Maika's Dedication

On the 15th Maika made her first trip to church in Tokyo. On that day we had her dedicated to the Lord as she is a gift from Him. Below is the video of the dedication and the translation of the Japanese part.
Lord, thank you for this morning. We thank you for Maika Sophia being here with us today. You have given this life to this couple so help them raise her and watch over her. First of all, please bless this couple so they can support her in all areas, so that Your blessing will flow through them into her life. When she is grown, may people who have witnessed her life say, “Who is like the Lord?” in a testimony to the meaning of her name and that they would also see her life overflowing with Your wisdom. We dedicate this child to You today. Please bless her and guide her for the rest of her life. With thankful hearts we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

A few new pictures from the past week which included Maika's longest stretch of sleeping through the night-6 hours; Yoko got her hair cut,and Erik got pooped on.

One Month Old and a DL

Maika survived her first month here on earth (with Yoko involved it's not a surprise, but the fact that Erik is in the picture makes it a testimony to God's great grace). In terms of some of the things we were doing prior to Maika, Yoko is back doing ballet once a week; we are getting in evening walks again, and we are making the trip to Tokyo for church.
A major event this week was Erik receiving his Japanese driver's license. Much to his chagrin, this has been a 5 month process which involved 6 trips to the DL center and around $200.00 in fees (which is far better, I must admit, than the $2,000.00 that Japanese have to spend for driving school in order to get their DL.) Nonetheless, all that was experienced has given him a great appreciation for how he got his DL in Arizona.

A 4 Day Weekend

A short work week equals a long weekend and there were no complaints about that. We had some good family and enjoyed having Sarah visit. Sarah spent 3 night with us and had a great time hanging out with her niece. We watched a couple movies (at home), ate Indian curry and supper tasty pancakes, went for a walk, went shopping, and had an all around relaxing time.
Maika caused a bit of a stir at the mall when a shopkeeper asked how old is was. We told her that Maika was just over 3 weeks old, and the lady was greatly surprised. It is not typical for infants under a month old to be out and about.
Today Maika took her first long car ride. We headed to Tokyo for church and had a great day. Maika traveled so well and was great at church. She seems to adjust to new situations well and doesn't seem all that disturbed by external distractions as she slept through most of the service.
Below are some new pictures from the past week. The picture in the "Picture to Enjoy" is of a quilt that Sarah made and gave us while she was here. It is absolutely beautiful.

Some Firsts

At the time of this posting, Maika is a full 19 days old. She's not much of a conversationalist yet, but she is a pretty good listener. All members of the family are doing well, a little short on sleep but doing well. Maika is a pretty good night sleeper. She tends to only need 2 feedings during the night. This is something we are grateful for. At least once a day, she goes through a period of time where she doesn't want to sleep. She lays there kicking her legs, waving her hands and making noise. Sometimes there is crying that goes along with it, but it is just a time of being awake that lasts longer than her normal wake time. As a result, when she does get to sleep after this wake time, she sleeps like a rock.
This week Maika did several things for the first time. She walked her dad home after work; she went for a stroller ride, and she went to church. All of these events were approached with some question of how it would go, but it turned out very well. She did great. Yoko has a sling that she puts Maika in when they are going out for a short time. Maika seems to have really taken to the stroller. Erik took her out for an hour and 15 minute walk yesterday while Yoko was at dance class. She didn't cry and slept pretty much the whole time. Today at church she fussed a little bit, but Yoko fed her, and she went to sleep. It is a real blessing, especially for Yoko, that Maika is doing well on going out.
Here are some new pictures. So far, everyone here says she looks like Erik, but we think she is God's unique creation.

The Birth and the Place

We thought we would give you a little picture into where Maika was born and how all that went on for Yoko.

The morning of the 20th, around 5 am, Yoko started to have contractions. They were getting closer so we went into the birthing clinic around 12:00 pm. They checked her out and she was dilated to 5 cm, so they sent her to the room where she would give birth. Around 2:00 pm, Yoko was hooked up to an IV to help move along the process, and for the next 3 hours her contractions became closer and and more intense. Around 5:00 pm the real pushing began, and at 5:41 pm Maika was born. Maika was born at Matsugishi Ladies' Clinic. It is extremely clean and modern. However, the main reason we chose it was for its location. It is literally across the street from where Erik works and is only a 5 minute walk from where we live. When Maika was born, she had a little fluid on her lungs, so they put her in an incubator and kept her in the nursery for observation. While she was in the nursery, she was the biggest baby until a 9.25 lb/4200 g boy showed up.
At this clinic, they have the mothers stay for 5 nights if they have had a natural birth. If they have had a c-section, they stay longer. The room Yoko had was very nice, and they fed her very well. Erik would come over before work, at lunch, and after work to visit.

Saturday the 24th, we check out and headed home. All in all it was a good experience, and one in which we learned a lot. The Lord is good and again had His gracious hand upon us.