Our cute little blessing...

A few more pics of Kenji and our family

 Just born--I think he kinda looks like Grandpa Willis Sauder in this picture a little bit.  Dr. Akihiro attended the c-section, cut the cord, rubbed off Kenji-kun, and counted toes and fingers!  There aren't words to describe the emotions of meeting one's baby the first time!

 So thankful for my Japanese mom next door who brought Grandma Ito and Tomoki to see baby Kenji soon after he was born.

 Tomoki was kinda scared of the baby at first because he was crying, but as soon as Kenji started chugging the bottle and quieted, he wanted to help.  Now we are basically breastfeeding and it was hilarious to see Tomoki immediately pull up his shirt to check out his anatomy!

Kenji seems to be a very easy baby so far and I haven't felt so relaxed and pampered for a long time!  It has been a blessing to spend a quiet Sunday in my room with Kenji and listen to a sermon.

Here's a link to a you tube video of Tomoki helping to feed Kenji.
 http://youtu.be/sPXNh1gpK_Y

Announcing Kenji Willis Ito

Dear family and friends,

As I sort through my contacts, it is hard to know who to send our message to, so please excuse me for perhaps over publicizing!

A dear little baby boy, Kenji Willis Ito, was born by c-section today (June 14, 2012) at 14:52.  He weighs 3060g(6lbs12oz) and height 50cm(19.7 inches) .  His name is pronounced like the American name Benji, but with a "k".  There are two Japanese characters (kanji) that make up the name.  The first, "Ken" 賢 is "kashikoi" meaning wisdom (a different kanji, from Tomoki's Tomo, but also in the Bible).  The "Ji" kanji is "naoru"   治 which means "healing".  We hope and pray that little Kenji can be blessed with the wisdom of the Lord and that his presence in the world will be a healing one--not necessarily that he would enter the medical field:), but that 1) others can see in him the spiritual healing that only comes through knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and 2) he can lead others to spiritual healing in Jesus Christ.  His middle name is that of two special people, Willis Ehnle and Wills Sauder.  As many of you know, Willis Ehnle started our church here in Japan and lives a zealous life for the Lord.  Willis Sauder, was my grandfather and he was also a godly man whose motto (even in his old age) was often said to be "you gotta cut new ruts!"--meaning not always take the same road, but learn new and different ways.  God alone knows the future for little Kenji and we trust him to Him!

Tomoki has quickly become Tomo-kun as is the Japanese tradition to shorten the name and add "kun" for boys.  Personally, though, I like Kenji-kun the best, but if it must be shortened, I guess I like Ken-chan better than Ken-kun.  (Chan can be added to Japanese names for children--both boys and girls).

A special thank you to those who lifted us up in prayer!

Carrie and Akihiro

Waiting for Baby

Now that I'm in the clinic where I am scheduled to have baby boy by c-section tomorrow, my "nesting" has turned to the computer and emails, updates, etc.!

We enjoyed a Japanese BBQ in our "backyard" a couple of weekends ago.  See Javon's blog for some pictures.  http://onegreenbicycle.blogspot.jp/2012/05/barbecues-onsens-and-malaysian-curry.html  We also got to enjoy the yummy malaysian curry she shows--thanks to Biren-san!

Other than that, Akihiro has been busy preparing for the opening of a clinic in Saitama-ken--about an hour from our home.  It is kinda a long story how he got this opportunity, but it has been a good learning experience.  He will work there part time in addition to his other various jobs.  He has always dreamed of opening his own clinic when he retires, so this opportunity is teaching him how to do it--at someone else's investment! It opened this week and everything is going smoothly and we are thankful!

I was nervous how Tomoki would do with me going into the clinic, but my prayers were answered today when he did just fine with Grandma Ito putting him down for his nap and saying goodbye at the clinic today.  He's probably doing better than me about the whole separation thing!  C-section is set for between 2 and 3 PM tomorrow, Thursday.  The staff here is so nice and I ate a wonderful meal tonight.  I am thankful that my Japanese is much better than the last time I was here, but know that under stress, my Japanese tends to fail me pretty quickly.

Here's a few pics of the soon to be "big brother" sporting his "safety goggles"--apparently necessary for drinking milk and playing with Papa's remote control helicopter!

 Akihiro wears these when he goes jogging in allergy season--to keep the allergens out of his eyes.

Will post details and hopefully pictures of Baby boy #2 ASAP tomorrow.  Please keep us in your prayers!