Sorry I didn’t post much yesterday about Miss Martha. I only had a quick minute to post since Joel and Mary Stuart were arriving. So this is the story: She presenting normally for the last few weeks, but then yesterday at the appointment she was transverse again, cradles nicely and happily. She is also estimated to be over 6 pounds so they want to do a version sometime next week. We will go in on Saturday to talk about the risks and procedures, and to check once more to see how she’s presenting. If she’s still breech, we’ll schedule the version for next week. Obviously, if it doesn’t work, I’ll have a c-section, though I will put it off as long as possible since I think its best to carry her to term.
You can of course pray for us, that she would turn on her own so that we don’t have to go through this slightly dangerous and painful procedure again. You can also pray for peace in whatever circumstance the Lord allows us to end up in. I have a little different perspective right now on c-sections, having seen several good friends have them this last year and it be no big deal, but when I’m honest, I am very afraid of having one. So pray for my heart and a deep sense of trust in Jesus my Provider and Protector.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers!
“Sakago” means “Breech” in Japanese
Baby Martha is Sakago.
Just thought I would take a minute to write about what life is looking like these days for us. We are back in full swing, with both school and English classes having started last week. Robert Stewart, Eric’s boss and the highschool teacher, had to go to the States to be with his mother during a surgery, so Eric got to be the high school class teacher for the week. He really enjoyed that. Some of his elementary students told me yesterday, though, that they were happy to have him back this week. I was excited to see that my Tuesday kids class has grown by 3 students this semester, 2 of whom have never had any association with church before now. I also help with Oyako Club (mom and kids club) 2 mornings a month, and yesterday we had a mother and daughter who came to church for the first time to a Christmas event and have decided to join the Oyako club. Its exciting to see fruit from the hard work many people put in to do the Christmas outreaches, and I’m thankful that we serve a God who really does the work – in the hearts of poeple. We only have a few more weeks of IMPACT before the college students take their spring holiday and several of our students graduate. We are excited for a new school year to start, along with some new vision/strategy in this ministry, but we are also trying to enjoy the time we have left with the students who will graduate. You can pray for Eric as he will be giving the talk this Friday (he offered to do it in Japanese but one of the Japanese staff said she could translate. Eric thought that was better, as now he can make it more than 2 or 3 sentences long…)
Noa and the baby are both doing well. Noa continues to be on the brink of walking but not quite there. Martha is making it hard for me to sleep at night but continues to be very active and, from what I can tell, healthy and comfortable. Its hard to believe that d-date is only five and a half weeks away!
Our big excitement before she arrives, though, is what we are calling Iverfest 2008. Starting on Friday, my siblings and their families who are not here will begin arriving. We will have one full week with everyone home in Japan for the first time in about 7 years. Danny and Kimberly and their kids, Daniel Josiah and Trinity will be staying with us for almost three weeks starting on Friday. We cannot wait to see them and get some good time with them. Eric and Danny were good friends at JMU before I started there, and Kimberly and I were roommates for two years, so we’re sure to have a great time being together, and we are thrilled for the kids to get to be together too. Daniel Josiah and Noa and Trinity are all 10 months apart, so I’m sure their interactions will be entertaining to say the least. This will also be our first time to meet Trinity, as she was born just a few days before we left for Japan. Then, on Tuesday Jonathan and Maggie will get here with Annie, the newest addition and another cousin who we can’t wait to meet. On Wednesday Joel and Mary Stuart will come and then Martha will arrive on Sunday. Starting that Sunday, our week of family reunion will begin and we are so excited. We will go to the mountains in Nagano for a few days, and just enjoy being here together once more. Also, I just LOVE my sisters-in-law and can’t wait for some good girl time. It will be great for them and the kids to experience Japan for the first time!
So anyway, that is what we are looking forward to, starting Friday. We will take time off to go to the mountains and be with the family that one week, too, which will be great. I’ll try to post pictures as our visitors arrive and we spend time together, but I am not making any promises 
For now, Mom, Noa, and I are off to Costco to stock up for the multitudes.
