Too Skinny?

Been called a twig, beanstalk, pole, waife? Don't put up with that any longer. You too can gain 25% of your body weight in one month. Just go on the Josiah diet. Sleep for 2 hours eat for one and repeat eight times daily. Make sure your food consists of 50% fat. Don't walk or exercise, just kick your legs around and flail your arms. Yes that triple chin you've always wanted will come in no time at all! While Jumbo is not an endearing term we use for Josiah yet, we are happy he tipped the scales at 7lbs 12 oz after one month. Kids, they grow like weeds!

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This morning we battled the morning crowds and made our way to the consulate to register Josiah for his SS card and passport. He did well as usual, but his parents almost lost the diaper bag. Trying to make a train we leaped into the car before the doors shut. I made Christine go first with Josiah, then I followed suit as the door closed on the bag and half my arm. I've seen a guy get his head smashed by the doors before so I didn't complain. We are excited to get back to the good ole USA this summer to see family, friends and wide open spaces!

Prodigy or Just Proud Parents?

This morning I laid Josiah face down for his "tummy time ." A minute later when I came in the room he was on his back. Amazed I called to Jason and flipped him back on his front side. This time we both watched as he rocked himself back and forth and finally over. Now ecstatic at this new milestone I grabbed the video camera, curious if he would preform on cue- again he rolled to his back! I had read babies usually start to roll over between 3-5 months. What do you think, is he a super baby or are we just overly proud new parents?

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Getting Outta The House

With a few paternity days and a weekend we got out of the house to give everyone some fresh air. We went on a short hike to a waterfall, had a late Mother's Day lunch and checked out the beach. Josiah did great on all the outings and Christine is gaining confidence as she maneuvers through millions of people boarding trains, buses, and taxis.

Photo Shoot

Josiah was in his chillin mode so we decided to snap some photos of the little guy with mom, dad and naana.

Am I Cute or What?

Today I glanced to check on Josiah and found his big eyes staring intently at me from under this blanket. My heart melted all over again!

Mother's Day

We had a great, low key Mother's Day. The highlight was meeting a new friend, our neighbor Momoko and her one month old son Ip Koon Wan, who live directly below us. Ip Koon is actually no stranger to us because we have been listening to his long spells of crying since he was born, hopefully a habit Josiah doesn't pick up! Here we are holding each other's babies- can he see his long hair? What a big boy!

The Olympics comes to ICS!!

On Friday one of the teachers at ICS had a sister who had the priveledge of carrying the torch in China. She brought it by our school and let almost all of the 900 students hold the torch. For some reason I had always thought there was only one torch, but there is actually about 20,000. I gladly stopped my lesson to enjoy the moment with the students. The torch came through Hong Kong last Friday, very close to where Josiah was born, but I was busy admiring the little fella. The entire red section unscrews and is filled with liquid gas to fuel the flame.

Pics of Mom and Josiah

Just Chillin

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Prayer of Dedication

This is a prayer we found that speaks straight from our hearts.

"Lord of new life, just as Hannah prayed for Samuel, we have prayed for this child, and in Your mercy You've granted our request. Now we bring Josiah before You, to give him back to You. Everything comes from You and we are giving You only what Your loving hand has given us.

We not only dedicate Josiah but ourelves as well, in all humility. We ask You to grant us wisdom to raise this precious gift of Your gace. May we always remember that he is a blessing from You, a reward and a heritage, and not a burden.

We vow to raise him according to Your ways and not our own, teaching him from day one to seek You with all his heart and soul. We promise to do our best to write Your commandments on his heart.

Thank You, Lord for choosing us as cretaker of this precious life. We say with the psalmist: "How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people."
We dedicate Josiah to You, confident not in ourselves, but in Your wonderful faithfulness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Josiah's Room and Playpen

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Josiah's Finally home

Daddy time

I like to flex my mini muscles after mom feeds me.

Jason holding Josiah in the cab coming back from the hospital.

The Labor Story (warning- only for those who like details!)

Wednesday morning I woke up to some cramping in my stomach. Convinced I was going into labor I did a victory dance and made Jason promise 7 times to keep his phone on as he went to work that day. I began to time the mild contractions and pack my bag for the hospital. I went for a walk eager to move things along. At 10:30 am I took a nap, and upon awaking the contractions had stopped. Disappointed I headed off for another walk. I went 5 miles along the river, but to no avail. Confused and discouraged I called it a day.
2 am the next morning I awoke to some stronger contractions. Hopeful that this "was it", Jason and I jumped out of bed and started timing them about 8 minutes apart. We made a big breakfast, took a shower and became convinced that our baby would likely we born this day, May 1st- which in Hong Kong was the Chinese holiday of labor day! May 1st is also the day my niece and nephew (brother and sister) we both born! As day broke we took a walk through the jungle behind our house and then through Tai Wai. By now the contractions were coming 5 minutes apart and I was having a hard time walking nonchalantly through them. I tried by best not not draw attention to myself as people swarmed around the streets. We walked home, made some phone calls and headed to the hospital.
The taxi driver looked a little nervous with me panting in the back (every 4 minutes now), and responded by driving extra carefully and slowly. He watched me continuously in his review mirror until I couldn't resist urging him "fi de la, mm goi!" (please hurry!) At 12:30 pm when we arrived at Prince of Whales Hospital the nursing staff examined me and announced that I was 4 cm dilated. Laying me on a stretcher they transported me down to the delivery ward. Meanwhile Jason had to run all over the hospital completing the registration and paying the deposit.
Together again in the labor room, clad in our matching purple scrubs, we worked together through the strong contractions. Jason watched on the monitor as my contractions would climb and spike in sync with my grimaced face. I drew strength from the worship music in my ipod and squeezed Jason's hand with all my strength.
Around 2:30 I had progressed to 6 cm, but my water had still not broken. Declining the midwife's urging to artificially rupture the water, I waited until it broke on it's own. That was a moment I will never forget. Like a huge, warm water balloon, the sack exploded with a pop all over the table during the peak of a contraction. After the rupture the midwife announced the baby's head had descended through the cervix, I was 10 cm and it was time to start pushing!
This is where the going really got tough. For two hours I pushed with all my strength, over and over again without feeling we were getting anywhere. The head would come into view and then retreat again. Exhaustion and swelling were setting in and baby's heart rate was dropping when we decided to make an episitomy. A few very strong pushes later at 5:27 pm (accompanied by lots of blood and screaming) Josiah Michael was laying on the table in front of us!
That moment was so beautiful and surreal and the events following became a blur, except the realization that we at last had a son!