and baby makes...six!

Kaden James Makoto Seavey
Arrived on January 5th 2011 weighing 8 lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 20.5 inches long!

It really is quite funny how he came to be...but if you're not up for a long read, then by all means, feel free to simply browse through the pictures.

Otherwise, pull up a chair and get comfortable!

I'll try and make it worth your while.

:)

To preface-let me say that about a month ago, I had this dream. And in that dream, the date "January 5th" popped into my head. I know it sounds hokey, but I swear it's true!

Ask my family--I TOTALLY told them about it!
Simply coincidence?

Maybe...maybe not!

Anyway...onto my adventure for the day.

Well, due to my so-called "premonition" I went to bed on the 4th anticipating some action overnight. So, you can imagine my frustration upon waking up on the 5th to...nothing.

I got up at 6AM to get breakfast ready for Kela (because she's our early riser, she wakes up at 6 all on her own. Totally NOT a trait she got from me!). Then after a few minutes of wandering about, I started feeling "it." Not super hard at first...but strong enough to make me pause and count. The contractions were about 8 minutes apart.

Not a bad start.

I decided to lie down and wait. They continued at 6-8 minutes apart for about 2 hours...but gaining in strength. Then, at just after 9 AM, I started feeling the "pressure"...you mothers know the one, right? Worried that my bag would rupture at home again, and even though I was still about 6 minutes apart, I convinced Mitch it was time to head in to the hospital.

However, as soon as I stood up to walk outside...the contractions started pounding at 2 minutes apart. And with each lasting over a minute long...I barely had time to breathe in between!

For a 4th child, that's way too close, you know.

Thankfully, the traffic had died down by then so we made it to Kaiser Hospital in a matter of minutes. And this being my 4th, they saw the urgency and bypassed the admissions office and took me directly to the Labor and Delivery room. As Mitch was reparking the car, the nurse led me to the bathroom and helped me change into the gown and then asked me to pee in a cup. It was at this point that I told the nurse that, No...I wasn't going to make it.

She didn't believe me.

I was right.

*sorry for the graphic details here....

So, as I'm in the bathroom with the cup in my hand, baby crowns.

The nurse freaks out (seriously, she's a nurse, right?! I was more calm than her!) and pulls the emergency cord and yells at the top of her lungs for the doctor...or anybody...to come.

The midwife comes in, tells me to relax and so as I'm sitting on the (hopefully clean and sanitized) toilet, baby slides out and the midwife catches him just in time.

No splash, by the way...!

As the adrenaline of the event abates, I cut the cord and walked to the bed where the midwife finishes up with...you know, everything else.

And in walks Mitch.

He missed everything!

Poor guy...

But, all's well that ends well. Baby is healthy and most definitely, a boy!
After 3 1/2 hours of labor, he arrived safely at 9:57 AM.

On the 5th of January.

Just like my dream.

And at 39 weeks gestation, a very robust 8 lbs 11 oz.

Here's some more pictures of the eventful day...

After his very first bath.
It's grainy because I took this with my phone.

Baby and me.

Maybe an hour or so post-delivery.



Our new family of SIX!



With my Mom...who made it in time to babysit Anna and Jolee while we rushed to the hospital.



Our very first visitors!
And a lively bunch of visitors were they!

With Obachan.

This is grandchild #19!

Kela and Kaden.
He seems to love being held by her...

Anna and Kaden.
She still makes us nervous, so you can see Mitch's hand securely underneath.

Proud Papa and Son.

Whew!

Only a day old and never a dull moment!

Welcome to the family, little one!

...and a happy new year!

To round up 2010...here's what we did.

A couple days before New Year's, we headed out to Diamond Head to do some tide pooling. Mitch keeps saying how he wanting to take the girls to go catch some hermit crabs and fish, so after checking the tide calendar, we headed out.

Lately, it seems low tide has been pretty late...and far from low at that...so it took a while for us to find the perfect time to go. BUT, miraculously, on Mitch's day off, the tide was low (and the evening light enough) for us to drive out to town for some evening hermit crab-hunting.
It took a while for the girls to gather the courage to stick their hands in the water...

But once they did...

They kept going back for more and more!

Even Jolee enjoyed catching the tiny ones...

*can you even see it?!


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Then on New Year's Eve, (even though Mitch was in Japan for work...) we gathered together at my sister Airi's house for a big family shindig.

Here's just some of the spread. After we started eating....since lately, I can barely remember to even take pictures at all, this is about as good as it's gonna get.

And...nothing like a little "All Dogs Go To Heaven" after dinner, right?

AND...my oldest nephew, Jonas turned 14 on December 31st.

Here's the yummy jello cake that Elika made.

Sheesh, all the cousins don't even fit in the picture!
Though, this time we had our good friends, the Ah Nees with us as well!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And...you probably can't even tell, but this is New Year's Day.

Since we had celebrated the 1st with the (practically) the same people and at the same location.
And, of course, I didn't get a picture of the food.

Just a few of the kids chowing down on the good BBQ!