Continue reading about What’s been happening and what’s coming:
Noa would like to tell everyone that her life-long dream of having an Uncle Clayt is coming true!!! Clayt has been dating Eric’s sister, Laura, for several years and already feels like part of the family. We are thrilled that they have decided to get married, and that Clayt will be our brother-in-law and Uncle Clayt to our girls. We have so enjoyed getting to know and enjoy him and are thrilled that we get to do that more in the years to come. And we couldn’t be happier for Laura, who deserves the best of best, and has found him! WE LOVE YOU TWO, AND PRAISE THE LORD FOR THIS BLESSING HE HAS BROUGHT INTO YOUR LIFE!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
This is what I saw when we went to pick up Noa at my parents’ house after our retreat: A happy happy girl who just loves standing and walking from handhold to handhold. Apparently she took two consecutive steps several times over the weekend. Her motivation: just the cheers and claps from a crowd of her adoring grandparents, uncles, and aunt. Can’t seem to round up the same motivation from just Eric and I The race is on: Will Noa walk or will Martha be born first?
This is only one of the best inventions ever. This kid car cart makes grocery shopping so much more fun for both of us. Noa loves steering her way through the aisles of our local grocery store “Mami Mart”
The end of a good, long day. Noa trying hard to stay awake for the rest of dinner.
THE GOOD NEWS: Our second daughter seems to be even more compliant than our first. Today at my OB appointment she was no longer in the breech presentation but with her head down as it should be. With Noa I had to have a version at 38 weeks for the doctor to turn her, since she wasn’t going to do it on her own. Thankfully, so far, this little girl isn’t quite as stubborn. She weighed in today at almost 2.5 kg, which I think is over 5 lbs which I think is pretty big for 33.5 weeks. It sure feels like she’s every one of those grams and more!
The truth is, Eric and I have wanted and needed a marriage retreat since about 2 days after we got back from our honeymoon 2 and a half years ago, but this is the first one we’ve had. With the new year already upon us, and with a new stage of life (2 kids) fast approaching, we finally got serious about it and took up my parents’ offer to keep Noa for the weekend. We really went all out too, and after dropping Noa off, headed to a nice little resort called Casa de Noll in the quaint town of Honda, Japan. Actually, we had been meaning to get away for several months now, but with life having been so busy since we’ve been here and nothing settling down much before Baby Martha arrives, we realized last week that this weekend is was our last chance for a while. Without having planned much, we decided it would be most stress-free, cheap, and easy to just stay at home.
AND IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN BETTER!!
We had just over 48 hours of just us. The only people we talked to were my parents and Noa to check up on her (mostly since she wasn’t feeling very well…) Eric found some great resources on-line of exercises we could do to help stimulate good conversations. He also found a great sermon by Piper on forgiveness and forbearance in marriage. We spent a good deal of time working on our marriage covenant, an activity that our pastor recommended we do before we got married, but that we hadn’t done yet. Again, it really stimulated great conversations that we needed to have, and we were convicted too, of specific areas that we would like to grow in as husband and wife. We also read some and spent time talking about our future. Amidst that “work” of the weekend, we slept a lot, went out to a fancy dinner one night and a great breakfast, watched 2 movies, painted the Girls’ room, and just enjoyed being together without distractions. What a blessing this was! We both came away feeling refreshed and renewed in our love for each other and our desire that our marriage be one that glorifies the Lord and encourages each of us toward Him. How I praise Him for providing and protecting that precious and important time.
ps- we highly recommend a marriagae retreat to any couple. If you are close by to us, we are happy to pass on the blessing that my parents gave us in keeping and caring for Noa, and would gladly keep your kid(s) for you. We learned that all you need is the two of you and an open schedule – not money, or a fancy place, or even an agenda with marriage materials (although we would gladly point you to some of the free resources the Lord provided for us to use).
