It has been almost a YEAR since we've last posted anything?!  Really?!  Wow... so, I'm determined to keep up with this whole blogging thing...  I have a bit more time, now that I'll be staying home with our little girl for a while!  I wonder what I should do....hm....so much time on my hands now....HAHAHA! ;-)  Really, I don't know how each day flies by the way it does!

Quick update:
We had a baby.  Arielle Grace was born at 6 lbs 8 oz on November 27, 2014 (the day before Thanksgiving!) by scheduled induction.  She was due the 5th of December, but my doctor didn't want me going until 40 weeks because my blood pressure had some peaks.  So... after a range of emotions, we were okay with scheduling our daughter's birthday, and went in to have her on the 27th!

I had been contracting about every 3-5 minutes from the time I came in to the hospital, so I wonder if baby wasn't on her way in the next few days, anyway.  Maybe she just knew it was coming!  I will say that Pitocin is something else.  I've never given birth to a full term baby "naturally", so I don't know how it compares, but woah!  I was only at barely a 1cm when I arrived, so they gave me Cervadil the night before, which boosted my contractions as well.  After a night of walking the halls, laying down, walking, laying... they gave me Pitocin in the morning and BAM those contractions came like crazy!

I was hoping to do it epidural free (we had a small platelet worry - but that's a whole other story), but nope.  I kept saying "I thought I'd be stronger than this!"   I was stuck at 3cm for what seemed like a long time.  Well, Arielle was sunny side up at first, and then she was laying sideways, and that back labor was kicking my butt!  The doctors and nurses were GREAT, and had me change into these crazy positions to try to get her turned, and get me dilated more in the process.  I went from a 3 to a 5 in probably hour.  Then, they turned me to another position, and I went from a 5 to an 8.  One last position, and the doctor checked and everything started happening at once!

I was fully dilated, he could feel the head, she was face down, we're ready to push!  What?!  Okay... get ready!  My OB came in and it wasn't but 3 pushes and about 20 minutes later, and we had a baby girl!  Girl!!  I thought we were having a boy, a lot of friends thought we were having a boy, my doctor even thought we were having a boy!  BOY, did she surprise us haha!  A full head of hair, adorable stork bites and angel kisses, and a face that I'm sure will break some hearts!  The cord was wrapped around her, and she didn't cry.  Twice around her neck, once around her body, and once around her arm.  I knew she was a mover in there, and I guess that is proof!  All of a sudden the room was totally silent except for the doctor saying orders to those around her.  My stomach dropped.  I had just felt her moving around that morning, so I didn't know what could be the issue.  I knew the doctor had told me to stop pushing a few times...She had told me that if she tells me to stop, then I NEED to stop.  Now I know why!  I can't believe the cord was that long!

Well, they got her all untangled , and brought her to the warming table.  I wanted so badly to have skin-to-skin right away, but I know this was the best for her!  (I can't imagine the mamas that don't get to see their baby for hours after giving birth!! :-( )  I saw the nurses around baby, and then, I heard her cry.  *Sigh*  My mom later told me that they were moving her arms and legs, to get her to cry, and to test those little muscles out!  One of the student nurses told me later that she had to admit: "I was a bit worried... she was a little purple when she came out -- I was just a little worried!"  I'm SO glad she didn't say something at the time, because I probably would have lost it!!

Pretty soon I had my babe in arms, and was going to nurse.  Looking back -- I don't know, I probably was a little in shock still, VERY tired, and just ready to do what it took to be a mama!  Now, I just cherish that I was able to hold her so soon and feel so blessed that she was healthy and happy!

Now, almost 7 months later, I canNOT believe how much she's grown!  She went from a baby that slept ALL THE TIME (we had to wake her to feed, and keep her awake while nursing!), to being a stubborn little one who does NOT like to nap right now!  She went from only being able to be held, to wanting to stand (with help of course) or sit (without much help!) and doesn't like to be held cradle style much.  She went from barely being able to see us, and not really caring who holds her, to being a little scared of strangers, and wanting to see and touch everything!!

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.  She has changed and grown so much, and we know she will just continue to do so!  Bittersweet...

Here are a couple pictures for you to enjoy.  She has grown so much and I know that she will just continue to do so.  Bittersweet!!

News

Okay, okay, I KNOW it's been....forever.  Many of you are up to date with our lives, but for those of you who may not be, we have many things that have happened since our last post!  We have finished the house buying process, and have been in our new home for a year!  We still have boxes to unpack, and painting to do, but overall it feels like home.


Some sad news:  Last summer, we had a miscarriage at 8 weeks along.  The baby never really grew past 5 weeks.  While we don't know the reason for the miscarriage, we knew that Gretchen had a blood clot develop where the placenta was trying to grow.  Gretchen's OB/GYN doctor had mentioned that a probability was that the blood clot was just not allowing the placenta to give the baby nutrients it needed to grow.  We both know that the Lord knows best, and His way is the right way.  Maybe the baby would have been too sick to make it in this world.  We also have hope that we will see this precious one again in a place that is sinless, painless, and perfect, and will look forward to that day!!  For now, we pray that God holds him/her in His arms until we meet again.


That was August.  NOW, we have AMAZING news, and feel so special and blessed, because....we are going to have a baby!  Gretchen is due December 5th, and is currently 18 weeks along.  We are so happy to have this chance again!!  In the beginning, it was hard to feel hopeful considering what may happen again.  However, with time, prayer, and support, we now feel excited and encouraged!  We feel very blessed for the Lord to give us this opportunity.  To give life to a human being and raise it to know His Word and most of all LOVE, is such a blessing to our hearts!  We have been starting to get busy making a nursery and getting all of the necessities to prepare for our new little one!  Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts as we continue down this road!  Pictures will come soon!