With the impending arrival of our #4...my Mom and Dad are both in town!

So, New Year's Day was a happy occasion for almost all of the Sakuma's to get together.

Next year...we need to convince my brother Makoto to visit as well, I think!

And here's all the little cousins sporting their cute pajamas that my Mom made for each and every little one of them!
Can you imagine sewing 18 pajamas?!

(*3 cousins are still in Seattle... )

Next year there will be 21 of 'em!

Sure hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's celebration!

And may 2011 be filled with lots of love and happiness and all that other good stuff!

merry christmas!

Christmas 2010 has come and gone.

And WOW, I can't believe it's almost 2011!

Where DID all the time go?!

The Holidays seemed pretty quiet and laid-back for the Seavey's this year...here's a peek at what we did to celebrate.

The "Hawaiian" Christmas Tree made by Anna

Kela's ever-so-helpful note to Santa.




Christmas morning...before the unwrapping began





Apparently, Jolee thought THIS was the Best. Gift. Ever.


(It's a tin of M&M's if you couldn't tell...)




Oh, and THIS was a very close second.


Have you ever seen or used these Dot-Art Markers?


They're basically like Bingo markers for kids.


We got some several years ago and the kids LOVE them!


They lasted quite a while, too (we're talking years, now!)...so this was to replace the ones we just recently threw away.





But, unlike the old ones, THESE are washable.
Definitely a bonus.




And then, it was time to bust out the Play-Doh.


It all started out quite tame and civilized...






But quickly turned to chaos.
The mess at the end of their play session was insane!



I don't know WHAT Santa was thinking when he got the girls this set...


Oh, and I'm beginning to think that ants like Play-Doh.
At least that's the conclusion I came to upon returning home to a colony of ants under our dining room table. Even AFTER we swept up the mess.
Mopping the kitchen floors at 11PM was NOT how I envisioned myself spending Christmas evening.... but that's what I found myself doing nonetheless.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




And then...after Daddy had to fly out due to work...we headed out to
Aunty Airi's house for some Family festivities.



Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the food or the festivities.



I know...so lame.




But, I DID get a picture of Jolee the ballerina doing her best Nutcracker impersonation in the living room!
ha ha ha....

And, not to mention me my sisters.

In all our "pregnant" glory.

In case you think I look ready to "POP" let me assure you, I AM!

At 37 1/2 weeks, I feel like baby could come at any time!

And...not so secretly, hoping he will sooner rather than later!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And then, speaking of HUGE...upon coming home, found this MONSTROSITY fluttering around in our kitchen.

With a wingspan of over 5 inches...let me assure you, it gave me quite a scare!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Here's hoping your Christmas was just as lovely and happy...and filled with lots of good stuff.

AND...may 2011 bring you even more!

eating rudolph

This past week at Anna and Jolee's preschool class, they got to eat Rudolph!

Well, after frosting him first, of course.

Their teacher, Mrs. Neill, made these cute reindeer shaped cookies.

And then the kids got to take turns mixing chocolate into the frosting (thus making it brown...though a very light brown)...
And then spreading the gooeyness all over their cookies.
With their fingers.

Jolee didn't care too much for the cookie, though.
No...she was quite content with just the frosting.

And...can't forget the red nose!

Ta~da~!

And, even though Mrs. Neill tends to make her cookies with less sugar than is required (sort of tastes more like a biscuit than a sugar cookie),

Anna thought it was pretty yummy...

Where's Jolee's cookie, you ask?

Mitch and I ate most of it.

And this was taken on Sunday after church.

It should have been a picture of all three of our girls wearing matching dresses...but the older two decided to change before I got the chance.

So only Jolee this year.
And...don't judge our tree.

It's our very first *real* tree. (true story!)

And, we decided to let the girls do the decorating...which tends to get redecorated about 10 times a day.

sunday cookies

One of the perks of Mitch flying to the mainland is that he gets to go shopping! And by shopping...of course, I mean to Trader Joe's.

Oh, how I wish we had one here...

So today, on a quiet Sunday afternoon, we decided to bust this out.

How great is this?

An all-in-one cookie kit!

And just so you know...Mitch made the dough.

He's the baker in the family. But...I rolled.

While the girls cut out the shapes.

And then Mitch transferred them onto the cookie sheet.
What team effort, huh?


Okay, so we let the girls roll the dough, too.
But just a little bit.

(Picture me trying to ignore the mess that's accumulating on the floor...)

And then after cooling, it was time to decorate.

Did I mention this awesome kit came with not only the dough mix, but the cookie cutters as well as the icing and sprinkles?

Oh, how I LOVE Trader Joe's.

And Jolee woke up from her nap just in time for the decorating.
Yes...we let her decorate. With the sprinkles.

(Here's where I tried really hard to ignore the mess on the floor...and failed miserably.)

Ta~Da~!

The finished cookies!!

And since eating cookies is SO much more fun with cousins, we shared them with the boys.

Wish we could have shared them with you, too!

They were super yummy!