As you can see, Koji made himself quite at home in the hospital...

Here's one of his first "big brother" moments. He's been doing well at the job since, too, though he does have moments of not understanding why he has to share. Oh yeah, he had those before she was born, too.

What a smart daughter we have! Here she is making the same face as Papa at just over 24 hours old... :-)

As I said, Koji's on his way to being a great big brother, but whether Izumi knows that or not is a different question.

Though we don't prefer bottle-feeding, it could be that we'll ultimately be thankful she's able to switch back and forth between bottle and breast. So far she's able and hopefully it's a skill she'll keep. I may need to take advantage of it in a few weeks...or days?!

This was the scene in our car once we were finally released from the hospital on Monday afternoon. Izumi did well on her first car ride; I was the one who needed a refresher course in the use of a carrier car seat!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

More About Our Daughter

So some of you may be wondering, "Izumi? what's that?". Or not. But too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway!

Izumi is a Japanese word/name that is pronounced "ee-zoo-mee" and as with most Japanese words, all syllables are given equal emphasis. It is written: and it means "fountain or spring". Not only do we just like the name, but we also are inspired by the following verse and pray that Izumi will grow to feel this way about Jesus:

"For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." Psalm 36:9

As for her middle name, Marie, well, that was her Papa's choice!

Izumi Debut

Izumi Marie was born on Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 5:16 am weighing 7 lbs. (3185 grams), measuring 20 1/4 inches (51 cm)with her knotted umbilical cord wrapped three times around her neck. So we praise God for preserving her life, both before and after her quick and somewhat stressful birth! I'm also thankful that I was able to carry through with my VBAC attempt...if you know what VBAC is then rejoice with me; if you don't know then maybe you don't want or need to know?! Anyway, I have to go feed the baby so no more words; here's the story so far in pictures.





This must have been taken after we got to the hospital, before Izumi was born but after I had the epidural (which I wasn't planning to have but am so glad I did; "leg labor" pain was way too much for me and I just didn't see a way to make it from 6 cm to 10 without some "pain management").



As I mentioned, Izumi was a little traumatized at birth, so she had to spend her first 36 hours or so in the ISCU (Infant Special Care Unit). But she doesn't look too upset about it, though I was...but she's home with us now. More soon, gotta go feed the new Boss Lady!

Friday, May 12, 2006

Brand New Nephew


Congratulations to Aogu's sister Hannah and her husband Shuichi on the birth of their son! He's so new that we don't even know his name yet, but we can tell by looking at him that he's sweet. Because he was born just past midnight on the 11th Japan time, we still have about eight hours or so for our baby to share his birthday, should she choose to emerge in that time frame.
It's not looking likely.
We're delighted to have a new baby in the family in any case.

P.S. Breaking news is that his name is Hikaru!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

What?! I Even Voted, For Once!

Aogu and I were shocked and stunned tonight that Chris Daughtry was voted off American Idol! We had already decided that Chris would BE the next "idol," and furthermore, I even spent about an hour Tuesday night pushing redial on my phone, eventually casting my first ever Idol vote for Chris. The rest of you voters are just wrong.
Meanwhile, I probably need to get thinking about my strange fascination with AI; let me put that on my to-do list for May 24th (conveniently, the day after the finale). Until then, let me just invite you into the world of how I really feel about all this via the words of Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune columnist.
Chris, when can we expect to see your album on iTunes?

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

No Time Like the Present

If you think the title of this post refers to going into labor, now that I'm six days away from my due date, I certainly agree with you. I'd like to tell you that's what I'm talking about, but I'd be lying. What I can ask is, please, pray! If I don't go into labor spontaneously on or before this Saturday the 13th, then my doctor will want to schedule me for induction. And I'm not interested in going that route, as it carries a highly increased risk of ending in C-section, which I am trying to avoid this time. It's very difficult to ask you to pray without telling much more than you ever wanted to know...

Anyway, this probably doesn't seem like a great time for me to start a new blog, right? I'm crazy! A lunatic! Stark raving mad! Probably; but the idea of a place where I can disseminate my thoughts on cooking and recipes I've tried was just too magnetic to resist. So here it is! Enjoy, and let me know what you think!