Wow, so it's obviously been a very long time since our last post!  We have been busy with work, and we just haven't sat down to blog.  This needs to change, I'm-a-thinkin'!  While we have many amazing memories to share about our Japan trip, we also have a great NEW adventure in our life!  We bought a house!  Well, are in the process of buying one.  We decided it's time to find a larger place to live and start growing a little bit of roots.  We chose a house in northeast Derby, and it happens to be a house we were looking at a while ago!  We first thought we wanted to build, but after much deliberation and prayer, we decided to go with an "already-built" house.  We had looked at a model house earlier, and decided that we love the layout.  After looking at many houses, we ended up coming back to the model!  Yup, that's the one we wanted, after all!  Our closing date will be April 24th, and we will most likely take a good month to move in.  We still need to pay rent for the month of May, and it will be less stressful to move when school gets out.  So.... it's coming up!  Meanwhile, we'll try to post more, and maybe throw in a few memories or two from Japan here and there!  Have a blessed weekend! :-)
~G$~

Cape Zanpa

Today, I drove off base!  Today, we went west, as yesterday we went east.  We stopped by a dam that had a large park and walking paths included!  We saw a sign for snake warnings (we assumed it was for the poisonous Habu snake!), so we stayed away from those areas!  After the dam, we drove to Zakimi-jo castle ruins.  These ruins were more curved and had curved archways leading inside.  We were aloud to go up on some of the castle walls, and from there we saw beautiful sights!  We could see the East China Sea on almost all sides of the castle!

From the castle ruins, we continued northwest, and ended at Cape Zanpa.  A popular place to photograph, we saw many locals there, and took a little rock climbing expedition.  At first, it was a little scary to go up, as there was much wind!  However, the rocks were really pretty easy to maneuver around, and in no time, we we made our way up to see a beautiful sight.  There was even a man fishing from the top of the cliffs -- he was really fearless!  We walked all around the rocks and then went down closer to sea.  From there, we stayed to watch a beautiful sunset.

On our way back to the base, we stopped at a very small beach to take more pictures and dip our feet in the East China Sea!

To Ikei Island

Today we went on a 40 mile trek all the way to Ikei Island.  We stopped by many water sights, a port full of boats, and a bridge overlooking beautiful blue water!  We saw another castle ruin, and village ruins as well!  Gregg to Ikei Island, and I drove a little back.  :-)

Driving through the city to get to the Island was a little stressful!  Not only are we trying to remember to stay on the left side of the road (and not use our windshield wipers to let people know we're turning a corner), but cars will randomly stop on the side (barely) of the road to drop off, pick up, or just park for an errand!  There really is little room for many places!  Our map was not as detailed as we had hoped -- there were many roads missing!  The roads would change numbers and interchanges happened when least expected as well!

We stopped to take in some of the Pacific, and have a restroom break.  I wasn't sure how to use the squatting restrooms, so.... I didn't!  We reached Ikei Island and found there was a large resort right on the end of the island.  We found village ruins -- with many snails included!  We roamed around a little in a small town -- very close houses and teeny tiny streets!  We stopped for another look at the water and came back down the hills.  We made a short stop at a connecting bridge, and then back down from Ikei Island, through Miyagi Island, and Henza Island.  Henza is mainly filled with petroleum plants.

We stopped at Katsuren Castle ruins right after we got back on the main island of Okinawa, and explored there.  It was almost dark when we got home -- another fun, full day!

American Village

Despite a rainy, rainy day, we went to American Village!  Full of many shops, restaurants, a ferris wheel and wall full of paintings, it was very busy -- even though it was raining!  The rain came in downpours, and let up, but I don't think it ever fully stopped!

We started off by getting some Starbucks :-), and then started walking!  We went in a mall, and were surprised to find it similar, yet different than our malls!  Clothes stores, an arcade, and appliances/electronics.  We walked down to the beach and along a boardwalk that had a long cement wall covered with paintings and graffiti.  There were apartments and housing being built close to the water, too.

It was a long, wet day, but fun indeed!

First Day in 沖縄 (Okinawa)!

Today was our first full day in Okinawa.  Carl (the lead tech that Gregg will be working with) and his wife Leiko took us around the base and helped us find where things were!  We started our morning off switching the car rental from Carl's name to ours.  Then, we went to brunch at the Officer's Club.  (Better known as the "O Club".)  All you can eat crab legs, mmmm!!  AND they're local -- so they're extra yummy!  They had a huge variety of food including sushi, local fruit and all-American food!  We were so stuffed afterwards.

Carl then took us to the BX and Commissary and we bought groceries.  The BX is the size of a 2-story Walmart!  It has everything you need, including little Japanese trinket kiosks and a food court with Taco Bell, Subway, Popeyes, etc.  Then, Carl took us around a little more to see parts of the base.  The airstrip is huge and shows just how large the actual base is!  Sometimes, from a hill, you can round the corner and see part of the East China Sea.  It was very cloudy today, and drizzled at times, so it wasn't as clear.  However, you could still see that it was ocean!

It's very Americanized here on base, and there are not many local restaurants or shops.  We definitely want to explore outside of base sometime, but we need to get used to driving on the left side of the road first, haha!  Gregg's been doing a great job so far!

Next Sunday, we are going to see the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium that is farther north on the island.  It is also near the Ryugujo Butterfly Garden, so we may go there too.  Carl said he'd like to show us Shuri castle, he says it's beautiful.  I'd to visit the beach at least once, too, so we have a lot of adventures awaiting us!  Gregg works everyday 5-1, so we will have the evening to explore.  :-)


~Gretchen~