For the first time in 2 years, we spent Christmas in the US in 2007, taking the long journey to Farmington to Grandma's house and visiting family for 2 weeks.

Anri and Sara had a great time playing with Grandma, Grampie Bob and Duffy (although Duffy's antics occasionally freaked out Anri!) The kids also loved playing with their cousins. It was our first time seeing Nicholas and Matthew, and we were very happy to finally meet them. Anri had a blast with her cousin Emily. The two were inseparable during their time together and Anri's English ability was noticeably improving by the hour. Isaac was great to see too, and I sat there marvelling at just how much he looks like his Daddy. During our stay, we did a ton of shopping for supplies we can't readily get in Japan. We went to the States with two suitcases and returned just within the baggage limit with 6. Anri had her first experience skating and took a ski lesson for the first time. We all had a great time and now that we're back, we've been busy unpacking and getting back into our usual routine. We have over four-hundred photos from our trip, whcih can be viewed here.

Thanks and lots of love to Grandma for having us and to the Fishers for their wonderful dinner the night before we left!

Happy Birthday, Sara!

It was one year ago today that Sara was born, and we celebrated her first birthday tonight with lots of food, ice cream cake and presents.

Baa-chan and Uncle Kenichi came over for dinner, a big meal with food prepared by Tomomi and her mother, and Anri and Sara had a great time playing with Uncle Kenichi. After dinner and the opening of presents -- all clothes for Sara, and one little pop-up book -- we finally brought out the Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake and sang Happy Birthday.

Sara couldn't quite blow out the lone candle on her own, but with a little help from her big sister Anri, it was out in no time.

Anri gave Sara a present too. Anri drew a picture of Sara, with very long hair and wrote Sara's name on it in English. Below Sara's name, Anri wrote "age 1" in Japanese. There's more writing on the top right side, but nobody is reall sure what that is!

Here is the drawing. To enlarge it, just click on the image.

Sara Marie Grey is here at last! At 1:03 AM Japan Time, she came into the world weighing 3,306 grams (7 pounds, 4.6 ounces) and measuring 51 cm from head to toe. Both Mother and Baby are doing fine.



On Tuesday the 14th, at around ten in the morning, Tomomi knew something was different. She was feeling discomfort every ten to twenty minutes -- a pain that suggested the onset of labor. It wasn't until late in the afternoon, after seeing whether or not the pain would come at more regular intervals, that we all decided it was time to go to the maternity clinic.

The clinic was busy. A lot of babies were being born at the time, and we quickly learned that the rooms were nearly full. Tomomi was brought to one of the labor rooms, where she and I stayed for about 4 hours. According to Tomomi, the labor was nowhere near as tough as it was when Anri was born (24 hours of little progression, followed by a shot of pitocin). But, when we were finally taken into the delivery room and the pushing began, that is where it got difficult. When Anri was born, the actual pushing was not so bad, Tomomi said. This time around, it was the opposite. Short labor, really difficult push.

She did so well, and the feeling of joy we both felt at first sight of our baby girl was overwhelming! We both remarked, almost in unison, how much Sara looks like Anri did when she was born. The doctor was quick to get out the digital camera after the birth and snapped a handful of shots for us. The time of birth was 1:03 AM, November 15, 2006.

By 3 AM, Tomomi had been taken to her room, where she would spend the next five days with Sara. A private room with a bathroom and shower, Tomomi was happy to finally get some rest after a tough day. After getting Tomomi and Sara settled in and all of their things put in order, I finally headed back home, getting to bed at four in the morning.

For pictures of Sara, please click here.