We are so thankful to be on a team where our girls have several a-little-bit-older friends to play with and learn from. Noa just loves getting together with these special people.
This is Olivia and Annabella and Noa playing on the doodle pads. Noa LOVES going to “Abba’s” house and has become quite comfortable there recently as we’ve had many chances to go and play, and the Pfeils have been wonderful to watch Noa a few times to help us out. It’s a treat for both Noa and I to have time with the Pfeil ladies 
We anticipate a lot more playdates once the babies arrive.
Chizuka and Ai, two precious friends who we’ve mentioned before, had a little bit of girl time with me and Noa last Sunday. We had a grand time going out to eat and just being together. Noa loves these two and they are precious to always be so sweet with her. I am so thankful for these special friends for both Noa and myself.
Here are 4 of the 8 other pre-school kids on the team (there will be 11 by the end of this month!). William and Isabell Stewart are also sweet friends of Noa’s, always helping her learn new games and sharing toys with her. Their dad, Robert, and Eric teach together and this family, also, have been an incredible blessing to ours in friendship, fellowship, and fun since we’ve been here. On Monday night we had a Welcome Isaac party to welcome our newest teammate and a good friend of mine and Eric’s from college and Harrisonburg. We are so thankful the Lord had brought him here, and it was fun to get together with many friends to just hang out and give everyone a chance to meet him and get to know him better. The kids were just snuggling up to watch a little bit of tv (on our laptop) to give the grown-ups some quiet time to talk. 
left to right: William, Olivia, Isabell, Noa, Annabella
I just got back from the clinic and the doctor I spoke to today is anxious to get this girl delivered, as I guess the neonatal mortality rate goes up by 30% after 41 weeks.
Side note: This one doctor who I saw today, while I like him very much, has an absurd number of statistics memorized. Every time I see him he tells me percentages and chances and risks all in numerical form… its kinda funny and I always want to tell him that statistic about what percentage of statistics are made up on the spot… my Japanese isn’t that good though, and while his English is pretty good, I don’t think he would laugh…anyway, back to my update:
SO, according to the non-stress test, Martha is doing very well and continues to love her watery home. According to the pelvic exam, I am not at all dilated or effaced, and the cervix is still long and tight (sorry for those readers who didn’t want that much information). According to the sonogram, She is still measuring somewhere between 3700 and 4000 grams which is between 8 and 8.8 pounds. From uterus size, though, he thinks she on the smaller side of that, not the larger. I really like the two doctors at my clinic, as they both seem to be great doctors and they always say or do things that make me laugh. Today I laughed when he told me that they have only had about 20 caucasians come through the clinic in the last 5 years so he wanted MY opinion about what we should do (I am, after all, caucasian so I have some authority on this issue). I told him I would like a few more days but I’m not so strongly against being induced today as I was even last week (post due date my personal opinions and preferences get less and less picky…). So we decided that if nothing has changed by Thursday, they will admit me Thursday evening and use a balloon mechanism (never heard of this before, but I think its use is like cervadil) to help ripen and dilate the cervix, and then begin pitocin the next morning. He’s concerned because my chances of induction not being successful are higher if my body is in the same state that its in today.
SO, you all can pray that Martha and I would get in gear and start working towards starting labor. Even if we don’t actually go into labor, it would be good if I had even a little bit more progress come Thursday and Friday. You can also please pray that the doctor would be gracious and permissive as far as letting Eric and my mom be with me during (and before) labor. All that time being admitted sounds lonely and boring to me… And of course, you can be praying ultimately for Martha’s and my health and safety through it all. May God be glorified in however this turns out.
Continue reading about Still no baby – but now we have a plan…